Dota 2 has seen its fair share of casters come and go, but none are quite like Snare, who brings a certain something special to his duties on the desk.
Although Sean "Snare" Rihlamvu may not have been casting the main event of The International 2024, the legendary South African caster and host did make his way through to Copenhagen, Denmark, to witness all the action over the past weekend. With his energetic and witty casting, and his absolutely fantastic hosting too, Snare has quickly become a well-known name, face, and voice in the Dota 2 community. Having cast the Group Stage, he was gracious enough to take some time out of his vacation and Dota 2 viewing to sit down with us and chat about his future, how things have been, and life in the South African scene.
The last time we chatted was a little over a year ago at the Bali Major and now you’re here at TI3 after casting the Group Stage. When do you think we’ll get to hear you casting the main event – or maybe even hosting?
Hopefully as soon as possible. That is the idea, that is the plan. Every single year that I’m doing it, the objective for me is to get to TI Grand Finals. Whether or not I will get there next year, or the year after, I do not know. But I do know that I am not stopping until I do. Hopefully next year, if not then guaranteed 2026 at the latest.
Do you have something about "26" or "6"? Is there a lucky number there?
No, not at all. I started getting out there with my name in 2023. That year was a very good year for me. If the progression that I was making during 2023 is at that same pace, then the realistic option is 2026. By then it will be undeniable that I am good enough to be on the main stage.
It was your third TI casting this year – can you explain how each and every tournament has grown you as a caster and affected you?
I have gotten much better primarily at reading the game. Once I knew that I would be starting to do TI, I began to play a lot more Dota. I was already playing an insane amount, but I started to take what it meant to be at the event very seriously - given that it is our World Cup. The main way that I have improved over the years is my communication with the audience about what is important in the game and where the plays are going. My ability to curate effective storylines has improved drastically since my first TI.
Last year, as you have said, was a great one for you, but it was extremely busy with tournaments left, right, and centre. This year has been a bit quieter. Is there any major reason behind this, or did you just need some time to recover from all the running around of last year?
The big thing that ended up happening was probably the end of the DPC (Dota Pro Circuit) as well as EPulze no longer existing. The organisers often tend to prefer stability and not changing everything around all that much. Once you have a stable crop of talent, it becomes much more difficult to break into and shake things up. Last year I had far more opportunities to do that but in 2024, tournament organisers made their decisions early on in the year.
In 2023 a lot of "fly by night" things occurred, where a couple of months before an event, it was not guaranteed who would be working which event. On the other side of things, this year, many year-long contracts were signed, as stability became the trend. This makes it harder for someone like me, who is relatively new to international esports.
It is sort of like watching a TV show. In Season One you will see a lot of people coming in and out, but by Seasons Two and Three you have a stable cast - up until the point one of the characters no longer works, at which point they change things up. You have to hope that you can just stick it out, and for me, it looks as though I will be waiting for Season Five while I'm in Season Three, looking at a lot of established characters on the list.
As we head towards the end of 2024, will you be casting any other upcoming tournaments or events?
I do a lot of stuff back home. Mostly with fighting games such as Street Fighter and Tekken, as well as EAFC. It is unlikely that internationally that much, since many events remaining this year already have their talent curated. When I think about international esports, Dota is my primary focus, so that won’t change unless something drastic happens in the next few months. Maybe after I get that TI Grand Finals, then we will see, maybe I will try to do something different. For now, I am very happy doing all the side projects closer to home and then the big bombastic international things, committing that part to Dota.
Since we last spoke, has there been any increase in the prevalence of Dota 2 tournaments in SA or is it about the same?
In SA, we have a complicated history with Dota. There was a period of time when it was fairly popular and there were some people who found themselves in the international scene who have come through SA Dota - Scant and Noxville to name a couple. The scene was thriving from 2012 to around 2017, with LANS often and teams going overseas to compete. Some of those teams did really well, even beating Keen Gaming when they had Yangwei “old eLeVeN” Ren and Liangzhi “KAKA” Hu on the roster. Unfortunately, the bubble burst when the older players, the veterans, either moved on to pursue careers outside of esports or moved overseas. That is when it took a turn downhill for a few years. With that said, it has been slowly picking up again.
I will say that for the voice lines I made for TI, I specifically went out of my way to have one be in one of the South African languages. That way people playing back home see it or hear it and think about how we are still on the map. Gradual growth over the last few years is where we are, and it is still going up.
What are the players in SA like within Dota 2? Is it generally rather open to everyone or a bit more toxic when it comes to mistakes and the like?
Unfortunately, they are Dota players, so a lot of them are toxic. Once again, it has been getting better over the years. Aspects such as general toxicity, bigotry, and racism have certainly plagued the local scene - but we exiled many of those people. That is partly why the community shrank quite a bit, but now it is growing with better people. You can never remove toxicity from Dota completely, but the scene is in a much healthier space than it used to be.
Read more: Three games from The International 2024 to [re]watch
What has been your favourite moment of TI2024 so far, apart from your time casting?
There are two moments for me; Tundra versus Gaimin Gladiators Game Three was by far the best game of the tournament.
But the best moment was in the Group Stages, in Game One when Heroic went up against Xtreme Gaming. Heroic out-drafted XG and were winning the game with a huge lead. It took one bad play from Heroic in front of the Tier 2 tower and literally 90 seconds later the game was over. There is no other game in the world that exists with that kind of shift. Whether it is Counterstrike, football, or StarCraft, you are never going to turn the game around in just 90 seconds. In Dota, you can be winning in every possible way, and then suddenly you lose.
Deadlock seems to be the next step in Valve’s path. Have you tried the game, and what is your take on it?
I think Deadlock has a lot of potential as an esport. I have played it quite a bit, and I have been having fun. But I feel the problem that Deadlock will have in the esports scene will be the same thing which we have seen with games such as Apex Legends, Fortnite, PUBG, and Overwatch.
Spectating the game is very difficult and I am not entirely sure what the solution for that is on a technical level. It feels that it could just be a problem inherent to the nature of the design of the game. People will certainly play a whole lot of Deadlock, but whether it becomes a marquee esports title is a question that remains to be seen.
More interviews from The International 2024
- XinQ - Xtreme Gaming: "I never thought that I would be meeting Team Spirit in the lower bracket"
- Fear: ”Dota needs to constantly be refreshed”
- TORONTOTOKYO - BetBoom: “I would not be playing in a team that I don't believe could be champions”
- Akashi - Talon: We need to stop thinking ‘five Filipinos can play together and make it to TI’
- Fly - nouns: “Hopefully, we can ride that underdog story”
- Silent - Team Spirit: “I do not feel as though we are favourites”
- Jabz - Aurora: "It was scary at that moment"
- No[o]ne - Cloud9: “I am a super perfectionist”
- ponlo - Team Zero: “I just want to play Dota that I am proud of”
- Monet - G2.iG: “There is definitely a bit of pressure to bring glory back to China”
- Astini - Cloud9: “Sometimes, being skilled comes with wanting to freestyle too much”
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