It’s with a heavy heart that today I tell you that I am moving on from the world of Heroes of the Storm and all it’s glory. If you just want the skinny, the game isn’t what I expected it to be at this point in development, and I am nowhere as close to as I wanted to be following my mediocre success last year. There are only so many hours in the day, and I have to prioritize my happiness over all, so I have decided to stop creating content for Heroes of the Storm.

Last year started off shaky, for sure. The budding scene of Heroes had great promise, and I had just finished my last Awesomenauts content that I foresaw. But as ESL went looking for a rep, I lost the bid to SolidJakeGG and TheCooby. The lack of a consistent partner in the scene really cost me stability early, and Jake, being unemployed, was more pliable to that of the ESL requirements.

Before you assume anything, this is not a hate post on them, or any of the talent in the scene. It’s just pure business, and we have no bad blood between us.

By March, however, eventually Blizzard replied to an inquiry I made about Heroes of the Dorm, and by end of the month I was flown out to assist in the first ever Heroes of the Dorm. Life started to look up a bit, and while I won’t claim it’s my strongest casting ever, it was definitely nice to be back on a desk!

The rest of the year became a whirlwind of travel and events - I met up with TGN at Heroes of the Dorm finals, and signed on to do some content with the loveable scamps. I was also asked to fill the role of an analyst for ESL and their productions - a task that was very hard for me to get behind. I’ve always been a play-by-play with some knowledge, but transitioning into the deep knowledge was… less than successful, in my personal opinion.

This was probably the first part of the decision to end my Heroes run. Because no matter how good I would get, or ever got, I wouldn’t compare to that of a pro player turned commentator. I knew that. Everyone on staff knew that. You just can’t deliver the same knowledge without that first hand experience. And while I maintain I was better than most, climbing to top 200 NA on HotsLogs at one point and participating in some lower end tournaments, you also need to win the crowd support, something that I’ve never really been able to do.

But despite that, I was happy to try to fill the role, as it offered work and growth and experience once more. I tried my best, and was somewhat loved for it. By the August qualifiers, Blizzard was taking a direct hand in our growth, and this is where the big bend came for me.

After August, I was basically cut out of the picture. No real reason was given, and none of the casters I asked owned up to anything. I was led by the nose to different conclusions from independant sources, but overall, Blizzard stayed silent on the matter and I was out, period. After August I was told that the Las Vegas crew would be a smaller crew, and that not all of us would make it. That turned out to be false, as they expanded the roster for Tasteless/Artosis and Trikslyr, and then invited everyone except myself. So I had clearly done something wrong, but was never really told what it was.

I will give credit to Kim Phan for actually providing casting feedback. I’ve been doing this six years, and this was the very first time I was actually given ACTUAL feedback from an event by the developer. I was told my perceived strong and weak points, and I set out to correct them so to be a better caster and return to work. Well I accomplished the former, but never the latter.

With no surprise, I was passed over for BlizzCon. I knew if I didn’t make Vegas, I wouldn’t make BlizzCon, but was happy to attend as a spectator anyways. It’s BlizzCon, after all. After the event, I was contacted by VainGlory about some work, and as Blizzard was silent on the front, I decided to give it a go. This filled up the rest of my year.

I tried to contact Blizzard/TesPA/ESL in December thru February, attempting to offer services for any and every event. This was the year that I had set myself up to try to go full time commentary. MOBAFire is a great employer, but after 13 work trips in a year, even they can see that I am having a blast and keeping busy with the commentary. Alas, no results. I was skipped over for all online qualifiers, the actual regional events and Heroes of the Dorm. I have yet to have any response from ESL itself, whereas TesPA answered weeks late and Blizzard said I can attempt to contact ESL/Dreamhack on my own.

Nice.

So, while a discarded tool has no use in the shed, I may yet find another home in the future in another game. VainGlory is really heating up, and is a ton of fun to do, and will remain as my current eSport title. Paragon looks interesting (waiting on beta) and BattleRite was announced. I look forward to trying them both!

On the other hand, my return to streaming will include a variety of games as I’ve signed on to do some content with a group that I’ll announce a bit later.



I’ve helped grow almost every major MOBA title from alpha/beta to esports, and Heroes, while I knew would not last forever, seems to be ready to move on without the ol’ Four Court Jester much earlier than I anticipated. I wish everyone the best in it, and hope the game continues to improve and grow. I’ll be watching from afar, still trying to find my place in video games and esports.