Anthony "Fire" King is one of the strongest support players in the amateur Overwatch esports ecosystem. He has led his current team, EnVision Esports, on many great conquests and he should chalk those down on his resume proudly. He and his team have played spoilers to many teams during 2017 Overwatch Contenders Season 1 and have placed well in third-party amateur tournaments like the Alienware Monthly Melees, Dreamhack Montreal, and Overwatch Contenders. At the helm of this tight-knight band of friends, Fire acts as the anchor for the team. He is the rock, unmoving and unshakable. He is a primary caller and a vocal in-game leader for his team. The only problem; we knew “Fire” is an amazing support player in-game, but we don’t really know who “Anthony King” is.

Just as a staging ground, I wanted to know a bit more about who Anthony was. Not going by his in-game handle of “Fire”, I wanted to know more about Anthony as a person.

What was it like growing up for him? What was life at home like? “Life growing up as a kid for me was very simple until I started to understand what was going on around me more and lost that childhood innocence.” His words left an imprint of something greater than just ink on paper or pixels on a screen. Fire elaborated.

”Life growing up as a kid was really simple, just being that boy next door. Going day to day getting all A's in school till I diverted attention to CS: GO, playing football till middle school, but this is all while moving three times and it came to me that money was tight in my family. My stepdad was a complete embarrassment financially, and that there weren't really any close relatives. Combine all that together and that's what has helped me become the understanding, independent person I am today.” It was clear that life wasn’t always peaches and cream for Fire. I can only imagine how troubles at home could have acted as a catalyst for him to find an outlet for his emotions. Whether it be sports or immersing himself in PC games, these experiences shaped who Fire into who he is today.

In most competitors, the drive and fire to compete usually starts at a young age, and in Fire’s case, this was no different.“I definitely loved playing sports as a child, my most fond moment was when before a game of flag football my mom offered me five dollars for each flag I got on defense. This motivated me to the point where I ended the game with nine flags and a handshake from the opposing coach before the game had even ended.” Taking back by how impressive some of his feets were during his school days, I sat and wondered to myself, how did a young and respected athlete learn to pick up a mouse and keyboard? How did he become captivated by games? Where did those lines blur and the drive of an athlete morphed into the necessity to become a professional gamer?

“Look at this little guy and tell me he wasn’t made to play games …” he quickly flashed a picture of what presumably was him, no more than two or three years old, standing at the base of an arcade cabinet. “... but seriously speaking, I knew I was a gamer ever since I threw away graduating high school from the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program I was in and when my friends were talking about early registering for college. I never really joined the conversation and thought college was not the move. During this time, I would sink massive hours into watching and playing League of Legends as well as CS: GO.” While he put college on the back burner to cool down after high school, Fire undoubtedly started to ponder the accessibility and allure of pursuing a career in esports.

“I worked at places like USPS as a holiday mail handler and later at Michaels as a replenishment associate back when I was playing for Hammers eSports in late November 2016 and a Ronin mixup squad respectively. So, I had kept my gaming ventures hidden from my mom until I signed with EnVision. Initially, the overall reaction to me pursuing a career in esports was cautious, until recently competing at Contenders Season 1 and APAC.” While his passion was budding and finally bearing fruit, Fire had to be secretive and manage his time properly. What interesting is peering through the eyes of Fire’s parents here? This success must have looked like it happened overnight to them. One minute your son is leaving for his shift at the United States Postal Service and in the next, he’s on a plane flying to China to compete in a video game tournament for $230,000.

As we talked about his advancement in his career and his travels, I asked him about what his time in China was like.

During October of 2017, Fire and his team, EnVision eSports traveled to Shanghai, China to compete in the APAC Premier 2017. “The experience at APAC Premier 2017 was amazing on both ends of competing as a player and as a tourist. From playing against teams like Afreeca Freecs Blue, MT1, and Miraculous Youngsters in a LAN Cafe for eight to twelve hours, to walking the Bund of Shanghai and trying some of the fantastic foods was incredibly fun and something I hope to play in again.” Just like in life, everything isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, Fire continued with some of his more unpleasant memories of China. “ I’ll say jet lag is something else, I didn’t believe in it until I woke up repeatedly during the night, then decided to try to deal with it and made myself tea and ironed my clothes. My complaints about the experience there would be that practicing at a LAN Cafe then transitioning to an actual LAN client on the stage was a bit jarring and having to level new accounts to play the competitive queue in China was a bit underwhelming.

For professional players, esports is a highly volatile environment. Whether it’s finding a healthy work-life balance or the constant flux of roster shuffles, it’s surprising for a player to have a career with one specific team. With Fire being on his current team, EnVision Esports for nearly 11 months, I had to ask: why? Why this team out of the thousands out there? “I really connected with the goals and attitudes of the players and staff. I knew that I could grow and develop into a strong player within the environment of the team.” As he loosened his tie, he explained how the team’s more ‘relaxed’ environment helped maintain a positive ecosystem.

“I’d also say that being able to share some priceless moments with my teammates is something every team should have, you don’t want to be on that team that practices for six hours and agrees on everything. There’s something that makes every team special. It’s nice being able to reminisce about how Caleb (McGravy) ‘accidentally’ slapped Chris (Kophee, our main tank at the time) in the face after we had qualified for Season 0 Contenders Playoffs or even the escape room madness, Seb (numlocked) put us through while in Burbank for the S1 Contenders Playoffs. Just being able to not regret anything when looking back on my past has kept me here.” That same positive outlook on success and failure paid off when EnVision Esports took home their first big win at DreamHack Montreal.

With the experience of being content and able to stay with relatively the same group of guys for nearly a year, I asked Fire, from a players perspective, what exactly made a strong team in his eyes. His answer gave insight to not only how EnVision Esports worked as a team, but possibly how professional Overwatch esports teams tend to behave. “Some good traits could be being like-minded and open. Specifically open to criticism and losing, being able to joke with each other, and being synchronized are the most important traits I can think of.” In relation to his team, in particular, the emphasis on relaxed, but professional was echoed. “Our roster has these traits and it’s really awesome to be able to go barbaric outside of official games and lighten the tension after many hours of grinding and figuring out issues in different plays. They also help whenever we need to pick someone up from having a bad day.”

It was that mentality that carried them into their first breakout matches during Overwatch Contenders Season 1 of 2017, where Fire and EnVision Esports broke the mold with shocking upsets against the likes of Rogue and Immortals. “Knowing that there wasn’t a large crowd behind us for our Rogue and Immortals we just told ourselves that no one expects anything from us and to play our best without any regrets. I wouldn’t say there was a lot of pressure on myself but divided between the team to prove ourselves and show that we were being slept on. In all seriousness, it’s great having people cheering on for us, but having that underdog mindset going into every game helped us keep our calm and avoid silly mistakes.” Spoken like a seasoned veteran, Fire and his team looks to carry that same success into Contenders Season 1 of 2018.

As the conversation floated around the waters of the tier 2 scene and specifically in Overwatch Contenders, I wanted to get Fire’s take on the system of the entire amateur scene. “I feel like Blizzard’s competitive system is discouraging especially to newer players that want to go pro, but I think that by allowing a pug system or even developing a role queue mode for their ranked play could help pave the way for newer players, not to mention a better environment for all.” Fire wasn’t only speaking on behalf of all the professional players but on behalf of everyone. He was concerned about the integrity and health of the game and continued.

“Even though not all high rated ladder players are tier 2, players like Crimzo are literally needles in the haystack, because even though he wasn’t our first choice due to all of the academy teams rounding up players he turned out to be the best choice for us. I also worry for healthier balance updates, although they’ve been on a roll lately with the Mercy and upcoming Sombra change, and the potential from Overwatch League mid-season signings ‘weakening’ Contenders teams. I bring these topics up because it’s something to seriously pay attention to with how well the tier 2 scene is going to be able to foster talent for Overwatch League and stabilize after mid-season signings especially when Blizzard intends to add more teams to the league.” As Blizzard makes small strides towards creating the infrastructure to be able to foster and support young talent, Fire is not going to sit and wait around. He’s injected himself into one of the most promising teams in the Contenders scene and is participating in every third party tournament they can find.

With the Overwatch amateur scene in a constant state of flux, it’s hard to look ahead to the future, but Fire has got some simple one-year goals set up so that he always has something to strive for. “A good friend always told me it’s all about the baby steps you take towards these goals to make them happen. My personal goals for this year are pretty basic and common like progressing further into my Overwatch career, beating depression, eating healthier and going to the gym regularly, learning Korean, and most importantly, getting these damn braces off my teeth.” Oddly enough, you start to see his personality shine through here. You get notes of dedication, a strong sense of humor, and a willingness to be open and sincere. “I haven’t really thought about five years into the future, but I can see myself somewhere in esports and maybe becoming a decent streamer with a regular schedule.”

As my time with Fire came to a close, I wanted his take a quote that resonated with me, especially within my short time in esports. It came from a small movie called “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” which documents the life and times of one of the greatest sushi chefs in the world. The main focal point of the film, a Japanese Sushi Chef, Mister Jiro Ono, gave us this engaging thought;

“Once you decide on your occupation—you must immerse yourself in your work.You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job.You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill.That's the secret of success...and is the key to being regarded honorably.”

Fire took in the quote and gave an equally insightful and profound response. Something that only a former or current professional player—in any element—would be able to tell. “The quote from ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi,’ expresses many emotions that Overwatch players go through in the beginning. It’s very stressful, frustrating, and sometimes unforgiving when you’re trying to make it in Overwatch esports or any esport. The main thing to take from this is to always be positive, understand your role and failures by ‘immersing yourself,’ but to also find the niche things or a unique playstyle with the heroes you play—and recognition will follow you.”

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLG’s of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at @Volamel.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment, Anthony King, and Banana Culture