The International 7 broadcast lineup unveiled

Less than three weeks prior to the kickoff of The International, the broadcast talent has been announced by Valve.

The main hosts of the events are relative newcomers to the scene, though they’re far from unqualified. The “main host” title has been handed to Starcraft veteran Sean Saintmichael “Day9” Plott, who has been working hard to learn Dota 2 with fellow host Kevin “Purge” Godec through a weekly stream series. For group stages, Alex “Machine” Richardson has been tapped in after a successful show at the Boston Major.

The full talent list can be found in the Compendium, and community member Wykrhm created a graphic with all participating talent:

TI7 will see the return of plenty of talent, including Kaci Atchison, the local anchor turned esports star, who will likely be working again with Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner on interviews, stage hosting and content.

After an open and honest struggle with cancer, Jorien "Sheever" van der Heijden will also be back for the event, much to the joy of her fans and the wider Dota 2 community.

Most notably this year, there’s an influx of professional players listed alongside the talent. For instance, Evil Geniuses CEO and ex-captain Peter “PPD” Daeger has been invited, alongside Per Anders Olsson Lille or “Pajkatt,” and streamer Quinn "CC&C" Callahan, among others.

While their roles haven’t been made explicit, this is likely a response to positive reception of pros at Dota 2 events giving their analyses, such as Daeger, Theeban "1437" Siva and Ioannis “Fogged” Loucas. While they may lack the experience in performance that more seasoned casters bring to play-by-play games, they may be expected to add experienced perspectives to analysis panels.

Many experienced broadcasters will be returning to Seattle as well, including but not limited to casters Owen “ODPixel” Davies, Tobi “TobiWan” Dawson and David “LD” Gorman.

The announcement also included official talent for Russian and Chinese streams.