Games & Gains: An Interview with Gingi
Legends tell of a World of Warcraft player who achieved such unparalleled levels of greatness that songs were written about him, and statues were sculpted in his honour. To gaze upon him was to gaze upon a true god gamer.
Okay none of that is actually true, but if anybody out there was to come close, it’s Gingi. A World First Raider, a back-to-back-to-back MDI global champion, and arguably one of the best players out there today, Gingi has become a World of Warcraft icon. But his prowess doesn’t stop there! Gingi has also achieved great success in his out-of-game endeavours, with his fitness company Diverge Fitness, aimed at improving the health and well-being of other gamers.
We were fortunate enough to get the opportunity to sit down with the ever-smiling Gingi and learn more about the man behind the trophies, the secrets to his success, and the launch of his exciting new line of energy drinks and supplements geared towards gamers and esports athletes!
Table of Contents
- Who is Gingi?
- Gingi’s Warcraft story
- Favorite thing about WoW
- Favorite classes and specs
- How he began competing in the MDI
- Secrets to his MDI success
- His MDI teammates as Simpsons characters
- Raiding history and world-firsts
- Best and worst parts of world-first raiding
- Intercultural communication in EU raiding
- RWF preparations, in-game and IRL
- The importance of fitness
- The story of his company, Diverge Fitness
- His new product line, E-Sports Nutrition
- The harms of maltodextrin
- Closing thoughts
“Exercise has been a huge factor to my success and I want to share all the knowledge that I have gathered over the years that took both my gaming and my training to the next level.”
Q: Let’s start with the basics. Tell us a little about yourself. Who is this Gingi guy anyways?
Gingi: Hey! My name is Mike and I’m 26 years old. Some of you may know me as Gingi in-game. I was born and raised in Albertslund, Denmark.
Q: What’s your Warcraft story? When did you start playing? What was your first character? How did you get from brand new to the game to where you are now?
Gingi: I started playing back in late classic right before TBC launched. I remember just barely reaching level 60 right before TBC came out. I don’t remember much of my time back then since I was very young, around 12-13 years old. I stopped playing because my PC was not good enough to play the game and I was constantly lagging. I then took up the game again around Dragon Soul release in Cataclysm to play with my friends. That is where I met Chrispotter and Zaelia whom I play with in Echo today. The first class I ever picked up was a Rogue, and my main goal in the game was purely PvP. I did find time to get the legendary daggers though!
When MoP came out and they implemented challenge modes, we started speed-running them together with our team. Dungeon speed-running has been in our nature for a long time! Our Shaman decided to quit the game and that is when we asked Leeds to join us instead who we didn’t know or had any past conversations with but he was the most known shaman in the PVE scene at the time playing in the top guild Method. He decided to join us and we formed our team and started breaking world records! We were the team to hold all but 1 speed-running world record back then.
Q: What is your favourite aspect of World of Warcraft?
Gingi: The favorite aspect for me is the competitive part of the game! I love competing in both the MDI and raiding for World First. My favorite part would be the raid races for sure! There is something very special about playing in a guild of friends with the same mindset and goal to win and seeing everyone putting in their best effort to do that is something very special to be a part of. Being able to show that to millions of people who enjoy watching it just makes it even more hype! What makes WoW good is playing with friends and people you enjoy being around. Streaming for me has added a lot of extra enjoyment to the game. Being able to talk and play with viewers makes it fun on a daily basis.
Q: You play DPS now, has that always been the case? Have you ever tried other roles? What classes are your favourite and why?
Gingi: Most people know me as a DPS player, and that is true, that is my key role and my most comfortable part to play. I used to play Discipline Priest in MoP as well as Brewmaster Monk. Apart from that I haven’t done a lot of healing outside of the occasional weekly key playing a little bit of Restoration Druid. I would say that my favorite class right now in Shadowlands would have to be Mage. That might disappoint some of my Hunter friends out there but that is what I have the most fun on at the moment. The class is just so complete and it does SOOO MUCH DMG HAHA! Back in the day, I would have said Hunter. MoP/Legion hunter was the peak of the class in my opinion
Q: When did you start competing in the MDI? What motivated you to start?
Gingi: My first time competing was in the Legion MDI. I was pushing high keys with Naowh, Fragnance, Imba, and Miracle. We were the #1 team on Raider.IO at the time and we thought it would be fun to compete in the MDI as well. Unfortunately, we lost our Rogue Miracle because he was not allowed to compete due to gambling laws in his country. We ended up getting the #1 seed in the Time Trials but ended up #3 in the European Group Stage, falling just short of competing in the Global Finals.
“The key to longevity in a team is to be understanding of your teammates. There will be ups and downs. Personalities and opinions will clash, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to remember that everyone just wants the same thing, TO WIN!”
Q: The MDI is not very old, but your team has been around since 2018. With only 2 roster swaps going into the 2019 season, your team has maintained the same roster for longer than any other team in the history of the MDI. Tell us about your teammates. What are they like? What’s it like spending so much time with them? What do you think is the secret to your longevity and success as an MDI team?
Gingi: There is a saying that goes: You don’t change a winning team. That is pretty much the case here. Going into BFA with the loss from Legion in the back of our minds, myself, Fragnance, and Naowh talked about who our last 2 members of the team should be. We ended up with Zaelia and Meeres and that was exactly what we needed to make a perfectly balanced team. I think the key to longevity in a team is to be understanding of your teammates. There will be ups and downs. Personalities and opinions will clash, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to remember that everyone just wants the same thing, TO WIN! After being together for so long, we understand each other, everyone's personality traits as well as weaknesses and strengths. Everyone also respects each other. I see my teammates as good friends and as some of the best players in the world. I know they’ve got my back and I can count on them in hard situations. I’m proud to be playing alongside them and I am ready to be three time champions with them*!
*Author’s note: this interview took place prior to the MDI Global Finals, where Gingi and the Echo team did in fact become three-time champions! Check out the bracket (with videos) here*.
Photo Credit: Blizzard Entertainment
Q: Your MDI team as Simpsons characters - who is which character, and why?
Gingi: I would probably say that I am Marge in this group. My job is to keep the group together and keep the chemistry in place. You could call me the mom of the group. Fragnance is Nelson! He is the muscle and his job is to do big damage! Zaelia is Lisa...he is the support player keeping us all alive! Without him, the group would fall apart. Meeres would be Smithers. He is the logical one and one of our biggest strategists. Naowh would be Homer! He is the meme-r of the group, but when it matters the most, you know you can always count on him.
Q: Tell us about your raiding history. You are currently in Echo, the guild that achieved World 2nd Castle Nathria, and prior to that you were part of the Method organization. How long have you been raiding in World First racing guilds? Where were you before Method?
Gingi: My first hardcore raiding tier was in Legion Emerald Nightmare with the top guild, Serenity. We never managed to win a raid tier in Serenity unfortunately, and the guild ended up disbanding after Nighthold progress due to a lack of players. That is when I joined Method where we ended up winning 4 World Firsts in a row starting at Tomb of Sargeras up until Battle of Dazar’alor. I stayed in Method up until the recent formation of Echo.
Q: What are the best and worst parts about World First raiding?
Gingi: Best part is the hype and the competitive part of it. The worst part is being away from my lovely girlfriend and being busy for such an extended period of time preparing. She is super supportive and I love her for that.
Q: Raiding in the Number 1 European guild must be an interesting melting pot of nationalities and cultures. Tell us what this is like. Does this ever lead to communication difficulties or interesting stories?
Gingi: There are a lot of different nationalities and cultures within the team and with that comes a lot of different accents. There isn’t really any miscommunication, but there is a good amount of memes making a little bit of innocent fun regarding certain accents like saying bottle of water in a British way, haha.
Q: What kind of preparation do you do for the World First push? Both in-game and out-of-game?
Gingi: I personally prepare and try to optimize the class/classes that I will play during the World First race. And with that comes a lot of PTR testing, split raiding, PvP, and Mythic+ to optimize gearing as much as possible. Outside of the game, I make sure that I do some short, intense workouts. The reason why they are shorter during the events is because of the time intensive hours we put in. I make sure to eat a balanced, healthy diet, stay hydrated, and get good sleep to ensure I’m at peak performance.
Source: Twitch.tv/GingiTV
Q: Speaking of out-of-game, fitness has been a big part of your life for a while. Can you tell us how you initially got into that and why fitness is so important to you?
Gingi: I have always played football since a very young age. Playing football was inspired by my dad who was a professional football player back when he was young. I always looked up to him in a lot of aspects. His work ethic and his good heart, I have always aspired to be like him. I then started doing resistance training as I got older and have been hooked on that ever since. What I love about exercising is the great feeling it gives me. It makes me happier and more energetic. And who doesn’t like feeling good, right? I can highly recommend it to anyone out there reading this!
“We are not a lifestyle brand. I’m a passionate gamer myself and my goal is to make life better for the next generation of gamers.”
Q: You created a fitness and wellness company with a friend of yours, Diverge Fitness, but you’ve tailored it for gamers. Why is that? Why do you think fitness is an important thing for gamers to focus on?
Gingi: Exercise has been a huge factor to my success and I want to share all the knowledge that I have gathered over the years that took both my gaming and my training to the next level.
Exercise has made me a way happier person overall and I know that the online world can be an escape from real life and gaming addictions can occur. Because of that, there are people who unfortunately suffer from mental health issues as well as other things that make people unhappy in their day to day. We are not mental health medical professionals, but there are amazing benefits to your well-being as well as brain function related to work and gaming. I want to make people happier and healthier and more confident through exercise and healthy diet!
If that sounds like something of interest, readers can check out our website and fill out our contact form for a free, no obligation conversation!
Q: We understand you actually just announced a new venture where you have launched your own line of energy drinks and protein shakes, aimed specifically at gamers. We’re very excited about this, tell us about it!
Gingi: Yes! And you might think, does the world need another gaming/esports energy drink and nutrition brand? Only if it's a game-changer, and that is exactly what we are at E-Sports Nutrition. I want to provide gamers with fantastic-tasting esports focused nutrition & energy drinks, free from nasty fillers and additives, with more active ingredients for performance benefits.
First up is our energy drink also known as ELX (Energy Elixir), which launched with 6 different flavors. Below is a short summary of its benefits:
- 40x Servings
- Vegan friendly
- Zero sugar & no fillers, which means NO crash!
- High in nootropics: helps alleviate mental stress & combats physical fatigue after long gaming sessions
- Amazing taste
- Amino acids which help with sustained energy release and sensory stimulation
- Good value for money (0.99€ per serving)
Click here to learn more about the benefits of ELX.
Our 2nd product is our meal replacement also known as IGF (In Game Food). I am very proud of what we have achieved with our flavor formulation while keeping the product vegan friendly and free of fillers. Here are some of the benefits of our IGF:
- Nutritionally complete food
- Vegan friendly & high in plant proteins
- New level of high-quality vegan flavours
- 20x servings (1.99€ per serving)
- Ready in seconds! Shake it well and enjoy an amazing shake
- Zero fillers or maltodextrin
- Lactose, palm oil & soy free
These are just some of the amazing benefits from our IGF! I just can’t wait for everyone to try out the products and to hear feedback!
Click here to learn more about the benefits of IGF.
Just as important, we’ll be building our business and our brand on a platform of total
transparency and a burning desire to make a positive contribution to the global gaming
community. We are not a lifestyle brand. I’m a passionate gamer myself and my goal is to make life better for the next generation of gamers.
Source: e-sportsnutrition.gg
Q: We noticed a big talking point for your products was that they don’t contain any maltodextrin. Tell us about that and why it’s important.
Gingi: Most if not all gamers are aware of the many health implications that come with regularly consuming too much sugar, subsequent ‘crashing’, and associated health risks. In recent times, it’s led to a huge shift of manufacturers going ‘sugar free’ – especially in the powdered variety of energy drinks where it’s quickly become the accepted norm.
However, what the community may not be aware of is that the sugar has been replaced by something hidden (often found in the ‘other ingredients’ section of esports energy drink labels) that’s actually more detrimental to your health...and that ingredient is maltodextrin.
Fillers like maltodextrin are cheap and used to bulk up energy drinks and gaming meal shakes; they tick a lot of boxes for companies wanting to maximise profits. This of course raises ethical questions in regards to prioritising profits over product effectiveness, at the potential expense of the health of gamers. We discuss the harms of maltodextrin on our website for anybody that wants more information.
Q: Any last thoughts or anything else you want to add?
Gingi: To finish off, I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to read this interview! Thank you for being a part of my journey and for all of your support. Without this community, I wouldn’t be where I am today, so thank you!
Links
- Find Gingi on Raider.IO
- Follow Gingi on Twitch
- Follow Gingi on Twitter
- Subscribe to Gingi on YouTube
- Follow Gingi on Instagram
- Join Gingi on Discord
- Learn about Diverge Fitness
- Order E-sports Nutrition products today
About the Author
Hulahoops has been playing WoW since Vanilla. If she’s not leading her Mythic Progression guild TBD through raids, she’s probably practicing for the MDI with her team Angry Toast. Hulahoops is a Holy Paladin in every sense of the term: she moderates the Hammer of Wrath Paladin Class Discord, and she was a practicing Lawyer for the last 7 years. Judgment isn’t just a spell! Hulahoops recently decided to put the law books away and follow her passion for esports by joining the team at RaiderIO and is now working as the Production Manager. She is also passionate about making Azeroth an inclusive, welcoming space for all gamers and is a proud co-founder of the Defias Sisterhood community.
