[PICS] OSL Finals Fan Recap

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United States6225 Posts

August 05 2012 11:39 GMT

I was fortunate enough to be born in a year which allowed me to graduate college and get a job in Korea just a few months before what would be the final exclusive Brood War tournament, ever. How lucky is that? I want to share my experience, to let you all in on what it was like to actually be there.

I woke up yesterday morning at 7 AM, to take a train from where I live, in Yeonsu-gu, Yeonsu1dong, Incheon, over to the Jamsil Student Arena in Seoul to get tickets.

Here's the distance I traveled, although by train.

It took about 90 minutes. I realized almost immediately that I forgot my camera. So, for the rest of the blog I'm shamelessly stealing images off the internet, mostly from this forum.

I'm told there was a long line early in the morning for tickets, which started being handed out around 9 AM. I got there just before 10:30, and was given the 4996th ticket, so I can imagine what it must have been like earlier in the morning.

After getting there, my wife and I had some bbq pork and beef for lunch, and we weren't even charged for the pork! Score!

Delicious, free 삼겹살

Feeling satisfied, we attempted to return to the PC bang we were at before the Proleague Finals a few months ago, the Brunhild. We got in and asked the owner if he had any free PCs, and we were shocked to find that it was completely full. At 11:30 in the morning. Looking around, I realized where the line of people I was talking about earlier must have went - nearly everyone was playing Brood War. What a satisfying sight that was.

We left, walked a few blocks and found another PC bang, this one still had about a dozen PCs open. It was by far the biggest PC bang I've ever been in. There must have been at least 100 PCs in there spread out over four large rooms. We walked to the very back and we were lucky enough to find two PCs right next to each other! This place was again, packed, and almost everybody was playing Brood War. From 1v1s, to 4v4s on Hunters, to Fastest Map games, to UMS games, at least 60% of the people there were enjoying one of the greatest pasttimes of our generation. Interestingly, I did not see anyone in either PC bang playing SC2. Lots of BW, lots of League of Legends, a few people playing RPGs or card games, and that's it.

I proceeded to kill time with Dota 2 until about 3:30, at which point we returned to the Jamsil Student Gymnasium to find our seats.

If I had to pick one word to describe the rest of the evening, it would probably be "hot."

We spent about 2 hours standing outside in a large crowd of sweaty people, baking in the afternoon sun and what felt like 90% humidity. It probably would have been awful if I wasn't so full of anticipation and adrenaline. In a few hours I'd be witnessing history, the final chapter of an immense and intricate storyline of human struggle, emotion, and passion. A story that started, for me, at the age of 13, and is now finishing over 10 years later.

We finally got in at around 6 PM, bought a few hot dogs, and found our seats. Our view was very similar to the one in this picture, but we were back a few rows:

What a crowd

I was immediately overwhelmed by the turnout of this event. This stadium was absolutely packed. People were sitting in every stairwell, in every aisle, and about 50% of the seats BEHIND the stage were occupied. I still have no idea whether or not they were able to actually see any of the games. It seemed like everybody in the whole country was there.

It certainly felt like everybody was there

The air in the arena was electric despite it being so damp. Five large fans hung 50 feet overhead, three of them pushing modest amounts of air at a rate which almost ensured nobody would feel the cooling effects of their convection. Even so, the audience was restless.

In what seemed like no time, Boxer and Yellow stood on a platform in the middle of the VIP section. Cheers arose from the crowd the moment they appeared. This was it.

Spoilers below

There was a rather long interview and then the game started. Since everyone saw the game (you did watch it, right?) I wont go into details. I just want to say that I was very amused by the stacked lurkers, and it was definitely a game to remember.

What the hell is that building?

Despite a chant of "one more game" from the audience, the legends left the stage afterwards. Rather than give us another game, they gave us something even more ridiculously awesome to remember them by.

Choreographed by ESPORTS

In what seemed like no time, the finals began. Every game sparked exasperated shouts, cheers, jumping, and general good feelings.

Pure happiness in the form of a crowd of people

From the awesome 3 base carrier play in game 1 to the crazy recall on top of tanks in game 2, to the amazing proxy robo (scouted) elevator (barely unscouted), into the most balanced and well-designed unit ever taking the series in game 4, everybody was having a spectacular time.

Especially Khan

What really blew me away was the fact that this many people stood in the hot sun for hours, then sat in a stagnant, wet, hot room for even longer, dripping in sweat, just to watch this game we all love, one last time. And what's more, they had the option to just stay home and watch it on TV.

But the fact of the matter is, the heat in the arena wasn't even noticable during the games. Thousands were simultaneously swept up into a world created by the fingertips of our idols. We experienced joy and excitement forged in the thoughts of those two modern legends in the booths.

This event was special. Everybody there had known for months that this was it. This was the end of what they loved for years. After tonight, there would be no more Brood War. What I'd assumed would last forever would finally fade away. The tremendous joy felt on this day would be fleeting, to become nothing but a memory tomorrow, and to remain that way for the rest of our lives.