EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/7aph8.jpg)
Ah, back when you didn't have to be good to be high Elo. I miss season 1.
My friend from high school, who goes by the name of rewt on the internet, called me up and said that A) there was going to be a Hawaii state tournament for LoL and B) we should get a team together with this guy called Dyrus. I didn't really know who Dyrus was at the time, I just saw his name on Solomid, a site that we both streamed for. I didn't know he was from Hawaii. We got in touch, and we got some friends together, and the first time I met Dyrus was picking him up at his house in Kaimuki, a city on a big hill near Waikiki. He was this super tall half-asian guy with glasses and wild hair who sounded like Eeyore and mained Singed at high Elo with locked camera in windowed mode. We were all kind of nervous because even though we were three players in the top 1000--I think Dyrus might have been like rank 10 in the world at the time--it was our first live tournament for League, and we didn't know what to expect. We spent the car ride to the event talking strategy and reassuring ourselves that, hey, we were fucking good at the game, and nobody else in Hawaii was going to be able to even play close to our level. Right?
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/cPm0U.jpg)
Front to back: Rewt, Dyrus, Me, Gerbz, Kkangpae. Behind us: Newly minted fans.
Anyway, we fucking crushed everyone. I think the highest Elo we played against was 14xx and a few of the teams had accounts that weren't level 30.
After that, we started hanging out a bit more. The crew we played League with went to a couple of raves in Hawaii, which were just getting big again at the time, and on one of the rides back, Marcus told me that he was getting an offer from Epik Gaming to move to the mainland and play professionally. This was like 7am in the morning after we had been up all night at a rave that he thought was the next day until an hour before the event on the drive across the island to drop him off back at his house. He had never lived off the island before, and the mainland is this gigantic unknown place that we hear horror stories of, and he was what, 18 or 19 at the time, fresh out of high school--
Fast forward a bit and a group of mutual friends and I are watching Phreak talk about Dyrus spamming laugh on Singed at Dreamhack in front of 120k viewers. We made so much noise at 3am watching him carry EG that the neighbors next door yelled at us.
![[image loading]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lovty1IBuA1qmylnlo1_1280.jpg)
EG when they were the dark horses. (Pic credit to Dyrus' tumblr)
This month, Dyrus came back to Hawaii for the first time in a year. I was wondering if he'd have changed or what kind of stories he'd have to tell or if he'd even have time to hang out with all the fame and popularity and his family to see. The day after he flew in we met up at Ala Moana to have lunch with some of his high school friends, who were friends of friends of mine in a weird Hawaii-is-a-small-island kind of way. I walked in half expecting him to be surrounded by fans and signing autographs and there he is, standing by himself against a railing in the middle of Ala Moana's food court, taller than ever, with his hair covering his eyes, some facial hair, and a black and green Razer jacket. I wove my way over and greeted him, and we decided to get smoothies. Out of nowhere, a group of fans ambushes him to ask for autographs and pictures. One of them asks if he can give Marcus a piggyback so he can say that he "carried Dyrus", which Marcus agrees to. While he's taking pictures, his friends show up and we manage to sneak him away from the gathering crowd wondering who this tall guy is that everyone wants their pillows signed by.
I kid you not, in the less than 2 hours we spent at the mall eating food from the Japanese food court on the top floor, over 50 people came by and asked for autographs and pictures. This one guy didn't even come by, he just galloped by the window we were sitting next to with a Singed shirt on, cackling and doing a slow finger-wave and never breaking eye contact. What the fuck.
So yeah, later that night, after stopping by a local PC Bang to stream some pub games, we go to his friends' place and more RL friends show up. It's so interesting to see someone go from being the most famous person in a 50 mile radius to being a regular 20 year old dude reunited with his high school friends.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/OVdgV.jpg)
In Hawaii, the average height for females is 5'4" or something. Marcus is like six foot something.
Last night, we went to dinner with him, because we probably weren't going to be able to see him again before he left. He wasn't picking up his phone because reception in Hawaii is terrible so we just went to his dad's house and walked up the steps. Dadyrus, who I can only describe as an epic, bearded lumberjack of a giant who plays videogames and owns a plumbing business in Hawaii, is stepping out onto the porch to light an American Spirit and feed his macaw french fries.
I can't make this shit up.
Anyway, he yells at Marcus, who's setting up his dad's computer so that he can stream to Solomid, that we're here, and Marcus is like "oh shit I didn't know you guys were coming already" then "k let's go" immediately after. We pick up some friends and meet up with more at a Chinese restaurant for dinner before going to a local ice cream parlor that makes the most bomb-ass ice cream cakes and mochi ice cream for dessert. We wind up back at someone's house with a cake that's frozen totally solid and after about 20 minutes of attempting to cut it with a knife, we decide fuck it, we're just going to eat it whole.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NL4uL.jpg)
He posted something on facebook asking how to cut this cake and within 5 minutes there were like 100 likes and 50 comments. Best answers were "ignite", "darius ult", and "black cleaver".
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/wscwb.jpg)
He filmed about 10 minutes of us eating this cake. (Not included in pic: the pretty girl taking the photo sitting next to me.)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/VvHRV.jpg)
Don't lie. We have more fun that you do eating ice cream cake.
Later in the night, I dropped him off at his house. It was like 4am in the morning and we had just finished playing a random teammate tournament at the local PC Bang. That motherfucker FIRST BANS CHOGATH against me and tells me later when I give him shit about it "if I only played one champ, wouldn't you ban him if you had no one else to?"
Whatever, fair enough.
We did the handshake ritual and gave a see ya when I see ya and he walked off as I drove back home to get ready to wake up in 3 hours to go to 6 hours of grad school.
Please support Dyrus through S3 and in all his endeavors. We really need more people like him in esports and in the world in general. I'm not sure exactly what my intent was when I started to write this, but as a fan and foremost a friend, I want everyone to know how much effort and passion he puts into what he does. Anyone who meets him in real life and has more than a "Can I have a photo with you?" conversation with him knows that he's one of the nicest, most unique, and down-to-earth people you're ever going to meet, and nobody deserves to be a professional video game player and live the life he lives more than he does.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/q0yo5.jpg)
My ONE picture I'm going to post of Dyrus and me. Hey, the fame gets to even me sometimes.
See ya when I see ya, man.
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Really cool seeing these dudes away from their natural habitat. Thanks for sharing
