The International is more than just a tournament, it’s a celebration of Dota 2, and an opportunity for everyone in the community to get together — at least that’s what Hungarian caster Jozsef “Doedie” Gezart said when we met him at TI14.
Modestly referring to himself as a “trash tier 3 caster,” Doedie has commentated on both Hungarian broadcasts of The International, regional leagues, the EPL, and more besides. We caught up with Doedie at TI14, asked him about his journey, and his thoughts and feelings on The International 2024.
Jozsef “Doedie” Gezart: “My name is Jozsef Gezart, AKA Doedie. I started casting back in 2017 after TI7. I used to follow KuroKy in Dota 1 a lot, and he was a big advocate for DotA. So I was like, screw this. Valve is never going to make this ‘Dota 2’ thing big. And then after his TI4 loss, right? Or TI3 loss, TI4, they bombed out then, you know, I was like, yeah, maybe this Dota 2 is a thing.
In 2008, I started playing in internet cafes back in Hungary. But when I moved to Vietnam for a year, that’s when I got really into the game. I was 17, I was hungry, I was depressed! And so I spent like 4,000 hours in like six months into the game. That was not OK, honestly. And yeah, when I came home, I went back to Hungary. I felt full.
So in 2017, people started messaging me, “You should start playing Dota 2, it’s so good, it’s so good.” Yeah, but this was before 7.0.0. I still did not like the UI, still didn’t really like the game.
I did not get past 1,500 MMR, so then I was like, OK, I’m never going to be good enough. I’m too old now. Then came the recruitment for casters in Hungary. I started local, and they were looking for casters for the Nationals, because back then there’s The International and then there’s The Nationals, right? And it was a good series. It ran for seven seasons, died with COVID, whatever. But the main thing is that it got me into international casting, got me international contacts with community casting.
Started doing a lot, like the Supermajor for China back in the day. A lot of ESLs, a lot of DreamLeague, and Hungarian. Yeah, I got the opportunity. “Dude, we need you to cast TI. It’s basically for sandwich coupons and beer money, but go for it.” Horrible hours, starting at 7pm, casting all the way to 7am.”
Doedie: “2018, my first TI, the OG run. And holy hell, the first time I saw numbers of 1,000 viewers on Twitch. I was crying, it was awesome. Europe is winning, we are breaking the TI curse, the China curse is broken, it was so good. That 2018 run made my career locally. 2019, the same thing. I was doing the majors, everything locally for the local audience. But that got me into contact with PGL, ESL, because you needed the licenses for community broadcasting and the third-party language. And they were always gracious, like a small community, but “this guy is always pushing it”
Yeah, that eventually got me contacts with other casters. And Moxie was the one to give me my first English gig. We were looking for community casters for Dota Valkyries. And eventually in 2022, with the push of my old managers, the Hungarian scene was drying up a little, the bubble was bursting there, they told me to start pushing my English contacts to try and eventually make it to the English scene.
I was then offered DPC South America, but when the whole fiasco of BTS Brazil happened I stepped back.”
Yeah, so basically, I stepped back because they were not giving enough money for the English casters. To be fair, for me, my living situation is really good. But if I would have to live on the living expenses of Americans, I’d be screwed.
Eventually I got the opportunity to cast for EPL, and I’ve been doing the European Pro League (EPL) for three years now. It’s good. It’s gotten me to events. It’s gotten me to my first Valve event, which was Berlin. Slacks invited me. I graciously accepted, of course. And then working with casters Permasneeze, Malibu, Crasharone.
It’s been a long journey — what are we, 2025? Eight years now, I guess. It’s been great. I’ve made a lot of friendships in the tier one, tier two, and tier three scene. Berlin Major, Birmingham, Copenhagen last year, and this year EWC and TI.”
Doedie at TI14 (Image via Doedie)
Doedie: “Just so many things. I feel this might be a little bit mean to Denmark, but this is the TI Europe deserves. The arena is bigger, the crowd is bigger, there’s more tickets, there’s more space, right? I think in Copenhagen it felt good, like wow, Europe showed up, right? I felt that the arena, the venue was just a tad bit crowded, just a little bit.”
Doedie: “Yeah. This is definitely the TI Europe deserves. The poetry of it is a little amazing, back in Germany, obviously this isn’t Cologne, but it’s great. It’s freaking great. I love it. I love Germany. I love coming to Germany as a Hungarian. You know, there’s like a cultural connection between the two. For me personally, it’s more like I’ve been to Berlin so many times, coming to Germany for me is like routine at this point. I have a lot of German friends, and this week I’ve been hanging out with them. We’re Airbnb-ing, it’s awesome.
Seeing Kuro now as coach, still awesome, still love his drafts, still love the way he’s coordinating the team. His assistant analyst, jmn, is so good. I would call him a friend of mine. I don’t know, maybe he’ll call you up for the interview and redact that! But yeah,it’s been great hanging out with very, very good friends from events the whole history of my career, from the Valkyries days, from EPL, they’re all here.
That’s the magic of TI. The games are awesome — that’s the main reason we come. But seeing my friends two times a year, three times a year, that’s the true value for me for events.”
Doedie: “Nigma winning TI. Slacks’ prediction needs to happen. Stars have to align. Slacks predicted it, it’s gonna happen.”
(This interview was conducted on Friday, Sep. 12, prior to Nigma’s elimination)
Doedie: “That’s an interesting question. I’m really, really divided. I was a Liquid fan for such a long time. Then when the OG reigning days happened, I was still a Liquid fan, still a Kuro fan. Eventually, I fell in love with Gaimin, after seeing the players compete on Vikin.gg and Team Tickles, and I felt a lot of respect and love for Seleri.
And then during the GG days, I correctly predicted that they were gonna win all three majors. I even predicted that they would win the whole year and TI! I predicted that every beginning of every major: “GG is gonna win, and it’s gonna be against Liquid.” And everyone was like, no, it’s not gonna happen. So watching them at TI was amazing.
So yeah, I was a little torn. I’m a little torn about the fact that the GG fiasco happened. I’m a big Gaming Gladiators fan, especially a fan of the players. But so, saying that the games are better this year than last year… I’d say the games are longer, which is awesome. I love late-game Dota. But since my specialty is mid-game Dota, I’d say I’m just torn. I love both.”
Doedie: “I agree with Remco (“Crystallis” Arets): delete Helm of the Dominator for the finals and I think we’re gonna have a good game. Honestly, I don’t mind. As long as esports or competition have been a thing, bending the rules or finding that one thing that works has always been there.
It reminds me: I used to do archery for 10 years, and when the best shooter started using magnesium in the trigger mechanism for bow shooting, everyone started using magnesium. I was the only one that did not. And then when I won the national championships in juniors, everyone stopped using the magnesium. That’s what it’s like with Helm.
So it’s funny. For me, it’s just a little tiny mechanic. If you can break the Helm of the Dominator meta, you’re going to win TI. That’s basically what it boils down to for me.”
Doedie: “Maybe. At the same time, I think Helm of the Dominator isn’t just necessarily a macro-hero thing. I think IceFrog has done a really, really good job every year to balance the items. He’s not just targeting pro teams, pro games. He’s also thinking about the pubs, he’s also thinking about the high tier. That’s the beauty of the game.
I’ve talked to Heralds, I’ve talked to Guardians, I’ve talked to Ancients, I’ve talked to Divines and Immortals as well. And I’m friends with some of the top Dota 2 players in Europe, so I think the game is pretty well balanced.”
Doedie: “I really enjoy metas where when I go to Liquipedia, open the stats page, and there’s just no unpicked or unbanned heroes. I think those were by far the best events. As long as someone just opens up that stat page and starts saying: “What’s still up here?” I think that would be fun. To have no unpicked heroes at TI: That would be good.
I did analysis work for two years for our national team. Nothing super serious, but mostly just reading Dotabuff and Liquipedia and then starting up like, what should we prepare for in competition? But generally what tickles my fancy most is when I see 120+ heroes.”
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