ESL announce IEM Kraków talent – Sjokz returns to Counter-Strike

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 23/01/2026

ESL has announced its broadcast talent for IEM Kraków 2026, the first event in the city since the relocation of IEM Katowice.

The prestigious event will see the return of LEC host Eefje ‘Sjokz’ Depoortere to Counter-Strike as a sideline reporter/interviewer.

Sjokz is joined by a lineup of Counter-Strike’s top talent as the Counter-Strike circuit warms up to its first prestige event of 2026.

The lineup also features a secret mystery analyst… How intriguing.

IEM Kraków talent list:

Desk Host:

• Freya Spiers

Stage Host:

• OJ Borg

Sideline Reporters:

• Eefje ‘Sjokz’ Depoortere
• Tres ‘stunna’ Saranthus

Pundits:

• Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen
• Janko ‘YNk’ Paunović
• ???- Unnamed mystery pundit

Casters:

• Chad ‘SPUNJ’ Burchill & Alex ‘Machine’ Richardson – A Stream
• Harry ‘JustHarry’ Russell & Hugo Byron – A Stream
• Cole ‘xner’ McHenry & Garret ‘Phy’ Schier – B Stream
• Neo ‘Ne0kai’ Caine & Harvey ‘Skriv’ Rodgers – B Stream
• Jason ‘moses’ O’Toole & Adam ‘dinko’ Hawthorne – B Stream

IEM Kraków features a reduced talent list

Despite the list including many of Counter-Strike’s top talent, the list is shorter than last year’s list of talent. ESL have cut one Stage Host, one interviewer, and one analyst relative to last year.

The list includes one more pair of casters, but relative to 2025, there is one less pair casting in person from the event, meaning five fewer talent are at the event in person than IEM Katowice 2025.

The smaller overall talent pool will be an interesting metric to review after ESL FACEIT Group’s (EFG) wave of layoffs in October of last year.

In a leaked internal email, the Tournament Organiser’s CEO, Niccolo Maisto, described that the organisation had gone through “a strategic realignment to reduce complexity, streamline operations, and focus resources on areas with the biggest growth potential.”

The result was 80-90 staff being laid off, as the TO chases sustainability and profitability.

Sjokz’ history in Counter-Strike

Sjokz has made several appearances in Counter-Strike broadcasts, dating back to BLAST’s early days as a tournament organiser in 2019.

After taking up Desk Host duties for the PGL Antwerp Major 2022 in her home country of Belgium, she quickly became a fan favourite.

Since then, Sjokz has featured at every Katowice and Cologne, also featuring at the Rio, Copenhagen, and Austin Majors.

Now with Katowice moving to Kraków, Sjokz is coming too, further cementing Katowice’s history at the new event.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

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.

All Posts By Darragh Harbinson