The Dallas Fuel always have a plan. Nolan “Paintbrush” Edwards makes sure of that.
He may not always make the plan, but Paintbrush has made sure his teammates are heard. The Fuel brought their new support player on board June 7 for his ability to rally a group of people. Paintbrush has a strong voice and can bring a team together.
The Fuel, facing the Boston Uprising on Saturday at 6 p.m., were never short of talent during a 2020 Overwatch League season that has had peaks and valleys.
Their superstar damage lineup gave the Fuel a ceiling they never had in previous years, and their tank players had enough synergy to make match-defining plays.
But the Fuel were missing something.
Whether it was togetherness or a collective voice that could rally the team, and construct plans, the Fuel didn’t have that until Paintbrush.
“Honestly, our recent success was from me adapting to this team,” Paintbrush told The Dallas Morning News in a phone interview on Tuesday. “My teams in the past have done things differently. Everyone solves problems in slightly different ways. So everything I was coming in to call, I could easily do on a previous team but it wasn’t a comfort spot here.”
Fuel head coach Aaron “Aero” Atkins implemented Paintbrush from the moment the support player arrived in Dallas, starting him on every map and making him a leader in the team’s communication process.
A lot of the Fuel’s potential success was riding on how well Paintbrush would gel with main tank player Noh “Gamsu” Youngjin. Those two are the primary shot callers, and have discussions with the coaching staff every week about composition and plans, Paintbrush said,
The first few weeks were rough. Paintbrush’s first match with the Fuel was a 3-1 loss to the Florida Mayhem on June 13.
“The first time it was pretty hard to get used to each other,” Gamsu said. “But it’s been getting better and we know what each other needs.”
It was the second match that was most concerning, though. Dallas hit a rock-bottom in its third season of OWL play in a 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Titans. Disjointed, uncoordinated and erratic, the Fuel were all of those things when losing to the No. 18 team in the standings.
Paintbrush never lost faith in his ability to mesh with Gamsu and the Fuel.
“My opinion is, as players you can work with whoever you want. But it’s up to you to make it happen,” Paintbrush said. “Gamsu is a good dude, he’s good at the game and he’s smart. It was a no brainer that it was going to work.”
It wasn’t until the Fuel’s match against Toronto on June 27 that Paintbrush and Gamsu started to click. Paintbrush felt more comfortable in his role, where he calls out the Fuel and their opponents’ ultimates after every fight. But most importantly, he always asks, “what’s the plan?”
Dallas started to look stronger again. It lost its Summer Showdown match to the Paris Eternal, the eventual champion, on July 3, but were a couple small mistakes from winning.
Against the Outlaws on July 17, the Fuel made team history. Houston went up two maps, and the Fuel completed the reverse sweep (first in franchise history) after being on the brink of elimination.
Paintbrush, a catalyst in both his gameplay and his leadership, shined as the Fuel planned their way to a win.
“That was also a big match for Paintbrush because we’ve put a ton on him for shot calling and being one of the team captains,” Aero said. “I think there were maybe two sound barriers out of all of it that weren’t great, but other than that he played so well.”
Paintbrush was thrilled with the result.
He wasn’t too focused on the big plays he made but was rather fixated on his team’s plan-making.
“It’s not always me making a plan, and it’s not always Gamsu either,” Paintbrush said. (Kim “DoHa” Dongha) and (Jang “Decay” Gui-un) were both planning last weekend. Everyone was planning.”
Because of Paintbrush, the Fuel may have a chance at a strong finish to the season. Dallas’ stars can shine now with a consistent voice of guidance in it’s matches. Aero’s strategy only extended through practice.
Now that he has Paintbrush, the Fuel can maintain that element of strategy mid match. Dallas can start a winning streak with a victory against the Uprising on Saturday.
The threat of strong teams like Philadelphia and Atlanta remains on the horizon, but Dallas could have an element it didn’t in previous encounters with the OWL elite.
The plan now, is Paintbrush.
