1
Good luck.
I'm not known for...
Are you gonna get all teary?
You gonna get...
- Huh?
- You gonna get teary?
What do you think?
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to the intel extreme
masters world championship!
To open the tournament,
it gives me great pleasure
to introduce you to the director
of pro gaming, Poland's
very own michal blicharz!
It's an emotional moment
for me,
because it's been
a dream of mine
to bring the intel
extreme masters here.
We are all here in this room
right now
because we all know
that at any given moment,
something special can happen,
something unforgettable,
something epic.
A moment that all of you
will take home with you.
If she destroys this on film,
10,000 nerds
will cry out in agony.
IT'S A LIMITED EDITION TOY
FROM BlizzCon.
Yes, you broke it.
Look.
This is my first true love.
It's a game.
"Unreal tournament."
And, by the way,
i haven't played this game
in quite some time,
so I'm horrible at it right now.
But I used to be good.
When he plays
and it's a really intense match,
whenever he jumps in-game,
he tends to do this...
He's gonna hate me so much
for doing it,
but this is what he does.
I started playing it in 1999,
and I organized tournaments
so I could compete myself,
because nobody
was doing it at the time.
WE USED TO COME
INTO Internet CAFS
like hustlers
going to a pool hall.
Come in with as much swagger
as possible
to scare the opponents,
but that wasn't pro gaming.
I mean,
the first place prize was $50,
and I would actually have to win
that $50
not to starve for a week.
Most of us wouldn't break even,
but we played for the thrill
of it, for the love of it.
And, gradually, kind of,
you know, the sport grew.
People watch other people
play video games.
Yes, you heard me right.
Who would want to watch
teenagers just clicking away,
playing their video games
all night?
Sitting, watching other people
playing computer games all day.
Really?
It's hard for me
to bring anybody
just from the street,
sit that person on my couch,
and tell them
to be enjoying this,
but take them to a stadium,
and they will love
the experience.
I think you don't need
to use words then to translate
what this phenomenon
of esports is.
Imagine what they'd do today
if golf became a sport, right?
We'd never heard of it before,
and someone from Scotland
said we're gonna knock
a ball 500 yards into a hole,
and we're gonna put a tiny flag
in it so you can just about
see it and give you some hope.
And that's...
Then go to ESPN and say,
"do you want to cover it?"
And they'd be like,
"you must be mad."
When there were no video games,
kids played soccer,
they played football,
and they'd have these dreams,
"if I could do this
for a living, man!"
But now almost every kid
plays video games.
For the first time,
there's professional athletes
doing that.
And that dream's powerful.
You can look at
the prize-winning pools
for all the players.
They're all up
in the higher echelons
of getting close to
half a million now.
It's moved from this little kids
in a basement
to everybody celebrating what
has become an awesome sport.
intel extreme masters
is a tournament circuit
which is the oldest of them all.
The ones that were started
before it, they've died off
because their business model
hasn't been realistic.
We're into season nine,
and it started off
in the old bedroom-cast style.
Lounge giant crt monitors
with people tucked behind them.
I AM Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham,
broadcaster
for the global gaming league
and member of inside the game.
Right, so the first question
for you, how did you
get into shoutcasting?
Just tell us the full story.
Do you want the long vers...
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Wait a second!
Hold on!
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
I was a journalist
before joining esl.
I was writing stuff
and I was critical of a lot
of things
that happened in esports,
in the industry overall.
He was very critical
of intel extreme masters.
I remember he wrote a piece
explaining what he would do
if he were running it,
and then...
I offer him the job to run it.
You know, I had zero management
experience... none whatsoever.
Then, suddenly,
I'm running the most prestigious
tournament circuit.
Uh...
Stick around.
I'll be back in a quarter hour.
Ah!
Ah.
She's sleepy.
First thing you need to know
that michal
is completely different at home
than he is at work.
Hey.
What you got there?
We need to get her a dog.
It's a bit sad, don't you think?
She's star-struck, though.
She's like...
Wow.
- Oh, my god, Apollo.
- Yes.
- Look at her.
- Do you follow me on Twitter?
Yes, you do!
And now in the most stacked
qualifier
that we've ever seen
in the intel extreme masters,
we're gonna be opening up
with an absolutely amazing game.
And it's gonna be good.
Esl is the company behind
the intel extreme masters.
They are the guys that give the
production, the on-air talent.
You're dealing with 200 to 300
staff essentially.
And that's a lot of people to
pull together for one big event.
Everyone that works here
stems from being
hooked on video games.
Oh!
When my mom dropped me off
at my very first competition,
she looks around, she's like,
"it's all boys."
It's literally... it's all boys.
But that would
actually help me
interact with people
socially better,
which made me grow as a person
outside of video games as well.
I first started playing online
multiplayer with my brother.
We didn't live together.
We'd meet up on the Internet.
And this was the way that we
could still do things together.
- Oh, no!
- No.
- Yeah!
- Oh, my god!
Working with esl,
i have a purpose.
Like, we have a common goal,
if you like.
We want to make it big, we want
to make esports acceptable,
but we aren't there yet.
We're not ESPN, we're not BBC.
We don't have their experience
and their money
and their backing.
When we have
one of those huge events,
it is an opportunity
to show people
who not necessarily
know esports how awesome it is.
And that's why I think
so much stress comes with it
because it has to be perfect.
The intel extreme masters
this year features two games...
"League of legends"
and "starcraft ii."
"Starcraft ii"
is a one-versus-one game
and a successor
to "starcraft: Brood war,"
which is the game that helped
launch esports in 2001.
New territory.
He has so much supply.
Oh, a big drop
in the main base here.
It's caught snute off guard!
Flash makes
the unbelievable recovery!
"League of legends" is
a five-versus-five
team-based game,
and by far the most
popular video game in the world.
Oh, Nick is through.
Is he gonna be the second?!
Yes, he will!
Normally,
"league of legends" teams
compete within
their own regions.
The intel extreme masters
gives the top teams
one of the few chances
to compete
against the rest of the world.
But to get to
the I.E.M. World championship
in katowice, Poland,
teams will either need to be
on top of a major region
or win one of the four
i.E.M. Qualifying events.
We're in shenzhen, China,
at the anime expo.
This is the first I.E.M.
To kick off season nine.
We're at an anime convention
as well.
You guys can see behind me
that there's, like,
a ga-jillion Chinese people
wearing ridiculous things.
The intel extreme masters
is usually hosted at a comic-con
or a fan expo before the world
championships, that is.
We built this to make sure that
whenever we come to an event
somewhere, the audience
will be at some point so huge
that it will overflow
and we will not have
enough space.
And then next time we do it,
we do it in a stadium.
The starter show is probably
the most nerve-wracking.
I still get nervous.
You always want to do
the very best show you can do.
And a very warm welcome
to a very warm shenzhen.
Our new season
is well under way.
If you want to run a soccer
final,
you go inside the stadium,
you turn the floodlights on,
and you open the gates,
then you're done.
With esports, we have to build
the entire stage from scratch.
We have to lay the network,
set up our streaming devices,
and make sure that we are safe
from outside attacks.
So the level of complexity
is much higher.
This is world elite
up against Edward gaming,
and they're fighting
for a change for a spot
into the intel extreme masters
world championship
coming up next year.
Here's engaged on...
He's so low on health,
he's gonna go down
from this one.
We'll try to hop away.
Actually, look at the shield!
He might survive this one,
and in fact, he will.
I thought he was a goner.
World elite playing like
a top...
Playing like the team
that you kind of expected
to come into this.
It looks like we're gonna have
a slight little bit of a pause
coming into the game.
An average convention
has a major problem
understanding what we do.
They are trying to fix it,
and I think it's already fixed.
A lot of times, you feel sort
of lost and frustrated.
I don't know, to be honest.
They're sorting it.
Yeah, well, it looks like
the pause has been turned off.
We're going back
into the game here, guys.
I want to talk about, again,
not...
I don't know if their game, oh,
okay, the game has stalled out.
We're hearing everyone
disconnecting.
I'm not actually sure
what's going on with that one.
We sent them the plans
of how much power we need,
but with language barrier,
the venue decided
that we don't need that much.
What happened was
that we have power outages,
like, from the beginning,
which basically
cuts off the stream immediately.
They're looking for the fight
on top of the barrier,
and we will see the...
Oh, Donald's gonna come in.
It will connect
with at least one.
Fzzf GONNA GET LOCKED DOWN HERE.
SO LOW ON LIFE.
And for some reason, a pause
comes out during the middle
of that team fight here
at such an instrumental time.
If something goes wrong,
we have thousands
of angry people telling us
immediately
how bad we are at what we do.
It's brutal sometimes.
If we mess up, it's brutal.
I'm not from California.
I moved here from Michigan,
actually.
And I basically left a lot
of my friends.
My girlfriend's over there,
my family's over there.
And I basically
started a new life living
over here in California with
these four teammates of mine.
It's kind of messy, but we're
five college-aged guys.
We're not too concerned about
how clean our room is, I guess.
This is the main living room
that we spend
most of our time in.
As far as the bed over there,
that's just because our teammate
bought a new bed,
and he hasn't put that anywhere,
so now it's just kind
of like a couch.
We don't spend too much time
up here
even though there's a hot tub
chilling there.
I have no idea, actually.
I... was it like that
when we moved in?
When you're building a team,
you want to look for people
that, one, are good at the game,
two, have motivation
to become better at the game,
and three, people
that you just genuinely like.
So for us, we all trust
each other wholeheartedly,
and that translates
into the game as well.
So if I do something
in the game, and,
like, I jump into five people
by myself,
my team will trust me,
and they'll back me up.
They'll jump into the fray with
me, regardless of what it is.
How did that hit?
You're spider-man.
Cloud9 has been together,
like, two years.
Since we've come into the scene,
every other team
has had multiple roster changes
except for us.
And for whatever reason,
we mesh together fairly well.
- Hey, Hai?
- What?
Italian sausage marinara,
right?
Yeah, pasta.
You want hot wings
with hot sauce?
Damn.
Okay.
Back in the day when my wife
and I started dating,
I had to reveal to her,
like, my biggest secret.
"So, I play video games."
She's like, "so?"
And I'm like,
"i play them a lot."
And she said,
"what do you mean, a lot?"
I'm like, "i play, like,
40, 50 hours every week."
And she's like, "what?!"
Said, "i play this game.
It's called 'world of warcraft, '
I run a guild."
Nerd scream! Whoo!
And she's like, "how long
has this been going on?"
Like, "years."
And she's like, "i got to
see this. What is this?"
Would you like
to open the play-doh?
- Yeah.
- Yes.
Wow!
Holly was actually
pregnant with Madison
when I was working for tsm.
Tsm means team solomid.
It's one of the earliest
esports organizations
in "league of legends."
Jack used to be
the general manager of tsm.
LOOK, April 5th,
I'll TELL YOU RIGHT NOW.
Is that the next time you play?
- Yeah.
- All right.
I'm not shaving
until we beat curse.
I found myself in a state
where, like, "hey,
I'd like to do this for myself.
All I needed was a team."
But then Hai come to me,
and he said, "hey,
I want you to make a company
for my team to play under."
I knew Hai's team.
Hai's team was really good.
They'd been beating tsm
90% of the time.
And tsm at the time
was like the number-one team
in north America.
We both lived in San Jose
at the time.
We were like considered
sister teams of cloud9.
You're his left-hand man?
- Oh!
- Whoa!
Originally, team solomid
dominated north America...
Until we showed up.
Now we and team solomid
are constantly competing
to be the best in north America.
We're, I would say,
the primary representation
of the north American region.
There's a perception right now
that north America
is the worst region,
and that the Asian teams
are gonna stomp out
any north American team.
When was the last time
a north American team
won a major trophy in esports...
And it wasn't "halo"?
Uh, major trophy.
Okay, that's a long time.
To see a team
that comes from north America
compete against people
all across the world
and stand out...
That's just a dream.
You know, that's just ideal.
It hasn't happened yet.
Really.
But I have faith.
Yeah, yeah,
so we're expecting about,
like, between 70 and 100 people
to show up.
My name is Judy.
I'm from New York City,
and I'm the community manager
of the New York City
league of legends group.
I help run online
and offline events.
When this was first starting,
I'm, like, running around
to all these different bars
saying, "please let us
put video games on your TV.
I promise it will be fun."
And one place finally caves in.
They're like, "okay."
Gradually,
people start coming in.
We start having fun
and we're watching a game.
And soon enough, we're, like,
the loudest people in the bar.
And the manager's coming up
to us,
saying, "what is this game?
Why are you guys
so excited about it?"
Would you believe it's an Ace?!
My god!
That just turned that fight
on its head.
Watching "league of legends"
for the first time
can be kind of crazy.
You know, it looks
really chaotic at first,
but I assure you, everyone
knows exactly what they're doing
and they have a specific role
that they need to fulfill
in order for them to win.
Okay, we just managed to Ace
their team,
which means
we killed all five of them,
which is quite good.
"League of legends"
takes place in a battle arena
with five people on either team.
You have a square map,
points in each corner...
Known as the nexus...
And the idea is you need
to destroy each other's base.
You do this by fighting your way
across the map
through three lanes.
Standing in your way
are obstacles, inhibitors,
turrets, constant waves of weak
computer-controlled minions
that fight for each team...
And, of course,
the opposing players.
At the start of each match,
a player chooses
one of over 120 different
characters, or champions,
to play,
each with different abilities.
Whether it be to start fights,
protect teammates,
damage enemies,
or roam the map...
Spying on the other team.
If any player dies,
they'll come back to life,
but only after a set amount
of time.
The game ends when the nexus
gets destroyed.
Esports generates excitement
and engagement of people.
What?!
This is embarrassing.
You see a baseball player
knock it out of the park...
You want to go and do the same
with your kids.
If it stays fair...
Home run.
It inspires you
exactly the same way.
Well, here it comes.
Oh, my goodness!
Oh, wow!
Goal!
The United States has won
the women's world cup.
You see
a massive championship match
or a player does epic things
with this particular unit
or this particular character,
you want to go and try
to emulate that.
Coming in there, peke
is definitely on toward nexus.
Kevin is gonna be able
to get to it.
- Oh, my god.
- He's trying to do it.
Could be.
They're in the base.
Yellowstar's trying
to defend the other base,
peke is trying
to take the nexus down.
Is anyone gonna be able
to deal with this one?
Catches him with another axe.
He's very low...
Oh!
They're pushing on the nexus!
They've won the game!
The xpeke backdoor moment
was something special,
I think is the best way
to describe it.
Fnatic, one of the most
celebrated teams from Europe
was playing s.K. Gaming
at the intel extreme masters
in 2013.
The game was as close
as they come,
and fnatic overreached
and lost the fight.
Their star player, xpeke
barely survived,
limping away
with very little health.
With the enemy running
toward's fnatic's base
to secure their win, xpeke
should have gone back to defend.
But instead,
he went on a suicide mission.
He snuck back
into s.K. Gaming's base
and started desperately
attacking their nexus in a race
to finish the game first.
S.K. Sends a player back
to stop him,
but with perfect precision,
xpeke used his champion's
unique abilities to dodge
nearly every attack
thrown at him.
With time running out,
xpeke landed the fatal blow
on their nexus,
sealing a miracle victory.
Very low.
They're pushing on the nexus.
They've won the game!
The way that it was played out,
the moves
that he did in the game,
the way that the crowd reacted,
the way that the players
reacted after it happened...
All these things combined
together made something that is
simply gonna live forever
in the history of esports.
It is one of the biggest moments
that esports has ever seen.
This game is gonna live long
in the memory
of "league of legends."
I was watching it live
with one friend of mine
back in Sweden.
We were at my place watching
the game and on the big screen,
and just eating chips
and drinking cola, pretty much.
It was just so cool
to be watching it live.
Rekkles, he's the youngest one
of the team.
He is the one
that has that most ambition.
He can play, like, from
12 to 15 hours a day,
and he hates losing.
That's why he's playing so much.
He just wants to be the best.
When I grew up, I was playing
so many sports at once.
I was trying soccer,
handball, and floor ball.
I kind of always lived
for the competition,
and then when I injured myself,
i found something new
and something interesting
to do exactly the same thing,
but in a different way.
Salt. It needs salt.
In young boys, like my son
who began competitively at 17,
it drains you.
Even though they have us,
I can only come here two or three
times a year, whenever I can get away.
The rest of the time he lives here.
They're his family.
I always felt really
close to them,
so joining the team didn't feel
like I joined four star players.
It felt like I joined
four friends.
SINCE IT'S A FIVE v. FIVE GAME,
it matters a lot
about how you work together,
and I feel like that's one
of our strengths,
that everyone
understands everyone.
Back! Back off, back off.
Take care, rekkles!
I'm one of those players
who have a lot of fans,
but I'm also one
of those players
who don't put much effort
into streaming or social media.
I'm really quiet in a way,
which makes me even
appreciate my fans even more,
because they're sticking
around even if I'm not paying
them back.
And I think esports in Europe,
they care more about the media
and stuff
than just actually
winning the game.
And that's where I think
Korea is ahead of the others.
South Korea has been dominating
the competitive gaming world
for some time now.
There is a number
of factors that go into this,
one of the biggest
being the culture's different.
Second place
is the first loser, you know?
So they don't want second place.
You want to be number one.
In Korea, if you're
a pro gamer, you must succeed.
If you can't play games,
you can't do anything.
Your life depends on the game.
Brood war"
was the predecessor
to all of this even happening.
It started off in Korea.
They start up a league
for "brood war," and that's
where you started getting the
high-end players and the teams.
And then the fans
and the groupies...
And started it all here
in south Korea.
Esports has been on broadcast
television in Korea since 1999.
All of the teams are sponsored
by major corporate entities.
There are coaches who have been
in the scene for a decade,
who know how to make champions.
The infrastructure in Korea
is just significantly better.
Do you know why count Von count
from "sesame street" counts?
In traditional vampire folklore,
one way to escape a vampire
was to throw out a group
of like objects on the ground,
because vampires would be
compelled to count them.
Vampire ocd.
And that's why
count Von count counts.
We'll see what happens.
Here we go, game one.
Samsung versus g.E. Tigers.
Let's get in the game.
The g.E. Tigers.
What a phenomenon from Korea.
They're a brand-new
organization,
which is unusual in Korea,
because Korea has been dominated
by massive corporate-run teams.
They were composed
of either players
who were on break
from the professional scene,
and then a bunch
of other players
who were really not at the top
of their game,
who had been cut
from other rosters previously.
So when we came into this season
as this is their first year,
really, of competitive playing,
they looked
like they might be okay,
but nowhere
near a top-level team.
I don't think the team itself
knew that they were going
to be as good as they are in
the Korean league, in champions.
They are actually undefeated,
and miles ahead
of even the second-place team.
And definitely the favorites
going into
the I.E.M. World championships.
It's still fascinating to me now.
Sometimes I think about where
i am and it's unbelievable.
They have this amazing energy
and this amazing synergy
that just kind
of exudes from them.
One of the reasons I like our team
is that no one has an ego.
We all work together to form
the perfect unit.
I think that's what makes
our team the best.
And our uniforms...
Our uniforms help.
What the hell am I looking at?
Cat ears?
I don't know what's going on.
They're constantly
changing uniforms.
Most team uniforms are boring
because they all look the same...
So our team decided
to set ourselves apart.
I always change my uniform
every single day.
I think our fans like them.
The getigers are the best team
in the world.
We will easily win at iem.
Good morning,
good afternoon, good evening.
A time-zone friendly welcome
to you,
wherever you are in the world.
Building excitement today
for the intel extreme masters
at the s.A.P. Arena in San Jose.
I can't wait to get there.
The intel extreme masters
has always had a territory
that they wanted to break into,
which was north America.
Esports has existed in America
for a really long time,
and some would argue
that it started in America.
But the problem there was always
that the people
running these companies
ran around like chickens
with their heads cut off.
North America's had
a shady past,
I think it's safe to say,
with events.
They've always been hit or miss,
and generally,
they've been miss.
L.A., are you ready?
Ready, set...
We've seen multiple times
investment-funded companies
put up events
that the community was always
very enthusiastic about,
but they were burning money.
They were losing lots
and lots of money.
Competitive gaming faced a blow
today as it has lost
one of its biggest names.
The world series of video games
has officially shut down.
The organizers claim that the
cost of producing live events
is just too high,
and instead,
they'll focus on the web.
There's a lot
of potential in America,
but we need to rebuild a lot
of stuff
and almost build stuff
from scratch.
There's a lot on the line.
Just the word "San Jose" makes
my stomach turn right now.
Esports in America
has come a long way.
We've seen some big events.
Developers and publishers have
all done these events
themselves.
But I think the success
of companies like esl
is the real measuring stick
that shows you
how healthy esports really is.
We have the challenge
of always having to break even.
And if we're in business
for 10 years, for 12 years,
for 15 years, that means
esports is a viable thing.
For legitimacy of esports,
we need a big, big event
to work really, really well
in the United States.
We've waited, crouched,
to a moment where the world
woke up to esports.
We could have tried
to rent out an arena in the U.S.
Three years ago, and we
would have failed miserably.
Because it wasn't
the right time.
This is basically nine years
of development,
building up to this one event.
We're gonna head to San Jose
towards the end of the year,
and we're gonna try and do
something that we've never
done before in north America.
For us, it's life or death,
and I mean it.
Life and death, literally,
because we just
don't know right now.
We really don't know
whether we can fill that place.
It's just a little different
orientation that we have here.
- 'Cause we have two games,
- right...
Two independent shows,
essentially.
Yeah, essentially, one has
a significantly
bigger audience than the other.
- Yeah.
- And that's why we have to
maximize the...
"League of legends"?
Yeah, exactly.
There you go.
I know.
- And then...
- What my kids tell me.
This is the stage.
We've got "starcraft"
going that way,
"league of legends"
going that way.
And the showcase over there...
Far, far end.
Just being around here
just gets me excited,
'cause I'm imagining
all the great things.
Where thousands of people
just screaming and making noise
and just creating
that atmosphere.
I'm already in it, to be honest.
The consequences of not filling
it would be scary,
but it's not the time
to be afraid.
It's time to be bold, I think.
The "league of legends" bracket
at I.E.M. San Jose
will feature six teams.
Team solomid and alliance,
currently the top teams
from north America and Europe,
have been invited,
and will have a bye.
Battling out to face them will
be the two Latin American teams
that qualified
through online matches,
and one north American team
and one European team
that will be determined
by a fan vote.
Every day, I wake up realizing
that this could all go away
very quickly.
This perception that cloud9 is
this big company... we're not.
We're a very small,
very scrappy organization.
I have no idea
where this is all going.
I mean, we don't have any grand
master plan for a year from now,
for even six months from now.
In a blink of an eye,
this could all go away.
When I.E.M. San Jose was
announced,
I knew I had to be a part
of this event.
I immediately got my video teams
making videos,
got the word out
through Twitter,
Facebook... every social media
that I could get,
like, "please support us, please
get us to I.E.M. San Jose.
This is so important for us
to be a part of this event."
I grew up in the bay area.
My dad spent his whole career
as an attorney
working in San Jose.
I founded cloud9 in San Jose.
So this was like, for me,
I'm like, "this is not an option
to not be a part of this."
Tsm already got invited.
So it's tsm and it looks
like it's either us or curse...
Whoever wins the fan vote.
But it definitely
could go either way.
I think everyone views
north America
as the underdogs
of, generally, every tournament.
So every time we lose,
I just want c9 to win because
i want to prove people wrong.
When I was very new
into esports,
I was a very different kid.
I was very shy and introverted.
So the way
i really reached out to my fans
was through my stream.
I'm gonna kill someone
here in, I think, six seconds.
I'm gonna start counting down.
Six, five, four...
I was good at the game.
I knew my stuff,
but I just played by myself.
Two, one...
Oh, my god.
I love "league of legends."
But then I was streaming
and all these people
would come in,
and they would ask me questions.
And I'd be like, "oh,
i can help other people improve.
I can show them what I do."
It was a feeling of really,
like, reaching the top
and feeling that the fans
respected my opinion.
When the game does die,
if it does,
I would move on
to catering to my fans,
because they're the reason
why I'm so popular
in the first place,
why I have the job
in the first place.
Go, go, go, go, go!
All right, fine.
I'm a Barbie girl
in a Barbie world life
life is plastic,
it's fantastic
That was amazing.
Wow!
Right after high school,
i had a week break,
and my dad told me
that you're gonna do plumbing.
I worked with him for a year,
and I got fired
maybe three times.
And, ironically,
a week after I got fired,
I qualified, and that's
where everything started.
A lot of these gamers,
what they have to do
is they have to get really
high ranking on the ladder
and really build hype
around the community.
Because ever single team is
always looking for new talent.
For traditional sports,
there's a very clear path
on how to become
professional at it.
For example, if you're trying to
be a professional tennis player,
you play in middle school,
you can play in high school.
If you're good in high school,
you get scouted by colleges.
They pay for your scholarship.
But for something
like "league of legends,"
for example,
it's very hard to...
Just because the pathway
is different.
There's 67 million players
playing this game
every single month.
And there's 50 players
in north America
that actually play
at the pro level in this game.
Just as it's very hard
to get into the NFL
or major league baseball,
it's just as hard
to get into professional
"league of legends."
Once you get picked up
by an established team,
you should get a good salary.
And with live streaming,
you should be able
to make over six figures.
It's definitely worth it
economically.
If someone's,
like, offering you, yeah,
join our team,
become a professional,
I would say definitely do that.
But if you don't have
this offer,
you're just like a player
of the game,
I don't think you should go out
and try to become that.
I pursued my master's degree
in computer science.
By the time I tried to go pro,
I was already almost
done with school anyway,
so it just made a lot more sense
to finish it out
so that I had that kind of...
The backup.
But all of my teammates
dropped out of college.
They don't really have that
college degree to fall back on.
Yes! Good!
Swing it wide.
Hey, make that backdoor,
edsall, edsall, edsall!
Service!
My name is Kurt melcher.
I'm the associate
athletic director
and head women's soccer coach
and esport coordinator
at Robert Morris university.
We're on the third floor
of our campus,
and this was room 305.
Now it is our esport arena.
We offer scholarships
for "league of legends,"
and we want to attract
some of the elite players
that want to have
that combination
of getting an education
and learning
and getting better at the game.
Okay, now,
let's rotate bot now.
Everybody bot right now.
Yeah, rotate to help here.
Rotate to help here.
The school recognizes
that students generally
perform better in the classroom
when they're involved
in athletics
or performing arts or theater.
You don't want to
let your teammates down,
so you're gonna work
harder in class.
You know, for 20 or 30 years,
we've been playing games
on computers.
So I think it makes a lot
of sense
that finally, they're becoming
recognized as really
a legitimate and viable sport.
Good game.
There are a lot
of directions it could go.
"League of legends"
is just one game.
There are many others.
I think in the next year,
you'll see more colleges
and universities
looking at esports,
and I think we'll just see
a just... "Grow" isn't really
the right verb.
I think we'll see it exploding.
It's great to be a technically
semiprofessional female player
playing for a collegiate team
for "league of legends."
That's amazing.
I want to take this seriously.
I know that there aren't a lot
of female professional players
in the "league of legends"
or esports, in general,
and my greatest goal
is to be a role model
for those that wish to follow
in my footsteps.
I really like lemonnation
because he's an older player,
and I think it's awesome to have
an older player in the scene
'cause a lot of people
think that, "oh,
once you turn like 22, 23,
your career in professional
esports is over with."
It's really cool to see someone
who's 26 on the greatest team
in north America.
I really like cloud9.
I think in the past,
mainstream media
has portrayed us as
just kind of
nerdy guys in the basement
type thing.
And I think since it's becoming
a lot bigger
and they see, like,
the numbers growing,
people are starting
to respect it a lot more.
A ton of people
are just watching online,
and if we mess up, it's gonna
be seen by all these people.
Any moment, I could screw
over the entire game.
I can one-v-two.
I can one-v-two.
Careful, careful.
Watch out, sneaky.
They're coming. They're coming.
Get off. Get off.
When it comes to fan feedback,
imagine a big sports game
like an nba finals game
and the big mvp just
messes up the crucial shot
and then thousands of fans teem
out of the stadium complaining.
Rekkles actually playing
a little reckless.
Our world is like we hear
almost every single voice
because it's posted online,
and all of us online.
We're all connected.
It's ego-shattering.
When I'm losing, I'm always
really harsh on myself.
I really hate that feeling.
Like, look
what you're gonna do.
I'm gonna put it in slow motion.
I'm always alone.
Here is your mistake.
What are you doing?
At times, it's very hard because
there is a lot of pressure.
That's hard for five boys
who are only in their 20s.
Without help from a psychologist
or strong trainers.
You need to always be on top
of your game
because if you slip up,
that means you
could potentially lose your job.
I think oftentimes, we forget
that they're just normal kids
and normal people who have been
forced to grow up very rapidly.
They were put into this world
where they are all of a sudden
on camera,
they are all of a sudden
competing for a lot of money.
Do you kind of feel
that the problems
you run into here
are the same problems
you run into when you
play the European teams?
We have the same problems
because we kind of lack
the team coordination.
I'm not actually sure
why we're not doing it.
We will, for sure,
focus on it in the future
and have a more solid
and consistent performance.
There's something
about rekkles leaving fnatic.
I think he has a problem
with some of his teammates,
like motivation.
So I think he wanted to leave
the team for that reason.
Rekkles came in,
this new superstar last year.
He broke records.
He was a player
that was not completely happy
in his current role at fnatic.
Wanted more.
Had a bit more passion.
He was only a 17-year-old kid
coming through,
so it seemed obvious
that after
a somewhat disappointing
year for fnatic,
maybe changes would happen.
Now, alliance,
this new super team
coming up, piqued his interest,
and it's no surprise to suddenly
see these transfers happening.
This is the growth of sports,
if it were.
Once sports get big enough,
people start paying
for the big players.
Esl America offices.
My second visit.
Coming in for a chat
with the President
and to see
an immigration lawyer,
figure out if I can move over
and if I can transition
to America.
We are moving to America now...
L.A. district, California...
Earthquakes.
He always wanted to work
in America at some point.
So when this opportunity came,
we've decided that if we're ever
going to do this
it has to be now.
Hi. I'm michal.
Hi, nice to meet you, sir.
Nice to meet you.
I work at the Europe office.
Oh, of course.
So, yeah,
we're moving to America.
Welcome back.
Like what you did
with the place.
I love them. I love them.
I love this setup, by the way.
This thing.
We've had 50-plus events in
intel extreme masters history.
San Jose's the most difficult,
and at the same time,
the most important event.
If we fail, anything can happen.
Maybe what I'm doing
will not be there anymore.
Maybe that will be obsolete
completely and just...
You know,
jousting used to be a sport.
It's no longer here.
We won the fan vote
for San Jose,
so we are going
to the San Jose I.E.M.
Cool!
And we are going against
the unicorns of love...
Is also the qualified
European team.
I'm glad we're going.
We have to play against
unicorns of love first round,
and then later on,
we're expecting
to face cloud9 or alliance.
Rekkles is very good,
and he's one of the best
a.D. Carries
I've ever played against.
So I just hope we don't choke
or anything.
If we win this tournament, that
means we go to the grand finals
in katowice,
which is very big for us.
A lot of people in the tsm
organizations are from San Jose,
and I can tell
that it's something
that they want us to do well at.
We've actually never won
an I.E.M. Event.
I.E.M. San Jose is the one
that I want.
It's by far... that's...
I need to take that home.
I'm gonna have my family
in the audience.
I'm gonna fly my dad down.
I want to win this event.
We're selling tickets
to this event.
We're counting on thousands
of people to show up.
And we need thousands of people
to show up in order
for us to call the event
a success
because we work with real money
and we have to break even
and if we don't do it,
maybe, just maybe,
people will doubt us.
Maybe they'll think,
"guys, maybe this is not
the right time.
Let's wait another couple
of years."
We took a leap of faith
on San Jose,
and we need this to work
in order to move forward.
We really do need this to work.
San Jose
with a season-high seven.
That's a good night here
at s.A.P.
For the San Jose sharks.
My TV said that one of
the stages is facing that way?
Come on.
I'll show you a rendering.
Other side... "Starcraft ii."
If we want to change it,
let's change it at the very end
WHEN EVERYTHING IS CLEAR.
All right, 104. Thank you.
We never done anything
like it before,
not on this scale,
not in this time pressure.
And it's taken its toll
on everybody on the team.
We only have three more rows.
You also have to build a stage.
Looking good?
I mean, not good.
Not great.
What time will have
full dress rehearsals?
Dress rehearsals?
My crew is here,
and their tools are not.
I remember when esports was
in the bottom of the basement
at the Hilton hotel,
and it looked
like a video casino.
As we grew,
and then esl brought in michal,
we took this to the next level.
My first tournament
that I ever organized
WAS IN AN Internet CAF.
IT HAD 12 OR 14 P.C.s TOTAL.
Do we have the countdown
in the corner?
Paul should have his headset
on the other way, right?
Do you get me now?
We need to be done
by 11:00, latest,
with everything.
I haven't eaten yet,
i just realized.
All right. Time to really start
moving them.
They're officially late
as of now.
That's esl wondering
where the hell we are.
Hey, what's up?
I don't like it like that.
I wanted the players backstage,
and we can show them backstage
waiting, like in football.
Just, please, get me that.
All right. You're the boss.
When I walked in, the energy
and the noise was orders
of magnitude greater than
what I expected to experience.
I've had two heart attacks,
and the sensation
that I got with sitting in here
was the same kind of feeling...
Pressure built up.
- It's good?
- Yeah.
Are we beginning?
No.
Are we?
4, 3, 2, 1!
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to the intel
extreme masters San Jose!
It's going to be
an incredible weekend
as we go looking for
our next I.E.M. Champion.
It's right now the pressure
is off.
First up, it's the fans
that got them here,
with 42% of the fan vote.
They're on their home turf.
Give it up for cloud9!
"League of legends"
is extremely complex,
but there are a few things
to watch that can help
you understand the game.
The teams alternate
between red and blue sides,
depending on the game.
And the number of kills
a team has
is a good indication
of how well the team is doing.
Formal shot!
There it is!
Hai gets the kill!
An Ace means that every member
of the enemy team
has been killed,
which gives the surviving team
completely free reign
of the map for a while.
And it's all now
going cloud9's way.
Individual players can obtain
double...
Double kill.
- Triple...
- Triple kill.
Quadra, or the extremely
rare penta kill,
by killing multiple enemies
themselves.
Sneaky with the quadra!
Wait, he got the penta! Oh!
Wow!
Oh, they tried so hard
to give that over to sneaky.
Every champion
has different abilities.
For example,
a champion that lemonnation
often plays has a hook
that he throws out to catch
and hold enemies
so his teammates can kill them.
Oh, they get the hook on sirt.
There we go.
Look how quick he goes down.
One nexus turret goes down.
The second will follow.
And it's cloud9
to reach the semifinal.
- Not saying hi?
- Hey. Why not?
I think... I think I'm running
around with rekkles.
What's this?
It's not a good number.
I don't have my own shirt,
that's why.
Fair enough.
You transferred.
Go do your thing.
Go do what you need to do.
Good seeing you.
In alliance, we've recently
picked up rekkles, which is one
of the biggest talents
in the western world.
He just meshes really well
with the rest of our lineup.
And he has a very dedicated
mind-set to the game
that I really appreciate a lot.
He's a great addition
to our lineup.
That one point,
when you become as good
as you can,
the strategy is what decides who
wins and who will lose the game.
It's sort of like chess
in a way,
but you have a matter
of milliseconds
to make your decision.
Reaction time
is really important.
As you can see,
unicorns of love
moving very fast
through the bracket,
and we're gonna come up
to our first game of the day.
You can see it.
Alliance versus cloud9.
Before a match,
I'm completely focused
on trying to come in
with the best plan possible.
Lemonnation is famous
for his notebook.
It contains all
of his cloud9 secret strats.
What is in his book? This is
the tactics book we always see.
Tips of how to grow
a magnificent beard.
I need that book.
At the point
you go on the stage,
I'm really nervous.
There was a lot of controversy
around the rekkles changes,
and I think he's kind
of taking it to heart
is that it's on his shoulders
to make this work.
Slow start 11 minutes
into this game.
No first blood just yet.
Very much equal on gold.
Lemonnation getting focus on...
Could they get first blood?
And he gets away safe.
It's building up
so much tension for this game.
Here it comes.
It finally is.
Is it?
That's the question 'cause
the teleport goes down.
There's the root on Hai.
Cataclysm on froggen,
and everybody
from alliance backs away.
It's just they're taking
leisurely start to the day.
Definitely warming up the crowd,
i think it's safe to say.
Get him, hartman!
There's gonna be first blood!
Yes, it will!
- Yeah!
- Just go in. You ready?
- Wait, wait, wait.
- Go in!
They have flash this time
around, but Hai's locked up.
Lemonnation's gonna
get taken down.
Alliances are picking up
some kills.
Rekkles gets himself whupped.
They can clean up with this.
Oh, my god!
A.D. Carry versus a.D. Carry!
But rekkles comes out
victorious.
And it's the Ace for alliance!
That is why alliance
paid the money
to transfer this man
into their team.
Nice!
At the moment, cloud9 are
the ones feeling the pressure.
We're a lot stronger than them.
Got to not be afraid.
Froggen in trouble.
He's gonna get locked up
and dropped like a pancake.
Sneaky picks up two.
Chases on towards rekkles.
Rekkles has to get the hell
out of dodge right now.
Rekkles is in trouble.
Tries to clear it.
Oh! Dead!
And he goes down!
It's the Ace for cloud9
in game one of the series.
Oh, here we go,
ladies and gentlemen.
Game two underway.
Oh, he's gone for lemonnation.
Rekkles!
Ohh!
Completely paints him out.
Beautifully done!
And, wow, cloud9 are destroying
alliance in game two.
If I do a mistake,
I instantly recognize it,
then right to stop it before
it actually happens again.
Everyone stay and work
together. Just stay together.
They can't kill us
if we stay together.
They're not that damaged.
Rekkles comes around the side.
They can close him.
And rekkles picks up the kill.
And it's this time alliance
coming out 3-1 up.
That's upsetting.
I'm back in the game now,
so I'm good.
Alliance may well have just
won themselves a game.
They're just gonna run
straight for the nexus now.
This series ties up one-all.
We will have a winner
in the next match-up.
- Still in, man.
- Not a good game.
Still in.
We're still in it.
- Confirmed... we're blue?
- We're blue.
Okay.
Good?
Another thing
to keep an eye on this game
is that the recipient
of the first blood money...
Whoa!
Rekkles just destroying balls
in the top line.
Teleport coming straight out
from balls, of course.
Of course, death by hammers
are next to nothing.
But wickd is gonna t.P. It,
and they may lock up
for a second kill here.
Balls taken low once again,
and rekkles gets another!
Wow!
I don't think I've seen anyone
die twice so quick in my life.
He literally teleported
straight back to die again.
All right.
Yeah, that's a rough start.
Rekkles trying to bait out
here.
Rekkles gets himself
a very easy third kill.
All right, boys,
what do you want to do?
- Can you hook him?
- They need to focus in.
And there's a hook
from lemonnation.
Oh, shook in trouble!
Yeah, we got him.
We got him. We got him.
We can fight this.
Oh, another hook!
He's going down!
Cloud9 turned the game
on its head right now.
And rekkles is running away.
Cloud9 trying to finish the game
right here.
What is going on?!
Cloud9 will take the game
and go through to the finals
of the intel extreme masters
here in San Jose!
What did we practice?
Three weeks?
They've been playing together
for quite some time.
Yeah, they've been playing
for a long time.
Sure enough, lemonnation lands
two of the biggest hooks of the game.
We were way on top
until that happened.
I still think we put up a good fight,
to be honest.
Okay, let's take some dessert
to damp the bitterness.
I would love to see
the grand finals with tsm.
And I'd like to see it go to
the last game and us win.
That would be amazing.
I'd love that.
Unicorns of love versus
team solomid.
Tsm is the big favorite,
i think, for this tournament.
The build-up time
towards a match,
I actually get nervous...
Very nervous every single time.
I recognize it's a big match.
Honestly, I think playing
against international team
is my favorite thing
to do as a professional player
because this is where I get a
chance to see where I stack up.
I really want to prove myself.
Well, here we go, then.
I guess if there's a time
to prove yourself
on the big stage in semifinal,
it's probably here.
Playing in a big arena,
it definitely adds pressure
and adds to adrenaline.
Some people can go in,
and all the jitters...
It just gets to them,
and they can't perform
at the highest level.
He's taking,
and he does get first blood.
Bjergsen just needed
to show a little bit
more respect in that Lane.
Kikis turns around.
This could be really bad
for tsm.
They walk right into it.
Turtle doesn't get to do
anything in that fight.
You really care about the game,
so when you lose, it's like one
of the worst feelings ever.
The nexus turret
cannot be held.
The unicorns of love
are pushing at it.
The unicorns of love
move through!
I'm more surprised that tsm...
They, like,
just didn't show up at all.
Like, it just felt
like they didn't come to play.
We learned
that on an international stage,
we play a lot worse
than we do on practice,
and that's something
we have to fix for the future.
And now we're
onto the final match...
Cloud9 versus unicorns of love.
If you've never faced a team
like cloud9 before,
it's gonna be really scary.
Just stick with the plan.
And the culling
is keeping them at bay,
but only so long!
A beautiful kick by meteos!
And just like that,
the unicorns are aced by cloud9.
Cloud9 is threatening
to run away with this game.
Sneaky will get the first one.
Kikis is low.
He was hooked
in there by lemonnation,
and that means a two-for-two.
Sneaky, you got this.
Better, better, better!
Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!
And will probably get
hylissang, as well.
- Penta kill!
- The penta kill
that will surely win cloud9
the intel extreme masters
here in San Jose.
- Yeah!
- We did it, man.
Good game, buddy.
God bless everyone.
I look over at the people,
and it dawned on me
that we had a real breakthrough.
Which one?!
We've gone to a place
where I, frankly speaking,
never thought we would go.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
When I look
at my mileage account,
it says that I took 41 flights
this year.
And that's just flights alone.
So I'd estimate
i was away from home 60 days,
65 days, maybe.
That's a very large percentage
of that little kid's life.
And I don't want to be that guy
who missed his kids growing up.
Mom, there's a strange man.
"Hey, it's daddy."
"No, you're not."
"Yeah, yeah, I am."
Ahh.
- Ahh!
- Ahh!
Cannot think
it's not hard sometimes.
It was extremely hard
when baby was very little
and I was all by myself
and there was actually no one
to help me.
But, I mean, it comes
with the package, so...
Is that a box?
Luckily, my mom
taught me how to do this.
I think the big thing
about having these studio events
is that people get
to stay a little bit closer
to the players, get to kind of
look over their shoulders.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome
to the intel extreme masters
Cologne.
It's a triple kill
for doublelift!
This is insane!
22-20.
I have no idea
which way this game's gonna go.
This?
This is live right now.
Oh, my god.
This game has to be over.
He's not gonna be able
to do anything
against four gambit players
hammering away on the nexus.
Hello, and welcome,
ladies and gentlemen,
to the intel extreme masters
Taipei.
They can finish the game
right here,
and they're gonna take down
a nexus turret.
The yoe flash wolves
do the unthinkable...
Come back from a 2-0 deficit
to win the game and the intel
extreme masters Taipei.
Now we have our four qualified
teams for I.E.M. Katowice.
Joining them will be the top
teams from three regions...
S.K. Gaming from Europe,
the g.E. Tigers
and c.J. Entus from Korea,
and finally, team solomid
from north America,
who, despite losing in San Jose,
fought to the top
of their region,
gaining them a second chance
at the I.E.M.
World championship.
The second chance
meant the world to me.
It was really important that,
you know,
we had the second chance
to show ourselves
and to prove to our fans
that we could be the best.
Fans of esports
are at worst fickle, harsh,
but at their best,
they're the most
enthusiastic people,
the most passionate people
I've ever met.
A week or so ago,
Hai just randomly told us
that he would be visiting
New York,
so we are kind of scrambling
right now to make sure
that everything goes favorably.
Hey, what's up?
It's me and Hai.
Where our fans be?
Say hello.
Say hello.
We got a park permit
and we put out a Facebook event
and we were expecting like 100,
150 people.
Like 2,000 people showed up.
This is longer than I thought.
All right, so, let's transition
into talking about
i.E.M. Katowice,
which is coming up
in the next couple weeks.
G.E. Tigers might be
the best team in the world.
They're the best team
from Korea.
C.G. Entus at least is top-four
at the moment in Korea.
S.K. Gaming... perhaps
the best team from Europe.
Tsm... perhaps the best team
from n.A.
Cloud9... whatever,
second-best team from...
It's up to you how you rank it,
okay,
but these are top-level teams
from their regions.
Cloud9 plays g.E. Tigers.
How does cloud9
possibly match up?
Can they do anything
against g.E. Tigers?
No.
I don't think anybody
in this tournament
can do anything against
the g.E. Tigers.
I was at the g.E. Tigers' house
the other day,
and gorilla
was saying in an interview
that their goal
was to win this tournament
without losing a game.
I got news yesterday
that my paperwork
was apparently filed
for the visa thing, so...
Yeah, another country
will see another Polish guy.
Looks okay.
We're expanding
from just the sports arena
onto an 8,000-square-meter hole.
In the sports arena, we're gonna
have one gigantic stage...
The biggest stage
in the company's history,
one of the biggest stages
in esports history, actually.
And this is where
the "starcraft ii" stage
is gonna be at the expo.
Esports was a sideshow,
and now everything
that used to be the main show
is now the sideshow to esports.
And it's the exhibitors
that are now piggybacking
off of the competitions.
Now, there's a right way
to see it,
and there's a wrong way
to see it.
We're gonna do it the right way.
We wanted to look
like a prince,
but actually,
they are not that good-looking,
so I'm really worried
about that.
The possibility
of north Americans
winning this tournament
is kind of slim, I think,
because there's
the yoe flash wolves,
who we have no experience
against.
There's also the g.E. Tigers.
I just worry about...
'Cause they are a bit
tired now, so...
But that's okay.
Our team is the best
in the world, I think.
We're against probably the best
team in the whole world,
so we have to play better
than we've ever played before.
If America comes out
and wins everything,
it's gonna flip the world
on its head.
If you didn't know any better,
you'd think it's Madonna.
Good morning, guys.
Good morning.
How's it going?
- Yes.
- Me?
I'm not ready.
Me, neither.
Let's get out of here.
This is the first time
we have a full 1 1/2 days.
It's really a full,
proper day of rehearsal.
Yeah, it's pretty good.
We're actually pretty proud
about it.
- Take off your shirt!
- Take off my shirt?
No, I can't do that.
This crowd is the rowdiest crowd
I've ever had to perform
in front of.
- Relax.
- Breathe in.
It helps with jet lag.
I haven't been in there yet,
and the crowd is streaming in,
so...
I'm trying to hold it off
'cause I'll be really nervous.
Rehearsal's over.
Everybody's getting into place.
I like your outfits.
Thank you.
We have the opening of
the big show on the main stage.
And today, everything starts.
When the stage is built,
i will walk every inch of it.
I suppose trying
to get the emotion,
capture it, keep it inside me,
and then deliver it
in tune with the crowd
to the way that they feel
the same excitement
I do about the games
that are about to take place.
And also just
about how far we've come.
It always feels like that to me.
It feels like,
"yeah, we're gonna deliver
something really special.
I mean, super special,
that will make your spine tingle
and the hairs
on your arms stand up."
And when that moment arrives
and the music plays
and the lights Blaze
and I'm standing backstage
and my stomach
is doing somersaults
and the producer tells me
in my ear, "go"...
It's just... it's magical.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome
to the intel extreme masters
world championship!
From my personal point of view,
going out in front of a crowd
like that
at a video-game tournament...
It's extraordinary.
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome once again
to the intel extreme masters
world championship.
It's double-elim...
Lose two, you're out.
Win two, and you're in.
The opening match!
Game one of group "a."
The first team...
The undefeated, the g.E. Tigers!
And their challengers,
a staple name from north America
and the winners of the intel
extreme masters San Jose...
None other than cloud9!
Can cloud9 beat
the g.E. Tigers?
Anything
is theoretically possible,
but in the realistic universe
in which we reside currently,
it's a very low chance.
And we are ready to get it on
here in our first game
in the intel extreme masters
katowice.
Cloud9 lurking in the brush.
Oh, and there he is...
Lemonnation.
Can they get him with some c.C.?
They already get the flash.
He's gonna try the aqua prison.
And that's first blood
for cloud9... balls!
Well, I mean, gorilla was
not exactly paying attention,
so it's gonna be very helpful
for c9.
They've got the start
that they wanted here.
Well, look at this.
We all see an le
waiting around in the middle.
Here we go.
They manage to get the chains
down,
and Hai is dead just like that.
Coming in.
Here's a teleport.
Smeb may have
overstayed his welcome here.
Meteos is taking the...
But he's gonna go down!
- Are you kidding me?!
- It's over for you, my friend.
And just like that,
it's 5-1 to the g.E. Tigers.
It is looking pretty one-sided
so far.
I'm just really surprised
at c9.
I just... the desperation
is such a huge factor right now.
I think that's a perfect word
for it right now.
I think it certainly
is just desperation.
I mean, this game
is just a slaughter.
The g.E. Tigers are gonna
pick up the first game
of the intel extreme masters
world championship.
The g.E. Tigers.
What a statement
for their first game, huh?
Hai is extremely emotional.
He takes losses extremely hard.
This tournament
is double elimination,
so we have one more chance.
Let's not make
another unicorns of love.
Oh, yeah.
Any time
you guys want to get complacent,
just think unicorns of love.
Yeah, just think
unicorns of love.
I would retire.
I would really retire.
C.J. Entus versus tsm,
and the winner moves on
to tomorrow.
As far as the Korean teams
of this tournament, obviously,
g.E. The big favorite,
but c.J. Is a beatable team.
So I don't think it's out of
the realm of possibility for tsm
to take this one.
Wildturtle will destroy him,
and that did not go to plan
for c.J. Entus.
They're gonna go for the fight.
Space will be caught
completely out of position.
That's two kills for tsm.
And if they play this right,
maybe they can finish.
I think they might be able to.
Guys, at 29 minutes,
can you believe it?
Team solomid takes down
c.J. Entus.
They're moving on.
G.G. Wow.
You guys have been doing
very well in north America,
coming in as that first seed
and also beating a Korean team.
Is this tsm in your prime?
We're slowly getting rid
of international fear
of not performing onstage.
We're trying to learn faster,
and there's a lot of things
we still need to learn.
- We beat a Korean team.
- We beat a Korean team!
Monte said it was "in the realm
of possibility"
that we beat them.
I tweeted, "does anybody believe
that tsm can win tomorrow?"
Pretty much, very few people
actually answered yes.
Now I think a lot
of people believe.
At the expo, we're highlighting
these other parts of esports
that are coming back up.
Tons of stuff going on,
like "starcraft ii."
This is gonna be over.
The last marauder
has been picked off,
and bbyong is gonna lose Magnum.
Hearthstone is really
picking up this year.
Female fps is coming back.
So I think it's something
to really pay attention to how
these things are gonna all come
together in future conventions
and maybe have their own
main stage at future events.
It kind of reminds us
that in the end,
we're all in the same group.
Do it up.
We play the wolves.
They're the best team
in southeast Asia.
All right, guys, it is
our first elimination match
here at the intel extreme
masters world championships.
Cloud9, yoe flash wolves...
One of these guys
is moving on to tomorrow.
One is going home.
We got this, guys.
Do it for yourselves.
Take that respect back.
The only thing I do want to see
from cloud9 is whether or not
they can adapt
from their game earlier today.
As a team,
they were down on themselves.
They didn't really have a lot
of faith in a victory.
Is this gonna be first blood?
He doesn't have a lot
of health up.
They really want it... cloud9.
Will they get this first blood?
They will.
No, they won't!
They won't!
Ohh!
Meteos... he's so low now.
This is dangerous.
They have to back off.
What a colossal mistake
by cloud9.
I can't believe
they didn't get that.
Big loss really
affects your mentality.
Kind of lose confidence.
This is not going well
for cloud9.
Only meteos remaining.
This could easily be an Ace.
Yoe flash wolves
stepping up, digging deep.
Cloud9 is simply not in it
here in katowice.
I honestly thought cloud9
would be one
of the contenders for the semis.
It's just really sad
seeing them go out like that.
It's part of the game.
Losses happen.
How you deal with it
to keep your team on point still
is a big part of what I do.
So, time to pick up the pieces.
This I.E.M. Makes no sense.
We beat a Korean team.
C9 went full choke
this tournament.
It makes no sense to me.
Maybe it's the jet lag.
I'm just gonna blame it
all on jet lag.
What they wanna make...
What they wanna make...
- He's already here.
- Oh, no!
All I really care about
is winning for my teammates
and then not being belittled
by other regions.
Tsm's done a great job of
catching all of yoe's mis-plays.
That is tsm taking down
four men.
They're gonna push
through this one to move
on to the intel extreme masters
world championship final.
I think tsm is good team.
So maybe final match is
tsm versus g.E. Tigers.
G.E. Tigers for sure.
100% g.E. Tigers.
Pray in a little bit
of trouble. Knock-ups coming in.
That's a double kill now
for mystic. G.E. On the run.
G.E. Just getting destroyed
in another team fight.
G.E. Tigers probably gonna
take the gloves off now,
play it a bit more serious.
What do you see happening?
Well, still, there's the chance
of the freak accident,
but you can't be understated.
If the g.E. Tigers lose
this game, this is undoubtedly
the biggest upset
in "league of legends" history.
There's a catch onto smeb.
Meanwhile, spirit comes in,
does knock-up onto pray.
And g.E. Trying to
turn this one around.
Things are not going well
for g.E. Tigers.
And that is an Ace.
W.E. Is poised to win this match
and go to the grand finals
against tsm.
The world's best team
is beaten by China's worst team!
I can't believe it.
It is over.
Whoa!
What an incredible result.
And this tournament has just
been chock-full of surprises,
of these upsets.
And that's it.
The best of three...
The first time that we have seen
the g.E. Tigers lose
a best-of series.
W.E. Comes in here and takes out
an undefeated Korean team.
Absolutely incredible.
Our first loss.
So this is what losing feels like.
Well, I think that
the g.E. Tigers got a bit cocky.
I'm sorry you lost.
Boy, is that comforting.
We will try more.
Thank you so much.
I hope you liked it.
You know, every time,
as an organizer, you kind of...
You want to have a little bit
of good luck
to make sure that the final
is good and exciting.
And I couldn't have
asked for more, really.
I...
She wants to put a trapdoor
in both of the player booths,
and the loser
gets to fall down the trapdoor.
How do you think about that?
Please welcome c.J. Hero!
Yeah!
- Hi.
- Hi!
No way.
This is yours?
Yeah.
It's mine.
- Oh, cutie.
- Hey.
Michal's qualities are many,
but I think the biggest one
to me are that he identifies
people's talents.
He seems to sense
what people are good at
and how to get the best
out of them.
He has an uncanny ability
to make people feel good,
to make them feel special.
Without you guys here,
without the people in line,
this hole is an empty shell
with some lights in it.
And it is you
who made it a dream
for every professional gamer
in the world
to come here and play.
So thank you.
We all know our time
as a professional
"league of legends" player
isn't forever.
Either through us not being
as good at the game anymore
or just the game dying out.
But even if this game dies,
esports is not going away.
I do think
about the ending a lot,
but I really just want
to live in the present.
I don't know
where esports is gonna go.
The league has meant
pretty much everything to me.
It took me
from getting bullied in school
and just generally having
a pretty bad life to really
giving me a purpose
and giving me motivation.
The stigma of being a gamer
has completely changed.
Esports is going to stay,
and it's going to evolve.
We've had a fantastic season 9.
Incredible scenes.
But right now
it's the grand final!
First up, hunting down
the undefeated g.E. Tigers
to get to this stage...
Team w.E.!
Coming from north America,
they're trying
to prove to the world
that times surely
have changed... tsm!
We're about to get
into the big final here.
- Wow.
- You see w.E.,
they're playing
super aggressive here.
That's a double kill for xiye.
And tsm
losing another two-for-one.
- We just need to be careful.
- Can we fire here?
Can we fire here, turtle?
I'm coming.
I'm coming.
I'm walking down.
Walking down.
And they're going in.
Oh, spirit
will dive to the back.
Lustboy actually incredibly low.
A little bit wishy-washy
there from tsm.
Caught out of position.
There's almost nothing they can
do at this stage, honestly.
Maybe they can come back,
but it's gonna be real hard.
If you realize
that there's nothing
you can do to come back and win,
at that point,
you basically just accept defeat
and try to focus
on why you've lost.
Even when you're at a pro
level, you're never perfect.
No player is perfect.
You have to try
to stay positive
because it's really hard
to just turn around
and start winning again.
Yeah,
we have to defend the turret.
Yeah.
I think we can, though.
- Can we fight?
- I'm here.
- He's low. He's low.
- I got him.
W.E. Trying to rally
and back away from this one.
- Fight on closest target.
- Right there.
Right there.
Right there.
- Spirit.
- Spirit. Spirit. Spirit.
You guys got this.
You guys got this.
Nice. Nice.
Good job.
But a four-for-one for tsm.
And suddenly,
they win the fight here.
Just do your best.
Never give up.
Don't tell me the game's over,
lustboy.
The game's never over.
Look at this. Look at this.
Look at this.
Bjergsen will dive
into the middle,
and again, it's a messy one,
with dyrus
getting the first kill,
putting him now
onto a killing spree.
- Nice.
- I could keep going.
Tsm are gonna chase,
as dyrus will fall.
Lustboy's gonna go down.
Bjergsen, though,
is still alive!
I got her.
I got her.
It's a triple kill!
It's gonna be an Ace
for team solomid!
Will they be able to end right
here is the question we have.
The super-minions, the baron.
They've got the pressure.
Here we go.
The nexus turret
is falling down.
The crowd going wild.
Team solomid are the intel
extreme masters world champions!
When all is said and done,
tsm made our region look great.
Even though I was sad
that my team lost,
I felt really good still
about north America as a whole.
No one is gonna take north
America for granted anymore.
The biggest joy in the world
is making other people happy.
Simple as that.
Yeah, that was pretty insane.
All of my former teams...
They've moved on
to other things.
I was the only guy to stay
and follow this passion,
follow this hobby.
It's extremely heartwarming
for me to see where
I came out of and to see
that the guys back from the hood
are proud of me.
It's just great.
Basty.
Hi.
Thank you, basty.
That was katowice.
All right.
I'm in my hometown.
I'm actually going to a place
where I started
being a super total nerd.
This used to be the kitchen.
AND THIS IS, LIKE, A SECOND ROOM
FOR THE Internet CAF.
Yeah, it's just a great time
of my life.
I wish I could go back.
Last one.
That's locked up.
Some office.
SOME OFFICE IN THE PLACE
OF THE LAST Internet CAF
that I frequented a lot
to practice and play
and organize a couple
of tournaments here, as well,
back in 2005, I want to say.
Now it's closed, and now it's...
Gone, like all the others.
Katowice's already in the past.
Just sitting down
and admiring how awesome it was
gives you nothing
because the rest
of the world isn't sleeping.
So we rest a week,
and we go again.
Screw this.
- Jacek?
- Hey! What are you doing here?
Wow. I barely recognized you.
- So you don't have the cafe anymore?
- No.
- Since when?
- December.
There was no point in keeping it.
Everyone's got Internet at home now.
Times have changed.
Hey... you know what?
For the past few years, I've gone around
the world organizing tournaments.
Really big ones.
Wow. That's so cool.
I'm gonna tell my daughter
about it,
and it's gonna be normal for her
that she watches people
play video games for a living.
You know, they sign autographs
and stuff.
"Do you know I was one
of the guys that saw it pro
and hopefully had a hand
in having it grow
to where it is right now?"
I don't know
where it's gonna be,
but it's a beautiful time
to see something.
Hello. I'm Hai.
This is...
What's your name?
Incarnati0n.
He's a new mid-laner for cloud9
since I'm retired now.
Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!
Bravo!
Eeee!