EPT
Wednesday: This happens. Cool guy or coolest guy? I am so lucky.
Thursday: I drive up from Tennessee and meet p4ndemik (a TL staff member who helps run TLPD) in the suburbs of Cincinnati. We have a fun drive up, realizing that even though we're total strangers we still have lots of stuff to talk about since we both follow SC2 closely!
Everything in downtown Columbus is really expensive! Parking, hotels, food. The only restaurants nearby were in the convention center, and they were all really overpriced. Oh well, it wasn't horrible food, it just put a hit in my wallet. I'll plan more carefully next time, maybe bring a loaf of bread, some peanut butter, and some brown paper bags. EZ $30 savings!
The relay was super awesome. The crowd was about a 60-40 split between "known" people and average joes. I got to meet Sheth in person and he was super nice (to everyone). I got to meet Artosis and he remembered a thread I made for him a long time ago when he was working at scforall! Classy guy. I talked with iccup.diamond about what iccup TV is up to these days, and then it was time for the most important event of the weekend: the relay.
When Hot_Bid got off to that super fast start, I thought TL had the race won easily. But MLG came back with steady performances from all of their guys, and TL lost by about a fifth of a second.
As the instructor dude on WCG Ultimate Gamer said, I could feel iNcontroL's "martial spirit" as he crossed the finish line after his split.
![[image loading]](http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh234/Sanistralra/incontrolrararar.gif)
like this, only with running
Later, p4ndemik, Hot_Bid, TheMango, Waxangel, and I went to see X-Men First Class (good movie, go see it). When Hot_Bid, p4nd, Mango, and I went to Taco Bell, Wax went to the bar for three drinks. When the previews were playing at the movie theater, Wax somehow snuck out for another two drinks. Wax is an alcoholic. "Two dollar Bud Lights, man! Do you know expensive those would be in New York??"
Friday: After lunch at Five Guys (I walked for 1 1/2 hours to get there and back with p4ndemik!), I got to the venue just in time for Idra vs MC. What a start to the tournament! I know it must have been exciting for you guys on the stream, but at the venue it was simply electric. When the games started, everyone was ready for something amazing to happen, and when amazing things DID happen, the place just erupted. Cheers might have been louder at other points in the event, and crowds might have been bigger (the crowd got MUCH larger as the weekend progressed), but I never again saw an audience that was as connected with what was happening on the screen as I did during those two magical games.
At about the time of the Idra/MC match, I had someone's (storr's?) smartphone in my hand, looking at the just-released brackets and looking for any good games in the open bracket. Someone came up and said, "Oh, hey, are the brackets? Can you tell me who I'll probably be playing in the first few rounds?" "Sure, what's your screenname?" "Uh, Destiny."
My strategy of introducing myself to everyone with a TL shirt or SC:BW progamer gear paid dividends as I soon found myself acquainted with StorrZerg and orb, two players from the DC area. I managed to find two open seats in the audience (which is something that simply wasn't possible for the rest of the weekend as the crowd grew) and Storr and I sat down to watch Moon vs Naniwa. Not the best series in the world!
I didn't watch many main stage matches after that, preferring to stay by the "featured area". Basically, MLG put two pool play matches on an elevated stage, and put all four players' FPviews up so that they were easy to see. It was just like watching the players stream games, except for super high stakes, in perfect quality, and with the actual player only feet away! It was Starcraft 2 heaven and I spent most of my weekend there.
MLG, by the way, has free Dr. Pepper. Best part of the event IMO.
I met up with TrueRedemption, who I met at CES. He played qxc first round, so he was done for the day fairly quickly (True -- "I lasted longer than 15 minutes both times, but his marauder/ghost composition just destroyed me"). Nothing to do but watch games the rest of the day!
I happened to see that July was going to play at station 8, so I made my way over there to secure myself a spot. Unfortunately, he was moved to another, more visible computer so I didn't get to watch.
When they announced the matches that would be played in my field of vision, I was still pretty pleased. qxc vs Thorzain, Spades vs Major, gix vs Shadow (a match TrueRedemption was hyping). Soon, I was surrounded by rabid Thorzain fans. "Oh man! He's only a few feet away from us! This is going to be SO AWESOME." Thorzain left his computer after logging in for whatever reason, and he got a random invite from some jobber in a UMS game. I looked both ways, ducked under the railing, and accepted the invite just to see what would happen.When I popped back into the group of Thorzain fans, one of them looked at me in awe. "You touched his mouse. Never wash that hand again."
Saturday: I slept in. Way too late, actually. I got to the venue and basically watched FPViews all day. At one point, Storr was watching with me ("MLG listed me as beating LZgamer even though I lost, so I'm getting congratulatory texts from everyone") as Ret and Major were getting ready to play. Someone came up and mentioned that Major was going to use a build of his: a two base speed reaper build. He was wearing a GosuGamers shirt so I just assumed he was staff, so I asked "Hey, what's your screenname on GosuGamers?" "LastShadow."
Sunday: I got up relatively early in order to secure a seat for all of the awesome games that were going on. Seats were valued as if they were solid gold on Sunday; there was rarely a seat open that wasn't snatched up within seconds. The two guys next to me and I took turn saving each other's seats all day while one of us went to go get lunch, Dr. Pepper, etc.
I won't describe the games. You watched the stream, you know what the big moments were. If you haven't already, find footage of the crowd reaction to MMA's cc kill.
After the games, I went back to my hotel lobby (the only place with free wifi). The winning Halo team actually came in and put the trophy down on the table across from me. It was surreal.
Soon, it was time for a proud Starcraft event tradition: the afterparty. Justin.tv was hosting one right across from the convention center. Justin (I think it was the Justin) came up to me and introduced himself. I think I was a little rude to him because I was distracted, but I paid for my own drink instead of putting it on his tab, so whatever
That party was the highlight of the weekend for me. I tried sitting at a table with all of the TL guys (HotBid, Kennigit, Mango) but it was just too loud to hear any conversation. After the WellPlayed guys tried (unsuccessfully) to goad TL into a filmed drinking contest, I went out to try my luck on the patio.
There, I found a table full of awesome people: TrueRedemption, Storr, Iccup.Diamond, p4NDemik. CatsPajamas came over a bit later and we had an interesting conversation about his future at IPL and about his experience at NASL. Cazter from WellPlayed came too, and we had an interesting conversation about forum moderation and about whether it was "unfair" that TL has such an established userbase. Poor Cats was caught in the crossfire a little bit (sitting between me and Cazter with a slightly pained smile on his face) so I tried to end the conversation as quickly as I could.
DjWheat also made an appearance, but I was immediately whisked away by Waxangel to the MLG afterparty, which was a block away. I really regret not staying at the Char Bar, but I was really tired, and maybe it's best that I went back to my hotel after I realized that nothing was happening at the MLG event. At least I finally got to sit down with Milkis for a short time (and meet Chobopeon!)
All in all, a great weekend.
Now, in the spirit of all the Halo players (a demographic that has a high proportion of "bros") at the event, I'm going to make a "Chill Bros" list. Urbandictionary defines a "Chill Bro" as "just an easy going bro who doesn't get too excited and always keeps his composure when in a tight spot. comes through in clutch when a bro's in need. and obviously drops 'chill bro's' all day!" This is a list of all the chill, awesome people I met over the weekend and had at least a short conversation with.
Motbob's "Chill Bros" list
Artosis
Hot_Bid
TheMango
Milkis -- Bonus points for staying chill after the MMA gaffe
P4NDemik
TrueRedemption -- "Chillest Bro" award winner
Feargorm -- Bonus points for staying chill while I was trolling the shit out of you
CaucasianAsian
CDRDude
Sheth
Iccup.Diamond
CatsPajamas
Honorable Mention
Cazter -- Not chill, but was drunk at the time. Probably a cool, chill guy when sober.
Storrzerg -- Not a very chill guy but I think that's part of what makes you awesome
WaxAngel -- stressed about GSL too much all weekend. Chill out, Bro.
