ELEAGUE: Jason ‘Moses’ O’Toole talks versatility and being an ex-pro

ELEAGUE’s multitalented man of action Jason ‘Moses’ O’Toole spoke to FanSided about his many talents, playing career, and working with Richard Lewis.

Jason “Moses” O’Toole is the Swiss Army Knife of Turner and IMG’s ELEAGUE. He started on the brand’s analyst desk, but he began casting for ELEAGUE this year and is the one ex-professional player in the ranks.

It feels like the only thing Moses isn’t doing is catering. So during the recent ELEAGUE CSGO Premiere, FanSided spoke to him about being so versatile, if he ever misses his Counter-Strike playing career, and the great bromance he has with ELEAGUE host Richard Lewis.

FanSided: You’re one of the most versatile personalities in Counter-Strike, but it’s only more recently you’ve gotten to do that for ELEAGUE. How has it been getting to cast for this brand?

Jason “Moses” O’Toole (JOT): I started in the industry as a commentator, and when the kind of shift was made in late 2015 to the duos that were established, I was left out in the cold. I was kind of forced to be on the desk.

[But] I love being on the desk. It’s very difficult to do the amount of events we do week after week on the desk, because you don’t have time to come up with something new, or you have to come up with new things to say.

In terms of casting, I’ve always wanted to commentate more. Any opportunity to get to do that is always fun whether it’s ELEAGUE, ESL — just being able to call some games live is always great.

FanSided: You mentioned ESL, which you cast for more regularly. Is there any difference casting for ELEAGUE as opposed to ESL?

JOT: The biggest difference is ELEAGUE is in a TV studio so everything’s a lot more polished and professional. It’s no fault of ESL; it’s just not possible to match the experience that Turner has in this kind of realm.

Also, most often this show is based off being on TBS. It’s based off having this many commercial breaks. So you have a lot less time [and] you have a lot more structure to it. These are the points we have to hit, this is how long you have to hit it. ESL, at times it’s a little more freewheeling, with how much time you have on the desk or something along those lines. Outside of that, once you get into the actual game of Counter-Strike, not much is different.

FanSided: As much as we enjoy watching you cast, that does mean you’re not on the ELEAGUE desk to work alongside Richard Lewis. Do you miss being able to banter with Richard?

JOT: I do miss Richard. Richard’s one of my favorite people to work with. Especially the first two seasons of me, him and Duncan [Shields] on the desk, we obviously had a lot of fun with that whole group. But yeah, once in a while he’ll take a shot at me, and I wish I could shout back at him or something like that. But you just kind of have to bide your time.

You do get to have a little more fun and a little more freedom on the desk, in terms of what kind of content you can talk about, because as a caster you’re just casting what’s on the screen. At the desk you can kind of go places with it, bring up the crazy photoshops.

FanSided: This is a pretty crazy time in professional Counter-Strike. Do you think the casters have to evolve their casts to go along with the changing nature of the pro scene overall?

JOT: It’d be nice to. That’s just a luxury we don’t have at the moment. I would love to be able to have a week where it’s just like, these are the two teams that you are commentating on Friday at this time. I would love to have three days to prep for one match, so I can go into it and know specifically what tactics we’re going to see, so I can point out things to watch out for, but I don’t have that capability of studying that in depth with the schedule we have.

That may work for an online league but if you run a tournament over a weekend, you don’t know what the matchups are going to be the next day. There’s not a real opportunity, even for analysts, to prepare very in depth things.

FanSided: With all the action happening, have you ever missed competing?

JOT: Probably the first year I was in commentary, on some level I wanted to. I think everyone who transitions out of competition, for the first six months to a year, have it in their head that if they wanted to and they really got into the grind they could still compete. At this point I realize I don’t have it anymore.

Also, when you’re commentating or you’re at the desk, the only person that you have to worry about and rely on is yourself. When you are competing you have to rely on four people putting in as much time, as much dedication, having the same mindset as you. That’s the hardest part about being a professional player, is finding the teammates to go along with you to succeed. That was a headache I didn’t want to deal with anymore.

FanSided: Speaking of competing and headaches, you famously got knifed by James Bardolph in the PGL Krakow showmatch. Do you want revenge in the next showmatch?

JOT: (laughs) Listen, I don’t mind. The previous showmatch I played against James, he missed an entire thirty-bullet clip on me when I wasn’t even looking, and I turned around and killed him. We won both showmatches so the only stat that matters [is] I’m 2-0 against him. So there’s no grudge there.

FanSided: Do you have other commentators that you enjoy listening to just as a fan?

JOT: I have specific things. It’s always really funny to listen to Henry [Greer]. He gets really angry about certain economic decisions, so you can hear the frustration in his voice, which is fun. I always know Matt [Trivett] is going to make some kind of reference to some debauchery that we’ve indulged in, in some random country of the world, so I’m always listening for that.

I love listening to someone like Thorin on the desk, because of the crazy jokes he makes out of nowhere. I work with him so frequently and it still cracks me up. I enjoy most of the commentators we have out there. Even some of the “lower tier” guys — put the air quotes in the article — they’re fun to watch on the rise.

I will tell you one person that I really do enjoy listening to commentate because she’s so good is Pansy [Lauren Scott]. I know I’m a little biased because I work with her so frequently, but this is a girl that started competing with Call of Duty and commentating Call of Duty, then started doing World of Tanks, and then moved onto Counter-Strike. Now she’s doing PUBG and I think it’s crazy. I can’t imagine going from game to game to game, and commentate all of them at the highest level.

FanSided: You and Pansy had that hilarious moment at IEM Katowice where Snax crashed the casters desk. What is it about you that seems to attract these interesting moments?

JOT: In terms of our group of commentators and guys we work with, I don’t really talk s–t. I just hang out and chill. Everyone knows I’m an easy target because I don’t hit back. Maybe I should start. (laughs) I just don’t have the energy for it. But I don’t know what it is, between the pies and all that kind of stuff. It’s weird.

Next: ELEAGUE's Anders Blume talks about casting changes

For more with Jason “Moses” O’Toole, follow him on Twitter and check out his work at Room On Fire. For more gaming news, follow the Gaming category at FanSided here.