[Interview] New GSL Caster 'Wolf'

Q. Could you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
My name is Wolf and I'm a StarCraft II player and commentator. I've been commentating StarCraft II since the release of the beta and I am a member of the team FXOpen.

Q. How did you start playing computer games and what games have you played?
The first game I played on the computer regularly was StarCraft: Brood War. Some of my Korean friends got me into it and I have loved StarCraft ever since. I played some first person shooter games on the PC, like Counter-Strike, Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Team Fortress 2, but none of those games very seriously. The only other PC game I played competitively was a rhythm game called osu!, which I played for about a year and a half, and at my my peak I was ranked fifth in the world (ID there is ThePassingShadow). When I played StarCraft with my friends, I took it extremely seriously and was very competitive. As for first person shooters, I played casually. I never strove to have precise aiming or lightning-fast map awareness.

Q. How did you first get into casting? Who is your role model/favorite caster?
Well, I was watching the HDH Invitational, and I listened to HD and Husky cast. I felt they did a great job with their voices and professionalism, but their game knowledge seemed to be a tad lacking. Since I myself felt I had a great grasp over StarCraft II and the current state of the game as well as some experience casting StarCraft: Brood War, I thought "Why not get into this? I love StarCraft and the players. I want to give people a great cast." I don't mean to insult HD and Husky at all, though. They did (and still do) a great job casting for players trying to get into the scene, and their style is perfect for that. In fact, without them and the HDH, I'm not sure if StarCraft II would be where it is today. A more analytic style of casting like mine would probably turn newer players away., but I like to focus on high level strategies. That's why Artosis is my favourite caster and is a role model for what I do. Not only is his level of excitement high, but it's clear he plays and loves the game. To him, casting isn't about the fame or the fans, and he doesn't try to cater to anyone in particular. He just loves the game, gets excited, and throws in all sorts of great analysis. People need to remember that casters are all different in their styles, and that no one style is better than another.

Q. How did you become a caster for the GSL?
In the beginning of 2011, someone from Gretech posted a thread on the forum at TeamLiquid about GOMTV hiring casters. He included information that was required, and that a video of a cast needed to be sent as well. I made a resumé of all of the tournaments I had covered up to that point, which was quite an extensive list. I sent some contacts as well for those tournaments, as well as two casts I had done on the spot for recording. After that, I also included a set of VODs that would be reviewed. I still had time to cancel classes (I was not opposed to taking time off of school, even a lot of time), so I hoped that maybe I would get hired and would head off to Korea. After not hearing back for about a month and a half to two months, I figured they had found someone else or had decided to drop the idea of hiring new casters. Then, I got an email from John (known commonly as John the Translator) requesting that we exchange more information and that I was being considered as a caster. We worked out the timings of availablity, and it turned out summer was the best time. So I finished school, got contacted about when I should show up in Korea to cast, and here I am!