Adam “Spirit” Wills is a member of the Charlotte Phoenix VALORANT Team. Spirit is from Georgia and is a former Overwatch and Apex Legends professional player. Before going pro in VALORANT, Spirit most recently placed 4th at the Apex Legends X-Games Invitational.
Spirit sits down with us to discuss how he got his username, what playing in the X-Games Invitational was like, and why he would love to live in Stardew Valley. Learn more about Spirit including his love for Carly Rae Jepsen’s music, the Better Call Saul TV series, and Canadian poutine.
What are some things you like about being home right now?
We’re cooking a lot more meals as a family, which I like a lot.
What is your favorite character in VALORANT and why?
I really like Sova. I feel that information heroes in general are super strong, and it’s always very satisfying to get kills with Sova’s shock darts.
In your opinion, who has the best ultimate ability in VALORANT?
Breach has by far the strongest ultimate. Not only does it apply a stun and knock-back in a gigantic AOE [area of effect], but also for some reason it applies a lower fire-rate effect to anyone hit as well.
What is it about VALORANT that excites you or makes it unique from / more fun than other games?
VALORANT is first and foremost an FPS [first person shooter] game. It seems like a simple thing, but many games that were initially FPS games have taken a backseat to ability usage and CC in general. Ability usage definitely still matters in VALORANT, but it almost means nothing if you don’t hit your shots.
How did you choose your username/gamertag?
I originally made my username after my favorite Yugioh card Spirit Reaper when I started playing TF2. I for some reason decided to use 3’s instead of E’s. When I started playing Overwatch almost 10 years later I decided it was time to change my name so I just started going by Spirit.
When and how did you start playing video games?
I started playing games really early on. Some of my earliest memories are playing Halo: Combat Evolved on my dad’s PC when I was about 5-years-old. My dad got me and my brother our own PC’s for Christmas when I was 8 along with the Orange Box and so TF2 basically consumed my entire childhood.
How did you decide to go pro in VALORANT?
Before I got super into Overwatch I played CS:GO pretty casually, and I knew it was a genre I enjoyed so it just made sense to play VALORANT.
Have you been a pro player for any other games? If so, which ones?
Yes, I’ve been a pro in both Overwatch and most recently Apex Legends.
Who do you look up to the most and why?
I look up to a streamer named Kripparian. He’s pretty much the only streamer I have watched for a long time, and watching his stream is what ultimately made me want to stream. He doesn’t have any strange gimmicks or anything, he’s just good at games and is himself, and I like that a lot.
What are you most proud of?
X-Games will forever remain the coolest event I have ever gotten to go to. I am especially proud of how well we did considering I ended up getting pneumonia on the first day of competition and had to play through that.
If you attended college, what did you study?
I am currently attending a local university and am taking care of my general education courses right now. I’m still unsure of a major.
What is the most interesting thing you have done in the past year?
I attended my first ever TwitchCon at San Diego this past year and had a great time. From playing in Rivals at TwitchCon to getting to meet a ton of new people, it was a lot of fun.
Do you have any special talents?
I have the impressive talent to need to sleep for pretty much 12 hours at a time regardless of when I go to sleep. Any less and I feel miserable, and I could sleep for longer than 12 hours if I wanted to.
How well do you know your teammates?
ChurmZ is friends with my brother but I don’t really know anyone on the team super well yet. But I am looking forward to getting to know them.
Do you have any pets?
My family recently got two rescue cats. One of them is very skittish and we haven’t given her a name yet, but the other we call Chonkers because she eats a lot and just sleeps all day.
What do you like to do in your free time besides play video games?
I’m usually watching television or maybe a movie. The most recent show I’ve been addicted to is Better Call Saul, a spinoff of Breaking Bad. It is easily one of the best shows I have ever seen.
What video game world would you like to live in?
Stardew Valley! Everyone is nice and helpful, and people like you more simply by giving them stuff. I could just spend a whole day on my small little farm making a ton of money and occasionally fishing.
What is your favorite movie or TV show?
My favorite movie has to be Casino. I find mob movies in general super interesting, and I am a sucker for pretty much every movie Martin Scorsese has ever created.
Who is your favorite singer or band? What music do you listen to while streaming?
I don’t really listen to music when I stream, at least when I stream VALORANT. One of my favorite of artists of ALL time has to be Carly Rae Jepsen. No, not any song made around Call Me Maybe but her follow up albums Emotion and then Dedicated are both super good.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
I would probably move back to Montreal. I lived there for almost a whole year, and I kind of fell in love with the city and especially poutine.
If you could instantly become an expert at something, what would it be?
Medicine! More doctors is definitely something the world needs right now, and considering it takes at least 10 years of education, it makes sense to just INSTANTLY become an expert.
Aside from VALORANT, what are your top 3 favorite video games to play and why?
Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch are an easy first two. TF2 is what got me into video games to begin with, and Overwatch is really what got me into competing and into streaming. Dota 2 is for me the most interesting game by far. If I had infinite time I would probably just play a ton of Dota 2, but unfortunately there are not infinite hours in the day. I am also painfully average at that game, which probably contributes to that.
What is your favorite meal or snack?
All curry is delicious, whether it be Thai or Indian.
What is something you cannot live without?
I really enjoy drinking tea, either sweet tea or cinnamon tea.
What’s something many people fear that doesn’t scare you at all?
I don’t really get afraid of spiders or other animals.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
“It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.”
If you could give advice to players looking to improve at VALORANT or video games in general, what would your advice be?
Pracitce, practice, practice. Nothing beats just playing the game. It’s also a matter of mindset; you have to play to get better. You can’t just play to play.