Community Spotlight: EmpressLilyy Queen Caster!

Q: Introduction!

HEYYYY ! It’s EmpressLilyy aka Empress or Lily , I don’t mind either , whatever you feel like ! I’m a StarCraft 2 streamer, you’ll often see me rage playing it, but I love the game and I love it so much, I can talk about it for hours on end ! Outside of that, I’m a huge nerd for video games. I grew up watching my parents play World of Warcraft together, so naturally I picked up the habit. I started out with a Nintendo DS and often borrowed my dad’s PC to play video games after school ! Now, I’m rocking my own set up and goofing around on Starcraft 2

Q: When did you first start getting into Starcraft 2, and how did they evolve into casting?

My dad is a massive fan of the StarCraft series, one of my earliest memories of StarCraft 2 was watching him play the ‘Heart of the Swarm’ campaign. He let me play against the AI a few times as a kid too, I remember making the choice to play Zerg then because the units were “cheaper”…

I picked the game back up in 2018 at 16, buying all the campaigns on sale because my dad mentioned it to me. We often played 2v2s together but I didn’t touch the 1v1 ladder until June of 2019, my first Starcraft 2 stream.

As a lot of people know, I’m a very chatty person, so much so that I had people come into my stream and ask if I ever stopped talking (no). A lot of my viewers suggested I look into casting, submitting their replays to help me practice ! Since then, I’ve hosted and casted one my own silly tournaments, on many occasions I have co-casted with my good friend Holyhit, I’ve had the honour of casting a couple of series at HomeStory Cup and I’ve been given many awesome opportunities by Ladder Legends to cast their tournaments also, which has been so much fun ! And of course I still do viewer replays to this day !

Q: What has been your favorite part, or most rewarding part about casting Starcraft 2?

Definitely one of the most rewarding things about casting is being able to contribute to the awesome community that surrounds StarCraft 2. I love being able to hype up the viewers, feeling the shock over risky plays, celebrating well deserved wins after long matches, getting excited over perfectly executed micro manoeuvres.

StarCraft 2 is so quick in pace, engaging to watch and you’ll never know exactly how it’s going to end. One moment, you could be winning, sitting on a healthy economy with the perfect balance of workers to army, the next you could lose it all over a small mistake . I find that aspect exciting in both casting and playing, (although it can be a little frustrating at times when playing the game). Games can change direction at any point, players can make great comebacks with the right knowledge and mechanics, it's stunning to watch every time.

Q: What types of challenges do you face while casting?

A challenge I face when casting, is that currently at the level I’m at, I can’t give an in depth analysis on the gameplay in front of me, it can get frustrating, as I sometimes feel I lack the knowledge to make a good cast, but I like to think my enthusiasm and passion for the game helps.

Confidence has also been a life long issue for me (much like most people I presume) and especially at the start of my casting career, I was extremely nervous and unsure of myself. The community has definitely helped me overcome this, lots of people have been so kind and supportive, encouraging me to speak up because they wanna hear whatever I have to say !

Q: Do you have favorite match ups, and why?

Definitely ZvT, I live and breathe ZvT. My favourite match up to play and my favourite match up to cast! Zerg Verses Terran is like THE classic Starcraft match up, at least it is in my head anyway. You usually get some really solid macro games out of it, not to say there isn’t exciting allin and cheesy strats both sides can do, but I love me a good macro game. I also feel we get the best out of micro in this match up, especially late game, when Viper, infestors and splits are absolutely necessary. You’ll often see me ranting and raving about how much I love a good solid ZvT on stream, I can’t shut up about it !

Q: If you could duo-cast with any caster, who would it be and why?

PiG would be awesome to cast with, he’s so funny and quick witted but also knows his stuff, I feel like I would be able to synergise well with him buuuut I would also be nervous af because OMG ITS PIG????!!!.

Q: What live events have you been able to attend, and was there any that was more memorable or fun? why?

I’ve been able to attend Homestory Cup 27 and 28 ! Both have been absolutely amazing, I would definitely recommend it ! I was able to cast a couple of series there which was both nerve racking and exciting. I met my online friends there and made new friends too! I met a few pro players (Including my favorite Zerg Player Reynor) & streamers also !

HomeStory Cup 27 was my first experience at a live gaming event ever! At first things were overwhelming but as soon as the games started, it was heaven on Earth. Everyone is lovely, everyone is friendly and everyone gets the vibe at HSC. I also met HolyHit for the first time there too, it was so awesome finally getting to hang out in person !

At HomeStory Cup 28 I had the pleasure of meeting Chadders & GamerRichy who introduced me to the wonderful world of Ladder Legends ! They gave me the run down about what Ladder Legends Academy is all about and got me hyped up for it ! Awesome blokes, always lovely to chat with ! I also did a lot of dancing at HSC 28. I feel I should mention that, love throwing shapes.

Q: What is your 2026 goal in relation to casting Starcraft 2?

This year I’m hoping and aiming for a lot of things ! I’m definitely trying to go to HSC 29, that’s one of my biggest priorities this year ! Again, the HSC experience is amazing, I get to see all of my friends and yap on about Sc2, what’s there not to love ? I’m also aiming to hold recurring tournaments with my good friend HolyHit ! We regularly do FFA Fridays & hoping to get our mini tournie into the mix also ! I’m excited to continue to work with Ladder Legends this year too! They already have some really exciting stuff coming up this year and I’m super happy to be able to be a part of it ! Definitely wanna hit masters this year too ! I’m DONE with floating around Diamond MMR, we’re locking in this year for sure !

Q: Where can anyone find your social medias?

You can find me on Twitch twitch.tv/empresslilyy, Instagram @empresslilyylive_ & Tiktok @empresslilyy ! If any of this interests you then please do consider giving me a follow ! All support is appreciated, as always ! Big thank you to Ladder Legends once again for granting me these unique opportunities, I’m having the time of my life over here and it always feels good to contribute to the Sc2 community as it has given me so much already !