Overwatch Mission: Redemption winners, from left, Bradley “Macster” MacMillan, Dana “Leocakes” Darmohray, David “MightyKnight” Lisowsky, Harris “Sirah” Luckham, Destiny “oxDessyxo” Caldwell, and Jamie “Myucel” Foster. (Amy Chen)
Amy Chen and Scott Savard
Dana “Leocakes” Darmohray spoke into her headset’s microphone fervently talking to her teammates as she launched rockets from the sky.
She commanded the battlefield, unleashing her ultimate abilities to break enemy shields and land kills. But fortunately, it’s not a real war simulation, but a video game.
Overwatch Mission: Redemption was the first eSports tournament held at the centre since March after a long hiatus. The collaboration between the Toronto eSports community and the Microsoft Store provided gamers with HyperX gaming laptops, headsets and mice to use.
The players duked it out against each other in an intense six-versus-six elimination gaming tournament at Eaton Centre on June 23. The
Two teams competing against each other at the Eaton Centre’s Microsoft Store. (Scott Savard)
In an intense final match between Team Broccoli and Sheridan OW, Team Broccoli claimed the Overwatch Mission: Redemption crown. The winners each received $60 gift cards.
Audience members cheered when points were captured, clutch timing heals of dying characters were made and as players dove in for the killing blow. People laughed and clapped when a player waved goodbye, a form of bad manners after a unleashing a successful ultimate ability, when a character reached its full potential and releases its death blow against an opponent.
Darmohray of Team Broccoli, Brock University’s eSports team, played as the character Pharah when she unleashed her cyber fury and secured her team’s win in both the first round and the final match.
“It feels amazing. I’m just so happy to be here with all my teammates,” she said. “It shows that all our practices and dedication for this game has been worth it.”
Members of Team Broccoli showed their unity by having the same in-game avatar as a squid.
Another player at the tournament, David “MightyKnight” Lisowsky, has been playing video games since childhood, but Overwatch was the first game he took seriously after realizing he was really good at it. He has an skill rating (SR) of 4,200 out of a maximum of 5,000 and is among the top 500 players globally at the start of the season that ended June 27.
Lisowsky explained the games are so intricate that a heavy mouse can cost a player the championship. So he brought his own to the gaming event.
“The mouse I use is called Finalmouse [Ultralight] Pro, which is a mouse that weighs very little,” he said. “A lot of gaming mice have lots of buttons, which means they are really heavy and hard to aim with. But mine is extremely light, which makes aiming better with less arm fatigue.”
Destiny “oxDessyxo” Caldwell playing Overwatch at Eaton Centre’s Microsoft Store. (Scott Savard)
Destiny “oxDessyxo” Caldwell, who joined a team after signing up alone for the tournament, plays Overwatch alone but loves how there are eSports communities that meet each other face-to-face at live tournaments.
“It’s cool that I can just come in and join any team that I want and be able to play with other people who also love to play the same game,” she said.
Caldwell usually rotates among three Overwatch characters, who are Moira, D.Va and Mercy.
“My first main right now is Moira. I love that she can heal and do damage, so it’s the best of both worlds. If you don’t want to be just a single healer, you could also help the team and kill other people on the other team,” she said.