The inaugural Nanyang Championships meant a lot to me as an individual. It marked almost a decade of Dota, and i was pretty excited over my first big LAN tournament with big international teams. I remember the excitement of picking my first hero, Razor, and only ever buying hyperstones to speed up that beautiful red laser beam. Over the years I’ve made and lost many friends playing Dota , maintained relationships with friends who moved back to their home countries through Dota. I remember the times I would download random MYM replays to see how Fear carried, I remember how i felt i watched the first International, where I could finally place faces to the IGNs of the pros I idolized, whose plays i attempted to recreate in that scummy Garena client, and the Nanyang Championships was the cumulation of my experiences in Dota, and how much things have changed since I booted up Warcraft III. I am now 23, A second year Literature major in university, I have hopes of writing about Esports, Dota specifically, and this is my humble contribution to the community.

I headed down to the event, hoping that the crowd and production value would not be as bad as what I had seen on stream over the past few days. I arrived late, but just in time for the LGD CDEC loser bracket match up. The venue was pretty well set up, but was barely a quarter filled when I entered.

I’m a huge ROTK fan, that TI5 video about him really made me respect him a whole lot more, and it was painful to see LGD still struggling to find their footing with their current line up, but CDEC once again showed the world that their run in TI5 was no flop, as they proved how cohesive they were team fight after team fight.

The Russian casters were really animated and they were LOUD, they seemed to jeer for every common pick, and cheered whenever there was an oddball pick. They took turns to rest, and had this makeshift bed beside their casting table.

Ultimately, CDEC overcame LGD, and I felt sad for ROTK and his gang, but CDEC played really well, and deserved to be victorious. It was time for lunch, and as I exited the stage area, It was nice to see two young boys ( probably 13 to 15? ) who came to the event. Dota isn’t as big now in Singapore as it was during my secondary school days. My friend jokingly said that they were the next Sumails, I looked at them with their freshly bought chibi secret shirts and could only smile and wish the best for Singapore Dota. Teenagers here mostly play League, and It’s evident from the crowd. Most of them are around my age or older, where Dota was the staple ARTS game. The future of Singapore dota is uncertain, my dreams of turning pro have all but died ( I’m just a 5.1k scrub ) but at least I know that I have once been in the company of a few great players! ( Moonmeander was my primary schoolmate, and xy- of Zenith used to frequent the same cybercafes as I did. )

There was no answer to liquid’s last pick Huskar, and Razor God FATA certainly looks pleased!

I did pretty well guessing the drafts of the Liquid VP game, so I went to try my luck by buying a lottery ticket, needless to say I didn’t become a millionaire. Maybe it’s easier to win a TI than winning the lottery lol.

Everyone knows the subpar production quality of the event for the viewer side, but what they do not see is the amount of shit the sounds guys are going through. I witnessed some big fat dude ( their boss probably ) shouting at them and man it was scary.

I’m starting to really enjoy how EHOME plays, the way they steamrolled over CDEC was with mechanical precision. And yet I couldn’t understand this…

There was some time before the the most anticipated match of the day, and I managed to get a picture with Sheever! ( Man, she’s tall. I’m 175 and by no means short in Singapore )

Crowd reaction to the players intro, what’s up with FY’s pose man.

Crowd reaction to FY’s Rubick pick.

And FNG casually walks in to join the Russian panel!

The arena was now pretty much filled. People who just got off work came in their business wear, I could see a huge influx of tertiary students entering too. This series was awesome to witness live. The way EE sama played Ember Spirit inspires me to learn the art of tactical feeding. The crowd went wild at every movement, and it was a whole new experience for me, and I screamed my throat try at every clutch vacuum wall combo from iceiceice. The Dc guys left the Arena before this btw, how could they miss such clutch plays!?

I was hoping that there would be a game 3 ( the ticket was goddamn expensive ) but Secret deservedly took it 2-0! Pity I couldn’t get a picture with any players from both the teams. Really wanted a Puppey autograph though , he’s my all time favourite player 😦

So it was time to call it a wonderful day out, I guess it was worth skipping Shakespeare in school for this.

It was a fantastic experience, pity I couldn’t afford to attend more days, but the 60 SGD I spent today was really worth it. Dota has been relevant to me for 10 years, and I constantly relate to this stupid game a lot. If it wasn’t for Dota, I wouldn’t enjoy Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream this much, Puck really is a mischievous asshole.

I hope I didn’t bore anyone with this, I wish i could do more, but my finances only allow me one day, and it was really memorable. Those who are considering whether you should go for the LAN finals, DO NOT THINK TWICE, SUPPORT NANYANG DOTO ( plz give me 3 tickets for the finals ) I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed typing this and it’s 5am now.

GO EHOME,

Chermin