devtrackers.gg
TLDR at bottom, look for the bold text, I'm just gloating a lot here :3
I've been to CS games before like dreamhack and CSL since the early/mid 2000s so I had an idea of what to expect, but from covid, to getting hit by a car as a pedestrian and being bed ridden for a long time, it had been some years since I had been to an esports event, needleless to say I was super excited and had high expectations, and yet, VCT still broke those expectations. I had been a Liquid fangirl since my CS days but since they didn't make it out of groups, I was excited for Fnatic and EG this time around.
I came to the games in a Killjoy cosplay and showed up fairly early each day to attend the fan fest and went to the booths and met other cosplayers, we took some fun photos together. Everyone was really nice, from the attendees to the staff, everyone was excited to be there.
At the fan fest, you could meet some streamers or pro players. I also met some of the devs and they signed a poster for me, and the staff even gave me free upgraded seats since I bought the cheaper seats in the back rows. They liked my cosplay and thought it was cool I was so excited for the event, and I guess the days before finals they had a lot of open front row seats I have to say that made my day.
I was thrilled for Fnatic, to see Chronicle play as I loved when he was with Gambit, and figured it would be exciting to see a 3x Fnatic win. Fnatic's coach cam, or as Pansy put it, the "mini cam" shots through the season were funny, every time he was disappointed even though they won, expecting perfection.
EG on the other hand, I was more invested in their roster. I had been following Ethan when he was playing CS as he was a core member on the CS NRG roster, and later on the CS EG roster with Tarik. He went on to play Valorant for 100T with the likes of Hiko and Nitr0, all names I had followed for years being a Liquid CS fan, and then there's Potter, she's been a big name in the women's CS scene since her time in SK Ladies and later as an analyst in the CS scene.
I was hoping for another Evil Geniuses vs Fnatic grand finals, that way I wouldn't be disappointed in who wins, and needless to say their loss in the lowers was unexpected, but by this point I was starting to actually believe EG's Tokyo run wasn't a fluke like people were calling it, and I was beginning to believe they could win the whole thing.
I went to the game Friday expecting my hopes for an EG win to be dashed, as LOUD had been proving dominant, but I went in with a mind that I was going to have fun either way, and not get too invested in EG winning, but then they pulled it off, I was screaming the whole time and I met other EG fans around me and we were all just talking about the games together and rooting for EG together. It was cool being able to just make friends like that. We even got caught on the audience camera for the live stream! I was waving a "Potter is my Waifu" poster while the EG fangirl I met was waving a poster with a killjoy drawing she made!
Finally, Finals day was upon us, I was preparing for the worst, I knew I had become emotionally invested at this point, I needed to calm down, PRX was favored to win, they had the upper seed, they beat EG on Thursday already, I needed to just enjoy the games. PRX was a great team and had many great players with great stories, like forsaken and Jinggg, so I had reason to be excited for their win as well. I enjoyed some of the fan fest before, then went in to watch the games trying to keep my expectations real, but man that pre-show really got me hyped. VCT Champions was already wayyy bigger and crazier than any esports event I had been to before, and then that preshow.. I was like dude, this is so over the top what is going on!
And then the games began, and as EG kept winning, I kept getting more excited. I was shouting, screaming, I was getting invested, there was no turning back. It was like the CS Boston Major all over again, the chance for an NA team to actually win a major international championship. I was getting so pumped, shouting for Potter, wanting and believing that she could actually do this, the first female coach to win a major championship, between maps even, when it was tied up 1-1, Riot was continuing to hype up the audience with their audience cams, their stare cams, and dance cams, I got on the dace cams and even on stream during the break, more reason to get hyped.
And then EG did it, they won. I couldn't believe it. Seeing my boi Ethan there, actually winning a championship, seeing Potter become the first female coach to win a major world championship.
I was like in tears, I told myself I wasn't going to get emotionally invested but man, I did, and they won.
I did feel bad for PRX though, I feel especially bad for Jinggg. My family is from Singapore and immigrated to the US so that their children didn't have to go through the mandatory 2 year military conscription, I know all too well about that, but I still think they have a lot to be proud of, both teams were not favored to win the Champions, and yet here they were, number 1 and number 2 in the world.
There is one cherry on top of the cake for me. I went back to my hotel, excited by the win, but exhausted and my throat sore and voice hoarse from all the shouting. I had to fly back home and I lived on the other side of the country, I packed my stuff, got a good nights rest, and then headed to the airport. While at the airport trying to find my gate, I noticed a couple people with esports shirts, I then realized even I was wearing my Team Liquid tee on, and I wondered to myself if I'd see any players, and then, lo and behold, I went to the food court to get some lunch before my flight and I see mini himself.
I waved at him and I awkwardly blurted in my hoarse voice "oh hey! you're Fnatic's coach!" He seemed surprised that I recognized him, he had mentioned that he wasn't "the celebrity", and that it was the other players like boaster that people were going crazy over, but I mean dude you're the coach!
Anyway, he agreed we could take a photo together, we talked a bit about the game, I mentioned I had been rooting for them, and as we were about to part ways to our respective flights, he took his backpack off and said something along the lines of "I have something for you, it's a bit sweaty as I have been wearing it through the series but you can have it" and he handed me his jersey.
Talk about the ultimate souvenir from the games. Not some player Jersey you can buy from a retail outlet or team stand, but the coach's actual team jersey he wore during the games.
Anyway, I just wanted to gloat a bit about the great time I had, my only worry is that to me personally this game may have been a little too great, and that it's going to be damn hard for another esports event to top it.
But I guess we will have to see! Photos below!
TLDR:
As an older CS/CSGO esports fan, I have to say, Riot put on one hell of an event, the fan fest before was fantastic, there were a lot of fun things to do, met cool people and cosplayers, there were opportunities to get photos and signings with pro players and streamers. The arena was fantastic and Grand Finals pre-show was fantastic and so over the top, but hype. Watching players and a coach that you are rooting for actually win is a feeling like no other, especially watching NA win a major, which doesn't happen all that often in esports, I highly recommend going if you can. As a cherry on top I met mini, the coach of Fnatic and we talked for a bit and he then just gave me his Jersey he used through the season, a great souvenir for the event!
Photo album below!
meeting with mini, exhausted and a mess about to fly back home
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