Interview with Sadokist on recent changes in the CSGO scene

We talked with Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett about the actual CSGO competitive scene and roster changes involving some teams. He discussed with us the "betting phenomenon"and some improvements that should be applied to CSGO to have million dollars tournaments.

 

How long have you been into casting and how did you go from casting in your gaming room to casting large events and tournaments?

Sadokist: For me it was a lot of right place right time, and self-confidence. The timing had a lot to do with CS:GO's growth; I came to the CS scene at roughly the same time the game was gaining traction (2012) after years of playing other titles. Knowing that I had flirted with casting in the past just for fun, a friend asked if I would interested in casting CS:GO at a local charity lan in my hometown. I gladly accepted, and based on my performance that weekend I was asked to cast lan ETS 2013 in Montreal. After that I applied for ESEA, and was hired to cast their online matches - thus beginning my first endeavor into paid casting, and the "gaming room" portion of my career. After working hard with ESEA I was lucky enough to have been selected for their lan finals in June of 2014. This was my first proper lan, and I didn't get another until their following lan in December (2014)... At this point the game was growing, and lans were more and more common. X-Games was a huge step forward for me, and that was when I realized that this could be something big for me... From there it's just been non stop event after event!

As for the confidence part, I grew up with a Dad who had worked in radio, so I had a nurtured understanding of vocal delivery and tempo. No doubt that helped me tremendously in not only getting a good start, but also having a good coach to learn from!

Image courtesy of HLTV.org

How do you typically prepare yourself before casting a match?

Sadokist: It's not so much each match that I prepare for anymore, rather than the event as a whole. When I first started and wasn't seeing the teams as often as I am now, I did have to do some stat/head-to-head stat review, but now I know all of the players and teams well enough to recall from my own experience. At this point I focus on recent lan performances, map pools, steaks of each player, and what they run as their defaults. This means that I now have to either learn from watching what each team has a tendency to do, and remember that going forward, or taking the time to review demos before the lan begins. Sometimes both, depending on how many teams there are at the lan, and how serious the event is (Cluj for example, I did both).


What are your goals in esports in the near future? Anywhere specific you'd like to be in a year from now?

Sadokist: It's hard for me to set goals. I feel like I'm still catching up with reality after how fast this all happened for me. I am extremely grateful for where I am now, and know that in any other universe someone else is likely in my spot... Originally my goal was to cast in Europe. Thanks to PGL I achieved that goal. After that I set the goal of casting a major, which happened in November at Cluj! In CS right now I'm happy with where I am, so my goals have shifted to more specific things. For example, I have always been a competitive gamer, which means I have devoted a lot of time to a very few select games. As such, it's not fair to call me a true gamer, and I want to change that by going back to playing RPGs and all of the games I never made time for.


What advice would you give to someone who is looking to become a caster?

Sadokist: Always look to improve. Find someone you look up to and figure out what they do that works well, or what it is that makes you like them so much. Make sure you are clear in your words, and have good agility in your voice. As for practice, download a demo of a game you know that someone you enjoy has casted (ideally a cast you have not heard before, but you know exists). Cast over the demo yourself and then compare how you built the story and hype to how they did the same. It's a very good way to highlight your weaknesses or areas that need improvement.

The CSGO community has shown that they don't like a change of casters (e.g. Deman switching from LoL to CSGO) and are not very welcoming of new casters. Do you agree with this statement and have you ever experienced any of this yourself?

Sadokist: I understand both sides of this. Change is the only constant in the world and yet as a species we often fail to accept it; we are complacent and find comfort in that which is familiar to us. If I tune in to Anders and Semmler, I know what I am going to get... I can relax and enjoy it. However, if you give me someone new that I am not familiar with, suddenly the way I've come to view and experience the game takes on a whole new face. Deman was an odd one because he has worked very hard as caster to achieve his status. However, ESL hoped to bring him over and instantly use him in the same capacity that he was akin to in LoL. As the CS community has grown so much, most people aren't familiar with him at all, and as he did not work his way into the community, but rather forced onto it, some people understandably were upset with that (Thoorin and Richard have both talked in great depth about this).

That situation is a bit different than mine, though. In many ways I am still very new, and the community has embraced me (thank, guys!). So you can't say it's simply an issue with new voices. It's an issue of letting the community have their say as to who like, rather than having it told to them. I worked my into the community, and they warmed up to me along the way. I have no question that Deman would have been very successful if ESL had taken the same approach.

How did you cope with heavy criticism towards your casting in the past?

Sadokist: There wasn't a lot of it when I was new because, well, not that many people knew me. But as I grew there was more and more it. After my first stint in Europe I remember there was a bit more than normal that had surfaced... HLTV in particular was filled with it, and I was bit annoyed. It got to me a little bit because I was trying my hardest to improve constantly and it seemed like it wasn't working. However, what I had to learn was a few things... First, that HLTV has a particular thirst for hate threads and trolling. Second, that the more you're known the more people there are that will have something to say. And lastly, that the upset minority is often the vocal majority.

I think Richard Lewis said it best in a video he made about community feedback; "add some credibility to your criticism" - in other words, if you just say "Sadokist is shit" I don't care... But tell me why I am shit, tell me what I need to improve on, and I'll listen.

What does CSGO need to do to become even bigger and get million dollar tournaments like LoL and Dota?

Sadokist: There are lots of things that can be done. I'm of the opinion that leagues do the minimum in prize offerings because they can get away with it. If the highest amount you can get at a tournament is $250000, than to compete with that league, in theory, all you have to do is offer the same amount. This year 250k became far more normal - ESL/ESEA, Faceit, Majors, and Dubai all offered that amount. That goes to my point of leagues only doing what they have to. The good news is that what was formally the highest prize is now the benchmark, and that means that someone will have to step up to stand out. Over time that will surely happen. The fastest way is obviously the elephant in the room that we see in Dota - Crowd Funding. Right now, while we do have sticker money that supports the players (which is awesome that they are getting a good amount just for being there), Valve could be doing a lot more to help grow the CS:GO prize pot. I don't buy the excuse that Valve "wants to take different approaches with each title to learn the beast possible solution." That's bullshit. I agree they can use each game to try different ideas, but as soon as one is proven to work, apply it to both... eSports is right now, so whatever they are saving their learned knowledge for seems like a waste of time. A compendium in CS:GO would be hugely successful, and make valve a significant amount of money.

Either way, 2016 will surely lead to lareger prize pools one way or another. ESL has big plans, and Turner will surely have a decent amount of money - if both of those leagues plan on exclusivity or large travel commitments from the teams, they will have to set a mouth watering new standard. Either way, someone will increase their prize pool in order to lead the way, and others will naturally do the same to keep up.

Image courteys of HLTV.org

What do you think of all the recent roster changes involving Team Dignitas, G2, Fnatic, and LG?

Sadokist: The Dignitas one just seems like old Danish problems. They stayed as a lineup for a while but it never worked, and made a change expecting results they didn't find, so they made another. Eventually they will settle, but right now it almost seems like trial and error. I have a suspicion (and this is 100% my own theory) that Pimp may have suggested he could do a better job on the AWP than Nico, who was struggling. He was fairly proficient on the weapon in 2012, but those were the early days of CS:GO, and the skill ceiling was not nearly as high as it is now. Not to mention there was a very significant nerf to the AWP since that time. Nevertheless, I think it's possible that he may have thought he could find success with the weapon again, and convinced his team to do the same. I'm not implying that Pimp instigated Nico's release, but when they were looking for answers it's not impossible to imagine Pimp suggesting the idea and his teammates agreeing to it, perhaps in a false sense of belief due to desperation. Unfortunately, it didn't work, and worse still it meant taking one of their best riflers and putting him in a sub-par position. Likely, the team were unhappy with this, and Pimp got the go. - I'm probably way off on this, but it was my theory. What is more likely is that there were internal attitude issues within the team. Either way I'll be interested to see where they end up... It seems like the talent required to make a feasible second top-tier team in Denmark is spread thin across two rosters (Dignitas and SK). Obviously I didn't mention Schneider in all of this, but that was a separate issue. And Aizy... Well, let's get to G2...

I'm concerned in some sense that G2 is the new LGB, where we see the rise of a roster and new organization that ends up being torn apart by offers from teams that these players have always aspired to beat or become. We have already seen Scream leave, albeit for different reasons, but Dennis no doubt could not resist the the offer from fnatic (and one can't blame him for it). The trouble is that if they keep circulating players, they won't ever have the time to develop into the team they can be. All that said, however, and oddly enough it seems like G2 have gotten BETTER with each move. Jkaem has been playing extremely well, and Aizy has hit a form as of late that has been among the best in the world. It was only a matter of time before he was going to have an offer handed to him. There were rumours for a while that TSM were ready to swap him into their lineup, but his form never stood far enough above any particular player on TSM until recently, and TSM was getting good enough results that it didn't seem it would benefit them enough, or that was of urgent need... You have to wonder if in a few months time they will regret that decision, or make an offer for him if they don't meet their own expectations (however, with the org rumours around TSM at the moment, I can't see that happening anytime soon, if at all).

Fnatic's move seemed surprising to many, but it was talked about for a while within the pro community that there would be Swedish roster changes to both Fnatic and NiP for quite some time (as far back as June). Originally it was to be two players swapped, then one retiring, another coaching, and one becoming a parent... Okay, it wasn't that exaggerated, but there were lots of theories and no real change. However, there was one consistent part to the rumours: none of it would happen until the end of the year when the contracts were due to expire. We are now in/around that time. Pronax stepping down undoubtly leaves Fnatic a step back, even with the high fragging power that Dennis can offer, because it will take time for Flusha to adapt into the leadership role both knowledge and comfort-wise. Overtime, if it works that Flusha can adapt, this roster could still live up to the standard Fnatic has set - and I wish Pronax all the best in forming his new team with Devilwalk and Pyth.

Lastly, Luminosity! This move shows how committed Fallen is to winning, and putting Brazil at the top of the world. He said in an interview with HLTV that he felt they were becoming too stagnant, and everyone could tell they had issues closing out Bo3s. They've shown that they are a very patient and tactical team (much like that of Na'Vi), but they haven't always had the individual skill to match up to their European competition. I've always said that if Cold, Fer, and Fallen all showed up at the same time, that they could beat anyone. Now with the addition of fnx and Taco, they pack an even greater punch, and I am extremely excited to see this team play in the upcoming months. This is very literally a case of one region building a super team to take on the world, at all costs... Take notes, North America...

Who are you most excited to see in action with their new roster and why?

Sadokist: For the reasons stated above, this weekend I will be paying particularly close attention to LG at DHW, but obviously a lot of people will be watching Fnatic with a pinch of skepticism, and a ton of curiosity. They've got a lot of weight on their shoulders.

What do you think about the newest CSGO update, the sound update?

Sadokist: I've not had a ton of time to play it myself due to travel, and taking some time off now that I am home. It seems to be fairly good though, and easier to distinguish footsteps from a distance. How much it changes is yet to be determined.

What are your thoughts on betting sites and their influence on the CSGO scene and community? Good for growth or negative influence for younger players?

Sadokist: I could elaborate on this topic to great length, but I'll keep it pretty simple. I think that skins, and betting has grown CS tremendously, and for that we should all be very thankful. However, they have also brought some very negative aspects as well. Betting should not be encouraged among minors, ever. Some of the people betting currently have no understanding of how money in the world really works, and what REAL value means in the same context. On top of that, people who bet (and I feel like this is mostly minors as well) need to do so understand what the hell a bet is... You do so acknowledging odds and risks. So to think that people have the audacity to message death threats and hate mail to players when they lose their in-game skins is absolutely pathetic, and needs to stop. This likely has a lot to do with the stigma that goes with online anonymity, and people thinking they can say what they want, but both that notion, and the messaging of players has to stop. People who actively partake in this type of behavior have not an ounce of my respect, and have no place in this world.


Thank you for the interview, any shoutouts?

Sadokist: I guess since you asked, I'll go full sellout!..

... Just kidding, I won't! Thanks a lot for the interview!

 

If you want to  Sadokist, follow his Twitter account: @Sadokist and, dont forget to follow our Team-Dignitas account to stay up-to-date to new announcements and interviews: @TeamDignitas