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GMPGL Blog Day One by ReiNNNN


This referee dude is so gangster.

I am going to be really honest here, Philippines, I am disappoint. When I heard that there was going to be a tournament in Manila, I always imagined it to have so many spectators that people would have to sit on the floor. As you had probably seen on the stream, half the seats weren't even filled and I am sad that I couldn't show how crazy Pinoy tournaments can get. I hope there will a better turnout tomorrow considering three top Filipino teams are in the playoffs and are on a mission to take down Titan's first overseas trip.

I arrived at the event at around 9 A.M today and it was funny to see 100 guys lining up, elementary school style, to get into the Sky Dome. There are so many security checks in Manila, everywhere you go, you will see a security guard. All the players had to get their bags checked before they could enter the venue and the whole ordeal took quite a long time unfortunately. I was very shocked when I saw Mineski's setup for GMPGL because it was awesome. They attempted to make it similar to The International 3 (on a smaller scale obviously) and I think they did a fantastic job considering they only had six hours to set the whole thing up. According to Mineski, there was a concert yesterday and they finished packing up at 3 A.M. Oh, you poor bastards.

We were immediately guided to a media room behind the stage and albeit small, it served its purpose. Mineski was very accommodating as well. People in-charge would constantly come into the room to ask if we had everything we needed such as water and Internet. I was caught off-guard by the high-speed Internet (3.5 mbps download) that was provided to the media but unfortunately, there was still no way to do video content because the upload speed was 0.24 mbps. Instead, Ren did an interview with WinteR which we transcribed into a written article here.


The VIP seats and stage. This is before they finish setting up.

It did not take too long for the first game to get underway and the one hour delay is rather understandable because they were still trying to set up when we got there. The first match of the day was also coincidentally the most epic game of the day but due to long games, the whole schedule got messed up after that and many games were shuffled around to accommodate the schedule at the dome. I was not very pleased with that because pushing all the games back every 15 minutes can get really annoying.

Not knowing that the results were being posted at Mineski.net (found out after my second trip), I walked back and forth between Sky Dome and Cyberzone trying to obtain these precious results and the latest schedule. The walk between the two locations was about ten minutes long and filled with restaurants and coffee shops. Upon entering the mall, I got a pat down and a bag search but they found nothing. I walked back and forth multiple times to take pictures of teams and sometimes girls, but most of them are unfortunately blurry due to lighting. Sorry!

Shortly after, GoDz and WinteR finally finished casting their first GMPGL game and one could say, WinteR popped his live casting cherry in the Philippines. He told us that he was rather nervous casting in front of a live audience but judging from his performance afterwards, it seemed like he got the hang of it and did a wonderful job. GoDz, Winter, MasterRamen, Jaren and I were also asked for an interview by two Honours students for an interview about gaming lingo and although they were short, it felt good being on the other side of the table for once. It was also very nice of GoDz to chow down some nice grilled chicken in front of me while they were filming me. "I will stab you".

With the day winding down, there honestly wasn't much to do and most of my time was spent just aimlessly wandering around taking random pictures that were bad in quality due to my crappy skills. Then, I caught this gem. She actually stopped hugging Yosh when she saw me snapping the pics but too late girl! She tracked me down on Facebook and we had humorous exchanges online.


Dreamz versus Impervious. Pinoy support best support.

By 9 P.M, I was already almost too tired to continue watching games or walk around. With Mineski versus Joenet ending, the playoff brackets were decided and I did not bother watching the next two meaningless groupstage games. All the games from that point onwards were being played at the dome and to my surprise, more and more people started showing up. I am rather glad that First Departure forfeited their meaningless game against Dreamz so I could go back earlier.

Thinking Titan versus Arcanys was the last game of the day, a lot of non-Pinoy players gathered outside the Dome discussing whether they should take a cab back to the hotel instead of waiting for the shuttle bus. While everybody rooted for the cab, Ohaiyo did a best-of-five coin-toss and "take the bus" option won 3-0. Therefore, it was our fate to stay for another hour before we depart.

We all watched the proceeding DotA game and because Avengers lost so quickly, we were all able to leave relatively soon. So here I am, back at the hotel, haven't had any dinner, and writing this blog before I sleep. I hope you guys enjoy the read as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Interesting stuff I encountered today:

1. There are security guards everywhere in shopping malls. Almost feel like they are always prepared for a terrorist attack.
2. Saw a security guard watching another guy pee at the stall. "WTF" is my reaction.
3. Philippines Internet will always drop every few minutes.
4. I am apparently a mini-celebrity here.
5. Typhoon blew past Philippines. It was very very windy in the morning though.
6. Met a Mineski event guy who got here from Cebu just today. His flight was cancelled due to typhoon yesterday.
7. DotA is almost as big as Dota 2 in Philippines. Actually it may be bigger
8. There are more girls in Filipino Dota events than the rest of the world, possibly combined (except TI3).

As previously mentioned, Titan will be facing three Pinoy teams tomorrow in the playoffs and my patriotism is through the roof at the moment. Please do not stab me tomorrow. I predict that Dreamz will put up a great fight against them though, probably meeting them in both the winner bracket final and the grand final. Stop it with that 0-26 bullshit guys, it's not even the same roster.

Ciao! See you guys tomorrow!


Players waiting for the shuttle bus in the morning.


These guys stopped the traffic for the players to cross the road. Balls of steel.


Suddenly, we are all back in elementary school.


The two iDeal managers.


#Productionvalue


Kimo getting interviewed. "I think you won," he said to the girl. So smooth.


Rise for the national anthem.


Dreamz versus Mineski begins!


GoDz getting interviewed by Honours student.


Watching deciding game between Joenet and Mineski upclose.


Ninjaboogie after Impervious was eliminated from the tournament.


Mineski, the clear favourite of the crowd today.

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