Dec 16, 2016 Amateur League EU Inside Lounge Interview

Baker is a common surname of English orgin. James Baker is a politician, the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, a New Zealand cricketer who plays for Northern Districts, a Canadian professional hockey broadcaster, a basketball, tennis, and football player. James Baker is an Australian drummer and songwriter who performs under the pseudonym Iron Head as an African american traditional folk singer besides being a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Since a few years, James Baker is an active professional Heroes of the Storm player. Now, his team James Baker™ is playing in Division 1 of Heroes Lounge and we ask them some questions for Inside Lounge. 


Hi, James Baker, how are you? My name is James Baker and I would like you to introduce yourself and your players to the audience.

James Baker: Hi, I'm James Baker, the captain.

James Baker: Hi, I'm James Baker.

James Baker: Hi, I'm James Baker.

James Baker: Hi, I'm James Baker.

James Baker: Hi, I'm James Baker.


Since when are you playing together and what made you participate in Heroes Lounge?

We have been playing together since around October when two friends, Cosmoboss and Majche sent out a message looking for players. They were later joined by another duo, Breadbucket and FlyingBear and finally Alchemy (me).

Your name is based on a very strong meme of the Heroes of the Storm universe – at least in the EU scene – and even we used it as a clickbait for one of our articles to get to the frontpage of the Heroes of the Storm subreddit.Is it still funny for you or is it going to be too much?

Memes as a concept will live on but eventually all things go stale. We don't feel like James Baker will go stale any time soon though. It's less of a meme and more of a spiritual connection shared by each and every living being for we are all James Baker.



We are all amateurs here. So, how was it for you to play your first match casted by Khaldor and even the real James “Bakery” Baker himself for almost 2000 viewers on twitch.tv? Did it get to your nerves? Was it a topic between your players prior the match?

We were extremely excited and nervous at the same time. I think it was evident that we were under a bit of pressure and didn't play as well as we normally would. We admit we were afraid to embarass ourselves in front of Bakery and Khaldor with such a large crowd. It's going to be the last time that happens though. We've figured there is nothing more embarassing that can happen any more so we're just going to focus on playing our best in future matches. Regardless, we are happy that we contributed to something that would bring significant publicity to the amateur scene and inspire more people to play in future seasons.



Despite you lost your first game, we saw some incredible plays from you which almost enabled you a comeback on Braxis Holdout in the second game. How did that game influenced your motivation for the next games? What do you think about the other teams in Division 1 of Heroes Lounge? Are you heading for the Play-Offs?

I did not remember any particularly good plays from our side as Gaming in the Rhythm did well to maintain their lead and avoid fights that could turn it around for us. The loss against them was a necessary one. Even if we were not nervous, this would have highlighted the weakness of our early game and will be something we try to fix. In terms of favourites, I think Gorge Good Ult, FAT#5 and Gaming in the Rhythm are the top contenders. There are also other strong teams like season 1 champions No Trick Ponies and the Finnish Jaywalkers too. We'd like to make it to playoffs but we recognize there is some intense competition along the way there. 

In terms of the meme department, I tip my hat to Don Our Fedoras, Team Solid and Agents 007 for being the holy meme trinity of Heroes Lounge.


Are there any shoutouts or advertisement you want to share?

I'd like to give a big shout out to Khaldor for casting, past, present and future participants of Heroes Lounge for being such a wonderful amateur scene and of course, the James Baker himself for being an amazing person and an inspiration to James Bakers worldwide. Thanks to James Baker and all the other James Bakers for the time.


If you liked what you just read, make sure to leave them a follow on Twitter. Any feedback or suggestions for what's next on Inside Lounge? Contact us within the Heroes Lounge Discord or via Twitter or Facebook. Are you wondering how this James Baker meme started? Just read some of the tweets during BlizzCon 2016:





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