“Opposites Attract”: How NiceWigg And Greek Made Competitive Apex Legends Fun Again

I’ve never come away from an interview with my cheeks hurting from laughing so much as I did with Jack ‘NiceWigg’ Martin and Athanasios ‘Greek’ Alestas. The pair of esports casters are a raucous combination, who spend as much time taking the mickey out of each other and Apex’s head of partnerships, Shahin Kanafchian, as they do answering my questions. It’s not an avoidance tactic, it’s just who they are. After all, that’s why tens of thousands of people tune into the Apex Legends Global Series’ B-stream, for this very chaotic energy and intense passion.

The former pros moved to streaming as their esports careers wound down, watching tournaments with their Twitch communities. It was more relaxed and chilled out than proper commentary, a ‘watch party’ to experience with their fans. But that all changed when EA came knocking.

Wigg went all out for his first EA broadcast, dressing up in a suit over a tank top and big fake glasses. He brought a shouty, sweary energy to the stream, the complete opposite of the straight-laced, mostly scripted main stream. Despite the energy, it never came across as aggressive, only passionate. EA loved it, and invited him back. For Wigg, it was an easy decision.

“I'm a big gut feeling guy,” he says, “and my gut was telling me, never compete again in your life and do this instead. So I went with it.” His partner in crime took a little more persuading, but Greek was inspired to take casting seriously by his experience at LAN.

“The moment that I decided that it was something I could pursue was when we got the opportunity to go to Sweden for the first time,” Greek says. “That was my first time ever casting in front of a huge audience. I think we ended up getting like 20 or 25,000 [viewers] on Wigg’s stream. So that was by far the biggest audience I ever had. And when we got back from Sweden, the amount of support that we got and positive feedback was more than enough for me – as well as Wigg every single day telling me to quit competitive and do that with him.”

The pair devolve into some lighthearted squabbling on our video call. It’s all in good taste, though, and they’re clearly close friends – our interview starts with Wigg nipping across to Greek’s room to fix his microphone troubles, like a concerned parent swapping the inputs on their 12 year old’s PC so they can spend their evening on Fortnite with their friends. There’s clearly a lot of love between them, and that shows through as often as they bust each other’s balls.

“Let's say EA took more control of the B-stream. Who knows if it would have got to the size it is right now?”

It’s this friendship – and banter – that makes the B-stream the number one way to watch competitive Apex Legends matches for thousands of people. However, there’s more to it than just fun and fighting, so I ask what their secret is – why do they work so well together?

“We're honestly opposites in just about everything,” Greek explains. “You know how they say opposites attract? There's something about it that just works. The other thing is everything just seems natural. How we talk to each other on stream is how we talk to each other off stream. And we've never really been forced to go by a script and we both naturally work better when we get to free flow.”

It makes a lot of sense. Wigg is loud, animated, larger-than-life. Greek is a little quieter, but gives as good as he gets. Two Wiggs would be overbearing. Two Greeks wouldn’t have the right energy. One of each though? Just right.

It’s surprising that this chaotic combination is aired with official EA support, though. Businesses are risk-averse, as proven by the more corporate main stream for ALGS events. Paying two men to call each other douches is a surprising tactic, but it works, and people want to watch it. And part of the reason why it works is because EA is so hands off.

“Let's say EA took more control of the B-stream,” Wigg posits. “Who knows if it would have got to the size it is right now? And it's really cool to see that they trusted us with that vision and let us do what we want to.”

Both Wigg and Greek speak very positively of their experiences working for EA, to the extent that Kanafchian – muted for the most part, other than ripping into the pair via messages – jokes that he’s paid them for the interview. But there have been a couple of times when the casting duo have been told to rein things in a little.

“I forgot that they played our audio in the arena in between matches,” Wigg explains. “And you literally heard on the sound system, ‘it's a f*cking orgy out here!’ And [Kanafchian] was like, dude, you can't say that any more. There's like an EA executive here with their 12 year old, and he just heard that. We’ve got to cut it down a little bit. So maybe that was off the record, but there's been a couple of those where it's like, ‘all right, you just said f*ck like 45 times in 30 seconds’.”

It was not off the record.

Wigg and Greek have struck a balance since then. There’s still chaos, there’s still plenty of swearing, they’re still a passionate alternative to the ALGS’ main stream, but their chaos is more controlled. And, as ever, it’s backed up by a fountain of knowledge about the game they’re casting.

“We watch more Apex than anybody else in the world,” Wigg says. “I personally don't think anyone will ever watch more Apex than me. Maybe Greek.”

It shows. While the main stream focuses on the big names of the NA region, your TSMs and DarkZeroes, the B-stream can often be found focusing on APAC teams (“APAC North is like the heart and soul of APAC,” Wigg tells me), with both casters spouting recent results off the top of their head, knowing players and rotations intimately, and teaching their viewers about the ‘global’ side of the Apex Legends Global Series.

“Obviously the main stream is getting better.”

“Obviously the main stream is getting better,” Wigg says, “but we really like to showcase the talent from around the world. Not just the teams that are doing good or have done good in the past. [The main stream is] kind of a TSM fest, a little bit DZ fest – it makes sense to show the winning teams, it's going to bring the most numbers. For me, it's more of a, ‘Hey, these guys over in Japan are disgusting. Hey, these guys coming from Thailand are gross. Look at these guys play.’ And then I want to watch them.”

This, too, is why they take everything into their own hands. While the main stream is supported by a huge team of producers and in-match camera operators, Wigg and Greek run their whole stream themselves. It gives off a homemade, DIY feel that fits their passionate personalities, but it’s also because they trust each other implicitly, and any third-party would risk tipping the balance. It’s all about trust, and the pair don’t trust anyone else to understand the B-stream as well as they do. They forge their own storylines and narratives through scrims, they follow their own teams, and they bring something completely fresh to the competitive Apex Legends scene.

The biggest takeaway, however, is that the pair are so incredibly appreciative for the opportunity they’ve been given. They thank their EA colleagues, their communities, their parents, profusely and genuinely. They know they wouldn’t be here without all the support those different people give them. But they also pay it forward. Players from every region deserve to be shown respect, they deserve to have viewers know their names, they deserve to have their stories told as much as TSM.

NiceWigg and Greek have complete freedom over an incredibly big platform in the Apex esports scene, and they’re using it to showcase the hard work of others. Behind all the swearing and joking, the B-stream is full of heart and a love for the game. I don’t think anyone loves Apex Legends as much as NiceWigg and Greek do.

Next: Apex Legends’ Legend Challenges Encourage The Worst Sort Of Behaviour