EPTFor those interested.. a tiny bit about me in a spoiler tag
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I'm 30, from the UK and have been gaming since pong. Got into TL and sc2 in the beta and have tried my hand at some protoss and terran over the months. I'm about diamond protoss with terrible low APM but I just watch a lot of GSL and events and I enjoy it so much I don't really find the time to play as much as the competitive part of me would like. I always see how much fun people have at live events from the blogs I read whilst lurking and I follow the scene as much as any sane person could expect to. I'm a fan of special tectics, good games and SlayerS on top.
A few weeks ago I noticed that Dreamhack was falling pretty close to some leave i'd booked from work. A few discussions with university friends now in Oslo (We're all originally from the UK) and we decide to move things around and make a trip out of it. Everything booked up and then just time to get hyped about seeing people like NaDa. In the end we got July instead.. but i'm not complaining.
After some considerable trouble with cats breaking out and my girlfriend chasing them around nearby cars in her dressing gown at 7am we managed to watch the SC vs DRG final on Saturday before driving to London Heathrow. Some small delays and confused pilots ensued but we got underway in the end. I was flying with my girlfriend and another friend with the plan to meet up with 3 others at the hotel in Jonkoping. This was to be my first LAN experience in probably 10 years since university and also my first time in Sweden.
We grabbed our hire car (A free upgrade, a huge volvo 4x4) and set off along the very long E4. Thanks to an accident in Stockholm we spent about an hour doing 1km but after that it was pretty plain sailing in the land where every roadside services has a McDonalds. Saw a lot more of them than Ikeas. By the time we rolled up in Jonkoping it was nearing 1am, pissing it down with rain and we were all very tired. The road into town that our directions used was closed so some fun navigation was required and then when we did get to the hotel it was surrounded by people all over the street from the club next door (and taxis everywhere, which we very nearly hit due to my girlfriend not yet being used to the width of the car on the wrong side of the road). We got in though, waited patiently in the lobby whilst locals ran in and smashed a vase and got rowdy with the manager (best hotel in Jonkoping on trip advisor..) and then actually got to meet up with the 3 other guys and get to our rooms and got some sleep.
At breakfast I caught up on the results of day 1 whilst also checking out who we'd be able to see play. It looked like we'd get to see most of the koreans and HuK at least. We found dreamhack very easily even without good directions and did a few laps of the place on foot to check out the LAN areas and then the player area, expo and the day9 tent. I remember that the first guy I saw when we walked in was Bomber as he was sitting on the end getting ready. At some point he ended up playing Mana and he dc'd with a huge advantage. Mana was mannered and said Bomber could have the game. Bomber was just as mannered and said he didn't want a free win as he'd feel bad. That made me a Bomber fan for good.
The day9 tent wasn't exactly comfortable but it was fine. There was an ungodly amount of rain going on that day and the ground was getting pretty bad. This did mean I got to see Day9 sprint (and he never just walks anywhere) across the grass like a water boatman. I don't think he even touched the ground.. just the surface of the water. He moves that fast. We tended to move back and forth between the tent and the player area that day with occasional time to check out the shop and the expo (wasn't exactly big) or some of the other game areas. The sc2 games were fun and the live casting and atmosphere were great.
I hadn't brought a pen or anything really to sign and i'm kinda pretty stuck with my upbringing in that I don't really feel too good about just going up to people and taking up their time. I started to make a brief exception to this when I saw MC signing a few things when nobody was really around the players area so I walked over to wish him the best of luck once the round of 16 and shake his hand. Maybe a little of that protoss skill rubbed off on me.. I doubt it.
After a few more games and a few more donuts from the outdoor vendor we headed back to the hotel for the night. I ended up trying to catch the MC vs IdrA game using the dodgy hotel wifi and got a slideshow with occasional commentary. Got some decent sleep though and we'd had an awesome day. I do remember getting infuriated with the hotel tv though as we'd got a hdmi cable for my macbook and a big hdmi slot by the tv and yet no way to actually get a picture on the screen using it. Hotels always have stupid remotes with about 3 buttons so you can't do anything fun. Ah well.
So Monday morning rolls around. More scrambled eggs and bread (I do not trust bacon unless i'm in England or it looks like they've imported some) and then back to dreamhack. We arrived at the day9 tent just as one of the first Ro8 games was finishing (I think it was HuK vs Socke) but it meant that we were in time for MC vs Bomber and that was a treat. Bomber took it in the end but the atmosphere in the tent was fantastic.
I remember doing some walking around at that point because there were a few people I kinda wanted to say hi to. I just happened to pass July near to the player area and threw out a big Day9 style (high-pitch) FIGHTING!!! and it was returned. That put a big smile on my face. I love July cus he's a baller. I then wandered over to see the Bloodline Champions area and happened across 2GD. I encouraged him to do some more sc2 casting and told him how i'd been using the 2GD build to give nerds my ladder points. Then TotalBiscuit was also there so I chatted a bit to them both and observed as they talked a little esports together. I've been watching TotalBiscuit videos since he did WoW dungeon previews long before sc2 and I just like to support the brits who work in esports as there aren't so many. We lamented just how much of a pain in the fucking ass it is to get to Jonkoping from the UK and chatted about a bunch of stuff. It was really nice to meet 2GD and TotalBiscuit and have a chat with them. I saw both of them watching sc2 when they weren't busy doing their own work and they were really fun and genuine guys.
I remember watching some HuK games now from over his shoulder (or maybe it was the day before) with MC sitting just in front of me. It wasn't quite clear to me how he was doing because he wasn't able to scout how many bases his opponent was on for quite some time but he pulled through and we cheered. It almost certainly was Sunday not Monday as I remember watching July vs HuK from the tent that day. The semis were great and I really wasn't expecting to see HuK and Moon get to the final. The cheers that went up everytime Moon got off good burrowed banelings vs Bomber in the tent.. it was just fantastic. It's such an experience to watch awesome sc2 games with the casters right there and everyone being a fan.
As we left those games Day9 once again came running out and I threw him my best Day9 FIIGHTING as well and got a big smile and one back (though he didn't stop running). We ended up watching a bit of the 3rd/4th place playoff from the players area before heading up to the dreamhack arena (a big auditorium for maybe 2000 people?) for the bloodline champions final and then to keep our seats for the SC2 final. They tried to move us out after BLC but not too many people actually went. We were right behind Sjow, Morrow, Naniwa and more and I knew they wouldn't leave so we'd probably be ok. Eventually Tarson ended up right in front of me and him and Sjow discussed why they hadn't done more drinking together the night before and we all waited for the players to get set up. Day9 was struggling to chat with the dreamhack guys about how it should all go down just because whenever he showed up the crowd would cheer and chant. The love for day9 was palpable.. and justly deserved.
Eventually we get our final starting up and some player interviews. We've all got glowsticks and the pros in front of me are all making a little "MOON" out of them and borrowed a cheerful from the guy next to us to try and balance it on. They then make a "HUK" too. There's people with hearts and all sorts made out of them. The crowd goes nuts when Moon talks in korean before it even gets translated. That was pretty funny. They get in the booths and they play out the games and the crowd and atmosphere was just fantastic. It was absolutely packed in there and by far the best time of the weekend. I wanted HuK to win but because Moon had done so well I really didn't begrudge him if he took it down so I cheered for both and good games.. just with a little more on the side of HuK. We could see on his face when he knew he'd won it and it was superb. It was a great victory for HuK, TL and the western scene.. but also to his hard work in Korea. He lost very few games all weekend to some excellent players.
After the final we grabbed a couple of things from the shop and then left the complex. We could have stayed for the meet and greet with Day9 but we were very hungry and a little sick of dreamhack burgers and donuts by then. So we went back to the hotel and crashed.
The journey back was more eventful than it should have been. We had plenty of time and were making great time down the E4 so we stopped off for a bit at a weird services with a big sweet shop pick n mix thing. Then suddenly we're back on the E4 and stuck in Stockholm traffic for an hour and i'm trying to figure out what the hell we do if it doesn't let up soon. In the end we just about make it to the rental car drop off in time and grab our stuff. We're making a dash for the bus as I see another bunch of people and think one looks like HuK.. and one like Tyler.. and so I do my sc2 battlecry once more "FIIIGHTING" and we jump on the bus to the airport. I chatted with a TL guy (you're probably reading this.. who were you?) from Norway (I think) who had been with them and was running very tight on his own flight but he should have had plenty of time in the end. We hop off the bus, make our flight and then I sit in 26E playing some sc2 vs the AI on my mac just because I can.
So that was my weekend of Dreamhack. It was awesome and everyone seemed to be really happy to be there and having a good time. Jonkoping is certainly not the easiest place to get to but i'm delighted that we went. Despite not having a huge amount of sc2 experience my girlfriend also had a great time and actually watched all the games whilst asking questions just so she could follow it all (aside from on Monday morning when it was bright and nobody could really see the stream well in the day9 tent).
Congrats Dreamhack and HuK and everyone else who went along and had a fun time. It's a shame we don't yet have anything which would get this many players to the UK but maybe in time we'll get our own slice of the pie. Until then.. this lurker with a tiny post count may fly some more. One day i'll go see SlayerS take down a GSTL in Seoul and lose my voice screaming... or so I hope.
