When you get free tickets for an E-Sports-Event without having a clue what’s going on
Towards the end of October, an interesting opportunity popped up for us students: Free tickets for the ESL One, a popular Dota 2-Tournament. I have been interested in E-Sports since I started playing League of Legends at the age of 13, but to be honest: I have never been captivated that much by watching any kind of sports. But who wouldn’t take a free premium ticket?
Saturday
As I entered the arena on Saturday morning, I expected a grand opening, since it said “Opening ceremony” in the schedule and I was used to seeing an orchestra or artists perform at such events in League of Legends. Thus I was a bit disappointed to encounter nothing of the sort and instead see a few people talking about stuff which I had no clue about. They discussed players, teams and strategies while I familiarised myself with the environment and the game.
Then, finally, the first match started. Previously, I thought I’d just watch the game and understand it since I have years of experience in League of Legends and it looks very similar from the outside. But that assumption turned out to be very ambitious as they started fighting intensely from minute one and since I knew none of the champions, I could hardly follow anything.
No laid back laning phase, no jungler that ganked here and there and mostly dominated the action, nearly no small pokes. Instead long stuns, constant fighting and high-damage spells that burst everybody apart and would’ve long been nerfed in League. So I watched the first games alone, with no understanding at all, but I knew that I’d meet the others from my university at 3 pm at the backstage tour and that quite a few of them knew Dota 2 well.
Then we went on a backstage tour, I got to see my fellow students who came to the event and we hung out a bit until the guided tour started. First we went up to a premium lounge, booking them is apparently super expensive yet they are always the first to sell out. The view is not that premium either, I guess it is mainly about having a calm space for you and a few friends.
The guide confessed that he knew very little of Dota 2, but the experienced students helped him explaining the specific events that trigger special effects on large screens. You often don’t consciously notice these, but they really shape the atmosphere. For example a little explosion across the tall screens that display the players when a multi-kill or an important event occurs.
We met many people you usually don’t see, especially not up-close, a social media and tech team (“don’t feed them”), the camera and live video managers (“don’t look at them to long, they are shy. That’s why they have black curtains blocking them off”), the game announcer and the Youtuber who was invited for the after-game analysis and saw chaotic spaces, construction areas and were even allowed to climb the stairs towards the stage half-ways up.
After that the tour ended and we watched Virtus.pro vs Vici Gaming. Since I still didn’t really understand what was going on, I was considering to leave after this encounter and spend the evening with my family instead, but I then ran across one of the experienced students and told him that I may pick up Dota 2, he mentioned that it was available for Linux and I was sold. Therefore I decided to stay and let him explain the basics to me, therefore he commented all the following games for me which enabled me to at least somewhat follow the action and get a basic understanding for the individual champions. For such a complex game it is a very good idea to have someone mentoring you, so if you have no idea, grab an experienced friend :)
Sunday
When I came in on Sunday, I already had a better idea of what was going on, but I was still getting into the game. Consequently, I again sat down together with that student and we kept on talking about the game. The day went by without any notable events, but then just before the finals I got a treat I had never expected.
One of us spotted a DJ desk that was constructed in the dark at the front and apparently a DJ came up and started playing. I instantly recognised the music from TheFatRat and Laura Brehm’s beautiful voice, but I wasn’t surprised because his music had been playing over the whole event. However, then on the screens I slowly discerned a logo… and as he raised his voice I realised — this is TheFatRat himself! Mixing his music life to open the finals! I had known for a long time that he was German, but I would have never expected this to happen.
Unfortunately, he only appeared for a few epic minutes and then everything vanished as quickly as it came, making space for the finals. Since I now knew quite a bit more about the game, it was more exciting and we continued discussing the strategies employed by the teams.
Aftermath
Back home, I almost immediately installed Dota 2 on my computers and told my best friend to do the same. Within a few days, we got started with it, and a few weeks later, we were already fairly comfortable in it. This definitely wouldn’t have happened as easily were it not for the free event!
