The London Spitfire have chosen a new approach. Under new management in Ysabel “Noukky” Müller, the team went a European focused route, marking a stark departure from the organisation’s roster-building scheme in previous seasons. In the first part, we talked to Noukky about the process of getting into esports up until the point of getting British Hurricane off the ground.

In part 2, we discuss all things 2021 Spitfire, with Noukky at the helm of the campaign for season 4. We talked about topics such as finally becoming a GM, working with C9, the choices going into the 2021 roster, who the new recruits are as individuals and as a unit, the possibility of giving Owen "provide" Warner a chance, goals, and hopes for the season.

Noukky on finally becoming a General Manager

• Noukky tried so long to become an Overwatch League General Manager that she eventually decided to open herself up to more scenes in order to stay endemic in Overwatch
• Noukky pitched the idea of a European team in season 3 when the team was deciding which roster-building strategy to pick. Noukky’s proposal arrived at a time during which C9 owner Jack Etienne was already deep in negotiations with the Korean coaches

Jack literally said in chat: “if we are going for a European roster, Noukky is going to be GM” and that was it.

• Noukky thinks that the success of British Hurricane had a positive effect on London Spitfire’s decision to go mostly European

Choosing the 2021 rosters

• Noukky thinks that straight-up copying playstyles from other regions and force into the regional meta usually doesn’t work
• When asked about Jofi, Noukky says that she differentiates between performance and attitude, with good performers still not being guaranteed a starting spot if they don’t fit in or have motivational issues
• London Spitfire tries to involve the players in the making of strategies, having each player host parts of the VOD review and give feedback, generally trying to come up with collaborative solutions
• Justin "reprize" Hand is located on the East coast. Noukky initially interviewed reprize for the head coach position of Cloud9 White, C9’s all-women VALORANT team
• Every British Hurricane player had to extensively trail for their position on the Spitfire
• Noukky says that Daniel "Dannedd" Rosdahl had a fair shot at trailing for the Spitfire
• Jeffrey "blasé" Tsang impressed them as a full-package on and off the server

Who are the Spitfire

Noukky thinks Hadi Daniel "Hadi" Bleinagel is a natural-born leader for the team

Ripa is… Finnish.

• Riku "Ripa" Toivanen is laid back and quiet, contributes either ridiculous or very smart ideas
• Dominic "Hybrid" Grove is flexible and has a solid hitscan, improving rapidly, according to Noukky
• Before the news officially dropped, Mike "Packing10" Szklanny went around teams and asked if teams had spots for his players. Therefore, the Spitfire became aware that Johannes "Shax" Nielsen would be available
• The Spitfire knew that Kai "Kai" Collins would be highly contested, therefore opting to go for Shax, who they thought they could afford. Noukky still had to make the business case for it with the org but got it approved quickly

Looking at provide (formerly Slur)

I would’ve given [provide] a second chance.

• Noukky says that they have looked at Owen "provide" Warner before their backline changes in British Hurricane in 2020 and would’ve picked him up if it had not been for his ban
• Noukky says that she came to the conclusion that provide was worth giving a second chance to and suggests that it’s also worth for others to look into him

I had the feeling that he definitely learned about what mistakes he made and how to better himself as a person.

Goals and Comments on season 4

• Noukky says that a realistic goal for them is to get into some of the seasonal tournaments 

It’s not realistic that we are going to be a top three team.

• Noukky is hoping for a middle of the pack finish
• Noukky says that Overwatch League has specific East coast servers with which ping is a bit better than on live servers. She expects to play at a ping of 90-110ms
• Noukky says that it’s possible the Spitfire will cause some upsets early on in the season
• Noukky says that Jeffrey "blasé" Tsang as a player was misunderstood, with him having to stand in on McCree
   

Image via Blizzard Entertainment