'League of Legends' Writer Talks Evolutions of Esports on 'Squad Up'

Writing about esports really is the dream job it sounds like, at least for one writer who goes by the username “Mooshanka,” and not just because he gets paid to write about video games. For Elias “Mooshanka” Inaty, watching the growth of League of Legends competitions also helps explain how the entire world of esports evolved into the industry it is today.

Weston Green and Justin Dodd, hosts of Squad Up, the first and only talk show that takes place entirely in the world of Fortnite, recently played a few matches with Mooshanka, a professional esports writer with Riot Games that works within the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS).

Where does Mooshanka like to drop in Fortnite? Spoiler alert: It’s Salty Springs because, as he puts it, “I like action ASAP.”

Mooshanka describes the NA LCS as the NBA equivalent for professional competition within the MOBA League of Legends. It’s a league comprised of players from United States and Canada that compete against many other world regions at the international stage.

“If you’re into esports, you’re into competition in all its forms and the uniqueness of it,” Mooshanka says, explaining how the unifying factor of everyone working in esports is all about stories that involve competition.

People love watching esports because the players are good, but they’re also interested in the personal stories of competition and where people are coming from.

“It’s cool to mention what they’re good at but how they got there is far more interesting,” Mooshanka explains.

From a production standpoint, Mooshanka says viewers enjoy watching the face cam during competition because people want to see both human reactions and the gameplay.

For Riot Games, Mooshanka works to tell the stories of each team as they all move towards the championship. From there, they move on to the world championships. Mooshanka is there at every step of the way writing for the broadcast.

How does somebody get lucky enough to write about professional games for a living?

In the video, Mooshanka explains how he was a huge gamer growing up and eventually studied film and television production in school. Then one fateful day while watching the widely-panned X-Men: Apocalypse, he received a text from a friend with the job listing for a position with the NA LCS.

Sure enough, things worked out and the rest was history.