Talking

Storylines can also be very personal, and in fact some of the greatstories in esports come from exactly this. Although not nice, has aplayer recently lost a member of their family? Are they playing tosupport their family? Have they had hard times and a win herewould change their life?Style and the way someone plays can also be a story. Does the playeralways play the same way? If so, if they choose a different way toplay during your commentary, you will pick up on it - if they win orlose, it’s a story.As well as tournament stories, you can also work on match stories.Stats can again help here, especially if certain matchups have occurreda number of times. Is there a trend? Has one player or teamhad a run of losses or victories? Is there a specific head-to-headstatistic that sticks out (one player winning all ten matches theyhave played against another, for example)?You should also remember that losing statistics are often even morepowerful than winning ones. A player or team winning for the firsttime against an opponent they have never beaten in 20 attempts isa huge story.Most of these can be worked out well in advance of the tournamentor match, and you can write these up as potential storylines. Here’sa sheet from my preparation for BlizzCon 2014 which containsstatements that can lead to storylines for all of the players.CHEMISTRYYou’ll usually find yourself working alongside a co-host or cocommentator,and even as part of a trio on occasion. Regardless,it’s important to know that you are only as good as your partner on49