Captain Interview - iCon

Welcome to a new a series where Diamond sits down with some of THL's captains for a chat.

Diamond: When constructing your team for hero series, what were you looking for in your players?
iCon: When constructing my Hero team, I was looking for a couple of things. The absolute first priority for me was looking for Discord communicators. If someone is not talking in a team that team is not running at full power. I then went looking for technically proficient players in their seed. Everyone has to be able to hold their own. Finally, I set it up so that every member of my team would not feel nervous because they would know at least two people from another or previous team(s). Itachi knowing Snake and I from FTL, SuperMurloc knowing Itachi and Quirky, S4nguine knowing Snake and myself from A Sssssuh Dude, etc.


Diamond: How would you describe your captain style?
iCon: My captaining style is very loose and democratic. Everyone has an equal say and we usually do not go ahead with a decision unless everyone is sold on it. I have 100% trust in my players and there have been many times where we have made decisions as a squad solely on one person’s instincts. I’m very lucky to work with some of the most veteran players and preppers within THL, so my day-to-day job just revolves around making their lives easier. I take care of business outside the server so they can do damage within the server.


Diamond: What is your team culture like and what do you do to create/maintain it?
iCon: I am extremely passionate about our team culture and I think that the best kind of culture is one you do not even notice. It just evolves naturally. I think that by far my greatest strength as a captain is that with the culture of FTL, we create an environment that makes people want to work hard and hang around. I think that people such as Rebobson, JetLaw, and Itachi who somehow are sticking with me for 3 seasons now speak to that. In terms of the actual day to day culture, we basically just meme on ourselves really hard. 



Diamond: Were there any players you wish you had on your hero series team?
iCon: There are a million players I’d love to play with and captain, and I’m going to forget dozens of names when I name off a few people here. Off the top of my head, I would say RonMexico, LotusKnight, Skittlez, Pasca, Aviously, Mayanadon, Hockeyboyz, Yellowdart, Dragonrider, Donde, Aliensanta, Dusharmo, Bluesombrero, Lefty, Quaz, and Mattatarms.


Diamond: What do you think the ideal team layout of the PR capped series is?
iCon: Many minds greater than mine in THL have tried to solve this for years, but the only formula I can tell is that you want a 4 and 5 seed that is better than average. The difference between the lower seeds is huge so the 4 and 5 are where good captains create their advantage.

Do you think FTL will be the first back to back pro series?
iCon: I absolutely think FTL will be the first back to back pro series champions. Any self-respecting team believes that they can be the true victors and if there’s one thing we have it’s definitely ego.


Diamond: What would be your dream pro series roster (including past/present players)?
iCon: My dream roster will always be whatever one I have at the moment. All iterations of FTL have been great and I love my guys and wouldn’t change any of them for the world


Diamond: Who is your biggest opposition in hero and pro respectively?
iCon: Hero I don’t know because everyone’s so close. In Pro, it’s definitely the Beard Boys. We have a ton of respect for them because we were planning on being the only dominant team and they are keeping the pace with us. I’m looking forward to hopefully playing them in the finals.


Diamond: Who should do this interview next? 
iCon:  I think Pasca is an absolutely brilliant captain whose thoughts I’d love to hear more of.

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