captain interview series - copa

Hello THL,

For today’s interview, I have the captain of the Worldshakers, Remember the Titans and The One Owl-malgam Band, Copa. 

Diamond: What do you look for when constructing your roster?
Copa: Hello! First of all, thanks a lot for having me, I’m excited to give an interview there! 
To answer the question: First, I don’t captain in the Legacy and Hero series. Therefore, I don’t have to take PR into account, which is very helpful for the way I build my rosters. Second, thanks to the many teams I played for during these two years, I know a lot of players  I’d want to team up with. 
Now for the way I build my rosters: usually, I’m mostly looking for people who are communicative and fun to be around. So first, I ask the people I’ve played with in the past, or those I heard great things about. For example, for the first iteration of the Worldshakers, the very first time I had to build a roster, I asked SiNF3RN0 and Gummbii, who I know are great people and huge fans of Shaman. Then I looked for people who wanted to dive into THL. This is how most of the recruitment phases went for the Wild series: just looking for friends and/or people who want to give this series a try.
Pro went a bit differently. At the time, I was playing for Owl’s team. We wanted to stay together, but Owl couldn’t fulfill the captain’s responsibilities. So, since I had some experience as a captain, I just took over the captaincy and it has continued like this since then. Same as the Wild series, I’ve been playing with the same people since the start: Hustle, Stinzy and Owl (except this season for the latter). And to fill the remaining slots, I asked good friends of mine and/or past teammates I wanted to play with again.
 
Diamond: How would you describe your captaining style?
Copa: I would say collaborative. I don’t see my role as a captain AND his players, I see it more like a player who’s playing alongside other friends, but I happen to be the one who register the teams and fill the subforms, basically.

Diamond: How does captaining in the Pro series differ from the Wild series?
Copa: It doesn’t differ much from my experience. I would say the commitment is a bit different maybe? Players in the pro series tend to tryhard more than in the Wild series, which is mostly made of either Standard players who are tipping their toes in Wild, or dedicated Wild players who play in high legend and nothing else. So, Pro players will usually spend more time prepping and building a lineup, though it’s also the case in Wild, but just less often. At the end of the day, in both series, I make sure my players are submitting their decks in time. I also try, as much as possible, to ask them about their strategy before they submit, mostly by sharing with them the scouting of their opponent, and trying to break it down to figure out a lineup. So yeah, it doesn’t differ much, apart from the commitment for some players, but I respect that. That’s about it.
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Diamond: What seasons have been your favourite in your tenure in THL thus far?
Copa: I think my favorite season was the March of the Lich King one. It was the first time I played in all the series. Most of my teams did pretty good that season overall, we also won the last season of the Pro EU series, and I won the deciding match too! Furthermore, I went undefeated in Legacy for the first time in the regular season, which felt really great and improved my confidence a lot as a player.
Looking back, these results led to me being happy with how I played overall. The meta had 4-5 decks I really liked and played them a lot, especially after Frost DK got nuked. So I ended up being very comfortable with them, and going for comfort is what works best for me usually, and it paid off!

Diamond: What has your experience as a Trios captain been like?
Copa: Captaining in the Trios series is very different from the other series. To be fair, I don’t really feel like I’m a captain there. We are just three good friends who like to prep and play together; I’m just the one who sends the registration fees and makes sure a time is set for the match. That’s about it. Hustle and Owl are as active and communicative as I am, so we are all on an equal footing, which helps tremendously to have a great mood during the season.

Diamond: How do you keep your players motivated during the season?
Copa: First thing I do each week is a speech to recall what happened last week, where we are in the season, who we are facing that week and how we should approach the matchup. It’s also a good way to make sure my players know the week has started, to cheer them up and encourage them too. It’s also a reminder that I’m here for them as a captain, a teammate and a friend, anytime they need. Basically, I make sure they are enjoying their time in THL. Knowing my players are having a good time while they are in the team is, in my opinion, the best thing to achieve as a captain.

Diamond: Why is Shaman your favourite class?
Copa: Oh man, that’s a long story. I started playing at the end of 2015, back when the league of explorers just released. Being F2P at this time, I was looking for a class in which I’d invest my dust into to make the 2-3 good decks it has. Shaman being what it used to be, either a class with no viable deck or the class with the tier 0 deck, it ended up being a poor choice but that didn’t matter to me at the time. Also, blue is my favorite color, which helped me pick a class aha.
I kind of fell in love with battlecries, mostly thanks to Brann and rumbling Elemental. From there, I kept playing different (bad) variations of Shaman decks involving battlecries, until I could play my first real deck: Freeze Mage! Not a shaman deck, I know, but let’s ignore that. 
To sum it up, my love for Shaman started from there. Then, a lot of iconic cards kept the flame alive, such as Shudderwock, Hagatha, Corrupt the Waters, the lackeys, and most importantly, Grumble, the Worldshaker! (see it now?). 
Elementals are one of my favorite tribes, and this also helped in keeping my love for the class up. From there, it started snowballing, and playing Shaman decks felt like being at home. They clicked to me faster than the decks from the other classes too. So I just stuck to the class, and now here I am, being an admin of a Discord dedicated to the class, and bringing Shaman in THL as often as possible.

Diamond: What would your advice for any rookie or newer captains in THL be?
Copa: At first, I thought captaining would take a lot of time and commitment. It turns out it doesn’t take much time. There is just a routine to establish each week to fill the few responsibilities I have as a captain efficiently. So, don’t hesitate to dive in, you’ll make some friends and good memories. I’m loving it so far, and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon!

I want to thank Copa 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 prolific captain.