DarfMike to make first Cologne appearance

ESL announced their talent list this morning, featuring several regular stars like Jason "moses" O'Toole, Conner "Scrawny" Girvan, and Mohan "launders" Govindasamy. This time however, another household North American name is added to the legendary Cologne list as Mike "DarfMike" Winnick will be making his first IEM Cologne appearance for the first time.

When reached for comment on his first time inclusion at the marquee event, Mike replied:

LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO! WOOOOOO! FUCK YEAH BOIIIIIII!

It has been a rise for the American host who has seen more opportunities come his way this year which included a Desk Host job at IEM Katowice 2023 and as a Stage Host at IEM Dallas 2023.

Joining the fellow North Americans is Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg who has become a mainstay as an analyst among top tier broadcasts throughout the last two years. Known for his cutting analytical work, Mauisnake has become a household name and gained a bit of notoriety due to his continued criticism of Vladislav "nafany" Gorshkov which culminated in a short twitter spat earlier this month.

Rounding out the North Americans in Cologne is Alabama's own Tres "stunna" Saranthus who will be making his sixth appearance at IEM Cologne, with his first being in 2017 as a sideline reporter. stunna has worked every major IEM & ESL event so far this year and continues to be a familiar face on the organizer's Counter-Strike broadcasts.

IEM Cologne 2023 kicks off on June 26th with the Play-In, with main group play to begin on July 29th. North American fans can be excited to see FaZe and Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken already in groups, while Complexity, Liquid, FURIA, and Imperial will start their tournament at the Play-In.

Desk Hosts

Tres "stunna" Saranthus
Freya "Freya" Spiers
Sam "TechGirl" Wright
Mike "DarfMike" Winnick

Analysts

Sudhen "⁠Bleh⁠" Wahengbam
Mathieu "⁠Maniac⁠" Quiquerez
Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović
Alex "⁠Mauisnake⁠" Ellenberg
Jason "⁠moses⁠" O'Toole
Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović
Jacob "Pimpb" Winneche

Casters

Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchil
Alex "⁠Machine⁠" Richardson
Harry "⁠JustHarry⁠" Russell
Hugo "⁠Hugo⁠" Byron
Conner "Scrawny" Girvan
Mohan "launders" Govindasamy
James Bardolph
Alex "⁠hawka⁠" Hawkins

Sidelines & Stage

Eefje "⁠sjokz⁠" Depoortere
James Banks
OJ Borg