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NAME: Dan"Artosis" ​Stemkoski

COUNTRY: United States

OCCUPATION: Commentator, Hearthstone player

HEARTHSTONE ACHIEVEMENTS: 1st - Innkeeper Invitational

To all who follow professional StarCraft, Artosis is a familiar name. Once an aspiring StarCraft professional gamer, Artosis' life eventually had him abandon the progaming career and instead step in the shoes of a caster as GomTV offer him a job in this position. After a move to South Korea that reunites him with long-time friend Tasteless, Artosis takes his most important steps to becoming one of the most recognized faces on the StarCraft scene. In late 2013, Artosis finds a new passion in another Blizzard game as Hearthstone beta comes out. Although he remains one of the primary casters for GomTV's GSL and other high-profile SC tournaments like DreamHack, Artosis manages to channel his past TCG experiences and score first successes in Hearthstone, winning the Blizzard Innkeeper Invitational over Kripparrian. An invitation to join team DogeHouse (famous for hosting names like Gnimsh, Ek0p, Nyhx and Savjz) comes shortly thereafter. In December, he also travels to Berlin as DogeHouse member to take part in the ESGN fight nights and this is where Jan Leverenz catches him for an interview.

The interview was conducted by Jan Leverenz and published in cooperation between ESGN TV and GosuGamers.net.

Photo: ESGN TV



Let’s start with some general questions. How did you get in touch with gaming?

You know I started playing video games way way back when I was – I don’t even know – four or five on Atari or Nintendo. When I was a teenager I was really into sports quite a bit but unfortunately broke my ankle really badly and so I couldn’t really do sports anymore and I just started playing a lot more games then. So, ever since then I have pretty non stop being on video games.

And when did you discover your passion for eSports?

Maybe, you know, back in 1999 or so I was reading battle reports of StarCraft matches on Battle.Net and it really hooked me. I said “Oh my god these players are so much better than me and everyone is talking about” and I just kind of became enthralled and I started really practicing a lot and tried to get better and you know I loved to be a player like that, that’s just so good, that people write about the games that they play. So, it’s been a long time.

Did you study?

I went to university a few times but kept dropping out because I had to practice more StarCraft. So like I would go for a little bit, like a month and then just quit because there were StarCraft tournaments coming up that I had to practice for. I don’t have like a degree or anything like that.

So you sacrificed education for gaming.

Yes, absolutely.

Have you ever regreted it?

I don’t regret it at all. I have a great life at this point, I followed my dreams and achieved a lot of them and, you know, I’m living happily, making enough money to live and I am doing what I love.

One of your dreams might be working for GomTV…

Well, you know, I actually didn’t want to be a commentator at first, I really wanted to be a pro gamer but the opportunity came up to work for GomTV and they paid enough, that I could actually live off of it. So I worked there for a while and I grew to really love commentating and working with GomTV, so I just kind of… yeah you know at this point it is really like a dream come true. It’s a great job to have.

And now you work there since...

I have been working with GomTV for three years now, before that I worked in Korea with IEG but I switched over when StarCraft 2 came out.

And now you have a lot of experience working for a Korean broadcasting station. What do you think European and American eSports broadcasting stations can learn from Korean ones?

Well, you know, Korea is ahead in some ways and it’s mostly due to how compact Seoul is as a city, basically everyone lives there or lives within three hour train ride or so. So it’s easy to gather all the talent in one area but I think that really especially in Europe they are catching up very quickly to the quality that Korea possesses for eSports shows. You know in Korea there is a lot of eSports TV with GomTV, OnGameNet … those kind of things. But here, like for instance with Clauf, they have a really great studio, they have some great producers, a really good staff and it’s looking a lot like Korea. This is reminding me a lot of what I’ve been working with for the past few years.

When you moved to Korea, what was your hardest challenge?

Moving to Korea was really hard in the beginning for a lot of reasons, like I had to learn a completely new culture, I had to change the way I acted, eat new foods but when I first moved there I was paid basically nothing so that I think that was the hardest part. Being in a new country, having to learn all this but also being very very poor at the time.

Besides playing, commentating, Hearthstone, strategy stuff and all things you do in eSports: What does Dan do when he is not Artosis?

When I am not doing my work stuff and not being Artosis I am being a husband and father to my wife and baby. So that’s all of my free time is used up. If I am not working I am playing with the baby or spending time with the family overall.

So eSports and family man…

That’s it (laughing).

There is a huge “guy love” going on with you and Tasteless…

Yes (laughing)

…can you imagine ever working as an eSports commentator without him on a regularly basis?

Yeah sometimes I do cast with other people like for instance I am casting a little bit with Frodan, I have casted in the past years some with Apollo, occasionally I cast with Wolf or Khaldor. I have a good time casting with other people but Nick is my best friend we have done it together for so long that’s definitely my preference.

Would you quit commentating for becoming a professional player? Maybe Hearthstone…

I don’t think that I would ever quit commentating at this point. Well, I do love to play, I love to compete. For me commentating it’s very solid, it’s very steady and I think it better uses my skills to help promote eSports and help eSports continue to grow. I have, over the years of my long commentating career, become better and better at it and I think I have a good way of showing people why the game is so beautiful. So, I like to commentate and I think I will for a very very long time.



Part of team DogeHouse. F.l.t.r.: Nyhx, Ek0p, Gnimsh, Artosis

Hearthstone is still a closed beta but the hype is huge. It reminds me a bit of DotA 2, which was a closed beta with a monstrous hype. What makes this game so special and exciting?

Hearthstone is really interesting because it’s so unlike other eSports. It is free to play like a few others but it’s not really mechanical. You don’t have to practice all day, every day your mechanics. It’s more of a thinking man’s game. So I think that that’s really helped out a lot where a lot of people look at some of these other eSports titles like StarCraft or League of Legends or Dota and they say “Wow, I just can’t move that fast, I just can’t do that, too much is happening at once”. Hearthstone is turn based and you can be very slow about it, there is no rush whatsoever, you just have to make smart moves. So I think that that’s really helping out quite a bit.

​ Well, you mentioned StarCraft, Dota and LoL, the three major eSports titles. Do you think, that eSports needs more titles from different genres like Counter-Strike in the past or maybe Hearthstone?

I think it’s important to have at least one game in each genre. For instance of course we have a couple of MOBAs right now which are really popular, we have StarCraft as well, I think it would be great to get Counter-Strike to make a full comeback. I always really enjoyed watching that game and having a card game in there would be nice as well and I think fighting games definitely have a place and maybe even some others but I think that the wider the net of eSports out there the more eSports will benefit.

ESGN TV is the first TV channel to host a Hearthstone show and you have been one of the first participants. What’s your first impression of the show, the studio and the crew?

The studio here at ESGN TV is absolutely beautiful. It’s still in fact under construction while we do this but it’s awesome and the staff – absolutely amazing. The Head Producer, Morgan, is fantastic. Everyone is so excited about it, so passionate and really working hard, putting in the hours, putting in the effort to make a premium product and that is something that really excites me to be able to work with people like that.

Besides ESGN TV there's also ESGN as federation which brings together some of the biggest eSports organizers. Do you see this as a necessary step towards a better eSports future?

I think it’s really important, that different eSports companies such as ESL, ESGN, GomTV, all these guys work together because they are in different areas doing different things but if everyone puts their mind together in eSports I feel like only goodness can come out of it. It’s great to have competition in the space but at the same time everyone shouldn’t be completely cutthroat to each other.

Dan, thank you for making time for us. Let’s round this off with a short Q&A. Nine quickies and you are free:

The first game you ever played?

Battletanks (Atari)

Most favourite player ever?

Iloveoov

Most memorable moment in eSports?

Qualifying to represent America at the WCG World Finals 2004.

Your favourite TV show or series?

Game of Thrones

Favourite sports (except eSports)?

Basketball has always been close to my heart.

And your favourite player in this sports?

Shaquille O’Neal

Aaaand your favourite song?

That’s a hard one… Darude – Sandstorm

What do you enjoy the most?

Spending time with my family and I have to say also playing StarCraft is pretty great.

The most important thing in life?

My daughter. She is everything for me.

Photos: ESGN TV. Frontpage photo: Kevin Chang