Bakery Interviews Dreadnaught

James "Bakery" Baker caught up with Wade "Dreadnaught" Penfold at IEM Katowice HGC Western Clash 2018 to discuss life, casting, eSports, and everything in between. The two friends got down to some of the nitty-gritty aspects of Dread's career from professional gamer to a professional commentator. You can either watch the video of the interview below or continue on to read the transcript. 

My name is Bakery and I’m joined by professional HGC caster and very occasional streamer, Dreadnaught.

Dreadnaught: Very occasional streamer is probably the best application, yeah, I think you nailed it on that one. Busted out the annual stream this year, probably not going to do another one - no, just kidding! I do hope to stream more in the future.

Okay, jumping straight into it - What does a day in the life of Dreadnaught look like?

Dreadnaught: First thing, wake up and go to the gym. The gym has been a heavy focus for me as of late, and from there, honestly, it’s usually 6 to 8 hours of either playing or watching VODs, studying drafts or the like, or working on narrative. Like “what is the general tone for this scene,” or looking up stats to see how to make players look better, highlight them objectively, and be able to measure the, across a region. It’s really just, what do I feel is weakest or going to provide the most to a broadcast in the next week and trying to focus on that and better myself hopefully.

Over the past few months, you’ve made quite a few changes to your lifestyle, and your fans have definitely noticed and have been very interested in that. So, can you talk us through that whole process?

Dreadnaught: It started probably about a year ago, where I started putting a little more focus on my weight and my general health overall. I feel like part of it was more because I missed that part of my lifestyle. A lot of people don’t know this, even though I am a hardcore nerd and gamer, I have a traditional sports background. I appreciate going to the gym and running and stuff, so I kinda miss out on stuff like that. Also, I mean, let’s be real here, when you play video games as much as I have, I gained a lot of weight in the process of being professional and I was looking to just be able to turn that around. It started with dieting a little bit, it was not so much like, “I’m going to diet,” as much as it was looking at every day and going “I’m going to take something and do it a little bit healthier.”

That was legitimately it. If you do that every single day and you make sure you never go backwards and given enough time, it doesn’t even feel like you made that many shifts but it really added up to where your lifestyle looks completely different. And that was it. Small changes, small changes, and then it hits a point where you get a little bit of success here and there. I got to a point where I was like, “OK, now I’m feeling confident, I’m feeling good about this, I’m going to try and commit harder.” That’s where I’ve been trying to go to the gym and step things up and that’s really been the biggest shift I guess. Other than that, it’s just been very into playing video games and trying to better myself as a caster.

So, when you first made the transition from being a professional player into casting, you constantly told me, every time we were at an event, “I miss it so much it hurts!” Do you still miss it now?

Dreadnaught: Yes. I miss being, with the idea of traditional sports that I mentioned before, I miss being part of something bigger than myself. And I can't help but feel that as a commentary team, I’m really beginning to appreciate that that is kinda the same concept. That, as a group, we are something more than “how did I perform on an individual level,” and now it’s “did we provide enough drama and story with accurately conveying what is happening within a tournament to make it interesting.” So, yes in the sense that I will never miss competitive drive and finding a way to try and be better, better every single day.

I can’t help but feel like I’ve got more appreciation for that within the commentary angle, to where I did miss it, but I don’t legitimately long to the point of pain. I mean, there were serious moments where I was like, “I don’t know if I can NOT play this video game,” and then watch other people sit up there on the screen and compete. So, yes, I do envy every player up there getting to perform, but at the same time, I've gained enough value in what I’m doing now to where I guess I can “handle it” you know? I can accept it.

So on that same kind of point, do you think you still have an edge, that analysis edge that your competitive career gave you?

Dreadnaught: I think yes, but not to the same degree. I think there are moments where I have a little bit of an upper hand because of the amount of time and intricacies I’ve gotten to experience. I wouldn’t say that it’s an edge that I think anybody should focus on when looking at commentary, or thinking that it must be necessary. I think there are a lot of different angles and things within casting that, like for instance, that advantage that I have is going to be crippling in a different manner, or kind of a drawback.

I do think it does help with very unique or old-school strategies, and I can be like, “I’ve experienced a lot of this,” and maybe others would struggle to remember that because of not having the time enduring those older strategies or unique compositions.  So I would say, a little bit, yeah. At the same time, I don’t value the idea of having that edge like I feel that I used to and I don’t think it’s as relevant as I think most interpreted it.

A lot of your fans have probably noticed by now that you actually took a break from casting HGC in Phase 1 Part 1. Has it been difficult for the HGC to still be going on but you not being involved?

Dreadnaught: Absolutely. The biggest thing, when I took time away, was that I was hoping to be able to experience a better understanding to empathize with the audience members. What is an average fan of HGC? I’ve never been able to look at Heroes of the Storm as a fan. So I had no idea what that average fan member feels. I was hoping I would somehow be able to get a taste of that, but that was very much not the case. It was just immediate envy and longing for the patterns and the things that you’ve been working for.

I was immediately wanting to be on the mic and I didn’t feel like I could really turn that off enough to totally empathise with those audience members. I feel that it’s much like the same concept when you're stepping down as a player moving to a caster and how do you feel about that. That difference and that contrast is very very hard to not just be like, “I want that and I’m looking for that.”

Over the past year or so, you’ve been working a lot on improving your casting. How satisfied have you been with that?

Dreadnaught: TLDR short version would be, not very. But I don’t mean that as in, I feel like often times when you say you weren’t happy with yourself people immediately go “lemme cheer you up!” or “let me help you feel better about that.” I’m pretty realistic in the sense that I know I’m almost never satisfied with a lot of things. I love to see things improve and in an ideal world, my version of whatever ‘perfect’ is going to be.

I really tried to work on getting better, yes, but I don’t feel that I am overly satisfied with where I am, but I am proud to a certain extent as well. I do think there has been a lot of growth, especially from like an ex-pro player, I feel that often times I walked in and was like “here’s my analytical insight,” and I could vomit out whatever strategy this is and talk about it a lot, but the minute action happens I’m like “take this, carry the team,” and I feel like I’ve been able to make up for that a lot more. But, because, not only do I probably have an unrealistic idea of what I need to be able to do and the bar that I set for myself, it makes it difficult, but then it’s even more difficult I think, because, let’s be real here, casting is just subjective. Your favourite caster, my favourite caster, could be completely different.

You like the guy who’s gonna be spitting all the words and going really fast really hype, and maybe I like the guy who is a little bit funny and a little bit slower. Because of that, how can you be satisfied when you don’t feel like you can find that validation through others, this is right, this is wrong, and this is how you can improve. And then you can't find it within yourself. I think those two things make it difficult for me to truly be satisfied, it’s hard to be able to say that. I’m not, not proud. I can look at what I’ve done and say there is an improvement, and anytime you can do that at all, if you can say you’ve improved, you’ve done your job, I think. As long as it doesn’t stop. That’s what I am for.

I think the big thing for me is, around Mid-Season Brawl last year, that’s when I seriously noticed, I was like, “huh, suddenly, Dread’s actually a caster!” he’s not just a pro-player.

Dreadnaught: It’s kinda funny that you say that, because I, at the same time, mentality wise, when I feel like I started getting that kind of mentality that I’m no longer the ex-pro that is on the mic, and I’m starting to become the commentator who is presenting things. I still would say that I struggle to fully have that mentality, but it is now the majority, whereas before it was very much like, once and a while I was like “I’m feeling like a caster!” and not just this guy who knows a lot about the game and has played professionally.

On that same vein, transitioning to becoming a professional commentator, is there any other games that you’ve looked at?

Dreadnaught: Yeah, I guess I’ve looked at other games, but I also haven't gone out of my way to pursue them. I have cast one other game at TwitchCon last year, Lineage 2: Revolution, for a couple days and it was fun, honestly, it was a blast. I personally feel like the diversity… Like what makes a good commentator in my mind, or at least one element is diversity. And are they able to work with many people, because I can’t help but feel like, yeah casting duos are great and to have that synergy and to be able to develop and grow, is absolutely outstanding. But if that’s the only person you can work with, are you a great commentator? It’s a tough question and I’m not even saying you aren’t, this is part of the beauty of the subjectiveness of commentary.

It could mean that yeah, you are, but I personally feel that if you can work with many different types and have that diversity you, without a doubt, are a better commentator in my eyes. So with that in mind, the idea of commentating different games is only going to enforce that because of the commentary style. Like look at fighting games, it’s very casual, grass-roots, you know like, “happy feet!”. And so you could argue that you think that’s not good or better commentary, but doesn’t understanding the strengths and weaknesses of that and being able to even embody that temporarily, like in a MOBA, it has its advantages. So because of that, I think - and, probably the unrealistic bar I set for myself - I think it’s impossible not to at least look at them for guidance.

Do you have any specific ways you prepare for casting? Any superstitions or anything?

Dreadnaught: I don’t have any like, lucky underwear that I throw on or anything of the like. I don’t think so. Often times I just listen to rap music, which is a huge passion of mine. Anybody who has ever watched my annual streams knows that that’s about all I listen to and have for the majority of my life. It just kinda gets me in the mood, but I don’t view music as that different of a ritual, it’s a very normal thing, so I guess I don’t feel like it but probably just be jamming out, losing my soul to a couple beats.

Do you have any favourite players or teams in Heroes of the Storm?

Dreadnaught: Nope, I’m a caster. I’m biased, that’s how it works you know. No, I mean yes, every single one of us has a favourite team, a favourite player. To put that in perspective, I think it’s impossible not to. You cannot have so much passion and drive and kinda have the work ethic necessary for this kind of ecosystem it’s impossible to not have some form of attachment. For me, it comes down to, well I think I’m very weird because of that kind of sports background that I have, I absolutely love competition.

I’m a huge advocate of sportsmanship, and I know that kinda sounds like, “good guy, oh everybody likes good sportsmanship.” But I’m not kidding when I say I personally struggled with the concept of like, for instance, a Winners and Losers bracket, that is not the terminology you should be applying to a bracket. But I, personal feelings, feel like it is depreciating the quality of sportsmanship. In competition, it’s inevitable that you’re going to have a winner and a loser, and that is necessary, and being a loser isn’t bad.

That’s the thing, it is just showing that you agreed to a ruleset in a game and you both are willing to share that experience together and try to figure out who is going to be the better one. So loser is not a worse state, it is just a result that you are experiencing in that competition. And I can’t help but feel like, for me, I view that is sportsmanship, addressing that and embracing that, and that is OK and that is fine. I know many people don’t view it that way, but because I view that so highly, I appreciate just really good competitive teams, ones that I think are extremely bright and think about what they do a lot.

The ones that are closest to my idea and my interpretation of that unrealistic bar I set, not for myself, but for others, whoever is closest to that is going to be my favourite. So, it shifts all the time, and I think fans at home can probably see that. The North American side of things, when I moved into commentary, was probably a little bit more of, I was their advocate for the most part until they started struggling and suddenly I feel like everybody’s like, “well Dread is on the EU hype train,” or “Dread’s on the Korea hype train,” but I’m on the "whatever is closest to the idea of perfection that I have set at that point in time." Typically, that is going to be near the top, or the best team in the world.

So if I was to have a favourite team, it would have to be KSV Black because, again, with the idea of perfection, and looking at some of the dominant eras that they have had, it’s insane. And so that’s where it kinda goes, but it’s always shifting and changing for me.

And your favourite player is merryday?

Dreadnaught: Uhhhh, like yes and no. He is because it's on multiple layers. He's an outstanding support in his time, and probably the best depending on which tournament you’re going to look at.

OK, interesting stat. Statistically, merryday is like 25% above every other support in like every category, like at his prime, back in 2016 spring and summer. This guy was a cut above everyone.

Dreadnaught: It’s gross! And so because of that, yes he was kind of one of my favourites but also I got to play against him and I was a player during his time so he was also somebody I could look at to learn from

I’m afraid that has brought us to the end of the interview. Dreadnaught, do you have any shoutouts and where can people find you?

Dreadnaught: Shoutouts, kinda looking back, I feel like since we’ve gone down memory lane, Tempo Storm would be an org that I have to shoutout to for the support when I was a player that they showed me. And since I pulled away as a player, I haven’t really looked to them and thanked them for that effort and time and Reynad and what he was able to do and give my team.

I honestly wouldn’t be here without that, so shoutout to them. Next would be, everybody at home who thinks I’m worth listening to. Or that my thoughts are something that they think is entertaining. It’s a difficult thing for me to understand sometimes to be honest, that people can think that I am worth listening to, or that some people go out of their way to be like “This guy! This is the person I want to listen to,” and I struggled to ever feel like I can ever give enough of myself to those people.

To each and every one of you that think I am fun to listen to, or that I have something interesting to say, or just you think I’m a decent dude, it blows my mind that I have the kind of support that I do. And a lot of times I think I take it for granted, so, thank you, everybody. It just makes me, like, I wanna cry every time. I’ve said this before in other interviews, and it sounds sad, and I don’t mean it to sound sad, but I hope I don’t let you down. It’s the only way I can convey how I feel to each and every person out there who thinks I’m worth it. Thank you, I hope I can continue to be that person that you think is worth your time.

 

You can follow Dreadnaught on the following social media: Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube.