EPT(I remember hearing incontrol say on SOTG that LANs are really the best fun that you can have in Esport, which really encouraged me to sign up.)
The first difficulty was actually getting there, as a uni student, I don't own a car, I don't even know anyone that owns a car, so it was taking the train or nothing else.
Now here is the inside track on how trains work in the UK.
They don't.
Firstly, it would have been much cheaper for me if the LAN was in London, despite the fact its almost twice the distance away, oh well.
Secondly, the LAN was on a Sunday, which commonly means engineering work on the line, sure enough, after half way on the train, time to board a rail replacement service, with a crying baby sitting behind me, which shrieked and whined all the way there.
A nice bonus for me was that I knew that ICCUP.Sayle was also going, and it was his first LAN too, I even remember him asking me if I had LAN'd before. I lied and said yes, for no good reason.
So I finally got there just before twelve and walked into what was really a nice LAN area.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/4pAbr.jpg)
Sayle going out of his way to hide his face a la Korean style. Also, if you zoom in real close, you can see he is still on the outlaws mission in single player.
Out of all the people there, my setup was most unique, if that can be seen as a positive thing.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/stSUZ.jpg)
I bought my own mouse, mat and headset which has 3.5 mil jacks, so one of the staff had to take some of the panelling off to connect. it doesn't stop there however, the gloves I was wearing to keep my hands warm where re-appropriated to support my keyboard upwards, since the keyboard was total flat otherwise.
In addition, I'm a fairly tall guy, just under 2 metres tall, and the seats in PC area, where not height adjustable, so I ended up sitting on: the mouse mat provided to me by the centre, my bag that I had bought everything in, the sole cushion from one of the console sofas, and my folded up university hoody and it still really wasn't enough.
To the LAN itself.
My first opponent was Hamster, a protoss played that had qualified for the London gamerbase LAN.
My build was a FE that I had reasonable success on the ladder with crushing every 4 warp gate.
However, a colossus came around the hill on lost temple and I exclaimed out loud "shit". The resultant battle wasn't too bad, but crippling enough.
Go go game 2 on metalopolis.
I did the same build again, reciting the mantra "do what you practised" over and over under my breath, I saw that hamster 4 warpgated, I nearly died with excitement, "I can defend this, and be miles ahead!"
Everything was going well, until zeals where in my mineral line, and again, I swore out loud, Pylon in the back of my base, behind the smoke in most obvious place, which 99 games out of 100, I would check find and kill.
I tried to defend both my ramp and my mineral line, and failed at both.
I was broken hearted, bummed out, I even floated my buildings and just sat there, as he picked them off.
"I'm out"
"you paid 30 pounds to get here today, and your all ready going home"
I eventually GG'd congratulated him and left the game.
in the post game chat, he informed me that the tourny was actually double elimination, so I went from despair to euphoria.
So first game in the losers bracket, TvP again, I got beat 0:2 again, the games where closer but that wasn't much comfort.
My hope now rested with Sayle, who had been knocked down to losers as well, after his mouse died in game.
"He's Asian, he will pull through"
I laddered as Sayle worked his way up the losers bracket methodically, using his brood war skillz before eventually getting third and winning a copy of Sc2 CE and a mouse mat from Zowie.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/z8s5Q.jpg)
(Credit to zowie gear for this picture)
There was a raffle, at the end of the tournament, but since only a few people stayed to the end, which meant a prize for everyone.
Sayle with his mad number picking skills, got the top prize of the bag from Blizcon08, I scored a Zowie mousemat, when the guy handed it to me, I was a little disappointed, then I remembered that the guy who had picked in front of me got starcraft 2 themed stickers, so it wasn't all bad.
So I went home, really bummed out that I had travelled all that way to get horribly raped, but at the same time happy that I had been, since everyone there was really nice and friendly, I saw Sayle off at the train station, and stepped back into the night to find a Subway to get something to eat.
All in all, a great experience albeit tinged with disappointment, however I nuked some guy on the ladder while being watched, so not totally joyless.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/9eCTz.jpg)
Thanks to everyone came, and to everyone that organised it, was a fun event, and not coincidentally at all, congrats to me for finally making 1000 posts in the 2+ years I've been here on TL.
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/QPmVe.jpg)
(Credit to zowie gear for this picture)
