Ajax is a well known Overwatch player. He was formerly linked with Team NRG. However it seems that his tryouts for the Overwatch League have come to a stand-still mainly due to other professional players hating on him. This is a very unprofessional behaviour on the part of the other pros and one that should not be a reason for not having Ajax as a part of the team.
In Esports players often get screwed over, it just happens and is part of life and the job. In the last 6 months, I’ve been screwed over way too many times and this is mainly because of the really strange spot OW is in during its esports life, players and even organizations are in limbo. This causes this esports “wild west.” Anything goes, no real management or coaching no third parties control players. This happens even with established esports but happens way less. If I went into every moment in the last 6 months I’ve been screwed over in a really shady way I could have 3-4 twitlongers, but all that’s in the past, and there is no point writing twitlongers about it, because it’s part of the job and ecosystem at the current time. With that said yesterday something happened so stupid I just had to write about it.
So on to the reason I am writing this. I was worried that I wasn’t going to get the chance to prove I can be the best and compete at the top. I wanted so very badly to prove how much I have improved since NRG, I grinded every day, I rang for t2 teams, I put pro pug teams together, I played ranked all the time on my main and smurf on na and kr, watched my vods etc. I knew that it would be very likely I wouldn’t get that chance knowing that many players even in contenders wouldn’t even get try outs for owl teams, but I grinded anyway. I ended up being contacted by the Boston OWL slot to try out among 4 other Lucios. The person that contacted me was a coach of a team I played with for a week before we all split and went separate ways (the team was a mix of na and Korean players) and he had faith in me and for that I am so grateful. I got invited to the discord, filled out the forms and was waiting for the 3 days to pass to grind scrims, the stuff I live for. I was so excited, I remembering getting the invitation to try out while streaming and I was choking up.
Last night, I got this message from Huk
https://gyazo.com/9aff97d77d3f8ae288459b53c1361f15when I asked his assistant about this (blurring so he doesn’t get spammed with people begging for a try out)
https://gyazo.com/8f18b60b306bc411702870b7a8661693
I don’t really know how many said this to be frank but huks assistant later reveals he has no idea how many wanted me gone or who in this circlejerk.
https://gyazo.com/489a124e5979dbda4ee1949506d6eaa8
https://gyazo.com/9106a6d8c4f6bb1f620f6ad82a977491
There were plenty of people in that discord excited to see me and scrim with me, and people that respect me as a player. As a player if I try out for a team and I’m complete garbage you will know in about 1 map. During my time on NRG we tried out many players, up and comers, or pros on loan. It’s very easy and fast to tell if someone is bad or if someone has potential. On to the part that makes me most disappointed. I was already extended a try out after careful decision making, and they let some players make the decision for them out of personal bias before even loading a single map. What kind of leadership is that? Finding a new player is easy right now, especially one that doesn’t have an ego or attitude like some of the 25-30 people trying out. There are plenty of LFT’s right now and the minimal group they have are just a fraction of the talent pool, especially considering there was a single Korean (not counting the few Koreans in NA).
With all this said, as crazy as I am I am not giving up, I don’t care if ½ of OWL wants to sabotage me even getting a try out or not I’m going to keep grinding till the last second when I am forced to go back to college, because this is my dream. For all those that still support me I cannot put into words how much you guys mean to mean to me.
–Ajax
