In the first live-recorded podcast at Nerd Street's The Block, XSET's Erin Ashley Simon discusses the difficulties aspiring professionals face when entering the esports scene, and having the courage to be true to yourself and speak your mind on social media.

Follow Erin: https://twitter.com/erinasimon
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Zekken gives the recap of what happened on day one of the VCT Last Change Qualifiers, and what it is like to be a student while also maintaining a career as a professional VALORANT player.

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Follow zekken: https://twitter.com/zekkenVAL

Naori Mizuki, aka Samantha Timms spoke to me about how she got her start in her casting career. Then we talk about our predictions for Valorant Champions, and how VCT Game Changers is going.

Follow Naori: https://twitter.com/NaoriMizuki
Follow Jess: https://twitter.com/JessScharnagle

Jason Lake founded Complexity back in 2003. For the last two decades he has been the leader of one of North America's longest running and most prestigious esports orgs. After being acquired by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in 2017, Complexity has become an industry leader in physical health, mental health, posture and nutrition for esports players. On this episode we dive into the science, how esports has changed and why its important for not just the players but the industry at large to place a big focus on all forms of health. 

True Neutral is an esports organization based in Argentina best known for their Rocket League team. After winning RLCS X South America, True Neutral is moving up north to compete against NA teams for this upcoming season. We talk about that decision, winning NSG's Summer Champs, and the South American esports landscape as a whole. 

Psalm's career has had plenty of ups and downs. From leaving a Dota 2 team only to watch them win The International the year later, to going pro in Heroes of the Storm just to have the league shutdown, to winning one of the single largest prize pools in esports history at the Fortnite World Cup, it's been a ride. On this show, he talks about how the journey has played out, what he would do differently if he could do it over and how the process works when the prize payout is in the seven figures. 

Yannick "KOLER" Blanchette plays for DarkZero Esports' VALORANT team. Since the org picked up the roster competing under the name Kooky Koalas, the squad has put together a few impressive results. In just Stage 3, DarkZero has beaten FaZe while losing 2-1 to both XSET and TSM. On this show KOLER talks about Challengers Playoffs live during the lower bracket matchups on Thursday night. He makes his predictions for Berlin before we move on to talk about Summer Champs. NSG's upcoming VALORANT tournament will feature almost every top team that isn't competing in Challengers Playoffs. DarkZero will be competing against a field that also includes C9 Blue, NRG, Andbox, Immortals, Susquehanna Sonics, Ghost Gaming, Renegades and many more. We talk about the importance of tournaments like that, what it would mean to become Summer Champions and how the VALORANT esports scene could be improved as we begin to look towards year two of the VCT. 

The Esports Meta goes in-depth on the business of esports. How orgs make money, why many operate at a loss and where the industry is heading going forward. Adam Fitch talks about how he broke into the world of esports reporting, the benefits and the hazards of joining an industry that's already a hobby and plenty more. Check out Adam's Dexerto portfolio and follow him on Twitter.