Walking into the interview room after a tough loss, Andrej "BabyBay" Francisty had the energy of someone who just crushed their opponent. “We figured something out, dude,” he said with a smile and a chuckle. One would never guess that the Atlanta Reign had just lost by his demeanor, but this sort of positivity is the BabyBay brand.
Last year’s Inaugural Season of Overwatch League saw Francisty on the 9th-ranked San Francisco Shock as a dominating DPS player. Now, after a change in both meta and team, BabyBay has joined the dynamic Atlanta Reign.
“It’s an awesome organization, and the team is awesome,” said BabyBay. “We’re still trying to figure things out, but we’ve only had, like, a week’s worth of practice and we have two new players.” Flex player Nathan "Frd" Goebel also joined the Atlanta Reign during the mid-season break following the announcement that fan-favorite Daniel "dafran" Francesca was stepping down from professional play to stream full time.
“Dafran retiring wasn’t expected so early on, you know,” acknowledged BabyBay. “So it’s been a little rough, but I think after today’s match we figured something out when we were playing and we’re really going to practice that and see how far we can go with that.”
With the constant pressure to perform at the highest levels, mental health has continued to be a hot topic in esports. In the past week, alone, we saw the resignation of Dallas Fuel DPS player, Hyeon "EFFECT" Hwang and Washington Justice Assistant General Manager, Kate Mitchell. To decompress, himself, BabyBay practices a mix of team bonding, exercise, and relaxation.
“Moving into the Atlanta Reign house, there’s a nice hot tub there; actually, most of the team goes every night,” he said. “I think that’s really important.” This focus on camaraderie is essential according to BabyBay, especially in the current meta where it’s much harder for a single star-player to carry a team.
“This [meta] takes the whole team, so it’s pretty cool to see how close players can become with one another and how much they can trust each other,” he said. “That’s a big thing that the Shock had, that’s what the Shock built - that’s why they’re so good right now.” Francisty hopes to be a part of bringing that same level of trust and synergy to the Atlanta Reign.
“I just can’t wait, because there’s always so much potential in [our] players,” he continued. “I can’t wait for that moment when it all clicks and everybody’s on the same page, and we figure each other out, and we get used to each other.”
With such a positive attitude, it’s hard not to root for the BabyBay and the Atlanta Reign as they look for their first win in Stage Two. The 18th ranked team has a tough schedule ahead of them, however, including two games versus the undefeated New York Excelsior in weeks three and five.
(Feature Photo Credit: Robert Paul, Blizzard Ent.)
