Esports: Lumbra leads Overwatch premier team with playing experience

Justin Herold
Thu, 21 Jan 2021 00:53:16 +0000
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Lucas ‘resp4wn’ Lumbra competes in an Overwatch tournament at Ohayocon Jan. 10, 2020. Credit: Aaron Lien | Lantern File Photo

Before the Ohio State esports team was ever official, Lucas Lumbra was one of the figureheads for the Buckeye’s Overwatch team as a player before making the change to analyst.

Lumbra, a fifth-year at Ohio State, is currently an analyst for the Overwatch premier team. However, before he filled his current role with the team, Lumbra played for the Buckeyes through club teams.

“This was fall of 2017, I was by far the highest-ranked player on the team at that time and so I was one of the youngest players on the team,” Lumbra said. “It was a hell of a lot of fun and definitely a really good introduction for me to competitive gaming and Overwatch.”

The esports program officially started in the spring semester of 2020, hosting several different collegiate teams across multiple games, including Overwatch. Lumbra was also a player for the team back in the spring for its first official season.?

Lumbra said that making the transition from player to analyst was a decision he had been grappling with for sometime. It was even before he knew of the talent that would come with this semester’s tryouts, along with the time dedication and energy needed to give to playing Overwatch at a competitive level on the team.

However, Lumbra said he still felt strongly enough about the program and wanted to be a part of it, so he made the transition to analyst. He said the switch has gone well so far.

“It just felt like it might be time to move on and try something different and look at other avenues that I have within Overwatch as far as a potential career,” Lumbra said. “I knew most of the people on the team from last year who were going to be trying out again this year, and I definitely wanted to make sure that I was part of the team. I felt like it would be a good fit for me, and so far I think it has.”?

One such teammate that Lumbra had played with that returned to the team in the fall semester was Justin “Yan” Yancey, the gray team’s main tank player who had nothing but good things to say about his friend and former teammate turned analyst.

“Even before he was moving to analyst, he kind of had that mindset of a coach, of wanting to help each player improve individually,” Yancey said. “He was really good at understanding the game even then, and I thought he would transition well to analyst and he has. Him and (gray team analyst) Jake (Blitch) it’s obvious how much work they are putting into the program, and I think it’s showing with our record this year.”?

The Overwatch scarlet and gray teams have both performed well during the preseason, with the scarlet team ranking among the top 20 collegiate teams in the country and the gray team being able to advance into tournaments among similar topped ranked teams.

All along, Lumbra has been at the head of the charge with setting up scrimmages against other teams, getting practices scheduled and hosting video-on-demand reviews for the team to learn from in order to improve their overall abilities and knowledge of the game.?

Lumbra said he wants to stay on the coaching track and be an Overwatch analyst for the premier team even after he graduates.?

Blitch said given his contributions, Lumbra has been an asset to the team.?

“(Lumbra) has a lot of experience with the team in the past, obviously as a player but also he ran it when it was a club team,” Blitch said. “He is really good at giving the perspective that the players will have and giving some previous ways things have been run and giving that sort of input helped me out.”