Talent announcements for the PGL Major keep surprising
The esports event production company PGL has announced its full talent line-up for the Counter-Strike 2 Major in Copenhagen. The 16 broadcast talent choices feature comebacks as well as surprising snubs.
HenryG and Richard Lewis are back
After two and a half years of absence at a Major, three-time esports journalist of the year and broadcast host Richard Lewis has been announced as one of the two desk hosts for the event in Denmark. The announcement was a surprise to the CS community given Lewis’ absence from broadcasting work over the last few years.
In 2017 and 2018, Lewis hosted the Turner Sports organised ELEAGUE, only returning to select events since then. For 2021, PGL had opted for a reunion of the premier broadcasting talent during the 2010s, inviting Lewis to host the event.
He will be rotating desk duties with Eefje “sjokz” Depoortere, who will be returning to a PGL Major after her appearance in Antwerp in 2022. Sjokz is known for her work in League of Legends and specifically the European League LEC but also for hosting the League of Legends World Championship every year.
Another returning name after years of absence from the major is shoutcaster Henry "HenryG" Greer, who will be commentating his first Major since 2019. The former pro player had taken a brief break from broadcasting in 2020 and 2021 acting as the General Manager of Cloud9 CS:GO. After his return to the casting booth in late 2022, he has been grinding the various circuits in the CS ecosystem again, working 13 events in 2023 alone.
The remaining announced talent features fan-favourite casting duos such as Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill and Alex "Machine" Richardson, Hugo Byron and Harry "JustHarry" Russell as well as Conner "Scrawny" Girvan and Mohan "launders" Govindasamy.
Absent names
In line with previous talent announcements at major events, the list of absentees was as much talked about as those that did make the cut. Especially the perceived snubbing of Freya "Freya" Spiers became a debated topic in the Counter-Strike community. The desk host has been one of the most prolific talents in the esport, presenting the desk for both premier circuits in BLAST and IEM. The omission of Tres "stunna" Saranthus was another surprise to many.
The announcement of the PGL Major Copenhagen’s desk analysts had already sparked a debate this week, with Janko "YNk" Paunović and Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg missing from the list of talent.
