Falcons are out, which makes me happy, but overall this was a fairly disappointing penultimate day of TI. I wish we had more even back and forth matches instead of straight 2-0s. Liquid continue to impress with Nisha playing out of his mind, they have to be favourites at this point. You can never count out GG though - especially in a final against Liquid - so I’m hoping it will be Tundra taking the second spot tomorrow instead .They’ve looked really good today and Topson pulling out Diffusal Sniper was an instant classic. Also blows my mind that Saksa isn’t on any team right now, winning TI as a stand-in would be quite something. Wonder where he ends up.
I also feel like the production is a little… bland? Maybe they’re saving everything for tomorrow, but the crowd and arena and action in between games has felt lackluster compared to the halcyon days of KeyArena TIs in Seattle. I miss stuff like The International Archive, Remember When or even the superb Support Support. And matching the energy of the crowd in, outside of and around the arena in Seattle is a tough ask, I suppose. But I miss the amount of signs and costumes and Kaci doing the rounds.
I hope there’s at least something in the cards for tomorrow.
I hear what you’re saying regarding the production, but I like it. Overall, it feels like it has been a very chill and enjoyable TI. Sure, Valve is in vesting less and less in TI over the years, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s sustainable to make TI a huge event every year. We had that for the first ~10 TIs, but now I would be happy to just see a fun event each year that’s great while not being over the top.
It may be the case that it wasn’t sustainable, but I doubt money is the factor. I think Valve is just less invested in Dota these days. Regardless of what is the reason, I miss TI feeling more special. I’m the opposite of you I guess, I miss TI being a huge festival of Dota. I miss the huge installations around KeyArena and Kaci talking to people around the Secret Shop. I miss the shots of people watching the huge screens outside on the grass enjoying a festival atmosphere. I miss the goofy All-Star matches.
TI just feels like any other big LAN event nowadays, which is a shame.
Falcons are out, which makes me happy, but overall this was a fairly disappointing penultimate day of TI. I wish we had more even back and forth matches instead of straight 2-0s. Liquid continue to impress with Nisha playing out of his mind, they have to be favourites at this point. You can never count out GG though - especially in a final against Liquid - so I’m hoping it will be Tundra taking the second spot tomorrow instead .They’ve looked really good today and Topson pulling out Diffusal Sniper was an instant classic. Also blows my mind that Saksa isn’t on any team right now, winning TI as a stand-in would be quite something. Wonder where he ends up.
I also feel like the production is a little… bland? Maybe they’re saving everything for tomorrow, but the crowd and arena and action in between games has felt lackluster compared to the halcyon days of KeyArena TIs in Seattle. I miss stuff like The International Archive, Remember When or even the superb Support Support. And matching the energy of the crowd in, outside of and around the arena in Seattle is a tough ask, I suppose. But I miss the amount of signs and costumes and Kaci doing the rounds.
I hope there’s at least something in the cards for tomorrow.
I hear what you’re saying regarding the production, but I like it. Overall, it feels like it has been a very chill and enjoyable TI. Sure, Valve is in vesting less and less in TI over the years, but at the same time, I don’t think it’s sustainable to make TI a huge event every year. We had that for the first ~10 TIs, but now I would be happy to just see a fun event each year that’s great while not being over the top.
It may be the case that it wasn’t sustainable, but I doubt money is the factor. I think Valve is just less invested in Dota these days. Regardless of what is the reason, I miss TI feeling more special. I’m the opposite of you I guess, I miss TI being a huge festival of Dota. I miss the huge installations around KeyArena and Kaci talking to people around the Secret Shop. I miss the shots of people watching the huge screens outside on the grass enjoying a festival atmosphere. I miss the goofy All-Star matches.
TI just feels like any other big LAN event nowadays, which is a shame.