Just days before the news of Christopher “ChrisTFer” Graham departure from the team, the squad at EnVision were on top of the world.

They had just achieved one of the greatest upsets of Overwatch history. EnVision Esports defeated the mighty Rogue with stunning execution this past weekend in the opening week of the Overwatch Contenders. People called it a fluke, but those keen to competitive Overwatch knew differently. ChrisTFer's presence on the team, despite its brevity, had an overwhelmingly positive effect.

Caleb “McGravy” McGarvey of EnVision stayed humble after the big win:

The rest of the season will be as difficult, if not more, the only thing we can do is put our heads down and grind. We came into this competition as the clear underdogs and one big upset isn't gonna change that. We have to work twice as hard every week to ensure the best possible results.”

It's a good thing that McGravy and his teammates are prepared to work twice as hard every week, as the unexpected departure from ChrisTFer is only going to make things more difficult.

Individually, McGravy came into Saturday’s week one match with only one thing in mind, ensuring his own gameplay was going to be the best it could possibly be:

“The biggest thing that was going through my head was making sure I was mentally locked in to play the best individual game I could. Leading up to the match I hadn't been playing very well in practice, so that was my primary focus."

We weren't too sure where we stood as a team with ChrisTFer because we had only played with him for 8-10 hours in-game, but me and Chris personally built a pretty good in-game and out-of-game relationship that definitely showed in our matches.”

It is this positive in-game and out-of-game relationship that makes the departure of ChrisTFer all the more painful for EnVision fans. Mike “Packing10” Szklanny, EnVision’s former head coach, noted that the team had been trying out  “20-25” different tank players in search for an answer that would propel their team to Contenders level of play.  

After choosing ChrisTFer, it looked as if the excessive trialing was worth it. ChrisTFer performed extraordinarily well throughout their series with Rogue, and the team hoped this might secure his spot for the long-term.

McGravey explained how, when they were behind a map, ChrisTFer's leadership came into full effect:

"After losing that first round on Lijiang [Tower], Chris kinda pulled the team together and told us to play our game and play the comps we were comfortable with. So we ended up winning the next two rounds and the map and we all kinda slowly realized we had a real shot at keeping the series close at least.” 

McGravey’s Tracer was fierce and a force that could not be stopped as he continuously kept up with the world’s most renowned Tracer in Terence “SoOn” Tarlier. McGravey comments, “Personally I was feeling really good after that first map and I kinda felt like they couldn't contest how I was playing, so it kinda pushed me to test my limits and I ended up having a pretty good series.”

An uncertain week two

Looking ahead to week two, EnVision will once again be put to the test as they meet another one of North America’s greats. Immortals are coming off of a disappointing 0-4 loss to Team EnVyUs, possibly making way for EnVision to step in and find another win.

When asked about their next match, McGravey sounded cautiously optimistic:

“Immortals is easily one of the best teams in North America. They have some of the best infrastructure and players in the scene right now. It's gonna be a tough match for sure. All I can ask for myself and the team is to put in the work to make the match as close as possible. If we bring the energy we did from last week, anything is possible.”

With ChrisTFer gone, will it even be possible for EnVision to bring that same energy that caused the incredible upset against Rogue?

With ChrisTFer leaving the team after forming such a positive relationship with EnVision, it's hard to imagine this as anything but a severe blow to the remaining members. In light of the recent news, McGravey has this to say about his friend's departure:

"We would love to have Chris on board, but he does have trials with better teams and I don't blame him in the slightest for pursuing those options."

In place of ChrisTFer, it appears that Sebastian "Numlocked" Barton will be joining EnVision as the new tank player.

Look for EnVision Esports this Sunday, August 27th, as they take on Immortals at 4:15pm PT/7:15pm ET at Twitch.tv/OverwatchContenders.