Eiya talks Team Liquid Race to World First, Dragonflight and inclusivity

The World of Warcraft Dragonflight expansion is in full swing, which also means Team Liquid will soon go all out in the Race to World First Vault of the Incarnates raid!

Prior to the big day on Dec. 13, we sat down and had a chat with Team Liquid content creator Gillian "Eiya" Long about the preparations required for the Vault of the Incarnates raid, theorycrafting in Dragonflight and what this esports event means to her!

Liquid Guild’s Race to World First action will take place at the Alienware Training Facility in Santa Monica, California. Not only does the location have areas for scrims and The Pro Lab training room, but also an on-site chef to help the raiders be at the top of their game. The location is also where Eiya will be doing a live broadcast alongside her peers and Liquid Guild players.

"For Dragonflight, I just have a really good feeling about it," Eiya said. "So I think the entire expansion is gonna be really good, and then for the rest of it, I think I'm even more excited than I was the last year just because we would be in the Alienware Training Facility with Liquid at their headquarters, which I think is going to make it even more special."

Eiya also shared that Liquid Guild players are just as excited. This is because the Dragonflight Race to World First event will be like starting on a clean slate. For context, the raiders experienced exhaustion earlier in 2022 with the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid during the Shadowlands expansion.

"I know that they have been doing a lot of just theorycrafting around the new class and the new meta that's coming up," Eiya said when asked about Liquid Guild's preparations for Race to World First Vault of the Incarnates. "It's gonna be really different since Mythic and Heroic are being released at the same time. So for them, it's kind of just putting their heads down and playing as much as they can."

As for Eiya herself, she said she's doing her best to juggle all of her projects. These include producing content alongside the guild much like last year where she worked on player spotlights and partner deliverables.

"I think it's really important not to burn yourself out because I think it's really easy to do that," Eiya added. "And I think a lot of us do that. I've certainly been there quite a bit. But the most important thing, I think, is just like compartmentalizing all of the projects that you're trying to work on."

She noted that taking things day by day, making lots of to-do lists and surrounding oneself with good people helps as well. These folks include her fellow casters, the analysts, production, Team Liquid staff and the Liquid Guild players.

Given this and the context of BlizzCon getting canceled due to the pandemic, Eiya emphasized how much this Race to World First event means to her.

"I think being in that kind of environment is really inspiring and really, really fun," she said. "This is a game that I've been playing since 2007. It's been my whole life, and the fact that I get to make a career out of it and I get to do it with Team Liquid is like a dream come true."

A lot has changed in the World of Warcraft community since she started playing the game. When asked about what she would like to share with fans and the community at large, Eiya gave a shoutout to the Liquid Women in Warcraft initiative.

This initiative aims to make World of Warcraft a more inclusive space for women, non-binary people and other gender minorities. Eiya said she's honored to be a part of the initiative as an ambassador. "I know there's gonna be a lot of cool content surrounding that coming out as well," she added.

For those who would like to join the community for great resources and just to hang out, they can enter the Liquid Women in Warcraft Discord server.