DarfMike on being at Cologne: "I got emotional, I really did"

Mike "DarfMike" Winnick has been an absolutely electric host for IEM Cologne 2023, bringing the hype and energy to the arena that it deserves. Frequently on camera and always with a smile, the American is one of NA's finest when it comes to talent, making waves both in NA for ECL and across the pond for events like this one and IEM Katowice.

After the second semifinal, Dust2.us' Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore caught up with the host to discuss his career as it expands from NA to the international scene. Please note that the full interview can be found below on YouTube, while the transcript has some key snippets from their conversation.

How does it feel to have come so far in your career as a caster, host, and everything else you do?

I had a moment today at the start of match two when they were playing the Farewell to CS:GO intro where I got emotional, I really did. I didn't expect it. It's crazy to think that over the last six years this game has become my career, which is just- I'm getting a little emotional right now. It's wild right? Occasionally I think about what I do especially in moments where I'm standing there and 15,000 people in an arena are going nuts because I said something and it doesn't feel like the real world. It doesn't feel like a thing that people do, but it is and it's crazy that this game has become a home to me and a career and a passion and all of that rolled up into one. Thinking back to Tokyo and Tulsa, Brink's truck backing up next to the stage while we were casting the final, it's a long way, but it was all part of it. All those NA LANs, all those weird hour time delays, whatever it was, it was all part of getting here.

After this, you're probably going back to the NA side to cast ECL, how do the differences between being a host in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike and casting online ECL games compare?

It's not that it's hard to come back to ECL level. Obviously the thing in ECL is that there is a huge variance in the quality of Counter-Strike. You have teams that move up and are learning how to play quality CS, and you have teams on the top end that are threatening for Pro League. So there is some very good quality Counter-Strike in ECL. The thing that's hard is going from an environment like this [jestures to the arena] to online.

It doesn't matter the caliber of Counter-Strike. I could be casting G2 versus ENCE in a Grand Final, but if it was online, it's just not there in terms of energy. The energy that you take from having 15,000 screaming people in an arena in Cologne is... As a performer, as a broadcaster, it's indescribable. You don't have to generate the energy, you just feed off of it and feed into it. It's a loop, it's why when I was saying my goodbyes today, I said they [the fans] are just a part of it as anybody on stage, and it's true, because the crowd is what makes these events so good.

When you're not in the same place as your co-caster, you're not in the same place as your director, you're not in the same place as the players, there's no fans, the online fans aren't there with you. It's a different feeling. The metaphor I use is online casting is to LAN casting as masturbation is to sex. It'll sustain you, it's fine, it'll keep the needs met, but it sure ain't the same level of fulfillment. The level between even a studio LAN to now working with audiences, which this year is the first time I've gotten to work with audiences in my six-year career. I would've had an opportunity right when COVID happened, but then of course COVID happened. Working with live audiences, working with crowds, working with people where thousands of people are there because they're just as excited as you are about Counter-Strike, about a game, about a mutual passion. It's incredible.

It's not that I'm going to be upset to go back to ECL teams, I love ECL teams. I love watching NA players rise through the ranks. I love following their careers. For a lot of these guys, I've known them for the six years that I've been in the scene. I've known them since a lot of them were children. Following their careers, following their development, following their development as human beings, not just as players, is one of the great privileges of being based in North America, but, yeah, online sucks compared to LAN. Nobody's gonna say otherwise.

What I remind myself of when I'm casting an online game to bring the same level of excitement and energy and give the product that the fans and players deserve is that at the end of the day, it's still better than anything else I'd be doing. Casting online may not be casting in Cologne, but it sure as shit beats flipping burgers.