Blizzcon 2016: Becoming the Vin Scully of e-sports

[MUSIC] We're about to find out who the 2016 Fall Global Championship is for Heroes of the Storm. But there's a group of people that we think are a little under appreciated. Casters. Before we dive in, full disclosure everybody. My brother does in fact work for Blizzard and was unfortunately of no use or influence to me for this piece. Okay, back to Casters. These are the people giving play by play and analysis of what you're watching during any sports game. Basically they're your guide to what's happening on Any e-sport championship is a big deal, which is why we decided to follow Wade Penfold, aka Dreadnaught to the fall global championships for Heroes of the Storm at BlizzCon 2016. I cast Heroes of the Storm professionally I guess. I originally was a professional player for the game, but then moved. Towards commentary at the beginning of this year. A friend of mine actually said that I should consider getting into commentary and I decided to give it a shop. And it kind of just blew up from there. So what exactly is a viewer getting when they're listening to a caster while they watch a game? From an analytical perspective I can convey to someone who's almost never seen the game not only what's Happening but the importance. From taking what the 0.01 percentile of Heroes of the Storm players know and translating that to the 99.9% accurately. Okay I see. So it's like Vin Scully or Chick hern or Bob Costus or Vin Scully. You're always looking for that guy who's been there and done that and can give you everything you know and I try Try to be that guy as best as possible for Heroes. If talking about what you're seeing on a screen sounds easy, it's not. Heroes of the Storm has 61 heroes and counting, all with their own skills and special abilities. Each region has a specific play style, so casters must study which heroes each team might draft and how they might use them in Every game. The terminology suddenly needs to be a little bit more basic but still appealing to that complex dynamic. That is by far the hardest thing. We have eight regions gonna be represented at BlizzCon. So keeping track of all those is gonna be kinda difficult. It's pretty apparent that MVP Black looks pretty. But everyone expects that from them. Fanatica's done the unexpected and Taken down in [UNKNOWN] is history in the making. That was it. It was just all I had. I don't know history was made. Upsets like this are awesome for casters in the moment because they're exciting and they make the game really cool to watch. But it doesn't make their job any easier. Here. A lot of it was just I changed who the target was. I don't come in here with, well, I've got all my research done, whatever happens, happens. It's like I'm sitting in the back eating a meal while I'm reviewing drafts over and over again the whole time, so. With another BlizzCon in the books and a ton of events, tournaments and championships on the horizon, Fred has some goals he'd like to achieve in the coming Year. Moving on. Making a better game. Hopefully making a better e-floor and trying to find your place in that, I guess. [MUSIC]