Dee wants to cast her ‘legend’ legacy in Hearthstone

Jia Dee feels that performing well in the SEA Games would inspire more women to make their mark in esports. —EDWIN BACASMAS

It wasn’t only until around two years ago when Jia Dee realized competitive esports could actually become a career.

“I’ve always wanted to make this my job,” she told the Inquirer. “This has been a dream—working in esports.”

Dee, a 23-year-old molecular biology and biotechnology graduate from UP Diliman, said she plans to add polish to her dream job. That’s why she’s going for no less than the gold in esports’ Southeast Asian Games debut.

“To have such an elevated dream? To the point that I get to represent my country, win a medal, and be part of history? It’s really a huge an honor,” said Dee, the lone woman in Sibol, the Philippines’ 27-man squad in the SEA Games.

There is certainly pressure mounting, according to Dee. But it’s not the kind of pressure people think of.

Dee doesn’t need to prove her skills in Hearthstone, the game she’ll be competing in when the video game battles begin. In that virtual world, after all, she is already ranked “Legend,” a status reached by just 25 percent of all players worldwide.

The pressure, for Dee, lies in fleshing out some sort of a role model figure to real world audiences.

“[T]here’s a bit of pressure because girls are watching,” Dee said, adding “and they see that I’m the only woman in the whole bunch.”

“I am aware that if I do well, I could inspire women who might be watching,” she said. “It’s one of my life goals.”

Dee said that women are such a minority in esports and that’s something she wants to change by doing well. After all, it was another female gamer doing well that got Dee hooked into esports: China’s “VK Lion.”

“She entered as an underdog; nobody really knew that much about her.  But she went in, proved that she was amazing. She now has the community’s full respect,” she said.

Dee said such feat has resonated with her and hopes to replicate something of the same magnitude for other girls.

And where better to start setting an example and destroying gamer stereotypes than here at home?

“I hope to do something similar for other Filipino women looking to enter esports,” she said. “[I hope] for them to enter the scene and help them bridge this [gender] gap that we [face].”

“It’s always a motivation if a woman gets to see me and is able to relate to that image,” said Dee.