Introducing him is easy: Ivaylo "Linepro" Kolev is one of the best Overwatch players in Spain and presumably the world.

It wasn't always like that. Although it's often known only one facet of the professionals, the one they let glimpse through social media and interviews, every player that reaches the elite has a story behind.

Linepro's goes back to Ruse, a city located in the north of Bulgaria and bathed by the Danube. He lived there until he was ten years old, the age at which he moved to Spain for family reasons. His parents traveled a lot at the time, they were captivated by the Iberian land and decided to move since it was easy to find work at the time and make more money than in Bulgaria.

Maybe without this change of country Linepro would not have become the player he is today. Since childhood, his passion was competition, but although he liked video games his dream was to be a footballer. However, in his block of flats lived Alberto "Pirii" Iglesias, professional player of Counter-Strike thanks to whom he learned about the world of esports.

"There was a communal pool and from time to time [Pirii] watched some Counter-Strike videos there and I was fascinated about it. He played in Banned Brigade and was one of the best in Spain. I did not know that people competed, I had no idea," recalled Linepro during an interview for AS Esports.

Adolescence is often a period of metamorphosis for many people and Linepro was no exception to the rule. In addition to the usual changes that every teenager experiences, an injury truncated his soccer dream. A lumbosciatic trauma caused him severe pain in the leg due to the compromise of the nerve roots of the sciatic nerve.

"I did not like to miss a game, so I attended injured to the training sessions. At first I could rest for a week and play the next one, but by forcing it I made it worse and I had to rest more and more. Until two years ago it hurt a lot, but now it only affects me if there are sudden changes in temperature or I have to use my leg a lot," he said.

Right now he thinks he could play football without much trouble, but he does not miss it especially because the void left by the ball was quickly occupied by esports. "I like to compete, no matter what, and I really liked video games."

Linepro started with Counter-Strike. Then League of Legends came, which he joined since all his friends played it, and he began to make contact with the competitive scene. Even so, he did not have the feeling that he would reach the top in Riot Games' MOBA and opted for Heroes of the Storm. "Unfortunately, in spite of me loving it, the game didn't create much expectation and didn't motivate me much to play it," he recognized in an interview granted to GuiltyBit.

Then Overwatch was announced. The marriage of the two games that he had liked the most made him fall in love with Blizzard's latest title since he saw the trailer. It didn't take long for him to stand out.

Beasy Overwatch was the first team he joined in May 2016, followed by Stone Templars, the organization in which he has been the longest time and in which he became known to the bulk of the Overwatch national audience. It is not surprising, then, that he was chosen as the captain of the Spanish team facing the last year's World Championship.

"I have to admit that I expected to be in the World Championship because I knew I had the skill. Also, as it was by popular vote, I had enough chances because we won everything in Spain, I was one of the most watched streamers ... Even so, I was blown away. The first thing I did when I read that it was the captain was to shout it in the middle of the scrim. Right after that I saw it was confidential and it was like 'oh, wow'. It was amazing, I just wanted to finish training to share it with my family, because until then I had only traveled through Europe to compete and they also were amazed. I was extremely excited because it was something I had been waiting for two months. My way of looking at it is that there are 21 million Overwatch players, many of them are Spanish and I was given the opportunity to be the captain of Spain," he said excitedly while remembering that moment.

In spite of the relative difficulties to train that the Spanish national team faced, the squad surprised with getting out as first of the group in which Sweden started as the favourite. However, the adventure ended in the quarterfinals after losing 1-2 against Finland. Renowned for his leadership role and ability to make decisions, Linepro drew a lesson from the event as well as an unforgettable experience.

He is considered a passionate player in the most positive way, so that he is motivated if things are going well but never falls apart if they go wrong. "I never shut up in a game," he assured. However, the World Championship changed the way he perceives an offline tournament due to his teammates. "At first I was quite emotional because in my opinion I could motivate the team, but they wanted to play calmer and I respect it. Now I'm calmer: I try not to break the atmosphere, because a shout can spread the joy if it happens after winning a map but deconcentrate in the middle of a play since Overwatch is very fast paced."

The reason why Linepro gets so involved in the game comes from the same reason why he is a professional player: his hunger for victory. "I do my best to get my team to win and I tend to blame myself if we lose. I always think I could have done this or that to win. If I have to say twenty thousand things in the game or cover the role of a colleague who does not fulfill his, I try to do it. Even if they tell me that there is no need there are times that I do it anyway," he acknowledged.

The Lucio player considers that his trajectory in other games helps him to make decisions in Overwatch. Everything is based on a simple premise: always ask yourself why. "In League of Legends I asked why a champion was being played and they told me it was because professionals played it. That answer really pissed me off, so I tried to find the reason. I like to understand the game, it is beautiful and important to understand why you win or lose. I don't do things just because, I wonder why I should do them until I draw a conclusion," he explained.

His ability with Lucio, his leadership and his performance in the World Cup made Team SoloMid interested in his services. For Linepro, wearing the shirt of one of the most popular organizations in North America was a dream come true. "It was the first team I saw play and the first player that I fell in love with was Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg. He inspired me to improve, because I saw his stream and even if he had very bad players in his team he always carried, so I had no excuses to stop trying. Also, all my friends were Team SoloMid supporters and the chants of the fans motivated me a lot."

Unfortunately, the relationship didn't end up well. Linepro was training with Team SoloMid for about two months, but he was very disappointed. The discontent of the Spaniard is not new because, as Harsha "harsha" Bandi explained in Over.gg, the organization has left much to be desired in its Overwatch journey.

"Basically, the experience is very negative. Team SoloMid is by far the organization that has treated me the worst in my life. They promised me thousands of things and they didn't deliver. It was my dream, but my future is more important than Team SoloMid. Right now there's nothing I want more than to play in the Overwatch League and I do not think Team SoloMid will get a spot," he said.

Ali "Alicus" Saba soon took advantage of the situation and signed him for his new project: Laser Kittenz. Linepro is very happy with the treatment he has received from the organization and his new team, with which he debuted this past weekend in the HND Invitational.

Laser Kittenz fell in the semifinals against ex-Cyclone and could not get the bronze against Hammers Esports. Still, Linepro was pleased with the start: "I did not expect to win the tournament because we had been only two days together. On one hand I'm happy, without much training we've won against teams that have been together for months, but on the other hand I'm sad because I know we could have gone further."

Movistar Riders, just like in the Overwatch Pit, won the trophy. Linepro, who has shared team with Alberto "neptuNo" González, had only good words for the Spanish squad. "I think it's a great roster. All the players are pretty good, they are level-headed and they have been a lot of time together. In addition, neptuNo and Dante "Dante" Zegveld are very clever and I think they lead the team well."

Linepro also showered Rogue with praises while reviewing the international scene. The French team has not lost since December 2016, but some analysts have been skeptical since they have not faced the toughest rivals. "Rogue seems to me, if not the strongest, one of the best teams in the world right now. His players are very good, but above all they have the advantage that they all speak their mother tongue", said the Spaniard, who nevertheless considers that it will be necessary to see what happens in the third season of APEX.

Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka recently joined Rogue as coach after spending a few days with Laser Kittenz. "We did't get to coincide, but I've met him before and he's a good friend. I do not know what his level was lately, but I think that as a coach he will do quite well, even better than as a player," remarked Linepro.

The Spanish support has confessed on some occasion that there are professionals more skilled than him, so he tries to excel in the strategic side. Instead, he does not see himself transitioning into the coaching role just like INTERNETHULK. "I have received two offers to coach in North America and I have rejected both. Although I see myself capable of playing that role, I do not like it because I can not change anything inside the game. I feel safer playing than relying on players to remember what I say. I depend more on myself."

Luckily for a player like Linepro, who sometimes tends to micromanage his teammates, in Laser Kittenz he does not need to participate so much because there are other players, like the Portuguese Luis "Greyy" Perestrelo, who also know how to shotcall. In addition to thanking that his teammates are level-headed, the Spaniard was surprised by the communication of the team.

"This is by far the team in which I have been that has the best communication, which I think will help us a lot," he said. Laser Kittenz has work ahead after incorporating two players from Lunatic.Hai, Lee "claris" Keon-Ho and Seo "Munchkin" Sang-Beom, but Linepro believes that everything will speed up in the bootcamp that the team is going to make in South Korea since he has already worked with other Korean players. For example, Kim "EFFECT" Hyeon in Team SoloMid.

Although he has his eyes on the Overwatch League, Linepro does not leave aside the 2017 World Championship. Spain is part of the 32 countries that will participate in the championship and yesterday the candidates to be part of the national committee were published, a system that does not convince him.

"It's a complicated issue, because neither I like what they are going to do now nor what they did. It seems to me that Blizzard did it wrong by not making it possible to only vote for players with more points in the ranking. I do not think it's a good idea to choose a content creator because in the end the World Championship was not an exhibition event, which I think was what Blizzard was looking for, but a serious tournament," he said.

Although he goes against the popular vote, he fears that cronyism may guide the national teams this year. "It seems to me that Jaime "Séns" Callejas could be part of the team and there are people, like Luis "Nosferatvs" Vizoso, who are learning enough about the competition. Even so, I do not think there are enough professionals in Spain who can compose a committee and I put my case as an example: they do not know what I have done these last months, so if they are based on the results in tournaments I would never be chosen because I have not competed except for the HND Invitational," he argued.

Linepro is aware that it may seem that he has disappeared lately, because due to his tryouts in Team SoloMid he was less active in social media. For that reason he wanted to dedicate a few words to his followers, whom he reassured at first reminding that he has not stopped playing at any time.

"I want to thank them for their support, obviously, because without them I would not have come to anything. I am the one who plays, but they are the ones who are there and in many cases, and I mean it, the merit is theirs because I play and everything you want, but there are many other people that dedicate the same or more time to the game. It is them who give me visibility when sharing my stream, by supporting me in the tournaments, commenting on the forums, talking..." he asserted.

Having people value his work is one of the motivations that Linepro has to keep working, but there is also a goal that he wants to fulfill at all costs beyond playing in the Overwatch League. "I want to work hard to be the best in my role. Not only be the best Lucio or the best support, but the best shotcaller," he concluded.

 

The statements of the interview have been condensed to facilitate its reading.