Pansy’s advice for aspiring casters: “Work harder than me”

Few voices in Valorant are as recognizable as Lauren “Pansy” Scott’s. From VCT Champions every year to VCT EMEA, to today’s Game Changers Championship in Seoul, her delivery, depth of knowledge, and iconic calls have defined the esport. Hotspawn caught up with her onsite at GCC Seoul to talk about the level of competition this year, her casting process, and what it means to stay resilient in esports for over a decade.

Hotspawn: Firstly, how are you doing today, Pansy?

Pansy: I’m good. I’m finally over the jet lag and slight tiredness. So now I’m feeling pretty good. I mean, and it’s been a great day of games already.

Hotspawn: So I heard that you got in and immediately had to jump into a game.

Pansy: It’s been pretty quick. It’s been pretty quick at times, but overall, it’s been super good so far. I love being in Korea as well, so it always helps. The coffee’s good, the people are good, the food’s great. So yeah, I’m super happy.

Hotspawn: And how have the games been? You said they were great this year.

Pansy: It’s a blessing and a curse, right? Because part of you as a caster, you’re like: two maps, go home, sleep, get rid of that jet lag, relax, maybe go get Korean barbecue, you know. And then we’ve had absolute bangers: three maps, OTs, really close games. So we’re not getting out of here when it’s still daylight. It’s going late, but in a really good way. So it just means it’s getting more and more competitive.

I remember going back to the early days of GC and it was very one-sided with certain top-end teams. Now it feels like the gap’s closing a lot. It’s getting a lot more competitive in that mid-pack and even towards the top end, especially like the Shopify game going right now. So yeah, the gap between is getting much tighter. The games are getting much closer.

Hotspawn: As somebody who works not just Game Changers EMEA, but also works on all these international events, you talked about the gap closing and everything.

So what do you say about the competitive standard of this year’s teams compared to last year’s?

Pansy: I think you only have to look at someone like Shopify Rebellion and seeing what they’re doing outside of GC to kind of get the marker of it. They’re already in Challengers. They’re pushing some great teams. They were an incredibly competitive side and I think seeing other teams keeping up close to them, you get a little bit of a marker of where these teams are and they’re getting better and better. They’re getting closer and closer. I mean, they’re within touching distance now, some of these teams. So, yeah, they’re very good, and they’re only getting stronger.

Hotspawn: What does an average day for you look like when you’re working?

Pansy: We can go through kind of today so far. Get up—at the moment it’s a bit weird because we got a bit of jet lag. So that kind of adds in a couple of hours being pushed to the other side. But also my call time at the moment is about three to four in the afternoon because we’re on the second game. So you want to try and sleep as late as possible. Basically, some of these games are going super late, so you want to try and get that amount of sleep.

So wake up, instantly, it’s coffee. Get caffeinated. Got to be done. Try and write down a couple of narrative notes because I feel like that’s a nice time to do it. You’re still fresh in the mind of yesterday’s games or what you’ve got coming up today. So write down a couple of notes about some of the storylines I like to talk about when we get to the game series.

Pansy: Shower — actually, I’ve got a bath in my hotel, which has been so nice.

Hotspawn: Especially with the cold.

Pansy: Really nice hot bath. That has been incredible. And then eventually more coffee on the way to the studio. Then sit down with potter and we kind of talk through what our talking points are for the game coming up. ‘Oh, are you more interested in the map veto?’ ‘Oh, what do you think about them running this agent?’ ‘How do you think about this player?’ ‘How’s that head-to-head looking?’ Sort of like bullet point out five or six points.

Have a chat to production, make sure they’re all good to go, make sure everything’s sorted, and then you know — actually do the job. So that’s kind of the schedule at the moment. And then obviously we go get a convenience store beer or some sort of food afterwards.

It’s been really nice actually, working with this team. It feels a bit different. It always does at Game Changers because we get potter, which we’re normally not allowed. But I love getting Christine. She’s one of my favourite people to cast with, actually, and it’s a rare treat, so always nice to have her here.”

Hotspawn: Do you prefer PanPoc or Pots and Pans?

Pansy: I can’t answer that. That’s crazy. They both have an incredibly unique aspect to them. And I love working with potter because I’ve known her for, like, God, it must be like 15 years now. But obviously Hypoc is my main duo, my one and only. But, you know, Christine’s my little bit on the side, you know what I mean? I’m stepping out on my work husband, I go and see Christine.

Hotspawn: It must be nice to have Hypoc back this year after a long hiatus and stuff. It was really nice to catch you guys on EMEA again.

Pansy: Yeah, it’s good to have him back. He was sorely missed and he’s, quite literally, impossible to replace. As much as I joke about Christine, he is super talented and probably one of my best friends that I get to work with. So it’s a joy to work with him. I’m glad he’s back.

Hotspawn: How did you guys start duoing together?”

Pansy: Funny enough, it was through our agency. He was with the same talent agency as me, but we both worked in PUBG. He was more North America because he used to be a professional PUBG player, then went on to the analyst desks. And when Valorant first came out, he started making more like YouTube content and live streams about it. He was grinding as well. I mean, he was living his life in solo queue and my agents were like, ‘Oh, well, Valorant’s coming in.’

I’d cast it with Goldenboy, Puckett — just about anyone who was around at the time — and they’re like, ‘Well, how about Hypoc?’ And I’m like, ‘Ah, maybe we can give it a try.’ Not sure, because I hadn’t worked with him in PUBG. I knew about him, but we never worked together. We both had separate things. And from the very word go, I was like, ‘Okay, this makes sense.’ So yeah, that was kind of the start of it.

Hotspawn: What do you look for in a duo?

What makes a duo really stand out to you when you’re casting with them?

Pansy: Humor is always the main thing. I think for me it’s having a blend of personality that you can deal with because you end up talking to them essentially up to six, seven hours. If you’re in a best-of-five that goes the distance, you’re there just talking as humans. As much as you have the game, you still have to convey some sort of back and forth. And I think that’s what makes some of the best duos really, really, really good, is that they can actually get on well as humans and they have a good rapport.

So I’ve been lucky getting Mike. And same with Christine. She’s always a pleasure. She’s too talented to be a coach is what I’m saying. But I don’t know, she’s doing quite well at that job, so that’s fair. But no, I see it in a lot of the great duos, you know, Bren and Sideshow, they’re good friends, good humor together. You go back throughout time, it’s always there, it’s always a key aspect of it. So I’d say that certainly helps.

Hotspawn: I know you get a lot of praise, but I’m pretty sure sometimes online I see you responding to Twitter trolls and stuff.

I know you do a pretty good job of dealing with it, but when you read those kind of hate comments, what goes through your mind?”

Pansy: It’s weird. These days I’m old and jaded, so I don’t care as much. If someone’s actually creative enough to say something I haven’t heard before, that’s when I’m like, ‘Damn, you actually got me on that, man, that’s crazy.’ But I also don’t get it like I used to. I mean, Counter-Strike was a very different time. The internet has really changed.

Don’t get me wrong, there will be people occasionally like, ‘Oh, you’re biased.’ That is such a minuscule thing. I don’t mind it, because it only comes from a fan who’s upset that their team’s lost and they’re annoyed that I’ve praised the other team. So they see it as bias. Whereas if you’re a neutral party, whoever wins deserves the praise. Whoever loses — you go back, you try harder, you come back. That’s just the natural order of things. So I understand from a real fan perspective how if they listen to co-streamers who only talk positively about their favorite team, that’s what they want to hear. And I get that.

So when they hear someone who’s technically neutral, they’ll think, ‘Oh, they’re being against my team.’ ‘They’re not praising them like this [person] does or how I see it.’ ‘Oh, it was only unlucky they lost.’ So I understand why some fans who are maybe either new to sport, new to esports, see it like that. So I don’t really care so much. It doesn’t really affect me. And honestly, everything else normally is fucking weak.

It’s one of those things where I’m like, I literally was a professional Call of Duty player. I’ve been on the internet since I was too young to be on it. The insults are boring. You gotta come up with something kind of good these days to actually get me a little riled. And to be fair, once in a while someone will say something, I’m like, ‘Ah, you tilted me.’ ‘Yeah, you got me.’ I can’t look at it because it’s gonna annoy me, so I’m just gonna go for a walk. But it’s rare these days that it actually annoys me.

Hotspawn: You said you were previously a Call of Duty player.

Did you always want to be a shoutcaster?

Pansy: Yeah, I played at the time. Shoutcasting wasn’t a career at all when I really started. There were one or two people at most globally who ever made anything close to a financial income from it at that time. So it was never an option in my head. It was something that I slowly stumbled into and I think was too stupid to walk away from when I probably should have. So, no, I think out of sheer stubbornness I stuck with it.

And I love what I do, don’t get me wrong, it is my dream job. But no, I used to work in legislation in roadworks. I used to work for the local government. It was very, very boring and doing data input and just the usual kind of standard jobs because you had to pay bills. And I just loved esports. So I’m lucky that it was eventually a path that was available and I just kept stumbling back into it.

Hotspawn: I know there’s a lot of people who look up to you and who are looking to work in esports. And of course with the market, it’s very difficult to consistently make an income, like you said.

So what would be your advice to aspiring folks?

Pansy: Work harder than me. I know it sounds silly, right? But I’m — oh, I’m old. I’m 35. If you’re a 21-year-old, either you’re still in uni, coming out of uni, whatever it is — co-stream everything you can. Make more content, make more shorts, sit there and VOD review. Everything you do, try and do player interviews, try and find a way in. You can be your own agent in a way in this day and age.

You can make your own channels, you can make your own YouTube, you can push your own content. And if you find something you’re good at and you’re willing to work on your craft, you can. And it may take a long time, it may not be instantaneous, I get that. But the roads are there for you. So push, be consistent.

Again, if you go up to any big streamer — how did they get it? It’s merely consistency and a bit of luck. And it’s somewhat the same thing in casting. You can improve, you can work at it, you can try and build your craft further. And I think you have to be willing to do more and outwork people who hold the positions. And I don’t think it’s impossible. I think it’s hard and I don’t think it’s always fair. That’s always the tough part.

Technically you could probably outwork me, you could probably outwork half of the talent. But would someone notice that first time? Probably not. So it’s that willingness to continue to do it again and again until maybe someone notices. Maybe the audience notices, maybe build a community who loves your work and it starts popping up on the subreddit and then maybe Riot sees that. Then maybe they think, ‘Oh, maybe try them out on tier two, tier three,’ and then you get that slow build-up. The avenues are there. I think you have to be very self-motivated and be really willing to push for it.

Hotspawn: Talking about self-improvement, how do you keep yourself constantly improving or what’s your process for VOD reviews? Do you have anything in particular you do?”

Pansy: I’m just deranged at this point. It’s the same as why, as a player, you want to be better. Even if you’re winning, you still know that there’s more to give. There’s always that X percentile you can do a little bit better in. So I think mentally for me, if I ever think I’ve hit a good marker, that I’ve plateaued, then I probably should start walking away because you lose a bit of that drive. So I think for me it’s just the continuation to chase being whatever the best is, right? Whatever that definition is.

And that kind of keeps me going. And I’ll VOD review, I’ll sit there — I mean, I have a million and one methods that I’ll go to that help me at least. And it doesn’t always work for other people, right? I know some of the Counter-Strike guys completely just turn up on the day, no notes, no nothing. And that’s how they feel the best. That’s how they feel natural about it. They’re confident in their work, they don’t want to over prep.

Whereas all the other CS casters, for example, they’ll be practising their winning lines in the hotel room and everyone’s hearing through the door, or they write notes. I’m a note taker. I love doing my little notes at the start of the day, I give myself some backup words. I’ll do a VOD review, I’ll figure stuff out so I’m never left lost on the spot. But it’s each to their own. So you’ve got to find out what works for you and it’s trial and error.

“There’s a new king of hell!” #BestOfVCT

🎙 @pansy & @hypoc

Relive some of the best caster calls from VCT 2023: https://t.co/LLZX1nOJlJ pic.twitter.com/x2le2WLzJj

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) November 8, 2023

Hotspawn: Out of curiosity, you know that line when you said, ‘There’s a new King of Hell’—did you come up with that on the fly?

Pansy: When yay got his nickname, you always want to play around with it. It makes it easy. And then in my head, there’s obviously all the lines with yay that exist. And then with Demon1, I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s something I could work on there.’ So it was always the thought of it. I think I came up with it that morning, I’d written a couple of different iterations of it and I’m like, ‘If it works, cool.’ ‘If nothing happens, whatever, I’ll bin it.’ But there’s been a lot of those lines that never get used. The moment never comes around.

So I think also a lot of casters fall into the trap of wanting to crowbar one in, make sure everything’s this super punchy big moment. And not everything always is. And if you’re constantly sending these sound bites, people are like, ‘Okay dude, it was like two kills, calm down.’ So you’ve got to find the moment and that’s when you can actually go for it. So yeah, I was lucky on that one. It was just stars aligning.

Hotspawn: Last question.

Who do you think is winning this event?

Pansy: They’re actively losing right now; Shopify. But I’m saying they’re winning it. I’m backing them.

Hotspawn: Three in a row?

Pansy: 100%. 100%.