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Kassad: "BLAST choose politics over quality" for talent choices
Earlier today, Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunovic tweeted about alleged impropriety in BLAST's selection for talent on their broadcasts. He blamed this on "politics", claiming that it damaged the quality of the broadcast and "disrespected the game and the fans".
kassad, who has been hired as an analyst for IEM Cologne 2023, says that this event is more important than the BLAST.tv Paris Major, the final Major in CS:GO history. It is important to note that kassad has never worked a BLAST broadcast before, according to Liquipedia, and is predominantly a member of ESL's cast, taking the analyst stage for Katowice earlier this year and at the IEM Rio Major near the tail end of last year.
In a follow up Tweet, kassad says he was not referring to himself in these talent discrepancies. Nonetheless, as two of the most prestigious events of the year, Cologne and the Paris Major do have a striking similarity in their talent. Seven of eight Paris Major commentators will be employed at Cologne, with just Anders "Anders" Blume only appearing at the Major (Anders' casting duo Jason "moses" O'Toole will be an analyst at Cologne 2023), making room for James Bardolph and Alex "Hawka" Hawkins.
The analyst desk at Cologne does sport some new faces compared to the Major, with Janko "YNk" Paunović, Sudhen "Bleh" Wahengbam, and kassad himself taking the desk in addition to four faces returning from Paris. In other areas of broadcast, Cologne gains Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere as an interviewer as well as Tres "stunna" Saranthus and Mike "DarfMike" Winnick as desk hosts. Nonetheless, most of the cast of Cologne had a hand in the broadcast at the BLAST.tv Paris Major.
This is not the first time kassad has criticized the tournament organizer, previously saying it is the "worst TO that we ever had in the circuit."
Below you can see the comparison between the two talent lineups.
Cologne Desk Hosts
Tres "stunna" Saranthus
Freya "Freya" Spiers
Sam "TechGirl" Wright
Mike "DarfMike" Winnick
Cologne Analysts
Sudhen "Bleh" Wahengbam
Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez
Janko "YNk" Paunović
Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg
Jason "moses" O'Toole
Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović
Jacob "Pimp" Winneche
Cologne Casters
Chad "SPUNJ" Burchil
Alex "Machine" Richardson
Harry "JustHarry" Russell
Hugo "Hugo" Byron
Conner "Scrawny" Girvan
Mohan "launders" Govindasamy
James Bardolph
Alex "hawka" Hawkins
Cologne Sidelines & Stage
Eefje "sjokz" Depoortere
James Banks
OJ Borg
BLAST Major Desk Hosts
Freya "Freya" Spiers
Sam "Tech Girl" Wright
BLAST Major Analysts
Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez
Jacob “Pimp” Winneche
Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg
Danny "mahone" Hsieh
Zvonimir “Professeur” Burazin
BLAST Major Casters
Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill
Alex "Machine" Richardson
Anders “Anders” Blume
Jason "moses" O'Toole
Conner "Scrawny" Girvan
Mohan "launders" Govindasamy
Harry "JustHarry" Russell
Hugo "Hugo" Byron
BLAST Major Sidelines & Stage
François "Cnd" Balembois
James Banks
Adam "Dinko" Hawthorne
Mads “CouldBeMassive” Pedersen
Jake Lucky [Overtime Host]
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