EPTIt is with great joy that I bring to you the MLG Columbus recap. Thank you to VATOCLAN's Arguyle and Bandito for arranging my travel. Thank you to EG's Machine, ONE's Gatored, sixjax's Skew, and Piro for convincing me I should go. During the hotkeyit may LAN I was still undecided on the trip until your words changed my mind. Finally and most importantly infinite thanks and love to Nessarose who was my camera person and transportation throughout the city in Columbus. This trip would have been overwhelmingly difficult without your help.
Day 0: Before the Tournament
This is the trip that almost didn't happen for your friendly neighborhood reporter. On the Wednesday evening before my flight was to take place I was short on money. Luck was on my side and after mentiong my being sad about my trip my boss unexpectedly offered to loan me a couple hundred bucks. Several thank-yous later the tickets were purchased and I was getting ready to go. The plane would leave at 7:45. However ultimately I did not get on it. In preparation for my trip I needed to fax in a photocopy of my licenses to the airline as part of the deal to get the lower priced tickets. Upon returning home after securing the money, buying the tickets, and packing I then realized upon the final check before going to bed that my licenses was missing. Tabbing back and forth between watching community member Weaklink play against VATOCLAN's Bandito and looking up online the times which I could check the Staples for my licenses or buy a new one at the MVD office I found that I would not make that plane. Only two planes flew to Columbus that day. My hopes fell faster than BP stock after the oil spill.
Let me describe my airplane situation for a moment. I pay half price or at times far less than half price to fly. However this is not without a very stiff downside. I only get to board a flight if the plane does not sell all of it's seats. This is because I am flying as a "standby" passenger. This is made more difficult additionally because there are many different levels of standby. The highest is something called "space positive" which is when the airline simply reserves a seat for you. It never comes up for sale, it will never get bumped, and you will get that spot. Below that is paying customer. That's any person who bought a ticket at full price. Immediately below that is SA-1. Following is 2, then 3 and 4 which airline employees typically end up at. After that is 5 and 6 which I forget who those apply to. Lastly is SA-7 the lowest priority. That is where I fly at, SA-7. This means in order to get on a plane not only does the plane have to have available seats at departure time it also has to have more seats than there are people ahead of me on the standby list. Due to my low priority I can get there and check in hours early, but if there's people with a higher priority (even if they check in later) it could cause me to miss the flight. Thankfully the standby list usually will rollover to the next available flight or the airline may let me play connect-the-dots with airplanes to get me where I need to go. Time is always in short supply in these situations and it can be hectic trying to make connections while still leaving options open in case you miss a plane.Two planes left for Columbus that day and both the Staples and the MVD office did not open until 10am which is hours after my flight. Airplane wizard Arguyle managed to get set me up for the later 3:55pm flight. Which would be the last flight which could get me there on time. That plane luckily had nineteen open seats and only 14 people on the standby list. I got on and away I went into the wild blueish-black yonder. Landing at the airport I got connected with a friend when I landed and we grabbed a hotel room for the night. Nervous for other reasons I slept very little, but did have time to make a post in this thread and update my twitter. In the morning I could barely eat. My appetite was lost for reasons unrelated to the events at the time. We left the hotel, bought our spectator passes and joined the line.
Day 1: Release the Gracken
As I stood in line beside my faithful camera person my eyes remained on the growing crowd. Multiple times I quickly sped away from the line with a rapidly said "save my spot I'll be right back" in order to introduce myself to players. I met several people then, Machine, iNcontrol, TT1, Gret0rp, and countless others. Much of the time spent in line was talking to Warlockx a player in the open bracket who placed around 40th at Dallas.
Stepping into the venue and looking around the place was both bigger and smaller than I had imagined. The high vaulted ceiling, gaming stations setup throughout the venue, and an ominous back curtain near the back. To my immediate left was Hot_Bid interviewing FXO's qxc. I had fanart to give qxc so I approached and afterward spoke with him. qxc was my first pro player interview ever and I believe I handled it well. We parted ways after as he went to go play warmup games, but that was not the last I'd see of him.Walking around the outside of the player area in perpetual circles I felt guilty. It's as if I was a vulture hunting for pro players. My lack of a press pass made my job a little difficult on multiple occasions throughout the weekend. My diligence paid off continually and I met one famous face after another. I couldn't name them all from memory, but I can try. Day one came with a sprinkling of Naniwa, TLO, Haypro, Sheth, PainUser, CrunCher, and others whom I can't remember if it was Day 1 or later when I met them. Sheth is a wonderfully nice person and I had to opportunity to interview him as well as the giant that is PainUser. I feel like I keep interviewing tall people. Perhaps that just means I am short.As I wandered about meeting people and trying to get interviews two events stood out for me. The first was the opening match. oGs' MC was playing against EG's IdrA in the first match of the weekend. Everyone who wasn't playing was watching it. IdrA's amazing performance there set the tone for the weekend. People cheered for MC, they cheered for IdrA, they cheered when an overlord saw tech, they cheered when forcefields blocked roaches, they cheered, and that was what tipped me off about the weekend's outlook. Rarely did we hear a cry or joy or anguish from Reach, or from Black Ops. Starcraft 2 is what brings the noise.
My camera person smokes and as a result we made repeated trips outside. This was never a bother. I did enjoy the occasional escape from the noise and the darkness into the quiet light of midday Ohio. These trips came with another perk and that perk was Liquid Ret. He also enjoyed getting outside away from the noise and likely the mob of fans inside. It seemed that every time we went outside he was either there, on his way back inside, or he would show up outside shortly after we did. Due to this favorable timing I got to stop and talk to him very often throughout the event. He was not the only recurring face of the weekend. As the day winded down many tired players went back to their hotels, to dinner, or out for a drink. I was the bearer of no such fortune. My finances were exhausted after the one night in the hotel, my spectator pass, and a single meal. The outlook was bleak, but I had endured worse. We drove to a Wal*Mart near the hotel we slept at on Thursday night and slept in the car. Not quite comfortable, but adequate.
Day 2: Hailstorm and Lake MLG
Whitecastle makes mediocre breakfast, but when you're eating off spare change it's the most miraculous concoction of tastes and textures one's mouth can ever experience. Otherwise go to to wafflehouse. I changed clothes in a parking garage near the venue. Most would find that weird, but I've worked at a renaissance festival and tents are usually short. Changing clothes outside felt oddly standard to me. It helped that we were in a corner and no one else was parked in that area yet. Sometimes I do suffer stage fright.Rejoining the crowd inside much of the day was a blur. I didn't sleep too well, but one part of the morning amused me. There was qxc standing next to me and my camera person. For a moment I began to question reality. Was I really just idly talking to qxc before his games? Could I possibly be in a coma from my recent hospital trip and am really lying in a bed on life support hallucinating all of this? Probably not considering the almost two grand in very real bills sitting behind me. Due on the 11th, but I just got them on the second. That's off topic though. Eventually qxc made his way to the computer to continue winning games in the loser's bracket. After seeing qxc's performance I feel it should be renamed the "second chance" bracket because qxc is not a loser. Time was also spent talking to iccup's Raelcun and speaking to Ret a little bit outside. He was rather busy on Day 2. At some point I ran into Machine, TT1, then later Gretorp. Awesome dudes those guys are.
While the morning was uneventful I had time to catch up on the bracket. Seeing the standings I was unhappy. Haypro and Ret were doing ok, but one of my favorites Gretorp was not. Gretorp and Sheth made it into the champ pools due to absent seeds Socke and HuK. Sheth was winning games left and right. I'm glad he made it into the champ pools. qxc had been taken out, but was making a strong return in the "qxc's comeback bracket". CrunCher had been performing well in the open bracket, Idra was dominating, and sixjax MajOr was paving his way forward eventually ending in a championship pool. Other notable performances include Thorzain and Fenix, but their fortune shouldn't come as a surprise. Underneath all of this however the korean war machine was operating at full power and sparks would fly from the machine as it's gears turned whie humming ominously. The only one not playing amazingly (but still good) was FOX's Moon. It seemed as if oGs' MC, SlayerS' MMA, IM's Losira, and ST's July were the four horsemen of the apocalypse sent by the great Bonjwa in the sky to bring the end of games to sinful foreigner masses who spat in the face of those who inspired them to play and were claiming superiority.
Games were not the only action at MLG that night. There was a hailstorm. You could hear the ice and rain pounding on the roof clearly within. From the lobby looking outside it was a sheet of ice and water spilling freely from the sky. Wind whipped the trees back and forth and I made idle talk with people onlooking. A nice girl there handed me a card with a website on it, Geekers Gaming. Thanks for the card Rachel. Your team is out doing what I hope mine will begin doing someday. This is officially that plug I said I'd give you and I'll probably bring it up again in the future. Us new groups need all the help we can get. Maybe I should make a business card too.Walking back into the venue from that conversation and the weather something strange caught my eye in the corner. A strange reflection where one should not be. Upon investigating I learned a pipe had burst in one of the bathrooms and water was spilling everywhere and out into the lobby. There was a crowd of onlookers and I feel guilty to admit I found it funny as official personnel scampered about on foot and over radio to deal with the problem. Eventually the fire department came out armed to the teeth with tools to take a bite out of the flood that I named Lake MLG.
Back inside the mainstage didn't interest me. There was a man with a bandana I wanted too see. qxc was playing VT's Pokebunny. Being a big fan of qxc and him being nice enough to talk to my friend and I throughout the weekend I was cheering for him more than ever. He won. There was almost no break between that game and him facing off against ROOT's CatZ. Having seen qxc beat CatZ several times before I wasn't worried. In the back of my mind however I knew CatZ was a threat. He's always a threat and if a player doesn't take him seriously going into a game I feel they stand to lose. He won again. I was excited. Here I was talking to my favorite terran and watching him win. Seeing the bracket and his next match being SeleCT I then became concerned. SeleCT has beaten qxc a number of times. Things were looking grim for our professional island scanner. Stranger tides were to flow and we heard the call for qxc and TLO to the main stage. A battle of alphabets was to commence, but qxc said it best "I'm not playing TLO. I'm playing SeleCT". With a look of confusion on his face off he went. If SeleCT had me worried TLO's mention gave me shivers. That match started on the main stage only to be stopped partway through as MLG caught the mistake.
An entire early game had passed and the screen had gone dark. qxc reappeared seated across from SeleCT in the player area and TLO vs ViBE played on the main stage.Being and fan of ViBE and a fan of qxc I decided to watch ViBE. I was glad I did as ViBE played well and managed to defeat TLO. At the beginning of the match it was an odd feeling. TLO pushed, people cheered. ViBE defended and the crowd was quiet. "Yeah ViBE!" I yelled out. A few heads turned to me, then back to the screen. I kept cheering and as the game went on more cheered for ViBE. Then he won and it was amazing. Many TLO fans left quickly, but I rushed up to congratulate ViBE in person then skittered away to watch qxc.Everything went quiet. You could hear people shuffling out of the area while a crowd looked on at game 3 of SeleCT versus qxc. Someone asked "Is it over?" and another replied "There's one game still going." Everyone left was watching on both sides of the monitors. The only sound was of keys being pressed and the echoing thunder from the storm outside. It was louder, amplified even by the emptier venue. Then faces fell as qxc pulled his hands away from the keyboard. He hung his head and without looking mashed out "gg" and smacked the escape key a few times. qxc's run was over and many were sad. There was a small group that walked with qxc as we all began to exit. A short "see ya guys tomorrow" was the last I heard that day. Off we drove back to the parking lot. It's hard to sleep when it's raining on a car. Tents are one things, but raindrops and hail on a car make way more noise.
Day 3: Judgement Day
My day started off with mild annoyance at seeing my camera person pant-less. We nabbed McDonald's before heading out. Being there too early for my taste quickly became a blessing as I caught Tasteless, Dj Wheat, and Artosis outside. Talk was traded with them and a couple pictures were taken before they headed inside. That was an awesome moment being able to meet them, especially Artosis. Artosis and translator John were the two people who inspired me to start a group and get involved in eSports. Now I sit here with a fever and obnoxious headache pounding out a post I don't know if anyone will read. It's always a gamble posting online. Meeting them was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Eating lunch with qxc, and being able to meet the players round out the top 3.
Inside the venue it was a workday. I managed to track down TT1, Raelcun, Joshy, Machine, HD Starcraft, CocoA, dde, FireFlash, and Gretorp. While there I met two players who were taking on the open bracket, Warlockx and NobodYouKnow. Both of them were awesome to talk to throughout the event, but I only got to interview NobodYouKnow. I wish I had gone into it more on camera, but part of the reason for interviewing him was he played in GSL Open season 2 and 3. He didn't make it into the round of 64, but hearing his story about it was awesome. I wanted to interview Warlockx because he played in dallas so this was a repeat showing for him. Time was taken to watch the winner's bracket Losira vs MMA. After which I was able to interview HD Starcraft who was the first caster I ever watched. He was my intro to casting and I've been a fan since. Just before the finals something awesome happened. Outside once again with my friend I saw ret and said hello. Then he said words I didn't think I'd hear from such a notable player, "Hey do you wanna do that interview right now?". I couldn't get my equipment ready fast enough. Ret if you read this it was awesome meeting you. I'm a big fan and will be watching you as you push and elbow your way to the NASL finals. My final interview was with Skew. I caught him outside in the hallway after the finals. It was a good day for work, but also a good day for games.
Thor's Hammer fell. It was judgement day and the foreigners (should we call ourselves foreigners at our own event? o.0;; ) were (mostly) rallied behind one man. EG IdrA was the final boss of the foreigners at MLG Columbus. He stood before them with an aura of "no you don't". He is one man who has shown time and again that he can take down anyone. I stood in rapt attention as he sat down to face oGs' MC a player who has faced before. There was no worry in my mind. However the four horseman of the Bonjwa in the sky judged us to be damned and IdrA fell, he stood, and fell again, and was pushed down two more times before departing the stage leaving MC the victor. My head hung low sad at his loss and even mildly angry, but I smiled knowing that the night is darkest just before the dawn. I wholly expect EG IdrA to be the sunrise at the next MLG to deliver us from darkness. However I do not doubt that the Koreans rightfully earned their place here at MLG. This was further established when the finals rolled around.
MMA clearly stands for Masterful Medivac Artist. The Reach and Black Ops players had long since left save for a stray few enamored as the rest of us. Starcraft 2 was playing on all four giant screens. After cannibalizing every chair from the rest of the spectator areas it was still standing-room-only. I sat on the floor as my camera person and qxc sat to my right. All eyes were on the screens. We waited for the finals to begin and I likely among others was surprised to see Tasteosis' face appear upon the screens. The crowd cheered for what I believe a solid minute or more. Prior to that event I had never heard a crowd cheer that loud for that long. Tasteless began talking, but his voice was absorbed into the reverberating sound of the fans. He paused and the two casters looked at each other. Tasteless lifted one ear of his headset slightly for just a moment, nodded, then looked back at the camera. After a pause he began talking again. Whatever those sentences were I'll need to watch the VOD to know, because they were lost to the crowd.
All I could think about it that this is what GSL finals must feel like. Tastosis in the booth and two top level players fighting it out for some cash. I don't know what 15k dollars is in won, but I bet it's a good number. After the first game I shuddered when I saw a medivac flying across the map. If I wake up having nightmares of defending a medivac drop only to find my spire and/or spawning pool gone I will blame MMA, but I will not fault him. Respect for the drop was surely forged that day and for what it's worth from a random fan I have never seen medivacs so effective or scary. If I did I don't remember them. Seeing Losira win a battle only to get killed by reinforcements then find out his tech was missing was a crushing moment for me. When MMA won everyone stood and cheered. I left before the interview occurred, because I still wanted to try and snatch one or two final interviews. What's told to me however is that MMA was asked a question and the crowd began chanting M M A so loudly that he forgot his answer. MMA was a happy man. qxc named off a bar and my camera person and I left for it. It was right across the street on the way to the car anyway. Luck was on my side all this event despite it's failing me at home.
Home was the least of my thoughts now because I was surrounded by eSports. I truly got the feeling of what translator john said after the GSL Open Season 2 finals, "remember that even if you feel nobody around you supports you that I, Jay, Artosis and Tasteless, everyone in GOM will support you." It is with teary eye that I type that because it's so true. Many people I met there encouraged me to keep working as I was and many seemed excited I was doing it. Artosis and Tasteless were so happy to meet all of us. Smiling faces all around, players, spectators, managers, all the people were so happy. Never once was I given the cold shoulder and I was just a random spectator with a camera and no history whatsoever. The Starcraft2 community is the best community and I hope I can continue to be involved and become more involved with it in the future.
Day 4: The Journey Home
Char Bar was so busy it all seemed like a blur. Thanks Joshy for talking to me for a bit there. I kinda look up to you as a reporter. Your work is wonderful. He was not the only person I would speak to. ROOT's CatZ and Drewbie, FXO's qxc and Sheth, Liquid's TLO, EG's Machine, iccup's Raelcun and Diamond, ONE's Gatored and FireFlash, HD Starcraft, and gosh too many others to think about. I could only think how I couldn't believe how I was surrounded by people and it just felt like a bunch of friends hanging out together.
My camera person and I left the bar. The trip was straight to the airport where I referenced briefly at the beginning of what may be TL;DR for many. I slept for half an hour at a time until security opened at 4:30am. Which I then went through, set alarms on my phone, and then promptly went back to sleep. The first plane was oversold and so was the next. When a plane is oversold that means there's more purchased tickets than there are seats. At standby SA-7 I had no chance, but I met two nice guys there. Two pro Black Ops players. Tired as I was I only remember the name of the one in the brown hoodie, Derek, or Derrick, however it may be spelled you get the idea. They were the same priority as me and I loosely teamed up with them as we played connect the dots with airplanes arranging to go from CMH (Columbus) to DCA (Washington DC) and then finally back to Phoenix, Arizona. Seeing we had hours away we went back out of the secure zone and ate at a Wendy's.
Airport food is expensive and at time extraordinarily so. This Wendy's had a value menu. I was unsure how much I had in my bank account, but leaning against a railing I heard a crunch. Each week when I go out Thursday nights to a local bar with friends I carry a pocket full of quarters for the pool table. Some were leftover and I had enough for lunch. A cheeseburger and water had never been more delicious, but I still had no appetite, probably from the sleep deprivation. Sitting and talking to them was pleasant. My gaming clan is from Counterstrike and though I was not with them at that time I knew FPS games well. We talked about fairly in-depth about certain maps, game types, strategy, and the politics of teams and their changing rosters. Then Sean Plott walked up to security.
Just like with Ret I couldn't get my camera out fast enough. I quickly instructed my lunchmate in how to use it and asked if he could take a picture. They knew some about Starcraft 2 so his status was not lost on them. Day9 seemed a little tired, but happy to meet me. Knowing he was going through security I just asked for a picture and told him I was a fan then we went our separate ways. After lunch and back on the secure side the Black Ops players and myself parted ways and I met several people at the airport as they were heading to their gates. Surprisingly many people I had met and spoke to before, Ret, HD, and PainUser, then later KawaiiRice and Kiwikai. I wished them well on their trips and went back to sleep. I woke up often waiting for my plane and surely missed many people who were in transit. The situation was still surreal. These people that I watched were just ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
All the remaining travel was blank to my memory. My alarms woke me as each plane was boarding and I remained awake just long enough to see if I could get on and to sit down to promptly sleep some more. From Ohio, to D.C., and finally back to Phoenix the great journey was almost over and no amount of work would get in this newbie prophet of eSports' way. People were called, my other camera person picked me up, we stopped to get my paycheck from my job, then I was home, but not for long. Monday nights are a trip to the bar for my airport friends. These same friends made my trip possible so I felt obligated to go. Also I was still hungry. Running on one meal a day and sleeping in a car will do that to a person. Wait... I ate the best doughnut ever at Washington Reagan Airport in DC. It was a dollar and managed to clear my debit card. The bar was also a hazy event. Coming home afterward I turned on my computer and promptly transferred and added every interview to the job list to prep for editing. Sleep came immediately.
Day Now: Epilogue
With fever and clouded eye I put to rest MLG Columbus. That event will likely stand a long time as a milestone in my life. Everyone Interview has been uploaded and this blog/article/story or whichever you prefer to call it is at it's end. My writing skills are dulled from years of nonuse. It is my goal for this post to be at acceptable. If even viewed as mediocre it will be a success. The wheels have already begun to turn and steer this new vessel I am piloting towards Anaheim. If I can get there I will do it.
Thank you TLnet. When I first started with Starcraft 2 I did the same thing I do with all new games. I type it into a search engine with the word "forums" after it and find the best third party fansite I can, register, and start reading. Though my posts may be few my eyes hungrily read as much content as they can stomach. It is this site that introduced me to HD Starcraft, then to casting in general, then to Day9's archives, to his live show, from him to GSL on a late insomnia induced night, then on that random fateful night I heard John, days later on another day Artosis supported his statement and made a brief one of his own. Then from John and Artosis I found myself watching AskJoshy, then from there I went to a local LAN and met sixjaxSkew, ONEGatored, eMgPhilliBiRD, EG Machine, and Piro. Those men encouraged me to go and I went. From them to MLG, from MLG to all the people I met and full circle back here to the place that got me all started.
Thank you teamliquid, R1CH, Hot_Bid, Kennigit, Nazgul, Haypro, Ret, TLO, HuK, Jinro, Tyler, Waxangel, Flamewheel, and every author or player I forgot. This has been my gateway to eSports. thank you so much. Please, enjoy my work I produced at this event. I dedicate all my coverage of MLG Columbus to you TeamLquid. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
With the posting of this blog MLG Columbus is finally over for me. Cheers all.
