Global Esports Dota 2 Captain Omkar “PasoLL” Urunkar

We had an opportunity to catch Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar from Global Esports for a chat, given the preparation he and his team are going through, it’s hard to catch a professional player of his stature for a long discussion. He was kind enough to give us his time and energy.

Here are few questions we ran him through –

EsportzNow – Firstly congrats on joining your new team Global Esports, I hope you’ve found the squad that you were looking for. Any words regarding the organization or the team? How is the synergy coming along?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – Thanks! And yes, the experience with Global eSports thus far has been amazing. GE is one of the only organizations in the country that actually monitors the overall growth of athletes and caters to their every need. Their motto “Player First” is as fitting as it gets. The team has been up and running for about a month and we’ve had our ups and downs. Every day is a battle but off-late we’ve been winning and getting stronger.

EsportzNow – GE as an org sounds great. Exactly what a player would want I guess. By the way, I’m sure it feels great to be back at home again, having spoken to you personally about this I would also want the fans and readers to know how it feels like being a professional, having to choose to move to different cities.

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – Being a professional feels great but it’s not easy. You have to adjust to the weather conditions/new people when you move to different cities. It takes time to get used to the environment. I personally like staying in Pune / Mumbai but no matter what the conditions are, there are always days that you’re going to miss your family and friends from back home (even though you’ll always have the new ones you make along the journey)

EsportzNow – So true, there’s lots more than just adapting in-game. Also being a veteran and one of the most consistent players from the scene, also having consistently proved yourself in ranked matches by being one of those few players from India to be on the leaderboard, would you like to share any pointers to the fans or upcoming players on how to improve their MMR or things they should focus on in-game to achieve that mentality required?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – For improving MMR I think you should find a selection of your most comfortable heroes that are somewhat overpowered in the meta and keep grinding them. Keep watching replays of the tier 1 players who play that hero and try to play it until Valve nerfs it. This is one way to raise your rank at a rapid pace. Another is to find a set of your best hero pool and keep playing with them. Play different matchups and try to find the best item/skill build on it. MMR Grind is real hard work, there are no shortcuts, it takes time and diligent practice but that means just racking up hours won’t get your MMR up.

EsportzNow – Thanks for the advice, I’m sure there are tons out there who will try their best to implement your suggestions to improve their ranks. Regarding scrim matches, do you find it easy to find top tier SEA team or is it a random squad of immortals?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – I think everyone in the SEA Dota scene finds scrims on Discord. There’s a discord server where all the pro teams are vouched and you can set scrims with them, once you reach a certain tier or join a pro org you’re eligible to join.

EsportzNow – Do Indian teams scrim against each other anymore? If not, is it a good/bad thing for the scene?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – NO! Indian teams usually stray away from each other for scrims. I personally think it’s not good for the scene as you can study the opponent’s play-style and easily counter it. Also, Indian meta is quite different from the pro scene. It will work only in the Indian scene. That’s why it is better to scrim top teams from SEA and get better instead of scrimming Indian teams. I also believe that scrimming against similar tier teams is not always helpful so going up against teams way better than you in SEA is the real way to learn.

EsportzNow – Your opinion on the sponsors and organizations in the scene or any suggestion to upcoming players or organizations looking to enter the scene?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – For upcoming players, I would strongly suggest that if you really want to make it big then keep trying hard. Find a team and perform your best. You will surely get noticed since there are so many smaller tournaments that are being hosted all year round.

EsportzNow – What’s the most fun activity your team/management does to keep themselves fresh and pumped?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – We usually have team discussions where everyone can talk about anything they have on their mind. Also, we have different team bonding sessions where we go out and have fun together as a team once a week and spend valuable time getting to know each other better.

EsportzNow – Obviously winning in India is a key goal for both the team as well as the organization. But in terms of the global scene, which title or tournament do you have your eyes on?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – An official Valve event is what I have my eyes set on and eventually want to play. Be it a major or a minor, in the meantime, I’ll keep grinding with my team to win as many LAN and online tournaments as we can to get better.

EsportzNow – What does the training look like? Sorry for my ignorance, but does the team have a coach?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – We are currently in the process of picking up a coach and more information on this matter will soon follow. Global Esports has been very kind to offer us everything we need to ensure we are mentally and physically prepared for all the tournaments.
We’ve had a few test runs with some international coaches and things are looking good, announcements will follow when something has been finalized.

EsportzNow – A particular team member from the organization or the team that makes you want to do your best?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – This would most definitely have to be our team’s manager Vatsal Uniyal who is a professional Overwatch player himself. This gives him a key insight on what the team needs rather than what they want, and his sense of professionalism and work ethic pushes us to strive to be the best.

EsportzNow – It’s been a pleasure having such a great conversation with you, thank you for this lovely interview. Any shoutouts or special mentions?

Omkar “Pasoll” Urunkar – Shoutout to my family and friends for supporting me always. Special shoutout to all the fans who actually watch your games and support you no matter what the result is. And thanks to Esportznow for this interview.