In what surely is the plot twist of the year, James "2GD" Harding has returned to host The International after being sidelined by Valve for eight years.
2GD made a sudden exit from the Dota 2 scene back in 2016 during the Shanghai Major, where the many delays during the panel segments opened the door for 2GD to go full-in with his unconventional style. His jokes sent him to ”low prio”, as eight years later he is still able to joke about how everything went down in Shanghai.
While 2GD is the only person that has ever been fired from a Dota 2 event with a note posted on Reddit by Gabe Newell, he is also the Dota 2 personality who has been missed the most by the Dota 2 community through all these years.
Two things:
James. We've had issues with James at previous events. Some Valve people lobbied to bring him back for Shanghai, feeling that he deserved another chance. That was a mistake. James is an ass, and we won't be working with him again.
As long as we're firing people, we are also firing the production company that we've been working with on the Shanghai Major. They will be replaced, and we hope to get this turned around before the main event – Gabe Newell
Up until this year, 2GD has never been seen at any Dota 2 tournaments. It was in the closing segment of Stockholm Major when he made a brief appearance on the official broadcast.
Even so, nobody even dared to think that he would be fully back on a Dota 2 panel, let alone at The International.
On the first day of The International 2022, after the upper bracket quarterfinals, the panel returned with what seemed at first a production hiccup, as three analysts were standing at the desk with no host. It turned out to be the great reveal of James "2GD" Harding returning in his unmistakable fashion.
"Low priority. No idea who reported me," said a full-hearted 2GD, who will be a part of the TI11 talent from here on!
