EPT
My first trip to a GSL finals game at the end of GSL August. The finals actually took place in September, so this post isn't much more than a month old now. I had no idea what to expect as I had always seen large crowds in videos from the GSL, but was now skeptical of how many people actually showed up given the poor showing every day at the GOM Studio. It turns out the reason so few people turn out each night is because the matches run nightly. It's not special like BroodWar. So when a big Starcraft 2 event happens on a weekend when everyone is free, that's when all the fans come out to watch. Apparently, only casters or the crazy people with no lives (me) go every night.
This GSL final in particular was a special event, being the year anniversary of the GSL. In celebration, there was an "All-Stars Tournament" in which ten of the most popular players were invited to play in two teams of five for the amusement of the fans. Additionally, before that, there was a signing event where the ten players were lined up in the entry hall and signed cheerfuls or other objects brought in by fans.
I showed up with a friend from school who had expressed an interest in going to the GSL with me. We met up with another friend that I had been going to games regularly with (the guy that didn't make the bracket in the Code A prelims) at the subway stop and then walked to the venue. Because we were concerned about making sure we got good seats, we arrived about two hours early which turned out to be very unecessary. We got there and were met with a very small queue. After sticking it out for about an hour and a half, things started to get interesting as the lines were organized in a very confusing way. The people running the event first switched our line with another line (switched to opposite sides of a divider). They then proceeded to line everyone up in rows of four after combining the lines. About 15 minutes before everything began, a staffer went through the lines picking out foreigners and asking them to come with him to the front of the queue. While I was totally fine being treated as a local fan (it helped that I was so far up in the line anyway), I had no complaints about being given special treatment simply for being a foreigner. Racial discrimination.....ftw?
They took us into the entrance to the venue where we saw a long table in front of us. Eventually, players began to fill in. Since I was now the first person in line, I took a quick shot. Missing from the picture are BoxeR and MMA.
http://i.imgur.com/HYCZB.jpg?0.4855603554751724
I got to see all the players and kind of talked to them briefly before being told not to. I got to finally meet Jinro and tell him that I missed him at the Code A prelims. I had never really seen much of Jinro for some reason, but he always seemed kind of harsh for some reason. In the quick few seconds I got to meet him, I could already tell he was a really nice guy. I hope I get to see more of him in the GSL in coming seasons. I felt really bad for FruitDealer since nobody was really going for him. I of course got to finally get an autograph (just had time for one, so I got one for a friend) from BoxeR who was pretty cool as well. And finally, I got to meet NesTea who was also being skipped over for some reason.
After that, we were shown into the main auditorium where all the seats were. Being foreigners and getting preferential treatment, we were given a section in the front/right of the room. I sat in the third row, so all that was in front of me was family members/friends of players and some select media. To our left sat team IM. NesTea actually sat right across from me and my friend during the actual finals. He was (of course) sitting next to two pretty ladies. The first thing that we noticed when entering the auditorium however was the huge screen up on stage. Not only was it completely massive, but it was probably the most highly defined picture I have ever seen from a projected image. My picture of it is below. You've seen how poorly my camera takes pictures (okay okay, some of that is me), but look at this picture, If it's that clear on my crappy little camera, just imagine how good it was in real life.
http://i.imgur.com/PTHxg.jpg
Eventually, the teams for the all-star tournament were brought out and some friendly banter took place before the matches.
Team 1 had NesTea, MMA, July, MC, and Jinro
http://i.imgur.com/ZuuAR.jpg
Team 2 had FruitDealer, LosirA, MarineKing, HuK, and BoxeR
http://i.imgur.com/G3T1e.jpg
For additional amusement, here is a picture I took of MarineKing being told something by BoxeR.
http://i.imgur.com/riGLW.jpg
Soon the matches were underway and after the FruitDealer vs Jinro game in which we saw some pretty close competition, it became apparent that the rest of the matches were going to be really casual. We saw MC offracing as Zerg vs LosirA offracing as Terran. After that, MarineKing offracing as Protoss beat MMA who was playing Terran. Eventually, we got to probably the most interesting match of the day which was BoxeR vs July in which BoxeR won a very tight game with a limited amount of units and no production/mining at the end. And the final match consisted of HuK vs NesTea in what was a very awkward showing of NesTea playing casually and HuK actually trying kind of hard. Between and during the games, the players were engaging in little shenanigans such as July stealing Mr. Chae's drink (people not present actually only saw Mr. Chae taking the drink and didn't realize that July had stolen it, leading to some funny comments about Mr. Chae denying July food until he goes back and wins against BoxeR ^__^).
July was joking around in chat a lot and this was probably the biggest laugh from BoxeR he got.
BoxeR's post victory piggy-back ride.
Also, we got to see the birth of possibly the newest couple in SC2 progaming? Aside from when they were playing, that was probably the furthest apart they were all afternoon.
After the matches completed, there was a brief awards ceremony for the "MVP" of the first year of the GSL, which of course went to the fan favorite MarineKing. As a reward, he got a big sign and some prizes which some of the other players on his team seemed to be considering stealing.
But eventually, the real show began. Of course you know I'm talking about the introductory K-pop concert!!!!! Some band I had never heard of (because it does not include Sunny from Girls Generation) performed. Right before the performance, a ton of media people sat in all the empty seats around us and took pictures during the show, then left as soon as it ended. Not staying for Starcraft? Where are your priorities, paparazzi?
After that was all done with, it had been about a 5-6 hour day and the finals were just beginning. There were some brief pre-game interviews but everyone seemed to want to get on with the show, so they dove right in.
During all games as you may have noticed before, the main screen showed the game while the ones on the right showed the players and their headshots during the game.
MVP
TOP
After some excellent games which I'm sure you've all seen time and time again by now, MVP emerged as the victor. He went out on stage and collected his money before doing the trophy kiss moment of victory.
Exiting the booth.
Getting his check.
And of course, the all important pose.
Going to a GSL finals was really something else. It was way bigger and had much more passionate fans than any esports event I had been to before (although it would soon be surpassed by the OSL finals a couple weeks after). I am really sad that I only have one more I will be able to attend during my time here (hopefully I will come back to live and work here after I graduate though). I am definitely going to the next one because this was a cool event.
And wow, sorry about bombarding you with such a huge post. I couldn't help it though, I was watching Starcraft from about 1pm to 10pm that day. There was a lot of stuff. Coming up are two BroodWar posts, so that will be something to get excited about again, right? Until later, have a good weekend and watch those VODs of the GSL October finals if you haven't!
