2019 is only a couple of months away, which means you might want to consider making a few changes. So, here a list of a few Twitch stars that you might not have heard of, but should consider keeping an eye on, either for their skill or just because they’re fun and chill.
1. TimTheTatMan
Timothy Betar is a North American streamer who mainly focuses on FPS games like Fortnite and CoD: Black Ops 4: Blackout. He strongly believes in interacting with his viewers and responding to his chat feed. Although he opened his Twitch channel in 2012, he only really started streaming in 2016. By early 2017, he had gained enough streamers to begin streaming full-time. As with many other streamers, his popularity really took off when he started playing Fortnite, towards the end of 2017. However, he continues to stream other games, and still makes time to respond to his chat feed. Aside from being entertaining to watch, as a bonus, his language is fairly clean, and he has a set streaming schedule.
2. KayPea
Kelsie Pelling is a Canadian streamer, who is slowly making her mark as an LoL streamer and member of SivHD. As with many streamers, Pelling’s passion for gaming started at an early age. However, her hobby wasn’t shared by her friends. She therefore spent a lot of that time playing alone, and really wanted to have people to interact with. A friend of hers introduced her to Twitch, thereby opening a new, fun community to her. She began streaming purely for the sake of having a few people to chat with while she was gaming. Her enthusiasm and skill eventually attracted the attention of SivHD, who invited her to join his team in 2015. Even though it was a huge risk, she decided to quit her job, sell her belongings and move to the Netherelands to pursue a career as a professional gamer, and she hasn’t looked back since.
3. TSM_Daequen
Daequen Loco was initially introduced to gaming by his older brother. The two of them continued gaming and competing with one another as they grew up. He grew up preferring MMOs to shooting games. He wasn’t interested in games like CoD, but rather favored games such as GunZ: The Duel that had a high skill cap. In fact, he attributes the shooting and gameplay skills that he displays in Fortnite largely to the many hours that he dedicated to mastering this game. Unlike most streamers, Daequen decided to become a professional gamer prior to his having even established his own channel. Fortunately for him, he had both the skill and luck to attract Dakotaz, who was impressed with skill and followed him. The two of them then started competing together, which helped to boost his follower count. From there, Dakotaz recommended that he be included invitationals with other top streamers. That was the true state of his popularity as streamer.
4. Imaqtpie
Michael Santana started playing LoL when he was 17-years-old. It was only a few months later that he was scouted by Scarra to participate on his team, Rock Solid. From there, he stuck with competitive play. By 2012, the LCS was finally able to compensate tournament participants with sufficient pay, thereby allowing him to focus on a full-time career as a professional gamer and streamer. He is known for prioritizing fun and friendship over the bottom-line, which has helped him retain his streaming fanbase, despite his having dropped out of the professional LCS scene back in 2014.
5. DisguisedToast
Jeremy Wang is a professional HearthStone player best known for his original gimmick of wearing a toast-shaped mask, complete with sunglasses and a drawn-on mustache, during his early streaming career. Wang is known for his honesty when it comes to the streaming profession, both in terms of the toll that it takes on streamers, as well as the lifestyle and income that streamers are accustomed to. In addition to streaming gaming content, he also produces video content related to testing interactions, game bugs, humorous content and lore videos, over the typical game playthroughs and highlights that many content-producers typically upload on their YouTube channels. He is currently dating xChocoBars.
6. Nightblue3
Not much is known about Rabia Yazbek, as he is extremely private about his personal life. Nonetheless, his amazing LoL skills are undeniable. His main stake in followers lies in the fact that, as with Imaqtpie, he too started playing LoL soon after its release. He constantly interacts with viewers, sharing his tips and strategies with them, thereby giving his viewers the tools to advance their own LoL skills and rankings. Furthermore, he was one of the first to actually stream his gameplay. He has been streaming since 2010, and his expertise at providing entertaining gameplays and commentary have been honed to maintain a loyal following despite the growing number of LoL streamers on Twitch. As with many other streamers on this list, he has a reputation for being a pleasant person who doesn’t rage.
7. Lirik
Originally hailing from Germany, Saqib Zahid grew up in the US. He spent his childhood playing video games with his brother and started streaming while in college. After gaining enough subscribers, Zahid realized that he was making the same profit that he would make in an entry level position in his field of computer science. Furthermore, he found live streaming to be addictive. Even though it was difficult for him to maintain a healthy balance between streaming and his degree, he found the cost of lower grades to be a worthwhile sacrifice. Lirik graduated with a Bachelor in Computer Science on May 15, 2015 and proceeded to pursue a full-time career as a variety streamer. He stands out in this regard, as he is one of the few streamers who decided to see their degree through, rather than dropping out to focus on their professional eSport careers.
8. TSM_Bjergsen
Søren Bjerg’s past is a classic underdog story. After surviving an incredibly difficult childhood and teenagehood as the target of progressively violent bullying, Bjerg was eventually able to use his main mode of escapism to ultimately propel him to LoL stardom, overcome his shyness and to foster real friendships. Bjerg is candid about his experiences, and truly enjoys what he does, as well as the support that he gets from his TSM teammates.
9. xChocoBars
Janet Rose is listed here for her personable, cute approach to gaming, rather than her stellar Fortnite skills. She is laid back and engages with her viewers as she plays. Little is known about her personal life or gaming origins, although we do know that she has been dating Disguised Toast for a while now.
10. Castro1012
Edwin Castro began streaming his gameplays for fun and quickly gathered many followers, prompting him to leave his two part-time jobs to focus on streaming full-time. He primarily focuses on FIFA 19, as it allows him to combine his two passions, gaming and football. Castro is known for developing strong bonds with his viewers and has even invited some of his followers to his home to watch real FIFA World Cup matches on occasion.
