Nick “Tasteless” Plott
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Nicolas Plott (born August 11, 1984), known by his alias Tasteless, is an American
esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
commentator. He moved to
Seoul, Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
in 2007 to give commentary to e-sports competitions. He has provided commentary for multiple ''
Starcraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...
'' and ''
Starcraft 2 ''StarCraft II'' is a military science fiction video game created by Blizzard Entertainment as a sequel to the successful ''StarCraft'' video game released in 1998. Set in a fictional future, the game centers on a galactic struggle for dominance a ...
'' tournaments. Together with Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski, he currently provides commentary for Global ''StarCraft II'' League and AfreecaTV StarLeague games.


Early life

Plott grew up in
Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...
, along with his brother
Sean Plott Sean Saintmichael Plott (born June 27, 1986), better known as Day '', is an American esports commentator, player, event host, and game designer. Plott is best known for his contributions in the professional ''StarCraft'' scene, where he regular ...
, who is also an e-sports commentator. Upon graduation from high school, he attended
Regis University Regis University is a private Jesuit university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1877 by the Society of Jesus, the university offers more than 120 degrees through 5 colleges in a variety of subjects, including education, liberal arts, business, nu ...
in Denver studying philosophy and psychology, and was a member of the
parliamentary debate Parliamentary debate (also referred to as "parliamentary" or "parli") is an academic debate event. Many university-level institutions in English-speaking nations sponsor parliamentary debate teams. In addition the format is currently spreading to ...
team. He considered
law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
and philosophy dual Ph.D. programs but instead pursued ''StarCraft'' full-time.


''StarCraft'' career


Player

Plott and his younger brother
Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...
bought a copy of ''StarCraft'' from a local video game store in 1998 after hearing about the game's popularity. The brothers would watch each other play while offering gameplay advice. They played casually online, but were hampered by a slow Internet connection. They visited a nearby
Internet café An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage is generally ...
where they met players about five years older who would play and beat them. This loss and the ensuing
trash-talk Trash talk is a form of insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their abilities as to win ...
were an early inspiration for the brothers to hone their skills, though they never returned to the café. With the advent of high-speed Internet, the brothers played ''StarCraft'' competitively on Korean servers. They entered and won tournaments while in high school. Plott became uninterested in school when it did not let him incorporate ''StarCraft'' into his studies. He played the game through high school and college.


Commentator

Upon losing to his brother early in the
World Cyber Games 2005 The World Cyber Games 2005 was held in Singapore at Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 16 to 20 November 2005. There were over 800 players from 67 countries. Over 39,000 spectators turned up at the games to che ...
finals, Plott watched the rest of the games as a spectator. He became frustrated by the tournament commentator's inexperienced handling of in-game nuances and requested to co-host the commentary, which was a success. He received offers to commentate without pay in Europe, Japan, and Singapore. In Plott's last semester of college, Korean broadcasting company
GOM TV GOM Player is a media player for Windows, developed by GOM & Company. With more than 100 million downloads, it is also known as the most used player in South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in Ea ...
invited him to provide English commentary for competitive '' Starcraft: Broodwar'' series as part of a strategy to extend their reach. He dropped out of college and arrived in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
within a week. In Korea, Plott slept on friends' couches and worked as a caster where he could. This did not guarantee a career or easy move, but offered Plott an opportunity to make a career of his ''StarCraft'' commentary and become the first Western ''StarCraft'' commentator, or
caster A caster (or castor) is an undriven wheel that is designed to be attached to the bottom of a larger object (the "vehicle") to enable that object to be moved. Casters are used in numerous applications, including shopping carts, office chairs, t ...
, in South Korea in 2007. Plott provided commentary for the ''Star Invitational'', with around 75,000 viewers for the finals, and 3 seasons of the ''
Averatec TriGem Computer Co., Ltd. (, abbreviated TG, also known as TGSambo), was a South Korean personal computer manufacturer and technology company. Established in 1980, TriGem was the first Korean company dedicated to manufacturing computer systems. ...
-
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
Classic''. Plot was joined by Susie 'lilsusie' Kim as co-caster for one season of the ''Avertec-Intel Classic''. Plott first met Kim at
BlizzCon BlizzCon is an annual gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its major franchises including ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft'', '' Diablo'', '' Hearthstone'', ''Heroes of the Storm,'' and ''Overwatch''. The first BlizzCon was hel ...
in 2005.As ''StarCraft II''s launch neared, Plott and another American commentator living in Seoul, Dan "Artosis" Stemkoski, had individually amassed followings, and had the interest of commercial broadcast networks. The two began casting together and became known by a
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words Before this partnership, the two knew each other through their former competitive gaming careers, but became friends in Korea. ''
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'' attributed their success to their "magic" dynamic from complementary personalities, with Plott bold and sociable, and Stemkoski encyclopedic and analytic. A
crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...
documentary about their careers, ''Sons of StarCraft'', was released in 2014. Plott and Stemkoski prepare separately, with Stemkoski constantly watching ''StarCraft'' matches and Plott studying commentary from non-traditional sports and major ''StarCraft'' news. Together, they incorporate team histories and their respective strategies into their commentary. Plott has said that he considers Tastosis' nuanced readings of player tactics and their eventualities as a "gateway" for bringing unfamiliar crowds into ''StarCraft''. Due to the age range of their audience being 15–32, they try to incorporate humor as well. Plott cast alongside Stemkoski at the
2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series The 2012 StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) is part of the Battle.net World Championship Series, a series of video game tournaments held by Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of the video game ''StarCraft II'' (SC2). Tournaments were he ...
Europe finals, Australian and Oceania finals, and UK nationals,
DreamHack DreamHack is an ESL Gaming brand specializing in esports tournaments and other gaming conventions. It is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records and Twin Galaxies as being the world's largest LAN party and computer festival with the world's fa ...
Winter 2011,
IGN Pro League ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
Season Two, and
Major League Gaming Major League Gaming Corp. (MLG) is a professional esports organization. MLG is headquartered in New York City, New York and was founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the ...
2012 Spring Arena, Raleigh, and 2011 Orlando. Plott was among the first group to sign to the electronics sports agency eSports Management Group in 2012. In a '' StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm''
Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...
, two in-game characters are named after the casters. In 2016,
AfreecaTV AfreecaTV ( ko, 아프리카TV, short for "Any FREE broadCAsting") () is a P2P technology-based video streaming service. It is now owned and operated by AfreecaTV Co., Ltd. in South Korea after Nowcom's AfreecaTV Co., Ltd and ZettaMedia split in ...
brought back ''Starcraft: Broodwar'' competition with the AfreecaTV Starleague. Both Plott and Stemkoski were English commentators. In 2017, Plott as well as his brother and Stemkoski hosted an event marking the release of ''Starcraft Remastered''. In an interview with the ''
Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacturer ...
'', Plott stated: "Since I was a little kid, I always wanted to come to Korea because this is the place where the StarCraft tournaments were started."


Personal life

In his free time, Tasteless regularly streams
Starcraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance am ...
gameplay on his
Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
Channel in which he typically plays as Protoss. As of December 2022 he has over 53,000 followers on Twitch.


See also

* ''StarCraft: Brood War'' professional competition


References


External links


Life as an e-sports TV commentator
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BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Nick Plott interview
- Korea Observer
Tasteless and Artosis on 19 Years of StarCraft (And Counting)
- Blizzard {{DEFAULTSORT:Plott, Nick American Internet celebrities American sports announcers StarCraft commentators Living people StarCraft players People from Kansas City, Kansas 1984 births