Overwatch League talent lineup announced

Really happy that Sideshow and Bren both became apart of the OWL talent lineup.

Happy to see most of the gang but I really do hope to see ZP, JKap, Left Guy and Jamerson casting official Blizzard Overwatch content with them possibly getting some OWL action in Season 2.

I'd love nothing more than to see all the people that helped 1. bring competitive OW to a large audience and 2. kept it alive and well when support was almost non existent.

Glad to see some British folk and I always enjoyed listening to Sideshow talking about OW or casting it but still completely mind blown not to see ZP especially with Hex getting involved, seems they have invited everyone that has casted OW except ZP so would love to know why.

Honestly can't stand Semmler though so whatever match he is casting I won't be watching.

Very happy for Sideshow, Hex and Bren, but really can't understand why they didn't include ZP...

"I get it", they sort of needed to include Monte and Doa, even thou I still think ZP+Hex were way better (if we just talk of OW casting), due to OW being dominated by our KO overlords, but Crumbz and Semmler? This isn't LOL or CS:GO.

KuroiRyuu9625 [#2]

Happy to see most of the gang but I really do hope to see ZP, JKap, Left Guy and Jamerson casting official Blizzard Overwatch content with them possibly getting some OWL action in Season 2.

I'd love nothing more than to see all the people that helped 1. bring competitive OW to a large audience and 2. kept it alive and well when support was almost non existent.

I guess they kept ZP, JKap, Left Guy and Jamerson so they will cast the Contenders ( the 7 regions ) and the Contenders Trials.

I really hope this will happen

Still sad that we haven't seen much ZP/Hex casts in a long time, they were such a great combo, and ZP has such a brilliant understanding of the game. I'd also love to see Left Guy return, he was really funny and added a lot to whatever he was a part of.

Who thought it was a good idea to put Bren on the desk though? You need to be good with words for that.

ManuxBaka [#5]

I guess they kept ZP, JKap, Left Guy and Jamerson so they will cast the Contenders ( the 7 regions ) and the Contenders Trials.

I really hope this will happen

I guess so, apparently for Blizzard they aren't good enough to cast the main event (and get the actual money and recognition), a shame honestly.

I'm really please with the casting group , idk Crumbz and Semmler but they seems well renowned .

Getting MonteCristo , DoA and Uber will be a treat for this inaugural season !

wentaway [#7]

I guess so, apparently for Blizzard they aren't good enough to cast the main event (and get the actual money and recognition), a shame honestly.

We don't know anything about that , maybe those caster can't live in the US for the year for some reason, maybe it"s some salary problems , maybe it's due to some VISA problems etc.

Lets just be happy to have a lot of amazing Caster for this game.

And mathematically there will be more game to cast at the Contenders than the OWL :)

I don't know what their problem with ZP is exactly but it feels borderline criminal to hire CSGO reject Semmlar over him. He is the voice I identify with Overwatch, similar to how I feel about Anders in CSGO and Monte/Doa (in LoL).

As for the rest of the cast it all makes sense but it definitely feels like it's missing that homegrown element that ZP brought to the game and the community. Hopefully they reconsider in the future.

Hahah good luck Semmler bro :D
So nice with a known voice here. I Have followed cs way 2 long and Semmler ALWAYS there ;P

foxes [#10]

I don't know what their problem with ZP is exactly but it feels borderline criminal to hire CSGO reject Semmlar over him. He is the voice I identify with Overwatch, similar to how I feel about Anders in CSGO and Monte/Doa (in LoL).

As for the rest of the cast it all makes sense but it definitely feels like it's missing that homegrown element that ZP brought to the game and the community. Hopefully they reconsider in the future.

Couldn't agree more, ZP and Hex began casting OW during the beta and casted the GG weeklies every weekend even casting both NA and EU which for them being NA wasn't easy and they casted as much as humanly possible so for him to be ignored is a massive low blow even more so with his partner getting the job as well, there's obviously a very good reason they didn't get him.

Just watched a best of Semmler compilation and he seems like a big downgrade on ZP. I'll give him his fair chance though cos OW is a completely different game to CS so he might change his style a bit

lets see if semmler can beat the record and become also the most hated caster in overwatch now

A lot of casters are going to be missing out because they are needed as talent for contenders.
Its highly likely the current casters of each regions current premier broadcasts will be covering the contenders broadcasts for each region.

So most likely,

• PapaSmithy, Wolf, Atlas and Achilios will be casting contenders Korea since they casted apex
• BobbyJ, Genome, Zenox, Raquet, ect would be casting ANZ contenders as there currently casting open
  div and casted our 10k tourneys back before blizz shut them down. (also go and watch ANZ contenders
  these guys are funny as fuck)
  -Pacific contenders is probably gonna be the boys from full circle from New Zealand who were casting
  OPC
• Contenders China will probably be covered by Jamerson and JKap since they did APAC and OWPS
• As for contenders Europe, NA and SA. I could only assume that Jkap, Zp, Left Guy, Jemerson are gonna
  be split across all 3 aswell as some new talent from stuff like Calegate and things (e.g maybe dogman)
  would be getting bumped up to cast contenders for those regions.

ManuxBaka [#9]

We don't know anything about that , maybe those caster can't live in the US for the year for some reason, maybe it"s some salary problems , maybe it's due to some VISA problems etc.

Lets just be happy to have a lot of amazing Caster for this game.

And mathematically there will be more game to cast at the Contenders than the OWL :)

I don't want to sound salty (and I do I know hehe), but:

• ZP lives in the US he's from there, Unlike the 2 Brits (I'm happy they are both in btw!) or Soe.
• What do you call being recognized? Casting a lot of League 2 matches or casting some League 1? Just to make a football analogy.

My point is that ZP is arguably the most knowledgeable caster around, been casting the game since its infancy, what he lacks is KO knowledge, and for that they brought in the fancy duo (Monte+Doa).

What else does he lack? He's not a dandy dude, and I honestly believe that's the reason they didn't call him in, he "doesn't look good enough for the role", I might very well be wrong, but eh that's my idea.

wentaway [#16]

I don't want to sound salty (and I do I know hehe), but:

• ZP lives in the US he's from there, Unlike the 2 Brits (I'm happy they are both in btw!) or Soe.
• What do you call being recognized? Casting a lot of League 2 matches or casting some League 1? Just to make a football analogy.

My point is that ZP is arguably the most knowledgeable caster around, been casting the game since its infancy, what he lacks is KO knowledge, and for that they brought in the fancy duo (Monte+Doa).

What else does he lack? He's not a dandy dude, and I honestly believe that's the reason they didn't call him in, he "doesn't look good enough for the role", I might very well be wrong, but eh that's my idea.

You are probably right, he does not look good enough on camera , but i hope it's not the only reason ...

ManuxBaka [#17]

You are probably right, he does not look good enough on camera , but i hope it's not the only reason ...

I know right? I reallly hope I'm wrong tbh, but the OWL is about marketability, and I can't honestly see any other reason 'cause they would pick anyone above ZP if we speak of "just" competence.

Oh well let's hope for him it's gonna change, for me personally is even better if he's gonna cast Contenders, since most of the OWL matches are outisde of my time-zone, while Contenders ones might be more easy to watch.

wentaway [#18]

I know right? I reallly hope I'm wrong tbh, but the OWL is about marketability, and I can't honestly see any other reason 'cause they would pick anyone above ZP if we speak of "just" competence.

Oh well let's hope for him it's gonna change, for me personally is even better if he's gonna cast Contenders, since most of the OWL matches are outisde of my time-zone, while Contenders ones might be more easy to watch.

thb he creeps me out with these glasses xD

This is OK : https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/803406052276502529/PjMhJumT.jpg

This is NOK : http://www.esportsheaven.com/_cache/ZP%20Header._880x400.jpg

ManuxBaka [#19]

thb he creeps me out with these glasses xD

This is OK : https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/803406052276502529/PjMhJumT.jpg

This is NOK : http://www.esportsheaven.com/_cache/ZP%20Header._880x400.jpg

Hehe yes don't remember which weekly (or other tournament) I saw him once, his cam very dark and these glasses standing out of the darkness. :)

Can we say it's sad to see only 1 female in those casters ?

Rachel "Seltzer" Quirico would be great as a desk analyst and lets be honest she looks great on TV too.

I hope this exclusion of analyst women will be correct soon and it will keep bringing more women to OW

Idk why there is so much negativity towards Semmler, i followed cs:go for 3 years and before 2k17 and Sadokists huge developement i always liked him the most out of the Talent there (my personal view). He has a really great showmanship which fits perfectly into sth huge as OWL and im 100% sure he has put in a lot of time and effort into getting experience & knowledge about Overwatch. I dont think anyone in cs:go disliked him because he was a bad caster and more because they got bored of Anders & him aswell as his "personality".
Im actually hyped the most for him and Crumbz because they will for sure be another really unique casting duo and give us a great experience watching!

Ofc it is sad that someone like ZP isnt in there, but Semmler in isnt the reason ZP is out.

ManuxBaka [#21]

Can we say it's sad to see only 1 female in those casters ?

Rachel "Seltzer" Quirico would be great as a desk analyst and lets be honest she looks great on TV too.

I hope this exclusion of analyst women will be correct soon and it will keep bringing more women to OW

If they are good then yeah, having another female caster would be great

Hater [#15]

A lot of casters are going to be missing out because they are needed as talent for contenders.
Its highly likely the current casters of each regions current premier broadcasts will be covering the contenders broadcasts for each region.

So most likely,

• PapaSmithy, Wolf, Atlas and Achilios will be casting contenders Korea since they casted apex
• BobbyJ, Genome, Zenox, Raquet, ect would be casting ANZ contenders as there currently casting open
  div and casted our 10k tourneys back before blizz shut them down. (also go and watch ANZ contenders
  these guys are funny as fuck)
  -Pacific contenders is probably gonna be the boys from full circle from New Zealand who were casting
  OPC
• Contenders China will probably be covered by Jamerson and JKap since they did APAC and OWPS
• As for contenders Europe, NA and SA. I could only assume that Jkap, Zp, Left Guy, Jemerson are gonna
  be split across all 3 aswell as some new talent from stuff like Calegate and things (e.g maybe dogman)
  would be getting bumped up to cast contenders for those regions.

There’s a good chance PapaSmithy and Achilios are becoming Riot casters

Xeon [#22]

Idk why there is so much negativity towards Semmler, i followed cs:go for 3 years and before 2k17 and Sadokists huge developement i always liked him the most out of the Talent there (my personal view). He has a really great showmanship which fits perfectly into sth huge as OWL and im 100% sure he has put in a lot of time and effort into getting experience & knowledge about Overwatch. I dont think anyone in cs:go disliked him because he was a bad caster and more because they got bored of Anders & him aswell as his "personality".
Im actually hyped the most for him and Crumbz because they will for sure be another really unique casting duo and give us a great experience watching!

Ofc it is sad that someone like ZP isnt in there, but Semmler in isnt the reason ZP is out.

The issue I have with both is that, they are not OW casters, they might be entertainers (but that's a matter of taste), but how many matches of OW have they played? How many have they casted before?

I know OWL is more a show than an actual league (no relegation, no promotion, owned by a single company, etc...) and so has to point on marketability above anything else, and it's fine, but I personally don't give 2 cents about it, I wanna watch good macthes commented by casters who actually know what they are casting and not just doing "general entertainment".

Then again more than happy to eat my words if they actually turn out to be good, but from my personal fan point of view they had plenty of ready to go experienced talent, they went for the "flashy" ones that MIGHT bring more viewers form other esports, but will be able to analyze a match like me if not worse (and I'm low gold/silver).

Hater [#15]

A lot of casters are going to be missing out because they are needed as talent for contenders.
Its highly likely the current casters of each regions current premier broadcasts will be covering the contenders broadcasts for each region.

So most likely,

• PapaSmithy, Wolf, Atlas and Achilios will be casting contenders Korea since they casted apex
• BobbyJ, Genome, Zenox, Raquet, ect would be casting ANZ contenders as there currently casting open
  div and casted our 10k tourneys back before blizz shut them down. (also go and watch ANZ contenders
  these guys are funny as fuck)
  -Pacific contenders is probably gonna be the boys from full circle from New Zealand who were casting
  OPC
• Contenders China will probably be covered by Jamerson and JKap since they did APAC and OWPS
• As for contenders Europe, NA and SA. I could only assume that Jkap, Zp, Left Guy, Jemerson are gonna
  be split across all 3 aswell as some new talent from stuff like Calegate and things (e.g maybe dogman)
  would be getting bumped up to cast contenders for those regions.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Heurix and GameWithStorm as well, those guys have put in a ton of work in the T2 scene and I would love to see them get some more big events

wentaway [#25]

The issue I have with both is that, they are not OW casters, they might be entertainers (but that's a matter of taste), but how many matches of OW have they played? How many have they casted before?

I know OWL is more a show than an actual league (no relegation, no promotion, owned by a single company, etc...) and so has to point on marketability above anything else, and it's fine, but I personally don't give 2 cents about it, I wanna watch good macthes commented by casters who actually know what they are casting and not just doing "general entertainment".

Then again more than happy to eat my words if they actually turn out to be good, but from my personal fan point of view they had plenty of ready to go experienced talent, they went for the "flashy" ones that MIGHT bring more viewers form other esports, but will be able to analyze a match like me if not worse (and I'm low gold/silver).

Alright, yea ofc i understand that concern, and it could turn out like that, but as i said, it is their Job (and i assume even their only one) and i resist to believe that a professional like Semmler didnt put hours and hours into theorycrafting and understanding the game for a lot of months now (maybe even since his first OW Event). He is able to cast, so if he learned enough about the game he will also be able to provide Quality analysis while doing so / catch all the important Plays at least if he is the play-by-Play caster of the duo^^

one more day guys. You feel the hype