In early November, shortly before the very first Hearthstone World Championship at Blizzcon 2014, team owner and Hearthstone personality Jason "Amaz" Chan formed Team Archon with his fellow teammates Firebat, who became the World Champion, and Hosty.
Since then a lot has happenend, Archon established a tournament series called "The Pinnacle", aquired a team house and new players in DeerNadia and Xixo, as well as Backspace who is handling the team management. Although Hosty is no longer part of the team, Archon is still looking forward and working to achieve their goals and dreams.
The team house
Right now the Team Archon house is one of the more interesting things to talk about, as it is rather unique in the Hearthstone scene. Can you tell us the idea behind the house? Like, why did the team get a house and what are the future plans with the house?
The G2A Archon house was an idea before the team was created. Collecting all of our players under one roof makes play testing easier, sharing ideas smoother, and it also creates a fun and enjoyable atmosphere for everyone! We also have future plans to host Archon house cups there as well.
That sounds awesome. Will all the players move into the house eventually?
The goal is to eventually have all players and even production crew under the same roof: just makes everything such as communication etc. much more efficient.
"The team house was an idea before the team was created, and we have plans for house cups as well."
Do you plan on having specific schedules for the players living in the house? Like for practicing, meetings and streaming for example? Or is everyone just doing stuff at their own pace?
Every player has a streaming schedule on Twitch, and that’s one of the main focuses for our members. Tournaments are also another main venture we want to tackle. As for practicing, Firebat is currently our coach, but we are looking to pick someone up specifically for that role.
If you put it on a scale, from a chill place to hang out with like-minded players to like a super hardcore korean gaming house, where will the Archon house stand? How strict do you want to handle things?
It could get pretty hardcore when tournaments are coming up, or even near the end of the month to qualify for some Blizzcon ladder points. Otherwise, we like to chill out and enjoy Hearthstone from all perspectives.
Can you tell us about how you’re financing the house? Isn’t it eating up too much money?
At first, Amaz had to pay for a year of the house’s rent, but then G2A.com has encouraged the production of house cups and is taking a part in Archon’s future, which we are super happy about.
The team
Team Archon is home to five players as of now, are you planning to expand further? If so how many players are you planning to add?
The goal is to have a roster of eight players.
What’s the reason behind such a big roster?
Play testing becomes easier as well as the combined effort of creating content for our website. We do have some pretty high qualifications for picking up new players though.
Are you looking into picking up more players from different regions like Europe or even Asia? Since right now your roster contains only NA players, with the exception of Xixo.
The regions are not important to the team but we are open to the idea of picking up players from different regions. Anybody who’s passionate about Hearthstone, and also has the skills, will definitely be considered.
"We're looking for an 8-man roster, but we have pretty high qualifications for picking up new players."
Besides the region, are you looking for players with specific skills or talents? Like for example, someone with great deck building skills, or someone that is great at creating content for the site?
We are looking for players who are well-rounded and consistent: basically an overall package. Once again, streaming and tournament attendance are two of our most important goals for Hearthstone.
Right now Kitkatz and Thatsadmirable are living with you in the house, can you tell us a bit about that? Will they join the team?
ThatsAdmirable was temporarily living in the house but has since moved out. KitKatz is being looked at as a potential new member.
In an interview, Nihilum's Lothar told us that 4-6 players are kind of ideal for a team, because more players increase the difficulty with managing and just complicate things. Also it is more likely for conflicts to break out, some players might feel overshadowed by others in the team and stuff like that.
Since your future roster plans include more than 6 players, how do you plan on handling those kind of issues? How will you set up your roster to avoid such things?
With a roster of eight players our team is unique in that the individuals are able to shine in different areas without overstepping each other. A few are excellent streamers, some tournament powerhouses, and others prepare for tournaments. With varied roles comes dispersed areas of talents.
Isn’t a big roster like that too ambitious for such a young organisation like Archon?
Luckily Archon has a very talented manager and owner who has experience with these situations. A lot has been accomplished in little time behind the scenes.
An interesting note is that we will be separating our members into specific roles in the future to make it easier to keep track of our adventures!
The website and "The Pinnacle"
First off, any ETA on the website launch?
SoonTM Kappa.
Will the site's content be free, or will there be paid content or something like memberships as well?
The site will be free of course.
"A lot has been accomplished in a little time behind the scenes."
So from what you've told me it seems every member of the team will get their own subpage, like Nadia for her cosplay and Amaz with his class concepts, can you tell us more about that?
All we can tell at this point is that major personalities will eventually have their own pages on the site.
So far you have successfully hosted two iterations of the Pinnacle tournament, with a third at the end of this month, any plans on continuing the series? And if so, in what kind of pace?
The Pinnacle has been a huge success we very much intend to host it monthly with a possibility of a Grand Finals.
Will tournaments hosted by Archon only be ones for the pro scene, or will you host community tournaments as well?
YES! We definetely strife to that as well!
The players
Will we see you joining the competitive scene, like playing in online and offline tournaments?
Since I’ve joined Archon I’ve had the pleasure of receiving coaching where before I only focused on streaming. I am very excited to be performing in future tournaments!
Did you beat the other guys in Magic at PAX? Did Backspace cry because he lost?
Listen, he told me he wasn’t going easy on me so I’ll just have to take his word for it and say I CRUSHED HIM. I very much enjoyed throwing cards on the table for the first time. It’s both exhilarating AND satisfying.
This is your first professional team in Hearthstone and you’re one of just a few well known female players. Is that in any way weird?
Team Archon has had the intention of recruiting me for over four months. I’ve had the idea in my head for quite some time so I feel pretty comfortable. If anything I hope it encourages more ladies to break out of their shells.
What are your expectations from joining team Archon?
My followers have been wanting to see me in competitive play for quite some time and I hope to give them that by joining Archon. Archon also likes the idea of putting me in production or casting which can also open new doors for me.
As one of the best ladder players in the game and a player that pretty much wins every qualifying tournament, what are your expectations from joining team Archon?
As someone who spends all day on the game (playing, preparing, streaming, ..) I really appreciate being around people who also work their hardest.
Every season you’re one of the first few players to hit legend and you always seem eager to be the very first to do so, do you have some special motivation behind that or is it just your competitive spirit?
Not getting invited to tournament for the longest time I just wanted to win everything that's open to everyone, including ladder.
You are mostly known for aggressive decks, especially for Warlock Zoo and Hunter, both known as “cancer” decks, can you tell us why you seem to prefer them over other types of decks?
I don't really care about the time spent per game, I just play what I think gives me the highest win%. And since the decks I played forced people to tech their decks I think I did fine doing so :)
Can you tell us about your work behind the scene, being the manager and such? How do your manager duties look like?
Since Archon is in a phase 1, building relations with companies and being able to fund events has been a starting point. Archon’s 2015 campaign includes adding new team members, house/production, website, schedules, and public media. I just want to get to the point where Amaz can sleep lol
And how did you, as a player and deckbuilder yourself end up becoming the team manager?
I have a lengthy experience in top level management which Amaz saw as an important asset to the team. I only viewed Hearthstone as a hobby but Amaz wanted me to turn it into a career.
Will we see you back as a player on stream and more important in tournaments in the future?
When I can find the time to stream I probably will. Archon is growing fast, my time is stretched thin. Plus I enjoy going on other people’s streams more.
Can you elaborate a bit on the enjoyment factor of managing vs playing? Would you rather play full time and compete in tournaments or is managing exactly what you want to do right now?
I love things exactly as they are. From time to time I do enjoy some competition though.
Would you say that you are kind of the father figure in the house?
My team is self motivated so no, I do have some insightful thoughts I guess?
Did living with your teammates and being surrounded by good players in general help you improve your play? Compared to before, when you lived at home, how much do you think this affected your attitude towards the game?
For me knowing that i was going to be a part of something big was more important and that by itself motivates me to play better.
How do you feel about living with your teammates so far?
Backspace is Awesome! the guy never sleeps, but to be honest my favorite teammate by far is the HOTTUB!
What do you think about the new point system for the Blizzcon qualification? Do you think it’s better than the previous system, since you were one of the guys directly qualified for phase 2 last year?
What I liked was the chance to go into phase 2 directly YEAH! But the new system is fair.
Do you see yourself at an advantage or a disadvantage with the new system?
About the same. One of the systems meant I had to play nonstop for six months. The other means I have to be prepared for more tournaments.
Are you sad that you, as the previous World Champion, don’t get any real advantage for the qualifier?
I think it is fine to make me earn my place again. The game has changed a lot and I like the challenge of it.
What is your vision for Team Archon, could you go a bit into detail about what you want the team to become?
Hearthstone to me is about playing with my friends. So I guess you could say my friends were the main reasons i started Archon. Any success we have is just a bonus.
For how long was project Archon in the planning? I imagine long before you left Liquid?
Around the time I left liquid, I talked with all my future teammates and it just made sense.
If you look at other popular streamers who created eSports powerhouses (CLG, TSM), how would you say you’re comparing so far? Are you learning from how they went and if so what did you learn?
We can learn a lot from other powerhouse teams. Our business model is simple, put out the best product we can “Pinnacle”, “team streaming”, “website” and all the business stuff will work itself out in the end.
Wasn’t it a bit scary to try to create and market your own brand, especially in such a new market?
Maybe in the beginning, but the overwhelming support from our fans and sponsors has been incredible.
Are there any check marks on the team’s growth? Because right now the team looks like an organism ready to grow endlessly!
There are a lot of ambitious plans I have for the team, but I’m currently focused on Pinnacle 3 and the website launch!
Big thanks and shoutouts to Team Archon, it was a pleasure working with you guys!
More on GosuGamers Hearthstone:
