Discussion Between the Teamfights
Taking advantage of the “slow” moments in MOBAs
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Don’t ever kill time
The calls during teamfights are often the most memorable. However especially in MOBAs there is quite a bit of down time. Instead of thinking of how to “kill” this time, you should use it to your advantage to deepen the story you, your co-caster, and entire production are putting together.
Talk about what the audience should be looking for
Check out this clip of Captain Flowers and Vedius on play-by-play and color respectively during League of Legends Worlds 2017 play in stages. Listen for their discussion on Jensen of C9.
Here’s the discussion:
- 0:00 (Vedius, Color) — Brings up how C9 historically (as in Rift Rivals) has focused on getting Jensen the advantage, especially when put on a carry champion.
- 0:16 (Captain Flowers, PBP) — Points out how there is no exhaust summoner spell to reduce Jensen’s damage, which further supports the story that Jensen is in a position to carry in this game.
- 0:32 (Vedius, Color) — In addition, points out that Team oNe is squishy so Jensen has many options to choose from. Also points out that the kit of Team oNe’s champions don’t provide much crowd control at all. Both points support the same story that Jensen is in a position to carry the game.
All the points brought up in this conversation point towards Jensen being able to carry, and now the audience knows that he is a player to watch for in the game.
After you establish what to look for, how does it go?
Now the casters can return to whatever point was made before throughout the remainder of the broadcast. Do C9 execute teamfights correctly and win as a result? If they lose, what did Jensen not do correctly? Do the team not put Jensen in a position to win? Returning to the story line allows for a richer audience experience since it becomes more clear what made that match special.
If you’re curious, the entire C9 team do well in this match and Jensen does take advantage of the squishy champions, no crowd control, and lack of exhaust:
Written for Broadcast.gg, a community of esports broadcasters improving by iterating, sharing, and giving feedback on tools, resources, and methodologies. Join the Discord, and follow us on Twitter for updates!
