dinko: "What made me choose moses was the fact that he has never really made his own new duo."

Dinko took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about the Paris Major, his new caster duo with moses, his old casting duo with Hawka and lots more!

Hugo “TheSwedishJoker” Nilsson Meier: I want to start by talking about the RMR. You were doing a little bit of everything there. Content, analyst, casting and interviewing. How was that whole experience for you as a whole, because I think it was the first time we have seen such a huge rotation amongst the talent instead of having people in set roles just doing their thing.

Adam “dinko” Hawthorne: The RMR was some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever done. Before heading into the event we were given set trios that we would work with throughout the event and I was very happy to be put in the group with Alex "Hawka" Hawkins and Lucy "LucyLuce" Eastwood. I was surprised at the amount of different roles each talent member had to do but it was just off the back of EPL and I had experience working in all of the different roles so I felt comfortable.

I knew that we would be doing some interviews but I did not expect the amount of interviews and especially loser interviews. The emotions at the RMR are higher than any other event because careers can be made and broken. So when you have a player who has just been eliminated, standing in front of you and you have limited experience interviewing, it can be tough to adapt to that, especially if you’ve been taken off a cast where your energy is super high and you haven’t watched the game you're interviewing for.

It was definitely tough at times but it was so rewarding getting to commentate the big qualifying moments and feeling the emotion of the moment. Where we were positioned as commentators was right beside the interviewing area so when you finished the cast you step out of the booth and all of the players are walking in from their game so you see the raw emotions both positive and negative and I saw some legends shedding tears. It was a privilege to have that kind of access to historic moments in our game.

Then you got to go to the Major in Paris as an interviewer, not as a caster. What was that like for you to be going to your first major and be interviewing rather than casting?

Yeah, the Paris Major call up was really unexpected. The invite came a few days after the RMR and when it came through I felt a strong mix of emotions.

It was the last CSGO Major. I had never worked a major in CS:GO and this was the only chance I would have to work one. I was very aware that there were risks involved. I haven’t spent my career honing my skills as an interviewer, studying vods and experimenting and improving at smaller events, like I have with casting, so I realized I’d be going into the deep end and I would either sink or swim.

I developed a philosophy that I had to stand by for that event. Which was to humble myself to a complete novice; asking for advice, taking on feedback & constantly improving as quickly as I could. I also just constantly reminded myself that this show is for Counter-Strike fans and I’m one of those. I’ve been a CS fan for the majority of my life so anything that I wanted to know or found interesting would likely be something the viewer would want to know too, so I got myself into that mindset. Finally, I realized this was the last CSGO Major. There’s a chance some of the biggest names in our game might hang up the mouse so I definitely readied myself for those kinds of outcomes in interviews and certainly felt the weight of the moment.

There were frustrating moments during the event where I feel that I received unwarranted criticism. Fans described and critiqued interviews that I didn’t conduct & had attached my name to them due to being misinformed. This obviously gains momentum when it’s posted in public forums and there were even articles written describing interviews that I didn’t do and attaching my name to the critique. I was obviously frustrated about this but I just had to remind myself that my fellow talent members and BLAST know the work I’ve done and I worked very hard to craft questions that would do justice to the players.

Overall, I’m happy with the work I did at the Major, there was a lot I could have done better but I feel like I had some great moments and interviews and I’ll always remember being a part of that special Major.

You and Hawka were a duo for so long, since 2018 when you won the ECS Community Caster Challenge. How was that whole journey with him going from that all the way to casting the big games and events?

Working with Alex was an incredible experience. We were just two young Counter-Strike super fans that got an amazing opportunity with the ECS CCC (Community Caster Challenge).

The first time I casted with Alex was long before the caster challenge though. We got randomly assigned to commentate with each other for a really small online tournament. I had never met Hawka but I had seen some of his work and knew him as the caster who casts with a HyperX headset.

We had to cast over Skype… It was getting closer to game start and there was no sign of Hawka. Suddenly my ears are being blasted by a very loud Serbian man (our producer) saying I’m gonna have to go alone. Hawka hasn’t shown up […] So off I go casting the BO3 on my own. The whole first map done. Then off we go to map 2 still on my own. Suddenly half way through the second map I hear the faint rattle of a headset microphone and there he is, HyperX Hawka himself just starts casting like nothing happened.

Then we won the caster challenge and casted together at the event. It went really well and when we got hired for the FACEIT minors right after I think we realised that we should give this a good go as a duo.

We started using our new found experience as leverage to get into other events and just kept naturally growing from there. Staying focused, staying committed and constantly improving. I think the best thing about our duo was we were both obsessed with the game and we wanted nothing more than to make this our life.

It’s so important to have someone on the same page as you when you’re in a dio so you can make improvements and work towards a common goal.

We started doing all the B streams and we even started making appearances on the A streams of top events but at one point I could feel the exponential rise starting to slow down. We got in a weird spot where our rates and standing got beyond the smaller tournaments we had done in the past and yet we didn’t have the pull as a duo to get hired consistently for the top events over other pairs. We didn’t want to take a step back so we just waited for the opportunities that came along.

Hawka then got hired for Flashpoint and that was the first time that one of us had been hired without the other. It was obviously Hawka’s biggest event in terms of prize pool, length and involvement. I was happy for him but obviously hungry to get there myself.

As time went on we stayed in this same stagnant position casting what we could and at the beginning of 2022 I got asked to cast IEM Katowice with Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill because Alex “Machine” Richardson had some personal matters to attend to. This was massive for me. Casting the main stream of IEM Katowice alongside SPUNJ is literally the dream for a PlayByPlay caster. I gave everything to that event and I was well received by the community. I then got hired with SPUNJ for the PGL RMRS and then later on for IEM Dallas but SPUNJ contracted covid and couldn’t attend the event and Hawka was brought in. It was really nice to be able to cast with Alex at an event like IEM Dallas considering our journey together but unfortunately he couldn’t stay for the playoffs due to contractual issues with another event. That’s when I got to cast the playoffs with Moses for the first time.

I had a taste in 2022 of the life I wanted and I came to the realization that it wouldn’t be possible to get there anytime soon if at all due to the scene at the time if I stayed in my current situation and I think Hawka realised that too.

Going into 2023 Bardolph had reached out to Hawka and they were going to do some events together and become a duo. This was obviously a massive opportunity for him and I had started to align myself with HenryG who was coming back and we had done a few events together.

Then with Moses reaching out to me and how the scene was looking I felt like it was the best move to make a long term duo with Jason "moses" O'Toole.

Do you reckon that if moses had not come knocking on your door you and Hawka would still be a duo?

No I don’t. With Hawka linking up with Bardolph and me casting with Henry at the time I think we would have just stayed in those new pairings because it was the best moving forward.

What was it that made you make the move to become a duo with moses? Was it a tough decision to make?

There was a lot to consider when choosing moses as my partner because Henry and I had started working together and we were really enjoying it. What made me choose moses was the fact that he has never really made his own new duo. He was always compared to Anders-Semmler duo then the Sado-Henry combo. So I thought it would be an exciting new project to build alongside Jason.

I also looked at how things were shaking out and Henry and I were struggling to break through to the bigger events together so I felt like it would be the better option to go with Moses for the long term.

It was a really tough decision because I found myself becoming really good friends with Henry and to have the option to work with Henry and Moses was a luxurious place to be. A dream position for a PbP caster.

Did he come to you and how long was this in the making before it became official?

Yes, Jason approached me at the start of the year and asked me what my situation looked like and we had a discussion. Then I went and spoke to the tournament organisers and got their thoughts too. It was in the making from February time.

How would you describe your duo?

Hmm, this is a good question. I’d describe our duo as a traditional, versatile & professional pairing. I’m the Play-by-Play that will bring the energy and excitement to the plays and put a stamp on the big moment and Jason is the experienced colour commentator who can provide context and also has the ability to work a crowd and do some PbP himself.

The vision is to take elements from each of the historical duos and add our own flair to it too.

Are there any similarities or differences compared to your previous duo with Hawka?

I would say yes. We have a similar style to what Hawka and I used to have. It’s been pretty easy because of that.

Does the timezone difference, you being in the UK and Moses in the US, make it hard sometimes?

No, I haven't noticed any issues there at all. At least for me haha. Perhaps Jason will have a different POV doing some of the online tournaments at 5am but I think he’s used to it after all these years.

You guys have casted some events together now. Has it been easy to get into it and to work together?

I’ve been happy with the work we’ve done so far. Our first event was ESL Pro League and that was obviously a very different style so I’m only really counting IEM Dallas and I’m very happy with what we did there. Plenty more to improve on though!

Was it a big step going from casting Tier 2 events and B-stream events to Tier 1 events and the A-stream events?

I think the actual casting was easier to transition to because the Tier 1 games have more of an obvious flow. The show also has a lot more support with graphics and more broadcast roles so you can just focus on the casting.

When I was in Tier 2 CS I was focusing on just understanding the fundamentals of the business and casting.

Have you guys set any goals yet for what you want to achieve together?

Our goals are lofty. We want to be a duo who challenge for finals, who work majors and are able to produce world class commentary and I’m confident we can do that. We’d love to work the majors coming up.

How do you feel that you have developed so far working with moses?

We’ve developed well. I’ve gained more of an understanding of the business side of esports and I’ve developed more of my skills outside of just commentary such as interview work and producing content ideas.

Do you expect to see an increase in workload now? How do you tackle that compared to when you were working with Hawka?

I’ve certainly seen an increase in workload of Tier 1 events compared to the past but we’ve missed out on a few events we thought we might be doing due to one thing or another. So our duo might be absent from a few events this year but expecting that to level out next season.

What can we expect to see from you guys in the future?

We’ll be working on building our duo towards the end of this year. You'll see us on ESL events and hopefully a few more surprises…