Two StarCraft Casters You Should be Following
For those unaware of the phenomenon, StarCraft 2 is a real-time-strategy title that encompasses themes of both death and war, and is played by millions of people across the globe. Yet, in a game where incredibly bleak themes reign supreme, two Canadian gentlemen have managed to make the game a delight to watch.
Shout casting duo Jeff and Adam (known more widely by their online pseudonyms ‘MaximusBlack’ and ‘Novawar’) are veteran StarCraft 2 casters and presenters. In late 2010, the pair formed YouTube channel “Life’s A Glitch TV” (LAGtv for short), and now currently sport a 75,000+ subscriber base.
LAGtv saw signs of early success with the introduction of a video series, aimed at casting replays of players who failed at applying cheesy strategies in StarCraft 1 v 1 matches. The series aptly named “When Cheese Fails,” quickly gained a loyal following, and was later featured on gaming network giant, Machinima.
A popular episode of When Cheese Fails from season 1
The duo was later approached by representatives from the North American StarCraft League (NASL) for partnership opportunities. A specially prepared episode of When Cheese Fails appeared on NASL in April 2011; however it unfortunately garnered criticisms due to the use of the word “rape” within the cast, which contributed to the partnership later being dissolved.
Since then, the two have explored other video series’ based on StarCraft. Jeff’s series “Quest to Diamond” presented him playing a number of ladder matches, with the goal of being promoted to higher leagues within Blizzard’s online ranking system. Jeff’s current goal is to be promoted to the “Grandmaster” league, which consists of the top 200 players in the North America region.
On October 11th 2011, Jeff released a video announcing that he would be quitting his then current job as a waiter, in favour of a full-time commitment to LAGtv. This was followed by even more good news on January 11th, when professional e-sports team “CheckSix” announced that Jeff would be officially joining their roster of professional StarCraft players.
Apart from their regular schedule of StarCraft content, LAGtv have also historically casted play-throughs of other co-op and single player games. Both Jeff and Adam also upload additional content on their personal YouTube accounts, and stream almost daily on TwitchTV.
More recently, the two have to decided to diversify their content and venture into the world of Minecraft. A video was released on the 31st of March 2012, detailing their plans to create a secondary YouTube channel for their Minecraft and other gaming content.
The success of LAGtv, is a shining example that it is indeed possible to make a living off the things you truly enjoy. I’m sure, at no point in the early stages of the channel, did the twosome dream of becoming as successful as they are now. It’s this success however, that stems from dedication, a willingness to take chances, and connecting with their all important community. Personally though, I can’t wait to see what weird and wonderful things they do next.
