I got a chance to sit with Lucas before the Finals began. We discussed his path to becoming a Shoutcaster, his own competitive esports dreams, and his thoughts on MCVS as a tournament sport.
Building a foundation
Before sitting with Lucas, he and his co-caster, Rene “Grunner” B., were already hard at work. Besides ensuring they had all of the game language and tactics down by talking with our MCVS team, they were also chatting to every player. Becoming familiar with their stories to help add flavor to the show. This was a task they performed effortlessly, managing to set players at ease through these interactions, rather than adding to their pre-competition nerves.
Lucas is immediately likable, chatty, and easy going. However, in an instant, he is able to pivot from chatty and friendly to business, a skill enabled by a deep knowledge of his craft. 'I started five years ago', Lucas begins. But this was not his first choice to be a professional in the gaming space. 'Actually, I come from Sweden, and in the early 2000s the country was a real powerhouse of competitive gaming, particularly in the South.'
Initially, I didn’t understand quite why this was so relevant, but it seemed that the cultural impact of gaming was huge. 'It was kind of the birth of European esports. There are Legacy teams in the country that have been around for 15 years.'
These numbers did surprise me a little, but not quite as much as the extent to which it had been accepted. '[Games] had become culturally relevant enough for my parents to support me when I decided I wanted to be a pro-gamer.'
Gaining the knowledge
While I know competitive gaming is growing it was a shock to me that Lucas’s parents were already so supportive of this decision. That said, he did seriously commit to his training!
Lucas’s genre of choice was Strategy, specifically StarCraft 2. 'I set myself milestones,' he explained. Over a period of two years, he trained diligently reaching his goals on the path to a GrandMaster rank. During his most intense period of training he was pushing hard, 'for 112 days I was playing for between 8-16 hours per day, supported by my mum.'
Unfortunately, while he did meet his milestones, he fell short of his personal goal of reaching the GrandMaster League. Burnt out, he didn't believe himself strong enough to continue mentally or, with a permanent wrist injury, physically.
However, despite falling short in terms of the physicality of the esports, Lucas still had all of the accumulated knowledge. So, when the opportunity arose to start contributing on a “couchcast” in the UniSL community, he took it. 'The system was quite simple. New casters would come in for the early rounds, so the “couch” was always changing. Then, in the finals, the experienced team would take over. I had the game knowledge and was good enough to be invited back for a second season. Then, the following season, I was back again to commentate on the high division finals!'
Global competition
Seeing his work, Joe LoGuidice invited Lucas to a Chinese tournament - making him one of the first English casters to cover this talented but closed off community of players. 'These were world-class competitors, but we were lucky to even see the best two or three of them outside of China. This was because they had no coverage due to how closed off Chinese Competitions were at the time. I got to go in and be part of bringing their local scene to the rest of the world', he stated with understandable pride. 'We were the first to bring coverage of this community to the West, and I am still very involved with it.'
Lucas specializes in FPS and Strategy esports. However, this was his first time commentating on a mobile game. So, before the event, he sat down and did his homework with Modern Combat Versus - learning how it matched up to the other shooter titles he is involved with.
Shoutcasting MCVS
He quickly found himself discovering MCVS’s depth. 'One thing that stood out was the distinct feel of the characters. [Their different weapons and skills], combined with the game’s weight, make their special abilities feel satisfyingly powerful.'
With limited knowledge of mobile games in general, he was surprised with just how effective MCVS was as a competitive shooter. 'I was surprised by the variety, feel, and impact [of the Agents]. This enabled depth to both the team composition and in-game tactics'. For Lucas, part of this was how team composition could change mid-match. “As the game progresses you can easily change characters for the situation.” This allows for high DPS or defense as needed… but from everything Lucas says, he only ever really plays as the game’s originals sniper, Monark.
'Overall, my opinion is really positive. It is a great game that is really accessible but with a lot of depth.' Due to suffering from ADHD, Lucas found one other major plus point to MCVS. 'It’s the perfect game to hop in and out of thanks to its short matches. You can even to it while talking to friends.' Although I am betting not to the level of play that we can see from the players competing in these International Series finals.
Deep yet accessible
'This dip in and out nature makes it really good for me. And I think MCVS is a great game for mobile gamers to enter esports'. Part of the reason for this is how it is possible to slowly build your understanding of each character and their role on the field. 'If you get into it, learn characters, and max them out, it has real potential. We are here and it is accessible - more people means more opportunity for sport.'
And as to the day? Lucas was still deciding how he thought it would go! 'I’ve talked to EMP Clan, but I haven’t seen much of the other players in action yet. Everyone is here, having a great time, but I can’t judge the outcome until I have seen them all play. I do know that it is going to be very enjoyable.
For the record, it was.
Keep an eye on TenshiTalks’ Twitter to see more of his commentary. You can catch his work in English and Swedish - although he's confident German could be a future option. With his five years of commentary experience, you can always be sure of a good show.
If you want to get in on the Modern Combat Versus action then you can download it here. And to join the MCVS community, head over to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
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