Tsunami

Player Information

Name:

Neal Khandheria

Nationality:

United States

Region:

North America

Years Active (Player):

Player has no results.

Role:

Host

Alternate IDs:

tsunami643

Links

Upcoming Tournaments

No Upcoming Tournaments

Neal "Tsunami" Khandheria is an American Host.

Biography

Tsunami started his Dota career as a content creating community figure. His most noteworthy video projects including “Be the Better Carry, Mid, and Support” YouTube videos. Tsunami is also an occasional writer; he has written articles on patch notes, and hero guides. He owns and operates howdoiplay, a website created to help with hero tips and counters. His work later ventured into casting and has since been involved in several pro-circuit tournaments. Tsunami is known for his smooth, distinct voice and proud beard.

As a content creator

Tsunami started Dota in November 2011 and noted that his first contribution to the community was in a Dota 2 subreddit post in February 2013, Tsunami's Hero Tips and Counters - Vol. I: Alchemist-Bounty Hunter ^[1] Since the Reddit post, he has written several articles and guides on hero tips and counters for Team eHug, Dota Cinema and the Dota 2 subreddit. These guides transformed and became howdoiplay.com, which has gained a reputation for its mix of information and humor.

Neal has also created several YouTube videos on his channel, Tsunami643 and Relax You're Fine. His training and passion for writing and cinematography made his videos stand out with their higher production value, and helped them become cornerstone pieces of dota content.

As a caster

Despite a growing popularity for his community content, Tsunami wanted to parlay his knowledge into a talent-based career. He started casting qualifier matches in 2016 and in 2017.^[2] Tsunami joined the Beyond the Summit casting team for the WESG 2016 Asia Pacific Finals in their LA studio. He since has received a late invite to Galaxy Battles 2 in January 2018. Galaxy Battles 2 provided Tsunami with his first live cast and significantly increased casting exposure, leading to various casting opportunities. In April 2018 he was announced as talent for Starladder i-League Invitational 5.

By mid 2019, he was invited to cast/panel on two Valve-sponsored DPC events, including one Major.

Trivia

His nickname originates from his old AOL name. He had just learnt about tsunamis in school, and thought it was a cool word. However, "tsunami" had been taken on AOL, but tsunami643 was available; he has kept those numbers since.^[3]
Played Team Fortress 2 before Dota
He had a day job engineering new paint colors before transitioning to full time casting in early 2020.

Notable Events as Broadcast Talent

Date	Tier		Position	Partners

2026-05-24	Tier 1	DreamLeague Season 29	Host	Show DreamLeague Season 29 Sheever
2025-09-14	Tier 1	The International 2025	Content Creator	Show The International 2025 SirActionSlacks
2025-07-19	Tier 1	Esports World Cup 2025	Desk Host Stage Host	Show Esports World Cup 2025 NatTea Nomad Sheever Milosh
2024-09-15	Tier 1	The International 2024	Sideline Reporter	Show The International 2024 Slacks
2024-07-21	Tier 1	Riyadh Masters 2024	Stage Host	–
2023-10-29	Tier 1	The International 2023	Sideline Reporter	Show The International 2023 Slacks
2023-07-30	Tier 1	Riyadh Masters 2023	Stage Host	–
2022-10-30	Tier 1	The International 2022	Host	Show The International 2022 2GD NatTea Sheever
2021-10-17	Tier 1	The International 2021	Commentator	Show The International 2021 4ce 4liver Adekvat AfrOmoush Arcanine Arjarath Asimco007 BafiK Belony Blue CBS Caosfénix Capitalist Cutipo Derrad Eixn Flapjack Flytable FreeAgain Gareth
2019-08-25	Tier 1	The International 2019	Commentator	Show The International 2019 4ce 4liver Adekvat BafiK Blue CD Capitalist CaspeRRR FreeAgain GodZ GodHunt GrandGrant Imperius Dakota Lex Lucky Lyrical MS Maelstorm Mrrr