SirActionSlacks Recalls His TI Break

Published September 29, 2026

Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner says his long association with The International began with an assignment he had not prepared to do. Valve invited him to TI6 to conduct the playful player interviews that had become his specialty. Minutes before the broadcast, a producer instead asked whether he had considered working beside Kaci Aitchison as a co-host. Slacks accepted, met his new partner as the countdown began and learned the job live on air.

The story started before Valve called. ESL had brought Slacks to ESL New York and encouraged him to use the loose interview style he was already developing. He contrasted that approach with the formal, extended player interviews common at the time. Walking around, joking with competitors and reacting to the venue gave him a recognisable role that could fit between matches without feeling like a standard desk segment.

Several years of tournament work created the opportunity at TI6, but it did not create a script for the moment itself. Slacks arrived with printed player profiles and a large book of interview questions. Those preparations were aimed at field reporting. When the co-host proposal came five or ten minutes before the show, the useful preparation was broader: he knew the players, understood the event and was comfortable improvising around an audience.

TI6 turned an experiment into a role

Slacks recalled that Kaci initially asked who he was, only for the producer to begin the countdown immediately. They passed segments to one another, interacted with spectators and kept moving. The important result was not one particular joke; it was that the untested pairing could navigate a live championship broadcast. Valve continued to use him throughout an event he remembers for the volume of content around the competition.

That first appearance should not be rewritten as a carefully designed audition. By his account, Valve tried an idea under real broadcast pressure and kept it because it worked. The episode also explains why Slacks became so closely associated with TI’s less formal side. His role was built around access, spontaneity and familiarity with the Dota community rather than a conventional studio-hosting path.

The relationship changed again after TI7. Valve invited Slacks back without giving him a detailed content plan. He enjoyed the scale of the event but became frustrated by the lack of structure. Afterward, he sent the company a video essay criticising the process and arguing that a tournament worth more than $20 million should not approach supporting content as an afterthought.

The criticism was accompanied by proposals. Slacks said he offered 15 ideas, including the Late Game Show, and asked Valve to let him take responsibility for making them happen. That distinction matters: the message was not simply a complaint about colleagues or a demand for more screen time. It was a pitch to turn improvised event pieces into a repeatable production plan.

From on-camera talent to production

Valve accepted the pitch, according to Slacks, and his work expanded after TI7. He became a producer for The International, contributed to True Sight and continued developing media around the championship. The later job grew from the same instincts that helped at TI6—knowing what interests players and viewers—but added planning and responsibility behind the camera.

His account also shows that accidental entry and deliberate career building can coexist. The co-host invitation was sudden. The years of interviews that made him a plausible choice were not. Likewise, the TI7 frustration might have ended as a private complaint, but he converted it into specific programme ideas and volunteered to deliver them.

• ESL first encouraged Slacks to continue his informal player-interview format.
• Valve invited him to TI6 as an interviewer before offering the co-host role minutes before air.
• After TI7, he sent Valve a critical video essay together with a list of content ideas.
• His responsibilities later expanded into producing TI content and work connected to True Sight.

Stage	Original assignment	Confirmed outcome
ESL New York	Informal player interviews	A recognisable event role
TI6	Interview coverage	Unexpected co-hosting with Kaci
After TI7	No fixed long-term plan	A producing role built around proposed formats

SirActionSlacks did not arrive at TI6 expecting to become one of the event’s regular faces. The immediate chance was improvised, but the career that followed was not merely luck. Interview experience earned the invitation, live adaptability kept him on the broadcast, and a direct production proposal turned a temporary role into sustained work with Valve.