Ok..... so my first blog since joining Fnatic two months ago I thought it was about time I did ;P As many of you might have known the decision to join was ultimately an easy one, but tough none the less with me leaving behind five years of real hard work and dedication with eSource and Team-Coolermaster. Anyone reading this will probably not realise that Sam approached me asking to join when we met for the first time at a i-series LAN event. It was clear talking to him there and then that we both had the same visions and beliefs in what eSports has become and will continue to evolve into. Things have been pretty mad around here as you might imagine with so many of our teams really active with a drive towards the holiday period. Not to forget the Fnatic World Tour and the successful implementation of MSI as our head/title sponsor! In addition to all of that (as if that wasn't enough for us to deal with) Joe has (sadly) departed from the Fnatic office and our team for ESL, being based primarily in Germany. A great move personally for him as he has a real talent in my opinion for shout casting many different games and making the audience (streaming or at LAN) really feel informed, excited and part of the experience. He and Jay are doing a great job and I really hope it continues for them both! So with all of that to contend with Sam has been extremely busy with UGAME, meaning he's out travelling around the world networking and developing his business. So things have been left with Anne, Elroy and me, continuing to run day-to-day operations, with myself and as I call him - Sir Elroy being in the office in Southampton, Anne in Sydney. The whole thing has a very much family feeling around it and I can tell you now that no day is the same... with loads of different activities and challenges for all of us. It's amazing how much actually is achieved that many of you will not even see for one reason and another, but trust me loads! :D We are obviously all really happy and excited to have finally found ourselves a title/head sponsor with such a well respected branded such as MSI. The guys there really do have and share the passion we do for eSports, our organisation, players and it goes without saying their products. I have to say seeing the new Laptops - the U100 and more than that the GX720 I have been so impressed. Pictures or even videos don't really do either of them justice and with features unique to MSI they stand out head and shoulders above the rest.... any example? compare them to a DELL! MSI has the World's first Laptop you can over clock...and more than that; you can do it easily and safely increasing its ability of up to 20%. It's nice to see a company finally producing a range of Laptops specifically targeted at Gamers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So the highlight of the week for me has to be the weekends set of results from Montreal and Denmark! Not only did the Call of Duty 4 guys come from the lower bracket to beat Button Bashers over District and Crash in a very tense final....but more than that; the CounterStrike guys got some deserved justice against SK in the grand final on double de_inferno and really showed all those that doubted them that they are still the team to beat. The cherry on the cake has to be FoCuS beating Satiini in the WC3 Zotac Cup!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not many things could top those kind of results... well one thing could. We had a promotional trip to the UK planned for the CS guys. Regardless of the result we had planned for the guys to finish the tournament in Montreal at around 8pm (local time), straight away take an eight hour flight to the UK, arriving at 8am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sole purpose being some public relations in various forms. The great part of this meant I would meet the guys in person. The funniest thing is the guys had decided it would be a nice thought to bring the huge 'prize fund cheque' with them on the journey... which was the first thing I noticed as I pulled up at Heathrow to pick them up, that and the fact Ins wasn't wearing a hat ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did feel for the guys as they were so drained but with the win behind them found enough strength to continue on throughout the day during interviews, countless questions, more interviews, signings and photos with a smile on their face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a pleasure meeting them all and getting to know them over a spot of lunch... plus Archi making us all laugh by ordering a very spicy Indian meal but being hungry and wanting to finish it, putting on a brave face :D A great end to a really productive day and a superb weekend of professional gaming for Fnatic. Let's hope it continues into the future. Thanks for reading if you're still awake and not gone off to pull your eyes out with pins xd Kboy