captain interview series - azalea akari

Hello THL,

For today’s interview, I have recent Hall of Famer and AFG’s own Azalea Akari. 

Diamond: What do you look for when constructing your rosters?
Azalea: When I am constructing my rosters, specifically for the Legacy and Hero Series teams I have captained, I have looked for people I enjoy playing with, as well as players who are talkative, whether about Hearthstone or whatever comes up. When I captained in Wild for one season, I was fortunate to stumble into a pre-built roster in F2L Celadon, which had great vibes, despite results not going our way.

Diamond: How would you describe your captaining style?
Azalea: My approach to captaining is being available to help my players as much as they want or need my help concerning lineup, classes, and deck preparation, as well as any in-match issues that may occur. I take a more proactive role when I am a player on the team. I also am more proactive if I have new or people returning after a longer period of time away when I am not a player on the team.

​Diamond: What do you think will be the first series you will win as a captain?
Azalea: I think the series I will win first as a captain is Legacy Series or Hero Series, depending on how often I captain Hero Series. I plan to continue captaining Legacy for the foreseeable future though, so I will have the best chance to succeed in that Series, despite my best finish as a captain making the semifinals with F2L Obsidian in Season 18.

Diamond: This is your first season captaining the Pro series; do you think captaining Pro will be different compared to Legacy?
Azalea: I think captaining Pro has already been different from captaining Legacy in week 1. Having players who are new to the Pro Series format, and new to THL, has presented me with the situation where I am less hands-on with the more experienced players, unless they need my help, and more hands-on with the newer players. While my Legacy Series team is very experienced, so I am leaning on my teammates to give me guidance in the game and be there for in-game match issues, match scheduling, and also preparation for each week’s submission and decklists to make sure we all can do our best with the information given.

Diamond: Who would be your dream team of people that you would like to captain?
Azalea: My captain's dream team of people in a PR series is SuperChicken, LotusKnight, lowbrowlowladder, TAB, and jimphilos. For a non-Pr series, I would love to captain McBanterFace, Aquaman, Nejiboston, Dabs, and DreadEye on a Pro Series team.

Diamond: How has being a member of AFG helped you in THL?
Azalea: Being a member of Amber Flight Gaming was a big reason why I continued being in THL in my early seasons. Having some of the best people and players around me has helped me grow as a human being and as a Hearthstone player. AFG has given me a home inside of THL, which has helped me find a few teammates over time for Legacy or Hero, such as Nejiboston, RonMexico, and Basedinc. I would like to thank Dragonrider for having me as an organization member for these years.

Diamond: Who is your biggest competition in Legacy and Pro respectively?
Azalea: In Legacy, this season our biggest competition starts with my team’s week 1 opponents in SuperChicken’s team and from there it’s probably JUSTIN MAKES ME FEEL GOOD in our final week. However, the competition is typically very close across all of the series. In Pro Series, I think the biggest competition for my team will be Collegiate Player Retirement Home, as well as Swagoi, captained by Edelweiss.

Diamond: What would your advice for any rookie or newer captains in THL be?
Azalea: My advice for rookie and new captains would be to talk to friends and people you know and want to team with. Also, I highly suggest taking time to message people who post in the Free Agents channel in the offseason, and sometimes even mid-season because you never know when you will need a substitute player. Also, be readily wanting and willing to learn from experienced captains. Personally, I found that talking with you [Diamond] and Nejiboston really helped me find my footing as a captain.

I want to thank Azalea for his time and for answering all of my questions. Thank you for reading the interview series and please DM any feedback to me on Discord (diamond22_). Next week, I will be interviewing a board member.