Tempo Storm team owner Andrey 'Reynad' Yanyuk
On April 6th I was fortunate enough to have Andrey 'Reynad' Yanyuk answer some questions about his eSports company Tempo Storm and his thoughts on Blizzard's card game Hearthstone. I was very appreciative that he took the time to do this so I thought I would share the answers he provided to my questions.
Me: What led you into trying out Hearthstone?
Reynad: I played poker and MtG professionally since the age of 14, and saw the potential it had on twitch the first day closed beta began. On the second day I managed to get a key, and worked from there
Me: What do you think brought about your success in the game and streaming?
Reynad: I had my finger on the pulse of Twitch and TCGs, so when Hearthstone came along I could see its potential and get in early. My skill set gave me the opportunity to have a "pro player" role in the scene, but it's not as important. Even without the skill set, I could have been involved in other ways (tournament hosting, casting, etc)
Me: What made you want to start your own team and be the first player/owner in Hearthstone?
Reynad: I was getting big offers from every major eSports organization and started to think about the longevity of streaming as a career. For all I knew it could all disappear within a year, so i had to take the opportunity to make something out of my popularity that could pay the bills long term. Signing with a team would just have been a way of cashing in more during the time I was popular.
Me: What has been the most rewarding part about owning your team?
Reynad: Watching my teammates win is very rewarding. It's also rewarding when people ask to buy merchandise, cheer on Tempo Storm players in Heroes of the Storm, Counter Strike, or Fighting Games. It shows that people are fans of the brand, and not just me as a streamer personally.
Me: How was the decision to branch out into other competitive eSport games made?
Reynad: The end goal for Tempo Storm is to have as much brand recognition as possible, and branching outside of Hearthstone is necessary to make that happen. Everyone who follows Hearthstone as an esport is aware of Tempo Storm at this point. We need people in other esports markets to know the name too.
Me: Where do you see Tempo Storm going from here now that you have a Heroes of the Storm team and a newly signed Street Fighter Pro?
Reynad: We're going to focus more on content generation for the various communities, and getting our name out is as many ways as possible.
Me: Has being the owner of Tempo Storm made you think about giving up playing Hearthstone ala OpTic NaDeSHoT?
Reynad: I've thought about it since a month after I became popular. Hearthstone is fun enough when I'm not forced to play it when I don't want to, but at some point it will start happening less and less. Professional Hearthstone is unique in that I could stop playing for 5 years and be just as good when I came back, so constant practice isn't necessary to compete at the highest level. This, along with my ego, makes me continue to play tournaments. It also let's me get out into the real world more often and travel.
Me: Where do you see Hearthstone headed now that we are mid release of Blackrock Mountain?
Reynad: It will continue to slowly grow until the mobile release, at which point I expect it to explode in popularity.
Me: What has been your favorite deck to play in Hearthstone?
Reynad: Flood Mage was pretty fun, but I also enjoy playing Handlock and the oldest versions of Tempo Rogue quite a bit (before they nerfed every card in rogue).
Me: And finally, any big announcements coming from Tempo Storm in the near future?
Reynad: They'll happen when they happen, but there are always big announcements on the horizon :)
And with that thank you very much to Andrey for taking the time to answer my questions and like everyone else I will be eagerly awaiting to see where Tempo Storm goes next in the eSports scene.
Additionally, Reynad and Tempo Storm will be competing in the SeatStory Cup III from April 9th through April 12th.
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