What does it take to become an esports caster? Read below for a full breakdown of the Cast This series presented by Xbox. Meet the casters, learn about the sessions and watch the episodes.
There are a lot of great casters in esports, but there is always room for more- especially for more underrepresented individuals. But how do you start? What does it take?
Cast This presented by Xbox aims to inspire and educate individuals with aspirations to enter the casting world by showcasing the journey of two casters who only had a couple of months to prepare for the biggest event of their lives.
Read below to learn more about the series.
The Setting
EsportsU, Paidia Gaming and Xbox partnered together to invite the first ever all-women's teams to the Collegiate Esports Commissioner's Cup in Texas, the biggest collegiate LAN in North America. The partnership is focused on up-levelling women in the competitive Valorant space. With that in mind, we had the opportunity to invite two casters to commentate the big moment of the first-ever all-women’s teams to compete on the main stage. We decided to invite casters who would also be having their first big moment at an offline event.
Finding our Aspiring Casters
It all started when we asked our community to put forward names of women who are looking to take their casting skills to the next level and would benefit from the opportunity to get access to mentors and training sessions. We also hosted a TikTok Cast This challenge where we asked anyone interested, to commentate over gameplay in various Xbox Game Pass titles. To no surprise, we had a line-up of candidates all promising for this adventure. After our panel of experts reviewed the candidates we selected the 2 casters and invited them to join us in LA for a casters in training bootcamp !
Meet Camilla Panda and MsAshRocks!
Camilla Panda (left) and MsAshRocks (right) immediately prove their chemistry on Day 1 of the LA session
Camilla Panda, is no stranger to casting , she is a known face within the Robotics scene but has been wanting to branch out into esports, specifically VALORANT.
Follow Camilla on social
“I wanted to inspire kids to pursue what they loved and help show that robotics like gaming is for everyone. After getting more comfortable casting, I realized I wanted to do the same for the first hobby I truly was passionate about- competitive gaming.” -CamillaPanda
MsAshRocks, has been streaming for over 7 years with VALORANT being her favourite game to play on stream with her community. She’s been hosting community customs and has recently started to opt out of being a competitor and take the time to cast.
Follow MsAsh on social
Meet our Industry Mentors
To ensure our casters-in-training were given the resources they needed to succeed we gathered some of the industry’s finest.
missharvey and Vansilli during an interview at the LA casters training camp
Mentors
(Left to Right) Vansilli, thisiscamco, Camilla Panda, MsAshRocks, missharvey and Riv pose for a group shot during the training session in LA
Vansilli - Play-by-Play Valorant Caster and Cast This’s main mentor
missharvey - gaming executive but we prefer to call her a gaming icon
Riv -Color Caster
thisiscamco - Esports host and Paidia’s Partnership Activation Manager
Anna Bynum - e.l.f. Cosmetics Global Makeup Artist
Industry Experts
Erin Ashley Simon - multi-media personality, host, producer, consultant and part-owner of XSET
Larry Hryb - Xbox’s Major Nelson & Podcast Host
Marina Mastros - Improv Specialist at Stage Coach Improv
Julie Woods - Director of Technical Production
AshCasts - Valorant Color Caster
The Sessions
Starting with the basics: Improv and Voice
You never know what’s going to be thrown your way when on camera. Having skills to improvise are essential to becoming a great caster. Whether you’re faced with a technical difficulty or a schedule change, being able to act quickly is an asset. That’s why we had Improv Coach Marina Mastros from Stage Coach Improv join us on set to take the casters and mentors through a series of exercises.
Marina Mastros presenting alongside Mike McLendon to the mentors and trainees
CamillaPanda and MsAshRocks during an improv session
Preparing for any scenario
From Technical or tactical pauses to your set-up, there are many things to consider when preparing to be on camera casting. For this session our casters first joined our mentors on the couch to talk candidly about their set-ups, professionalism and how to prepare for any casting event before being challenged with casting simulations involving the unexpected you should always expect.
Vansilli and missharvey observe as MsAshRocks and Camilla Panda cast over gameplay from the Paidia Cup Matchmaking Season sponsored by Xbox scrim round replays
Getting camera ready with e.l.f. Cosmetics
Camilla Panda and MsAshRocks applying e.l.f. Power Grip Primer
Depending on the event; offline, online, LAN, big stadium event you might not have access to a designated stylist to get you camera ready. e.l.f. Cosmetics Global Makeup Artist, Anna Bynum joined the casters on site to help them explore their unique casting persona.
MsAshRocks and Camilla Panda during the e.l.f. Cosmetics session
Camilla Salazar-Hadaway and Anna Bynum in conversation during the personal branding session
What to expect at big events
In preparation for the Collegiate Esports Commissioner's Cup presented by McDonald’s our mentors prepared MsAsh and Camilla with discussions around how to manage producers in your ear, the importance of research and expert advice on how to make an impression on the event that hired you.
MsAshRocks and Camilla Panda are taking producer queues from mentors Vansilli and missharvey
Discovering the roles of a duo
After discussing the roles of color and play-by-play MsAsh and Camilla had their eureka moment of who was suited for each of the roles.
Camilla showed signs of a natural color caster whereas MsAsh felt confident in both but with our mentors analyzing their gameplay simulations felt MsAsh’s natural ability was as a play-by-play due to the excitement in her voice when covering the round.
Valorant Masterclass
Now that our duo had the foundation down, Vansilli and Riv dove into topics around casting Valorant. From a pop quiz with Riv to breaking down the flow of a round our casters proved that they were natural experts within the game and ready for the big day.
Riv during a couch session with our casters-in-training
After the training session in LA, the casters spent 2 months working as a duo. Talking to Vansilli often for 1:1 sessions to really help them hone their skills.
Paidia Cup Matchmaking Season Finals sponsored by Xbox at CECC Texas
The duo arrived in Arlington, Texas for their big casting debut. The excitement was high and the nerves were subdued because MsAsh and Camilla’s confidence was apparent, they were ready to take the stage.
Views from the controller room at CECC Texas. Can you spot our casters?
During The Paidia Cup Matchmaking Season Sponsored by Xbox, we had a technical pause before match 1 UH Scarlet vs Powerpuff Girls. The duo within the first minute of entering the stage had to put their improv skills to the test and keep the audience captivated.
Camera-eye view
Aerial view from the PC Game Pass Lounge at CECC Texas
In between matches the duo were informed by the producers of special guests joining them on the stage (it was not planned) but luckily the two of them spent some time over the weekend getting to know the players and sponsors!
The moment MsAshRocks was getting a producer request while on-air to fill time
The final skill that got put to the test was a sponsor read with clear instructions to introduce the CEO of Paidia Gaming to the stage to present the trophy. The prompt was flawless and the duo successfully completed their live casting debut.
Our Valorant casters MsAshRocks and Camilla Panda
