EPTI got there at approximately 3PM, and I was not disappinted at all. I got to the 7th floor of Sindorim Techno-Mart, and the elevator doors opened to this:
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Half of an entire mall floor dedicated to e-sports. This was my first live event that I have ever been to, and even being prelims, it was just breathtaking. Rows computers meticulously set-up, players hunched over challenging the physical limits of actions to be taken place by the human hands in a single minute, crowds of spectators and players outside staring at an awkward trying to catch the game of a favorite player... and me!
I looked into the closest glass window and counted myself blessed. The first player I got to take a look at was none other than...
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It was a treat to see HuK, with his HuK pillow peaking underneath from his bag. I stood their just captivated by his hand and screen movements before moving on. I made a quick walk through, and found Team EG at the other end.
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Idra was shaking his head at a game and iNcontroL shadowing over his shoulder. It felt strange seeing these guys up close to me. They always at least had some sort of quasi celebrity status in my mind, but now they were just mere feet away from me, only separated by a thin glass wall.
Well I decided to say screw it to the thin glass wall and made my way into the player zone. I walked amongst the greatest SC2 players mankind has ever known, and they were men, just like you and me. One staff tried to ask me if I was a player, so I inacted the greatest ability that I had, one that trumped the majority of the players there. I quickly spoke English. I didn't have anything prepared, so I just said "I'm with e-sports." It just came blurted out, yet composed. If having a girlfriend in Korea and having had multiple trips to Korea taught me anything, it was that Koreans were afraid of speaking English, especially to strangers. Luckily this case was not an exception, and the guy opened his mouth, let it hang there for a second, shook his head and said "ok," before moving on.
With this I had free reign.
I first made my way over to HuK. I met GimbleB and this Swedish guy (I think), and shortly after Artosis, all watching the showman himself.
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Artosis was walking around filming some members of interest. The guy is seriously focussed and prompt at giving out good coverage. He was walking up and down and always on the ball, capturing as much as he could on his sweet compact camcorder. On top of that, he's such a nice down to earth guy! Despite being busy, he still gave me his time, answered my questions, and really awesome about it all. If there was some sort of Global Ambassador of Starcraft position, I would give him my vote in a second.
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I had the pleasure of seeing HuK forge in base cannon rushing some chobo on what I think was the third set of the third qualifying match. PvP. HuK has balls, and he knows how to be showy. He made the guy pull most of his probes and kept a big econ advantage. After losing all of his cannons but not his pylon, he made a cannon in base after seeing a zealot and a few probes coming in, then just snuck a probe around and planted 3 more cannons on the high ground, forcing an instant GG. or ㅈㅈ. I gave a quick cheer, and GimbleB quickly gave me a polite "stfu." My bad there, but I couldn't help but be excited watching HuK pull that off.
Artosis or GimbleB then pointed out the window for me to see..
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Foxer!! In the pink shirt. In a city where guys mostly dress on the grayscale, Foxer stood out like a sore thumb that was immune to Banelings. More about that later.
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This was where the finals of each group match took place. 8 computers, 8 players at a time potentially, only 4 pass. A true stage for the manliest of men to play on.
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I don't know who this guy was, but mein gott he was ESTATIC to qualify! This is one of the parts that I've always missed, having lived events through Teamliquid coverage. I mean, I've seen it in VODs and what not, but I have never been close enough to see the guy jump up, yell out and pump his fist with enough force to shatter the hardest thing a nerd could physically shatter. Live is just something.
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This was another moment that was just great. We focus a lot on the big names (and this guy could have been a big name, I wasn't sure), but just walking around the venue, you could catch some really great SC2 everywhere! I watched this guy play some wicked TvT, just demolishing well placed seige tanks with relentless aggressive marine and medivac micro. These treats were just everywhere, you just had to be there, milling about.
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Speaking of treats, I saw a little crowd form. Who could this be?
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I jumped when I saw him. The guy I have admired and copied ever since I had learned of the existence of progaming, the Emperor himself, was right in front of my eyes! I knew I would have to hunt him down before leaving. I had immediately made it a life goal.
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The Emperor getting comfortable.
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The mini-Emperor setting up.
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Spunky and his gf. Lucky guy, eh? Spunky is seriously one of the nicest guys I have ever met. At this point I had gotton over being starstruck, and had the pleasure of chatting it up with him. He told me he was happy with his team and GSL despite the teamkills. After a few words about this and that, I left knowing that I would be eternally cheering on oGs. Such a nice guy!
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Here I got *cough* that guy *cough*, ToRch, Artosis, Idra, Ret, and iNcontroL, checking out group final matches. I snuck my way in, laughed at their English jokes until iNcontroL noticed I was a foreigner, and thrust me into the group. Man those guys are great. I really felt at home there, despite not being being close to a Tier 1 Starcraft player, just a mere fan.
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I don't know who this guy is, but I watched one of the most entertaining macro/micro games of the day on his screen. In a PvZ, they were trading back and forth over and over. Finally two huge armies came face to face, Collosus Stalker HT on one side, and mass Ultra Roach and maybe ling or hydra on the other. They met at a pretty wide choke and blasted away. With Collosi in the back, HT in the middle and Stalker at the front, this guy quickly blew through his storm, blinked the Stalkers behind the HT, and made archons to create this weird Archon morphing wall. With creep spread, you would think that the Zerg army would run over this composition, but the morphing in Archons made the Ultras stuck long enough for the Stalkers to make mincemeat out of them and come on top of the battle with a huge supply advantage. I cannot tell whether it was on purpose or a beautiful flue, but it was quite a game to watch.
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HuK setting up for the finals.
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Artosis deligently interviewing a winner, and calling BS on the guy's "I got lucky."
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Foxer watching his Primates (hahaha). I swear, since the addition of Foxer, Banelings just do not work on Terran Primes. It was sweet watching the games. Seiged tanks in front of Bioballs, last second medivac pickups to avoid Baneling death while maximizing kills. Watching Primes is just great.
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Idra playing the finals. I just found out here that he plays on lowest graphics settings. I found that really surprising. TorcH told me why he does it, told me how medium would probably be best, being able to see cloaked units and FF must easier while not being distracted from the excess graphics of high settings. It was really nice to hear insight from the Pros. I was talking to Ret while we were watching the 3rd set of HuK vs Aya, and listening to him telling me how the Terran army composition was just solid for Scrap Station and why was just awesome. I felt like I had a much better understanding of the game just by having a few minutes of conversation with these guys while watching the game in real time.
I also have to let you guys all know, HuK is just awesome. Despite losing a really tough game and not qualifying, the guy just walked right over to his opponent and shook his hand, congratulating hin on qualifying. It was painfully clear how bummed out he was, but he kept composure and sportsmanship to the end. Through the many hours that I was there, I have never seen anyone else do that. I tip my hat off to you HuK!
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Ret checking out TL during downtime.
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July and his single entourage. That guy looks fierce up close!
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My Gem of the night! Meeting Boxer, shaking his hand and having a chat with him was just awesome! Despite having superstar status among these guys, he is the most down to earth man ever. Actually, he actually seemed afraid of me and my English, and was just flustered after HuK was like "Why no smile Boxer?" I met his fiance too, and she's just a great girl. I switched to Korean and we chatted a bit, and I just had the time of my life, meeting and talking with my idol. I wish the Slayers Clan and soon Team the best of luck!
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Me and a bunch of white guys, wooo!
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Me and the soon rising star of Slayer clan! This guy is awesome... but I seriously have to write down his name. I'm going to have to troll until I find it again. He's really fun to chat with and I'll cheer for him when he qualifies... in season 4.
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I caught Foxer eating a donut and pulled him aside for a picture. At this point I was glad that Koreans were too afraid to approach the stars and ask for pictures, as there would probably be some sort of huge queue. Foxer is a shy guy (to foreigners I guess), but he's great none the less.
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Me and the sexiest man alive! I can't even start to think of what to write, as July is just such a fun guy! Not a lick of English, but he knew how to chat it up none the less.
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My finals picture is with GimbleB and Cella. Cella is like a literal bridge between Foreigners and Koreans along with Spunky. He helped me through quite a conversations with progamers. I have to buy this guy a drink later on for sure.
Well, that's it for now as I'm short on time. I also had the treat of going over to the oGs-Liquid house the next day, and I'll write more on that later.
Take it easy TL, peace out!
-Richard
