Interview with CassoBigLemons, Riot IT Technician

Yoann: Hey, hello everyone! Today I’m with Cass, IT Technician for Riot Games! 

How would you introduce yourself?

Cass: Hello! My name is Cass, but my IGN is CassoBigLemons. My official title is Fleet and Field Ops Technician, but basically what we do is look after the fleet of PCs and networks, and we do IT engineering and administration at the events!

Yoann: Cool! When and how did you get into esports?

Cass: I used to play Counter-Strike with friends who wanted to play competitively, and we ended up going to Cologne in 2017, that was my first esports event, and I loved it! I’ve worked for a couple of esports organizations and tournament organizers as a volunteer.

I then started playing Valorant, I really liked what Riot were doing and decided to apply for a job!

Yoann: Nice! You've worked at big events such as VCT Lock//In, EMEA, and Tokyo. What can you tell us about these experiences?

Cass: Yeah! I’m also going to work on League Of Legends Worlds in October, in Korea!

The bigger events can be a bit hectic, but VCT EMEA was different, as it was smaller but lasted around 3 months. There were family vibes with all the staff working there!

Yoann: That’s awesome! What is your routine on a match day?

Cass: We usually show up on site about 2 or 3 hours before the players, we check that the Ready Room PCs are all working, and we check the stage PCs. We do full broadcast tech checks on stage on the day, and if we identify any issues from the previous days, we discuss it and implement fixes.

Yoann: Are you working on the technical pause during the match?

Cass: Yes, it depends because technical pauses can be related to audio issues, mouse issues, or a whole host of other things. If it has something to do with the network or the PCs, we would usually fix that.

Yoann: That’s cool! How do you feel about Valorant's current Tier 2?

Cass: I don’t get to watch it as much as I would like. I only see stuff on Twitter. 

I would love it to grow, Valorant is such a young esports, it’s going to take a while to be like traditional sports. I think the changes that Riot made for both T1 and T2 are quite good. I would like to see more money put into Tier 2 but it will take time.

Yoann: Of course! Let’s now move on to the quick questions part, are you ready?

Cass: Yep!

Yoann: Phantom or Vandal?

Cass: Vandal! 

Yoann: What's your favorite map?

Cass: I would say Fracture!

Yoann: What's your favorite agent?

Cass: Breach!

Yoann: What's your favorite skin collection?

Cass: The Sensation Vandal!

Yoann: Wow, I don’t get this one a lot haha!

How would you define your last night market in a few words?

Cass: Tragic!

Yoann: I get that a lot haha! Can you name the eight teams that won an international event?

Cass: Oh, Sentinels won the first one, Loud, Fnatic, NAVI (FPX core)...

Yoann: 4 is pretty good! What kind of music do you listen to before a broadcast?

Cass: Anything! We have so many people in our team with different music tastes that we would pick someone to put on songs throughout the day. It could be Brazilian music, rap, dance, it could be anything!

Yoann: What's your favorite memory of working in esports?

Cass: Probably going to Japan for Masters Tokyo! I got some time after the event in Japan to travel around. We work hard, then we play hard!

Yoann: Awesome! Can you quote a voice line from your favorite agent?

Cass: Haha! “Tak Tak”!

Yoann: Hahaha perfect! Let’s get back to the standard questions!

How often do you play Valorant in your free time?

Cass: I’m about to hop on after this interview! I’m not at home that often, we travel 80% of the year. 

I got to play Premier with some of my friends, and we won division 16! I’ve missed the first two seasons of Premier because I was working on VCT.

I’m playing as much as I can, every day would be ideal but it’s not practical!

Yoann: Are you playing with the people you are working with?

Cass: No, the people I’m working with are trash haha!

I would play with content creators that I would meet along the way, but not my colleagues, unfortunately!

Yoann: I like that! What are your hobbies or passions aside from gaming?

Cass: Photography! I also love camping, In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had a break from work and I walked from Amsterdam to Utrecht, and from Bratislava to Vienna. That’s a bit of a pastime for me!

Yoann: That’s so cool! If you were a developer, what would you change to Valorant right now?

Cass: I’d give Breach back his 3 flashes! That’s going to annoy some people hopefully! And I’d remove Reyna!

Yoann: Interesting haha, I’m not sure about Breach’s 3 flashes! 

What advice would you give to someone trying to work in esports?

Cass: I think you shouldn’t dive in immediately, you should get experience outside of esports first. 

It depends on the job you want, I think going to work outside of esports initially is a good idea and work in esports in your spare time, and then move into esports when you’re more experienced when you understand how business or the industry works would be better.

Yoann: Great! What are your short and long-term ambitions on Valorant?

Cass: Short term, I would like to learn the pain points in competitive play, and broadcast technology.

The long term would be to substantially improve both of those.

Yoann: Awesome! Thank you so much for your time, I wish you the best in the future! And have fun in League’s Worlds this October!

Cass: Thank you!

CassoBigLemons’ Twitter (X): @CassoBigLemons