Let me start with the: tl;dr I cast all of Leenock's games and they are up on youtube for your viewing pleasure, links after the word wall.
I just recently finished casting all of Leenock's games at MLG Providence and have put them all on YouTube. I thought of this idea right after Providence wrapped up and everyone was talking about how Leenock braved his way through the open bracket and took down opponents such as MMA, MVP, Idra, HuK, DRG, and Naniwa to win the whole thing. I knew a lot of his games weren't cast due to the fact that he certainly wasn't one of the more popular players at that tournament when it was just beginning (and his early opponents weren't either).
So, when MLG released the replay packs, I got to work, and all though it took me quite a while (due to work and an internship), I have finally finished casting all the games and I wanted to present them to the community at large. As a warning, I have no previous experience casting and just figured this would be a fun and educational thing to do. However, assuming I get a positive reaction from the community I would be glad to do this for another player as I had a great time doing it and would love to get better at casting.
So I'll give you a link here to the playlist and my channel, and since I have more respect for teamliquid's website then to just post two links, I will also organize all the games by racial match ups and with a short description as to what to expect in individual games. Please feel free to say any and all criticisms, negative comments, and death threats either here or on any of my videos. If for some reason you feel your comment would best be kept more secretive then feel free to send me a personal message either here or on YouTube. (Positive comments are also welcome ^_^)
Game 1: I wouldn't recommend this game at all unless you're set on watching the whole series and/or want to see what it looks like when a pro goes against an average joe. + Show Spoiler +
Game 1: Same pro vs. joe story. Ducky is better then Infernozz but his micro isn't enough for Leenock's aggressive baneling/speedling play. + Show Spoiler +
Game 2: Again, not an extremely interesting game. But does show how important army positioning is. + Show Spoiler +
Game 1: Leenock punishes HayprO for taking an early expand and not getting up banelings fast enough. Very typical speedling/baneling antics. + Show Spoiler +
Game 2: HayprO tries to punish Leenock for his early expand but is not as successful and ends up losing to many drones to Leenock's amazing baneling/speedling play. + Show Spoiler +
Game 1: A decent look at early speedling/baneling play games. This one comes down to about thirty seconds of whose banelings can be used to a greater degree. + Show Spoiler +
Game 2: Leenock gets rather crushed and tries to make a comeback all game but never amounts to anything. Interesting mainly in what a player will try to go for if they are way behind in a game. + Show Spoiler +
Game 1: Builds up to be an intense baneling/speedling micro match, but Idra leaves when he sees he's behind, which cuts out most of the main action. + Show Spoiler +
Game 2: An all around decent ZvZ. Not amazing, but good. + Show Spoiler +
Game 3: Very back and forth speedling/baneling exchanges. But this game shows why a player has an extremely hard time macroing up once the baneling/zergling exchanges start. + Show Spoiler +
Game 4: Leenock getting punished for early expanding, but some AMAZING drone splitting that is worth watching. + Show Spoiler +
Game 5: Leenock effectively using mustalisks against a lower teched zerg. Good game. + Show Spoiler +
Game 1: A roach 1-base all in play punishes Gatored's forge/FE. Interesting for protoss sim city and Leenock's decision making with his early units. + Show Spoiler +
Game 2: Leenock again holds a very fast gold base again his protoss opponent. + Show Spoiler +
Game 1: Leenock once again showing how to take a quick gold base against a forge/FE protoss on Antiga Shipyard. + Show Spoiler +
Game 2: Leenock puts up an amazing defense against HuK's extremely aggressive play. (Also HuK makes 1 very major mistake that very well could've changed the course of this game). + Show Spoiler +
Game 1: Naniwa does a great job holding off a 1-base roach all-in from Leenock. + Show Spoiler +
Game 2: Leenock does a more successful roach rush and the game from there is rather standard. + Show Spoiler +
Game 3: An early attack from Leenock gives him a decent lead and he holds on to it, another good game. + Show Spoiler +
Game 4: Leenock does a very early roach push and perfectly keeps his roaches out of sight until they are at Naniwa's base. + Show Spoiler +
Game 5: Leenock does another early roach push and denies Naniwa's expansion for a long time. + Show Spoiler +
Edit: Also guys, if you really like this idea and my casts, I would really appreciate an upvote and/or comment on my reddit post! Link: Thanks for all the support!
Nice to see the dedication man! Its really late here in Sweden so cant watch right now cause i have to go to bed. But i will comment here so i'll find my way back to watch it tomorrow!
I'm really glad someone focused upon a particular player and delivered all of their content with commentary. So many times very good dark horses go through the bracket and have very little of their games casted (And if Leenock didn't win the tournament, I bet he wouldn't have had as many games casted as he did). That being said, I hope this launches an initiative to get more games casted of those, said, darkhorse players! Thanks a lot!
Rewatched his 4th game vs DRG. Drone split around 3:50 is just insane. Should have put his workers faster back to work though, and lost way too many zerglings for nothing.
I like your voice, quite nice to listen to. However, sometimes you seem a little bit uptight, I don't know if this is because you try to speak too much without taking a breath or something else, but I think you need to relax a bit more.
On December 29 2011 10:49 Magnitoo wrote: I like your voice, quite nice to listen to. However, sometimes you seem a little bit uptight, I don't know if this is because you try to speak too much without taking a breath or something else, but I think you need to relax a bit more.
Keep it up! Love the dedication.
Gl and hf my friend
Thanks for the compliments! As far as seeming a bit uptight, I notice it too. I think it stems from the fact that I get into my head and end up psyching myself out. Good to know that it does seem to come through my voice at time.
On December 29 2011 10:57 Abusion wrote: just a quick note in thespoilers of the ZvP section the first one bnoth vids are the same ) overall nice job though thanks alot!
Wow, this is awesome. I normally ignore all of the "I am a new caster/streamer!" threads, but the fact you went above and beyond to cast every single game from a great player in a great run really sets you apart from the crowd. The market for casting individual games is crowded, but you can make a great name for yourself if you continue to cast batches of games with a "theme" like this. Now I'm off to watch the games!
Dude, you rock! You're highly entertaining and your analysis is spot on, two things that make a great caster imo. Subscribed to your channel, hopefully you wont keep us waiting too long until your next casts. Good luck!
EDIT: forgot to add, you're funny too, love the lings jokes!
i've been offracing as zerg and learning from some of the replays i found of leenock in mlg providence but since theres only a couple i've found, this would be helpful too
I can't even express how happy all these comments are making me!! I'm glad a lot of people seem to enjoy my voice. If this kind of response keeps up, I'm going to have to find another Path of a Champion player to cast very very soon!
Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I hope this revives thatmlg. It's easily the most underrated moment in sc2 history. No biased here. But that was thee best run in sc2 to date!!! Ive seen them all so, but for people who havent omg. The magic of that final day. Omg, I thought that was gona be talked about for years to come, and it just faded .
Leenock did superhuman things and just .....would....not.....lose. Magical and he holds the record for the best workers split, let alone split of all time.
On December 29 2011 13:48 Locustrockz wrote: Hey so you know that slog guy... yea he's another player
Hahaha, oh goodness. Yaaaa, I'm still going to stand by my statements. I feel a little worse about them now, but "Slog"? I mean come on! That's like someone calling themselves Nobody!
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
What's wrong with it? Yes, you lose certain excitement and emotion that comes with seeing it for the first time -- but it allows for a much smoother and solid commentary on the flip side and who says you can't be excited for something even though you've seen it before? I'd personally prefer a significantly more smooth commentary with a lot more flow to it rather than a bit more excitement.
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
What's wrong with it? Yes, you lose certain excitement and emotion that comes with seeing it for the first time -- but it allows for a much smoother and solid commentary on the flip side and who says you can't be excited for something even though you've seen it before? I'd personally prefer a significantly more smooth commentary with a lot more flow to it rather than a bit more excitement.
That's just me though, I know plenty disagree
Pre-watching replays and then casting them, especially after taking notes about the game would be like pre-watching a football game and then pretending to be an expert analyst before every play.
Part of the skill required behind casting is knowing the signs of certain builds or playstyles, which becomes cheapened when you actually know what happens beforehand, much like part of the skill behind being a football commentator is knowing the signs of certain plays.
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
What's wrong with it? Yes, you lose certain excitement and emotion that comes with seeing it for the first time -- but it allows for a much smoother and solid commentary on the flip side and who says you can't be excited for something even though you've seen it before? I'd personally prefer a significantly more smooth commentary with a lot more flow to it rather than a bit more excitement.
That's just me though, I know plenty disagree
Pre-watching replays and then casting them, especially after taking notes about the game would be like pre-watching a football game and then pretending to be an expert analyst before every play.
Part of the skill required behind casting is knowing the signs of certain builds or playstyles, which becomes cheapened when you actually know what happens beforehand, much like part of the skill behind being a football commentator is knowing the signs of certain plays.
The only way to become a football "expert" in the first place is to watch tape over and over again and learn the ins and outs. You don't start out as a pro football analyst, you start out much lower and work your way up with the knowledge and social skills needed to do such on national television.
I think it's the same thing with Starcraft. Yes, ideally, you get someone like Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, Husky, CatzPajamas, HD, Khaldor, whatever who can do all that shit easily. However, not everyone can mimic that same flow as effectively whilst keeping meaningful commentary up. So I think, at least for a time, perhaps reviewing replays for a short time could be extremely beneficial in the longrun as long as they are not clung too for long.
Again, not taking away from this guy. I'm 8 videos in and I'm loving this shit OP.
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
What's wrong with it? Yes, you lose certain excitement and emotion that comes with seeing it for the first time -- but it allows for a much smoother and solid commentary on the flip side and who says you can't be excited for something even though you've seen it before? I'd personally prefer a significantly more smooth commentary with a lot more flow to it rather than a bit more excitement.
That's just me though, I know plenty disagree
Pre-watching replays and then casting them, especially after taking notes about the game would be like pre-watching a football game and then pretending to be an expert analyst before every play.
Part of the skill required behind casting is knowing the signs of certain builds or playstyles, which becomes cheapened when you actually know what happens beforehand, much like part of the skill behind being a football commentator is knowing the signs of certain plays.
The only way to become a football "expert" in the first place is to watch tape over and over again and learn the ins and outs. You don't start out as a pro football analyst, you start out much lower and work your way up with the knowledge and social skills needed to do such on national television.
I think it's the same thing with Starcraft. Yes, ideally, you get someone like Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, Husky, CatzPajamas, HD, Khaldor, whatever who can do all that shit easily. However, not everyone can mimic that same flow as effectively whilst keeping meaningful commentary up. So I think, at least for a time, perhaps reviewing replays for a short time could be extremely beneficial in the longrun as long as they are not clung too for long.
Again, not taking away from this guy. I'm 8 videos in and I'm loving this shit OP.
You have a point, but you're implementing it the wrong way.
Ideally our OP would spend time cold-casting different replays in order to improve, or to watch other casters and note what they do correctly or incorrectly. Football analysts become experts at live-commentary by practicing live commentary, not travelling to the future, obtaining film of the game they're about to cast, and then practicing it before going back in time to, as Bill O'Reilly would say "do it live"
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
What's wrong with it? Yes, you lose certain excitement and emotion that comes with seeing it for the first time -- but it allows for a much smoother and solid commentary on the flip side and who says you can't be excited for something even though you've seen it before? I'd personally prefer a significantly more smooth commentary with a lot more flow to it rather than a bit more excitement.
That's just me though, I know plenty disagree
Pre-watching replays and then casting them, especially after taking notes about the game would be like pre-watching a football game and then pretending to be an expert analyst before every play.
Part of the skill required behind casting is knowing the signs of certain builds or playstyles, which becomes cheapened when you actually know what happens beforehand, much like part of the skill behind being a football commentator is knowing the signs of certain plays.
The only way to become a football "expert" in the first place is to watch tape over and over again and learn the ins and outs. You don't start out as a pro football analyst, you start out much lower and work your way up with the knowledge and social skills needed to do such on national television.
I think it's the same thing with Starcraft. Yes, ideally, you get someone like Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, Husky, CatzPajamas, HD, Khaldor, whatever who can do all that shit easily. However, not everyone can mimic that same flow as effectively whilst keeping meaningful commentary up. So I think, at least for a time, perhaps reviewing replays for a short time could be extremely beneficial in the longrun as long as they are not clung too for long.
Again, not taking away from this guy. I'm 8 videos in and I'm loving this shit OP.
You have a point, but you're implementing it the wrong way.
Ideally our OP would spend time cold-casting different replays in order to improve, or to watch other casters and note what they do correctly or incorrectly. Football analysts become experts at live-commentary by practicing live commentary, not travelling to the future, obtaining film of the game they're about to cast, and then practicing it before going back in time to, as Bill O'Reilly would say "do it live"
Very true, you have a nice point.
To each his own, I suppose. I'll simply respectfully disagree as to not fill up the thread with our banter further. But I definitely see where you're coming from.
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
What's wrong with it? Yes, you lose certain excitement and emotion that comes with seeing it for the first time -- but it allows for a much smoother and solid commentary on the flip side and who says you can't be excited for something even though you've seen it before? I'd personally prefer a significantly more smooth commentary with a lot more flow to it rather than a bit more excitement.
That's just me though, I know plenty disagree
Pre-watching replays and then casting them, especially after taking notes about the game would be like pre-watching a football game and then pretending to be an expert analyst before every play.
Part of the skill required behind casting is knowing the signs of certain builds or playstyles, which becomes cheapened when you actually know what happens beforehand, much like part of the skill behind being a football commentator is knowing the signs of certain plays.
The only way to become a football "expert" in the first place is to watch tape over and over again and learn the ins and outs. You don't start out as a pro football analyst, you start out much lower and work your way up with the knowledge and social skills needed to do such on national television.
I think it's the same thing with Starcraft. Yes, ideally, you get someone like Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, Husky, CatzPajamas, HD, Khaldor, whatever who can do all that shit easily. However, not everyone can mimic that same flow as effectively whilst keeping meaningful commentary up. So I think, at least for a time, perhaps reviewing replays for a short time could be extremely beneficial in the longrun as long as they are not clung too for long.
Again, not taking away from this guy. I'm 8 videos in and I'm loving this shit OP.
You have a point, but you're implementing it the wrong way.
Ideally our OP would spend time cold-casting different replays in order to improve, or to watch other casters and note what they do correctly or incorrectly. Football analysts become experts at live-commentary by practicing live commentary, not travelling to the future, obtaining film of the game they're about to cast, and then practicing it before going back in time to, as Bill O'Reilly would say "do it live"
Ya, I have been trying to find a happy medium between both of these. I did some of the games seeing them for the first time, and some with pre-watching. As I get better, I plan to move almost solely to casting without pre-watching. But keeping a good consistent analytical/entertaining commentary while catching everything that happens by yourself is rather rough. I certainly see both sides to the discussion and will continue working towards casting as though it's live, while keeping good commentary in the background.
P.S. I chuckled at the Bill O'Reilly reference ^_^.
Edit: Sorry, I took to long to put this up, but I saw your last message too Fruscainte. Glad you guys could come to respectable end. "Nobody" will try to appease all the fans of SC2 as best he can. (Referring to myself in 3rd person for that joke was totally worth it even if it was extremely lame.)
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
What's wrong with it? Yes, you lose certain excitement and emotion that comes with seeing it for the first time -- but it allows for a much smoother and solid commentary on the flip side and who says you can't be excited for something even though you've seen it before? I'd personally prefer a significantly more smooth commentary with a lot more flow to it rather than a bit more excitement.
That's just me though, I know plenty disagree
Pre-watching replays and then casting them, especially after taking notes about the game would be like pre-watching a football game and then pretending to be an expert analyst before every play.
Part of the skill required behind casting is knowing the signs of certain builds or playstyles, which becomes cheapened when you actually know what happens beforehand, much like part of the skill behind being a football commentator is knowing the signs of certain plays.
The only way to become a football "expert" in the first place is to watch tape over and over again and learn the ins and outs. You don't start out as a pro football analyst, you start out much lower and work your way up with the knowledge and social skills needed to do such on national television.
I think it's the same thing with Starcraft. Yes, ideally, you get someone like Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, Husky, CatzPajamas, HD, Khaldor, whatever who can do all that shit easily. However, not everyone can mimic that same flow as effectively whilst keeping meaningful commentary up. So I think, at least for a time, perhaps reviewing replays for a short time could be extremely beneficial in the longrun as long as they are not clung too for long.
Again, not taking away from this guy. I'm 8 videos in and I'm loving this shit OP.
You have a point, but you're implementing it the wrong way.
Ideally our OP would spend time cold-casting different replays in order to improve, or to watch other casters and note what they do correctly or incorrectly. Football analysts become experts at live-commentary by practicing live commentary, not travelling to the future, obtaining film of the game they're about to cast, and then practicing it before going back in time to, as Bill O'Reilly would say "do it live"
Ya, I have been trying to find a happy medium between both of these. I did some of the games seeing them for the first time, and some with pre-watching. As I get better, I plan to move almost solely to casting without pre-watching. But keeping a good consistent analytical/entertaining commentary while catching everything that happens by yourself is rather rough. I certainly see both sides to the discussion and will continue working towards casting as though it's live, while keeping good commentary in the background.
P.S. I chuckled at the Bill O'Reilly reference ^_^.
Well, the truth is, there isn't always something going on. So you either develop some form of stage-personality, or whatever to keep those dull moments fun or you get awkward silences. That's what separates the good from the bad commentators, in my opinions. The ones who can keep the flow going, even in the awkward boring moments.
This is absolutely brilliant. I was lookin for ZvX matchups, and probably nothing is better than studying Leenoctupus, Thank you for bringing all his VODs together in a single place. much <3
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
What's wrong with it? Yes, you lose certain excitement and emotion that comes with seeing it for the first time -- but it allows for a much smoother and solid commentary on the flip side and who says you can't be excited for something even though you've seen it before? I'd personally prefer a significantly more smooth commentary with a lot more flow to it rather than a bit more excitement.
That's just me though, I know plenty disagree
Pre-watching replays and then casting them, especially after taking notes about the game would be like pre-watching a football game and then pretending to be an expert analyst before every play.
Part of the skill required behind casting is knowing the signs of certain builds or playstyles, which becomes cheapened when you actually know what happens beforehand, much like part of the skill behind being a football commentator is knowing the signs of certain plays.
The only way to become a football "expert" in the first place is to watch tape over and over again and learn the ins and outs. You don't start out as a pro football analyst, you start out much lower and work your way up with the knowledge and social skills needed to do such on national television.
I think it's the same thing with Starcraft. Yes, ideally, you get someone like Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, Husky, CatzPajamas, HD, Khaldor, whatever who can do all that shit easily. However, not everyone can mimic that same flow as effectively whilst keeping meaningful commentary up. So I think, at least for a time, perhaps reviewing replays for a short time could be extremely beneficial in the longrun as long as they are not clung too for long.
Again, not taking away from this guy. I'm 8 videos in and I'm loving this shit OP.
You have a point, but you're implementing it the wrong way.
Ideally our OP would spend time cold-casting different replays in order to improve, or to watch other casters and note what they do correctly or incorrectly. Football analysts become experts at live-commentary by practicing live commentary, not travelling to the future, obtaining film of the game they're about to cast, and then practicing it before going back in time to, as Bill O'Reilly would say "do it live"
Ya, I have been trying to find a happy medium between both of these. I did some of the games seeing them for the first time, and some with pre-watching. As I get better, I plan to move almost solely to casting without pre-watching. But keeping a good consistent analytical/entertaining commentary while catching everything that happens by yourself is rather rough. I certainly see both sides to the discussion and will continue working towards casting as though it's live, while keeping good commentary in the background.
P.S. I chuckled at the Bill O'Reilly reference ^_^.
Well, the truth is, there isn't always something going on. So you either develop some form of stage-personality, or whatever to keep those dull moments fun or you get awkward silences. That's what separates the good from the bad commentators, in my opinions. The ones who can keep the flow going, even in the awkward boring moments.
That's definitely something I think I can fulfill... in time. While I'm happy with what I've done so far, I still feel that I have a lot I can improve on. I'm sure I can provide a unique personality to the community, but I need to get more practice to calm my nerves. Getting this amazing community response is certainly helping with that goal.
On December 29 2011 13:33 Fruscainte wrote: Very nice videos, watched ~5 of them so far. My only criticism is this: You seem comfortable on the mic, which is a huge bonus that a lot of "new" commentators don't seem to have, however, you do lose track and stumble a bit at times, or there are some awkward moments of silence. Perhaps previewing games on x4/x8 and taking some small notes before casting so you can have some benchmarks and stay on track? It's a very small criticism, as these are far and few inbetween, but I'm loving this shit. Thank you for casting these games!
I disagree.
Do NOT pre-watch replays, even if you know the eventual victor.
What's wrong with it? Yes, you lose certain excitement and emotion that comes with seeing it for the first time -- but it allows for a much smoother and solid commentary on the flip side and who says you can't be excited for something even though you've seen it before? I'd personally prefer a significantly more smooth commentary with a lot more flow to it rather than a bit more excitement.
That's just me though, I know plenty disagree
Pre-watching replays and then casting them, especially after taking notes about the game would be like pre-watching a football game and then pretending to be an expert analyst before every play.
Part of the skill required behind casting is knowing the signs of certain builds or playstyles, which becomes cheapened when you actually know what happens beforehand, much like part of the skill behind being a football commentator is knowing the signs of certain plays.
The only way to become a football "expert" in the first place is to watch tape over and over again and learn the ins and outs. You don't start out as a pro football analyst, you start out much lower and work your way up with the knowledge and social skills needed to do such on national television.
I think it's the same thing with Starcraft. Yes, ideally, you get someone like Artosis, Tasteless, Day9, Husky, CatzPajamas, HD, Khaldor, whatever who can do all that shit easily. However, not everyone can mimic that same flow as effectively whilst keeping meaningful commentary up. So I think, at least for a time, perhaps reviewing replays for a short time could be extremely beneficial in the longrun as long as they are not clung too for long.
Again, not taking away from this guy. I'm 8 videos in and I'm loving this shit OP.
You have a point, but you're implementing it the wrong way.
Ideally our OP would spend time cold-casting different replays in order to improve, or to watch other casters and note what they do correctly or incorrectly. Football analysts become experts at live-commentary by practicing live commentary, not travelling to the future, obtaining film of the game they're about to cast, and then practicing it before going back in time to, as Bill O'Reilly would say "do it live"
Ya, I have been trying to find a happy medium between both of these. I did some of the games seeing them for the first time, and some with pre-watching. As I get better, I plan to move almost solely to casting without pre-watching. But keeping a good consistent analytical/entertaining commentary while catching everything that happens by yourself is rather rough. I certainly see both sides to the discussion and will continue working towards casting as though it's live, while keeping good commentary in the background.
P.S. I chuckled at the Bill O'Reilly reference ^_^.
Well, the truth is, there isn't always something going on. So you either develop some form of stage-personality, or whatever to keep those dull moments fun or you get awkward silences. That's what separates the good from the bad commentators, in my opinions. The ones who can keep the flow going, even in the awkward boring moments.
That's definitely something I think I can fulfill... in time. While I'm happy with what I've done so far, I still feel that I have a lot I can improve on. I'm sure I can provide a unique personality to the community, but I need to get more practice to calm my nerves. Getting this amazing community response is certainly helping with that goal.
No problem. Just chiiiiiiiil out and have fun. We have fun when you're having fun, just look at Day9/Husky for proof
Yeah, Slog is a cool dude, I'm really not super sure about the name criticism. That game vs vileState had a really weird ending. I feel that he could have probably won it, his force would have made a fight of it against leenock's at leenock's third. IMO he probably would have taken it.
On December 29 2011 16:49 Lobotomist wrote: Yeah, Slog is a cool dude, I'm really not super sure about the name criticism. That game vs vileState had a really weird ending. I feel that he could have probably won it, his force would have made a fight of it against leenock's at leenock's third. IMO he probably would have taken it.
Haha ya, the name criticism was more meant in good fun. I was serious about not having heard the guys name, but certainly didn't mean it to be offensive.
On December 29 2011 12:48 InternalSync wrote: Dude, you rock! You're highly entertaining and your analysis is spot on, two things that make a great caster imo. Subscribed to your channel, hopefully you wont keep us waiting too long until your next casts. Good luck!
EDIT: forgot to add, you're funny too, love the lings jokes!
I do plan to take a couple of days for a break while I try to figure out what kind of content I want to put up next.
On December 29 2011 11:07 jtixs wrote: This is great man, I'm going to watch all of these and give feedback at the end but greatly appreciate the effort.
nestea at providence next ? =)
If people would be interested in watching another decently long series of a player despite the fact they lose at the end, I would definitely consider this.
Wow, took me a while to get through them all but I love this sort of series. You can learn so much more by focusing on a series of games from a single player. Can't believe Leenock managed such a rampage that mlg...
I made so many bad decisions those two games . Knowing that I was playing Leenock kind of made me want to try to end the game fast, but I should have stayed defensive with the roaches and led it into a macro game... would at least make me look better . First game I should have built a second queen and blocked off my ramp and kept my baneling nest. Nice uploads and great casts though