Despite its infancy, Overwatch has grown to include some of the top organizations in eSports, including EnVyUs, Cloud9 and Luminosity Gaming. These orgs have multiple teams in multiple games, with mutliple wins in multiple Major tournaments. Often, these are the teams that you think about when you hear the words "eSports team."
Most forget about the "little guys," the ones just starting out in the hopes of making it big and becoming a household name like the aformentioned giants. It's a daunting task, but many lesser-known organizations are more than up for the challenge. A prime example of this is Envision, a Canada-based team who just recently won the $3,500 top prize at LAN ETS, described as "largest LAN Party in Canada and NA East Coast." They've only been in existence since January 2017.
I sat down with Envision CEO/Founder Artur Minacov to talk about the organization and how they're looking ahead towards the future of Overwatch, specifically with the Overwatch League.
Can you tell us a bit more about your organization?
I have been always interested in eSports in general. When I founded OPSkins.com over 2 years ago, I always wanted to get involved in the community and help fuel competitions. We did sponsor a good amount of tournaments but we never really wanted an eSports division. This is why I started Envision eSports. It is 100% created and funded by me.
Why did you decide to base the organization in Overwatch?
To start with, I have decided to base my organization in Overwatch because I love the game, and I believe that this game is still very new and there are a lot of opportunities to cease. There is no doubt that Blizzard has amazing plans when it comes to eSports with Overwatch and Envision is looking forward leaving a huge mark in the Overwatch scene.
What is the biggest challenge of starting an eSports organization in 2017?
The biggest challenge is probably the funding part. There are a huge amount of organizations popping up every day, but none of them has the experience, the power and the funding to go far. This is a huge plus for Envision because we are not worried about getting as many sponsors as we can. The day we will get sponsors is the day that I feel comfortable that we are ready to do so, and that I will not spoil my reputation by not performing or doing the right moves.
Give us a little insight into your organization; how is it set up and how do you think that benefits your organization?
Well, the biggest key to success for us here is the funding of our organization. It will highly benefit us because we are not worried about being able to pay our players, buy them what they need to perform better and send them to as many tournaments as possible to get more experience as a team.
What are the perks and the downsides of having a smaller team?
I do not believe we have a smaller team. At this moment, the team is quite fresh but they all have a decent amount of experience, work ethics and the right management behind them to be able to win as many tournaments as possible, and progress in becoming a Top Tier 1 team. Our players are working hard every single day, and it is just a matter of time before they succeed on a global scale.
Your team just recently won the LAN ETS Overwatch Tournament and won $3,500. How did you prepare for it and what do you think allowed you to be successful?
Honestly, other than playing and practicing hours and hours every single day, doing changes with our roster, allowed us to be fully prepared for LAN ETS. During the tournament, we have not dropped a single map and won over 10 games before the Grand Finale. It was a good experience for our players, and we are ready for any future tournaments that will present to us.
Do you have any goals/ambitions for the Overwatch League? If so, what are they?
We are preparing every single day to be one of the best Teams in the World. The Overwatch League is coming soon, and we are very excited to see how well we can perform. One thing fo sure, we got the right work ethics, management and funding to become a notorious Overwatch Organization.
Yes, we as a team and org have goals to secure our spot within the Overwatch League. We will work on building the org the months prior to the Overwatch League and build the roster into a team that can compete and win. We have the resources and motivation to reach our goals, we are just working towards showing it.
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