I am truly sorry it took me forever to write the last blog about the finals at Arbalet. GEEZ have I been busy with finals for school and practice with the girls. But here we go... hopefully my memory is still as fresh as it was a couple weeks ago!

Sat, May 1 was the day that the semi-finals and finals would be played. We were matched against Alternative from Germany for the semi-finals match and they proved to be a strong team against their opponents in the group stage. After getting some decent rest the night before, we all felt energized and ready to start the day.

Sat, May 1, 11AM --> We walk into the lan center to see that there was some local male tournament going on. There were at least 10 male teams playing... it was crazy to know that this lan center in Ukraine was straight up hosting two tournaments at the same time. We set up and get down and dirty to start it off on inferno. It felt like we had played inferno a million times during the first day so we felt very comfortable on it. Jso played very well this match and we ended the score 16-13 in favor for us. It was a little nervewrecking actually, with a close score as our first match of the day.

Sat, May 1, 12:30pm --> Since semi-finals was bo3 maps, we played dust2 next. We hadn't actually played dust2 at all during the tournament until this moment. We started off T side first and literally DOMINATED. The girls were getting picks, our strats were working, our communication was dead on, and we ended the half winning 13-2. We had built so much momentum going into the 2nd half that we KNEW we were heading to the finals... but low and behold, what was going on for CT? We couldn't get 3 rounds to win! Alternative kept fighting back... round after round after round... until it came down to the last round of the half. The score was currently 15-14 and we needed this round BADLY or else it would go to the 3rd and final map. Eventually, we did indeed win the last round to secure a spot in the finals, but we did not feel good about our performance at all. It was a real eye-opener as well as a confidence killer. We knew we would have to pick it up for the finals vs Fnatic.

May 1, 5pm --> We set up on stage and await the time to play the finals match vs Fnatic. What an epic final... and it has definitely not been the first time that both our teams have been in this position. I wanted my redemption for losing to these girls at ESWC 2008 Masters and have been YEARNING for the day that it would come. :]

They played the American and Swedish national anthems while introducing us to the crowd. It was almost unreal to me how far professional gaming has come. Just the whole setup of the stage, the lights, announcers, projectors, the spectators, the chanting, the uniting of all gamers around the world anticipating this match... just the whole feeling of embracing that moment while on that stage was an amazing feeling I can't even describe with words. And shit, obviously this is not my first time in that type of situation... I've been on a big stage numerous times... but everytime I just get so EMOTIONAL knowing that hard work pays off you know? To know the relationship I have with these girls: how I know them and they know me better than anyone because of the mutual understanding that we all have a common goal that we can only achieve together...

Sorry guys, if you're reading this RIGHT NOW, I am getting off work and will continue this blog when I get home. FINALS VS FNATIC COMING UP!!!!!!