The Gaming Stadium hosted both a Starcraft II and Rocket League Open Series this last weekend. The best of the northwest competed to see who would be crowned the champion. In addition to the $2000 total prize pool, we had the pleasure of having Alex “Axeltoss” Rodriguez cast both of the events. We sat down with him at the end of day two to hear his thoughts on his experience at TGS, as well as his career as a caster.
This is the first event that Axeltoss attended at The Gaming Stadium. While there were many notable highlights throughout the event, he enjoyed the social aspect of the LAN events the most.
“You’re seeing faces, you’re seeing people, and as a guy who is in a studio everyday, being able to just hang out and talk to people is a thrill. It’s just such a thrill for any video game fans to attend a LAN. That’s probably my favorite moment– just hanging out. Literally just hanging out, and obviously the level of competition is really cool here. I might have to get the best of Seattle and have you guys face off.”
Axeltoss’s career has revolved around his three favourite things: journalism, sports, and video games. He picked up the hobby of casting by commentating his friends’ StarCraft II matches, and was inspired by South Korean television broadcasts. He used justin.tv, a broadcasting service available during the time, and started his broadcasting career from his dorm at Texas A&M. The future of esports and broadcasting is promising to Axeltoss, and he is inspired by all the resources that are available to enter the industry.
“I see no slowing down. I think [the state of esports] is in a really wonderful space right now. Ultimately, it’s up to game developers for a lot of these projects to really succeed– they’re the ones making the games and doing the esports operations. But the entire world is interested in all of this and it’s only going to grow. I cannot fathom what the future will look like.”
Axeltoss recently moved to Seattle, Washington and is looking forward to attending more of our events in the future! His goal right now is set on helping out the esports scene in both Seattle and Vancouver. We look forward to his future attendance at the Stadium. Who knows, maybe we’ll be seeing him again at the TGS casters’ deck? Make sure to follow our events page for updates on all of our upcoming events!
Did you miss the action? Check out our videos from the tournament below!
Starcraft II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF5KxjRSgNU
Rocket League: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZjR5DO1iIo&t=122s