The Flycast - We Went To Get Ice Cream ft. OpTic Mercules | The Flycast Ep. 147

Episode Date: May 10, 2025

OpTic Gaming Merch: https://shop.opticgaming.com/Check out the OpTic SCUF collection and use code “OpTic” for a discount: https://scuf.co/OpTicCheck out the OpTic Podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/optic-podcast/id1542810047https://open.spotify.com/show/25iPKftrl0akOZKqS0wHQGWe Went To Get Ice Cream ft. OpTic Mercules | The Flycast Ep. 147

Hi, good morning. Could I do, do you want that lemon bar? Yes. Lemon bar concrete, please. A lemon bar concrete? The smallest. Thank you. And I just want a vanilla waffle cone.

And then can you do like a cup of vanilla with Oreos on it? Just do like a, do a kid Sunday. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. episode. Who gives a fuck? We got a special guest today. A very special guest today. He goes by Mercilies, aka Merck. And he's so excited for this episode. He's more excited for this episode than he is to compete. He's not even looking forward to this weekend. He's looking forward to this episode right here. So we got a special day plan. First off, welcome to Optic. This is going to be an exciting time for you.

Not only for your career, but today in general doing the flycast. We got something. special plan today. Let's head this way. Yeah, we're going to go get, we're going to go grab ice cream. You like ice cream? Yes. We figured that would be a first because we're trying to switch up the fly cast a little bit. We figured this would be a first.

With our other guests, it's like we don't know what to do, but now we got Mark here, young gun. I'm like he has to like ice cream. He has to like ice cream. Ice cream is like a good go-to for American culture. Maybe get some ice cream. Who does it? That's what I'm saying.

Yeah, if you don't like ice cream, there's... So how insane is the past month of your life been? Pretty crazy. Pretty crazy. Went from playing in Challenger's and then I'm on Optic. Now you're not. I'm on booking opt. Was it just, because you were...

Let me get this whole situation straight. Yeah, let's get your rundown of it and let's see how accurate it is. This whole episode is going to be... I mean, we might just go... We're going to talk about your entire... life but first things first we're going to talk about how this even came to be all right so we were supposed to take matt craig's car but it's not looking like matt craig's car is happening welcome the optic man welcome welcome welcome what do you welcome to optic it's matt's car welcome

his car is broken where we got where are we headed over here to my shit car oh yeah the shit car he's talking about brandon's car and how it's so much better than Matt's truck. But he said Dashie's not letting him get in it. So it's crazy. All right. So we did figure it out. Nick's driving.

I just want to say, before this started, I said, why don't we wait till we get to the ice cream place before we start this? This is just better. They like the raw authenticity. I think it's just raw. It's nice. Merck's having the time of his life He's so excited to do this before scrims

Is this what they would consider chalking your mental Dude, are you gonna pull up today's thing? I'm so chocked I like doing content You like doing content? Yeah, I'm kind of shy so it'll help me Get out, you know? Yeah, absolutely

I get that. And I like that mindset. You're not one of the challengers kids that like What is that? Matt Craig's seatbelt. Oh my God, Matt Craig. You're not one of those challenges kids Scrappy where like you were yelling at people

No, no, no, I'm always quiet The most I've ever done is flipped off Miami Only because they flip me off Oh Why were they flipping you off? Why were they flipping you off? I don't know We literally didn't scrim once And they won't insert it

I had to get my get back You had to get your kit back Were you shitting on them? Yeah, they're awful See, part of me does it I just don't, part of me just doesn't believe you. I think, I think Challenger's kids all have a little bit of, like, evil to them. Yeah.

It's like S&D kids. I've never not, no, I'm always GGs, but. You're always GGs? So, wait, you started competing last year? Yeah, in Challenders. I've always played S&D. So you're an S&D kid. Who is, who would you say is your codfather?

Who taught you the ropes? Z lot. Z lot? Yeah, you know? I don't know. lot. All right, someone we'd know. Oh.

Okay, let's see. Who's, maybe someone you looked up to, you like, you like their play style. You like, you're like that. Like, I'm trying to, I can only compare it to like Halo people. I don't know if you've ever watched Halo, but. But I've never played with them, no.

He never competed. He didn't compete until last year. So he only played S&D his whole career until last year. He was like, let me try this response shit. And now he's here. and now you're an optic it's it's unprecedented it's never happened before

wait so who's like a pro player are you like I fuck with him he's gonna be like I don't get you maybe don't give no I'm not even giving gas but dashy really

yeah and scum oh so you did watch you did watch yeah okay I watched have you let's get a little

optic background have you ever watched any optic videos oh yeah have you ever watched the process have you ever watched the smash

or pass from the scuff house no do you ever watch my you're missing classics man you're missing classics you ever watch any scuff house videos um basically what i'm trying to get to have you ever watched any of my videos do you know what the fly i see i did you on twitch though i watch your twitch fuck yeah oh hell yeah i'll i don't even know you posted videos i'll go to your youtube don't worry i don't post videos actually he's like the gtarp Streams. It just has a favorite series. Episode 28, GTARP.

Episode 28 of the GTIARP series. I loved that. Make sure we don't die. Can you stop looking at me? I kind of am just looking at my rear. Stop looking at me. I mean you look at the road. Matt Craig's going to get us in trouble, bro.

He's like, no, you guys are just driving pot at the same time. All right. So you fuck with Dashie. you fuck with scump um was there any optic vids you were into I'm just trying to

I'm trying to get a field I watched like all the processes the processes after John out wrong second best documentary people have been saying

the second best documentary series optics ever posted that's what people have been saying what's the first so I get some old it's like an old

so the other the other day what was it today's Thursday Tuesday was that your first day in sort of the office

doing content? Um, I think it was Wednesday. Wednesday. Tuesday was the, what yesterday was Wednesday. Oh yeah, Tuesday.

Tuesday you did the Halo pod. The Halo pod? Dude. Dude, you have PTSD from that pod. Holy shit. Tuesday you did the optic pod. And when I walked in, Roger,

first off, I didn't even know a team change happened. No one told us anything. Are we going to us? There is no inside, but yes, we're getting out of the car. Okay, we're getting out of the car. Yes, but there's no inside. There's no insides or we'll be on the outside.

Okay. We'll be out of the car. Good God. Dude, I don't like that. I do that shit all the time. I wanted to come here and then start the fucking podcast. Holy shit. The driving.

I do that shit all the time in my car. You curb your, you curb. You curb your car too? Yeah. Any damage? No, there's never any damage. There's never any damage from a curb, bro. Dude, it's all busted.

Good. Don't care. Wait, what was I talking about? Oh, Tuesday, I believe, I believe Tuesday was your first optic content day. I walk in. First off, I didn't even know anything happened. How do y'all not another team chase? Dude, it happened.

It didn't happen. It did happen overnight. What did you know? Well, I think Zen he called me. Who? Zen? Zen? Yeah, no, you didn't know?

Zen was like the mastermind behind all this. And the extra credit. No, he called me Monday and he was just like, if you sign anything, and he was like, just hold off on signing anything and stuff. So, yeah. Like, we got something coming your way. Oh, shit.

Fucking Zen, the GM. I pissed off so many people saying that. Let me just order this real quick. What do we want? Let's look at the menu real quick. Oh, bro, you got to get the lemon. The lemon bar concrete. I just want like a regular ice cream cone.

Then just get that. The regular ice cream cone. This isn't really how I want to start my day, but. Matt Craig said we have to eat ice cream or we're fired. So I'm just going based off of that. I get scared. I mean, Matt's telling me to get the lemon bar concrete, the top left. like he said like that's like the best thing to get a fucking blizzard that's what he said i don't

i'm just i'm just following orders here what are you getting i don't even know what's an ice cream go to for the murk usually a orio that's like a Oreo say Oreo yeah i don't know if i see this there's there's got to be a warrior yeah yeah there is yeah i'm just going to get a regular waffle cone i guess i like that vanilla waffle cone Do you know what you want? Uh, I wonder if they have just like an Oreo come, but I don't see this. Uh, you can add, you can get like a, probably a regular ice cream and add Oreos. Yeah, yeah, but, all right.

Yeah, you just ask them. Hi, good morning. Could I do, do, do you want that lemon bar? Yes, lemon bar concrete, please. A lemon bar concrete? The smallest. There you go. Thank you. And I just want a vanilla waffle cone.

And then can you do like a cup of vanilla with Oreos on it? Just do like a do a kid Sunday. Yeah. Wait, 17, that's just kind of insane. Hmm? 17, that's just kind of insane. What, how much it costs? Yeah, for three ice cream.

I guess. Small. Oh, it's this fucking lemon bar. What? Your lemon bar was like eight bucks. So anyways, I'm a man of taste. Tuesday, your first, first off, Zinney's calling you. Zinney's making shit happen.

Zinnies is the fucking G. That's actually kind of funny because I would have no idea. Yeah, he's a GM. Zin's just watching the watch party. Like, I got to fix this. Yeah. I mean, you could see it on his face every week. They haven't been happy in a while.

So Tuesday's your first day in optic content. I see, I walk in. And I'm like, who's that? They're like, it's Merck. And I'm like, like the kid who was just substituting for who was it beans? Yeah, Toronto. And they were like, yeah, I was like,

don't we have a flycast with Skies on Thursday? And they're like, no. You have a flycast with Merck now. I was like, what the fuck is going on? I see Roger following you around with a camera. Was it, how nerve-wracking is it? Because I'm sure, obviously, you've never been in, like, this type of situation.

Yeah. How nerve-wracking was it, like, walking in? I bet Roger's just instantly following you with the camera. Like, it's just something you're comfortable with or, like, you're uncomfortable, but you know it's sort of the next steps to elevate your career Yeah, it's something I was uncomfortable

I just wasn't really used to it Yeah, but yeah, I'll get used to it How was the optic pod? It was good, it was good It was a fun time for sure Are you, do you ever get, do you get nervous on shit like that? Like this is fucking weird Yeah, a little bit, yeah, I'll get past it though

Because it's just fucking weird, it's just Well, I mean, slowly but surely, you'll get more comfortable within the optic content and it'll be hopefully this might be the beginning of a long uh you know beautiful career so oh absolutely is is uh is the is the is the is the scrim set up like you're set up at the place is that like your happy place like you you you get thrown to the wolves here you have to do you're on camera you're doing all this crazy shit podcasts yeah and then you get to scrim at night and you're like okay at least like i got a controller in my hand i can Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right, let's go somewhere where the music's not blasting, so I'm not screaming again. Dude, do the... So we find a park or just sit down somewhere. You want to try some of my lemon bar? Your Dairy Queen Blizzard. Why do you say it like that? Like, you're not eating ice cream. You said it like it was, like you were judging me for eating ice cream while also eating ice cream.

My shit is your shit, but with a piece of lemon in it. That's all it is. That's all it is. It's healthier. No, I'm not saying it. It's both unhealthy. You're judging me. You're judging me based off of health.

I can't drive like this. You don't get to taste it now. How do you feel? You just ruined your whole chance. Tasting my ice cream. All right. He's not always as rude, but he's rude a lot. Like, you'll learn that.

He's kind of a piece of shit most of the time, but there's a bit of beauty in there. You just have to find it. You have to dig for it a little bit. Yeah, no, everyone seems super cool. Everyone seems super cool Yeah Yeah Just wait until you get to know Seth for real

I just remember you said that What about Hex? You met Hector's cool Wait hold on Hector was also being Did you notice Hax was being Like his best self The day Mirk got here

Hex was like walking around like hey everybody This is Mace This is Mason right Yeah This is Mason I was about to say I was going to Google like Call of Duty Mercilies but I was like I want everything to just be brand new tomorrow. We have the same name as a yodeling kid from Walmart. Mason Ramsey.

Mason Ramsey? Yeah. You're not and but you're not the yodel kid. No, no, I'm not. Oh my God. That is a kid because I remember he did it. They did a remix with a with Lil Nas X. Imagine he was the kid.

Bro, if you were... You were gonna wear this kid? One time I was at the mall checking some shit out, and this girl was like, are you him? I was like, you know? Yes. Yes, I am him. Because I had my name of my card.

Wait, so are you single? Yeah. Not for long. It's coming. Just kidding. No, no, I got to focus on... Yeah, don't do that. Yeah, focus.

No, like, seriously. Yeah, but, like, focus. Don't talk to female. Merck officially. I said it once. Welcome to Optic Man. This could be the beginning of a beautiful, long career out of you. How long have you?

I want to go back to you literally like your childhood where you were born or where you're from, all that. But first things first, let's kind of focus on what's happening now. Let me get up to date on you. So you were a, you were an S&D kid. Yeah. And then you were a challengers kid. and then you were a substitute for Toronto? Yeah, because Beans had visa issues,

and they hit me up like Tuesday night. The event started Thursday, and they were like, you're probably in. And then so I flew out Wednesday morning, and then they said, yeah, Beans is back, like, your truck. So I was like, fuck. And then I woke up at Thursday morning, like 6 a.m. Looked to my phone and they were like, yeah, you're in.

Did you expect that at all? No, because they were like, They're like 99% beans is it. So you were going to play with your challenges team? Yeah, I was going to play with my challengers team. And then I woke up like six, looked at my team that. I was like, have you won a challengers event? No.

Well, not on land, no. Who was, who was like the, wait, how many times did you compete on land? Two. The first time I was when I first started. So like, I didn't, yeah, you got to work your way up. So the first line I went to, I was, my teammates were not like the best. But you worked your way up. Yeah.

And then the second land I went to, which was this year, I couldn't get, because I was going to join O-Met, like with the fellow in them. But then they ended up winning the elite. So then I got chalked. And then I had to play the pickup team there too. Got top eight at that one. Okay. Are you just like kind of dominating on these teams?

Without. Yeah, like how does Toronto? So Beams is, I feel like there's a lot of options. and like first off i thought you were like the official sub for uh Toronto that's not the case you were just a challenges kid that they picked up it was just a one week loan all the challengers kid was it like a known thing that you were that guy if something was to happen or did did did you already have ties with with Toronto at all or any of the players they were just like that murk they just picked up polish so what do you think about what you see this clip of dylan envoy

saying that there's not a lot of talent in challengers. Do you think he's faded for that? No? You don't think there's a lot of talent? No. Really? I don't think he's too faded. I mean, there is talent, but there's not like a lot. This year, at least.

Because there's a thing where it's like a friendship league and all that. Do you believe in any of that? Yeah. That is a friendship league? I mean, yeah. Because there's some pros and then they pick you. There's some pros that would, like, they're not good. Like, they could be replaced by, like, a few challengers kids, I feel like.

Really? Interesting. But you're somewhere in the middle, probably. Seems like, because Dylan, Dylan's getting, like, there is talent. There's talent, but there's just not a lot of it, you know? Yeah, I get that. So when you see people like, what's his name, Encourage, when you see people like him, like, retire, are you, like, sad about it?

Or are you, like, competitive? Um. Because some of us are like, damn, like, we thought, like, encourage. I don't think he's, like, retired. I think he's just, like, taking a break or something. He's going to Hishy Fit is what you're saying? Because you got picked up and he didn't So he's like, fuck, I'm out

I don't know, I don't think that was the reason But I don't know that guy at all I don't know anyone in challengers at all But yeah, no, I teamed with them On the Stallions With Abe, Abe and Lurks and Encourge.

How was that team? How is it playing for the Zoom mafia? No, it was good. I love playing for Zuma, but we were all like, we're all kind of young. I was the old. on the team. You were the oldest on the team?

So we were the kind of an experience, so we just went off our talent. I think we got like fourth. We got fourth in the elite, first elite we played. Okay. Yeah. Hell yeah, man. Dude, that, you feel like

everyone's just been talking about how crazy of a life the past month and a month and a half has been for you. But it seems like you're taking it in stride. It seems like you're not too... I would be having panic attacks every 15 minutes,

but... Yeah, walking into that. that office, Rogers following him around with a camera. They throw him on an optic pod. Well, but even... Then they have him doing this shit. I don't mind the content, really. It's just like getting to know the people.

But even like past that, like, like playing, thinking you're playing in the Challenger's Cup and then all of a sudden now you're on main stage last month. And now that opens up opportunities for you. How many, how many, I don't know, if you want to say, you don't have to say this if you don't want to. How many team invites did you get after the major? three if well no

damn i guess like three yeah but i had official contracts from two of them but i was just in like talks with another one i didn't get like an official and then i found that out so i just stopped talking to them so you were going to be on another the cdl team um yeah i was probably gonna if i didn't get like a good option that i was confident with i was probably just going to get to the ultra bench oh really yeah so regardless okay if you're playing on the If you're on the bench, you can still play in Challenger. Yeah, yeah.

So that's what you should play. Yeah. And then they pay you for being on the bench, right? Yeah. Not a lot, but. Not a lot. So you get picked up. Are you, yeah, these were your first time playing in the CDL, right?

Right when you got picked up? And you never practiced or played with any of them before, really? No, we didn't even get to scrim like the night before because I've got in so late. And then we scrimed Thursday morning, like, right before. for our matches for the first time. Yeah, the match was Thursday. When do you get the call that you're going to have to fly over or fly in? Well, Tuesday.

Because they're like, there's a chance. And then Wednesday, it's chalked Thursday morning. You're in. I was like, okay. Jesus. Yeah, so it changed a lot of those. So you're absolutely zero screens or time to practice with the team. You go in your first match.

I didn't, I was doing like a Halo watch party, so I didn't get to watch the matches. But obviously, you guys got third, right? Yeah, we lost our first match. Oh, shit. We lost our first match in the winners to Miami. Yeah. What was that series? 3-1.

We won the first hard point, and then we just lost three straight. We choked Matt 4 bad. We were up like 2.30 to 180, I think. Then we just, yeah, they just chained a P3, P4. How are you feeling, though? Like, individually, were you, was it like nerve-wracking? Was it like, nah, I'm playing pretty fucking good. There might be some hope here.

Yeah, I mean, it was nerve-wracking, but I don't know. I feel like nerves don't really affect how it. play. Yeah. It doesn't really get to me. I saw a clip of the Toronto has, they have their own, or sorry, wait, is it, was it ultra or rocker? Sorry, ultra, okay, I'd like second guess myself.

I saw a clip of them doing a podcast about that event. And they were saying that you, it took very little time for you to like get into the flow of things. So do you think you're more of a team player or like are you an individual player? Because I feel like in challenges you kind of have to be individual. Yeah, there's not a lot of team. Yeah, there's not a lot of team. Just compared to the CDO, but I don't know.

I feel like I like to play around the objective a lot. Okay. I could definitely get better teamwork. What is, uh, what's, what have scrims been like so far with? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we've been slamming. We've been slamming.

Who of y'all? Are y'all allowed to talk about? I don't think so. So you might have to cut it. No, you can say you've been doing. You can say you've been doing good. Okay.

But you can just, I wouldn't say who you've been playing. I know you've been playing. Yeah. And I've seen the slavage. But we've, we've been getting criticized lately about talking about scrums. Yeah.

Not performing. So as long as you're going to work as weekend. We're going to perform. You just can't. If you're in optic, you just, you're not allowed to speak anymore. Everyone's coming from your fucking hood.

Yeah. To get back to the event a little bit. I don't want to go through. series by series but you guys start winning series what was like the first do you have a series in mine that you won towards like all right like i'm fucking like is is it a i feel like the rocker series after we played it because we played lag and then straight into rocker and then after we what was that series uh three one that's kenny's team you took down all can yeah map one map one is really close i don't know i like i kind of made the play map one

Oh, yeah. And then after that, I was like, okay. Like, after that series, you're like, I'm fucking, I'm made for this shit. Literally the same as Challengers. And then who do you, who'd you just, it's the same as Challenger? I mean, they're not the same, but I don't know.

It's like, it's like, I'm still gunning shit. Yeah. You're still got to. Were you ever nervous? Like, were you? Oh, yeah. I was nervous. Yeah.

Did you have, like, the first match? Yeah. Did you have like imposter syndrome at all? Are you, are you thinking like, wow, is this going to be a lot different than challengers? Can I keep up? Yeah, no. First I was thinking that, and then after our first series, I was like... I remember I got subbed into varsity soccer when I was a sophomore or a freshman.

I can't remember. And I got subbed in, and I was like, oh, my God, is this going to be a whole different, like, I was so nervous. I'm not going to be able to keep up. Is the pace of play like that much different? Then, like, 20 minutes in, you're like, oh, it's faster, but like, it's the same shit. Same shit. So, yeah, I'm basically like you. That's what I'm saying.

Yeah. But then there's people who, like, I bet there's Challenger's kids. So, like, yeah, I could do the same shit. Like, I'd be shitting all these kids. Like, I'd be fucking gunning shit. And then it's like they would get that opportunity. That shit would not happen. No.

I feel like it really depends on, like, play stuff. A lot of people in challengers just, like, rely on their talent. Like, just run and shit. Like, run it shit. They don't really, like, use coordination or anything. So it's basically, yeah. But I feel like there's a reason Toronto picked you over fucking every other player. So you finally, you beat, you beat Rocker, you start finding some rhythm.

Who did you beat for top three? Miami, we got our get back. Oh, you got your way. Did you flick them off? Yeah. Is that when you flick them off? Oh, shit. I'm always a G-G type of, yeah.

Wait, why would they, you said you flipped you all first. They did like nervous handshirt? We haven't even screamed yet, but. So when they beat you in winners? They beat you in winners. Yeah. Is that when they flipped you all? Yeah.

Why did they come for you? Or was it just the whole team? I think he was just the two. It was like me individually. He did some nervous shit, so I think it was towards me. And you saw that, when he did that, that it stick out in your head like,

like, which one was it? Super. Super. Yeah, no, I didn't even see in the moment. I didn't even see in the moment.

I seen it on Twitter and then, yeah, we were at dinner the night before our Sunday, and I was like, I can't wait to fucking flip these guys off. Hey, I already do. Like,

you knew you were going to play again? Yeah, because we already knew we were playing them. Dude, you remind me so much of Stellar. When Stellar joined the, When Seller joined Optic? Seller was our old, an old Halo pro.

He joined Optic for a little bit. Very, very timid. He was shy. He was young, but just obviously never been around, like, cameras and all this fucking shit we do over here. But he was,

he was still, like, be involved. And it was just, like, kind of quiet, but he was, like, funny. And it's, it really is just, the call of duty. The Call of Duty equivalent. Yeah, yeah. So you guys get third where you,

like, was the team, low-key hype off that? Like, good shit. We fucking, this would have went really bad. And we got third. Maybe like, right after we lost, we were pissed. But like 12 hours or like a few hours later, we were like top three with no practice. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, that's. I feel like that was a winnable series we lost to. You go to the grand finals. So you said in challengers that like a lot of kids, there's not a lot of teamwork. Did you notice, did you notice the difference in teamwork? Like when you got? Yeah, yeah, for sure.

just like it's many like comms and i like cdl pairs just have way better right so you know what's going on like i mean i was gonna say i feel like it's like comms and like specificity in the comms yeah like what do you want to do you start doing the like micro talks of like what i'm what i'm doing you do this a lot of people and challengers there's like screw they're just calling they're just trying to have like that passion that passion type of shit yeah so after so there was no You guys got third. I guess, obviously, there was no, were you hoping you stayed on the team?

Or was that just like, really, you just knew it was kind of like a one-dunk. Yeah, no, I knew it was probably a one-and-ups. You know, Beans is at home like, fuck, this kid's for a lot. Yeah, dude, I see, after his tweets, he's hilarious. Wait, what was he doing? What was you saying? Like, after, I think after he wanted, he tweeted the videos, like,

like, I'm getting kind of shaky. Beans is, yeah. Wait, who was the team? It's you, obviously, Bean's just. Insight. You and Sykes. Okay. Yeah.

That is a good team. Yeah. Good team. Bro, my, I need to fucking brush up on my rosters. Yeah, same. I'm on the watch party and I like,

I watch, but I'm like, not really that tapped in. And just every single watch party, I'm like, all right, who's on this team again? Yeah.

I just constantly forget. People have been saying that Joe's like top two in the game right now. Yeah, did you, did you notice that while you're playing? Yeah.

He was frying. But now that he's the option. He's worried about him. No, he's shit. Fuck that guy. He shit. Yeah, he shit.

But like, what I'm saying? A couple weeks ago, like, he was fired. He was like, no, fuck he. No, he's my boy, though. That's great. Got out Joe. So who was, like, your crew in challengers that you're either, like, competitive with or, like, kind of want to see him succeed?

Who's some of the homies? I'd say, um. Because when you got announced. I started winning a lot recently with the, the Omet Boys, like, Prolude. Yeah. I think he used to be. motherfucker's always there.

Yeah, no, he's always... We went like three for three internees. We started playing for like a couple weeks. Okay. A cup. And then we just won the most recent cup, like, right before I got here. Shit. Okay.

Because you got announced and, like, I follow a bunch of, like, the amateur scene because, like, of tournaments and stuff, trying to host tournaments. And they were all quote, retweeting. They were like, my boy made it. my boy's an optic like and i was like damn like he's got some waves in the challenger scene so i didn't know if there was like a group of you guys because yeah like i'd say prolute standy craze my boy abe okay oh yeah what was it like um obviously you said you kind of looked up to dashy a little bit have you were you friends with him at all have you did have you ever

talked to him no or any of them i mean i used to put like money aids with them and b04 and stuff And I used to play child I was like getting shot scene But I've never really like spoken to him like that Yeah you'd never like be in a call Just like hanging out Or whatever So was it

Okay So let me just get the full story again Zinny calls you Yeah And he's like yo Like don't sign anything Would you be down for this And you're like fuck yeah

Yeah He didn't even say He didn't even ask Like the first call He was just like You sign anything yet I was like nah He was like uh hold off

I was like bad I'm holding off I'm holding off I'm holding off Did he already have your number? Oh, he DM me. Oh, he DM'd you for your number? Yeah, yeah.

When you saw that, what were your thoughts? Honestly, I didn't even really think much of it. I don't know. I thought he just wanted something else or something, but... Or maybe wanted, like, some insight on what was going on. Yeah, the Toronto or something, but... I honestly wasn't expecting it until I got the call, and he asked me if I signed. I was like, oh, shit.

Okay, so he calls you when... Jeez, dude. No, it's so funny. Hex and Zaner. like Kobe and Shaq here. Generally, literally just, no, I did it. No, I did it. I mean, that's a good.

I thought where I was going with it, but that's a good comparison. Where it's like they, I don't, I think this is very one of the very few cases in optic history where like the players didn't, it was out, it was from Hector.

I mean, I think Shotsie's at a point right now where he's like, I don't need any more like, I don't need any more hate. Yeah, I think it was just out of fear. I just said we weren't changing. Like it might be, but like, yeah, he just tweeted out or he just said something. Like this is going to be our roster.

We're not changing. And they just be surged. So it's like. Like as Hector was on stream and he was like, um, he said shots he said. As long as you tell him it was like your decision because I'm not trying to get fucking hate for this. Yeah, Hax was on stream talking about it. Let me give you some advice. Don't ever talk shit about how good you are in comparison to everyone else.

if you learn anything from Shotsie's mistakes this year is just as you could you could be like yeah I'm I'm like that my teammates are awesome you win you stand up don't call anyone else dog shit you do it on stage that's fine on stage

leave it on the stage don't don't do any of that I don't know I don't think you have a problem I don't I don't see that happening you're a GG type of yet you're a Gigi type of again unless I get flipped off or something nah we want we we want to see

you have a bad track record You're one for one of flipping people off in events right now. I know. Every match after that. I'm a G-G guy, but the one event I played at, I was fucking... So when do you talk to Zinny gives you the call?

And I bet Zinnies eat. The people are eating this up for Zinn. Like, oh shit, Zinny's got it like that everywhere. I don't even know if Zinn has said it. Because Hector went on and said it. He made the call. Zini made in his title, GM. Oh, I saw that.

You know, because on the podcast, Yes, they're like, so who do you talk to or something? And then I looked at his in me and he was like, he's like, whoa. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you had to like clear that up. All right. So you talk to him. Then who's like the next person that reaches out? Um, well, Andy and me.

And then he's saying what? He was just like, yeah, let's get this shit. I can't follow you right now because everyone will know. Oh, shit. Damn. I guess Andrew. Does let's get this shit fucking. Does he give you like his number?

Does he? I just want every I'm getting every single thing I feel like this is what the fans want to know like how does the situation like this actually happen He literally just DM me and said Like yeah let's fry And basically

Can't follow me yet Because people will be looking at that shit So I think I think something that the fans want to know Cod fans in general is why Why was there like a delay Do you have any idea why? No Contract shit probably

Yeah I figured it was all that I don't know the details of it Yeah it was just contract So step by step Shasi says let's get this shit Does Dashy DM Does he give you his number?

Brandon followed me So Brandon just don't give him Yeah he don't go Yeah Brandon He was two joints deep And was like I'm fucking

Yeah Yeah he said he wasn't following Dashie said fuck it Do you guys have like Is it like a here's my number Let's have like a team talk No No, there's no team talks until I got here and then I added to the group chat and all that.

So who talked to you like, let's get your, this, do you know page yet? Yeah, yeah. Page reach out, get your ticket. Yeah, page mostly. I've been talking to page mostly. Yeah. And then you pull up, you land, you're in a hotel, you pull up to the office for the first time. You walk in, I had this exact combo with like Hooke, I think, when we did a fly guys with a group.

But you walk in, what's, is everyone all? already here? Yeah. Like, let's have a, what was the talk about? Was it kind of just like a, yo,

welcome to the team, man, I'm fucking excited. Yeah. This is where we play. Kind of just, like, gave you a tour. It's a rundown of the facility.

Was that the, was that the same day as the content? Yeah. Or when did you get, when did you land here? And do you plan on late? Thursday night. Thursday night.

Last. Yeah, last Thursday? Tuesday. Tuesday night. I'm sorry. This Tuesday. Yeah. Or no,

it was it, was it Monday night? I just found her. I don't even know. Monday night. You got here Monday night. And then Tuesday you come in for the first time. And pro,

that's insane. How many content pieces did you do? He doesn't even, the podcast, just the pod? Yeah. He doesn't even talk to the team. I think there is one more thing.

The one B1. Oh yeah, the one V1, yeah. Podcasts. Oh, yeah. The podcast, the one V1,

then social content, then Scrim. Did you, I mean, were you exhausted? Yeah. Well, meeting before all that.

Meeting his new team. team for the first time. You were hype? Yeah, I got so much energy. I can't get exhausted. Like, because I'm joining, you know, it's optic. What was it?

Was it like a, was it like a surreal feeling playing with them? Oh, yeah. The first couple of scrimms, you're like, damn, I'm sitting here beside him. I'm here and shots. That's crazy. Were y'all going hard as far?

Yeah, no. The first map we played, we won like 250 to 30. I was like, yeah, I heard about that. I heard about that. Like very first match. It's our first trim is a team. Yeah. first bet.

Bro, I bet after that you're kind of like, this is gonna, I think this is gonna, I mean, I already knew this, yeah, I already knew this team was insane. What's kind of like the, what's the word I'm looking for? What's your play style or role?

Aren't you like a flex? Yeah, I'm like a flex. I'm a faster AR kind of. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'd say. I'm, I feel like, I'm not like too fast. I feel like, yeah,

I don't think I'm like too fast where I'm running shit down 24-7, but I feel like I can push pace when I need to. You're like, I feel like you can't be too fast on this team. Because you got two crackheads in front of you and you got a sentinel behind you. Yeah, exactly. So, like, you kind of have to play that, like, fucking medium role.

But you can't be too fast, but you can't be too slow. Yeah, exactly. It's very true. Are we allowed to say the series score, not again, too, but just what the first series scrim was? I actually don't know. Yeah, you can. You can say who, you can say what it was. Well, first scrim, we won 8-0 map count.

Oh, you already played like eight games? No, that was just, yeah, because five hard points, three controls. You don't have scrim searches. Oh, hey, those. We won every map. Second scrim. Oh, shit. Second scrim, it was a 3-3 map count.

Wait, wait, wait, after the 8-0, I don't know. What are y'all, are y'all saying anything to each other? Are y'all laughing? No, no, no. It's kind of like, oh, shit, we went to found something. After one, like, really 30. Brandon was like, holy shit, are we got like? Oh, no.

Here we go again. Dude, no, but that is... Don't let him say that. No, that is the feeling. Like, when you make a team change and like... And you're like, okay, this might have been the fucking move. And like, you're doing good at scrimms. It's just, it is, it's going to be what it is.

Like, you want to be winning in scrimms. I know scrimms don't mean anything. And all that matters is when you're at the event, when you're at the tournament. We've been getting cold-stoned this whole year. Oh, yeah. So there's... There's a story where Nick was on a team, brand new Halo team.

destroying everyone. Destroying everyone in Scribes. And to the point where people were writing articles, like they might be a top two team in the game. They had a Scrim series scheduled against the actual best team in the game on like a Friday.

Everyone was so hype about it. Like, oh my God, we're going to see the two Titans going against each other. They got 13-0. Yeah. And then ever since then the team just dynamic just died. Yeah, no, if you're getting shit on in scrimms,

I swear, that kills the vibes. Like, yeah, we went in our first series, we just got shit on, and I would have been like, fuck. We got to lock in. So then you, all right, dominate first series. You play another one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the second one, I got chalked halfway through, but it was a three-three, but it was with a pretty good team. So then after, is that the, is that end of scrims?

Oh, no. Yesterday we scrimmed. No, I mean, like, just for that day. Yeah, for that day, yeah. Okay, you play two sets. It went really well. Do you guys have, like, you talk afterwards? is there like is yeah we want

is Damon there is yeah JP JP there we went over like some set up stuff like tack maps is Vod review and stuff like that yeah is that new for you like how is that in challengers I mean honestly I don't we didn't really watch Vod at all

in challenges I mean some teams do but like was it not the two Damon's horn but was it cool seeing like Damon walk in to like go over the to go over the game playing shit.

Oh my God. I used to watch a podcast with Seth and Hex. First, meeting his team. Don't skip that part. Meeting his fucking team. Straight into one V-ones

with everyone. And then straight into two sets. I almost got put on my ass by Hector. That shit was bad. Xbox. Oh. No. He let him.

You let him do that. I think Hector got the most skills I didn't. He did. But it was like, you got a, dude, it was weird. because your gameplay looked started just progressively got better and better

like you can't hop on that on an Xbox setup and think you're gonna it's like it's not even the same it's not the same for context we did a context we did a one B one video like we've been doing

and it was I mean I don't know if I want to say too many details but we're playing God and you sit down after like I haven't even touched a controller in like five months crazy enough well like you sit down and grab a controller and try to start playing. Like, it just does not feel right.

Especially coming from PC. Coming from PC, like the graphics, it looks like you're on 30 FPS with motion blur. Right, right, right. Yeah, it was bad. I miss those days. I mean, bro, we can... I miss the console days.

I feel like myself, along with a lot of optic fans and really just cod fans in general. I mean, well, first of all, how long were you in Challenges? It's been like 350 days. Okay. So you're like still like brand new to the scene sort of.

You haven't even been competing a year. Not a fully yet. Dude. Okay. So this makes perfect sense or this go. This is perfect with what I'm about to like there's just so much to learn about you. I feel like you're you're a brand new face to the scene. So not only for optic fans, but for just call duty fans or in general or maybe even

ESports fans or just flycast fans. Yeah, just flycast fans. They might fuck with you too. But I mean. Let's go back. Fucking, where are you from? Indiana. I'm from the southern Indiana, like the sticks.

There's just nothing in my time. Is it like just super small town? Yeah. Is it like hillbilly-ish? No, no. Is it just like, I mean some parts of it. Or white trash? No, no.

It's a nice town, though. Okay. So it's not too. The good sticks. Like the nice sticks. Yeah, it's like cornfields and shit. Okay, okay. There's like two parts of Indiana.

I don't know. Like my dad owns a farm, but it's like an hour away. So we live in like the suburbs. Are you on the farmer like? Like do you know how to farm? No, my dad just put me to like work. I don't really know that too much deeds. Oh, okay.

So you never like doing a bitch. You're never like shoveling cow shit. No, fuck not. You're never like picking tobacco or like what kind of fun? Like getting the sticks out the field, the plant shit like that. Okay. What kind of farm? Like is it like animal farm or like crops?

Crops. What crop? Mainly crops. We have animals too, but. What crop is it? He grows like corn. He goes all types of crops. In North Carolina, it's mostly like tobacco.

Or it was on my family side, yeah. All right. So Indiana, you go to just regular public schools your whole life? Yeah, yeah. Public school. Play any sports? Yeah, I wrestled. I wrestled.

I wrestled like my whole life, yeah. Oh, shit. So you could Loki fuck someone on. Is anything 200 and under you? Anything under 2. Oh, I'm 205, so I'm good then. Matt Craig, you'd. putting a fucking

Yeah, Matt Crang is getting headlocked. Yeah. How long did you wrestle for? You said your own life, but like, started it. Because I know once you start gaming. Probably when I was six. You started at six.

When did you kind of like stop doing all that? After high school. Okay. And then you got into Cod. You were like, yeah. I've always been in Cod too. I did both. Just wrestling and Cod was your life growing up.

Were you a gamer outside of Cod? Any other games? Not really. There's like some sports. games M-O-B 2K Wait, when are you going to beat Minecraft? Trying right now. I'm on death.

I played Minecraft once because my ex-girlfriend made me download it, but Don't talk shit about Minecraft. It's too slow. It's too slow. I like it. It's just not my type of. You talk about your ex-girlfriend, but don't talk to it about

Minecraft. In 13 years from now, you'll enjoy Minecraft. It's just, it's just, 12. Oh, holy shit. 12. That's actually crazy.

But yeah, that's what, that's why I said, I haven't touched a controller in five months. Like, I was playing a little bit of cod when it came out. Yeah. And then that's just, I'm just bad, dude. I'm just bad. I just don't have. What's your game of choice?

Halo? My game was always Halo. I was pro in Halo for eight years. Then got dropped from the Optic Halo team for them to pick up the best Halo team. Like, we were getting like maybe a top eight. And then they dropped us, picked up the best team. And I stayed on for content. And I've just been, and this was like 2016.

Oh, shit. I've almost been retired 10 years. Almost, bro. This is so insane. Even just when I talk about it. But yeah. And then I was just been on optic content, doing random shit kind of like this and whatever. You'll see.

All the random ass videos, uh, you do and going to events and all that stuff. So, um, hey man. It's what could happen for you. You might be here for a long time, and I hope so. Yeah, no, I'm excited. So you started playing Cod, your wrestling, Domit. Were you any good at wrestling? Yeah, that was pretty good.

Like, my older brother was a lot better. Yeah, like, a full ride to college. But, I mean, I think my record, like, high school was, like, 37 and, like, eight. So I was, like, I was decent. In high school, do people? Because I always, I have a fear of, like, I just know if I ever get in a fight with someone, it's going to be, like, a wrestler. And they're just going to embarrass me.

In high school or like school at all, was it ever no one really fucked with you because No one like bullied to you because they're like now this motherfucker could wrestle. Yeah. I mean yeah pretty much and also like like like my friend. I don't know I've always been shy but like my friends were like the popular kids. You're in the popular crew? I was just like me. I was like there was like there.

I don't really like going to parties and stuff. You ever drink? No, I've never been I've never been drunk. any interest in it? Are you 21? Yeah. No, not really. I mean, no, I just like smoking. You like smoking? Yeah. Were you a SIG smoker?

No, fuck, no. Just straight into the vape? Yeah. I need to quit this. Yeah, probably. Yeah, it's probably not the best thing. No, it's all. Probably not the best thing to start when you're young. But like if it's keeping you locked in, like, keep it for now. Yeah, like, if you're like, if you're like, like, keep it for now. But like, eventually, if you start losing scratch. Maybe, like, try to switch it up.

Yeah. All right, so when did you get into anything else about a childhood you want to know? I'm about the, what Cod did it? Nah, you're good. Yeah, I think we got on childhood. Do you like that, Matt? When did you start playing Cod? You're wrestling.

You're playing Cod on the side. My older brother at a console. So honestly, when I was like five, I started playing like pubs and shit. like a young in you. But like for money, for money and shit, AW. You were born in 2004? AW3, you started? Yeah, for money.

But, like, I played GBs and B-O-2 with my brother. What? Who was the better brother? Me. He was good. Like, he can compete in weight. He was like a TDM kid, though. A TDM?

Some kills and hide. Yeah. That was his game. Did you ever try to, like, convince him to play more serious? Just because, like, I feel like playing with your brother would be like, It's just like cool thing to fucking do. By the time I got like serious about it, he was like done with it. He was done?

He was done. to college wrestling, it's got to be rare. And my little brother's like, he also wrestles. He's really good, too. He's one state, state champ. He won state champ? See, Loki, the best?

No, my older brother is for sure. He didn't take that shit serious. So you got two siblings? Yeah, one younger, one older. How does your family feel about what's been, the past month of your life? Yeah, no, they're really proud, I guess, but. Do they even like understand?

No. Yeah. My dad made a Twitter. Your dad made a Twitter? Yeah, you're responding to everything. I'm like, bro. You tell them like, yeah, I got a salary now. Yeah.

Are they being nosy? Like, how much you making now? Yeah, nosy. So. They're my parents. They're saying. They supported me for a while. Yeah, they're just, you gotta know what's going on in your kid's life.

You said your first cod was what, AW? Or when you started playing for money? For money. AW. AW I mean when did AW come out I was like

2014 Damn you were playing How old How old are you Like 11 or 12 I'm playing for money Like that's who I'm losing to Like when I'm paying people

I'm paying for people's $1 Wagers like we're losing to this kid Yeah I was literally like Right off the bat I was insane My 1V1 team I was a dollar wager but I was like 30 and no and I was like I'm actually 30 and oh and dollar wages you played 1 B1 yeah I was a 1v1 kid so you just knew from the jump you're like I'm pretty fucking good at this

yeah but I just never like really competed until last year well I feel like it's so many that's so many years like what were these years for you let's start at a w a w a W you're 1B1 and fucking one B1 wagers what's the next game after that there's so much there's so much space here before you actually competed. Black Ops 3 is after that. Then IW. Black Ops 3, you're just doing the same shit

like game battles and stuff? Yeah. I guess you're so young. I don't really take it like too serious. Do you play IW or MWR? Both? I like MWR better.

Yeah. You were running Abizi's pockets? No. Tupac's pockets? No. I was a low tier back place. Mine. Probably.

Probably. Yeah. $2. $2. We probably played each other. WR played a decent amount. but that was always fun so the game you started okay what was the game so just every cod you're kind of and almost you're too young to even really do anything with it yeah so the game i started

like actually like getting good and playing for like a lot of money it was like b04 b04 yeah you're like doing like high rollers and stuff yeah okay were you playing with the big dogs then uh yeah I mean, I played against Ender and Ant for like 500 twice. Did you beat him? No, I got 1v2 to 5-5, MAP 7. Damn. Not once but twice. Twice?

I swear to God, 1V2 and 5-5. Who is your teammate? Zawat. It's his fault. Yeah, no, he did kind of so. That's my boy, though. Who clutched the 1B1s? Ellie.

He clutched both of them? Yeah. Damn. And you actually pay? He used to be insane. Yeah, it was CMG, so you have to pay.

Damn. So you're making a decent amount of money from? Yeah, decent. Like, honestly, like, yeah. Because I would win most of my shows. Damn. That's insane. $500.

So why didn't you try respawn? Or you just never crossed your mind? No, it honestly never did. And I was like just playing S&D for fun. So I was like... So when you started playing RESPON and MW3, are you like,

Do you like do you like like like like man I missed out? Yeah the how I really started Reson I was just streaming rank play on Twitch and some kid came my chat he's like you're trying to go to this local land I didn't even like that's how I would always start it is like I was like he's like I'll pay for a team pass and everything I was like sure why not so I go to that land and then in Indiana Chicago and then after that it was like yeah I got to do this should you fry oh yeah but you didn't play respawn before that? No.

Like you pull up to a respawn tournament? I played like a few like money eights in B04 but not really respond. Yeah dude that I just love I love respond. I think it's so much more fun than S&D only. It is. So after this local tournament are you like all right I might dabble into

respawn like how do you how do you get into just like straight S&D? How do you go from there to when when was it or how was it? I just yeah I started dablin and then after I played a few kids at the local they like played challengers and shit and then so after i played them like i think i dropped like a 40 bomb on them and then they picked me up and then i just worked my way up the ladder in mw3

what was mw3 last year last year oh that was last year yeah and then you officially you were like all right i'm gonna just be a challengers kid yeah yeah i'm gonna grind the shit dude and then so you start playing challengers and it hasn't even been a year since since you started competing It's been like exactly a year. Because I played my first official cup. My first official Challenders Cup was April 27th last year. So it's been the year. It makes me wonder like, exactly.

Is there something like that out for, like, out there like that for me? Like, am I just like the best at something? Oh, that's passed. No, I'm not saying, I'm not saying it. You would have been. But like, what would have been? Piano? You think I would have been better than Beethoven?

Maybe. No, you're nasty at piano? No, I'm not. not, but I'm saying like, there's, like, there might be one thing. Like, is there something that thing was getting into challengers, respawn, pro cod player. You were just like, you were just like, I'm a wrestler. I live on a farm and then now bam, I'm the best challenges play some game battles. In less than a year, I'm the best at this. So like, what out, maybe motorcross. I think that's my thing. No, that's Mac, it's Mac crazy. No, no, because Matt practice. Matt practiced. And he just wasn't. And he just like

never really got it. But like me, if I picked up a bike. now I could probably be the next Tony Hawk. Tony Hawk's a skateboarder. Oh. I could probably be... We don't know any bikers. I'm like, no longer. It could probably be the next...

Pastrana. I could probably be the next pastroma. Pastrame, yeah, for sure. Yeah. I could definitely... I kind of wonder that for myself, too. It's not my craft for you. I feel bad at everything.

What the? It was loud. That was loud. Like, I'm at a point where I feel bad at everything. No, dude. So you... What? The way you answered that.

And then you just change the subject. There you go on, going. No, dude, what the hell? Don't ever have that thought. Anyways. Can I at your view? Oh, my God. I mean, I just...

We're never going to get up... You just throw it away. I get tossed it in the lake Sour fucking fab Sour fucking fab. It hits kind of hard It's got THC in it? No

No I just naked tending that shit I might kind of fuck me up So who is the best Who as of right now Because you can gas now since you're not in it Who is the best player in the world And Challenger's

Now that you're not in I keep messing up our timeline, but I like... Pro-lute the MVP. I'm gonna say Standy, Pro-Lute. I think Uly's pretty good. Yuley? Yuley, Stanley, Pro-Lute, Brac.

These are all just pros. These are all just like pros that weren't. I mean, yeah. If the league with 16 teams, like these guys would all be... Yeah, exactly. What other games did you play growing up? Um...

I played Fortnite for a little bit. That's it. Like, Cod, Fortnite. Just won the worst games. Like, damn, you probably didn't even, have you ever touch an N64? No. Why used to play Pokemon when I was like little on my Nintendo.

On the Game Boy? Yeah, on the Game Boy. I mean, never touched the N-Sk? What was your first console? Or are you just spawned with a PC? Xbox. Xbox 360, I think. Playing God?

Yeah. Like, is it one of those? Because basically for me, once, I played a decent amount of games, like when I was young, like n64 Mario card Pokemon some random golden eye but once I touched Halo 1

like I just stuck with Halo 1 forever Was that what it was like With you with God? Yeah, exactly. I knew it was yeah Were your parents strict For any like the amount you could play or No, not really

I just had like a bedtime growing up Until I got out of high school See that's what I mean You can't have strict parents and be Yeah, be pro Yeah, it's got to have relaxed parents. That's why I was never, bro.

Yeah, you can be, but it's a lot easier when your parents are supportive. That's true. Like, you could just get home and just start gaming. It's also probably a lot easier when you're like, hey, I've made $1,500 this month, and you're 14. Yeah.

See, that was the issue for me is I just never was winning money. So it was just, but I'm on eight to 10 hours a day, straight after school. You're placing top four for 40 bucks. top four 40 when I was competing if you got third place

it was about 2K each so that would last you but you gotta also think we didn't have sponsors we're paying for our own tickets our own hotels all four of us are sleeping in one room

and this is when I was like I'd won an event and like that's just how I fucking was um but shit you're fucking here on optic is this is this a a spot you see yourself for a long time do you does it seem unreal does it seem like you're living

the fucking dream yeah no it's definitely unreal because like that was my favorite team growing up and i used to watch like all these guys so made them for the first time i was kind of crazy but yeah fucking yeah i can see myself being here for a long time as long as i as we perform and stuff which i know we will i fucking hope so man this is uh you're coming in you're coming into a fickle team man this team has been up through the ups and downs all You guys can only go up. They've been broken by themselves and the fan base. Yeah, no, I'm confident.

So no pressure at all, but like, it's all up to you. No, I like pressure. Well, really no pressure at all because, like, we can only go up. No. We could technically. Once we lock in champs, 100%, then we can only go up. Yeah. But there's still.

We'll go 2 and 0 this week. Fuck that shit. Yeah, if you go 2 and 0, then there's no more pressure on you. Well, but. except all the pressure. I play better under pressure. I'm not even going to... Okay.

There's a lot of pressure on you. Tons, tons of pressure. Do you have any plans on, like, funny enough, I was in Hex's stream and I saw you sub to Hex. You're TVE Merck, right? Yeah. Yeah, I saw you...

I click on Hex's stream and I just see him sub. I'm like, what the fuck is going on? Is there... Do you have like a plan or anything of doing any kind of content? Are you going to be trying to stream consistently? I'm going to try to stream as much as I can for sure.

I don't know. Probably not like YouTube and stuff, but streaming there. Yeah, I was about to ask, is there any type of, you ain't going to start busting out of camera doing a vlog, a day in the life. Start your own podcast. No, no, I'll just be streaming games.

Yeah. Well, this is the time to do it, man. This is the time to do it. You got the whole world in the palm of your hand, man. And I hope, I hope everything goes well for you. Me too. So you're moving here. You're in a apartment right now.

A hotel now, but apartment. Or you're in a hotel now. Apartment real soon. Apartment real soon. Are you even going to like... Have you ever lived by yourself? No. Oh my God.

This is so crazy. Your whole life just flipped upside down, bro. So are you going to go back home and like gather your shit and then like figure out a move here? Yeah, I think my mom is like bringing down my car. So are you even going to go back? are you just going to tell me oh pack my shit and not like me i'll probably go back in like the off season but i mean for now you're just gonna yeah i'm just like you're gonna be in that hotel and then you're going to move into that apartment so you're you're you're here you know you're you're

you think your mom's going to cry when she leaves probably yeah yeah for sure they're on they're on vacation when uh when i left so she was like crying at the end oh yeah i mean i moved out when I was, I think, 22-ish or something. I didn't think I was going to cry, but we got to the driveway and we just stood at each other, like, just stood there, stared at each other. And it was just like, we got all three of us. Even my stepdad started like, tearing up a little bit.

Really? I didn't know that. Because it was just, it's a huge step, man. It is. And one piece of advice, I would say, and I'm a horrible son and I need to do it better myself, is like make time for them, even if it's flying your mom out or something,

and calling her all the time. And like I feel like a hypocrite because I say that, but it's like I need to even do better myself. But yeah, man, this is a big time in your life. We're excited to see it. This is exciting, man. So, Merck, welcome to Optic.

He's officially out of the hotel, to the apartment, to the HQ. Wait, give him like two or three pieces of advises Just living alone. Just living alone. Also, Matt, if you have anything. Living alone. I think laundry detergent is really important.

Yeah. Buy like a Dyson. Get a good vacuum. I still need to get some like essentials. I don't know what your salary is, but I would say maybe pay a maid like 200 bucks a month to come through and clean up twice. Okay.

No, no. I don't think it'll, I won't get that dirty. Okay. Well, that's how I live. Yeah, don't. Actually, don't, that was really bad. Don't do that. Just get like a Dyson and like laundry deterred to do shit like you could easily, you know?

And what else? Dishwashing stuff was good. There's got to be actual real good advice we could give right now. What I would say, what I would. Go ahead. Actually fill your apartment. Like get a couch. because we've had players that just

don't put anything in their apartment. So couch, bed, actually make it like a house. Or he might not care. No, get a bed and a couch. Where do they sleep at? They have a bed. On an air mattress in the living room.

Like Breaking Bad. You've ever seen Breaking Bad? No. Like a crack house. Have your mom come out for a few days. She'll help you. I don't know what the salary's looking like, but I'm sure it's something decent

to where you can go by. He played shots he'd five years ago for a 500 bucks. Like he's good. He's good to get a couch. He's got money saved up. He can get a couch in a bed. Don't be afraid to ask tax for help. I need to get an account. Definitely get an accountant.

No, one thing I would say. Definitely get it to count it. That's a grain. You have to. Get a lawyer and account it. In all seriousness, an actual good idea would be to make like a Merck LLC, start up a business, a business account, and then only use that card to write off everything.

Any time you put it to your door dash, or anytime your door dash and it's going through that, anytime you're buying controllers, even buying controllers, buying monitors, buying clothes because you're going to be on camera, going to be on camera, like all of that shit, charge it to the same card,

and then at the end of that year, you can just, you'll have all your statements of shit you can write off. Yes. I would, that's actually the only good advice I think I got out. That's great. And I'll probably implement.

That's way better than you're getting a made. I just implemented that this year, but like I got like, I just going to. Anne said he saved like so much with an accountant on taxes with writeoffs and stuff. It's not even. Yeah, his mom's accountant. Yeah, you have to do that. She said he got it. She got it down like 80 grand on.

So I was like, what? I don't know. Is that much? Yeah. No, it's insane. I don't know. Crazy what they can do. Yeah.

He was like, he said you can write off headsets, controllers. Like every pretty much. You can ride off like half of your life. You can ride off like half of your rent. Or like, fourth of your rent or something if you if you if you have a PC if you compete or stream from your place so yeah yeah i guess that's definitely do that yeah you don't wish i could go back in time but all right man i guess uh you know appreciate you coming on the fly yeah thanks you coming on

thanks for this is the flycast by the way it's me and him yeah we do this i'm maniac he's hit yeah that's matt craig yeah nice to meet you fun yeah But all right, man, appreciate you. The future's looking bright for you. We're all excited. I think the fans are, too. The fan, like, there's been a few team changes. People drop, picked up.

And everyone always has some negative shit to say. But I think with the pickup of you, people were like, this is what should have been done. And we're all excited, man. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited to be here. All right, man. All right, man.

Matt Craig. Play the outro music.