Let me start by saying that I am and have been a huge fan of Tasteless' casting ever since the first time I heard him cast. His great sense of humor combined with his relaxed style of analysis was a big part of what got me into watching Starcraft 2.
Lately though I haven't enjoyed his casting quite as much, and I've actually heard the same from a lot of other people.
In my opinion this is a terrible shame since I believe he has the exact skills needed in order to draw new viewers to SC2.
It's been obvious for some time that Tasteless' analytical knowledge of the game in many ways is quite inferior to that of Artosis, and many other casters.
In my opinion this is not the problem though, cause Tasteless has never seemed to be as analytical as for instance Artosis, but instead has had his own more casual style, which is also part of what makes them a great combo.
Lately though it has felt even more like Tasteless simply isn't keeping up with the constant strategic developments of the game, making his analysis often seem irrelevant or simplistic, at least to all us hardcore SC nerds.
At the same time though it feels like Tasteless has been somewhat aware of people's criticism against him not being analytical enough. In my opinion this has caused him to spend a lot of time stating useless strategic stuff or repeating Artosis' analysis when casting.
And this gets me to my main point.
Tasteless is in my opinion one of the absolute most grounded and interesting guys in the entire community (without knowing him in real life of course).
To me he actually seems to rest within himself A LOT more than many other prominent people (including players, casters, bloggers and so forth) in the community.
This is also a big part of what makes him seem like such an appealing caster and human being.
I also believe that this is why his jokes, analogies and stories have always seemed so funny in an original way that few people can copy without seeming extremely fake.
The skills that Tasteless possesses are in my opinion extremely valuable in a niche community like SC2, which it in a lot of ways still is.
In fact I believe he is one of the people that actually has what it takes to truly push the game towards becoming mainstream entertainment.
And the problem is that this entire discussion isn't adressed enough.
A lot of people and players often just criticize Tasteless of being a bit analytically incompetent, but I think the community, as well as Tasteless himself, needs to start realizing the necessity and beauty of just being entertaining when casting.
In my opinion Tasteless should just focus a lot less on complicated analysis and a lot more on entertaining the viewers.
On "Real Talk" Tasteless himself says that Artosis and him used a lot of energy on preparing jokes or comical stories when they started working for GomTV (Interview with Tasteless on Real Talk).
I think he should focus on this as he really is one of the few people that can do so without being a complete phony.
Which is partly due to him actually being able to make fun of himself and not always needing to seem "cool" when he is on camera.
If the Starcraft community is to keep expanding it's reach for non-playing Starcraft viewers, then the perfect style of casting would be one that truly incorporated both entertainment and the analytical side.
For instance by having one really analytical caster, and one really entertaining caster who could perhaps then also explain the game to noobs.
I know some people often compare Starcraft casters to casters of other established sports, and with this in mind state that SC casters must be serious and analytical in order for the scene to appear professional.
But the truth is that Starcraft is a lot different from most sports and also a lot more complicated to newcomers. Besides, most casters of other sports are in my opinion quite boring compared to most SC2 casters.
I believe the generation that watches SC2 in some ways are a lot more culturally developed, especially with regards to incorporating humor in everything they do.
Therefore SC 2 should of course also represent this when it comes to casting.
I could go on rambling about this forever but I won't.
The truth is that I have an insane amount of respect for Tasteless and I feel pretty sure that he will always cast in the way that he feels the most comfortable with.
But I just think it's a shame if people eventually grow tired of his casting simply because of his analytical flaws, when in truth, he might exactly have what is needed for this community to grow.
Tasteless should just allow this side of himself to flourish on camera simply by not holding himself back.
Perhaps he should even spend some more energy on preparing "jokes" or "analogies", since they actually often end up giving a healthy perspective to the game.
But that's just my opinion anyway...
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