TI6 casters and analysts revealed, new faces come to light

These are the TI6 casters, analysts and entertainers that Valve brought together to spice up your viewing experience. The invitations have been sent and now the names of the Dota 2 talent to participate in the most prestigious and anticipated event of the year – The International 6 – have been made public.

UPDATE (August 13th):

TI6 final standings, updates and highlights – HERE

Thirty of some of the community’s finest talent and personalities have made the cut to be a part of the apex of all events. The TI6 talent lineup is chock-full of experience, insight and cunning perception. But perhaps most particular point to note is the new faces popping up on the horizon, along with the more familiar ones and those that have gone missing.

Arms wide open, we welcome back some of our favorites: Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner, Kaci Aitchison, Toby “TobiWan” Dawson, David “GoDz” Parker and David “LD” Gorman. They have become permanent fixtures – a staple in the talent lineup for The International.

This year, some of the hard-working, rising talents will be making their grand entrance on the casting and analyst panel of The International stage. Anne “Anneedroid” LeClaire, Travis “Maut” Bueno, Charlie Yang and Dominik “Black^” Reitmeier will join the ranks, adding new flavor and much appeal in Seattle.

Noticeably absent – and supported by a very public fan-outcry – are beloved and respected personalities such as Andrew “‏Zyori” Campbell, Alan “Nahaz” Bester, Ioannis “Fogged” Loucas and Gareth “GBCasts/Durka” Bateson. For those that didn’t make the cut this year, the community can only hope to see them back in action for the upcoming majors and new season to begin after this summer.

TI6 talent lineup

Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner (TI6 panel host)

ReDeYe: Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner is one of the world’s first professional electronic sports TV commentators providing coverage for Starcraft 2, Quake 3, Quake 4, Unreal Tournament, Unreal Tournament 2004, Counter-Strike: Source, Call of Duty 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, World of Warcraft, Smite, Dota 2, FIFA Soccer and almost all Racing Simulator games. He hosted the 2014 ESL One Frankfurt Germany Dota 2 tournament and is currently employed as the Head of Broadcasting at Gfinity. His appointment was received with excitement by the community, many praising his experience, professionalism and charisma.

Kaci Aitchison (TI6 host)

Kaci Aitchison

Kaci Aitchison: Kaci is a Features Host for local television station Q13FOX. She has been a solid fixture at the event the last few years providing interviews and fan oriented segments. Kaci’s first appearance, at The International 3, was met with reluctance. But from the first day, she had already won everyone over with her quirky and beloved interviews and segments.

TI6 casters (English)

TobiWan: Winner of the GosuAwards “Best Commentator” distinction in 2012 and 2013, Toby “TobiWan” Dawson is an atypical personality in the gaming universe. Passionate about football, tennis, cricket and musical theater, the Australian became one of the best Dota 2 commentators in the world and certainly the most famous one, despite never having been a gamer per se. The joinDOTA commentator has casted many of the top Dota 2 tournaments, including DreamHack, The Defense, joinDota Masters and Dota 2 Champions League. Toby “TobiWan” Dawson has had the distinct honor to have participated in all six of The Internationals thus far. His name and unique style is synonym to The International and we can’t but welcome his presence in this year’s TI6 casters lineup.

Helena Kristiansson/ ESL

BlitzDota: William “Blitz” Lee is a professional Dota 2 player turned caster. He switched to casting full time in January 2015 following the dissolution of his last team, Zephyr.

Credits: Ben Cotton/ Dreamhack

ODPixel: Owen “ODPixel” Davis is a fan favorite who consistently receives praise for his broadcasts from fans and Dota 2 personalities alike. “Discovered” last year after co-casting some matches for BTS, he then quit his job to move to Sweden and join Dreamhack Season 3 full-time. He is known for his British humor and banter, as well as for his accent. When asked, ODPixel has stated that his favorite thing about casting is “the adrenaline when something exciting happens, and being able to share my excitement with the viewers”. This explains what many, including himself, agree is his biggest strength: hype.

GoDz: Starting as a manager and player, David “GoDz” Parker began casting for GosuGamers in 2011 and was the first main caster to provide consistent English Dota 2 casts of the SEA and Chinese scenes. In 2012, he founded his own studio, Beyond the Summit (BTS). He was a part of The International 2012 analyst desk alongside Nebu1a, James “2GD” Harding and Bruno “Statsman” Carlucci. His contributions to the community continued to be recognized by Valve, and he was invited host the The International 2013 Eastern Qualifiers and participate in the main event as an analyst. He was also invited at TI4 and TI5, as a caster and part of the analyst panel.

KotLGuy: Founding member of Highground.tv, Dakota “KotLGuy” Cox has been a part of the Beyond the Summit team since February 2015. Although he casted at TI4, his late invitation to join the TI5 casters lineup prompted a public outcry from professional players, Dota 2 personalities and fans alike. Since then he has had a strong presence on the set of premier and major events.

Pyrion Flax: “Pyrion Flax” is known to many from his in game announcer pack and his humorous YouTube videos. He has been involved in much of the casting for various tournaments. His contribution to various segments of TI5 last year was well received by fans.

Purge: Kevin “Purge” Godec is a commentator, Dota 2 content creator, coach and an ex-professional player. In 2012, he was invited by Valve to conduct post-game interviews at TI2 and was present at TI5, bringing forward much of his insight and on point discussions.

Credits: Adela Sznajder/ ESL

Capitalist: Starting out commentating HoN/Dota 1 in early 2010, it wasn’t until about 2013 that Austin “Capitalist” Walsh considers hitting his lucky break. He began his career as a co-caster alongside TobiWan and has since advanced to being a main caster. Capitalist participated in TI4 and TI5 as well as the other Dota 2 Majors and premier events.

Credits: Abraham Engelmark/ Dreamhack

Draskyl: As a former professional Heroes of Newerth player and Dota 2 commentator casting for the GD Studio, Andy “Draskyl” Stiles has casted at TI2, TI3 and TI5.

Wagamama: Niklas “Wagamama” Högström is a Swedish professional Dota 2 player who currently competes with team 4 Clovers and Lepricon. He is well known for his stream, as well as his insightful, analytical commentary, and was previously invited to co-cast TI3 with TobiWan and casted at TI5.

WinteR: Chan “WinteR” Litt Binn is a professional Dota 2 player from Malaysia. He is well known for his casting, especially for his English casts for the SEA and Chinese region tournaments. He joined his fellow casters for TI5 for the first time.

LD: David “LD” Gorman is one of the most well known Dota 2 commentators and one of the primary casters for Beyond the Summit. He is also one of the business partners for the studio, alongside GoDz. LD has a long history of casting major tournaments and was one of the primary casters for TI2, TI3, TI4 and TI5.

SirActionSlacks

SirActionSlacks: Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner is immensely popular as the meme king and content creator extraordinaire. He is a streamer, YouTuber, content creator and caster. Although his casting repertoire includes Canada Cup with HighGround TV, Clutch Con, Dirtmaul, and the Amateur Dota League, he is most known for his YouTube series “Stupid Voices in Dota“. He is notorious for colorful antics and creative content. Even though he is often clowning around, he is very generous with others in the community. He is often leading stream raids to help other streamers get exposure and donations and was a significant part of the Golden Ticket contest designed to give content creators in the community a chance to attend TI5. Besides developing the C.U.T. Corps for compendium owners to take part in as an effort to fulfill the Clearcut Challenge, he has been a constant fixture on stage recently – appearing at the Manila Major, ESL One Manila and ESL One Frankfurt 2016.

Anneedroid at The Summit 5

“Anneedroid”:Anne “Anneedroid” LeClaire has been casting for approximately one and half years now. She has been praised as a hype and shout caster, capable of casting for 10-12 hours a day without losing energy. Her play by plays are considered to be among the top and she has most recently been hired by Moonduck.TV. Fans of her stream have made acquaintances with her pet lizard via her Lizard cam. This is Anneedroid’s biggest breakthrough yet, after just recently being a part of the BTS Summit 5 crew.

Maut: One of the main broadcasters for Moonduck.TV, Travis “Maut” Bueno also worked as one of the producers and frequent contributors for the talk show Much Ado About Dota. He has been casting the DotaPit matches. As a caster/founder of HighGround.TV, he has collaborated with Beyond the Summit, JoinDota, DotaTalk, and Starladder. Maut was invited to cast for The International 4 and his contribution to the TI5 qualifiers was well received by fans and viewers. He has most recently been a part of the Manila and Frankfurt Major, clocking in hours of premier and major LAN tournament time.

Credits: Adela “Mawrr” Sznajder/ Dreamhack

shaneomad:Shane “shaneomad” Clarke is the playful Irish Dota 2 personality that always has some type of antics up his sleeve. Fans loved his contribution to the noob stream at TI4 and were able to get a large dose of him during DreamLeague and Frankfurt Major. He’s most loved by his fans for his relaxed, good natured and expressive personality.

TI6 talent – Analyst Desk

Merlini: Ben “Merlini” Wu is a professional caster, streamer and an ex-professional DotA player. He currently works for Beyond the Summit and has been prominent at the analyst desk in various major tournaments for the last several years.

Credits: Patrick Strack/ ESL

Maelk: Jacob “Maelk” Toft-Andersen is a caster and retired Danish player, regarded by many as one of the most influential players in the history of DotA. He retired from competitive play in 2013 to take a managerial role in Evil Geniuses organization. The same year, he attended The International as part of the analyst desk. He is currently working in the new esports division of Germany’s FC Schalke and has been providing analysis at the main desk for events such as ESL One Frankfurt 2015.

Black^ at the Frankfurt Major

Black^: Dominik “Black^” Reitmeier’s long and successful DotA career began in 2009. He made the transition to Dota 2 and in 2012 competed in TI2 and TI3 with mousesports. In September of 2013 he began his first stint in an eventual international tour of teams – going to China to play for LGD.International. He then joined CIS (Chinese team) and then ViCi Gaming. After parting ways with Vici Gaming, Black joined Team Tinker situated in North America in 2015 for a short period of time before then venturing out to SEA. He joined Fnatic in Malayisa for several months and then returned back to Europe. Since then he has spent most of his time standing in for various teams and streaming. He made an appearance on the panel at the Manila Major and received much positive feedback and support for his insight and discussions.

Charlie Yang at Manila Major

Charlie Yang: Charlie Yang, previously known to many as “Monolith” from his time playing DotA. He was the manager of Dignitas, Speed Gaming and most known for being the manager of Evil Geniuses for two years. Since stepping away from the management scene – his last stint being Shanghai Major – he has begun to turn his attention and focus into being an analyst. He left a positive impression with many for his work at the Manila Major and has now earned the invite to be on the panel for TI6.

Sheever: Jorien “Sheever” van der Heijden os one of the most popular and appreciated female presences in the Dota 2 scene. Sheever is a Dota 2 caster, interviewer and host. Born in the beautiful land of tulips and windmills, the Netherlands, Sheever has casted and hosted numerous major Dota 2 tournaments, such as The International and Starladder Starseries. Besides her utmost passion for video games, Sheever is a movie enthusiast and a big cat lover. Her cat, Diego, is making frequent appearances on stream. She has acted as full time host for DreamLeague and co-hosted at Shanghai Major.

TI6 talent

Ben NoxvilleZA Steenhuisen | Statistics

Johan Weppas Westberg | Observer

Rikard skrff Melin | Observer

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The International 6

TI6 participants:

Six directly invited teams – Team Liquid, OG, Na’Vi, Newbee, LGD Gaming, Cloud 9, MVP.Phoenix, and eight qualified ones – Wings Gaming (TI6 Chinese Qualifiers winners),ViCi Gaming.Reborn (TI6 Chinese Qualifiers winners), Evil Geniuses (TI6 Americas Qualifiers winners) Digital Chaos (TI6 Americas Qualifiers winners),Fnatic (TI6 SEA Qualifiers winners), TnC (TI6 SEA Qualifiers winners), Team Secret (TI6 European Qualifiers winners), Alliance (TI6 European Qualifiers winners)will compete in The International 6 main event. Four other teams have qualified for the Wild Card series: EHOME (China), compLexity Gaming (Americas), Execration (SEA), and Escape Gaming (Europe).

The International 6 will take place August 8th through 13th at the Key Arena, in Seattle, Washington, the same venue as last year. The Key Arena has a total seating capacity of over 17,000. The total prize-pool has so far reached $18,746,458 ($17,146,458 added).

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