With their amazing performance all the way back in MLG Vegas 2016, FaZe Clan is here with a new roster and a new attitude. FaZe Clan has just finished qualifying for the LAN playoffs for Overwatch Contenders Season 1. With FaZe finding themselves at another LAN, Joe "Joemeister" Gramano sat down and talked with me about his team, communication, and why having a strong support staff is a must.

Big ‘thanks, yous’ you Joemeister for stopping by today! How are we doing this evening Joe?  Finally, FaZe has qualified for the playoffs for Overwatch Contenders, how does it feel knowing you’ve finally got another Overwatch LAN coming up?

I'm doing great. The team and I are very excited for the Contenders LAN coming up. Our success is the result of hard work over the past 4 months or so, and this event will be our first offline one together with this roster. Of course, all of us have played in several offline events on various different teams in the past, but it'll be interesting to see how we do with this one.

Speaking of this new roster for you, can you talk to me about how you’ve enjoyed your time with FaZe Clan so far? How does this roster compare to some of your old rosters? Is this one of the strongest teams you’ve been a part of?

I've really been enjoying my time with FaZe Clan so far. I've been able to see how much we've progressed as a team since I first started playing with these guys and the success we have now, and that for me is the most motivating thing - constant growth is a good sign for any team. If I were to compare this roster to the rosters I have previously played on, this has to definitely be the strongest team I've been a part of. The atmosphere is a little different for sure though, we're still building relationships with each other and learning more about each other each day, whereas, with compLexity, for example, I knew all of those guys for at least a solid year, some of them even longer than a year. I don't mind that at all though, I'm easy to get along with, and everyone has been super welcoming to me here at FaZe, making it easier for us to build friendship.

Like you said, you guys are still building relationships still as a team, but I know it’s quite the ‘international’ team, could you talk about how does the communication works within FaZe? You’ve got a Russian, a South Korean, a Belgian, and three native English speakers, not to mention the support staff. Do the coms get a bit confusing at times? Have you guys run into trouble with any language barriers?

Despite what most people might think about having a multi-national roster, we surprisingly haven't run into any communication or language barrier issues while playing with each other. In fact, I think we've been able to progress as quickly as we have because of everyone's natural ability to communicate well. When I initially suggested looking into Hwi (our coach) and Carpe, I was very careful about my decision and I made sure that above all, communication and language wouldn't interfere with our ability to do well. Before bringing them on to try playing with us, I had been talking to both of them for at least 2 weeks - I knew communication wouldn't be a problem. As for Shadowburn and Spree, they both have really good English, and we knew communication with them had never been a problem in the past.

I’m sure that's a big plus for all the FaZe fans out there! We have all heard of some of your support staff at least at some point in watching Overwatch; that being, Coach Se-Hwi "NamedHwi" Go. What in your eyes does he bring to the team as head coach? Could you talk about why having a strong mind in the coaching role is so important?

Most people don't get to see a lot of the work that NamedHwi has done for our team since most of it is done behind the scenes. I can tell you with confidence though that Hwi has been an integral part of our team's success. It's refreshing to have someone who can so thoroughly and enthusiastically encourage you to never forget about the fundamentals of the game, as well as some of the more complex ideas that arise at the highest level of Overwatch. I think Hwi has an interesting mind for the game that most, if not all western coaches don't have right now. He's really intelligent and he's obviously studied the game over a very long period of time, but what's special about him is it's nearly impossible for us to ever find the opportunity to disagree with him and his ideas. His thoughts, arguments, and ideas are that thorough and concrete. I don't think FaZe OW would be where it is today without him, even though he's only been with us for a short period of time. Having a strong mind in the coaching role is important because really good coaches are scarce. There are way more players than there are coaches obviously, so in a sense it's much harder to find a really good coach than it is to find a really good player, but I think we've hit the jackpot with Hwi.

So, here’s a quick topic for you; what is your five-year plan outside of esports? Where would you like to be in the next five years? Is there anything you haven’t had the chance to do yet and would like to do?

To be honest, my 5-year plan outside of esports doesn't look that interesting right now. I've been fully dedicated to pursuing success in esports the past year-and-a-half and I plan on doing the same for the next 5 years. Sure, I enjoy the traveling, it's nice to see new places, meet new people, and create new experiences, but I'm pretty satisfied even just with esports. As for my personal goals for the next 5 years, I'd like to be able to make a name for myself not just in Overwatch, but in esports as a whole. I'd also like to get back into shape at some point since I've decided to keep my ass on the payload every day for the past year-and-a-half. There's nothing in particular that I haven't had the chance to do yet, at least nothing yet that I've REALLY wanted to do, but I'm sure that'll change as time goes on.

FaZe Clan, at least in Overwatch, have become somewhat of an enigma. The team that is really good, but somehow turns up on LAN. Can we expect that same heat coming from you guys come October for the Overwatch Contenders playoffs?

We can absolutely expect that same heat coming from us in October for the Overwatch Contenders playoffs. Despite the fact that we're all going to be playing on LAN for the first time together with this roster, we're all very confident players with more than enough LAN experience, so there's no doubt in my mind that we can do even better on LAN.

Before we close this out, how would you say your Lucio play has changed in the last 6 months? Has there been something that has really shifted the Lucio ‘metagame’ if you will? Has it changed your play in a direction you didn’t think it would?

Over the last 6 months, I think my Lucio play has changed a lot. If we go back to the most recent Lucio changes, I'd say that's what really prompted a shift in the Lucio 'metagame'. With old Lucio, it was good enough to play a more passive style, and just always play to protect your team's backline while still being able to provide speed and heals to your frontline. However, now, if you don't want to feel completely useless on Lucio, it's important to be able to decide when it's important to be more aggressive and when you should still be more passive to really maximize Lucio's kit and utility. Now, you need to be more active, you need to understand different situations so that you know when it's ok to move up with your frontline, or when it's absolutely necessary for you to stay back and protect your Ana/Zenyatta. Nowadays, I find myself actively looking for more aggressive opportunities that could really change the tempo of a fight. Honestly, I think the shift hasn't changed my play in a direction that I didn't think it would, in the sense that when I first saw the new changes to Lucio, it was reasonable to think that Lucio would have to be more active with his decision-making to feel more impactful.

Wonderful! There you have it, folks! The man, the myth, the legend; Joemeister everyone! Joe, let the people know where they can find your social media and what's going on in the life of Mr. Joemeister.

Well, right now, I'm still in Vegas bootcamping with the team. We'll probably be here continuing our practice and preparation for the Contender's playoffs until we have to fly out to the new Blizzard Arena. For those of you who support me, you can easily find me on twitter @JoemeisterOW, and hopefully soon at Twitch.tv/JoemeisterOW. You can also do the same for my teammates if you'd like to be kept up to date with anything we're doing daily, as well as with how our matches will go during the LAN event.

Thanks for having me!

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 and @tempusrob