By Suzane Jlelati, Staff Writer
Playing since the beta release, junior Anna Desorcy has made it to a special ranking tier in Overwatch, called the Top 600.
Desorcy joined the beta testing early May of 2016 and was hooked instantly. She is currently in the highest tier called Grandmaster, but has made it as far as being in the 500th ranking out of all the players in North America for three seasons (8 to 9 months). She mains Mercy and plays the support role in the game.
“Once you’re in the top 500 range, that’s basically pro level,” said Desorcy.
Desorcy plays everyday, ranging from two hours during the weekday and eight hours on the weekend. She may not be on a competition team, but she has played with several professional players on the server and has connections with them online.
“If I had the chance I would definitely go pro,” said Desorcy. “I’ve been asked to join smaller competition teams but the professional Overwatch league, I would definitely want to join that one day.”
Desorcy started streaming over the summer but stopped due to school. Here is a link to her Twitch channel. Being a beginner streamer, Desorcy streamed for about 4 hours a day and had a viewer base of around 15 people.
“Overwatch is my first First Player Shooter (FPS) game that I’ve gotten into, so for me it’s a new experience to do FPS because I’ve been more into MOBA (Multiplayer online battle arena) and MMORPG (Massively multiplayer online role-playing games),” said Desorcy.
Desorcy states the Overwatch community is what sets the game apart from other competitors. It is a fun space where everyone can come together and knows everything about the game, making it easy to make dozens of friends in Desorcy’s case.
Desorcy recommends people to try Overwatch now if they are interested because as high school students, there is more free time available to play and improve than if one was in college with a part time job.
“People have asked me before, ‘How do I get good at Overwatch?’ or ‘How do I get to a higher ranking?’ and I just say play a lot, make friends and learn by watching Twitch streams or Youtube videos,” said Desorcy.
LOL our potato computers can’t even run Overwatch, so what do you even mean by solo queue???