Lat’s Chats – Charm3r!

Howdy folks! Lateralus here and I am bringing you the third edition to my article series: Lat’s Chats! The goal of this series is to feature different members of the community whether they are a content creator, streamer, or just a player. There are a lot of great people in the TESL community and I want to show what different members have to offer for you all whether you have been a part of this community since the beginning, just recently joined, or someone who will join soon and is lost with the content we have to offer. So, without further ado, I bring you Charm3r!

Lateralus: Today we have the second half of our Master Series Casters! Thanks for joining me, but I have to ask Charmer, why did you start a hotel fire when Justin was trying to donate blood to the orphans?

Charm3r: Every story has two sides. It’s true that he was trying to donate blood to orphans, but what he left out is the blood he was donating was that of their bunkmates. He kept muttering “Thanos was right” and had them all lined up in twos. I felt it was my civic duty to pull the alarm.

I would add that despite the authorities arriving promptly, no children were actually recovered. I’m not saying Justin is a monster, but it is a fact that the firefighters found no orphans when they got there.

Yikes… let’s move on to a happier subject. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Darick, and I’m from the mitten state (Michigan). I’m a husband and a father, and I currently work a few different jobs outside of content creation. During the day, I work for my state’s treasury department fighting fraud and identity theft. At night, I sometimes teach computer science courses for a local college.

I’m also a Gemini who enjoys long walks on the beach, comics, novels, and top decking lethal.

Michigan. My brother lived there for a couple of years in Traverse City. I hear it is a little colder there than down here in Georgia. Working two jobs on top of all you do in TESL must be hard. Not to mention taking care of a family. Your wife Sophia seems pretty supportive from what I see on Twitter with your hobbies. Can you tell us more about your family? You have two sons as well right?

I do have two sons. Stark is my oldest, and he starts kindergarten in less than a week. Monroe is my youngest, and he turned two earlier this year. Both are named after super heroes (Iron Man and Nomad). My wife is very supportive of me in all my endeavors, even if it means I spend a lot of time away from home. We try to find ways to incorporate my family into my “hobbies” so that we can still spend time together. My wife has streamed on my channel in the past, and there are some videos of her playing horror games on YouTube. Stark has started watching some YouTube gaming content recently, and he desperately wants to stream Fortnite with me. He asks at least once a week. The boys have also watched some of the broadcasts, and my wife was showing her family some of the Masters Series Qualifiers to try and explain to them what I do. It is hard juggling it all, and often times it comes at the expense of my health or my sanity. I’m constantly working on finding new ways to balance everything, but it’s very difficult. If I wasn’t making content, I’d just be doing something else. I’m not the kind of person to just let myself have free time, if that makes sense.

I get it. That’s pretty awesome. Will any of your family come to QuakeCon with you or will Kindergarten prevent that?

My family typically doesn’t come along when I travel, largely because of the additional difficulties involved with transporting small children. There’s extra costs involved in plane tickets and passes, but there are also things like bringing car seats and strollers that can be challenging. We also don’t really have family members that live locally that could take the boys overnight, so my wife can’t really take a “vacation” to tag-along by herself either. So, for those reasons, along with kindergarten beginning shortly before I leave, I’ll be the only one going. I’d like to bring them out to an event at least once, but we’re waiting until something a little more local comes up.

I understand that. My wife and I are about to drive ~8hours for our vacation. Should be interesting with our 2-year-old. Before we get into all the different things you do for TESL. What brought you to this game? What has you hooked?

What brought me to the game was a strong desire to find a digital card game that I would enjoy playing regularly. I’ve played physical card games since 1994, and when digital card games started to make the rounds I was very excited. I had tried MTGO, SolForge, and even Hearthstone, but nothing was quite hitting what I wanted out of a digital card game at the time. MTGO was complex, but the interface was clunky and painful. SolForge was cleaner, but the gameplay felt incredibly draw dependent in the early iterations of the game. Hearthstone had a wonderful client and implementation, but I found the gameplay to not be deep enough to keep me interested for long periods. I sort of played it, took a break, then came back to it at times. A friend of mine told me about Legends, so I signed up for the beta to give it a go. I really liked it when I first tried it, and I saw tons of potential in it. Some of the potential is yet unrealized, but it still satisfies most of the needs I have in a game like this. It has a great mix of flavor and balance that complement each other well. It rewards skillful play, but still offers enough variance in the games to make each one feel a little different. For example, I gave Gwent quite a bit of my time when that game was in closed beta. I really enjoyed it at first, but the mechanics of that game made it “solvable” very quickly. Decks weren’t just the same, but games basically played the same way every time as well. I felt like I was playing a board game more than a card game, because the draws were irrelevant. But Legends doesn’t make me feel that way, and that is a huge plus.

I agree. I’ve tried a lot of TCGs/CCGs as well. Outside of MtG and that dead game cough Hand of the Gods cough I haven’t had nearly as much fun as I do in TESL. It being easily accessible is also a huge plus and will be even more so soon once it comes to consoles! Where did you start in TESL? Was it streaming or making YouTube content? What inspired you to do those things rather than just play this awesome game?

I had already been a “variety” streamer on Twitch for a while before finding Legends, so my first bits of content were of me streaming the game when open beta launched. I was just really excited to show off a card game on my channel, because I usually enjoy them. When I had played it enough to decide that I was sticking with it for a while, I started making YouTube content for the game. My YouTube channel prior to that had been mostly highlight videos (if you could call them that) of the games I was playing before Legends. Legends is now the core of my channel, but I still find ways to sneak in stuff for a few other games I enjoy every now and then.

You recently landed the casting gig along with Justin for the Master Series tournaments. Were you ever expecting do be asked for something like that? Did you have any experience doing so prior to?

I wasn’t expecting to be asked to do something like that. In all honesty, I am kind of still shocked any time people reach out to me for anything related to my content. The first time Bethesda ever contacted me, I sent several emails and tweets to people just to verify that it was a real opportunity. That was in December of 2016, for the Chaos Arena preview event. Bethesda has contacted me several times since, but every time I’m honored just to be considered. I probably suffer from a rather large case of imposter syndrome. But the short answer is no, I wasn’t really expecting to be asked. I had done some play-by-play casting before for the TESL Champion Series, but I wasn’t a regular. Casting an event from the comfort of my own home was wildly different from the “studio” experience in LA. I am very grateful for the rehearsal time that we were given, and I am grateful for the ESL production crew. They were instrumental in helping me adjust to the differences. I have done plenty of public speaking in the past for various jobs, whether it be teaching or presenting at large conferences. That experience helped prepare me for this in some ways, but it’s still apples-to-oranges in comparison. As a presenter at a conference, I control the show. I can change topics, answer questions, set the pace and direction, and do things based on reading the audience. I didn’t have people talking in my ear, and I didn’t have to deal with broadcast delays. Casting for these qualifiers has been a very unique experience, and I’m learning a lot from it.

You and Justin have blown it out of the water. I knew you two had synergy based on your podcasts together and that you both made good content, but never heard either of you cast. You exceeded my expectations and I couldn’t be happier with the work you’ve both done. I appreciate your hard work. I want to side step for a moment. How did you and Justin first start interacting? You have seemed to form a strong friendship. I imagine that meeting at these TESL events has been pretty surreal.

I first started interacting with Justin on Twitter and Reddit indirectly. We were both active and followed each other but didn’t converse much unless it was something public about the game. Justin eventually approached me about collaborating for a YouTube video in the fall of 2016. He wanted to do a “Dwemer Challenge,” where each person brought three decks that contained a certain number of neutral cards. We played each other and recorded our games, and we had a blast doing it. After that, we started talking more frequently on Twitter about the game. Over time, conversations stopped being solely about the game and started to incorporate typical “small talk.” How is Sandra, how are the kids, that sort of thing. We are both addicts in our own ways, so we had a lot to bond over once we were talking about things beyond Legends. Getting to meet Justin in person in Boston was absolutely surreal. It wasn’t my first time meeting an “internet friend” though. I used to GM for a World of Warcraft raiding guild, and for three straight years we had meetups in various spots across the US. But meeting Justin was different because it was just one person, and not a group. Justin and I communicate very frequently through a number of different avenues now though, and we’ve grown pretty close.

That’s awesome. I too have met some people in the TESL community and it was a blast. I hope that QuakeCon is just the beginning of opportunities the community gets to meet in person. I’m sure you of all people are pretty excited about the future. You and Justin seem to be team NDA. RIP. Staying within what you can speak on, what are you looking forward to the most in TESL?

It’s hard to pick just one thing that I’m looking forward to. The thing about Legends is, you can see so much potential in the game that for one reason or another has never been fully realized. I just hope that with all the changes coming, we finally get to see some of those things come to fruition. We’re getting some of that now in the form of real tournaments and events, but there is a laundry list of little things that people have been asking about for as long as I can remember. Little things like custom avatars and more alternate art cards were mentioned as desired items when the game was still in beta, and we’ve never gotten them. All of the little quality of life changes, potential APIs, and ways to customize the game experience are what I look forward to the most. Elder Scrolls as a franchise has always been about playing a game the way you want to play it. I’d like to see that trickle over to this game as well.

Agreed. The future is bright and has so many possibilities. What is next for you though? Where do you plan to take your content or casting to next? Any ideas you have ready to throw at the community?

Well, on top of traveling for casting I have been moving into a new home which has drastically impacted my ability to make content. The near future is just about getting my new office setup so that I can start contributing to the community again. I’d like to get back to making more deck spotlights to help newer players, and I’d love to bring “The Forge” back in some capacity. The podcast will also be resuming soon, so I’m excited to start talking with others in the community again. Justin and I have a list of guests we want on the show, and it gets bigger every week. As you know from your article series, there’s no shortage of interesting people in the community to talk to. The one thing I want to explore in the future is ways to improve my play-by-play casting, and I have a few ideas on how to do that. Obviously, Legends has some great community run tournaments that I would love to help with, but my work schedule makes my ability to commit to those kind of spotty. I’ve started toying with the idea of spending some time on Twitch solely spectating some of the top players in the game, and casting things from their perspective. Doing it that way will allow me to still get practice in, but without having to worry so much about my schedule aligning with everyone else. I just need to get the blessing of some folks first and add them to my friends list in game.

Congrats on your new home! Well deserved. I’m sure everyone will be glad to have you back in the mix of content creation. Maybe we can collaborate sometime in the future! I’ve always been impressed with your quality of content and I think everyone can learn from you as well. I look forward to watching you grow as a caster and can’t wait to see you at QuakeCon. When things settle down, when do you think the community will be able to catch your streams?

The goal is to be up and running very soon, at least in some sort of functional capacity. Justin is also buying a home, but the podcast will be returning as soon as he’s moved in. Streaming and YouTube content will resume as soon as my old setup is finished being put up in the new office. I’m working on changing my overall setup to make better use of the new office space though, so things will be evolving over time. Hopefully people will be able to “pardon my dust” until the “construction” of the new space is done. So, in short, things will be ready to go very soon but I don’t have an exact date and time yet. I’d call it “Bethesda” Soon™.

Haha…we know that term all too well. Before I let you get back to setting hotels on fire, is there anything else that you’d like to say to the community?

I’d like to say is “THANK YOU” to everyone. I’ve been a part of several different gaming communities, and Legends is still by far the best one I’ve ever been a part of. I know sometimes people say that as hyperbole, but I really mean it. I also want to thank everyone for being so welcoming to Justin and me as casters. I know some were apprehensive about us as choices, and I was worried about how we would be received. Everyone has been very encouraging and helpful, which is very reassuring. I can’t speak for Justin, but I know that I just really want to do what I can to help the game succeed. I enjoy the game and the community, and I want to help out in any way that I can. Even if that means flying across the country to broadcast all day, just to fly home and go straight to work from the airport. The community makes it all worth it.

We are glad to have you. Members like you is what help build a strong community and make it successful. Keep up the good work. By the way, this just in, Justin Larson has a better t-shirt than you according to my small Twitter following. What say you?

I say it was an unfair fight. His shirt features his face multiple times, and my shirt has but one cute Khajiit.

Sounds like it’s time to fight! Thanks for joining me today Darick. It’s been a pleasure.

Thanks for having me!

Lat’s Chats – Justin Larson!

Howdy folks! Lateralus here and I am bringing you the third edition to my article series: Lat’s Chats! The goal of this series is to feature different members of the community whether they are a content creator, streamer, or just a player. There are a lot of great people in the TESL community and I want to show what different members have to offer for you all whether you have been a part of this community since the beginning, just recently joined, or someone who will join soon and is lost with the content we have to offer. So, without further ado, I bring you Justin Larson!

Lateralus: Today we have THE Justin Larson joining us. Justin, it’s a pleasure to have you here. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day. I know you’re busy hiding from Charm3r and running from hotel fires and such. Would you mind telling us a little bit about yourself?

Okay, first of all, the hotel fire, that was entirely Charm3r. I was trying to donate blood to these orphans, right? These poor, starving orphans, at this fundraiser at the hotel. And as I’m doing my good deed, Charm3r is in the stairwell starting fires. I think he was burning a copy of the Bible. He’s deranged and needs help.

As far as I go… well, I’m 33 years old. I live in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, and I’m the Mental Health Coordinator at a nonprofit that helps people transition out of the department of corrections. Prisons, halfway houses.

I have a bit of experience in those places, haha.

I’m recently married, to a wonderful woman who supports what I like to do for a hobby. Sandra. She’s also a graduate student, like me, pursuing an LPC.

I was born in South Dakota, father was a military man, so we moved around with him. Spent my 20’s on the streets of Kansas City. Paroled out to Denver, where I’ve been for about four years.

Ummmm, fun fact. I have type 1 diabetes, and I have for 27 years.

Wow. I didn’t realize you had to put up with a guy like that… Colorado is actually the one state I want to visit the most. I’ve heard it is beautiful. What is it like there compared to where you travelled throughout your life? Have a favorite place you’ve lived?

Denver is my absolute favorite place to live that I’ve ever been. Everything I could want is here. I see the snow-capped mountains when I look to the west, I see the cityscape to the east. Kansas was a lot more judgmental, a lot more closed minded. I went to a high school where those assholes from the Westboro Baptist Church would protest, that sort of thing. Denver is as hipster as you can get and still be in the Midwest, which I appreciate. I lived in Brooklyn for a few months a long time ago and while I appreciated the diversity and the variety, I couldn’t handle the pace. I like my life a little slower, especially these days. As far as work is concerned, Colorado is also relatively progressive in its treatment of ex-offenders, which is helpful when you spend your days trying to keep people out of prison.

You should come visit sometime! I’m buying a house on Friday, and even though Dire Wolf is parting ways with Bethesda, they still make Eternal, and their office is just a couple miles from my new home.

My god, I can’t stand WBC! Colorado sounds awesome again! I may have to take you up on that offer sometime for sure. Congrats on the new house and your recent marriage. It must take a special woman to deal with the ridiculousness that is Justin Larson. I jest! How did you and Sandra meet?

Thank you so much, I am definitely a lucky man. So, fun fact again, which leads to how Sandra and I met – When I got out of prison, I was in a brand-new state and I knew absolutely no one who had roots here except for some distant twin cousins. My mom let me stay in her house, briefly, so I had a roof over my head – more than many people on parole have – but I was friendless. I had gotten into Magic the Gathering while in prison and started playing when I got out. I was working as a welder during the day and thinking about tapping Islands at night. I was all signed up for my first big tournament – this PTQ in Denver – and was practicing the night before at my local gaming store. It was freezing cold January, the sort of January that Denver has. I ran outside into the parking lot for a smoke and fell on the ice and broke my leg. Broke one of the three bones, right? Well because I’m an idiot (in case the running-on-ice-thing didn’t clarify that), I stood up and walked around for a while. Figured I had just sprained something. As it turns out, that was adrenaline fueling me, and after that wore off – after like 3 hours of walking, because I had to finish Friday Night Magic – I went to the ER. Turns out that the fall broke one bone, and then my dumb ass walking around on it turned a fracture into another one into a break.

Needless to say, I didn’t make that PTQ, and instead, I started college a few weeks later. Couldn’t work, so I focused on school, and lived off my financial aid, very meagerly. I had a Tuesday/Thursday class at 8 am (and I was taking the bus, because poor parolee now unable to save for a car), and a Tues/Thurs class at 4 pm. I had crutches but really wasn’t very mobile, so I stayed on campus between classes. Sandra was in my 4 pm class and sat on this bench outside the class hours early, because her schedule was similar and she lived about 45 minutes away in Castle Rock, so we started hanging out on the bench together. We bonded over lame 90’s music and not having cars, and she and I went on our first date that finals week. We moved into a place together – a rental – the following December and got engaged the December after that. We’ve been together for over three years now, and it’s absolutely perfect. I love her.

Sounds like an amazing story. I’m happy for you both. It sounds like you have come from a humbling background. Father was a military man and you moved around a lot as a child. But then, you ended up in prison? At what point in your life was that? What led to that moment?

Wow, that’s a hard one to answer. It starts something like this. I was an average kid in an average family, doing average things in suburbia, when I was going out for the football team in 9th grade. Had to get a physical, you know? So I went to a doctor and he’s taking my pulse and his eyes get all wide and he leaves the room, only to come back with some more doctors who do the same thing. They order another test, say it needs to be done today. By the end of the day, I’m told I have two heart problems – a coarctation of aorta, and ebstein’s anomoly – and I need surgery in the next two weeks. Stuff that should have been found when I was a kid, but wasn’t. So I have this complicated surgery, replace part of my aorta with cadaver tissue, and I get put on morphine. I’m 13.

Drinking a little too much is sort of a thing on both sides of the family, in some people – maybe a lot of people – so I guess it’s not too surprising that when I ran out of my prescription I started copping painkillers from other kids. It was the 90’s, it was the suburbs, it seemed like everyone’s parents had some oxycontin or something. I remember getting dope sick for the first time – as a fucking kid – and thinking that I was dying. The types of people I started hanging out with as I started buying more and more painkillers lead me to other drugs, and by the time I graduated – with a 1.8 GPA or something abysmal like that – I was smoking crack and drinking and doing all sorts of other stupid stuff. Life continued to kick my ass until I was about 25 and I tried to get clean, like actually tried. I went to treatment. Stayed clean a month, then got involved with a girl (against all reasonable advice) and started using again. I repeated this pattern (sometimes without a girl) until I was 27, staying clean for a week at a time, promising everyone I was going to change my life, and then going right back out. One November I was driving my car, right after I’d shot a speedball, and I veered into oncoming traffic. I passed out at the wheel, and I slammed right into a police car. No one was injured – and I don’t even remember this whole even happening – but I landed myself in prison on charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer. There were other charges too – escape from custody, fleeing and eluding among them – but that was what got me a 9-year sentence. I spent my first 6 months in custody in a treatment program called a Therapeutic Community.

It was the longest I had been clean in 15 years. I did pretty well, really. I didn’t know my ass from a hole in the ground, having never been a sober adult, spending over half my life intoxicated. I began to meditate and got really into a form of Buddhism that I still practice today. My court appointed lawyer told me, after six months, that the judge who had sentenced me – and who had seen me for other things over the years – was retiring in a week, and that I should get before him and beg for a sentence modification. I did, and the judge was impressed by the man I was beginning to be, sober before him for the first time. My sentence was reduced to 3 years, and I left TC for general population.

Prison was an interesting experience for me. On the one hand, it sucks. It fucking sucks to live in a cage and be told how and when to do everything. I was insecure and had no idea what I was about, having never really developed into a functioning adult. What I began to find, though, was that the man I had suppressed for years was actually a pretty fun dude. I ran into a guy who I knew from the streets because I had bought dope from his gang, and we started talking, and even though it was a blacks only gang, he said that he remembered that I was kinda smart, and asked me to help tutor another member of the gang in the GED. I had literally nothing to do with my time (and you’re always on the lookout for allies in there) so I obliged. Watching this dude study and working with him – and then watching him be so incredibly excited when he passed the GED – it woke something up in me. I wanted to feel like that all the time.

I kinda floated through prison. I had come from an absolute trashcan fire of a life and being sober in prison was better than I had felt as an adult. I made friends with all sorts of people, I played a lot of cards, and I enrolled in college classes. Finished my associate’s degree in there.

There was this moment, after my arrest but while I was in a community corrections facility, that was when I really “got it.” I hesitated to tell this, but if it can do some good somewhere, I may as well. I left it out earlier, and I rarely tell this story, but here it is.

I had been in community corrections for two weeks, which means that I had been clean for about 13 days. I had found a job as a janitor at a distribution center, and I got my first paycheck. Naturally, I busted out and went and got high. That’s where my escape charge comes from. I grabbed my car from where I had left it, cashed my check, and bought a bunch of dope and needles. I was sitting in a parking lot at ass o’clock in the morning with a vague plan to flee to Mexico when my mom pulls up into the parking spot next to me. She’s bawling. I took one look at her and I drove off. She blows up my phone and follows me for almost two hours as I drive around the Kansas City metro. Turns out she had used some tracking feature on my cell phone plan – she paid my cell phone bill back then because I was, you know, a homeless junkie – and when she heard I had a warrant out for escape, she tracked me down. Eventually she stopped following me, and I pulled into another parking lot, and I just broke down. I cried and cried and cried. I didn’t want to hurt people the way I was hurting my mom. It wasn’t even like this was the worst interaction I’d ever had with her, but for some reason, it just really hit me. I felt a power within myself that I hadn’t felt before.

I turned myself in that morning. Then I went to prison.

Wow. What a… real story. It hits me in the heart. I commend you for how you’ve pulled through. Not a lot of people have the mental strength and sheer will to make the changes you’ve made. You’re an inspiration. Let’s get into TESL. You played a lot of cards growing up and while incarcerated. How’d you find TESL and what made you stick around and become the mainstay that you are today in the community?

That’s very kind of you to say, thank you very much. I played a lot of poker and magic while in prison, using homemade cards cut from like, Ritz cracker boxes. When I stopped playing Magic because I broke my leg, I discovered Hearthstone. I played a bit, but I was, as I mentioned earlier, basically broke, and couldn’t really play at the level I wanted to. I played pretty casually, saving my money for Arena and gradually building up a collection, but it felt just a bit… boring, after a while. I honestly can’t remember how I signed up for the TESL closed beta, but I know my invite email came in May of 2016. This was what I wanted – an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a card game. I was working again, getting close to graduating with my Bachelor’s Degree, and dove right in. The closed beta community was fantastic. It was small enough that we knew each other’s’ names and deck preferences. I tooled around with a lot of stuff and felt like the game was the perfect mix of skill testing and risk rewarding – and then I discovered Blood Magic Lord. I really fell in love with the game when I started playing Scout. I never saw anyone else doing it, and for a couple of months I was routinely top 10 Legend with the greediest, stupidest deck I could imagine. I discovered that what I really wanted to do was play the weirdest cards I could, the biggest cards I could, and people started to ask how and what I was doing. People in the community.

Around this time, the game left closed beta. End of July, 2016. I released my first YouTube video on August 11th of that year, but why exactly I started is another weird story. I had never really watched people play games before. I was familiar, sorta, with the idea that there were people on YouTube doing it, but only because sometimes Sandra would watch videos of content creators playing horror games. As I was still well below where I wanted to be financially, I had signed up for a medical study to test a continuous glucose monitor, this advancement in insulin pump technology, basically. I had been promised 300 dollars… or so I thought. Turns out I didn’t pay enough attention, because when it was over – right around the first of August of 2016 – I got paid 300 dollars IN TARGET GIFT CARDS. So, Sandra and I are wandering around Target and we reach the electronics section. She suggests that I buy a webcam and microphone, because she thought I’d be good at doing this content creation thing, this YouTube gamer thing.

I felt kinda like hot shit, having done so well during closed beta, and I realized that there was no one out there doing this, so I said hey, why not? And I recorded myself playing Legends. I think that at least 90% of the reason why I became as successful as I have is because I was one of the first.

It only took a couple of months of Open Beta before I realized that if I kept trying as hard as I was and trying to be this “expert gamer” guy, I was going to completely burn out on the game. It just really wasn’t in me, I wasn’t an expert gamer type, and I felt like a fraud when I told people what was best and what they should be doing.

When I expressed this to Sandra, she suggested that I just play the goofy shit that I was playing in friendly matches with guys I had met from closed beta, and just be me. Be the guy looking for the experience, not for the win.

So, I tried that, and I enjoyed it. In those days, it was kind of perfect – CVH was much more natural at being the expert gamer guy than I ever was, and he cornered that. I relaxed and did my thing. I think it really started to come together when Bethesda paid Kolento a shitload of money to stream the game for an afternoon and I beat him with Ramp Sorcerer featuring Desperate Conjuring – I gained hundreds of subs that day. From there, I just consistently tried to do something different, until I realized that I could take things to an even more absurd level by dressing up in costumes.

So, I did that too.

And all of this, it felt good. It felt like I was having the joyful, childhood experience that I never really had.

So, I kept doing it, and I shared with the community bits about my life, and my past, and kept it real with people. For the first year, I tried to answer every comment, respond to every private message. I tried to help other people feel that joy I was feeling and feel as loved as they made me feel.

I’m still here because everyone else is awesome. I’m not interested in being a professional gamer, or a content creator, or anything like that. If Legends ends tomorrow, I’ll go with it. This is my game, and these are my people.

I remember checking out your videos when I first began in late July. You were always the funny cosplay guy playing goofy stuff. You’ve put in a lot of hard work, I’ve seen you grow as a content creator over the past two years. It’s well deserved and the game is better for having you. What’s next for you? You’ve landed this sweet gig to cast the Master Series along with that other guy who sets fire to hotel…they really should think about firing him… Any plans to build of this professional casting gig?

The opportunities to travel and do insanely cool stuff that has come from playing this game – trips to Boston, Maryland, Los Angeles, & Dallas – I still struggle to process how I got here. Casting was incredibly fun. If I have one skill, it’s that I’m sociable and friendly, and I think that working with Charm3r, who is so analytical and precise – I think we made a good team. He’s a good man, and someone that I really am honored to consider a close friend. As for the future of casting… all I can say at this point is that the money helps. I’m starting a life with Sandra, and I work for a nonprofit, and we’re both in graduate school. After QuakeCon, we’ll see what’s next. I really am kinda shit at the other games I play – Heroes of the Storm & Eternal being the only ones where casting might even come into play – so I doubt they’d be interested in working with me. As far as Legends goes, however… well, I’ve signed a frightening NDA so I’ll just say, “stay tuned.”

The channel itself has some cool stuff coming up, which I would be remiss not to plug.

I’ve written a script for a revamped version of my Loser to Legend series for new players. I’m holding off on recording it until the new client drops, but that’s in the pipeline. I’ve also got a couple of new costume characters that I’m happy to debut – including a Khajiit that talks like Antonio Banderas and has the full Tiger make up. I plan on trying one of the Warp Meta tournaments one of these days, just for laughs, and there’s more Hive Offender articles to be written. Truth be told, those are the content I make that most closely aligns with the type of content I want to see.

The formation of Team Rankstar as sort of a nexus for Legends content has definitely grabbed my attention, and I’ve been talking to Aphelion about ways I can contribute to the cause. That’s something I’m excited to be doing as well. I’ve been a part of two previous Legends groups – both named Team Prophecy, actually – but this one feels a lot more coherent, which excites me.

Today though, what I’m really looking forward to is hanging out with everyone at QuakeCon. Meeting people who care about the same things you care about? Nothing compares. It’s empowering and it’s validating to the thousands of hours I’ve put into all of this. I want to shake hands, exchange hugs, and enjoy life like 13 year-old Justin was supposed to. QuakeCon will be another chance to do that.

So many SECRETS. NDAs everywhere! Well, you and Charm3r have done a fantastic job and it has been entertaining. You guys genuinely seem to be close friends, even off camera in the dark cough cough I can’t wait to see the new cosplay, I hope it comes out at QuakeCon. I’m glad that we at TRS are doing something that excites one of the most well-known community members. Having your support means a lot. Hopefully, we don’t let the community down and we continue to build off what we’ve started here. Hope we can collaborate to make some awesome content for everyone. I wish I could be at QuakeCon, but alas, I’m washed up and just couldn’t put together a good performance. Justin, it has been a pleasure. I think that the future of TESL is bright and I can’t imagine you not being a big part of it. Is there anything you’d like to say to the community before we end here?

Don’t sell yourself short. You’re not washed up. Watching you, these past few weeks, spearheading this Rankstar thing – it’s been fantastic to see. When people who love this game read your articles? That feeling they get? That’s the feeling you’ve gotten for years reading ChannelFireball, or Hearthpwn, or whatever. The same feeling. Things like this, like all of this Legends content creation – it makes all of us less alone. Less alien. It’s love. What I want to tell the Legends community is this: Be excellent to each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lat’s Chats – MattOblivium!

Howdy folks! Lateralus here and I am bringing you the third edition to my article series: Lat’s Chats! The goal of this series is to feature different members of the community whether they are a content creator, streamer, or just a player. There are a lot of great people in the TESL community and I want to show what different members have to offer for you all whether you have been a part of this community since the beginning, just recently joined, or someone who will join soon and is lost with the content we have to offer. So, without further ado, I bring you MattOblivium!

Lateralus: Matt, thanks for agreeing to join me. As you know, you were tagged by Ikarus two weeks ago. Tell us a little about yourself.

MattOblivium: Hmm, ah me, tough question right of the bat. Well, I’m your average bike-less Dutchman, so that’s already one strike. I’m 27 years old and uh, I’m the most mysterious member from the community since I’m both somewhat popular though the way I look is a complete mystery to most.

Haha. Yeah, I imagine that you may be the first interview where I don’t get a picture of the interviewee…curious what you’ll give me to use… You are from Germany then? Or the Netherlands? Can you tell us a little about where you’re from?

The Dutch are from The Netherlands of course silly, the Atlantis of the future! But the town as it is now is called Lisse. Home of Keukenhof, the internationally renowned garden thing. You know those pictures of flower fields you always see in spring? Those are like 5 minutes away for me by foot and then the beach is like 15-20 minutes by car! Though the town itself doesn’t have much to offer, just your basic small-ish town.

Sounds like a beautiful area to live in! You recently came to the US to visit Bethesda along with other community members. Was this your first time here? How different are the cultures?

Yeah, I’ve never actually left the country before, maybe crossed the border to Belgium once or twice. So, it was even my first time in a plane! Though that said and done, the only real difference I had to deal with was talking English to people’s faces, as I normally only do that in a microphone. Oh, and the fact that y’all call a 45-minute drive from the airport to Rockville a short ride that’s right next to the airport. Here if you drive from 45 minutes in one direction you’re halfway through the country if traffic allows it.

That’s crazy to think about. I drive at least 30mins to and from work every day. What brought you to TESL? You’ve been playing for quite a while.

Chance honestly. I’ve always liked card games ever since the YuGiOh craze when I was a kid. Never did more than just neighborhood duels in that game, but man did I enjoy it. So, 1 day while I was playing some Darkest Dungeon a viewer asked if I was interested and I was like, sure I’ll check it out when it’s there. Kind of forgot about it, but then the day before open beta launched I just lost another extra hard mode run, was reminded again, and just went ahead and fired it up the next day. At the time it was a huge hit on the channel and I had a blast and I kind of just kept playing due to the inability to find something more fun.

I do see you play other games besides TESL, although that seems to be your main focus? When did you start streaming? Have you always been a variety streamer?

I first started streaming early July 2015. I was still doing a Bachelors course but since I was already 25 I couldn’t find a summer job due to how minimum wage and seasonal work works here in the Netherlands. After like 2 weeks of vacationing and never being able to find someone fun that I wanted to watch in the afternoon on Twitch, I decided to just start streaming games instead of taking a nap (Yeah, real party goer here). Figured if watching Twitch wasn’t all that entertaining at that time of day, maybe chat could keep me entertained! And thus, I decided on my first game to stream, Darkest Dungeon. It was still in EA and I had started it once before, but I wanted to finish some games I had fun with but never finished while I was at it. First month I’d be happy if I had one person talk in chat that day haha. Though half a year later, just before DD came out I got my sub button and the chat was amazing! Now, I did want to kind of be a variety streamer, but when I changed games and lost all my viewers most of the time, I kind of just ended up to sticking to one game. It was all about the chat after all. But when I really look back at how I play games, also before streaming, I kind of realize I actually stick to one game for way too long anyway. But I still like playing something else from time to time.

Didn’t take you long to find success. You are one of the biggest streamers in TESL, that’s for sure. It sounds like your inspiration comes from just simply wanting to entertain yourself and your viewers. Did you ever think you’d become a professional entertainer? What did you get your degree in?

I was following a Bachelors in Human Resources, but I quit half way through because I’m really bad with discipline, so I was getting through due to sheer interest in the subject matter, like labour law, but then they started giving required classes in some wishy-washy life coaching kind of stuff. I could not get into that at all and when I did finally get into it, I kind of just used their logic to convince myself this was not for me anymore. Though I also have a minor degree in accounting and programming that I did before that, though I was never any good at those haha. When it comes to becoming a professional entertainer, I think quite a few people from my past would not be surprised. Though to be entirely honest, I’m still hesitant to call myself that until I can actually support myself. So, thanks Mom and Dad for letting me ride out Mr. Bones’ Wild Ride haha.

Haha fair enough. I’m glad you’re at least able to do something that you enjoy. Your viewers are thankful for you I’m sure. Outside of streaming you’ve done casting before with success based on the majority opinions of the community…might be something about that voice…but you’ve also delved deeper into the competitive scene as a player more lately. How do you feel about the direction of TESL as a potential e-sport? What do you think needs to be improved?

The thing I like doing most is building decks. We’ve had times in the game where due to lack of new content/balance changes things have gotten a little stale. That’s when I make decks that try and destroy the most common decks around. When a new expansion gets launched I go and tinker with all the new cards. But when there are truly hard to overcome decks in the meta, even I can get frustrated. Like right after Skyrim was released there was Ramp Scout! No Shouts or anything, just no early game draw ramp into ramp play large creatures hit face SMOrc. It was a auto concede to anything not Control. So instead of my patented Spoder Town and late game shenanigans I had been playing for a long time, I finally started delving into Aggro decks. Two weeks later I actually got the magical rank #1 on my profile since at the time Goblins was amazing vs that Scout and the newly rising with the release of Ulfric’s Housecarl token Crusader. But here is the point, even after all that, with that Scout deck getting demolished at every corner, people refused to play something else. They just had to play their greedy midrange, because honestly that’s what it was, to beat up on control with large creatures. The deck was already dead. But then finally the nerfs came, Hist Grove to 4 and Histmage to 4 HP. That’s when people finally decided to play something else. Though a few weeks before Shout Scout was discovered and already on the rise and destroying Ramp Scout as well so it was still more Scout, but at least not 0 defense SMOrc Scout. The moral of the story, having balance changes more often will hopefully lead to more people playing different decks, even if that deck ends up being the same colors. And I hope Sparkypants will do a good job on that part.

Scout has been a dominant class for a long time. Speaking of balance changes, some were just released today and are set to come out early next week after the 4th qualifier, but before QuakeCon—the biggest TESL tournament yet. What are your initial thoughts on the balance changes and the timing?

It still gives people that got qualified 2 weeks to playtest, which is honestly not that much. Especially Nix Ox players are scratching their heads as they now have to get used to a new cost while thinking through their combo. So that might take some time to practice, otherwise I think it could be fun to watch newer decks if those arise. If I make it to QuakeCon myself, I don’t think my current lineup has been hit to badly so I’m not too worried, though I might want to change it up if I see new decks rise up.

So aside from Uprising making things awkward for Nix Ox Telvanni and making Necromancer decks that run it slightly slower, the other big one is Drain Vitality. On level 3 it now only hits 1 lane and personally, I think that’s not a big deal for it. You, an aggro player, play 3 cards in the field lane. It is now turn 4 and you have to decide, do I put my 4-mana card together with his friends so that they can together fight any control baddies that are in the way or do you now quickly hide in the Shadow lane, as that Scout opponent of yours could have a combination of Drain Vitality, Word Wall, and Night to Remember to instantly nuke that entire lane? After being hit by countless DV’s before, you decide: ‘Haha! I can now dodge the DV by running away! That Shout is Gaan! (read gone)’. This now leaves you open to having your 4 mana get scooped up by a little Fighters Guild Recruit whilst the rest of the mana can focus back on the big lane or you still get DV’d, 1 lane dead the other walled off from face stalled for a turn to find the next DV and now you can use Vipers to deal with large creatures that are played field, which would otherwise be too little as there would be more than 1 creature to take out. Yes, DV doesn’t destroy every creature within 2 meters of the phone you casted it from, but it now funnels cards from later turns into lanes they actually didn’t want to be in. Another smaller 1 I want to add on is the nerf of Haunted Manor to four Magicka. Not being able to instantly gain value off of it is huge for aggro versions. But more importantly, it’s now harder to use to activate Hlaalu Oathman, and Oathman is the strongest card you needed to worry about. Why get +2/+2 four times and kill your opponent on turn 9 if you can just get 1-2-3 extra creatures on the board without losing cards in hand and get a T5-6 kill? I’m probably dumping my Manors, which I was already considering prior to this nerf, to play more proper aggro.

Interesting take. I’m sure we will see a lot of varying opinions over the coming days and weeks. Is there anything you would have done differently? Or a card that wasn’t changed that you were expecting?

I was expecting DV and Uprising nerfs to be swapped, though that’d probably be too big of a nerf to Uprising, Oathman, and I guessed Duke right but was expecting him to start drawing when you played him, though I guess drawing a 0 mana on turn 5 could be a little silly when you really think it through.

Competitive player, streamer, caster. When can the community catch your streams? What’s next for Matt? Any plans to expand your content to any other platforms? What are your personal goals for the foreseeable future?

I stream every day except Thursday from 2 PM CET to 7 PM CET. I never plan to far into the future. If I manage to qualify for QuakeCon though, I’ll have to find a body double to act in my stead, or at least make it seem like I’m a body double to keep up the ruse of not having a face. Might end up doing some more casting, you never know and for now I want to see what happens to this game when the Sparkypants client hits and since I love this game my heart tells me it’s going to be good things for TESL and thus me playing it! Though I think I’ll just stay on Twitch, having fun with chat is way too big of a factor for me to the point where I’m not really interested in making proper video content.

Mastering your own craft and what you enjoy—I respect that. I want to thank you for joining me today so that the community can get to know you a little better. Is there anything else you’d like to say to them?

Hmm, nothing in particular. Just make sure ya’ll have a good time out there!

You can find MattOblivium here:

Twitch

Twitter

 

Lat’s Chats – Silverfuse

Howdy folks! Lateralus here and I am bringing you the third edition to my article series: Lat’s Chats! The goal of this series is to feature different members of the community whether they are a content creator, streamer, or just a player. There are a lot of great people in the TESL community and I want to show what different members have to offer for you all whether you have been a part of this community since the beginning, just recently joined, or someone who will soon and is lost with the content we have to offer. So, without further ado, I bring you Silverfuse!

Lateralus: Thank you for joining me today Silverfuse! You’ve made some waves lately and thought this would be a great opportunity for the community to get to know you better. Would you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?

Silverfuse: My name is BreAnna, and I am from Kansas City. I recently graduated with a degree in Molecular Biosciences.

Welcome BreAnna! Molecular Biosciences… not going to pretend to know everything that that entails. What field(s) does that degree prepare you for?

I focused on Microbiology and Genetics. Most graduates tend to go into the medical field. I was originally interested in going into industrial biology. I worked in lab preparing vaccinations, but after six months I knew that kind of work wasn’t for me. I later debated on getting a PhD and going into research, but I didn’t think that was the right path either. I am currently considering becoming a teacher at a community college, but I am still not sure exactly what I want to do. Thankfully, between my degree, research and work experience I can go in almost any direction I want.

Sounds like it was a wise choice and provides a lot of flexibility so you aren’t stuck with a degree you can’t make the most of. Now that you’re done with schooling and deciding on your career path, what do you like to do in your spare time?

I currently work as a gym supervisor and sports official which I love. I also moved a couple weeks ago (first time homeowner), so I have been pretty busy with unpacking and setting up everything in the new house. When I am not doing that, I am on my computer most of the time. I tend to watch a lot of streamers, and I recently found myself very hooked on Legends. I have been playing a decent amount of legends recently in my free time.

Congratulations! I know that buying a home can be one of the most exciting, but stressful times. You are quite busy then. You have a family? I believe I heard you mention you are married in a stream before.

Yes, I am married, but we only have two kittens. No plans to start a family any time soon. We both enjoy our free time too much and are fairly young.

I hear ya! Enjoy your time together as kitten owners, non-parents while you can. What brought you to TESL? Do you have a history of playing TCGs/CCGs? Or is this your first endeavor in the genre?

I previously played Hearthstone for about two and a half years, and that was my first CCG. I was pretty bored with it, and I mostly played arena exclusively. I felt like the new expansions just got worse each time, so I started looking for another CCG, and I stumbled upon TESL. I started playing in December and played until mid-February. School started picking up, so I quit playing and streaming to focus on my classes. After classes ended, I picked up TESL again at the end of May and fell in love with it again.

What makes you fall in love with TESL specifically? There a no shortage of good CCGs available. What keeps you coming back to TESL and drives you to compete in and stream it?

There are many reasons why I love TESL. I like the unique mechanics of the game. I love the two-lane system, rune system, and the archetypes. It being kind to free to play players was a huge plus for me. Compared to Hearthstone, there is a lot less grind and RNG in TESL. I appreciated this a lot because I felt like I was rewarded for more good plays than I was punished for RNG. I think it is important to feel like you have most of the control of the outcome in the game. In Hearthstone, I could play games flawlessly, but lose because of RNG. I like to be able to blame myself when I lose, not the game’s RNG. I think this forces me to improve as a player instead of blaming the game. I was also, really tired of seeing mirror match ups all the time. In TESL, even when there are similar decks against each other, people tend to tech their decks in different ways. Having 50 cards seems to give players more chances to fine tune their decks. It is also no secret that TESL has one of the best communities. Almost everyone I have met has been very encouraging and looking to help. My viewers from my stream taught me close to everything I know about the game.

The game definitely has a lot of depth and can feel rewarding. Yes, this community has been fantastic! We are glad to have you become a bigger part of it. For being a fairly new player, considering your break, you’ve done well recently in the Master Series qualifiers. Would you mind sharing how you’ve prepared for the tournaments and how you’ve finished each week?

The first qualifier I finished 32nd, which I was really excited about. The tournament is loaded with so many high tier players. Originally, I wasn’t going to enter the tournament, but Eolis convinced me to play saying how great of an experience it would be. I had played Crusader a lot on ladder along with mid Warrior, so I knew I wanted to take those decks. I practiced an unoptimized Scout as I didn’t have Odahviing yet, and I made my own Uprising Telvanni deck and practiced it. After the first week going quite well, I decided I wanted to try and be a little bit more competitive. To do that, I needed more cards. I grinded 6,850 gems in arena and gauntlet, and then I disenchanted about 7,000 gems worth of epic and legendary cards. I was able to craft all the cards I needed Friday night before the tournament. I swapped out my Warrior deck for Hlaalu. I also swapped out Telvanni for control Dagoth. This was a much more consistent line up and aided me to get to top 8. I lost my first round in top 8 which made me finish in 5th place at the tournament. My Crusader deck didn’t draw very well which was unfortunate, but I made a few critical misplays that put me out of the game even more, but I have learned a lot from those, and I have been working on improving my decks in various ways since then. I have been experimenting with other archetypes as well.

Considering your relatively lesser amount of experience and the fact you were not even going to participate; do you feel that you’ve overperformed in anyway? Or do you think that you can be consistent with your performances? As it stands, you are currently 4th in point standings and if you maintain that you will get to go to QuakeCon based on points assuming you don’t place top 3 in the remaining two qualifiers. What is your strategy going forward to try and seal a spot at QuakeCon?

I think that single elimination brackets can cause weird and unexpected results. Many top players have gotten knocked out early in some rounds. Single elimination is very unforgiving, and there is definitely some luck factored into it. However, overall in the last two qualifiers I have won seven matches and lost two, so I would not equate my success to just being lucky.
I am trying to not put too much pressure on myself and trying to not feel the need of validating my success through another strong performance. As you saw this past week, people who made top 8 the previous week with the exception of TDCJason didn’t make top 8 this week. I think single elimination brackets make consistency all that much harder. My plan to remain consistent is to do more scrims this week and take more time to play my decks instead of grinding arena. I think keeping my mindset the way I originally entered the tournament is important as well. I originally entered to gain experience and play against some of the best players in the game, and that is exactly what I have been doing each tournament. I took away a lot from the last tournament, and I believe it will benefit me even more for upcoming tournaments.

Mindset may be the most important aspect going forward for you I agree. I wish you nothing but success in the coming weeks. Hopefully, you’re an inspiration to newer and lesser experienced players to give the tournament scene a try. Really inspiring. Not only are you a competitive player now, you are also a streamer. What kind of content can the community expect from you and when can they find you streaming?

I stream nearly every night at 9PM CST, and I lead off with arena. I have been able to get seven wins fairly consistently now, and I enjoy helping players who are struggling with arena learn the tricks which help them have more successful arena runs. After arena, I tend to play ladder and practice fairly meta decks or decks I feel would be strong in a tournament. I explain my reasonings for each play I make as I try and play the decks in their most optimal ways. I typically end my streams with memey viewer games. One of our favorites are the classic creatureless games which everyone loves!

What do you hope for in the future? Where do you see yourself fit in TESL the rest of the year? Any future plans to expand on what you offer the community?

I want to see myself improve and learn a diverse number of decks. I want to be able to pilot each playstyle effectively whether it be aggro, mid, control, or combo. I would say I have a shot at QuakeCon, but I think no matter what happens I want to see myself improve my gameplay and be a force at future tournaments. This year, my plan is to improve my content and gameplay, but I am also really looking forward to the new client. I am very excited to have an easier way to hold tournaments myself and with other content creators. I will also focus on getting new players excited about TESL’s future and flourishing competitive scene.

Sounds like you have the right idea and I’m sure the community is excited to see how you grow in TESL and the community. I want to give you the opportunity to say anything on your mind to the community or anyone else before we close.

Good luck to everyone in the final qualifier! If you are unsure if you want to play, give it a shot! It is a great experience, and you might surprise yourself!

I agree! If you have four decks and have the time, come play! Thank you for opening up to the community. I appreciate you giving your time and sacrificing precious practice and streaming time. Good luck yourself!

 You can find Silverfuse here:

Twitch

Twitter

Lat’s Chats with Ikarus!

Howdy folks! Lateralus here and I am bringing you the third edition to my article series: Lat’s Chats! The goal of this series is to feature different members of the community whether they are a content creator, streamer, or just a player. There are a lot of great people in the TESL community and I want to show what different members have to offer for you all whether you have been a part of this community since the beginning, just recently joined, or someone who will soon and is lost with the content we have to offer. So, without further ado, I bring you Ikarus!

Lateralus: Thank you for joining me today Ikarus! As you know, TurquoiseLink tagged you for an interview. He seemed interested to hear you talk about TESL and I have to say, I am too. Before that though, tell us about yourself!

Ikarus: Hello Lateralus and everyone else! My name is Lars Quilitzsch or Ikarus in game. I’m from Germany and I’m currently a student at my master thesis in physical chemistry in Cologne. After some time off, I plan to do a doctorate there starting beginning of next year.

Our first interview from Europe! Almost done with your Master’s degree? That is impressive, congratulations! Physical Chemistry sounds like a tough major. What kind of career are you going to be looking for in Cologne once you’re finished getting your PhD?

So yeah that’s a tough question, right now I’m sure to do my doctorate and that will take at least another 3 years. so it’s kind of far in the future. but it could be for sure a job in research at some company.

I understand. With how much time I’m sure you have to spend on schooling, how do you find time to compete at such a high level in TESL? Do both come naturally to you? Do you have a lot of TCG/CCG experience before Legends?

So I had a few years were I was unsure what to do and I always played a lot of games. Then I also tried to play a card game called Hearthstone after a friend of mine mentioned it. I also played card games (Magic) in my school days, but this at a very rudimentary level. So, I played Hearthstone and for first months only played arena and with the first expansion in sight I heard about by mere chance about a tournament qualifier. I basically tried to play two tournaments beforehand where I got both 2nd out of a 64 bracket and then played the qualifier and qualified for my first big tournament which was “SeatStory Cup 2”. There, I simply chose the wrong lineup, but made a lot of connections to other people from the Hearthstone tournament scene and ever since I played in a few tournaments and played at a semi-professional level. Nearly two years ago I was too annoyed by Hearthstone and decided to move on from the game and also looked at other games and actually tested a lot of card games.

Wow! A bit of a natural it would seem. There are a lot of quality CCGs out there, Magic, Shadowverse, Hearthstone, Gwent, Eternal, Duelyst, etc. What made you choose TESL over all of those?

So I come from Hearthstone and there were some things that always annoyed me but overall I still like the principle which is really similar to TESL. I actually tried Gwent and also Eternal and some other games. I ended up disliking the mana system in Eternal which is, especially in tournaments, really sad (don’t know how much they improved in the last year) and in Gwent I also tried a bit and finished relatively high a season, but just couldn’t get myself to liking the game because there are, in my opinion, not a lot of decisions to make (once you get the trick it felt to me that all games looked the same and most are lost by not drawing your Golds). I like the lanes in TESL, and also the rune system. It makes the decision making when to attack and give your opponent a card relatively skill testing. Most players today and the meta try to avoid it by just playing aggro or “control”. But, obviously I would be happier with a bigger tournament scene.

The lane and rune system do feel unique from other CCGs. As a competitive player, how do you feel about prophecies? Are there any mechanics that you dislike from a competitive standpoint? How about the Ring of Magicka?

Prophecies are a part of the game and of course you can get unlucky but you always have a correct attack order or the option to not attack at all which is really important and sometimes – often correct.

The Ring of Magicka is a bit complicated, but I also feel like in aggressive or midrange matchups the 2nd player has an edge. But, all the time I see players complaining about the Ring when they could’ve played a lot better.

I played in a tournament that I placed 3rd where I went first ten times and only second once; only to hear from my final opponent that I only won because I got the Ring in this game – the first time of the day.

I definitely agree that generally it is on the player to make better plays. Sometimes, like you said, it can be a combination of things plus bad luck that can possibly blow things out of proportion in regards to prophecies or the Ring. I’ve proposed before that, for tournament play, the challenger is always on the play so the Ring can be controlled. Do you think that would be a good idea to help balance that mechanic rather than someone always potentially getting a slight edge in certain matchups? You mentioned that you would be happier with a bigger tournament scene. What would you like to see improved specifically? There are quite a few tournaments with Warpmeta, ESL and sometimes TESLCS and now the Master Series. Do you mean prize pools?

I’m against the idea of controlling the Ring, you get something like you have in Gwent. You have decks you play as second player and decks you play as first. So, in general, I like more that decks are supposed to handle both to some degree. So we now have the Challenger Series, but right now there is basically no other EU friendly tournament and this is not enough! ESL (Go4) stopped for some reason with the release of the Challenger Series. So of course having the Master Series is an improvement. But right now the thing I’m hoping the most for would be an improvement on the game. I’m not the biggest fan of the latest expansions.

Interesting take. How do you prepare for a tournament? What is your thought process when trying to decide on your lineups? Obviously, the format matters, but would you share your process you go through before each tournament?

There are various things you can take into consideration. So first of all the format matters and you can do something in some formats which are not obvious. Like with blind decks and just calling your classes you can get to recognize what decks your opponent is playing by just having a quick chat with him before the match and look at his reaction. So for “Conquest”, your lineup targets a specific deck (which you expect a lot players to bring) and all your decks should have a good matchup vs this deck while not being targeted too heavy itself. For “Last Hero Standing”, its more that you are spreading your decks to have a counter to everything which could been thrown at you and still having a reasonable matchup vs other things. So its always different how much I prepare. I prepare more by just watching (a) player stream the game than by playing myself. But what I do in general is when I lose a game (and sometimes when I win a close game) go back and analyze every turn and his hand and my options.

It is always interesting to hear how different players prepare and what their general strategies are. I’m shocked that you watch gameplay more than you actually play yourself. I would think that is not the norm. Do you have a group or team that you test with? Either way, it doesn’t seem to have negatively impacted your results. Would you care to share your tournament results you are most proud of? I felt like I saw you in every ESL Go4 Monthly Top 8!

For most tournaments, I am preparing alone. Right now I test a little with Dust for the Master series.

1st place finishes:

Go4 ESL Cup #12, 33 and 35

TCG Esport #12, 13 and 14

2nd place finishes:

Go4 ESL Cup #8, 30, 32

Go4 ESL Finals October

TESL Champion Series August

I am the top point earner overall in Go4 Cups. I also have a couple of top 3 Gauntlet finises as well!

You mentioned that you aren’t the biggest fan of the latest expansions. What is the thing you dislike most and what direction would like the next expansion to take under the new developers, Sparkypants?

So, this is going to be about nerfs I would like to see. Namira’s Shrine, Ulfrics’s Uprising, Tullius’ Conscription are three cards that are printed neutral and I don’t like giving neutral too much power so they should be in the general colours. Ulfirc’s Uprising is an especially bad card because it limits design space. You can see it right now with just the release of two strong summoning effects in Nix Ox and Odirniran Necromancer it just becomes too strong. In general I’m not completely against resurrection decks, but I thought with Soul Tear it would be such a good nerf to give resurrected creatures a “Doom” tag, so that they get destroyed after their second death and can’t be resurrected all over. I think this would also improve the fun playing against necromancer decks. When they only play one Sanctuary Pet and resurrect it like four times it is just not fun, so they would need to draw into more than one answer. All in all I really dislike 3 colour decks, they are more inconsistent than two colour decks but can have a more insane draw. I would like to remove them again – this is something I will not get (or at least have in tournaments a colour limitation). Ash Berserker with 4/3 stats seems too strong -> 3/3. Mudcrab Merchant is too strong and really random, but needs to be played, in my opinion, in every aggressive red deck. Then there is a card called Drain Vitality… Hlaalu Oathman should only give back two mana and should still be good but not so unreasonable. Cards like Ash Berserker and Corner Club Gambler, which need to be answered immediately, make it so hard to play reasonable midrange at the moment.

That’s a lot! I think that a lot of the community has voiced some of the same frustrations about certain cards. What is your favorite archetype to play and why?

Midrange Mage or Archer before the lethal shenanigans. Both decks do a lot with board positioning and can be played really aggressive or defensive depending on your draw / your opponent’s draw and are some of the most demanding decks. Right now both are not in a good position.

I love those decks as well and used to play them often when they were in a better position as well! Many may not know, but you stream on occasion right? When is the best time for the community to catch you live to see some high level gameplay?

So right now, I don’t have a streaming schedule. I stream sometimes on Sunday around 4-5 pm CET and I might make room for a weekly Wednesday stream around 7-8pm CET for some number of hours.

Awesome! I do want to ask, is your name, Ikarus, based on the mythological character Icarus or something entirely different?

Yeah, it’s based on the Greek mythology Íkaros and is spelled in German as Ikarus. I chose the nick when I played CS and stayed with it for about 15 years now.

Awesome! He happens to be one of my favorite characters and a little misunderstood I feel. I do want to thank you again for taking the time out of your day to share a little about yourself and give your perspective on the game for the community. I’m going to give you the same opportunity as Link had, is there anyone you’d like to tag for the next interview? Anything else you’d like to say to the community that we didn’t cover?

I’d like to tag the now well-known streamer for the Dutch Larson t-shirt MattOblivium with his smooth voice. He is currently one of the few person who got a streaming-team with F2K(Fade to Karma), so his “boss” is also one of the persons I know from my Hearthstone experiences very well.

Awesome! I will reach out to him to see if we can set this up! Again, thanks for joining me. It was a pleasure talking to you about TESL!

Thanks for having me!

You can find Ikarus here:

Twitch

Twitter

 

 

 

Lat’s Chats with Endozoa

Howdy folks! Lateralus here and I am bringing you the third edition to my article series: Lat’s Chats! The goal of this series is to feature different members of the community whether they are a content creator, streamer, or just a player. There are a lot of great people in the TESL community and I want to show what different members have to offer for you all whether you have been a part of this community since the beginning, just recently joined, or someone who will soon and is lost with the content we have to offer.

This week’s edition is a little different. As you may know, Ikarus was tagged in the most recent edition. We will be featuring him in the fourth edition due to time constrants. I thought it would be great for you all to get to know some of Team Rankstar better. So, without further ado, I bring you Team Rankstar’s very own, Endozoa!

Lateralus: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me Endozoa! This is a little different of an interview being we are now teammates, but I think it’s only fair for the community to get a chance to know you better as well. Tell us a little about yourself.

Endozoa: Happy to share, I’ve really enjoyed your interviews thus far. My name is Alex Blanton and I am based out of Boston, MA (USA). I’m an undergraduate college student at Boston university currently studying Computer Science and Biology but who knows how things will shake out by the time I graduate. I’ve been playing TCGs/CCGs basically my whole life. I think I was 8 or 9 when I was first introduced to mtg. I’ve really enjoyed my time in TESL so far and have felt very fortunate to be able to explore many different areas within it: playing, streaming, coaching, commentating, writing, etc.

My first interview within the US! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying the interviews so far. They’ve been a blast to do. Computer Science and Biology! Are you planning to double major or is one a minor?

For right now I’m just declared as a Computer Science major but I am on track for a double major if I wanted to go in that direction. However, I think taking 4 STEM classes a semester has been a little too much so I’m probably going to end up with a Computer Science degree and a Biology minor. I’m open to other directions too. I could also end up going into environmental science or something.

Yeah, that sounds like it could be a lot to take handle! Computer Science is a really good field to get into this day and age. Smart choice. Is Boston your hometown or have you travelled for college?

I went to high school right outside of Boston so I know the area well. My mom moved up to northern Massachusetts after I graduated so home isn’t super close anymore which I think is largely a good thing. My dad and his family are spread across the south east so I’ve spent a lot of time in Tennessee and South Carolina, as well as D.C. where my dad currently lives.

Wow! Family is spread all over. Is that hard or have an impact on you? I sense you maybe be closer to certain parts of your family than others.

I don’t think having extended family spread out is that big of a deal, but my relationship with my parents is pretty abnormal for my demographic I think. I know lots of people with divorced parents, but few that live in different states. I think it forced me to mature a lot earlier than maybe is natural since I was presented with contradictory views of how you should live depending on who I was with/where I was so I had to start having my own opinions and make decisions for myself at a very young age. I also think that games and gaming were probably the big point of continuity in my life no matter where I was growing up. Life was very different in my parents houses, but Friday Night Magic in MA is very similar to Friday Night Magic in SC. So, I think in a lot of ways the gaming community has been my home for most of my life.

I’ve always thought you were mature beyond your age for the time I’ve known you. Guess this gives me a reason why! I am glad you found some continuity growing up though. You started your TCG/CCG experience in Magic: The Gathering like so many. What brought you to TESL though?

I played a whole bunch of digital CCGs briefly the past few years, Shadowera, HS, Duelyst, Shadowverse, Hex… I’m kind of a junky for the genre to be honest. Again, I basically grew up on Channel Fireball articles so it just feels right. I heard TESL mentioned on an MTG stream one time, I think Conley’s maybe? Anyway, I gave it a whirl like all the others but it really stuck with me. I think what hooked me was that even when I played games that were literally just me and my opponent playing vanilla creatures the decision trees were still absurdly complex. I think the gameplay is inherently challenging and rewarding because of the base mechanical system.

I agree that it is more complex than the average CCG. Not on the level of MtG, at least, in my opinion, but more than the others I’ve tried. Did it take you awhile to get involved in the community? When did you start playing?

I installed the game a couple days before Heroes of Skyrim came out, so early last summer, and played arena for a month and a half or something while I built enough of a collection to build a deck that I was happy playing. I eventually started working on a Rage Archer build and then I hit legend with it the next month (which was August). I then played in the first Go4ESL tournaments in September and somehow managed to qualify for the monthly final. I branched off into the shared colors/cards of rage archer first so I think the 2nd deck I build was Rage Crusader and then Mid Monk? I was severely limited by collection (I couldn’t play blue because I didn’t have Daggerfall Mages), but worked with what I had. It seemed like I had gone almost as high as one could go at the time in the game and there wasn’t much money in it so by November I ended up stopping the game entirely for a bit and played on a school League of Legends team for the rest of the semester. I heard about the TESLCS qualifiers a couple days before they started in March and spent one evening playing through Return to Clockwork City and then the next day testing a few decks. Two days later I played in the first qualifier and placed top 4 after beating Joe in the quarters somehow. I got more deeply involved after that.

Wow. So just about a year now. I can’t imagine being hampered by collection. I’m a filthy pay to win player. It seems your experience in CCGs gives you a good foundation to build from. Beating Traitor-Joe after that long of a hiatus is no easy task. Hands down one of the most dominate players in the game right now. Besides tournament play, what else are you involved in?

I started streaming a lot more at the end of 2nd semester and the beginning of summer, but haven’t in a bit now since I’ve been focusing my in-game time on testing with Team Rankstar (TRS) and have also been traveling visiting family. I do weekly commentary for Warpmeta which has been a lot of fun and a really great learning experience for myself. It’s super rewarding for me to help others see some of the complexities of the game which is a huge part of why I stream, commentate, coach and write.

I remember when you first started streaming. It was small to start, but you hung in there and you’ve grown quite a bit. I always enjoyed your streams. I usually only get to catch the finals of Warpmeta since their new time. You also cast for them as well. How did you land that gig? What inspires you to do it?

The week after Ianbits quit TurquoiseLink tweeted asking if anyone wanted to join him for the cast. I jumped at the opportunity and haven’t missed one since. I think I want to produce the content that I would want to consume. In a sense, I want to provide something for people who find joy in the game in the way I do or help people find that joy for themselves. I also think that there is a real lack of high level analytical/strategy content so I feel that I am trying to fill a bit of a content void.

You and Link do a great job together. Maybe you will get a shot at the big stage one day! Care to share some of your ideas you have for producing content with TRS? What can the community expect exactly?

I’m planning to continue doing WarpMeta recaps and the occasional deck tech for the foreseeable future. My favorite article that I’ve put out so far was my first one, “The Waiting Game”, and I do want to put out more broad theory articles since there’s basically nobody else doing them for TESL specifically, and they are the most rewarding to produce, but they are also much more challenging to write. I am open to many different types of articles and I think shorter theory pieces exploring one specific concept with a couple examples could also be effective.

Awesome! Can’t wait to read. I enjoyed The Waiting Game as well. Something not a lot of people always think about, especially in this day and age. What brought you to Team Rankstar? What do you hope to accomplish with it? You were the first member of the tournament team, right?

I was put in touch with Aphelion (who runs TRS) almost a month before the tournament team was formed and basically told him that I was happy to work on content and believed in front facing teams being important for the game and beneficial for myself, but wanted to wait until he got at least one person that I wanted to work with before joining as a tournament team player. Eventually he had a conversation with Paulo (PDMD) who basically told him the same thing and the two of us ended up joining together. I’m hoping to grow a lot as a player and I think having teammates to test with gives me a massive advantage over grinding ladder games. I’ve talked to other players about the game a lot in the past but doing so in a more official capacity is very exciting for me.

Sorry you guys got stuck with me too. Must be a bummer. What’s your thoughts on the Master Series and the future of TESL?

Haha, it’s been great to have the chance to work with you, as I know I’ve told you, you were the first TESL stream I checked out even before I installed the game. Pretty cool coincidence that we get to work together now. I think single elimination and non-public deck lists are both a little suboptimal as far as nit picking the tournament but in general I’m very glad to see Bethesda putting some real attention and money into the game and I’m excited to see what the future holds!

Now I know who my 7th viewer lurking was LOL! I agree that this series and tournament aren’t completely ideal, but it is pretty exciting nonetheless. It is a good start and I’m sure it will only improve. I want to thank you again for doing this with me on short notice and around our practices. Before we go, is there anything else you’d like to say to the community?

Overall the TESL community has been insanely welcoming and supportive thus far and I seriously want to thank everyone who’s ever sent me words of encouragement over pm, in my twitch chat, or in a call. Seriously it means a lot every time I hear someone say that they enjoy any of the work I’m doing. Also thank you to everyone who consumes any of my content, it means a lot that you are interested in what I do and the fact that you are helps drive me to stay involved with content production and the community!

You can find Endozoa here:

Twitter

Twitch

TRS Bio

Use the code “TRS12” to get 12% off your order at InkedGaming.com and support Team Rankstar directly!

Don’t forget to let us know what you think via our contact and recruitment page or in our Discord!

Lat’s Chats with TurquoiseLink

Howdy folks! Lateralus here and I am bringing you the second edition to my new article series: Lat’s Chats! The goal of this series is to feature different members of the community whether they are a content creator, streamer, or just a player. There are a lot of great people in the TESL community and I want to show what different members have to offer for you all whether you have been apart of this community since the beginning, just recently joined, or someone who will soon and is lost with the content we have to offer. So without further ado, I bring you: TurquoiseLink!

 

Lateralus: Thank you for joining me Link! Warriors tagged you for the second interview, and I appreciate you being open to doing it. Why don’t you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself?

TurquoiseLink: I’m Adam from Canberra, Australia and I’m 28 years old.

Australia! Another from the opposite side of the world from myself. I do not know much about Canberra though. Will you tell us a little bit about your city?

The pretty cool thing about Canberra is how it’s built into the environment for a city. The whole thing is basically one giant park, including busy centres and whatnot. Always liked that about it. It’s also famous for being freezing cold for an Aussie city, although the Canadians always laugh at me when I say that. Apparently, we don’t know real cold here in Australia. We have a reputation for being boring but that’s mostly because our tourist destinations are kind of dull and that’s what everyone looks for, places and events around town are cool.

I’m from the south in the US, so I don’t know cold either. Is all your family from the same area? Have you ever traveled outside of Australia?

Family is scattered around eastern Australia, basically our whole population lives on the east coast. Have never traveled outside of Australia, really hoping TESL will enable that one day.

Gotcha. I hope to travel to Australia one day. Asia and Australia are the last two continents I need to visit (not including Antarctica). Well, it looks as though TESL is starting its competitive scene and that may be possible for you in the near future! Before we get into that though, what brought you to TESL specifically? You’ve been playing a long time right?

I started out playing a card game named SolForge. Its budget ran out and the developers packed up shop so my friend and teammate Eon suggested TESL as the next game. This would have been July 2016 so right as open beta was starting. Eon introduced me to slw and Romanesque and we formed a really dominant team for that time. TESL was interesting to me because it had the backing of a large and reputable company so it wouldn’t have the budget issues that had plagued so many of the indie card games I’d enjoyed in the past.

I am familiar with SolForge although I chose to never play it myself. I was deep into MtG at the time. A lot of big names! I’ve interacted with each of them as well in some form or another. Although Bethesda is a reputable company, it felt like it took a long time to make significant progression. If I am not mistaken, you and I both shared some frustrations over the past two years. Did you ever consider leaving for a different CCG? Are you happy with where TESL is going now?

Did I ever consider leaving? I spent a solid 3 months playing Gwent full time after SolidAge’s disastrous Christmas announcement at the end of 2017. I did tend to get quite angry in the latter half of 2017. I’d had high hopes that Bethesda would have a similar level of investment as CDPR did with Gwent and we sort of stalled and died while they grew to 50x our size (no-one expected anything to rival Hearthstone of course). I wouldn’t say I’m happy with where TESL is and where its headed, but I’m content I suppose. For better or worse this is where the game is and it is entirely on me to decide if I’m comfortable with that. I decided I am. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I committed to Gwent in 2016 instead, but hey, sometimes you pick a winner and sometimes you pick Hand of the Gods.

I think TESL is in a great spot as a game and to people that enjoy good card games I would highly recommend this one. My concerns lean more toward my ability to play full time rather than simply enjoying the game itself, so don’t let me scare you away if you’re having fun.

Yeah. I was one that left for Hand of the Gods (RIP) around the same time. I don’t regret it though. One of my favorite times playing CCGs and got to meet a lot of great people, including Jstarr, Earlmeister and YouCanCallMeAl at HRX. I think I feel the same way as you. It isn’t ideal yet, but I’m hopeful and happy with the progress now. Do you plan on competing in the Master Series Qualifiers? You used to compete often but have recently turned more to casting.

I’ll cast every chance I get and have loved my experiences with WarpMeta and the Champion Series. Sadly, ESL is in charge of the Master Series and they already have their own employee commentators so no one knows how they’re going to run it. I will be playing the Master Series instead and it has been awesome to have a reason to really study and grind a meta again. I do confess that if commentary opportunities come up I’ll jump at them in a heartbeat over playing. 16 players are a lot to qualify and is the part that has me particularly excited. When you’re only qualifying 8 players, I can name 8 people that I know crush me in terms of skill and preparation. But 8 more people after those? That’s a lot vaguer, and maybe an area I can fit into.

Awesome! I look forward to competing against you. The Master Series seems to have made some people’s competitive urge itch, mine included. You’ve been around a long time. You’ve competed, commentated and you stream. You mentioned you’d commentate over competing. Where does streaming fall? What inspires you to do it?

Streaming for me has been taking the escapism part of games up a notch. Lots of people play games to lose themselves in a make-believe world where they can just enjoy themselves. When you’re streaming it’s the same sort of thing but a real world, maybe not a tangible one but you’re in front of a real audience. In 2016 I used to contend with a lot of depression issues. I started streaming full time in 2017 and got so immersed in it those problems sort of just started to fade away. I checked recently and I averaged 55 hours per week on stream from early to mid 2017. I would estimate an additional 10-20 hours/week off stream too. By the end of 2017, I realized I’d buried myself in it so deeply I didn’t feel any of the effects of depression I had at the start of the year. At any time, any day, scheduled or not, I could simply fire up OBS and lose myself in a totally different world from the real one. It was also nice finding a new talent too. I was always a very shy person but streaming is entirely your element. You control everything, you play what you’re good at and everyone watching you is there because they want to be there and see what you do. I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that I would be a professional entertainer.

That is awesome to hear. That has been a topic of late – gaming and depression. The World Health Organization recently said that excessive gaming is a disorder. That those who choose it over other social interactions constantly and play as often as you mentioned might have it in simplest terms. What’s your opinion on that? I think a lot of people outside the gaming world don’t realize that it can be used as a coping mechanism or even a way to socialize and break barriers, such as you getting over shyness. I know I have used gaming in the past when faced with depressing issues, though I have never been diagnosed with depression.

I’m always hesitant to present an opinion on topics I don’t know much about, so I’d like to highlight the following is a vague opinion rather than fact and open to change. I feel as if there is such a thing as gaming addiction, although when I looked into it for myself every piece of help was targeted at parents and small children. I couldn’t find a single resource for adults in their mid-twenties. Of course, defining “excess” gaming is going to vary drastically person to person though. I don’t think “hours played” is a particularly useful metric, if you enjoy what you’re doing and it isn’t causing harm then by all means go for it. Lots of people view gaming long hours as something to be cured or avoided, I see nothing wrong with it.

I won’t pretend to be an expert on the matter either, but I agree with what you’re saying. Most people in the community probably know who TurquoiseLink is, but, maybe not everyone and we are certainly gaining new players with the upcoming changes in TESL. What do you think lead to your success as a streamer? When can we find you streaming? You are one of the biggest in the game.

No up and coming streamer likes to hear it, but I got in early. If I started today I am skeptical I could build something similar. I put in an insane number of hours into streaming, 7 hours/day, 7 days/week so anytime anyone at all wanted to watch TESL I was probably available. On top of that I won a lot of community tournaments and built a lot of the meta decks so my name would come up in conversation as someone to learn from. There are plenty of better players than me and plenty of better streamers, but it takes a lot of outside work to grow, and luck, lots of luck. These days I focus mostly on how to attack meta-games. Mostly when you watch a streamer play something different they play memes or role-play decks, my different off-beat decks tend to have serious competitive building in mind, attacking shared weaknesses or exploring well positioned cards which I feel is a niche not many people other than myself serve. I typically stream around 7:00 pm EDT on a daily basis.

No, I’d say that is not a common thing to see from streamers. I’ve always enjoyed watching and hanging out in your streams and I hope to get to do so a bit more than I have lately like I used to. What’s the future look like for Link? You plan on forming a testing group again to prepare for the Master Series? Expanding on any of the content you provide?

Oh, I’ll be finding a group very soon. Everyone always underestimates it, but card games are very much a team game. Study isn’t possible when your only data is a random, faceless person on the internet, one game at a time. Future content I don’t discuss much because I write and record so much only to never release it so I’m hesitant to make promises. I do have a ton of educational content drawn up though, whether remaining written or on YouTube I’m not sure yet, but I’m confident this one will make it out so keep an eye out for it!

Good to hear my friend. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding a solid group. Any players you have in mind or is that top secret? I completely agree it is a team game. One simply can’t play enough games alone or come up with enough ideas or strategy to consistently stay at the top. Lastly, is there anything else you’d like to say to the community? Want to make a tag for the next interview? Warriors chose well, this was a blast and I want to thank you for taking the time out of your day to talk with me and let the community get to know you a little better!

Secrets upon deception upon a web of intrigue, sorry! You can catch me most days in my stream, come and call me out on any mistakes. Learning is the point and chat is incapable of tilting me so don’t feel shy (drain vitality on the other hand…). I’m going to put up a vote for Ikarus. We play at totally different time zones so he’s one of the monsters at the game that I know very little about. We don’t meet on ladder and he has been crushing the ESL series which is one I don’t get to see. I want to know how the other side of the pond thinks. I feel he goes a little under the radar due to a little less ladder power, but more than makes up for it as potentially the best at tournaments.

You can find TurquoiseLink here:

Twitter

Twitch