Dash to host VCT LOCK//IN after LCS exit

The former desk host for the LCS, James ‘Dash’ Patterson, has been announced as one of three people to host the analyst desk for the Valorant Champions Tour LOCK//IN tournament about a month after his exit from the North American league broadcast.

Dash announced that he had not been asked back to the LCS broadcast as a desk host in early January 2023 and has been absent from broadcast in the first week of matches. Riot Games and Dash said that he would return to the show in a smaller capacity, doing more on-the-street type content, and the former desk host is one of the few creators with the ability to co-stream the LCS this season.

Riot Games announced on January 31, 2023, that Dash would be one of the three desk hosts for the VCT LOCK//IN tournament that is set to start competition on February 13. Also in the rotation for the event is Yinsu ‘Yinsu’ Collins and Alex ‘Goldenboy’ Mendez.

Dash is no stranger to VCT broadcasts, he hosted the North American First Strike tournament in 2020 and appeared on every 2021 international broadcast for the esport. In a live stream held after he announced his exit from the LCS, Dash said that he was looking for work in Valorant esports in 2023.

Dash to return to a Riot Games broadcast, but not the LCS

Riot had a semi-stable roster of desk hosts at its international Valorant events in 2022. Yinsu was featured across all three international events and Goldenboy was in the rotation for two out of the three tournaments. Guest hosts Jacki Jing and Chrissy Costanza also stepped into the hosting rotation at Masters 1 and Valorant Champions 2022 respectively.

Riot has also had its League of Legends casters cross over into Valorant while still working for its regional leagues, like Rivington Bruce Bisland III and Andrew ‘Vedius’ Day in North America and EMEA respectively.

Fans of Riot Games esports will get to Dash back behind a desk in São Paulo, Brazil as the tournament broadcast begins on February 13.