MidwayHe shares his feelings on how MLC would look at an upcoming event and Valve's support for Deadlock LAN event.
JonJon has been one of the key constants behind Melee Creeps's run as the dominate squad in North American Deadlock. While Melee Creeps have cycled through roster changes around him, the team has remained at or near the top of the region, building a reputation for consistency, adaptability, and a willingness to test themselves against whoever is next in line. That now includes looking beyond NA, with Melee Creeps stepping into events like Deathy Death Slam EU as they continue to measure themselves against new opponents and new conditions.
In this interview, JonJon talks about how he found his way from games like League of Legends and Fortnite onto Melee Creeps, what makes the team's long-standing core work, and how he approaches both patch driven hero picks and targeted bans. He also shares his thoughts on balancing competition with real-life work, what Deadlock would need from Valve to feel like a real career path, and how Melee Creeps would approach preparing for a true major LAN if the scene gets there.
For people who don't know your story, what did you play before Deadlock, and how did you end up on Melee Creeps?
JonJon: I played League of Legends and Fortnite before Deadlock. I kind of just fell into trying out for MLC — I got asked to trial and figured, why not?You, Saiah, and eido have been the constants through all the roster changes. What makes that core work, and what is your relationship like with those two?
JonJon: I think what makes the core work is that everyone is kind of a specialist in their own category with the heroes they play. All of my teammates are my buds, but Saiah is like a brother. 
Everyone always seems to be looking for the next team to challenge Melee Creeps and put a target on your backs. How does that motivate you guys as a team and personally?
JonJon: I don't think a new team or having a target on our backs really motivates us. It is nice to play different people, though, and adapt and learn from them.Historically you guys have really dominated NA. How do you find scrims that help you without giving too much away and improving the other teams too?
JonJon: I think scrims will always help, even if you're miles ahead, because they help you stay disciplined and in form. It also just makes the region better when other teams improve too. It's kind of a constant feedback loop.Melee Creeps has started looking beyond North America, from being on the invite list for Mo & Krill Cup in China to now playing in Death Slam Invitational EU. What made you guys interested in taking that step, and what kind of challenge do you see in playing overseas online?
JonJon: Since we won the NA event, Deathy wanted us to play in the EU one to show it wasn't a fluke, I guess. It's also kind of a "why not" situation. If we lose, so what, but if we win, it's big.Is there any fear that ping could hurt outside perception of your team if the performance isn't up to your standards?
JonJon: Personally, I don't think the perception of the E6 chatters really matters, but ping is always going to affect gameplay and performance.With Dimov joining Floormen, rival NA teams are changing. What's the key for Melee Creeps when adjusting to new rosters? Is it about playing them more and learning new hero pools and lane strategies?
JonJon: I don't think we have to adjust that much to new teams or rosters. It's really about just continuing to improve.Speaking directly to Dimov and future matches against Floormen, has the team had conversations about his hero pool and what to ban out? His Yamato game was obviously huge at 11-0-22. How do you personally feel about bans targeted at specific players?
JonJon: We haven't really discussed his hero pool at all. I mean, if someone has a small hero pool that can be targeted, it's kind of worth it. But that only lasts so long.Looking over your hero pool, we've seen shifts away from heroes like 
Bebop, 
Mirage, and 
Holliday toward picks like 
Lady Geist and 
Vindicta. What goes into adding a hero to your pool? How do you decide to play a new hero, and how do you learn it?
JonJon: I'm usually just playing whatever the strong M1 flavor-of-the-patch heroes are. When it comes to learning a new character, I just use the best build at that time and practice the mechanics of that hero. Most recent Lady Geist match by JonJon
What advice would you give to newer players about adding heroes to their pool?
JonJon: I think if new players want to add heroes to their pool, they should just play whatever they think is fun. The only reason I ended up picking certain champs was because they seemed fun to me.Deadlock Night Shift NA's prize pool changes from event to event, and Death Slam tops out around $4,000. The money isn't really at the point where this can be full-time yet. How do you and your teammates balance school, work, or other commitments?
JonJon: All of us handle our real-life stuff first and then get on the game after. There's not really much balancing I can do since I work. It's basically just work, then come home and try to get better.There's no official competitive structure from Valve yet. What would make this feel like a real career to you, and what do you expect from Valve to help that happen?
JonJon: I don't really have expectations since this is my first experience with something like this. I guess I'd expect Valve to make it more like Dota 2 with their big events.If there were a major $1 million LAN in four months, what would Melee Creeps do to prepare? What would you do personally? Would you consider a LAN meetup to train?
JonJon: If there was a big LAN like that, I'd probably keep doing what I'm doing, just turn it up a bit. We'd probably increase the amount of scrims throughout the week and be way more active in the improvement cycle. I wouldn't consider a LAN meetup to train unless we needed to get used to the stage feeling.Find more from JonJon on Twitch and Melee Creeps