GMPGL final day blog by ReiNNNN

You can read the day zero and day one blogs as well.

Me with Bianca. Photo by Mineski Events Team.

Before I begin, I would like to apologize for the delay of this blogpost, as I have heard many Pinoy fans are highly anticipating it. There are several good reasons why I took my time with it. First, I was too tired to even pen anything after the event ended on Sunday and second, my flight was cancelled yesterday evening, leaving me stranded at the airport for 11 hours with really crappy Internet. Plus, I was down with a fever as well. Third and the most crucial reason is I do not know how to write how I really feel about the event.

It was pure madness. I have been to many events in my lifetime and this one just takes the cake. After a slow first day, I went into the second day not expecting much, I was wrong. I spent most of my time in the morning just walking around aimlessly and talking to random people until I got pulled aside for an interview by Mineski's shoutcaster Tryke and Mineski ambassaddor, Bianca Yao. It was pretty embarrassing because although I have heard of Bianca, I have never really looked at her photos, and didn't know this beautiful girl I was talking to was her. I realized it afterwards and I felt silly.

I walked over to Cyberzone shortly after Titan won against Execration because the next two matches were going to be played there. I was rather surprised to see a big crowd already built up, almost making it hard to move around. Since the games were not streamed, all the fans would gather around the players to watch the game. It was quite the sight considering there is only that much space for somebody to watch. While weaving through the crowd, I finally had a chance to talk to Calvin 'TheBloodyMassacre' Callagan who was seated beside Julz in their game against Titan. Calvin is the man behind the production of GMPGL which I'm sure you guys know, is pretty awesome.

I have known Calvin for many years now but I never had the chance to meet him in person. He told me about his current job with Mineski and asked me if I loved the production. Then, he proceeded to be a boss and bought me bibingka, a local cuisine that's usually only available around Christmas. Did I mention that Filipinos start playing Christmas carols in malls in November? We talked a little about the tournament and he complained about how he had to do the international teams' introductions a day before the tournament. Pretty impressive for a days work, honestly.

Went back to the Sky Dome to this. See all that empty space? They weren't empty later that day

I went back to the Sky Dome a little later and found out it was fully packed with spectators now. This is what I had been looking for in the four days I have been in Manila, the crowd. By the time Titan and Mineski made it back to the Dome for their winners bracket decider, I can safely assume three quarters of the Dome was full. Everything else went according to plan and without any delays in scheduling, the game was underway in no time. The game was pretty close, possibly the closest game in GMPGL and the fans went absolutely bonkers shouting at the top of their lungs for the home team. At the end, Mineski did win and Julz's friends rushed up the stage and carried Julz out of the gaming booth.

I'm not sure how well I'm describing these epic moments in the tournament because I do not think you can feel the intensity of the crowd without being there yourself. I watched some of the VODs from the event and while the cheers on stream sound lacking, I assure you they were pretty deafening in the arena.

Going back to the media room to edit some photos, the side event began with Eri Neeman taking center stage, first with the Macho-Man contest. Apparently, these four guys (WinteR, GoDz, Kimo and Min) have to charm Yuka for a prize and while everybody performed very well, WinteR ended taking the grand prize. Yuka gave WinteR a kiss on the cheek which encouraged a wave of "Home in trouble" tweet (since WinteR has a girlfriend). WinteR assured us via Facebook today that home is not in trouble and everything is all good. WinteR told me he was more or less forced to participate in the contest because there were only three Malaysians actually at the event - myself included. I was in the media room though, so I was saved.

Yuka kissing WinteR after he won the Macho-Man contest. Home in trouble.

"That's how we do it in the Philippines," Eri Neeman repeated during the kissing contest. It is unlike anything I had ever seen in other events. It was unprofessional it was dirty BUT it was extremely entertaining. So entertaining that I would pay to see more of it. By the end of the second event, fans were already requesting that Valve invite Eri to spice up the upcoming The International 4 event and I have to say, I would love to see him there. Nothing like seeing your idols do a bunch of truth-or-dare stuff in public.

All in all, Mineski well deservingly won GMPGL 2013 and I was blown away by the fans. It is probably the only country on earth where working in Esports, be it as a player or as a media, is a cool thing to do. Big props to Mineski and Gigabyte for investing so much to organize such a wonderful event. I have enjoyed my every moment in the Philippines and would be delighted to be invited for their next event. In his closing speech, Danny Chang, marketing director of Gigabyte, mentioned that there would be another GMPGL next year. I am looking forward to it.

Crowd: 10/10
Scheduling: 6/10
Entertainment: 9/10
Production value: 9/10
Hospitality: 8/10
Mineski donating ticket sales to survivors of Haiyan Super Typhoon: 11/10

You can view all the pictures I have taken of the event below:

>> Day zero gallery
>> Day one gallery
>> Day two gallery

Bianca Yao.