In one of the semifinal matches of the Rivalcade Memorial Rumble Qualifiers, two little heard of teams met each other: Vice and Virtue. The two had to beat the likes of Brasil Gaming House, You guys get paid?, and (former) Gale Force eSports to reach each other in a matchup of seemingly coincidental opposing team names.
Their names, however, were no coincidence. The two teams were formed and coached by Chance, coach of Immortals, as an independent project. Their names are a result of their relationship as sister teams, and their match in the semifinals of the Rivalcade Qualifier was far from their first time playing each other.
In forming the rosters, Chance first looked for people with a certain SR and had them send him their obligations, goals, frequency of play, and their past experiences. He then entered a call with players who met what he looking for from that group. In those calls, Chance would get a gauge on the players' personalities, specifically looking for drive, open-mindedness, and fittingly enough, virtuous in some ways. "It sounds corny," Chance said, "but you gotta be a good person."
Chance says he met with future Vice player Scratch early on in the process, and that he came packaged with a coach. Chance was open to the idea of the team having its own coach, as it would make it easier on himself. However a problem formed when nero also came with a coach. Chance, initially wanting to form just one roster, now had himself two.
Chimp, Vice's coach, got his team off the ground early, doing most of the coaching and managing while Chance worked on building up the Virtue roster. Still, Chance was heavily involved with both of the teams, while also head coach of a top team, Immortals. With all of this going on, he has very quickly learned he needs to work on his time management skills.
Now that the rosters have been picked, they are essentially locked. "I see rosters as a unit, and a family," Chance said, "Once a roster is solidified, I consider it do-or-die a lot of times. You don't make roster swaps, you don't change people out because I don't want people even thinking of that idea. Immortals serve as an example of Chance's philosophy; the last time they changed their roster before this week, not including when Chance temporarily subbed in for nomy during the LAN finals of the NGE Winter Premier, was back in December when they brought in Verbo to replace Chance on support so he could focus on coaching.
Vice and Virtue serve as a ways of honing Chance's other philosophies and tactics, too. "This project was to give me almost what you would consider a smurf," Chance said. They serve as a means to give him more coaching time and experiment with things in ways he can't with Immortals, a top team that can't afford to lose as a result of experimentation.
While Chance may want to experiment with his strategy, he is pretty confident and steadfast in his philosophy. Chance believes mentality is everything, and if a player enjoys the game like a passion, the player will get better faster. Chance cited Runner, captain and owner of RunAway, as an example of the difference the right mindset makes. Runner is known for being less mechanically skilled than players at his level, but his team made it to a runner-up finish at APEX Season 2 in part because Runner kept his team motivated didn't let them get down.
Based on that philosophy, Chance felt good about his going into the Rivalcade Qualifiers,specifically Vice. "The day before that we had a heart-to-heart just about having fun with the game," Chance said, "So they had a point of rejuvenation where they really wanted it, and that showed that day. They probably played their best day of their lives." Chance's feeling were proven correct that day, as they marched all the way to the finals of the qualifier.
For Overwatch Contenders Season Zero and beyond, Chance isn't putting expectations of performance on Vice and Virtue. "To stay true to it all, [the expectation for Contenders is] to have fun and learn," Chance said, "I don't do glorification and hype because it changes their view and their perception. I'm not really concerned with that end result. Whether it's this time or the next time, them playing the game and enjoying it is all I really want."
Editor's note: this interview was conducted prior to today's Immortals roster announcement
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