All things must end, and unfortunately that includes CLG Camp. Sunday marked the final day the 5 CLG campers would be around to participate and spend time with the team. This last day was easily the most unique out of them all because it was where their new found knowledge would be put to the test in a tournament setting.

I’m pretty sure most people saw the Reddit thread that promoted the “CLG Camp Tournament” at a local LAN center called The Grid. There were 8 competing teams at the tournament, all going for a $1500 cash prize at the end. We all left the CLG house around 10:00am PST, ate breakfast sandwiches at Subway, and then began to start the tournament.

I’ve seen and been to LAN centers numerous times before (and everyone else who was a PC gamer before high-speed internet probably has been to one as well), but The Grid is honestly like no other that I’ve been to and proves that maybe there is a place for such a business type in this day and age after all. There was plenty of space, working computers, vending machines, and comfortable seating that made the place ideal for our tournament venue. Shoutouts to the awesome staff at The Grid for keeping the tournament running smoothly.

The Azubu.tv stream didn’t get broadcasting until almost noon thanks to some technical difficulties with the audio. While having each and every game casted by Doublelift, Link, Aphromoo, Hotshot, and/or Nien was certainly a big draw for everyone that tuned in to the stream, one of the best parts about the tournament was the surprisingly decent amount of top level competition that participated. Specifically, Challenger players Otter, ScubaChris, and Chu8 all headed out with what seemed to be teams compiled of other top-level local friends to play in the tournament. The premiere show however came from the Chinese players Team LMQ, who actually called and asked the night before to see if it was ok to come and play (aka confirm if it was ok to take everyone’s money). I’m pretty sure this was LMQ’s first public showing, so it was great to see them play in person as opposed to just watching them destroy solo queue and ranked 5s on their stream.

The tournament was single elimination, best of 3 for all of the games. Otter’s team, Chu’s team, and LMQ were all on their own side of the bracket and the campers had low-level teams (Gold – Plat) on theirs. CLG’s personal training throughout the weekend allowed them to defeat their first two opponents rather convincingly. LMQ beat Otter’s team in the very first match of the tournament, and went on to beat Chu’s team later.

Yes, that meant the CLG Campers had to play LMQ in the grand finals of their own tournament. Kelby and I tried to pump up the campers as much as possible for the surgical murder that was about to be done to them, but alas, LMQ won 2-0. Surprisingly, the camper’s bot lane held their own against Vasilii and Mor pretty decently and stayed even on CS for the most part. The camper’s jungler also stayed at an even pace with NoName. The solo lane’s however showed the most discrepancy in skill, but I think nobody expected otherwise. I’m still really impressed about how team performed and really wish they continue playing ranked 5s together in the future.

So about that CLG commentary – I can’t say it could’ve gone any better. The pairings of Doublelift and Nien, Link and Aphro, and Hotshot and Aphro were simply hilarious. They provided some great insight about the players and the events of the game, but mostly it was the duos just joking with each other about the performance of the teams.

Travis Gafford of course stopped by the tournament on behalf of onGamers to interview some of CLG and to talk with LMQ, but not before spending some time on the caster desk with Doublelift. Be sure to check out the interviews with Aphromoo and Hotshot that discuss really interesting topics such as showering, beating up police officers, and immigrants: (link to Aphromoo’s interview, and link to Hotshot’s interview). Before we left, we made sure to give away tons of free CLG shirts to all those who attended during the day!

After deciding to not want to wait an hour in line for Buffalo Wild Wings, everyone decided to go to all-you-can-eat sushi at Kiku Sushi instead. While the food was great, I think we (or at least our side of the table) ordered WAAAYYY too much. There was a point where Nien said “I refuse to eat another piece”, because of how full we all were.

When we got home after the conclusion of dinner, there wasn’t really anything else left to do. Some of CLG decided to take a quick nap and relax, Nien gave some of the campers a tour around their luxurious neighborhood (shared with Snoop Dogg’s house), and Doublelift gave a private lesson to some of the campers about the pros and cons of dating and relationships in eSports.

The last “event” was the final in-house custom games with campers and pros. Hotshot was feeling sick and went to bed early, so I had the chance to fill in and participate. Aphro streamed the games, so check those out if you didn’t watch them already, because they’re amazing.

That about concludes everything. We stayed up until around 4:00am playing games and then some went to bed while others sort of just pulled an all nighter until their LAX flight early in the morning. All campers said their final hugs and goodbyes and were all departed by noon.

I don’t think any of the campers left thinking they didn’t get everything they wanted out of their experience. The lived the CLG life for a full weekend, got tons of unique knowledge, and got so much new gear, apparel, and goodies that more than made their camp investment worth.

By Andre Butler

@ATB_FTW

photos by Andre Butler and MaTTcom