Based in Sunny Stratford the Copper Box Arena was the setting for Dreamhack’s first foray into eSports events in the UK and hopefully won’t be it’s last with Dreamhack setting the bar high for what I’d consider to be great Counter Strike event.
The entrance to Dreamhack London in the Copper Box Arena.
Having been used for a large variety of events in the recent past, the Copper Box Arena was well suited for visitors local and international being less than 20 minutes away from tube, train and plane stations, or airports if you’re so inclined. While not next door the arena was also within easy walking distance, 10 minutes or so, of a couple of shops, restaurants and accommodation options. The check in was also an easy task, with 2 lines, one for general admissions ticket holders and one for press, players and other non-standard visitors. With the staff armed with Macbooks I had my press wristband on within seconds and even the standard queue was moving at a lightning pace which gave me ample time to get familiar with the venue before the games started.
The main stage for Counter Strike.
Bang on schedule at mid-day the show began, running the usual Twitch ads before any of the real action began I was pleased to see the expected live feed on the screen rather than a dreaded Twitch re-stream of the event which we saw at the Gfinity Challenger stage a couple of months ago. With the flashy visuals heading the show being on point as we’re used to with the Dreamhack production I was pretty happy with the picture quality, the screen was as expected a projection but rivaled the likes of the Gfinity Fulham cinema screen with the colours bright and vibrant and the image crisp and easy to see from any distance away. Even with the venue being pretty bright the quality of the projection was still top notch and made watching it a really pleasant experience from any seat in the venue aside from a slightly aching neck after sitting in the front row for many games.
During the first day of the event however the sound was a little shaky, a lot of the pre-recorded interviews and even the analysis and casting was incredibly quiet or was drowned out by the other events and general chatter in the venue, as such a couple of the initial games were a little lackluster with some pretty expected one sided slaughter and not a lot of casting to listen to during it. I also managed to catch up with Rattlesnk from EZskins to see what he had to say about the event from a player’s perspective and it seemed the event was pretty solid from that angle aside from some sound issues. Rattlesnk commented that at times the mics were “screeching” and talked about the inability to use their own headsets because of background noise issues.
Rattlesnk talks about the Envyus game.
However some of the less exciting games gave me time to get around and check out some of the other things on offer at the event. The expo side of the venue was pretty extensive for the venue size and had a number of peripheral stands with many brands to get a feel for with a number of PC setups running CS and some other games. With the likes of Corsair, Razor, HyperX and SteelSeries showing up it was a good chance to get a feel for any new gear you might be inspired to try after watching the games. There was also a couple of interesting events going on where visitors had the chance to play against some lesser known but still noteworthy names like LGB eSport on a full 5v5 setup and watch some show-matches. Monster Energy were also handing out unlimited free drinks for both days which was a nice surprise.
Show matches and chances to play against some established figures in CS.
The casting and production talent kept me entertained way past the end of the games with the likes of Thorin, Richard Lewis, Anders and many more familiar faces the analysis and more importantly ‘banter’ was plentiful with many reddit worthy moments to enjoy. It made any downtime between games seem a fraction of the length of time it actually was actually worth listening to whether you sat and watched it from your seat or went up to the desk and heard it in person, rather than the diluted repetitive analysis you often see even at major events. Either way, it really embodied what I’d like to imagine is a very British way of doing things. Light hearted and entertaining. At some points way more entertaining than the games themselves. Even if Thorin didn’t know when to stop sometimes.
The talent for the analysis desk was great.
The final rolled around, two top tier teams, Envy and TSM facing off in a best of 3 with a great set of maps lined up, it was a good game before it even began. The expo had been closed at this point and all eyes were on the screen for the final as the two teams took their seats. The sound had been tweaked to perfection at this point as every bullet rumbled throughout the venue, really immersing you in the moment, I felt connected with the players as each decision they made had a physical effect on the venue. Every engagement they took was as intimidating to me as I imagine it was to them, the sound of every shot ripped through the audience. With every fatal mistake the crowd got louder and louder until we hit that one moment that may very well go down in history as Happy pulled off shot after shot with that Deagle bringing together everything that I loved about the event. The casters went wild, the crowd went insane and for a couple of seconds everyone was thinking the same thing.
Envy take the tournament, edging out TSM in two close matches.
I definitely left the event happy and it got me thinking that maybe this is just what we need. A team to get behind, an event to get people interested. Something to open up the UK scene again as opposed to what I feel at the moment is a rather tough and uninclusive thing to break into and it’s proved the people of the UK are passionate about eSports. Let’s just hope event organisers realise this too.
