Words From Nerds: Creamcheese From Players is the Esports Pro We All Deserve

Creamcheese esports

Esports has started to hit the mainstream thanks to big personalities like Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and everyone’s nephew doing Fortnite dances. But one of the newest faces of esports in pop culture may be Misha Brooks, a young Jewish actor taking on the role of a fictional competitive gaming pro in a mockumentary series on Paramount+.

Brooks plays Creamcheese in Players, a 27-year-old veteran esports pro who is hoping to lead his team, Fugitives, to an LCS championship. Despite only being 27, Creamcheese is considered a respected veteran of the competitive League of Legends scene, with Fugitives once representing the old-school “bad boy” culture of esports early days.

“I’m proud of my legacy,” Creamcheese says in the trailer. “I have played in huge arenas, [been with] a ton of girls, I bought a Porsche.”

But things are about to change when a new player, Organizm, joins Fugitives. The 17-year-old League of Legends prodigy quickly becomes the face of the brand despite his inexperience, causing a lot of tension between Creamcheese and the “youngest pro in the LCS.”

In one scene in the Players trailer, Creamcheese comedically punches a wall during a temper tantrum after Organizm fails to deliver on the LCS stage. But the emotional delivery of his next line shows a sense of urgency: “I don’t have too much time left.”

Creamcheese knows that he’s on the “older” side of the competitive gaming scene and he wants Fugitives to get an LCS championship before he leaves the game.

It’s exciting to not only see esports on a mainstream streaming service but see a Jewish actor portraying an openly Jewish character as the main role. Creamcheese is not only a hilarious gamertag but proudly displays his Jewishness with the kind of quirkiness one can only find within the esports scene. It will most definitely be interesting to see what other nods to Creamcheese’s identity are thrown into the show.

Per usual, it’s pretty awesome to see a character who embraces their Jewish identity but who is also in a role that isn’t defined by being Jewish. Creamcheese is, first and foremost, a portrayal of an esports athlete. Showing a Jewish young adult in this dynamic and unique new role is most definitely awesome. It’s a way to bring more Jewish characters into pop culture without the usual tropes and stereotypes.

Players is premiering June 16, giving us some time to speculate what crazy antics the fake esports pros will get into. While the team is fake, the LCS and its immense popularity in the esports space is real — this means we’ll get to see a lot of familiar scenarios played out in a hilarious fashion, including scrims, tournaments, bootcamps, team bonding exercises, and more. This is a very unique and niche world that not many people know about, so it will be interesting to see how the general public reacts to this wild concept of a nearly-30-year-old gamer getting emotional about winning a video game touranment before retirement.

For me, I’m sure there will be a lot of laughter and maybe a few tears. Not that I’ll tell you. Okay, I probably will.