Walking into the SWOSU esports arena for Overwatch 2 tryouts, freshman Max Marler, with a controller in hand, was ready to put his skills to show. Marler was ranked in the top 500 internationally within the game. Upon getting to tryouts, Marler’s plans to make the team quickly became questionable after learning he would be unable to use his controller, instead needing to use a keyboard and mouse.
“I wasn’t told you couldn’t have a controller. I’ve always played controller and I showed up and the coach says it’s only PC, only keyboard and mouse,” Marler said. “I got like super nervous. I was about to leave because I’ve never played keyboard and mouse before and I thought I was gonna do terrible.”
After thinking it over, Marler decided to stay at tryouts and began to try to figure out the new method.
“At first I was like, oh crap, this kind of sucks. Yeah, I stand no chance,” Marler said. Then, I figured there was no point of leaving. It’s only a tryout so I might as well try it out. I did way better than expected I made the the JV team at first and then as I got better I made the varsity team.”
Since making the team, Marler has further adjusted to the new change and has been improving with the keyboard and mouse.
“It’s honestly been a lot smoother than expected,” Marler said. “There’s still like a few things I need to work out and that just comes with playing. The more I play the better I’ll do.”
Playing with the rest of the SWOSU Overwatch grey team, the team has been finding success, starting off the year with a win. Part of the team’s success has been attributed to Marler, who is finding success in the “Tank” position.
“My role is basically making space so my team can have opportunities to do their jobs,” Marler said. “Basically, it starts with you doing your job so your team can do theirs.”
Diving deeper into the position, Marler’s teammate Thomas Dyer aka Maxwitherman explains the position’s importance, and how Marler fits the position.
“[The Tank’s role is] stay alive. He’s mainly meant to like, help the team take space and push forward,” Dyer said. “He’s the big shield, big hammer, just run, go forward energy. It literally is just his personality, fits him perfectly.”
Marler fits his position well, and he fits into the team well, being welcomed by everyone.
“The team has been super nice to me. It’s like I kind of just fit right in, like one of them. And they just put me in a position they told me to do my best and that’s what I did.”
Marler and the SWOSU overwatch team play often, follow @swosuesports on Instagram to stay updated on the squad’s next scrimmages. The scrimmages are available to watch on Twitch at SWOSUEsports, or on Marler’s personal channel: Pastyy69.
