StarLadder announces full broadcast talent for Berlin Major
The StarLadder & i-League Berlin Major begins tonight, and viewers will be able to follow it easier than ever before thanks to the newly announced broadcast team.
StarLadder revealed the on-air team earlier in August, which includes two hosts and eight casters. Tres “stunna” Saranthus and Alex “Machine” Richardson will be the aforementioned hosts. Machine will also act as one of the casters.
Interviews will be conducted by James “BanKs” Banks and Sue “Smix” Lee. This is the first time Smix has made an appearance at a CSGO major. This is also the first major appearance for Hugo Bryon and Harry “JustHarry” Russell, who covered the entirety of the Berlin minors championships.
The three analysts at the desk will be Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill, Jacob “Pimp” Winneche, and Sean “seang@res” Gares, who were also the three analysts at the IEM Katowice Major. Other familiar faces will return as well, including Daniel “ddk” Kapadia and James Bardolph, the pair from FaceIT who often cast together. Jason “mosse” O’Toole and Anders “Anders” Blume have also been creating quite a buzz about their appearance after it had previously been rumored that the highly regarding casting duo would not be invited to Berlin.
Despite being first announced as a caster, Matthew “Sadokist” Trivett will actually be working as a desk host. Last year, Sadokist was
suspended
from Twitch after using a racial slur while streaming PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds with friends. This has made the choice a bit controversial, as some CSGO fans have called for him to never publicly cast again. Others feel he should be forgiven.
The StarLadder Major begins with the New Challengers Stage and will be held at the Verti Music Hall. Starting August 28, the New Legends Stage will see eight teams progress to the playoffs on September 5.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
View full profile
Read Also
News
The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027
Ben Boland
The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...
Esports Betting
MLBB is the most-watched game from the EWC, and it’s hard to see another game beating it
Michael Hassall
The Esports World Cup 2026 has officially passed its midway point and viewership figures for the tournament have surpassed many expectations so far, as per Esports Charts. The viewership tracking site revealed new statistics for the event on Aug. 6, showcasing just how many games had set new records in viewership, including one name leading the way in views: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. MLBB leads the viewership charts with the ...
Counter-Strike
CS2 at the EWC 2026 Preview: Odds, Details, Predictions and More
Owen Harsono
Top-tier Counter-Strike action returns at the Esports World Cup, as 32 of the best teams will take the trip to Paris to compete for millions of dollars. If you’re looking to watch the event, here’s everything you need to know and which teams to keep an eye on. The Esports World Cup is one of the largest CS2 events if we’re looking at prize pools, as $2,000,000 will be distributed ...
News
Opinion: Is Esports Tracing the Same Evolutionary Path As Traditional Sports?
Cecilia Ciocchetti
What happens when an industry compresses centuries of sporting evolution into less than a decade or two? Communities become global audiences overnight, rivalries spread through social media within minutes, and tournaments turn into entertainment products faster than ever before. And so what took traditional sports centuries to build has taken esports a fraction of that. From local communities to sold out arenas, and from informal matches to Olympic-style events, the ...
Counter-Strike
BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-final predictions: who’s making it to the grand final?
Owen Harsono
The top four teams we’re seeing at the BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-finals are far from what anyone would expect before the tournament began, but here we are. We’re only three matches from crowning a winner, so let’s take a look at the best BLAST Bounty semi-final predictions for both upcoming matchups. Starting the semi-finals off is a banger of a series between FaZe Clan and Team Spirit, which is one ...
Counter-Strike
We Ranked The Top 5 Most Hated CS2 Maps
Owen Harsono
If you’re a Counter-Strike player, you probably have that one map you always ban first in every Premier game — and you're not alone as almost everyone has one too. Below, we’ll take a look at the most hated maps in Counter-Strike history and explain why they are disliked by the community at large. Anubis is one of the newer releases in the Counter-Strike 2 map pool, but it has ...
Counter-Strike
The Top 10 Best Clutches in Counter-Strike History Ranked
Owen Harsono
Pulling off an impossible clutch is one of the greatest hits of dopamine any Counter-Strike 2 player can ever feel. However, pulling them off at the highest level can be a little tricky since everyone is so coordinated. That’s exactly why mind-blowing clutches are remembered forever. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the 10 best clutches in Counter-Strike history. We’re opening the list with former mousesports ...
