Casting Raidiant Academy as an esports pro: Interview with Slandy

April 3, 2025

Presley “Slandy” Anderson is a former Valorant pro we had a chance to see in the caster seat during Raidiant Academy. Slandy is an esports veteran who has competed in various esports titles from Super Smash Bros, Smite, to Valorant.

She is an esports fan through and through, not only competing but also being an avid spectator. We got the opportunity to catch up with Slandy and get her thoughts on how casting for the first time feels!

Sandy’s background

Some of Sandy’s biggest wins so far came under Misfits in 2022, where she was able to win Super Girl Gamer Pro (SGGP) Summer Championships as well as the Sakura Cup. That same year, she also won second place at Astral Clash, then capped the year with a third-place finish in the North American Game Changers.

She recalls one of her favorite matches being MSF vs Immortals for the 3rd place run for Game Changers in 2022:

Raidiant: Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what you think of your biggest wins?

Sandy: My favorite match thinking back is MSF vs Immortals in that 3rd place run for GC 3 of 2022, probably my favorite broadcast of one of my own games I’ve ever watched, cause I played very well and got casted by Potter and Pansy, and who wouldn’t love that! Great, amazing memory I’m very fond of in a sea of multiple memories from my time in Valorant so far.

She goes on to note that while that was a big year for her, she is grateful for her continued growth in 2023 and 20224:

While those are some of my biggest wins and i am attached to those moments, i think player wise I’ve developed the most in 2023 and 2024 and really enjoyed those times of my career despite them not being as consistent.

Raidiant: What inspired you to journey to casting for Radiant Academy?

Sandy: I always knew that even if I weren’t actively competing, I’d love to see what the other roles in esports were like, and I still do to this day! So when I was approached with an opportunity to try casting in Raidiant Academy, I knew I couldn’t pass up the chance!

From spectator, to competitor, and now to caster, Slandy has had the opportunity to see the world of esports through a lot of different lenses.
She’s always been a huge fan of esports and has had a huge appreciation for everything that goes on behind the scenes, from on-screen for broadcasts and behind the scenes at events and everything else in between.

To prepare for her casting role, Slandy made sure she had an excellent eye on the tournament before the time she’d be live. She kept an eye on players she already knew would be participating and what roles they would be playing.

She also kept an eye on new talent stepping onto the scene and what teams were killing it, leading into the later stages of the tournament.

I was a VLR fiend for more than a few hours and can comfortably say I spent plenty of time scouring those pages I could find for info on every team I knew we’d be covering.

The experience casting Raidiant Academy

Raidiant: Which teams impressed you the most during Raidiant Academy, and why?

Slandy: How can someone not be impressed with oomfies for not just the Raidiant academy I got to cast, but for a majority of 2024? Just a monstrous pug team full of players who are very confident and work so well on the fly! Lot of very very talented players who are somehow able to consistently finish at the top of events despite little preparation due to their insane game knowledge, mechanics, and trust in each other even with roster shuffles here and there, truly just beasts of the pugging world and every time I see them play, I expect similar performances where they are able to just roll over any team who respects them too little or too much. Very impressive squad.

Raidiant: What is your takeaway after stepping into the role of caster for Radiant Academy?

Slandy: Obviously, it is not easy work, but I consider myself a relatively eloquent person on camera. I’ve done dozens and dozens of interviews, and being on the other side of the broadcast, I stumbled and bumbled my way through a large portion of the cast.

She feels she was able to provide insight most of the time. However, doing so in a professional manner that sounds nice to the audience was something she didn’t realize would be so difficult.

I think looking back there’s not too much I could change. I really enjoyed the experience, and I think to improve on it, I would have to just cast more often and get some repetitions and experience. I don’t think I personally could give a much better performance on my first try as I’m much more of a learn by doing person, and although my first try wasn’t the best thing, I could improve on it now that I know how a lot of things work first hand!”

Looking ahead

Slandy is looking forward to continuing to work within the esports realm, although casting again may not be in her immediate future.

Raidiant: What are the plans for the future? Will you continue pursuing casting?

Slandy: I don’t think I will continue casting as I don’t think my skill sets lend themselves to actively casting a match, as I see it very well. I think the closest I could get to casting would be analyst desk work, and honestly would love to try that in the future!

Breaking down the action was Sandy’s favorite part of casting, and being able to do so after the show in a desk-style format sounds like a more appealing journey for her to pursue.

Sandly would love to continue competing outside of casting as the recent changes made to NA GC have piqued her interest. She’s also shifted focus to game capture – working behind the scenes to create game trailers and announcements for social media, TV, and elsewhere.

Whether she ends up competing again or moving on to other work in the gaming industry, Sandy is excited for the next chapter and what is to come!

It’s been a lovely time being in the gaming world for so long and I wouldn’t trade my love for it and experiences for anything.

We want to thank Slandy for being part of our Raidiant story! To see more from Slandy, you can follow her on X.