European Contenders caster and a man of many talents

Thomas "Tridd" Underwood is on the leading ballot of commentators ready and waiting to make the leap over into the big leagues. The European Overwatch expert sat down with Esports Heaven to discuss his thoughts on the structure of Overwatch Contenders, his experience casting other esports titles, as well as how he thinks the European Contenders finals will shake out.

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When you look at how each title’s matches play out, there’s a fundamental difference in pacing. Although the meta may have changed in League since I last casted, League of Legends has significantly more downtime than a match of Overwatch. To me, there was a greater level of efficiency required from both Play-by-Play and Color casters within Overwatch. Getting that pacing down was probably the most difficult aspect of the transition.

For me, being able to work in multiple titles is one of the keys to career longevity for those of us not a part of the “Tier 1” of an esports title. I love the variety that comes with being able to be involved with different titles in different genres. Clash Royale was a project that came out of the blue and was pivotal to my decision to quit my full-time occupation and pursue esports full time.

Without it, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. That particular broadcast also taught me a valuable lesson about the stylistic difference. In hindsight, my style of broadcasting didn’t always sync up with what the client was looking for. Knowing that knowledge now has forced me to provide a more versatile range to prospective clients.

In terms of game knowledge, it is difficult to pick up depending on some of the notice I’ve been given in the past. The biggest factor is what role is required of you. While game knowledge is essential in all roles, the importance of it is determined by what your function needs to be.

As a caster, game knowledge is more prevalent in your personal contribution to a broadcast. As a host or interviewer, you need to be able to get that contribution out of others. Knowing the title will help shape your questions to fulfill that with ease and comfort, but it can be easier to hide your shortcomings.

Overwatch League teams live in the same house, practice daily and have a greater level of support and coaching to facilitate their development. For most Contenders teams, those factors aren’t available to them. This can stunt player and team growth comparatively.

— Thomas " Tridd " Underwood

The biggest take away for me was learning how to engage with a crowd. It’s something I don’t think I was able to nail on my first attempt. There’s an electricity in the air when you attend live events. As a broadcaster, you need to channel that energy to feed the crowd and/or the viewers at home.

So, I’ve said this to a few people, but haven’t really shared to wider audience: I write for completely selfish reasons. English was never my strongest subject, which sounds weird as a native English speaker, but academic English goes beyond purely speaking the language.

I wanted to improve my writing skills as it’s something I’ve never really put my mind to. Creating written content is a practical application to motivate me to write and improve organically. My audience is almost like a crowd-sourced validation mechanism. If people are reading a particular article more than others, they like what I did in that particular article. Was it the subject matter? The style? That’s the part for me to figure out. With that said, looking at the stats on viewership for my articles does give me a buzz.

In terms of importance to my role, creating narratives is what I need to do on-camera, in the moment. Practicing with a little more time to plan out the story I want to tell allows me to slowly rewire my mind. I can only see benefit from learning more about the players, taking definitive views on certain subjects.

On to the business side of it: I am ultimately a business; that’s how I view myself sometimes. What services do I offer to my clients? Well now - I’m an on-screen personality. Technically, I’m an influencer. But if someone hires me to cover their title, they can expect external content to flow outside of the broadcasts. It may be a small amount, but it adds value to me as a product.

This is a tough one. If people have been paying attention to broadcasts and podcasts, I haven’t really rated Eagle Gaming that highly this season. Call it lack of trust from their previous season’s jarring exit in the Quarter-Finals.

I think if I had to place it on something, I would look towards the talent that exists in this roster and the current meta that dictates their respective floors and ceilings. SuperPlouk has really impressed me this season with his Reinhardt, when it comes to tank-heavy compositions, your Reinhardt is essential to success. Making a phenomenal player the linchpin of your play should always net you a greater level of success. I also think that Coach FéFé has done an amazing job at wrapping himself around the puzzle that was the season two meta.

I have said this since Day 1: third-party tournaments are essential to player development and quality of life. Blizzard does a great amount of work to run Contenders in seven regions simultaneously, three times a year, providing prize pools and fight money for each. If we had additional tournaments supplementing the official calendar of events, players would have more opportunities to showcase themselves to potential Overwatch League teams. In addition to this, they could earn a greater level of income and allow them to take a step back from earning income from through other means.

At times, it can be difficult for organizers to not clash with “official” broadcasts. When Overwatch League and Contenders run simultaneously, we get close to a 24/7 cycle of Overwatch action— great for fans, because you can be spoiled for choice. Tournament Organizers? Not so much.

Finding a gap in the schedule can prove difficult. I think Overwatch PIT is fantastic at doing this; it runs just prior to Contenders and can set expectations running into the official season for T2 teams. I want to see more, though! #BringBackTakeOver.

Overwatch League teams live in the same house, practice daily and have a greater level of support and coaching to facilitate their development. For most Contenders teams, those factors aren’t available to them. This can stunt player and team growth comparatively. Players will continue to grow mechanically through gameplay and scrims, but I don’t think that is enough for Overwatch League teams to take a chance on them.

I spoke to Elbion recently, who is now working with British Hurricane. One of the more fascinating things he mentioned was his assessment of Europe’s prevalent tank play. I’m paraphrasing a bit, but the sentiment I think he shared was “Tank heavy compositions force teams to play more coordinated and in doing so can mask mistakes”. If you take that as gospel, are the players really that coordinated, or are they putting on the [a facade] of Quad Tank and GOATs, [masking] their own synergistic shortcomings? I’m afraid I don’t have a clear answer on that one.

I personally think they choked in Quarter Finals, which is kind of ironic considering who they were playing against. I’ll always have a place in my heart for this team, I freaking love Gigantti and its players.

On the day, Eagle Gaming played their game and dictated everything in that series. Gigantti just let them get away with murder and didn’t capitalize on fundamental mistakes from the French roster.

I’m still in mourning, I can’t talk about this further. It brings me to tears.

That trend is inevitable and welcomed. It is the sign that the Path to Pro is working. As more talent is acquired by Overwatch League teams, we need newer talent to facilitate our T2 scene. Hopefully, we get to the point where a sizeable chunk of players are taken from existing contenders rosters, bound for greener pastures. This will initially reduce the level of play, but bring the top-end and bottom-end closer together, creating a more exciting tournament for viewers and teams.

Trials teams have a crucible of fire to get through in Season 3. I think you can write one slot off as being British Hurricane’s, so there’s less chance to reach Contenders. One.PoinT and We Have Org were fantastic additions to Contenders Europe. Last Night’s Leftovers in North America pulled off a greater feat in my opinion, they weren’t facing off in a tournament which consisted of 50% orgless teams, they were facing down Overwatch League Academy teams for the most part.

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Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLGs of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at

@Volamel

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Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.