This year more than any other before. are we close to realizing the dream of millions of eSports enthusiasts out there – eSports is…getting there. After watching The International 2014 for over a week, I realized that eSports is a thing. With this years championship being telecast on ESPN – even though it was played on one of the “foreign sports” sister stations – you know the one’s that show cricket or snooker. I had a great time watching The International this year, not that I had watched it any other year, but this year was a lot of fun.
I was introduced to the players and their teams who have made Dota 2 such a captivating game to watch. I learned their play styles and I learned how they played with their teammates. I watched as Dendi tended to march ahead to his own beat. He played intelligently; usually. Of course, because of this kind of play style he got killed in situations that he probably should have not been in. I loved watching Rabbit play Slark. I can’t remember how many kills he got, but he beefed the hell out of that Slark and merc’d a metric ton of dudes. Rabbit became my favorite player. And, this is what I find fascinating about Dota 2, I ended up liking Rabbit because of that Slark game. Not because I ever heard him speak or knew anything about his personality. Not because I knew all about his story, but just because I saw one superhuman feat that made me appreciate his ability. Not only to appreciate his ability, but appreciate the amount of work that he must have to put into getting his game to that level.
At the beginning of the tournament, I was caught up in the torrent of Liquid support. But, later as I saw the uproar grow more and more nationalistic, bordering on xenophobic, did I end up looking for another team to follow. Part of the nationalistic fervor behind Dota 2 comes from the very real problems of communication and schedule, because of these two issues most of the teams tend to be from the same country, or at least from the same lingua-franca.
Towards the end of The International, I decided that Newbee was the team for me and I’d start cheering for them. They ended up winning the tournament, but I didn’t feel that great feeling of fandom when your team wins. That feeling when the team that you bleed with, the team that makes you cry like a battered lover, the team that makes you want to believe that your guys – your friends- could win win’s.
These feelings are only feelings that a person gets when they watch sports. Dota 2 has become a sport for me. I don’t think that means that eSports has arrived. I think that I have become one of the unwashed masses that has come to Gabe Newell – that bearded, fat Jesus – and asked him to wash me and prepare me for that heaven that The International 2015 will be.