{"id":182845,"date":"2023-01-10T18:48:09","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T18:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/overwatch-coach-jacob-spilo-clifton-explains-why-mindset-matters-most\/"},"modified":"2023-01-10T18:48:09","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T18:48:09","slug":"overwatch-coach-jacob-spilo-clifton-explains-why-mindset-matters-most","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/overwatch-coach-jacob-spilo-clifton-explains-why-mindset-matters-most\/","title":{"rendered":"Overwatch coach Jacob ‘Spilo’ Clifton explains why mindset matters most"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Spilo, a sturdy dude with wild hair and a hoodie, looks gently concerned as he speaks via webcam. \u201cYou’re being gatekept from the things you really enjoy because of your fear of letting yourself or letting other people down, and that is honestly probably quite disappointing considering that’s really truly where you’d find the most enjoyment but you can’t get there.\u201d He’s streaming live on Twitch, looking at an overwatch<\/em> 2<\/em> match via a Discord call with a high-ranked Winston <\/em>player who has struggled with playing ranked mode. It may sound like therapy, but it is a part of Spilo’s overwatch <\/em>coaching process. <\/p>\n

At 28 years old, Jacob \u201cSpilo\u201d Clifton has made a career of teaching, well before overwatch<\/em> ever entered the picture. He taught gymnastics in high school, became a head instructor at an all-ages MMA school, and has even tutored advanced mathematics. It should be no surprise that his career with overwatch<\/em> took him all the way to overwatch<\/em> League, and he’s now a sought-after expert to evaluate players at all levels. <\/p>\n

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Have you ever thought to yourself, I want to get better at games, but I don’t want to destroy my life? We’re here to help with a special week dedicated to all things video games and health.
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Spilo’s life and career with the game have given him a specific perspective on improvement. Like many who were drawn to overwatch<\/em>, Spilo had little first-person shooter experience; he spent his time doing extensive world PVP in Lord of the Rings<\/em> online<\/em>, as \u201cthe world’s best Warg.\u201d After being pressured to try the popular Blizzard game in 2017 by his brother-in-law, Spilo immediately got hooked. The game felt both fast-paced and tactically dense; in an interview with Polygon, he described how it felt like overwatch <\/em>offered the \u201cperfect combination\u201d of those elements while still not requiring proficiency at first-person shooter mechanics. <\/p>\n

Spilo’s journey into competitive overwatch <\/em>started small. \u201cI was, you know, the typical Bronze player,\u201d he said. \u201cI actually had a lot of competitive anxiety. I didn’t like playing ranked. I just liked playing Quick Play.\u201d Spilo’s own journey of learning to get better at overwatch<\/em>combined with his love of teaching, first led him back to making YouTube videos, similar to when he’d post montages from his Lord of the Rings Online<\/em> days. While initially he made more light-hearted content, his videos still focused on what had helped him improve as he climbed in competitive ranks. <\/p>\n

Creating overwatch <\/em>content on YouTube is an \u201coversaturated market,\u201d as Spilo put it to Polygon; he decided to start coaching instead, as well as start a community to share knowledge. What happened next was the \u201cevolution\u201d of his growing love for the game. \u201cBasically, over time, as I got better at coaching, as I got better at the game, I started doing more and more of the coaching sessions, and I ended up doing all of them [for my community]. That’s essentially where the transition started,\u201d he explained. At that time, he told himself: \u201cI like doing this, maybe I’d be like an educational streamer. Maybe this is something I could do long-term. I’d started to watch [season 1 of] overwatch <\/em>League, so at the same time, maybe I could do that at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Photo by Bryan Bedder\/Getty Images for Blizzard Entertainment<\/cite><\/p>\n

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Spilo did eventually build a Twitch following, as well as work as a professional coach in both overwatch <\/em>Contents as well as overwatch <\/em>League. He credits his \u201cability to communicate\u201d as what carried him through learning how to coach at that level. According to Spilo, some of the \u201cmost rewarding times as a team coach\u201d came from working with shy players over a few months and seeing their personal development. He recounted an experience coaching an overwatch <\/em>League player who had then circled back to him in the postseason. The player told Spilo that he had a lot to think about and that he would n’t have been able to finish the season without Spilo’s help and his support, and that it really changed him as a person. \u201cThat made my week,\u201d said Spilo. \u201cThat was just everything to me, knowing that \u2013 you feel like you have a permanent impact, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

On top of esports demanding long hours and location changes, Spilo’s interest in having a personal impact on players led him away from formal esports coaching and back to streaming and engaging one-on-one with players seeking feedback. \u201cSometimes I just wanted to talk with people,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, sometimes the best parts of my coaching are when I just get to have frank and honest, relaxed conversations, or when I feel like I have a significant impact on somebody personally, or even just the stupid stuff when I’m chatting with folks in Twitch chat about patch notes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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