The Esports World Cup has announced its talent lineup for the Counter-Strike 2 EWC tournament, including English talent, Freya Spiers, Alex ‘Machine’ Richardson, James Banks, Harry ‘JustHarry’ Richards, Henry ‘HenryG’ Greer, Hugo Byron, and Northern Irish caster Adam ‘Dinko’ Hawthorne.
EWC CS2’s event is notable for its attraction of talent, with many esports not featuring their usual suspects on broadcast. However, Counter-Strike’s open model, as opposed to the centralised models of Riot’s esports, for instance, seems to have led to a broadcast which will be extremely familiar for its fans.
The event will run from August 20-24, consisting entirely of a single-elimination bracket. The tournament will feature all Best of Threes, except the Grand Final, which will be Best of Five. The total prize pool is $1,250,000, putting it in line with PGL events.
As it is a LAN tournament, and $1,000,000 is the cap for effect on VRS, it will have a substantial effect on the global ranking system.
Vitality are currently favourites with esports betting sites to take home the trophy and claim their eighth title in 2025 overall, but having lost to MOUZ in Cologne, they look more mortal than in the first half of the year. MOUZ must face Spirit, who defeated them in the Cologne Grand Final, if they wish to have a chance of jousting with Vitality again.
ESL and BLAST talent to attend EWC’s CS2 event
The event features a star-studded cast of CS’s best talent, including combinations rarely seen outside of the Counter-Strike majors.
Although members of CS talent are typically non-exclusive, different Tournament Organisers (TOs) have different preferences for who they hire, or which casters they want to be deeply associated with their brand. Seeing all of these specific members of talent together for one event is not a common occurrence, but a welcome one for fans.
It does not seem like ESL Faceit Groups’ role within the production of the event has had an effect on hiring those more closely associated with BLAST’s product.
The only names potentially unfamiliar to CS2 fans will be Iain Chambers and Abdulaziz ‘Fancy’ Alrasheed, who will act as Stage Hosts. The pair have been the main duo introducing the teams and players at several events so far at the EWC, including Valorant and League of Legends.
Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.