Sadokist and Semmler blast PGL for absences at Antwerp Major

Apr 26, 2022

Reading time: 2 min

Fans won’t get to hear Auguste “Semmler” Massonnat and Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett at the upcoming $1 million CSGO major.

Two iconic Counter-Strike: Global Offensive casters will be absent from the Antwerp Major following disagreements with tournament organizers at PGL. Sadokist cited a previous break potentially souring his working relationship with PGL. Semmler’s motives are less clear, but they could be related to either domestic restrictions or international concerns. Both casters announced their absences through social media.

With these two confirmations, the Antwerp Major’s talent roster will be missing several key figures. But the following big names and more will still be present to host the $1 million CSGO major.

Alex “Machine” Richardson
Chad “SPUNJ” Burchil
Conner “Scrawny” Girvan
Frankie Ward
James Banks
Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez
Mohan “launders” Govindasamy
Vince Hill

Why aren’t Semmler and Sadokist at the Antwerp Major?

Sadokist’s absence is fairly easy to explain. According to his social media posts, his break from CSGO casting during the online era has negatively impacted his relationship with tournament organizers. He was called in by PGL to cast the Stockholm Major playoffs, but passport issues prevented his arrival. The ensuing drama could have negatively impacted Sadokist’s chances for representation at future PGL events.

Wasn't asked for the major. Odd considering PGL were family, though not considering I took time off and they wanted a new direction. Heard a rumor that they held resent for the drama at the last major being spurred from the passport issues that I had, which would be very poor…
— Matthew Trivett 🐺 (@Sadokist) April 26, 2022

Semmler gave a much vaguer response regarding his absence from the Antwerp Major. He referred to “idiotic and immoral restrictions” for the event, though exactly what he means by this is unclear. He could be referencing precautions enforced on all competitors or the presence of Russian teams. Semmler stated he plans to talk about it in the future, but fans can only guess until then.

I turned down a spot at the Major when I learned of the idiotic and immoral restrictions that they have in place.

I'll work with PGL and Valve again when they regain their sanity.
— Semmler (@OnFireSemmler) April 25, 2022

Fellow CSGO casting icon Anders Blume will not be attending either, though he declined to comment on Valve. Instead, he remarked that the CSGO major will be a celebration of the game and the chosen talent at the event should be respected. Anders confirmed that he will not be attending due to his concerns with health restrictions at the event, but it’s not clear if that also applies to Semmler.