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On January 26 2024 00:20 Starcloud wrote:
Pretty good lineup. Few personal points;
1. Tastosis is missing, which is really a shame in these big tournaments. They should be there.
2. ZombieGrub and Wardi are just basically boring and especially casting together is a bit pain. Both are awesome individuals who have been carrying the SC2-flag for a very long time, and I appreciate them both a lot. But just dont like them as casters.
3. What has happened to Nathanias and especially Maynarde ? Two of my favourites have been sidelined for a long time. Prolly has been mentioned somewhere, but personally I dont understand why arent they invited to the events anymore. I would take them any day before for example Lowko, Beo, Steadfast, Demu, ZG or Wardi. Big shame. Also, wth happened to Smix ?
4. Prolly bit unpopular opinion, but I dont usually like these player/player- casts that much outside Homestory Cups. Dont get me wrong, Lambo and Harstem are very good analyzers and nice to listen to, but I would like more of them separately with a "professional" caster. For example Rotti+Lambo- combination is one of the best duos you can make. Though Rotti rises the level of casting to excellent degree by himself. He is the best.
True, ZG and Wardi kinda have a very similar "sad aura".
Which is a pitty, cus theyre both very good analyzers, specially ZG. I think shes spot on. But they are waaaaay too serious, and bring a heavy sentiment, i think.
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On January 26 2024 00:20 Starcloud wrote:
Pretty good lineup. Few personal points;
1. Tastosis is missing, which is really a shame in these big tournaments. They should be there.
2. ZombieGrub and Wardi are just basically boring and especially casting together is a bit pain. Both are awesome individuals who have been carrying the SC2-flag for a very long time, and I appreciate them both a lot. But just dont like them as casters.
3. What has happened to Nathanias and especially Maynarde ? Two of my favourites have been sidelined for a long time. Prolly has been mentioned somewhere, but personally I dont understand why arent they invited to the events anymore. I would take them any day before for example Lowko, Beo, Steadfast, Demu, ZG or Wardi. Big shame. Also, wth happened to Smix ?
4. Prolly bit unpopular opinion, but I dont usually like these player/player- casts that much outside Homestory Cups. Dont get me wrong, Lambo and Harstem are very good analyzers and nice to listen to, but I would like more of them separately with a "professional" caster. For example Rotti+Lambo- combination is one of the best duos you can make. Though Rotti rises the level of casting to excellent degree by himself. He is the best.
AFAIK, Maynarde and Nathanias are done with casting SC2 for over a year, they both have moved on to something else. And the same with Smix, shes been doing other esport events in 2023. I dont have a problem with Lambo/Harstem casting although sometimes they seems to be within their own thought rather than informing the audience.
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same lineup as usual (almost).
I would love to see some fresh faces there.
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On January 26 2024 02:28 Locutus_ wrote:Show nested quote +On January 26 2024 00:20 Starcloud wrote:
Pretty good lineup. Few personal points;
1. Tastosis is missing, which is really a shame in these big tournaments. They should be there.
2. ZombieGrub and Wardi are just basically boring and especially casting together is a bit pain. Both are awesome individuals who have been carrying the SC2-flag for a very long time, and I appreciate them both a lot. But just dont like them as casters.
3. What has happened to Nathanias and especially Maynarde ? Two of my favourites have been sidelined for a long time. Prolly has been mentioned somewhere, but personally I dont understand why arent they invited to the events anymore. I would take them any day before for example Lowko, Beo, Steadfast, Demu, ZG or Wardi. Big shame. Also, wth happened to Smix ?
4. Prolly bit unpopular opinion, but I dont usually like these player/player- casts that much outside Homestory Cups. Dont get me wrong, Lambo and Harstem are very good analyzers and nice to listen to, but I would like more of them separately with a "professional" caster. For example Rotti+Lambo- combination is one of the best duos you can make. Though Rotti rises the level of casting to excellent degree by himself. He is the best. True, ZG and Wardi kinda have a very similar "sad aura". Which is a pitty, cus theyre both very good analyzers, specially ZG. I think shes spot on. But they are waaaaay too serious, and bring a heavy sentiment, i think.
ZG is a good analyzer and Wardi isn't? Lol
The SC2 community is so bad at judging casters it's crazy. Wardi's strength is his analysis, and being very in touch with players and the community
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Unequivocal (jk, sorta) caster power rankings of current casters. Leaving out casters I haven't heard much, since I haven't been following the scene as much lately (BW is better), and casters I think are bad at it. Don't like calling out casters I think are bad, it's just mean. So these casters are all ones I really really enjoy in the booth:
Artosis
Game Knowledge 8/10 (Used to be 10 when casting SC2 regularly)
Hype 8/10
Caster Charm* 10/10
* Caster Charm is probably the most important. It's their overall ability to narrate without hiccups, smooth transitions, being funny, having good stories, ability to capture attention etc.
Tasteless
Game Knowledge 3/10 (I mean, I think he even knows lol)
Hype 10/10
Caster Charm 10/10
Rotterdam
Game Knowledge 10/10
Hype 7/10
Caster Charm 10/10
PIG
Game Knowledge 9.5/10
Hype 8/10
Caster Charm 8/10
Wardi
Game Knowledge 9/10
Hype 6/10
Caster Charm 7/10
DeMu
Game Knowledge 7/10
Hype 7/10
Caster Charm 9/10
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On January 25 2024 18:51 WombaT wrote:Show nested quote +On January 25 2024 18:25 Argonauta wrote:On January 25 2024 17:13 WombaT wrote:On January 25 2024 16:11 Balnazza wrote:On January 25 2024 14:50 CicadaSC wrote:
artosis literally casts esl weekly cups for free, because that's just how much passion he has still for the game. Didn't know that, but honestly, it doesn't change much. However that can ofc just be my own perception of it. I mean if that doesn’t what would? At least for Artosis, I do think Tasteless was never quite bitten by the SC2 bug to quite the same degree, although I don’t think he phoned in the passion on broadcast days I never got the impression he lived and breathed the game. Which tbh is fine, casting is a skill not directly correlating with one’s passion. There are plenty of casters around who are absolute pillars of the community and do great work for the scene but IMO should stick to working in the background That for sure, but at the same time both Artosis and Tasteless seems so out of touch to the game the last time they casted it. They cant do clever or deep reads into the game like PiG does, and often times they just do plainly bad takes of what is going on. That hurts specially Artosis as Tasteless was always occupying more he hype/funny role. Although I am honestly tired of tasteless repeating the "this is the craziest game ever" cuz he cant think of something else. But yes, they do bring nostalgia to the table. Having done more casting than most here in amateur tournies for over a decade (hopefully not too much footage floating around the internet), mostly with the other half of an established archon, but frequently rotating some of our higher level players in and out a lot is rapport, comedic timing and giving space to the other guy to show their chops. Even at my ‘peak’ I was pretty mid tier as a player, my knowledge perhaps slightly better than my game, but my ability to communicate the ebb and flow of a game and be entertaining considerably above either. So I’ll happily call a game in front of a bunch of high masters/GM players because I have a certain skill set, and they’re perfectly happy to have me call their games because I might miss something in terms of real specific build intricacies but I generally get the general flow right. And as I say at this stage even mediocre players who’ve watched for a decade can vaguely call a game pretty solid, if you look at a TL LR thread there’s good analysis there. I don’t think it’s pure nostalgia, not saying they don’t have annoying habits but Tastosis do have that special sauce where they compliment each other very well, and if nothing’s going on they’ll start talking about Ninja Turtles or something. It’s like watching a game of (insert sportsball) with your buddies. PIG’s excellent, Rotterdam’s very good as long as Heromarine isn’t playing and I’m excited for the Harambo stream. You get insights from like a top 15-20 active pro that is actually fantastic but they’re also both very good communicators, they’re not dry and they have fun too. I’ve watched every cast they’ve ever done on their YouTube and absolutely love the detail that really only being a top pro gives you. I won’t name names as even the casters I think aren’t as good still do a fine job, but for me you don’t get that convivial Tastosis vibe no matter what the combos, nor do you get the kind of technical analysis you’ll get from the Harambo combo. And as I’ve said on many occasions the time Grubby or Idra guest casted at various tournies with a good foil was top notch, especially the former. Honestly don’t blame guys like Creighton Olsen for saying fuck it, guy was a better caster (with a good foil) than some of this roster but never got a fair crack of the whip
As someone who also shoutcasted for almost a decade (2009 to maybe 2017 or something like that) I can agree with a lot of your points. Synergy is something that is hard to train. In my high-time, I casted lots of cups and matches with two other casters, both of which I endored and had a great partnership with. Think we three at some small point in time were the biggest WC3 shoutcasters in Germany (that was before B2W of course but after the quasi retirement of Khaldor, orc1sh and co.).
When I started to move on from shoutcasting, the league that I headadmin'd got a new shoutcaster, someone who had just started recently for fun. And I don't know why, but I had my best caster-synergy with that guy, just instantly clicked.
So I really get why people enjoy the Archon, why they miss Tastosis. I do aswell whenever they eventually do an event. Also enjoy them individually, Artosis did great recently as an AoE 2 caster (even though he was clearly lacking the knowledge). But I don't "miss" them, it isn't the end of the world for me if they are not present and I certainly don't try to find some hidden agenda why they are not there.
Personally I don't mind it when the people who pour their hearts and soul in the scene get rewarded with shoutcasting these big events. Isn't that basically how Feardragon and Wardi slipped into the regular caster lineups? Pulling out "the big guns" just for these events feels like punishing the people who's daily job and passion this game is.
And yes, that also comes from a point of personal experience - lets just say it isn't particularly fun to cast like four days a week for free and then get past over for a big offline event in favor of a guy who has a bigger name, but hasn't touched the game in six month :3
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On January 26 2024 04:17 TentativePanda wrote:
Unequivocal (jk, sorta) caster power rankings of current casters. Leaving out casters I haven't heard much, since I haven't been following the scene as much lately (BW is better), and casters I think are bad at it. Don't like calling out casters I think are bad, it's just mean. So these casters are all ones I really really enjoy in the booth:
Artosis
Game Knowledge 8/10 (Used to be 10 when casting SC2 regularly)
Hype 8/10
Caster Charm* 10/10
* Caster Charm is probably the most important. It's their overall ability to narrate without hiccups, smooth transitions, being funny, having good stories, ability to capture attention etc.
Tasteless
Game Knowledge 3/10 (I mean, I think he even knows lol)
Hype 10/10
Caster Charm 10/10
Rotterdam
Game Knowledge 10/10
Hype 7/10
Caster Charm 10/10
PIG
Game Knowledge 9.5/10
Hype 8/10
Caster Charm 8/10
Wardi
Game Knowledge 9/10
Hype 6/10
Caster Charm 7/10
DeMu
Game Knowledge 7/10
Hype 7/10
Caster Charm 9/10
This seems like a pretty accurate list, I think I agree. Artosis should be hype 10/10 though
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Great to see Wardi at this event!
On January 25 2024 15:47 Waxangel wrote:
People can be disappointed about Tastosis not being at Katowice without making it some kind of sinister pseudo-conspiracy
I really enjoy Tasteless' life perspective. He dressed up as a bottle of bud light for hallowe'en. He had those banned green frogs prominently displayed in his little personal events after Overwatch/Blizzard banned green frogs, "ok" symbols, and 10,000 other innocuous things.
However, you will receive return fire when you do stuff like Tasteless does.
On January 25 2024 14:37 yezzir88 wrote:Show nested quote +On January 25 2024 04:00 JJH777 wrote:
No tastosis is unfortunate. Good/unsurprising lineup besides their omission. Yeah and its bullshit. Tastosis should really be at every single premier event. ESL really needs to expand their budget only for Tastosis. Other casters are great, but there's just something about the casting archon that makes games magical.
I don't think it does. The game itself is great. That is what makes it magical. The casting line up is as good as its ever been. The omission of Tastosis has zero impact for me.
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C stream is gonna kill. Good lineup overall.
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Northern Ireland26762 Posts
On January 26 2024 05:18 Balnazza wrote:Show nested quote +On January 25 2024 18:51 WombaT wrote:On January 25 2024 18:25 Argonauta wrote:On January 25 2024 17:13 WombaT wrote:On January 25 2024 16:11 Balnazza wrote:On January 25 2024 14:50 CicadaSC wrote:
artosis literally casts esl weekly cups for free, because that's just how much passion he has still for the game. Didn't know that, but honestly, it doesn't change much. However that can ofc just be my own perception of it. I mean if that doesn’t what would? At least for Artosis, I do think Tasteless was never quite bitten by the SC2 bug to quite the same degree, although I don’t think he phoned in the passion on broadcast days I never got the impression he lived and breathed the game. Which tbh is fine, casting is a skill not directly correlating with one’s passion. There are plenty of casters around who are absolute pillars of the community and do great work for the scene but IMO should stick to working in the background That for sure, but at the same time both Artosis and Tasteless seems so out of touch to the game the last time they casted it. They cant do clever or deep reads into the game like PiG does, and often times they just do plainly bad takes of what is going on. That hurts specially Artosis as Tasteless was always occupying more he hype/funny role. Although I am honestly tired of tasteless repeating the "this is the craziest game ever" cuz he cant think of something else. But yes, they do bring nostalgia to the table. Having done more casting than most here in amateur tournies for over a decade (hopefully not too much footage floating around the internet), mostly with the other half of an established archon, but frequently rotating some of our higher level players in and out a lot is rapport, comedic timing and giving space to the other guy to show their chops. Even at my ‘peak’ I was pretty mid tier as a player, my knowledge perhaps slightly better than my game, but my ability to communicate the ebb and flow of a game and be entertaining considerably above either. So I’ll happily call a game in front of a bunch of high masters/GM players because I have a certain skill set, and they’re perfectly happy to have me call their games because I might miss something in terms of real specific build intricacies but I generally get the general flow right. And as I say at this stage even mediocre players who’ve watched for a decade can vaguely call a game pretty solid, if you look at a TL LR thread there’s good analysis there. I don’t think it’s pure nostalgia, not saying they don’t have annoying habits but Tastosis do have that special sauce where they compliment each other very well, and if nothing’s going on they’ll start talking about Ninja Turtles or something. It’s like watching a game of (insert sportsball) with your buddies. PIG’s excellent, Rotterdam’s very good as long as Heromarine isn’t playing and I’m excited for the Harambo stream. You get insights from like a top 15-20 active pro that is actually fantastic but they’re also both very good communicators, they’re not dry and they have fun too. I’ve watched every cast they’ve ever done on their YouTube and absolutely love the detail that really only being a top pro gives you. I won’t name names as even the casters I think aren’t as good still do a fine job, but for me you don’t get that convivial Tastosis vibe no matter what the combos, nor do you get the kind of technical analysis you’ll get from the Harambo combo. And as I’ve said on many occasions the time Grubby or Idra guest casted at various tournies with a good foil was top notch, especially the former. Honestly don’t blame guys like Creighton Olsen for saying fuck it, guy was a better caster (with a good foil) than some of this roster but never got a fair crack of the whip As someone who also shoutcasted for almost a decade (2009 to maybe 2017 or something like that) I can agree with a lot of your points. Synergy is something that is hard to train. In my high-time, I casted lots of cups and matches with two other casters, both of which I endored and had a great partnership with. Think we three at some small point in time were the biggest WC3 shoutcasters in Germany (that was before B2W of course but after the quasi retirement of Khaldor, orc1sh and co.). When I started to move on from shoutcasting, the league that I headadmin'd got a new shoutcaster, someone who had just started recently for fun. And I don't know why, but I had my best caster-synergy with that guy, just instantly clicked. So I really get why people enjoy the Archon, why they miss Tastosis. I do aswell whenever they eventually do an event. Also enjoy them individually, Artosis did great recently as an AoE 2 caster (even though he was clearly lacking the knowledge). But I don't "miss" them, it isn't the end of the world for me if they are not present and I certainly don't try to find some hidden agenda why they are not there. Personally I don't mind it when the people who pour their hearts and soul in the scene get rewarded with shoutcasting these big events. Isn't that basically how Feardragon and Wardi slipped into the regular caster lineups? Pulling out "the big guns" just for these events feels like punishing the people who's daily job and passion this game is. And yes, that also comes from a point of personal experience - lets just say it isn't particularly fun to cast like four days a week for free and then get past over for a big offline event in favor of a guy who has a bigger name, but hasn't touched the game in six month :3
Very well said
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Happy to have Harambo! Also nice to see Wardi, he puts in a lot of work and should be there.
I'm not trying to troll or be mean but I'm always surprised when I see Lowko there, I moved from BW to SC2 fairly late so I missed when he was active but for me he seems to come out of blue for these tournaments.
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On January 26 2024 02:28 Locutus_ wrote:Show nested quote +On January 26 2024 00:20 Starcloud wrote:
Pretty good lineup. Few personal points;
1. Tastosis is missing, which is really a shame in these big tournaments. They should be there.
2. ZombieGrub and Wardi are just basically boring and especially casting together is a bit pain. Both are awesome individuals who have been carrying the SC2-flag for a very long time, and I appreciate them both a lot. But just dont like them as casters.
3. What has happened to Nathanias and especially Maynarde ? Two of my favourites have been sidelined for a long time. Prolly has been mentioned somewhere, but personally I dont understand why arent they invited to the events anymore. I would take them any day before for example Lowko, Beo, Steadfast, Demu, ZG or Wardi. Big shame. Also, wth happened to Smix ?
4. Prolly bit unpopular opinion, but I dont usually like these player/player- casts that much outside Homestory Cups. Dont get me wrong, Lambo and Harstem are very good analyzers and nice to listen to, but I would like more of them separately with a "professional" caster. For example Rotti+Lambo- combination is one of the best duos you can make. Though Rotti rises the level of casting to excellent degree by himself. He is the best. True, ZG and Wardi kinda have a very similar "sad aura". Which is a pitty, cus theyre both very good analyzers, specially ZG. I think shes spot on. But they are waaaaay too serious, and bring a heavy sentiment, i think.
I'll take sad aura over last years description of me as a charisma vacuum. I'm on the up.
FWIW : Katowice is not the world championship and this is the smallest caster team we have had for Katowice as far as I remember and I would very much so suspect it as a money / budget thing that we have less casters. Budget has been strict all year and it does make a difference on who is hired for events.
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Lambo cast is a cast I'll always watch. The guy brings incredible insight.
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On January 27 2024 00:44 WardiTV wrote:
I'll take sad aura over last years description of me as a charisma vacuum. I'm on the up.
it is impossible to be "Captain Charisma" during your many hours long uninterrupted streams. It is 100% clear you love the game. I don't need a 20 second clip of you yelling and screaming at a flat screen to be convinced of your love of the game.
It is great to see you on the casting team for this event.
This same analysis applies to ZombieGrub. The other person said to have a "sad aura". It is 100% clear she loves Starcraft 2 and RTS. Great to see her on the casting team.
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Guys, calm down with the Tastosis crying. I love them as much as everyone else, but the fact is that Katowice got "demoted" this year and is no longer the season finals. ZG mentioned in her stream that there were only 6 caster slots available, which is the standard for non-season finals events. They will most likely be at the finals, in the yet unannounced event, which might be held somewhere in the east, perhaps even the middle of it.
Don't forget that last year the Katowice was the finals and we didn't know if we would have any major events after that, so that is probably why ESL went all out and got Tastosis in the first place.
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On January 26 2024 02:34 tigera6 wrote:Show nested quote +On January 26 2024 00:20 Starcloud wrote:
Pretty good lineup. Few personal points;
1. Tastosis is missing, which is really a shame in these big tournaments. They should be there.
2. ZombieGrub and Wardi are just basically boring and especially casting together is a bit pain. Both are awesome individuals who have been carrying the SC2-flag for a very long time, and I appreciate them both a lot. But just dont like them as casters.
3. What has happened to Nathanias and especially Maynarde ? Two of my favourites have been sidelined for a long time. Prolly has been mentioned somewhere, but personally I dont understand why arent they invited to the events anymore. I would take them any day before for example Lowko, Beo, Steadfast, Demu, ZG or Wardi. Big shame. Also, wth happened to Smix ?
4. Prolly bit unpopular opinion, but I dont usually like these player/player- casts that much outside Homestory Cups. Dont get me wrong, Lambo and Harstem are very good analyzers and nice to listen to, but I would like more of them separately with a "professional" caster. For example Rotti+Lambo- combination is one of the best duos you can make. Though Rotti rises the level of casting to excellent degree by himself. He is the best. AFAIK, Maynarde and Nathanias are done with casting SC2 for over a year, they both have moved on to something else. And the same with Smix, shes been doing other esport events in 2023. I dont have a problem with Lambo/Harstem casting although sometimes they seems to be within their own thought rather than informing the audience.
Would not have wanted them for the main caster line-up in the first place, on the other hand Tastosis not being there for one of the most anticipated tournaments of the year is really, really disappointing.
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On January 27 2024 00:44 WardiTV wrote:Show nested quote +On January 26 2024 02:28 Locutus_ wrote:On January 26 2024 00:20 Starcloud wrote:
Pretty good lineup. Few personal points;
1. Tastosis is missing, which is really a shame in these big tournaments. They should be there.
2. ZombieGrub and Wardi are just basically boring and especially casting together is a bit pain. Both are awesome individuals who have been carrying the SC2-flag for a very long time, and I appreciate them both a lot. But just dont like them as casters.
3. What has happened to Nathanias and especially Maynarde ? Two of my favourites have been sidelined for a long time. Prolly has been mentioned somewhere, but personally I dont understand why arent they invited to the events anymore. I would take them any day before for example Lowko, Beo, Steadfast, Demu, ZG or Wardi. Big shame. Also, wth happened to Smix ?
4. Prolly bit unpopular opinion, but I dont usually like these player/player- casts that much outside Homestory Cups. Dont get me wrong, Lambo and Harstem are very good analyzers and nice to listen to, but I would like more of them separately with a "professional" caster. For example Rotti+Lambo- combination is one of the best duos you can make. Though Rotti rises the level of casting to excellent degree by himself. He is the best. True, ZG and Wardi kinda have a very similar "sad aura". Which is a pitty, cus theyre both very good analyzers, specially ZG. I think shes spot on. But they are waaaaay too serious, and bring a heavy sentiment, i think. I'll take sad aura over last years description of me as a charisma vacuum. I'm on the up. FWIW : Katowice is not the world championship and this is the smallest caster team we have had for Katowice as far as I remember and I would very much so suspect it as a money / budget thing that we have less casters. Budget has been strict all year and it does make a difference on who is hired for events.
Rest assured that a variety in different casting-styles is much appreciated and I personally prefer a calm and collected cast over screaming hype into the mic any day.
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On January 25 2024 09:29 luxon wrote:
need artosis. definitely going to watch harstem and lambo, their game knowledge + chemistry is really great. steadfast is pretty good but beomulf is kind of unknowledgeable and their chemistry together is quite poor.
I'm sorry you feel that way. I work hard on all aspects of what I do - hopefully you feel I do it better at Katowice! I do agree that SF is fantastic!
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I agree, none of these casters will ever be as good as Tastosis sorry. Also as a man of color theres too many fkn white people here for my liking, looking at the representation here one might think that all starcraft players were white
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On January 28 2024 06:26 Woosixion wrote:
I agree, none of these casters will ever be as good as Tastosis sorry. Also as a man of color theres too many fkn white people here for my liking, looking at the representation here one might think that all starcraft players were white
Rotterdam is atleast as good, probably much better. And the entire rest of the casting lineup is more than good enough.
Also...what PoC casters do we have except Feardragon? Or even players that are PoC (not counting koreans...are koreans counted as white? No idea, sorry)? I'm all for inclusion and representation, but there have to be some to be included...
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EPT
