Tom “Tombizz” Bissmire is a British Valorant commentator and analyst, one of the talents to partake in Masters Reykjavík. Previously, he has had the opportunity to cast multiple S-tier events in the CS:GO scene. We’ve asked him about his transition between games and his thoughts on Valorant’s esports potential.
What was the motivating factor behind your transition to Valorant as a reputed caster in CS:GO?
It started with wanting to expand my horizons a little bit as a commentator, having cast CS:GO for 5 years when something new came around that I enjoyed playing, it made sense when the opportunity came up to give commentating it a go. Other than that, I had friends getting involved in the game as well, so being able to work with them made it a lot of fun, especially during a time when everything was online.
The main factor though had to be that I just really enjoyed the game itself. The fact that it’s changing week in, week out with new updates, the metagame revolving around maps and agents, and even just teams innovating to try and be the best… it’s made it difficult to keep up, but at the same time, the fact I can learn something new about the game every day makes it all the more interesting to cast.
You were casting CS:GO events up until March of 2021 while simultaneously being involved in some Valorant tournaments. What was the reason behind this? How did you finally decide to cast Valorant from there on out?
As an esports commentator, you’re going to have multiple games that you’re able to cast. At that time, work in Valorant wasn’t a guarantee for me. My first actual involvement in the VCT came at the very end of March and only with hindsight the risk to try and go hard into Valorant (putting all my time into research going into that first event) has paid off.
Back in March, CS was still my main game and my main source of income, which is the overall reason why I was still casting it whenever I had the opportunity to do so. Since then, however, I have been very lucky to keep my spot in the VCT and become a full-time duo with Mitchman, meaning my focus is fully on Valorant. To be involved in a game from its inception has always been something I wanted, and trust me, I don’t take it for granted.
When was the first time you thought about making casting my career?
At first, it was mainly just for fun. It involved small online Baltic CS events, which I did from home, and mostly on a voluntary basis. I had watched a lot of events myself and after I got a degree in marketing, I hated the idea of a conventional job in the field, so decided to search for jobs in esports. That’s how this Lithuanian adventure started. It eventually led to some small local LAN events in Lithuania and Estonia, where I met a few of the current Valorant and CS pros: Carcass, for example, who won one of the LAN events I cast back in 2016.
What was the breakout moment of your career?
It’s very hard to say as I feel like I owe a lot of people for the position I am currently in. If I had to pick one. it would probably be my first paid LAN event back in 2016. It was the StarLadder i-League Invitational with teams like Virtus.pro and Na’Vi playing in the Olimpiyskiy Football Stadium. I was truly blown away by all the people involved, the fans watching, and even the other talent. Most of the people I worked with there were already full-time commentators and the event itself made me believe I could make something of esports, so who knows what would have happened without that event?
For anyone not familiar with the EU Valorant scene, which teams do you are currently reigning?
It’s quite tricky to call. Acend and G2 seem to have come out on top with the recent roster changes and will be EMEA fan favorites to make it to Masters Berlin. I am always going to be looking at FPX: they were formed out of the two top teams from the beta (FABRIKEN and PartyParrots) and have consistently been a top representative in Europe ever since.
They, alongside Guild, have been so close to becoming the kings of EU for a very long time, but never seem to get the results to prove it. Fnatic and Liquid, being the representatives of Europe at Masters, make the list without question, but with only Liquid making it through this time and taking one of the last two spots, it really is anyone’s game at this stage. In other words, putting a crown on anyone comes at great risk of being disappointed in a week or so.
On that note, which team are you supporting in the Challengers Playoffs, factoring in recent performances?
As I mentioned above, I think both G2 and Acend have looked incredibly good in Challengers 1, and with more time under their belts, I am sure they will look even stronger going into Playoffs. That said, Gambit is my team to watch when it comes to EMEA. Individually, they are a group of superstars who can clutch any round off of pure skill alone, but the fact that they are one of the longest-standing rosters and are constantly trying to innovate makes them a favorite of mine. They didn’t drop a single map in the latest regional Champions Tour event, and whenever I watch them play, they get me incredibly excited for when we get the crossover of regions.
Do you have a dark horse pick that could sneak in against the odds?
I am going to sound like a CIS fanboy with both of these questions back to back, but if you want an upset team, then look no further than Natus Vincere. The team has been together for less than two months and already managed to qualify for the Playoffs. They only lost to Gambit in the final, and even that came down to losing a lot of silly rounds they probably should have been able to close, at least in some of the maps like Icebox. Also, looking at the roster itself, they have a lot of the old CrowCrowd and PartyParrots players who have been around for quite a while in Valorant.
I think they can be dangerous with the extra time they’ve had against those who might underestimate them a bit because they were shown up by Gambit. Other than that, it’s quite hard to say. Teams within EU have a lot of expectations on their shoulders already so to call any of G2, Ascend, FPX, or Guild a dark horse would just feel odd, and even with Liquid going through the second qualifier, I still can’t call them underdogs considering the previous success they’ve had.
Do you have any highlights from the recently concluded Challengers 2 event?
I think the only correct answer to this question is Giants. There were two changes to the rosters made right before the event, including one coming in as the new IGL, and despite that, they went on to beat Fnatic and Liquid on their way to qualifying for the Challengers Playoffs against pretty much all expectations. If they can somehow keep this momentum up going into EMEA, they can take one of the four spots for Berlin.
Which agent is the most impactful right now in your opinion?
Skye. We have seen a lot of teams over the last few months remove duelist agents for Skye and at this stage, I really can’t blame them. The ability to combine her flashes with smokes to burst out onto sites is so strong: she also has one of the cheapest ultimates in the game to scope out a site.
This is before we even talk about the information she can gain with Trailblazer and the flashes on certain maps make her a must-have in a lot of cases. Also, if you look at the stats from Challengers 2, she is now picked 70.3% of the time, which is only comparable to Jett.
KAY/O has been the center of discussion in the Valorant community ever since its release. What are your thoughts on the agent?
I think many, including myself, expected a little more from KAY/O coming into Challengers 2 when he was released in Europe. For now, we have only really seen duelist players such as ScreaM attempt to use him and it doesn’t look like the results have been great just yet. I would need to see a more supportive player attempt to use KAY/O and try and set up someone like ScreaM on a more aggressive agent.
The concept of a support player with pop flashes, a fragment to block off areas, and the possibility of removing other players’ abilities all while having a teammate on Jett just destroying them excites me quite a lot. In terms of using him as a duelist, I just think a lot of the abilities go to waste and the flashes seem quite poor in comparison to, say, Skye or Breach. We may get some cool compositions using KAY/O as more time passes, but for now, at least, he hasn’t blown my socks off.
Did having online events the past year affect your broadcasting opportunities?
In some ways, I think everything being online gave me more opportunities. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait for LAN events to come back around, but all this meant that I could do back-to-back events much more easily, and when Valorant came around, it greatly reduced the chances of events clashing with each other. I think last year might have been the most days I have worked as it was much easier for companies logistically. It meant that I was a lot less exhausted from flying on off days or rehearsals because I did it all from the comfort of my own home.
I did miss out on an offline event or two at the beginning of the pandemic but I have very little to complain about in comparison to many others: I even got to do a few North American events with Nerd Street Gamers, which I am sure probably wouldn’t have worked out had I needed to travel.
That being said, are you excited about returning to LANs?
More than ever: I recently attended the Red Bull Campus Clutch in London, and just being able to see all the people you’ve been working with for months was such an enjoyable experience. The difference in energy you have as well when you’re sat next to your co-commentator and the chance to see the reaction to different events in and out of the game also make it so much easier to cast.
Also, nothing beats a crowd in esports. I have attended a couple of events in Brazil and will never forget them due to the sheer level of noise made by the fans. It gives you a real boost to hear people cheer a play and it’s almost like you have an extra person alongside you while you do it. When fans can attend events again, that’s when we will get to see the true potential of Valorant.
What makes LANs so exciting to you?
People. Seeing the number of passionate individuals who share the love for the same thing you do is unbeatable. It will be the same thing in any job you do: if the people around you love it, it is much easier to be passionate yourself. The fans will always be the ones to drive an esport forward. We have missed them dearly over the last year or so. Hopefully, soon we’ll have everyone involved in production back on site for events as a first step, and then maybe, just maybe, we get to a point where fans can come back and make the room rock again.
Do you think Valorant has the potential to rival CS:GO’s competitive scene?
I would not have started commentating Valorant if I didn’t believe it could one day be the number one esport. With Riot being so hands-on with the future of the game, I find it hard to believe it isn’t going to take off further. Nonetheless, Valorant still has quite a way to go to compete with CS, especially since it’s been around for an incredibly long time. Although Valorant is looking solid as the new game on the block, it is going to take a lot of work for everyone involved to keep that up consistently for years to come
With the arrival of Valorant, do you think that CS:GO is threatened by the prospect of professional players migrating to it?
I don’t think so. Although I think an argument could be made that a lot of the future stars in North America have made the move over to Valorant because the support is a lot better, this hasn’t been anywhere near as drastic in Europe. Sure, some pros have switched, but a lot of them weren’t in tier 1 teams at the time and wouldn’t have been able to join them even if they wanted to. That’s not to say that the people who moved didn’t deserve to compete at that level, more so that we haven’t seen a truly shocking move to Valorant outside of NA just yet, at least in my eyes.
Is there any advice you would give to upcoming casters looking to make a name for themselves?
Find a game you truly love and just start casting it. I know that sentence alone sounds incredibly obvious but the most common message I get from people is “how do I start” or “do you know anyone that can give me an opportunity”. I think in a lot of cases these sort of things come down to who you know but for me, I started by recording myself commentating matchmaking games in CS. Funnily enough, that’s how I got to know NaToSaphiX because I recorded myself casting his game and then sent it to him for feedback.
You can find a lot of Valorant demos online on Youtube and Twitch that have no caster audio on them: they’re just yours to go to town on. The fact is with any job or hobby that the only way to improve is to do the thing you want to improve on. From that point try listening back to it and pick things you like/ don’t like or send it to someone else to do the same. This could be a professional or a friend but whoever it is make sure you value the feedback they give.
Without feedback, I highly doubt any commentator worth anything would be where they currently are today. If you’re lucky, you might even be able to catch someone in the scene with a spare minute to give it to you. For me, this came from James Bardolph and DDK a very long time ago. Although the feedback was hard to take, it helped me improve a lot. That said, you probably shouldn’t go spamming them, I think they’re much busier men nowadays!
