We so excite! It’s the first day of the playoffs in The International and it promises an entire day of salivating matches!

Zenith are up against North-American powerhouses compLexity Gaming in the first round of the winners’ bracket matches. They took down teams like EHOME and defending champions Na`Vi in the group stages and the guys are not going to make the mistake of underestimating them.

The five of them were pretty focused on strategy discussion, even on the bus trip to downtown Seattle. Yet, their focus was shattered upon arrival at the Benaroya Hall. Everyone was pretty much overwhelmed by Valve’s set up at the event venue.

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[SPOILER ALERT]

Zenith went on to lose the first game against compLexity. coL played like beasts. The guys felt that they over-planned and over-anticipated in the first game but coL played an amazing game. Their team fights were well-coordinated and built their team around a morbidly obese Naga Siren. With our hearts in our mouths, we sat there holding our breaths as we watched from the Zenith balcony. And bounce back they did. In spectacular fashion. Zenith stomped coL over the next two games with superb Morphling and Invoker play from hyhy and iceiceice respectively.

It was a great atmosphere at the event hall. The crowd, at a point, started chanting ‘USA USA USA’, going into a frenzy as coL dominated game 1. But kudos to the fans in the audience, they gave credit where credit was due – their yelling reaching a fever pitch every time xFreedom landed an Ice Blast or when iceiceice decimates a hero with a sunstrike. It was/is a great experience, especially since it was my first taste of The International live. This is where you’d want to be if you’re into DotA 2. Watching it online is one thing – being here is an entirely unique experience.

Signing off right now to let you enjoy the rest of the photos and some of the videos from the Zenith balcony. Can’t wait for day 2 to start! Zenith fighting! 😀

At the end of the day (for us, at least), we met with many fans who greeted the players as they walked out of the event hall to head back to the Hyatt. The players happily obliged with requests for pictures and autographs. Here are some of them. Give us a holler if it’s your picture that ends up on this post. Oh and…. protip #1) hyhy doesn’t do autographs, but he will gladly take a photo with you and #2) feel free to approach any Zenith players for pictures. They don’t bite. Most of the time.

If you like the updates you see here, follow us on our Facebook page as well as our Twitter page. Shall leave you with this video of the awesome/supportive/appreciative/insane crowd at Benaroya. Peace!