ESL One Birmingham was the first dota 2 match held in the United Kingdom. A major tournament that will be remembered for the enthusiasm of gaming fans, the silent tribute to British gaming critic, TotalBiscuit and the triumphant victory of Virtus.Pro. ESL One Birmingham 2018 was truly a celebration of all that is esports.
News that there will be an esports tournament in Birmingham, spread like wildfire among the British gaming fans. In fact, the dota 2 event was well received with tickets that sold out within the first hour, which actually showed how keen people are about esports in the UK. The demand led the ESL organisers to redesign the audience layout for more people to watch the live action.
Esports fans around the world got to watch 12 professional Dota 2 teams compete for the ESL One Birmingham title that offered a prize pool amounting to a staggering $1 million. The grand finals of the Dota 2 event saw the victorious Russian team, Virtus.Pro defeat the North Americans, Optic Gaming with an incredible score of 3-0.
VP secured their win from the start in game 1, not one death on any of their core players. The Russian squad have qualified for the upcoming dota 2 prestigious tournament, The International 8. Showing great consistency in their gameplays, Virtus.Pro will continue to dominate the esports scene which makes them one of the strongest esports teams at the moment.
A great achievement accomplished by Vladimir ‘No[o]ne Minenko was earning the MVP title at ESL One Birmingham 2018. Virtus.Pro’s midlaner also won a Mercedes Benz car costing around €50K thanks to the sponsors of the tournament.
The top dota 2 team, VP have earned 750 DPC points and took home a grand reward of $500K. While the runner-up, Optic finished in second to claim their prize of $200K as well as 450 DPC points in qualification in the hopes of acquiring a spot at TI8.
A shock that devastated the esports community at ESL One Birmingham was the loss of John ‘TotalBiscuit’ Bain last Thursday, who lost the battle to bowel cancer. The ESL organisers held a moment of silence with a video clip in memory of him. He was an esports commentator and critic on esports games such as Starcraft II and had worked in a number of ESL events.
ESL One will be back in Birmingham
Esports is beneficial, providing an impact on countries where tournaments are held. Gaming affects the different sectors such as business, finance, government and competitive progress which will help the UK recognise the potential of electronic gaming through ESL One Birmingham 2018. In the past few years, esports was considered as ‘too expensive’ or that there would be visa issues that create complications.
The Dota major has proven what potentially will boost the esports scene in the United Kingdom for there are keen gamers who like to watch their favourite teams compete. After the success of the first ESL One in Birmingham, it is no surprise that more tournaments will be held in the UK. In fact, this coming September 2018, there will be a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive match, FACEIT Major taking place in London.
James Dean, the Managing Director and Founder of ESL UK explained how special the gaming event will be organized. “Fundamentally, we wanted to put on a successful event to just showcase and broadcast what eSports is about to the world. In order to do that, we need to make it special, get the community on site, build the atmosphere and demonstrate one of the core values of eSports which is a sense of belonging.”
Dean said “Everyone was astounded at how quickly the tickets sold. We were confident it was going to be an amazing event, but the speed moved to an extent where we immediately started working on the venue to start re-organising the stage and positioning so we can have some more seating.”
The ESL UK Founder gave his assurance that ESL One will return to Birmingham in the coming years. “If we come out of this event and everyone is really happy, we’ll absolutely try and make ESL One Birmingham happen again. We’re pledging to the community that if this works and if this is what they want, we’ll make it happen.
James Dean relates how memorable esports in the UK will be in 2018. “It’s hugely exciting for the UK right now, just look at what FACEIT are doing, the CS: GO event is looking to be a sellout and it won’t be the only one. This year is absolutely momentous for the UK eSports industry. We’re demonstrating that this is a genuine destination, we’re the second largest gaming market in Europe and it’s about time that we put ourselves on the map!”
ESL One Birmingham 2018 has been a memorable esports match, marking the first ESL Major in Great Britain. Virtus.Pro have shown they are true masters of Dota 2, taking home their overwhelming reward.
