Esport
Why screaming at little cars is a realistic career path
Njole's first casting experience and tips & tricks for new casters
It feels really weird writing this blog, seeing as I’ve only been casting for a little more than a year. Even though I don’t see myself as a great caster like Esport Adria’s Baro & others, I’ve had a lot of positive feedback. My first casting experience was back in May of 2020. It was a Red Bull Flick Croatia. A 2v2 CS:GO Tournament held on custom Red Bull maps. I was alongside Baro, a known regional CS:GO caster, and Borko, who was also new at casting at the given time. Nervous before the stream? Of course. Especially with new 2v2 maps, I’ve never seen before. The VOD is still public on the Good Game Global YouTube channel and you can hear it for yourself. The 2nd day, or rather the finals, was easier because of the map & player knowledge I had. In the end, I was quite satisfied with my performance seeing as it was my first ever time casting.
Next up was a totally different game. I hosted a Rocket League Tournament on my Discord server and all of the players were my real-life friends so casting wasn’t going to be such a problem as I wasn’t nervous before the stream. In retrospect, it was so much easier than the previously mentioned Red Bull Flick tournament.
In October when Hrvatski Telekom e-Liga started I still wasn’t an employee here at Good Game Global, but rather just a content creator and streamer. The GG guys still asked me and a couple of other guys to cast some FIFA 21 games while the tournament lasted. Now, this was something completely different for me as I only watch football when either World Cup or Euro’s is happening. Of course, I said yes to the request but man was I nervous as hell. Having only basic knowledge of football players I started watching some regional FIFA YouTubers, mostly MalajskiTapir, to learn as much as I can before my first casting.
The day came and I honestly think it went terribly. I was anxious, scared, and awkward… Everything that I shouldn’t be. As time went on we were all just better and better. The most fun I’ve had was with Lux, who was also casting the second season of e-Liga alongside me and our new colleague, Dora.
At the start of November, I got an offer to be a full-time employee for Good Game Global, and of course I took the job. No hesitation. With the job, also came the opportunity to cast all of the ESEA matches that our CS:GO roster plays. Now here comes the really really fun part. I got so addicted to casting these CS matches that I was kinda sad when ESEA matches and other projects were at the same time. It’s not just the CS, it’s the adrenaline you get when you’re rooting for somebody who represents the firm you work for. Those 5 guys that day in and day out play their hearts out to compete on a high level of CS grew close to me. Every match was just as exciting as the last one. There was never a problem staying late in the office, cast the games at midnight, and cast 4 hours long Bo3 matches. It was all worth it for those guys and my love for CS:GO.
We quickly started accumulating a community around those matches and had a constant of 50-100 viewers every other night when the guys played. Whether I cast alone or alongside our Esport Project Manager Schutz, it was always a good time. Some matches were lost, some were won but we were always hopeful and cheering the guys up. I’ve had some crazy reactions throughout those matches and sometimes even turned on my webcam because the viewers wanted to see those reactions live. CS:GO was, and still is, my favorite game to cast.
I talked about Rocket League and I’m going to talk about it some more. When I got a job here at GG, we wanted to shift my homemade tournament into something we can do for our Good Game Show YouTube channel every week. The idea for Tournament Sundays was born and every week would feature a different game. Alongside CS:GO and some other games, of course, we would include the originator, Rocket League. I would go to cast 2 tournaments with my Good Game Show co-host, Duki420. He was into Rocket League as well and had a community behind him that would start competing in our tournaments. Haregan, Digital, Dred, and a few others were both watching and competing in our first Rocket League tournament, and Dred would later on contacting me for my first ever gig outside GG. He was in an org that only started and was focused on competitive Rocket League. I casted 2 of their Rocket League Tournaments so far and can’t wait to do another one soon.
CS:GO, Rocket League, Brawl Stars (which I wasn’t casting), were not the only games we featured. There was one more game that I’ve been playing for 12 years now, and of course, it’s League of Legends. LoL was always a passion of mine and was always the main game I played but we kinda drifted apart throughout the years of me playing. Nowadays I only play League when there’s a Clash tournament going on. I’ve always had the utmost respect for LoL casters because you just have to pay attention to so many things at once. 10 players, their items, pathing, runes, summoner spells, abilities and so much more. Never have I thought that I would end up behind the mic for one of those tournaments. But damn was it fun. Transforming my knowledge of 12 years into words for our community was something different. Every team fight was a new battle to catch everything that was going on. Every team composition was something else to comment on before the game. I immediately fell in love with the casting side of LoL. Unfortunately, the timing was not right for us to do another LoL tournament as we were starting a few other projects. I really hope we do another one soon.
- Focus on gameplay: this one is fairly obvious as gameplay is the thing that you’re casting, but I found myself struggling to watch gameplay exclusively with chat being right next to me. Chat is something you should focus on during the breaks, as it’s really important not to miss any of the details that are happening in front of you.
- Watch more tournaments: both your local and worldwide esports scenes are important here. Local casters can help you improve your vocabulary in the game that you’re casting, and can be of great help learning the ropes. I found myself watching countless hours of Esport Adria streams just to soak up as much as I can from their talents. The worldwide scene is more important when it comes to game knowledge. Casters like Jatt, Semmler & Sadokist are just full of information that makes the game you’re watching 10x better.
- Practice offline: I know it sounds weird, and it will be weird the first time you’re doing it, but casting while not “On Air” is a great way to improve. I have dozens of recordings of myself just casting random GOTV matches in both English and Croatian. I highly recommend doing this the day before the event that you’re casting.
Njole's first casting experience and tips & tricks for new casters
It feels really weird writing this blog, seeing as I’ve only been casting for a little more than a year. Even though I don’t see myself as a great caster like Esport Adria’s Baro & others, I’ve had a lot of positive feedback. My first casting experience was back in May of 2020. It was a Red Bull Flick Croatia. A 2v2 CS:GO Tournament held on custom Red Bull maps. I was alongside Baro, a known regional CS:GO caster, and Borko, who was also new at casting at the given time. Nervous before the stream? Of course. Especially with new 2v2 maps, I’ve never seen before. The VOD is still public on the Good Game Global YouTube channel and you can hear it for yourself. The 2nd day, or rather the finals, was easier because of the map & player knowledge I had. In the end, I was quite satisfied with my performance seeing as it was my first ever time casting.
Next up was a totally different game. I hosted a Rocket League Tournament on my Discord server and all of the players were my real-life friends so casting wasn’t going to be such a problem as I wasn’t nervous before the stream. In retrospect, it was so much easier than the previously mentioned Red Bull Flick tournament.
In October when Hrvatski Telekom e-Liga started I still wasn’t an employee here at Good Game Global, but rather just a content creator and streamer. The GG guys still asked me and a couple of other guys to cast some FIFA 21 games while the tournament lasted. Now, this was something completely different for me as I only watch football when either World Cup or Euro’s is happening. Of course, I said yes to the request but man was I nervous as hell. Having only basic knowledge of football players I started watching some regional FIFA YouTubers, mostly MalajskiTapir, to learn as much as I can before my first casting.
The day came and I honestly think it went terribly. I was anxious, scared, and awkward… Everything that I shouldn’t be. As time went on we were all just better and better. The most fun I’ve had was with Lux, who was also casting the second season of e-Liga alongside me and our new colleague, Dora.
At the start of November, I got an offer to be a full-time employee for Good Game Global, and of course I took the job. No hesitation. With the job, also came the opportunity to cast all of the ESEA matches that our CS:GO roster plays. Now here comes the really really fun part. I got so addicted to casting these CS matches that I was kinda sad when ESEA matches and other projects were at the same time. It’s not just the CS, it’s the adrenaline you get when you’re rooting for somebody who represents the firm you work for. Those 5 guys that day in and day out play their hearts out to compete on a high level of CS grew close to me. Every match was just as exciting as the last one. There was never a problem staying late in the office, cast the games at midnight, and cast 4 hours long Bo3 matches. It was all worth it for those guys and my love for CS:GO.
We quickly started accumulating a community around those matches and had a constant of 50-100 viewers every other night when the guys played. Whether I cast alone or alongside our Esport Project Manager Schutz, it was always a good time. Some matches were lost, some were won but we were always hopeful and cheering the guys up. I’ve had some crazy reactions throughout those matches and sometimes even turned on my webcam because the viewers wanted to see those reactions live. CS:GO was, and still is, my favorite game to cast.
I talked about Rocket League and I’m going to talk about it some more. When I got a job here at GG, we wanted to shift my homemade tournament into something we can do for our Good Game Show YouTube channel every week. The idea for Tournament Sundays was born and every week would feature a different game. Alongside CS:GO and some other games, of course, we would include the originator, Rocket League. I would go to cast 2 tournaments with my Good Game Show co-host, Duki420. He was into Rocket League as well and had a community behind him that would start competing in our tournaments. Haregan, Digital, Dred, and a few others were both watching and competing in our first Rocket League tournament, and Dred would later on contacting me for my first ever gig outside GG. He was in an org that only started and was focused on competitive Rocket League. I casted 2 of their Rocket League Tournaments so far and can’t wait to do another one soon.
CS:GO, Rocket League, Brawl Stars (which I wasn’t casting), were not the only games we featured. There was one more game that I’ve been playing for 12 years now, and of course, it’s League of Legends. LoL was always a passion of mine and was always the main game I played but we kinda drifted apart throughout the years of me playing. Nowadays I only play League when there’s a Clash tournament going on. I’ve always had the utmost respect for LoL casters because you just have to pay attention to so many things at once. 10 players, their items, pathing, runes, summoner spells, abilities and so much more. Never have I thought that I would end up behind the mic for one of those tournaments. But damn was it fun. Transforming my knowledge of 12 years into words for our community was something different. Every team fight was a new battle to catch everything that was going on. Every team composition was something else to comment on before the game. I immediately fell in love with the casting side of LoL. Unfortunately, the timing was not right for us to do another LoL tournament as we were starting a few other projects. I really hope we do another one soon.
- Focus on gameplay: this one is fairly obvious as gameplay is the thing that you’re casting, but I found myself struggling to watch gameplay exclusively with chat being right next to me. Chat is something you should focus on during the breaks, as it’s really important not to miss any of the details that are happening in front of you.
- Watch more tournaments: both your local and worldwide esports scenes are important here. Local casters can help you improve your vocabulary in the game that you’re casting, and can be of great help learning the ropes. I found myself watching countless hours of Esport Adria streams just to soak up as much as I can from their talents. The worldwide scene is more important when it comes to game knowledge. Casters like Jatt, Semmler & Sadokist are just full of information that makes the game you’re watching 10x better.
- Practice offline: I know it sounds weird, and it will be weird the first time you’re doing it, but casting while not “On Air” is a great way to improve. I have dozens of recordings of myself just casting random GOTV matches in both English and Croatian. I highly recommend doing this the day before the event that you’re casting.
