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The Definitive Guide to the Amazing BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Broadcast Talents

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The Definitive Guide to the Amazing BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Broadcast Talents

The BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023’s lineup of broadcast talents features some of the most prominent talents of eSports

BLAST has appointed 20 industry broadcasting talents to guide viewers throughout the Paris Major 2023. Since the Challengers and Legends stage each will see the participation of 16 teams, 18 broadcasting members will be in charge of the streams. The number of talents will be shortened to 15 as we enter the Playoffs since there will be only a single stream for the games.

Here is everything you need to know about the talent lineup for the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023.

blast.tv paris major 2023 broadcast talent

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Broadcast Talents: Desk Hosts

With their excellent presentation skills, the desk hosts will keep our brains busy during the breaks between matches, providing valuable commentary and asking important questions about the games. Here are the Desk Hosts for the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023:

Freya “Freya” Spiers

The quintessential professional but not without just the right amount of charm, Freya has enough events under her belt to have become a near-permanent fixture of the scene by this point. She might not be the one dishing out in-depth analysis or making the impactful comments, but there’s no mistaking the fact that she’s a top-tier playmaker in the broadcast game and bosses her role as host.

Commonly a desk host and sometimes an interviewer or even an analyst, Freya has been a CSGO broadcasting talent since 2018. She has hosted four Majors so far, including last year’s IEM Rio Major, alongside great names like Tres “stunna” Saranthus. We have also seen her as a desk host for the recent IEM Katowice 2023 and IEM Rio 2023 events, as well as managing the Analyst role for this year’s ESL Pro League.

Sam “TechGirl” Wright

The new girl on the block, TechGirl is yet to make a real mark on the CSGO scene, but given her massive experience in working with other games, she probably won’t find it too difficult to do so. She has been an eSports broadcaster since 2016, but this will be her first CSGO Major as a talent.

She started her journey as a host for South African tournaments and then switched to international PUBG and Overwatch events in late 2017. While TechGirl won’t be there to host the Playoffs of this Major, she and Freya will be in charge of the Challengers and Legends stage.

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Broadcast Talents: Analysts

Where the casters and desk hosts fall short, the analysts come into play with their in-depth knowledge of the game and excellent ability to convey complicated strategies in a simpler way. Here are the analysts of this Major who will be putting their brains to work for our viewing experience –

Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez

Extremely smart and incredibly charismatic, Maniac has as sharp a mind for CSGO as he does for knowing how to pull off having a solid on-screen presence. The retired Counter-Strike player and coach started his journey as a CSGO talent in 2015 and was appointed the analyst role for three Majors in the past alongside many S-Tier and A-Tier events. 

With Paris being his fourth Major, the Swiss analyst is as articulate and insightful as ever, giving us interesting takes on the games being played and never running out of fresh angles to dissect a match from. Some of his recent work as an analyst was in the IEM Katowice 2023 and ESL Pro League S17 tournaments.

Jacob “Pimp” Winneche

Counter-Strike has been a big part of Pimp’s life since he started his professional journey back in the CS Source days. After quitting as a player, he became an analyst talent for the game in 2016, soon appearing in his first Major in FACEIT London 2018. The 27-year-old has grown greatly over the years as an analyst, learning from the best talents to sharpen his mind.

The Simon to Maniac’s Garfunkel, Pimp is as straightforward as they come, often dishing out razor-sharp analysis without gloss or pretense. After analyzing five Majors throughout the years and working in numerous top-level tournaments, Pimp is one of the most experienced talents in the broadcasting lineup for the Paris Major.

Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg

As charming as he is handsome, Mauisnake can light up any analyst desk with his presence. He is often the butt of jokes from other casters and talents, but it’s very clear that this is because of his calm demeanor and easy-going sense of humor. That being said, he is as incisive as they come when it comes to gauging the quality of a play.

The North American caster and analyst started his broadcasting talent career as a commentator in 2018. He has also gained experience conducting interviews in Antwerp Major RMRs, then proceeding to be an Analyst in the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 and IEM Rio Major 2022. Therefore, this is going to be his third Major as an analyst, as he will be bringing valuable insights to the games based on his background as a professional player and a coach.

Zvonimir “Professeur” Burazin

A relatively new face in the industry, Professeur’s star is on the rise as he graduates from doing smaller tournaments to getting in on the very highest level of action. Unlike the rest of the analysts, Professeur will only be present during the Challengers and Legends stage to dissect the exciting gameplans of the Major rosters. 

The 31-year-old was on the analyst desks for the Antwerp Major RMRs in 2022, and this will be his first Major to take part in as a talent. 

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Broadcast Talents: Casters

Casters are the wordsmiths of the eSports universe as they vividly describe every thrilling moment with their deep understanding of the game and a great command over the language. Here are the casters for the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 who will have a keen eye for detail and a knack for storytelling – 

Mohan “launders” Govindasamy

Commentating on S-tier tournaments since 2015, launders has tons of experience being a caster on high-stakes matches. He has been a broadcast talent alongside names like Harry “JustHarry” Russell and Hugo Byron in two recent Majors, and the Paris Major will be his third. 

Most commonly seen these days as a casting partner to Conner “Scrawny” Girvan — whom we’ll catch up on in just a bit — launders acts as a coolant to Scrawny’s hypecasting. He provides calm, stoic insight and is lightning-quick at spotting anything that needs a nod from the casters. Govindasamy also has a popular CSGO-related YouTube channel simply called lau.

Conner “Scrawny” Girvan

The Scrawny and launders duo is one of the most loved casting pairs in Counter-Strike. Similar to his Canadian acquaintance, Scrawny has previously been present in two Majors as a caster, and he also joined launders on the recent American RMR to commentate on games prior to the Paris Major. 

He and launders’ story began at the Northern Arena Montreal event, where they were casting their first event together. Since then, they have been dazzling audiences with some truly memorable caster calls, and are set to continue their work in the years to come as older casters possibly retire. We’re loving their work in Paris so far!

Anders Blume

Anders is one of the most notable names in CSGO casting. He began working as an eSports talent in 2013, quickly gaining a huge reputation that led to him casting 2013’s biggest Counter-Strike event DreamHack Winter 2013. Since then, Anders has been casting numerous high-tier competitions, including 10 different Majors. Often pairing with Auguste “Semmler” Massonnat in the past, Anders is mostly seen nowadays alongside Jason “moses” O'Toole. 

After witnessing so much of CSGO's history and showcasing his excellent skills of turning a game into a story, Anders has become a household name when it comes to broadcasting talents. He is the quintessential CSGO caster, and many of the game’s biggest moments would feel off without his own, shall we say, inhuman reactions.

Jason “moses” O'Toole

The Paris Major will be the tenth Major for moses as a talent and the sixth one as a caster. He has mostly been an analyst for the Majors that took place in 2016-2018, all while having casting experience in other high-tier CSGO events. 

moses started his journey as a commentator in Majors since the FACEIT Major: London 2018. He has also appeared in several 2023 tournaments’ talent lineup, including the ESL Pro League Season 17 and the American RMR for Paris Major. Whether it’s his back-and-forth with Anders or just the insight he provides by his lonesome, moses’ contribution to the pro scene of the game is utterly indelible.

Alex “Machine” Richardson

Machine’s career as a caster started with Call of Duty while also hosting tournaments for other games, including Dota 2, Rocket League and League of Legends. He has been a commentator for CSGO events since 2015 and experienced his first Major as a desk host in 2018’s FACEIT Major. The Paris Major will be his fifth Major as a commentator as he has been steering himself away from desk hosting roles in recent years. 

A man with a bonesaw-like wit, Machine is inarguably one of the funniest casters out there. That doesn’t mean he’s not absolutely brilliant at both play-by-play and analytical casting, but only that he can sometimes swap those out for pure humor, which he has in spades. In fact, one of his now-most-memorable casting clips, one involving a certain Casper “cadiaN” Møller’s incredible clutch to win ESL Pro League Season 13, began as a joke.

Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill

Often the Robin to Machine’s Batman, SPUNJ is an experienced voice who, unlike many of his peers, has actually tasted top-level CSGO in the first person. In fact, SPUNJ has a lot more experience than other retired Counter-Strike talents due to his long history of playing Source and Global Offensive.

Still remembered for having been the first IGL for the legendary Aussie lineup Renegades, the 33-year-old started his broadcasting career in 2016 — the same year he retired from playing professionally. Since then, the Australian-British talent has worked in seven Majors, being an analyst for most of them.

Harry “JustHarry” Russell

JustHarry and Hugo Byron are one of the most popular casting duos on the scene right now. Adored by the CSGO community and considered a rising star, the 2019’s StarLadder Berlin was the first Major for JustHarry as a commentator, but he has been officially casting CSGO tournaments since 2016. 

With plenty of experience in his résumé already, the 25-year-old Brit is showing no signs of slowing down when it comes to attending events. A Covid-19-induced break from attending seems to only have spurred on his career, as his regular presence at online events boosted his popularity. 

Hugo Byron

Usually casting in tandem with JustHarry, Byron, like Anders, is one of the few people involved with pro CSGO who don’t have a popular IGN associated with them. With his signature deep voice, Hugo brings a fresh sound to the scene, and his immense knowledge of the game helps enhance the experience.

Unlike most other commentators who have also been analysts or hosts for CSGO events, Byron’s stayed in the casting lane. His journey as a talent started in 2015, and he has commentated on three Majors since then, with the 2019’s StarLadder Berlin being his first.

BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Broadcast Talents: Interviewers

The interviewers of the Paris Major will be tasked with capturing the emotions, triumphs and defeats of your favorite Counter-Strike players throughout the event. Here are the interviewers who will take charge of asking valuable questions to professional players –

James “Banks” Banks

The Team Manager for Bad News Eagles has been working as a talent for a long time, given the start of his career was in 2002. He is not only an interviewer but also a professional journalist, host, and commentator in the world of eSports. Whether he’s offering condolences to the captain of a freshly-eliminated team or running some mini-game involving players or talents in-between matches, the scene veteran shows unyielding energy. 

The BLAST.tv Paris Major is going to be his fifth Major as a talent, and we will see him conducting interviews throughout the Challengers and Legends Stage. Banks is someone who thoroughly loves the game, and this becomes obvious whether one sees him at work.

Mads “Massive” Pedersen

Massive, also known as CouldBeMassive, is a freelance interviewer and host who is rather new to the eSports realm. Very little is known about him, but he has shot up out of nowhere to interviewing players at Majors in a very short time.

We saw him working on the broadcasting lineups of last year’s BLAST Premier events, and this is his first-ever Major as a talent. Similar to James Banks, he will be working in the first two stages of the event.

Adam “Dinko” Hawthorne

The young caster started working as an eSports broadcaster when he was 17, and even though he has not worked on any Majors yet, we have seen him as a commentator at many S-tier events, such as the ESL Pro League S17 and the recent European RMRs.

A cheerful youngster with a fresh face and a warm smile, Dinko has built up a small collection of fans in the short time that he has been in the industry. The Paris Major will be this 22-year-old’s first time working in a Major, and he will be there even during the Playoffs.

Remember to check out our vast selection of other CSGO content, including previews, analyses, guides, and more.

The Definitive Guide to the Amazing BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Broadcast Talents
The Old One
When he's not sighing at sub-standard teammates in Dota 2 and CS2, The Old One is writing about those two games (among other things). If you see his name around the site too many times for your liking, well, the guy just never stops writing. Yes, we've tried an intervention.