Mark "Pookz" Rendon’s story is incredibly interesting. He comes from an illustrious background in World of Warcraft and now has brought his talents to Overwatch. He has played in teams such as Luminosity Gaming, NRG eSports, and Kungarna. Pookz now has joined Gladiators Legion, the academy team to the Los Angeles Gladiators. After a strong showing in week one of Overwatch Contenders North America, Pookz took some time out to answer some questions about his career thus far, his history in World of Warcraft, and the future with Gladiators Legion.

For those of you who don’t know, Pookz was actually quite the Mage player back in the competitive World of Warcraft (WoW) Arena scene. Could you give a little bit of backstory to how you first got into World of Warcraft and esports as a whole?

Something about the first cinematic with the Dwarf Hunter walking along the snowy mountain made me want to see what the game was all about. As things progressed, 3v3 Arena became the most interesting thing to me. Grouping with your friends and attempting to win together on a competitive ladder gave that sense of progression while developing individual skills and teamwork that wasn't quite [satisfying] with 40 man raids. At the time, the game was so popular with 14 million subscribers that big names in esports were starting to get involved and sponsoring top 3v3 Arena teams. Some of my first esports teams were SK Gaming and Evil Geniuses, who helped start my journey in esports.

In a lost interview with Fnatic.com, you mentioned your displeasure with your team's performance at MLG Columbus 2010. You touched your dislike of the arena map, Dalaran, and I wanted to know - do you have a map that you dislike as much in Overwatch? (If so, why?)

Yeah, the team had just won an ESL global final, so comparatively it was going to be hard to top that. On that note Dalaran Arena just specifically played into the enemy’s win condition.  Overwatch is different in the sense that you aren't quite locked into the same advantages/disadvantages of a team composition because of the ability to swap to heroes who excel on the current map or just to counter what your opponent is doing.  

Some of your former teammates, such as Realz, Azael, Talbadar, and Cdew (formerly known as Tenderloin), have transitioned primarily out of competing. Seeing how you’ve been grinding tournaments since 2009, do you think you’ll ever make a similar transition?

Yeah, they’ve remained in the industry they know and love. It's very cool to see Snutz and Cdew being successful streamers and still competing each year around Blizzcon time; I have some good memories playing on teams with them. Rather than grinding tournaments, I think it's more just a passion that I’ve had of pushing my own limits, especially in a team environment, so competitive Overwatch is very fulfilling in that regard. I always envisioned myself staying in the industry after my competitive run, being involved in the new face of esports that Overwatch is showing with the Overwatch League and Contenders is awesome.

Here is a throwback for you: I wanted to jog your memory a bit and see what kind of memories and thoughts come back to you when you see an old photo. If I had to guess myself, this is probably from 2009-2010. What do you remember about this photo?

That event was actually during an all-time record cold in Edmonton, Canada. it was something like -50C and -60C with windchill. I think the computers were set up on an ice hockey rink which didn't help get our minds off of the cold. If you look closely on the table I had a hair dryer blowing hot air onto my mouse as a hand warmer. A quiet USB mini hot air blower would probably be a good idea for players on LAN. The tournament itself took place at the largest mall in Canada which was an experience on its own to go off and explore.

From your time on Luminosity Gaming all the way until now with Gladiators Legion, you and Gods have been practically inseparable. Why have you two seemingly partnered up for so long?

He struck me as a good teammate early on even in an environment where things were far less professional and structured as they are now. It's been great seeing him develop as a player and now really finding an identity on flex tank that rewards high-level mechanics paired with good decision making.

From when I heard rumors about your team being signed, there was one player that kind of stood out to me. I’ve heard incredibly good things about him, but since you’re here, I’d love to get your take on Panker. Is he the real deal?

Yeah, Panker was actually an unexpected and last minute addition.  Panker brings a ton of positive energy and was quick to mesh well with the team. Previously I played with Remix and Bischu where I learned how to take advantage of their aggressive style but also offer a defensive perspective at times. I think Panker has good instincts and it's been fun to play with his style.

The core of the Gladiators Legion roster just screams “experience.” Not only do you have your fair share of competitive experience, but Gods, Roolf and Panker do as well. Do you think that is the driving force in your success so far in Overwatch Contenders North America?

It definitely helps. Early on the idea was to bring on six players with full-fledged LAN and tournament experience, but as things progressed and some players in mind went to the Overwatch League, it transitioned to an experienced tank and support line with less experienced but hungry and extremely motivated DPS players. This mix has been a great environment to work with and everyone is constantly learning from one another. The goal of Overwatch League Academy and Contenders is to have a system where you can facilitate player growth long term.  

Do you think that is your edge compared to some of the other teams?

Having a core of experienced players is definitely beneficial. My perspective and planning in-game typically have the higher percentage play in mind, which is important in a match scenario. This has probably been shaped from years of tournament experience, but having that trust and allowing your teammates to pull off the clutch low percentage play is also important as long as the information is there to enable both options.

Walk me through Numbani. To me, it seemed like you guys had Mayhem Academy’s number in terms of when and where they wanted to engage. Was that the fruition of a lot of preparation or did you guys just have a solid read on what they wanted to do in the game?

I think as Raptorz would say, our systems were firing on all cylinders for that point in particular.  Our tanks were able to play as aggressively as needed because of the stability of our backline. In regards to their engages, I had a standout Ana game with something like 6 enemies slept in a 4-minute hold--the first three being on their attempted dive onto our high ground. Typically a full hold scenario in a match would be largely attributed to studying and preparing for your opponent.  But for this match in particular, it was both teams’ first game, so we had to just develop our own play as much as possible without much info on our opponent to study from.

On your second round Defense of Horizon Lunar Colony, you held Mayhem Academy on Point A. Run me through what changed during that second round. Did you see a pattern that you could abuse?

Well before that, the Lunar Colony first round defense was a bit odd to begin with. They started and called the game live on Quick Play mode, which is why on stream you sort of saw the attackers sitting around not sure if they should play or not.  This isn’t a huge deal if the game is paused or restarted before both team comps are revealed through ‘tab’ but the match wasn’t paused for a minute or so. The second time around, we established a better value system on which of their heroes to shut down at what moments of the hold.  

In just one match, we’ve seen you play three different heroes (Mercy, Ana, Lucio). Would you say it’s the hardest metagame right now for supports seeing how they now have to play almost the entire cast of support heroes? Would you say it’s difficult to manage keeping that many heroes in practice all at the same time?

It's a cool time to be a support player because, while there is a meta around support heroes for each map, teams can still play to their strengths and find which support heroes fit their flavor of the game. It's just important to allocate practice time and really understand the goals of each character relative to what your teammates are playing/doing on each segment and point of the map.

Last but not least, let’s talk about next week. How is the general feel of facing off against XL2 next week? Do you guys feel confident leading into that match up?

Victory is in our sights, XL2 should be a good opponent.

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLGs 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.