Unter: “The playoffs patch change proved to be a big upset for which teams were dominant”

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Even if you don’t follow Overwatch Contenders, you’ve probably heard of Max “Unter” Unterwurzacher. The Order main support’s personality has given him more than his fair share of viral tweets to bring light to the Australian Overwatch scene, as well as a few front-page Reddit posts.

But don’t let his social media presence fool you. When it comes down to it, Unter is focused and he lets his gameplay do the talking. His Lucio is one of the best in the region and his overall flexibility within the support role earned him a spot on the Australia World Cup roster this year. He’s a leader, helping Order break free from a second-place curse.

His dedication and drive took him to his first Contenders Australia title last season and his hunger is urging him on for a second. Before the LAN finals at the Melbourne Esports Open, Dot Esports talked with Unter about almost missing LAN, the Washington Justice exhibition match, and OWWC.

Season two has had its ups and downs for Order. Did the team ever feel like they lost control or were you adamant that you’d make MEO? 

Unter: I will never stop believing that our team has the talent to take on any roster in the region and walk away with a win. That being said, I can be pretty pessimistic and this season was truly rough in terms of questioning ourselves. The losses we took in the regular season were to teams hardly considered top dogs, but that led me to believe that we were lacking in understanding of the meta more so than in talent. We always believed we could make MEO, it was just a matter of grinding out an understanding of the meta so we could showcase the full extent of our roster’s talent.

What was the team feeling after securing the win over Ground Zero? Was it relief more than anything? 

Relief hardly begins to describe it, we were all absolutely over the moon. The playoffs patch change proved to be a big upset for which teams were dominant, and as a team, we put in more effort than we ever have to get ourselves over the line. I think if you check out our comms from the win, you will see the sort of emotion we were all feeling when we qualified.

You guys had a lot to prove heading into this season off the back of your season one title. Do you think you’ve managed to live up to your standards? 

I think that having won a season means we’ve all proven ourselves to some extent, now all we can do is aim to keep on winning and establish a legacy as a team, maybe score some overseas opportunities. For some players, I’d argue a legacy already exists, given that two of our lads have won three Contenders Australia titles. 

But Overwatch is both a marathon and a sprint. We’re always improving because if we stop grinding for even a brief moment, then somebody else is going to snatch up our place in no time at all.

What are your opinions on role lock? Do you think it’s improved the competitive environment of Overwatch? 

I’m a big advocate for role lock. I’m not bothered by the loss of “creative” compositions and personally like my ranked to have a bit more structure than four DPS, a Wrecking Ball and me on support. No complaints from me.

What are your opinions on the Washington Justice showmatch at MEO, given the mixed response so far from pros and the community? Are you happy to brush shoulders with OWL talent or would you prefer something more formal rather than a pick-up game? 

I play ranked with players from the Washington Justice. Everyone participating in the grand final is rated high enough to do the same, and most players VPN to NA and do exactly that. 

I don’t think the pick-up game with the Justice will do anything for the scene. If we could play an actual showmatch, it would be better, but in all honestly, I would have preferred to have four Australian teams at LAN over any of that. Either you get stomped by an OWL team or you play a pointless mixed match, there really isn’t much middle ground. 

This is speaking as a player competing, though. I’m sure having OWL players fly out to the event will bring some fresh faces in terms of spectators to the final, so I must admit there is an upside from a publicity standpoint.

Hindsight is 20/20 after the Pacific Showdown, but is it disappointing to know that an AU team won’t be going to Gauntlet? 

It’s crushing to know that whoever wins this season will have nothing else to look forward to this year, so I’m disappointed in our showing at the Showdown. Nonetheless, the experience was a blast and the LAN environment was pretty neat. It would have been nice to play a match where 100 percent of the crowd wasn’t cheering for the other team, though. The only comparable Australian LANs are IEM Sydney and Melbourne Esports Open, and it knocked our studio LANs out of the park.

Looking further ahead, you’ve got OWWC. Filling Custa’s shoes is no small task and you have some dominant opposition to overcome. But what are your thoughts on getting the opportunity to play for Australia?

Mate, I might be the biggest clown currently competing in the Australian scene, you think I’m gonna have an issue filling out a pair of shoes? But seriously, I can’t believe I made the Australian team. It’s unreal to have made it far enough in a game to be on a national team and I’ll have to thank Custa in person for not putting up his hand this year. The competition has always been tough but the boys have made BlizzCon three years in a row now, so I’m hoping to not buck the trend.

Order will play Mindfreak in the grand finals of Contenders Australia at the Melbourne Esports Open on Sept. 1.