Jamie “Insight” Craven is one of the stars of the Toronto Ultra Call of Duty League team. The life of a professional gamer can be difficult to manage physically at the best of times.
Now, having turned that around, Craven is in one of the best places that he’s ever been mentally.
After the straining experience that was Call of Duty: Vanguard, every player in the Call of Duty League has needed time to rest and recover. Insight is no different.
“[Vanguard] was definitely a very tough game,” Insight told esports.gg. “It was one of those games where everything would feel slightly out of your control.
“It’s why you see so many teams beat teams [that they shouldn’t have]. It’s why there were so many different winners. It was so hard to be consistent.”
Craven voiced how frustrating it got during the Vanguard season to understand how certain situations happen. Most Call of Duty competitive players would say similar about how inconsistent Vanguard was.
Insight competing for the Toronto Ultra at Championship Weekend in Vanguard.
“As a pro player, not being able to control the outcome fully can be quite hard to wrap up your head around,” Craven added. “It can definitely get to you. For me, it was a season of highs and lows mentally. I was fortunate enough to have a great team around me. That definitely helped.”
Insight spent time at home in Leeds this offseason, as well as welcoming his family out to Toronto for the first time since his move to the 6ix.
“It was the first time since I moved here that anyone had come out to see me,” Craven confirmed. “I went home and spent a lot of time with my friends and doing all the stuff you do like going to the pub and watching football.”
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The mental reset
Insight came into the Call of Duty League in the Cold War season and immediately became one of the hottest talents out there. He put his mark down firmly, showing that he more than belonged in the big time.
During Vanguard, that took a bit of a hit, with the game itself being really hard to manage and teams not performing how they would on a more consistent title.
A refocused Insight has changed the way that several parts of his life function. He has had a fantastic transformation since coming into the Toronto Ultra starting lineup. He now looks (and feels) better than he ever has.
“Throughout my whole career I’ve never really taken care of myself,” Craven said. “I’ve always taken grinding over physical and all that stuff, as I am getting older I am learning that if you work out, you feel wide awake.
“You feel amazing and you are going to be a better teammate. You’re going to give criticism more, you’re going to take it more. There’s just the science behind working out and eating good. I just feel amazing.”
Insight (center) joined by CleanX (left) and former Toronto Ultra coach MarkyB (right) after being eliminated from Major 3 in 2022.
Using the offseason to fully recalibrate mentally is an important thing. Players in the CDL had less time to do that this time around with the new season starting earlier than ever before.
“I’d say that this offseason has gone quite quick,” Craven said. “I set myself the goal of staying away from video games as much as possible.
“I wanted to spend the maximum amount of time with family and friends, going out and doing stuff, and going to the gym.
“All those kinds of stuff that helps with physical and mental wellbeing. I’m feeling very refreshed and I am ready to go.”
New team, same Toronto
For the third consecutive season, Insight will head up the Ultra roster.
This year he is joined by two new faces. It’s the first time that he has had new blood alongside him. Thomas “Scrappy” Ernst and Eli “Standy” Bentz are now in starting team north of the border.
There could be the worry that the team would struggle to connect as well as the old team did. It does not seem like that will be the case though.
Scrappy and Hicksy were part of the set-up last season, and Craven says that Standy is fitting in perfectly.
“We had Charlie and Scrap in the academy as sub players but they were always part of the team,” Insight added. “They came out for dinners and they were always out with us if we were going out on the weekend.
“We didn’t have to bring them in so it was mostly just Eli. He fit in like a glove and it’s looking good.”
Team bonding
The team went on a team bonding retreat last weekend with the entire team heading out to Muskoka.
They set out to bond with each other, taking all the time they possible could to get to know each other. For Insight, just being back in the country was good.
“Being back in Toronto is always great,” Craven said. “It’s like a second home for me now. It’s my main home basically as I spend most of my year here now, it’s just so great to be back and I can’t wait to get started.”
Photo via Toronto Ultra on YouTube.
The retreat in Muskoka featured several different bonding exercises, including a dip in the assumedly freezing lakes.
“It was a good experience,” Insight proclaimed. “It was good for the team. We have a new face in Eli and it was good for him to see how we are as people. Getting to know each other with the performance coach is always good. It was just a fun time.”
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Toronto event pending
This upcoming Call of Duty League season will feature a Toronto Major for the second successive campaign.
It’s incredibly difficult to comprehend the feeling of Major Weekend in Toronto without experiencing it first hand.
“To put it into words is so hard,” Insight stated. “Being a player with that many fans behind you and doing the special walkout and seeing everyone so hyped, I just can’t put it into words. I can’t wait for Eli and Scrap to experience that too.”
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The Major in the 6ix last season was one of the best of the year, with an unbelievably good atmosphere the entire weekend. Canadians came out in force to support their team.
“It speaks to the Canadian fans and how passionate they are about their Canadian teams,” Insight added.
“I was speaking to fans who didn’t really watch CoD but their friend did so they were there to support. That’s crazy to me.”
The Toronto Major will also be the last one before Champs this season, meaning that there will be qualification places for that tournament on the line in Toronto.
“There are going to be some spicy matchups and some big games going down,” Insight speculated. “It’s the perfect time to host an event in my opinion.”
The Toronto Ultra Major will take place from May 25-28, 2023. The Call of Duty League season kicks off on December 2, 2022. It’s going to be a crazy year.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest Call of Duty news and updates.
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