Lydia Picknell is the manager of Paradigm, a coach of the Latin American team Rebirth and a former professional Smite player. We asked Lydia about her Smite career, women in esports, and also about her opinions on the Season 3 changes coming to Smite.

How did you discover Smite?

Lydia: I was introduced to SMITE by a group of friends that I used to play Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead with. It was my very first MOBA and I honestly had no idea what I was doing at first! I remember them telling me “Don’t die or your teammates will get really mad,” so I was too nervous to leave the tower for like a week.

What attracted me to the game was mythology and ancient gods. I’ve always been interested in history and ancient religions, and I found the game fun. I quickly changed to having it as my main game, and ended up playing more than my original friends did.

When did you first realise that you would like to actively take part in the community, and was coaching the first thing that came to mind?

Lydia: One of my longest SMITE friends is former Dignitas’ solo laner Anatoliy. We met through SMITE and used to queue everyday together with my other group of friends. He got picked up by DIG and became too busy to play with us because of his new esports career. I thought to myself, hey, that sounds kind of fun, so I tried out for my first-ever esports team as an ADC. I ended up being taken on as a sub.

Athena was released and she became the only god I’d play, so I switched to support. I got picked up by Mortality Ladies and stayed with them for two weeks before stopping from playing competitively myself.

I also subbed in one weekend for Reason Gaming when Snoopy slept in - becoming the first female to play in an official Hi-Rez sponsored tournament. We placed third that weekend.

How did you get into coaching and managing teams?

Lydia: December of 2014 I moved back to Canada from London, England and decided to get back into esports after taking almost two years off for a serious relationship which had ended. I wanted to get involved again in the SMITE pro scene and put together the high level Challengers Cup team eloFisherS in Europe. I was picked up by Krett for a coaching project in South America, where they’d pay and send coaches to help out their competitive scene. I left eloFishers and still do this project today with Rebirth. It was the first time I ever got paid for coaching!

With my work on Rebirth and eloFisherS, Upcoming Stars asked me to manage them and help them get sponsored. They were the last place team in Europe last year, and I got them sponsored by JusTus in 48 hours. That’s when I finally started believing in myself.

PARADIGM asked me to join them at the end of 2015 as a manager, and later, as a part-owner. It’s one of the biggest moments of my SMITE career. I still work as a manager and owner for the organization, and I still coach South America as my own personal project.

What were the biggest difficulties you had to face on your path to becoming a well known Smite personality?

Lydia: I had a serious relationship with a big European SMITE streamer for nearly two years. I had lived with him in the United Kingdom in the end of the relationship, and people always knew me as his girlfriend. When I first wanted to be taken seriously in esports, I was just seen as someone’s ex-girlfriend. I fought for the majority of 2015 to prove myself, not only as a woman, but as a professional.

When I was at the SMITE World Championships in January with PARADIGM, I finally realized that people knew me as Lydia, not by something in my past. I had people want to take pictures with me, sign autographs, and meet me. It’s not something I’m used to at all!

What is the reason why we don’t see many professional female gamers? Should anything be done about it?

Lydia: I think a big problem is the difficulties women face in a male dominated field - there’s not a lot of us at the high level, and there’s not a lot of girls that think it’s worth it. There’s also a problem that some gamers don’t want to work with a girl; no matter how good they are. Take for example Mogee: she’s the best female player in North America and she can hold her own against ex-Dignitas hunter Zapman. She’s never been able to get on a professional team, even though I think she is due. Nulisa, who was the sub for Epsilon, (who won the Championship this year), also hasn’t been given the chance she deserves.

There are talented women in SMITE who aren’t getting their chances to shine. It’s heartbreaking.

Is there anything you would like to say to women who are looking to get involved with esports?

Lydia: I’ve had so many messages of support throughout the last year from fellow women who said they’re inspired by my fight to be taken seriously as both a coach and a manager in esports. I don’t think of myself like that. I had a husband come up to me at the SMITE World Championship saying his wife lets him play video games because she saw my article in Polygon and became a fan of me.

The message I’ve been fighting for, and what I’ve always wanted to fight for, is that people should be judged on their results and what they bring to the table. No one should feel bad or be treated differently because of something they can’t change - whether that’s race, gender, sexual orientation, their background; anything! If you want to do something don’t be scared to do it. There’s always going to be people who hate on you or say something about you - don’t let it stop you from just trying. You never want to look back years from now and think “what if I tried?”

Are you happy with Smite’s growth as an esport? Do you think that it is going to become very successful as the first MOBA on the Xbox One?

Lydia: SMITE as an esport has changed A LOT from closed beta days. I first started playing back in closed beta, and I’ve been around the competitive scene just as long. We’ve come such a long way and I’m so proud of Hi-Rez and our professional players for this growth.

I’m not sure how it’s going to go on XBOX One, but it will be something I’m interested in seeing. They’re launching a pro league similar to PC on XBOX this year. I don’t know if the scene is big enough yet for this, but I hope to be proven wrong.

What are some of the differences between coaching North American / European and Latin American teams? Do they have different mindsets?

Lydia: South American teams tend to be a little behind on game knowledge. They watch North American pro league games and will draft similar to top teams there, but not really understand the counter matchups or situational picks. They also don’t understand builds the same way, and I’ve felt like I’ve brought a lot of a mix of North America and European style to Rebirth and am excited to see what we’re able to do in season 3 of LatAm.

LatAm, as a majority, doesn’t rotate well as a team mid and late game. They also had work to do on decision making, which we’ve done. Many teams are insanely aggressive, and just want to fight all the time and not know how to disengage. It gets better as they get more experience - and that’s what their scene is missing.

Are there any unusual things you have to do, which people would not normally expect from a coach / manager?

Lydia: I once had to call the parents of a teenage player on our former PARADIGM XBOX team to convince them that he needed to go to a qualifier LAN last year. They thought he was playing way too much XBOX and didn’t understand how serious it was and who these people were that he was always talking with.

I’ve also had to run to a store during the Smite World Championships to grab one of my players cigarettes since we had an early check-in that morning. I don’t smoke, and it was the first time I ever bought any.

What is your favourite thing about working in the gaming industry?

Lydia: The fans and the people at Hi-Rez make everything so worth it. I’ve made such amazing friends through doing what I do, and I love going to events to see everyone! I’ve developed my own community where I get to hang out with awesome people that make my day brighter every time. There’s a lot of laughs.

When PARADIGM qualified for the SMITE World Championship in November at the Super Regional LAN, I cried live on smitegame and on stage. It was such an overwhelming feeling and an amazing way to cap off a crazy 2015. To put so much work into everything I do, and to know how hard each player worked on our team, was an amazing feeling.

What is your opinion on the Season 3 changes? How will they affect the meta?

Lydia: I haven’t had time to play on the live version of Season 3 that launched today because I started a brand new job that takes up my day between 8 - 4 every weekday. During the PTS stages, I fell in love with mages all over again. I think guardians and warriors with crowd control are going to continue to be top picks because of the nerf to beads (turned into a relic with longer cooldown and shorter cleanse). Hades might even be a big deal again.

Who is your favourite god to play and why?

Lydia: Athena and Scylla are my favorite gods currently in the game. I am at my most confident on Athena, and she is the god I always go to when I’m feeling uncomfortable. She was my main for almost a full year, and one of my fans got me an Athena Sandboxr because of how much I love her.

As for Scylla she is my favorite mage in the game. There’s nothing more satisfying than landing her ultimate over and over again to win a team fight in just a few seconds… or using it to steal an objective. I just find her so much fun to play, even if I do try to show off with an ultimate through the wall too often!

As we all know, Paradigm became successful not only thanks to having great results in tournaments, but also because of its brilliant singers. Can we expect your Smite team to cover any more songs?

Lydia: Please don’t encourage them. The world isn’t ready.

Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to close out this interview? Would you like to give any shout-outs?

Lydia: I want to say thank you to everyone who’s supported me over the last year and a half while I figured out where I stood in esports. Team Lydia minions - you guys are the reason I love doing what I do and why I love streaming and contributing to the community! PARADIGM: this is our year. Special shout out to Ruler & Covertactician for always having my back and helping me handle both streaming, coaching, and managing and keep me focused. Finally: Rebirth and Australia - I love you both! Thanks for giving me a shot and wanting me back.

Thank you very much for the interview, Lydia! If you would like to follow Lydia, you can do so on her Twitter. She also streams on Twitch from time to time, so make sure to check her out!