There were not much to do on the second day here except setting up some scrims and attend a welcome party at night. Let's talk a little bit more about the welcome party. The welcome party is basically a food banquet set up by Valve for all the players, casters and staff who will be attending The International 5. In contrary to the usual dinner we have, the welcome party served alcohol and featured a lot of snacks instead of proper meals. There was also a chocolate fondue!
It was a very nice environment. I was initially sitting alone on the table but I was quickly joined by Cyborgmatt, Sheever, WhatIsHip, XiituZi, LD and Zyori. We had a chat about the trade deadline and the food etc. Most of teams came to the welcome party except the Chinese teams who I heard were hard in training even during dinner time.
However, due to the low light setting in the room, a lot of the pictures I took did not turn out well. But here are some that are "better".
V1lat went crazy over them mini burgers. Beside the sliders are prawns wrapped in bacon <3
The room is starting to fill up.
Team Archon enjoying themselves.
Cyborgmatt ordering a drink at the mini bar.
Iceiceice having a chat with MVP.Hot6.
After the welcome party, I caught a bunch of Russian casters and players playing table tennis and table football. I wasted no time and started snapping away. ARS-ART is insanely good at table tennis by the way. He pretty much destroyed everyone including the Chinese people. I mean when you beat a Chinese in ping pong, you are quite legitimately good.
The beer bottle is compulsory.
Xiituzi playing table tennis.
At this time, fans and media are already starting to gather in the lobby of the Westin. As the players step out of the hotel, they would almost always be poked by a fan of a picture or an interview. The number isn't overwhelming and therefore, most players gracefully took several with their fans.
S4 and Zai taking pictures with a fan.
After it was all said and done, most of the players went back to their room to rest. All the players and managers are suppose to arrive in the breakfast area at 8am in the morning for a briefing.
When I got to the briefing at 8, I was taken aback as almost all the players were already there enjoying their breakfast. Personally, I never knew players can get up this early although there were some who showed up looking sleepy as hell. Shortly after breakfast, Erik Jonhson took center stage and gave a speech about how Dota 2 is growing and their move towards Source 2. Erik also announced this year's allstars match candidate with n0tail and Chuan as the coach. I am expecting a lot of shenanigans this year. Too bad Dendi is sitting out this year.
I vote for team ChuaN. Mushi and Ferrari are known allstars tryhards. Pic by Wykrhrm.
Black having a chat with WinteR.
LaNm looks much better today.
Table for all the Chinese guys.
Black now comes to disturb Secret.
Don't think I've ever seen XBOCT so serious.
KuroKy grabbing food before the speech begins.
Erik Johnson giving a speech shortly after breakfast.
All eyes on Erik.
rOtk arrived late to the party but better late than never right?
Dendi and Mushi posing for the camera.
Erik only talked for about 10 minutes and after it ended, it is time for the media day aka the photoshoot. Every team received a particular time slot on when they should go to get their photographs taken and I personally had a lot of fun laughing at Mushi and co. This is especially after the fact that they were all half naked in the studio (because they have to get their shirts steamed) and they have to put on make up so that they appear "matte" as the artist would call it. They also have to put on this ridiculous mask that makes them look like robbers so they don't ruin the make up.
Sorry I couldn't put up pictures of them half naked or they would kill me otherwise.
Kecik getting some make-up for the first time.
This is the mask I was talking about.
Jerseys are getting steamed.
Yeah my players are crazy and perhaps retarded.
A selected person from every will also be interviewed by Kaci Aitchitson in a special suite on the 39th floor of the Westin. For team Fnatic, it was Ohaiyo who was chosen. I tagged along in case there were any questions he would not understand but Kaci was so good at rephrasing and interviewing that Ohaiyo understood all of them except one. I didn't get much chance to talk to Kaci but she looks so bubbly and nice, and I guess that is why she is perfect for the job.
Kaci trying to calm Ohaiyo down.
Oh yeah, and this Aegis is also just casually between Ohaiyo and Kaci.
Now that the photoshoot is done, it is time for the bootcamp. Valve's definition of the bootcamp is perhaps different from what others assume it might be. Bootcamp for Valve pretty much means you go to a special room and hand in a set of peripherals and basically testing it out. After you are done testing it, they will confiscate the peripherals and will only bring it out for you on the day of the groupstage and the main event. Most teams brought two sets of keyboards and mouses to Seattle or otherwise, you will not have anything to use in the training room.
There are several good reasons for this but I think the most prominent one is to avoid cheating. Apart from that, the players also have no access to an Internet browser to avoid people from using elaborate console commands that would give them an edge. The players can however, bring in a piece of paper with all the commands they would like to use and type it all in. Every teams were given two hours to test their gears.
It is a good effort. The best part about the bootcamp is surprisingly the headsets. Valve gave the players Audio-Technica headsets attached to a mixer so that there will be no delays in communication. I tested it out myself and I have to say, I am pretty impressed. Eternal Envy also gave his stamp of approval.
This is where the teams will be playing the groupstage in.
I think that is all I have to blog about in this entry. Valve has organized a player's party tomorrow night and hopefully, it will be as eventful as the first three days here. I will be blogging again after the player's party. Until then, peace out!
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