• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:51
CEST 07:51
KST 14:51
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Maestros of the Game: Week 1/Play-in Preview12[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt2: Take-Off7[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt1: Runway132v2 & SC: Evo Complete: Weekend Double Feature4Team Liquid Map Contest #21 - Presented by Monster Energy14
Community News
LiuLi Cup - September 2025 Tournaments2Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw?39Weekly Cups (Aug 18-24): herO dethrones MaxPax6Maestros of The Game—$20k event w/ live finals in Paris54Weekly Cups (Aug 11-17): MaxPax triples again!15
StarCraft 2
General
#1: Maru - Greatest Players of All Time Team Liquid Map Contest #21 - Presented by Monster Energy Production Quality - Maestros of the Game Vs RSL 2 Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson has passed away Heaven's Balance Suggestions (roast me)
Tourneys
Maestros of The Game—$20k event w/ live finals in Paris RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series Chzzk MurlocKing SC1 vs SC2 Cup Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) LiuLi Cup - September 2025 Tournaments
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 489 Bannable Offense Mutation # 488 What Goes Around Mutation # 487 Think Fast Mutation # 486 Watch the Skies
Brood War
General
The Korean Terminology Thread Pros React To: herO's Baffling Game ASL20 General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[IPSL] ISPL Season 1 Winter Qualis and Info! [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Is there English video for group selection for ASL Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Muta micro map competition Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Mineral Boosting
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The Happy Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
MLB/Baseball 2023 2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread High temperatures on bridge(s)
TL Community
The Automated Ban List TeamLiquid Team Shirt On Sale
Blogs
Collective Intelligence: Tea…
TrAiDoS
A very expensive lesson on ma…
Garnet
hello world
radishsoup
Lemme tell you a thing o…
JoinTheRain
RTS Design in Hypercoven
a11
Evil Gacha Games and the…
ffswowsucks
INDEPENDIENTE LA CTM
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1037 users

What is key to being a Good Caster - Page 2

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 11 12 13 Next All
rift
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
1819 Posts
September 03 2012 08:15 GMT
#21
Casters get more attention, and probably money, than most players. This is not a good thing.
nkr
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Sweden5451 Posts
September 03 2012 08:16 GMT
#22
a good voice and game knowledge
ESPORTS ILLUMINATI
AxionSteel
Profile Joined January 2011
United States7754 Posts
September 03 2012 08:17 GMT
#23
On September 03 2012 17:13 Liquid`Ret wrote:
I have been watching starcraft and starcraft 2 for an extremely long time and I almost feel like the casting is getting worse and worse across the board. There are a few exceptions like Apollo, Rotterdam/MrBitter, but with the other ones you can tell they almost never play the game anymore or never have played to begin with.

Starcraft is a beautiful game. There is a very large group of players who have great mechanics and practice a lot, so their builds are very polished and they can all beat each other on any given day. Still some players do better than others, there is a huge mental aspect to the game and slight changes in builds or playstyles that can make all the difference and this is what makes starcraft matches so fun to watch. .

Unfortunately, most casters are not very good at all at recognizing patterns or changes in the metagame, or builds. Infact there are so many occasionans where casters who are newbies at the game, judge players and berate them for their mistakes, while they actually don't have a clue what is going on. Of course mistakes are much easier to point out than those little things players change in their play or the mind games that are going on at the top level. But these are the things that make starcraft a brilliant game to watch and follow. I feel like if we had professional casters who actually put the time and effort into delivering the best performance possible, the audience would come much closer to be able to experience starcraft in the same way that progamers experience it. With all the little nuances, mind games, and reasons why someone is doing what they're doing being analyzed and clearly explained.

When I listen to a cast and would be unable to see the screen, I would feel like sc2 is a random slugfest with 2 guys just throwing units at each other. Every game feels the same, and one guy wins at the end. This actually makes Starcraft much less appealing to new people or people who are actually looking for depth, not cheap entertainment. Of course this is exaggerated, but it's still sad to me that there is so little actual skill and knowledge amongst casters. I really hope that eventually we can go to a model where there is one person doing play by plays and coloring the cast, and one progamer or ex-progamer (who still keeps up his skill and knowledge of all the recent trends) doing analytical casting. We saw some of this when Grubby was casting with apollo/kalearis and TLO/apollo at assembly (and these guys have barely practiced casting). The current casters are actually not helping Starcraft 2 grow in my opinion, they just live off their initial fame and because of how e-sports works twitter followers and popularity is more important than quality, substance. I believe Starcraft 2 is a good enough game to keep people interested, as long as the skill on the screen is translated and well delivered to the audience.

p.s sorry kinda off-topic, but felt like writing my opinion

Great post, couldn't agree more.
m!DniGhT
Profile Joined November 2010
Germany34 Posts
September 03 2012 08:17 GMT
#24
Khaldor not only has a lot of insight but also a good attitude towards professionalism. As Artosis stated often on SotG he does always have his iPad with him and looking up stuff about players and statistics.

I'm on a horse - meewwww - Cow!
nkr
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Sweden5451 Posts
September 03 2012 08:19 GMT
#25
On September 03 2012 17:17 m!DniGhT wrote:
Khaldor not only has a lot of insight but also a good attitude towards professionalism. As Artosis stated often on SotG he does always have his iPad with him and looking up stuff about players and statistics.




But he is also a perfect example of someone who doesn't get the game and berates players for what he thinks is a mistake
ESPORTS ILLUMINATI
Jojo131
Profile Joined January 2011
Brazil1631 Posts
September 03 2012 08:20 GMT
#26
On September 03 2012 16:53 Cabinet Sanchez wrote:
Giant arms and a smooth head.

totes, also wear tight fitting shirts once in a while.

I think a lot of people over emphasize the importance of insight and game knowledge (dont get me wrong, its still vital), imo a big thing that's missing from a lot of caster's they're not being genuine, or embracing their character. Husky has come a long way from being my least favorite caster to one of the ones I look forward to listening to every match because although his insight isn't like that of Artosis/Apollo/etc, his character (along with an increasing insight to the game) makes for a perfect mix of an entertaining and informative cast.
Kamwah
Profile Joined February 2012
United Kingdom724 Posts
September 03 2012 08:20 GMT
#27
Khaldor, Tastosis, Gredan, Bitterdam are the casters which are my favorites.

I feel the others make consistent mistakes when casting, try to hype it way too damn much or just have no understanding.
Learn to count with CatsPajamas!
ilbh
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Brazil1606 Posts
September 03 2012 08:23 GMT
#28
lol
djwheat new to sc2? totalbiscuit too? you can dislike their cast, but they are definitely not new to sc2.

btw, wolf has great knowledgement too...
Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
Bojas
Profile Joined December 2010
Netherlands2397 Posts
September 03 2012 08:23 GMT
#29
What I think makes a good caster, some of them depend on preferrence (for example what I find funny someone else hates, the voice I likesomeone else hates)

- Voice, a smooth radio voice like Gunrun's voice are a joy to listen to.
- Appearance, you have to look presentable and must have the neccesary social skills for casting
- Humor, jokes obviously make your cast fun
- Game knowledge, at least high masters in skill in one race
- Chemistry with your co-caster
- Knowledge of the scene (very underrated imo)
- Someone who always has something to say, but doesn't starts talking about ''oh he's mining minerals now, how interesting''

I think duo's such as Bitterdam compliment each other nicely, where Rotterdam lacks MrBitter compliments him, and vice versa. And the same can be said for Tastosis.
dOraWa
Profile Joined August 2012
Korea (South)53 Posts
September 03 2012 08:25 GMT
#30
I'd agree with the idea that Moletrap is much more insightful and passionate about SC2 than Wolf is, which leaves me wondering why he gets so much hate while Wolf and Khaldor don't. Maybe it's his voice? I don't know, but I like the guy. You can tell he tries, but doesn't play the game enough. Probably why Artosis's analytic casting is so interesting; the dude actually plays and can inform the viewers what happens or is likely to happen with the clashing of two opposing builds, etc
TT1
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada10010 Posts
September 03 2012 08:25 GMT
#31
all i want is a knowledgeable caster, he could be driest person on the planet for all i care. HIGH LVL ANALYSIS PLZ!
ab = tl(i) + tl(pc), the grand answer to every tl.net debate
bhfberserk
Profile Joined August 2011
Canada390 Posts
September 03 2012 08:26 GMT
#32
I think different people will like different casters. According to OP Wolf is not insightful and moletrap is awesome. Husky and HD is the same group... We all have our different opinions.
Dagan159
Profile Joined July 2012
United States203 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-09-03 08:29:20
September 03 2012 08:28 GMT
#33
Well the OP is incredibly biased.

It is obvious that the OP is in the tank for Moletrap. Wolf diddnt set Moletrap to fail. The fact is there is one thing that every caster NEEDS to be successful. That is a good VOICE. It doesnt matter how MANY things someone casts, the thing that will bring in more fans, and ultimately GROW ESPORTS is charisma, support of the players, and the level of enjorment a spectator feels when watching the game.

I know Moletrap is dedicated. I know he tries his hardest. Ultimately, if he is not someone a MAJORITY of people want to hear cast, then he should not be casting. There are other roles in ESPORTS that need filling. This is not moletraps role.

EDIT: If you love moletrap and hate wolf, how can you lump husky and HD into the same group?
The ultimate weapon. nuff said.
Dagan159
Profile Joined July 2012
United States203 Posts
September 03 2012 08:31 GMT
#34
On September 03 2012 17:25 ROOTT1 wrote:
all i want is a knowledgeable caster, he could be driest person on the planet for all i care. HIGH LVL ANALYSIS PLZ!


TT1. Yes, for you perhaps the most high level analysis possible is preferable, but if you want to grow esports then you are going to have to accept what the republican party has begun to realize: we need to grow the middle class.
The ultimate weapon. nuff said.
Akhee
Profile Joined January 2011
Brazil811 Posts
September 03 2012 08:35 GMT
#35
you shouldnt criticize too much if you are missing most of the things

wolf is probably the best player of the casters right now, if you say he doesnt know what hes talking then... you dont dont know what you talking, he has very cool insights and i would consider him just below artosis as analytical caster

just to add thats not the first time totalbiscuit helps a progamer, he helped BlinG too
Bojas
Profile Joined December 2010
Netherlands2397 Posts
September 03 2012 08:36 GMT
#36
On September 03 2012 17:35 Akhee wrote:
you shouldnt criticize too much if you are missing most of the things

wolf is probably the best player of the casters right now,

What? You might want to back that up..
massivez
Profile Joined May 2010
Belgium653 Posts
September 03 2012 08:37 GMT
#37
On September 03 2012 17:13 Liquid`Ret wrote:
I have been watching starcraft and starcraft 2 for an extremely long time and I almost feel like the casting is getting worse and worse across the board. There are a few exceptions like Apollo, Rotterdam/MrBitter, Artosis (although he was much better a year ago) but with the other ones you can tell they almost never play the game anymore or never have played to begin with.

Starcraft is a beautiful game. There is a very large group of players who have great mechanics and practice a lot, so their builds are very polished and they can all beat each other on any given day. Still some players do better than others, there is a huge mental aspect to the game and slight changes in builds or playstyles that can make all the difference and this is what makes starcraft matches so fun to watch. .

Unfortunately, most casters are not very good at all at recognizing patterns or changes in the metagame, or builds. Infact there are so many occasions where casters who are newbies at the game, judge players and berate them for their mistakes, while they actually don't have a clue what is going on. Of course mistakes are much easier to point out than those little things players change in their play or the mind games that are going on at the top level. But these are the things that make starcraft a brilliant game to watch and follow. I feel like if we had professional casters who actually put the time and effort into delivering the best performance possible, the audience would come much closer to be able to experience starcraft in the same way that progamers experience it. With all the little nuances, mind games, and reasons why someone is doing what they're doing being analyzed and clearly explained.

When I listen to a cast and would be unable to see the screen, I would feel like sc2 is a random slugfest with 2 guys just throwing units at each other. Every game feels the same, and one guy wins at the end. This actually makes Starcraft much less appealing to new people or people who are actually looking for depth, not cheap entertainment. Of course this is exaggerated, but it's still sad to me that there is so little actual skill and knowledge amongst casters. I really hope that eventually (sooner the better) we can go to a model where there is one person doing play by plays and coloring the cast, and one progamer or ex-progamer (who still keeps up his skill and knowledge of all the recent trends) doing analytical casting. We saw some of this when Grubby was casting with apollo/kalearis and TLO/apollo at assembly (and these guys have barely practiced casting). The current casters are actually not helping Starcraft 2 grow in my opinion, they just live off their initial fame and because of how e-sports works twitter followers and popularity is more important than quality, substance. I believe Starcraft 2 is a good enough game to keep people interested, as long as the skill on the screen is translated and well delivered to the audience.

p.s sorry kinda off-topic, but felt like writing my opinion


Excellent post! Well we got Grubby casting the OSL now. This will hopefully motivate other casters to up their knowledge of the game (and play the actual game more, it is their job btw).
FXOUnstable
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
Australia159 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-09-03 08:41:55
September 03 2012 08:37 GMT
#38
On September 03 2012 17:13 Liquid`Ret wrote:
I have been watching starcraft and starcraft 2 for an extremely long time and I almost feel like the casting is getting worse and worse across the board. There are a few exceptions like Apollo, Rotterdam/MrBitter, Artosis (although he was much better a year ago) but with the other ones you can tell they almost never play the game anymore or never have played to begin with.

Starcraft is a beautiful game. There is a very large group of players who have great mechanics and practice a lot, so their builds are very polished and they can all beat each other on any given day. Still some players do better than others, there is a huge mental aspect to the game and slight changes in builds or playstyles that can make all the difference and this is what makes starcraft matches so fun to watch. .

Unfortunately, most casters are not very good at all at recognizing patterns or changes in the metagame, or builds. Infact there are so many occasions where casters who are newbies at the game, judge players and berate them for their mistakes, while they actually don't have a clue what is going on. Of course mistakes are much easier to point out than those little things players change in their play or the mind games that are going on at the top level. But these are the things that make starcraft a brilliant game to watch and follow. I feel like if we had professional casters who actually put the time and effort into delivering the best performance possible, the audience would come much closer to be able to experience starcraft in the same way that progamers experience it. With all the little nuances, mind games, and reasons why someone is doing what they're doing being analyzed and clearly explained.

When I listen to a cast and would be unable to see the screen, I would feel like sc2 is a random slugfest with 2 guys just throwing units at each other. Every game feels the same, and one guy wins at the end. This actually makes Starcraft much less appealing to new people or people who are actually looking for depth, not cheap entertainment. Of course this is exaggerated, but it's still sad to me that there is so little actual skill and knowledge amongst casters. I really hope that eventually (sooner the better) we can go to a model where there is one person doing play by plays and coloring the cast, and one progamer or ex-progamer (who still keeps up his skill and knowledge of all the recent trends) doing analytical casting. We saw some of this when Grubby was casting with apollo/kalearis and TLO/apollo at assembly (and these guys have barely practiced casting). The current casters are actually not helping Starcraft 2 grow in my opinion, they just live off their initial fame and because of how e-sports works twitter followers and popularity is more important than quality, substance. I believe Starcraft 2 is a good enough game to keep people interested, as long as the skill on the screen is translated and well delivered to the audience.

p.s sorry kinda off-topic, but felt like writing my opinion



While you identified great points on a lot of the issues we currently have.

No one I ever hear speaking publicly about how "bad" the casting is, EVER gives ways to fix it. The real issue is, as you stated, that casters need to be playing the game as well, BUT HOW, unless they are fulltime they have real jobs, then they cast, then they have family etc.

You always hear people say "high masters still don't know anything" but if a caster is higher than masters, they would be IN the tournament not casting it. Every caster you have stated that you think is good are the full time casters, the ones who cast a few hours a day, and have the ability to practice full time.

it simply IS NOT POSSIBLE to have high game knowledge as a caster if you do not play the game a significant amount of time, without being full time in the industry as a caster only (for example I cast FXO events but i also manage a team, do production, IT, manage other staff etc) how is someone who has a regular job, casts and then has to play as well do it? its just not possible.

I am of the firm belief that if you are a caster for a main organisation you should be casting and then practicing the remaining hours of your work day minimum. For example you cast 3 hours per day? ok you practice the other 5.

Only casters who do that will be up to scratch for the "high game knowledge casters" but at the same time, ANY knowledge that is masters or above, is higher than 97% of the community, so it is also the vocal minority who are always doing the complaining.

FXOUnstable
Cabinet Sanchez
Profile Joined February 2011
Australia1097 Posts
September 03 2012 08:38 GMT
#39
On September 03 2012 17:11 AxionSteel wrote:
Funny that you stated Wolf knows nothing of the players/current meta game but then said Tasteless does. Couldn't be more wrong.




I couldn't possibly agree more. I'm extremely satisfied with 3 out of 4 current GOM casters.
Cabinet Sanchez
Profile Joined February 2011
Australia1097 Posts
September 03 2012 08:38 GMT
#40
On September 03 2012 17:36 Bojas wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 03 2012 17:35 Akhee wrote:
you shouldnt criticize too much if you are missing most of the things

wolf is probably the best player of the casters right now,

What? You might want to back that up..


Ok Artosis, then Wolf, then Khaldor.
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 11 12 13 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
22:00
OSC Elite Rising Star #16
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 1179
JulyZerg 689
sSak 75
Noble 67
ToSsGirL 43
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm81
League of Legends
JimRising 809
febbydoto3
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K954
semphis_42
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King83
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor134
Other Games
summit1g6876
WinterStarcraft552
ViBE249
ROOTCatZ25
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH357
• practicex 38
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Stunt500
Other Games
• Scarra1136
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
4h 9m
Cure vs Bunny
Creator vs Zoun
Maestros of the Game
11h 9m
Maru vs Lambo
herO vs ShoWTimE
BSL Team Wars
13h 9m
Team Hawk vs Team Sziky
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 4h
Monday Night Weeklies
1d 10h
The PondCast
4 days
Online Event
5 days
BSL Team Wars
5 days
Team Bonyth vs Team Dewalt
BSL Team Wars
5 days
Maestros of the Game
6 days
[ Show More ]
Cosmonarchy
6 days
Bonyth vs Dewalt
[BSL 2025] Weekly
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-09-02
SEL Season 2 Championship
HCC Europe

Ongoing

Copa Latinoamericana 4
BSL 20 Team Wars
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
BSL 21: BSL Points
ASL Season 20
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
LASL Season 20
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
Chzzk MurlocKing SC1 vs SC2 Cup #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1

Upcoming

2025 Chongqing Offline CUP
BSL Polish World Championship 2025
BSL Season 21
BSL 21 Team A
EC S1
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
MESA Nomadic Masters Fall
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.