UK caster Counterfeit on his TFT Casual Competition series

Jul 08, 2023

Experienced UK caster Peter ‘Countefeit’ Hartnell has spoken to Esports News UK about his TFT Casual Competition series and what it brings to the community.

These casual Teamfight Tactics tournaments usually take place once a fortnight and are streamed on Counterfeit's Twitch channel, with other casters, players and members of the TFT community getting involved, and some streaming their own broadcasts.

Prizes have included RP, Little Legend eggs and more, with the likes of UK esports org Rix (who were recently shut down) sponsoring some of them in the past.

The next event will take place from 10.30am on New Year's Eve (December 31st 2022), and this will be focused on the latest TFT set, Monsters Attack.

The tournament sponsor for this event is Saikou Apparel, a streetwear brand run by streamers RossBoomsocks and Maizy Marzipan, with Maizy also casting alongside Counterfeit.

The idea behind the TFT Casual Competition streams is to give players a low-pressure way to play TFT together, make friends and have fun, without the pressure of top-tier tournament play, while promoting streamers and diversity.

Counterfeit told Esports News UK: "I started the Casual Competitions after an experience being an IRL tournament organiser in Bristol – a player who’d been hitting around mid-table consistently asked me what the point of him playing was if he wasn't going to win, and I didn't really have an answer for him.

"Eventually I found that answer in the way I run my competitions now, which is that while there are small prizes for coming first, most of the prizes are given out randomly across the whole field irrespective of position.

"The intention is that taking part in the competition is a fun experience where you make friends and challenge yourself to get better. It's a source of entertainment rather than a way to turn a profit on your time."

Counterfeit started out in League of Legends casting with university esports body NUEL years ago, and has now found a home in TFT esports.

Counterfeit recently cast the Dragonlands Rising Legends EMEA finals and Global Championship.

"To be clear, I absolutely love TFT esports in the larger competitive circuit context which I enjoy immensely getting to serve as a caster, but I don't feel it's is where I can best serve the community as a tournament organiser," he added. "My reasoning is that there's always going to be a lot more people who’ve never played in a TFT competition than people who have, even amongst experienced players.

"Having a place where players can have their first tournament experience(s) in an environment where they can focus more on fun over performance will hopefully encourage more people to participate in both the TFT regional events and eventually the competitive circuits like Rising Legends.

"The other core aspect of running the competitions is to give a platform for developing TFT casting talent. I will be forever in debt to the NUEL for enabling my casting career, and it's wonderful to be able to provide a low-stakes place for other people to try and figure out if they want to pursue TFT casting."

Some casters involved in recent TFT Casual Competitions have included Maizy Marzipan and Vearless.

Counterfeit continued: "The Rising Legends broadcast has been really good with bringing in guest talent for broadcasts, and I’m hoping to act as a supplement for that process by having a relatively straightforward but decently put together broadcast that talent can then use to make an initial TFT showreel and start their casting climb."

On Rix supporting the TFT Casual Competition series, Counterfeit said: "Rix were hugely supportive of the competitions, and are the reason that I’m able to offer the prizing that I do. One of their employees at the time – Raen – did an enormous amount to bring the tournament to life, helping correct my first fumbling steps into online tournament organising.

"I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to my admin staff who make the tournaments possible, especially my friend Skellig whose flawless tournament backend work continues to run the events without a hitch every week – except those times that I break it mid-way through the event."

You can sign up to Counter's Casual Competition here, join Counter's Casual Competition Discord server here and watch on the Counterfeitcast Twitch channel.

Dom is an award-winning writer who graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV as well as Riot Games and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Association up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and as an esports consultant helping brands and businesses better understand the industry.