If you’re not familiar with Overwatch esports, then “5 Deadly Venoms Crew” probably gives you flashbacks to a grainy, 1970s Shaw Brothers film or makes you wonder what the Wu Tang Clan is up to these days. You might think that this “crew” sounds pretty sinister, pretty deadly, and you most certainly would not think that they are a stellar, non-profit gang of Overwatch enthusiasts putting their heads together to change the world for the better. But they are.

Since the 5 Deadly Venoms Crew’s inception seven months ago, it has hosted innumerable watch parties; produced a talk show; spawned a series of amateur Overwatch tournaments to benefit local charities; designed its own merchandise; and, much, much more. But most importantly, the Venoms have built a tangible, long-lasting community in a space too often defined by disposable digital interactions. The crew is showing the world esports at its best -- passionate, charitable, and inclusive.

Like every superhero story, the Venoms’ beginnings are humble, yet telling. Richard Ng, a brand consultant in NYC for Mavens of London and a newcomer to the Overwatch scene, had needed somewhere to watch the Overwatch League. Excelsior’s neighbors in Philadelphia and Boston were advertising massive parties with free merch and games and booze to kick off the League, but in New York? Nada.

A few tweets to NYXL inquiring about local fan events were met with assurances that something would be coming “soon” and reminders to keep an eye on their social media. Having decided his only option was to host his own meet-up, Rich set about finding a venue, but a request to watch the games at the bar where the League of Libations, League of Legends’ New York fan club, meets was met with silence. His frantic search quickly devolved into a series of uninspiring Google searches -- from the depths of which emerged Waypoint.

The gaming cafe where the 5 Deadly Venoms now meet is a one-of-a-kind in New York, situated in the Lower East Side nearby a purportedly bomb Cantonese joint called Congee Village; a trendy, limited-release clothing shop called Extra Butter; and, the longest standing settlement house in the country, University Settlement, that would soon become a cornerstone of the Venoms’ charity outreach.

Waypoint made it clear they were only going to be supporting their local team and Rich agreed, immediately taking to the NYXL Discord to organize the event the only way he knew how -- with a roll call sheet.

“[Do you remember when] people would go on forums and you’d make a roll call post on a message board and everyone would say who’s coming? I [asked for] your name, time of arrival, and how many people are coming with you,” laughed Rich. “I didn’t know anybody and I needed a way to get to know people’s names!”

About fifteen people showed up the first night. The meet-up was given a shout-out on the Overwatch League stream and from there, things began to move quickly. The crew’s numbers grew, more events were scheduled, and Excelsior began to take notice, igniting what would become a thriving partnership.

The crew’s brand, as Rich envisioned it, took shape. Wary of intellectual property (IP) infringement, he aimed to create something unique that could exist harmoniously with Excelsior. “I built the brand independently,” he explained, “[I] kept the colors ‘cause they’re actually the New York state colors, and tried to create a sort of standalone presence and IP that … could exist in partnership with the XL brand.”

Rich drew inspiration for the crew’s name from old school kung-fu movies and the hip-hop culture of New York City, with the five representing each of the city’s boroughs. Much like Overwatch’s backstory, Shaw Brothers films focus on brotherhood and heroes banding together for the greater good, which felt fitting for a supporter club that dedicates its time and energy to improving the world around them.

“When I walked into Waypoint my first night, I was a party of one. I came in and I knew nobody, and I just had to hit the bricks and start talking to people, get to know them,” said Rich. He showed up each and every night in order to serve as a point of consistency for returning fans, and delighted as the meet-ups facilitated the face-to-face interaction and friendship esports often perilously lacks.

“I always called [our watch parties] meet-ups because for me, it was more important for people to meet than to watch the game. … When [people meet] face-to-face under a shared interest, they talk. So the idea was [for] the games to be a context to get people to meet where they would otherwise not interact,” explained Rich.

“You need to actually get people out of the home to make this sustainable. Because if … we’re incentivized to watch these games by ourselves on a mobile device -- which is the most isolating behavior of all -- then you’re not even alone together, you’re just alone. And you can’t build culture from isolation; all you build is reaction and participatory conditioning.”

Online interactions, he argues, lack the face-to-face connectivity required to build a healthy community and maintain proper support of the social contract, and that shortcoming is the fundamental challenge esports must overcome.

“What [esports] needs is to bring some of the most basic, traditional thinking into the space to stabilize [itself]. Otherwise, we’re going to always be changing with the seasons,” Rich explained. “I’m not talking finance or marketing/sponsorship models, but … how do you build sustainable communities? This is a question that often faces urban developers. It faces policymakers, it faces traditional CPG folks.”

5 Deadly Venoms Crew is one approach. The community that cropped up out of New York’s competitive Overwatch scene has grown into something much greater -- a coalition for good whose time is spent not only watching Excelsior games, but supporting local charities and collaborating with one another to create awesome content.

The NYXL Homefront Free-For-All series, an amateur tournament series benefiting charity, was borne of the Crew’s desire to give back. As aforementioned, Waypoint is located down the street from University Settlement, an organization that aids immigrants and low-income families. The house offers mental health services, after-school youth programs, health care for senior citizens, and much more to the Manhattan and Brooklyn boroughs, but the Venoms began their fundraisers with a focus on adult literacy.

“Overwatch sucks when the communication is bad,” said Rich, “and anyone who is the kid of immigrants knows this: kids learn the language fast, parents race to keep up, and grandparents usually get lost along the way. Communication barriers actually fracture families here in New York … , so we wanted to find a charity that demonstrated the power of education, collaboration, and communication. The idea was to help families here with the very same challenges we face when we play online.”

The first Homefront match was played in collaboration with the Lonestar Vanguard, a Houston Outlaws fan club. The crews had the idea to stream their respective watch parties for an upcoming Excelsior v Outlaws match into one another’s venues, creating a virtual arena, and from there, the event snowballed to include amateur matches benefiting charity. NYXL and the Outlaws both soon threw their support behind the event, with the former offering to build the team’s creative assets and host the event on their Twitch channel.

“Two supporter clubs came up with this idea, grew it, the teams got into it, put their efforts and resources behind it, and then it became something much bigger than any of us individually. Excelsior has gone forward to do the Homefront Free-for-All series, and … if you ask them, … they’ll tell everyone this is the Homefront FFA and they do not shy away from saying that it started with [the Venoms],” said Rich.

Collaboration with the Excelsior does not stop there. Although the brands remain independent, they often share ideas and partner for various projects, including Living XL, a NYC-centric talk show featuring Goldenboy. “We basically produced the entire show with five days notice. It was pretty crazy, but typical New York stuff,” laughed Rich.

From here, the Venoms have plans to work with The Door, a center for at-risk youth, and the Henry Street Settlement house. The crew is producing custom 5DV merchandise to commemorate the Overwatch League Grand Finals, but is a non-profit that donates all proceeds to charity. And of course, meet-ups will continue because at the end of the day, building a long-lasting community is the name of the game.

“I’m a Visa worker here in the US, so I always assume that I’m here as a guest, and I thought it would be really crappy if I was one of those people who just came in to raid New York for money and not actually give something back to the community,” said Rich.

“[And] at least from my naive, outsider, old guy look in, I like to think that we’ve created something that might not be the biggest, but ... [is] very unique [and] stands out in the esports space.”