As a preface, I’m not heavily into the Counter-Strike scene; I mostly just follow the tier 1 teams. I’m definitely more into the League of Legends scene, where I know all the casters, tournaments, and other details. However lately I’ve been watching ESL (not sure if other leagues/tournaments share the desk talents) and I have to admit: the casting style is simply gorgeous.
At the time of writing this post, I’m listening to a discussion about Disneyland rides one of the casters visited recently, and just a minute ago they were talking about anime.
The reason this is so enjoyable for me is that, in League of Legends, the casters rarely fill downtime with unrelated discussions (with the possible exception of the LCK English cast). In contrast, here, it feels like I’m listening to a podcast. Of course, when the game gets intense, they immediately switch back to the action, but their sense of when to "loosen up the atmosphere" is just straight-up amazing. It's this blend of personal anecdotes and humor that keeps me hooked.
On a side note, there was a match, I believe last week on mirage (though I can’t remember who was playing), where the casters were messing with the production guy by calling out the position of the players by theirs' in-game numbers. It got to the point where the production guy himself appeared on-screen and gave them a nod lmao.
In the League of Legends scene, I could probably count the number of times I’ve laughed on one hand, whereas here I’m chuckling every minute or so.
Personally, I feel like when it comes to the Counter Strike esports scene this is what makes it so much entertaining for me – because at its core it boils down to the personalities behind it, be it the players or the casters. Sadly I don't know the names of them, but a big thank you for making me laugh!
EDIT: I mean come on lmao, I wish I could be so creative as those guys are: https://www.twitch.tv/eslcs/clip/FamousBoringAlfalfaPMSTwin-j_FoQtxOcayKMVv5
16 Comments
Harry and Hugo, machine and spunj, moses and dinko, Henry and anders. All gods among men
Alot of these things you are describing is just a designed quirk of EPL Casting. If you go watch other ESL events or, most other games these same casters do, their wont be nearly as much side conversation.
Monte and DoA were great at filling the downtime with anecdotes back in the day
EPL is always alot more “casual” in vibes and atmosphere, especially during the group stage. In bigger events like Cologne or Katowice or a major, its way more serious and professional, although still might have the occasional side track moment.
Cs casters do an incredible job and they are also good people when you meet them in game.
I played 2 games against a 5 stack casters crew(Harry, Moses, Mak and other) and they were pretty cool and chatty.
The group stages of EPL are by far my favorite games of CS to watch purely due to how unhinged the casters get
Totally agree. The casting plus the side content with all the skits etc., I really think they’ve honed the EPL broadcast into something super watchable and entertaining.
Idk maybe the style or humour won’t appeal to everyone, I’m a 27yo from Australia and been watching since ~2015 for what that’s worth. But yeah I think everyone does a great job.
I’ll look forward to tuning into random EPL games between teams I don’t care about for many years to come if they can maintain or improve it even more.
I love the Pro league casting it’s just amazing.
the montages of ESL skits are genuinely funny
ive seen other productions fail and make their players just look cringe
huge kudos to ESL
I love them all! Lots of great commenting and some fun bits here and there.
But, Harry and Hugo, if they could end the hashpipe giggle fun stuff, that would be great, IMO.
Not sure who the third caster was in the TL Ence game but seemed like there was some tension between him and Harry/Hugo near the end of game. Anyone notice?
Coming from watching LCK English broadcast it’s like I’m watching Chronicler and Atlus cast a CS2 game! Definitely fills the air for a lot of these low-stakes matches, I’d have fallen asleep seeing teams execute Ancient B for the 759th time while the casters try to pretend there’s something going on
That said is there a Caedrel equivalent in CS? I’m trying to find someone who’s knowledgeable and witty enough (and with perhaps too much energy) streaming the games
They even discussed whether they put cucumber or lemon into water lmfao
I agree to a certain point but I’m just sick of Henry and Machine. They never have any clue of the game and more often than not they call something that ends up being the opposite.
Launders, Moses and Scrawny are great as well as Harry and Hugo.
I wish they could bring more pros as analysts like they did with Stanislaw.
i think ESL have done an amazing job with rebranding pro league to have the oldschool summit type of vibe–inviting players to the couch, having 3+ people on the mic, etc. it feels so laidback and casual, while also witty and high quality. i’m so glad that they’ve decided to stay with this type of environment as i think there were a couple of pro leagues with relatively low viewer counts recently (i could be misremembering).
i think it really fits with the format of nonstop games for a few weeks straight. it keeps it entertaining, especially in the more lopsided matchups that might otherwise be boring with serious casting
I think Harry and Hugo are my favorite for the banter and humor. You cannot ignore Scrawny and Launders for damn good casting. Scrawny is next level for getting everyone hyped though. Especially at majors.
Obligatory CSGO Paris major Finals opening [video](https://youtu.be/lfC2UsOHbRI?si=37CX99Hxho3Q0a6m)