by JR Cook - 7 years ago     show comments

Nomia is busy preparing for the Western Clash, but their Captain Liam “Arcaner” Simpson was nice enough to share of few minutes of his time with us to discuss among other things the Western Clash, the state of ANZ Heroes, and the next step in his esports career.

What was your gaming background like and how did you get involved in Heroes of the Storm?

When I was a kid my brother introduced me to Blizzard games like Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and Diablo 2 and growing up I played a lot of WoW. Eventually, I saw the Alpha invite around August 2014 for Heroes of the Storm and have been playing since.

From what I have heard, gaming and esports are viewed very differently in Australia compared to how they are in the West. I remember interviewing what was then Team Immunity at the Americas Championship in Las Vegas years ago and the stories the players told were quite sobering. Tell us about the competitive scene in ANZ and what it means to be a professional gamer there.

There isn’t that much to say about the ANZ competitive scene because there isn’t good infrastructure. It’s mostly just a few teams made up of players who have been playing since Alpha/Beta stages of the game and compete because they enjoy it. To be a professional gamer in HotS ANZ it’s mainly just being passionate and having some sort of internal driving force for motivation. You can’t make a living from it.

What is the typical practice regiment like for Nomia and do you make any changes going into a LAN event like the Western Clash?

Our practice going into the Western Clash is six hours of scrims for the whole of season 3. We can’t really test strategies or develop a Meta from home so we have to adapt really fast when we arrive at LANS. Individually everyone on the team plays a lot of Hero League on their main and smurf accounts.

Given everything going on with the team (more on that later), what are your expectations going into the Western Clash?

We can’t really expect anything right? Haha. We can’t tell how good or not so good our current form is because we can’t scrim. We will do our best and if we play relaxed and confident we can go relatively well at this event.

What are your thoughts on the other teams competing in the event and if you had to predict a top three who would it be?

All of the teams here are pretty strong. They all seem to practice well as teams, some seem scarier because of their individual mechanics like Fnatic. EU is strongest at this event and it’ll probably end up being a boring EU 1st 2nd 3rd result lol. But I think the competitive knowledge of teams is still in an early stage. Fnatic is one of the few teams that knows how to play the game optimally so this is a reason as to why they end up having some of the best Metas at each event.

What do you think about Stukov and how do you see him fitting into the Meta this weekend?

Stukov might be popular at the Western Clash, but I don’t think he’s a Meta influencing pick like Auriel or Uther can be.

Please Buff Arthas was the first team from a minor region to win a series at an international LAN but at this point, Nomia seems to be widely regarded as the strongest team outside of the four major regions. Was this just the natural evolution of the team improving over time or did the team have to make specific changes or improvements to become a legitimate threat to teams from the major regions?

We don’t really scrim at all so any wins we get at events are because of our mechanics. Over time everyone on the team practiced and got better to the point where we have the potential to beat major region teams.

https://twitter.com/ArcanerHots/status/891150179616702465

You recently announced that the Western Clash would be your last tournament with Nomia and that you will be relocating to the UK. What lead you to make that decision and why did you decide to announce it before the Western Clash as opposed to after?

For this year I’ve been very determined to ‘make it big’ internationally as an individual so I’ve had my goal set to be recruited into an HGC team. I was going to play in ANZ for Blizzcon Qualifiers and then move to EU but not only was I not wanting to risk missing the player trade period but there was a particular day a week or two ago playing Hero League where I sort of snapped and immediately decided I had to move regions asap. There is no other tilt like ANZ Hero League.

This is obviously a major life decision and a major change for you. How has this decision been received by your teammates, your friends, and your family?

My teammates are supportive but I’m kind of sad to leave them. My family is a bit anxious obviously. It’s a big decision to move but they support my decision.

The Heroes community seems to be fairly close knit, especially when it comes to the players who frequently meet and compete at LAN events so I am sure you have friends amongst the EU players. We are still a few months away from the end of Phase 2 but do you have any potential leads on Open Division teams or HGC teams that might need a sub or potential replacement at the end of the season?

I’m not entirely sure and I can’t really say much without knowing for sure but I’ll prove to the EU players in Hero League that I’m the best recruitment option and I’m sure my hard work will pay off.

Robadobah has also announced that he will be leaving Nomia after the Western Clash. Any idea on whether the other players will reload and continue as Nomia or is this likely to be the last event for the team?

I’m guessing the remaining three will continue on with the Nomia brand and find two new members.

What do you think the future holds for minor regions given the residency changes Blizzard recently made? Clearly, not everyone will be willing or able to make the jump to move to a new region like you are doing, but it certainly opens the door, especially for the top players from minor regions.

The future for minor regions is grim considering their (Blizzard) investment is almost entirely in HGC regions. Giving players a chance to move is a good change and a start to something better but I think it’s hard for players to move when there are no gaming houses in HGC accommodate international transfers.

I’m not sure if you have had a chance to check him out yet with all of the preparations for the Western Clash, but if you have, what do you think about Garrosh?

I haven’t played Garrosh yet but his kit looks unique. I don’t like the armour feature though.

Competitive Meta aside, who is your favorite Hero to play when you just want to relax and have fun?

I like to relax in Hero League by playing Support because it’s my very first competitive role and I enjoy it a lot.

The floor is yours at this point. Anything else you want to discuss? Shout outs?

I want to thank the community for supporting my decisions to pursue my Heroes career and my move to EU.

Big thanks to Arcaner for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this interview. Best of luck to Nomia as they once again take on the best of the west and to Arcaner as he pursues his Heroes esports dream.

Action for Nomia begins Friday at 6:20 am PST as they take on Gale Force Esports. You can watch this match as well as all of the games from the Western Clash at the official Heroes esports site.