Brody ‘Liefx’ Moore: From Deltora Quest to the RLCS

Brody ‘Liefx’ Moore is among the most energetic Rocket League casters the world has to offer, but he wasn’t always the bundle of light you now see on stream. His infatuation with and dedication to esports has motivated him to go from a being shy kid watching Halo on TV to living his dream commentating in front of live audiences.

Moore’s nickname originates from the Deltora Quest book series that he read at a young age. The main character from the book series is called Lief and after Moore had crushed through the series he knew wanted to be known as Lief. He started going on forums to talk about the book series but was disappointed when ‘Lief’ was already taken.

Lief liked the mysterious nature of the letter “x” and decided to slap it onto the end of the name, and thus Liefx was born.

“I wanted my parents to change my name to Lief,” Moore said. “They wouldn’t do it. Jokes on them, I kind of got that anyway. A lot more people know me by Lief than Brody.”

Moore was raised in Kitchener, Ontario and has lived there his entire life. He grew up playing hockey, practicing Kung Fu, trying parkour, reading fantasy novels and doing anything else that tickled his interest.

As adolescence blossomed so too did a sadness that Moore couldn’t explain. His parents had divorced at age five and conflict with his step dad motivated him to move in with his father at 15 years old.

His dad lived in a more remote area where there wasn’t as much to do beyond chatting with friends on MSN or powering up a system. While he was living with his father the sadness became overwhelming. At a very young age Moore had to face depression and often turned to video games to overcome it.

“It was the perfect distraction. Gaming was that perfect thing to let my mind escape from where I was without having to put a lot of energy into it… [Gaming] was a huge help with me getting through depression. Obviously I have a super supportive family but gaming was that initial ‘I don’t want to talk to anyone, I don’t know why I’m sad, I just am, so I’m going to play and escape.’ ” 

On days where Moore didn’t wanted to talk to anyone and depression sapped his physical energy, he knew right where to turn.

“Gaming was always there to help me through a lot of those hard periods. I grew this innate attachment to gaming. I would come home from school and I would see Halo on ESPN. There would be the Top Ten plays with Chris Puckett… It was so cool to see video games on TV because I had this attachment to it.”

By no means were games his cure. Moore just found solace in the ability to enter a new world even if only temporarily.

He also adopted a sense of adventure from the games he played. With just three courses left before graduating with a degree in programming, Liefx decided to leave school and backpack around Europe. He lost interest in his studies after he felt like he was being forced into the role.

“I knew things I was interested in and I wanted to make a living off of those. My stubbornness actually kind of worked. I worked at restaurants for a few years while I also on my spare time would work on YouTube and casting. Eventually one of those blossomed.” 

Moore’s passion for gaming deepened as he got older. After a few years he started to host Super Smash Bros. tournaments at a bar he managed. He loved organizing tournaments  but felt a desire for more connection to the game. Those tournaments at the bar planted the seed for his future casting career.

Smash was his first love but he felt that he didn’t know enough about the meta to become a full time caster. When Rocket League came out Liefx fell in love. He knew he had found the game that he could connect with.

“For me, it was that hockey background. I was a goaltender in hockey so I always watched plays develop. I just knew how to rotate and thought, ‘Maybe I can help people.’ So I went online and looked for tournaments that I might have a chance to cast.”

Liefx landed with vVv, an online tournament organizer, and  hit the ground running. He started seeing the game from a new perspective and tried to help people understand what was happening in the game underneath the surface level.

At vVv Moore met fellow caster Adam ‘Lawler’ Thornton and the two hit it off.

“Eventually I filled in on a Tuesday which was his regular day and we just clicked,” Thornton said. “First time experiencing a caster who I felt knew what they were doing. From there we spent almost every night together talking, going over the broadcast and theorycrafting about RL. Part of it was both being on the same grind and sharing it with someone, the other just having a ton in common.”

Lief and Lawler formed a strong friendship that lasted beyond vVv. When the first season of the Rocket League Championship series came around they were both hired on as casters.

Six full seasons later and Liefx’s Rocket League family has only expanded. He cites the relationship that he’s had with his coworkers as a key factor in maintaining his energy.

Through it all Moore has learned about the need for failure and how gaming has taught him from his brushes with let downs.

“Esports has let me have a drive,” Moore continued. “There’s something to work toward. I always have something to better myself in. It’s not that I go into a game and just play it to escape, now I get to be active on doing something better.”

The statement is an interesting reflection of Lief’s life as a whole. With every challenge that’s come, he’s found a way to grow from it. While depression still makes cameos in his day to day life, he continuously works to become a better person.

In a way he’s like Lief from Deltora Quest. Instead of gathering fabled gems or defeating Shadow Lords, Moore has had to wage war against mental health and overcome personal failures.

There were so many more great tidbits about Liefx that didn’t make this story including his world record Mario Kart DS times, his experience in working with Heads Up Daily, his dreams of being a weatherman and his thoughts on the timeless “Why you so cute?” moment from RLCS seasons past. To be honest, this piece works better in podcast form. Listen to the full audio here:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Follow Liefx!
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/liefx
Twitter: @Liefx

Feature image courtesy of Liquipedia.

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