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"The NA Scene Sucked at CSGO" Richard Lewis Interviews OnFireMoses

July 26, 2021

Chief Content Coordinator that is mildly obsessed with Dota 2. Other video games are cool too. Master of BioChem in my other life.

Richard Lewis sits down with long time friend and top CSGO commentator OnFireMoses to give you guys the full story. Why NA sucked at the beginning of CSGO, a look into early days of competition, choosing a girlfriend over competing, the grind to become a top tier talent.

1:25 - Let's get started - who is OnFireMoses?
1:40 - It was back when the M4 had a scope on it
4:50 - What did the competitive landscape look like?
6:00 - The NA scene at the beginning of CSGO sucked
8:50 - The local scenes in NA were much more prevalent
9:20 - We packed six guys in a car and spent 4 months on the road "If you don't win this event, you can't afford to go to the next event"
10:00 - Give me a list of what you won
12:55 - Where did your alias come from? "People always thought I was gay, or a girl. It increases a lot of the shit talk that comes your way"
14:55 - Richard "Regret it every god damn day of my life"
16:30 - Moses on balance "I got a girlfriend, and that was the hardest... I chose the girlfriend over counter-strike at the time"
18:30 - Pay-per-view tournaments
19:45 - Moses "I was probably the most outspoken against Source"
25:00 - "I remember practicing after being away for so long, and the game changes"
27:20 - Richard "The fact that we had to have a third party plugin to make Source work... is crazy"
30:10 - Okay 2007, you gave up the girlfriend - CGS was happening, where were you?
30:30 - Moses "I harbored the dream of being a Dota 1 pro"
35:30 - CyberX games disaster
39:30 - "You were sleeping in the back of your car to go to an event"
43:30 - Richard developed the "elder statesman" of the community persona
48:45 - Moses "My skill wasn't my primary attribute"
50:00 - "If I never played, I don't think I would have been successful"
53:00 - "I can see the narcissism of being a top player at the time"
54:20 - "I think 50k got dropped on new PC parts" by one guy
1:01:00 - Why aren't certain talent getting hired "It all comes down to networking - it's not just politics"
1:05:00 - "You are judged frequently by your co-commentator"
1:06:00 - Richard "It's not being an asshole, it's trying to pull the broadcast out of a slump"
1:11:00 - I feel like I didn't hit my stride as a commentator until late 2017
1:18:20 - Esports audiences vs sports audiences
1:20:00 - "There is an identity crisis in counterstrike right now for what we want our desks to be"
1:25:30 - DreamHack wanted to pair Moses & Natu up "This cannot be a good casting pair... I regret this decision"
1:31:45 - "The problem with esports production is we just don't have this"
1:32:30 - The different esports cliches in the high school lunch room
1:33:40 - The best way to highlight the difference between CSGO and Dota 2
1:37:20 - Richard "If they were to shut CSGO down, what would you do?"
1:38:00 - "I have no desire to stream"
1:40:50 - Arena vs Studio level of analytics to match the event
1:45:20 - Richard "Last question. What are your proudest moments?"
1:49:30 - "What's coming up next for you?"