Beginner's guide to watch Dota matches

E-gaming should be considered a sport too. But for those people who don't play Dota like me, to start watching Dota matches is going to be very difficult. First of all, you would not understand neither a thing nor the fun to watch all those characters running around killing each other. If you really want to fully understand Dota, the best way is of course by playing it. But playing Dota is going to take time and to master it, it is going to take even longer. That makes watching Dota matches a better option to understand Dota. So here is a basic guide for those who are interested in watching Dota but know nothing about it and don't want to invest time in mastering the playing skill either.


                                                                       

Basic knowledge

Just like learning anything, the basics are essential. Dota means Defense Of The Ancients. Each game there are two 5-members teams fighting against each other, trying to break opponent's base while protecting your own. In each base, there is a huge building called the Ancient. To win the game, one must destroy opponent's Ancient, and hence the name of the game. More details on the principles of the game can be found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_the_Ancients). But for the mechanics and how the game works, and also the details on each hero and item, it is preferable to go on some specific website like http://www.playdota.com/. It is the most detailed website on Dota. But for those who don't want to read, there are some very good Youtube channels with tonnes of tutorials and guides. These are the two channels I started off.

- http://www.youtube.com/user/DotaCinema (especially the playlists of Hero Spotlights and Guides)
- http://www.youtube.com/user/PurgeGamers (there is a playlist of Learn about Dota)
- and of course many more...

A good game commentator

A good commentator can make the most boring game the best watching experience you will ever have. For this one, I would totally recommend Tobiwan. I really like his style of casting a game. He talks very excitedly and sometimes too excited that you might even think he is really crazy. But the right dose of craziness might just be what the audience really wants, and he has the correct of amount of that in my opinion. He normally casts games on livestream on http://www.joindota.com/en/live/jdred, on the stream named jD Red. All the games on the livestream can be also found on Youtube later on as replays (http://www.youtube.com/user/joinDOTA). What makes his broadcast even better is a duo. My personal most preferable commentating duo would be Tobiwan plus Capitalist. Whenever they broadcast together, I will certainly watch the game, regardless the teams playing.

Tobiwan in the middle with Capitalist and his girlfriend
(photo copyright to joindota.com)

Start off with the TI series 

The International (TI), is the most important annual event in Dota Calendar and also the most competitive and the most interesting to watch. It is basically the FIFA World Cup of Dota. So what is better than start off your watching experience by TI. Started in 2011, and this year is only the third edition. But every year, the event is growing and gaining international recognition. Normally it would be held during the summer, mostly around August and September. There is also a Youtube channel dedicated for TI too.
(http://www.youtube.com/user/dota2)

Watch the best of the best : the legendary rivalry between Na'vi and Alliance

And just like any sport, it needs a legendary rivalry. For basketball is Lakers and Celtics ; for tennis is Nadal and Federer ; for Ironman is Mark Allen and Dave Scott. For Dota 2, I think it must be the rivalry between Na'vi and Alliance. This Sunday night, I just watched the Starseries VII final between these two teams. And Na'vi took their revenge from the lost of TI3 to Alliance, and won the final. 

Personally, I prefer Na'vi because I have known all the members of the team since very long time. The team has a long history back and three of five members of the team stay with the team since Na'vi was created. They are Dendi, Puppey, and Xboct. I started following their matches since very long ago. I chose to follow them probably because Na'vi is in fact the victor of the first International of Dota 2 by Valve. While on the other hand, Alliance is a relatively new team. From what I remember, I started seeing them on major competitions since only the beginning of this year. But they played very well and rose to fame very fast. They won many games and they even had a clutch win in this year International (TI3) against Na'vi in a 5 games series, back and forth final. That final is probably the best ever match-up that I have ever seen so far.  

Watch games between western teams

Unlike many Chinese or any Asian Dota teams, the western teams are always tend to be more aggressive with their play style. More aggressiveness means more fun to watch for the audience. So if you want to extend your watching experience, it is probably a good idea to stick to western teams. More aggressive means more actions and more happenings to watch during the games. Besides Na'vi and Alliance, there are western teams like Team Empire, Fnatic, Evil Genuises, and alot more. Eastern teams are catching up with the aggressive play style like the team Orange from Malaysia, but most of them still prefer a rather passive style, especially the Chinese teams.

                                                                              

So in the end, I must say that the best way to improve watching experience is to eventually play a few games of Dota so that you can understand the subtlety of the game, and realize how difficult to master the game. Hence you can understand how good the skills of the professionals and their team work is.

For me, I started watching Dota matches because of my little brother. Regarding the hype of Dota gaming in Malaysia, no wonder my brother is into it. It really got me interested by watching my brother playing. I really wanted to understand why the hype but at the same time, I don't want to learn to play it because I know it is going to take time. So, I started to watch some matches and slowly picked up the knowledge here and there. It is good in a way that I understand Dota because it can bring my brother and I closer. Dota is basically the second most talked subject between us after basketball and NBA.

Wider Classic Vertical Race de la Bastille 2013

Surprisingly, this is just the second edition of this event. How come there was nobody thought of this kind of race before while Fort de la Bastille is just sitting there, high up at the skyline of Grenoble. It is a 7km run, starting at the riverside of Isère at around 200m above sea level, and the finish point is the top of the Mont Rachais at 1000m above sea level. So there is a net 800m elevation of climb. For anyone who stays in Penang, Penang hill is just around 750m above sea level and Bukit Mertajam is merely 550m above sea level. 

On the day of the race, the weather was terrible. Rain drizzling all day long, and it was cold. I was reluctant at first to go out, but I forced myself anyway. There was not many contestants for this race, around 200 contestants and around 50 people didn't show up, probably due to the bad weather condition. That is understandable because of the rain, the trail was muddy and slippery, thus very dangerous.

After getting my number and the magnetic tracker, I got changed and get ready, warming up. Seeing other people participating this event in groups of friends and families while I was just alone, made me just kinda sad. I had invited other Malaysians in Grenoble to take part in it together, but no one would join me. I can understand too why, because it is harder for them to participate in sportive events because all this kind of events needs a medical certificate from a doctor. So if they ever want to participate, they would need to consult a doctor and do this certificate. I had mine since this April, and it is mentioned I am able to participate in competitive triathlon in my certificate, so I can practically participate in all kinds of sportive events.

A quick briefing and the rain became heavy again. It didn't take long before we, participants, all got wet, before even starting the race. I had climbed up to Mont Rachais before, I knew it was going to hard. My target was to reach summit within one hour. I wore no watch, so my plan was to climb and climb, as hard as I could. Checking myself to see whether I was ready, and at the same time checking out other participants. Judging by physical appearance, I was in the middle. Many were very fitter than me, many not as fit as I was. Appearance can be deceiving as I am always told, but at least thinking so made me feel good in my own shell and feel ready. I thought at least I would not be the last to arrive.

The race started at exactly 10am. I had been to many sportive events by now, so I knew the adrenaline rush during the starting moment was always intense. I knew by now I had to suppress the rush, kept my own pace, and started off easy, but not falling too far behind at the same time. So it was exactly what I did, running with small steps but with faster pace than running on flat surface.

The race can be broken into three stages : riverside -> Fort de la Bastille, Fort de la Bastille -> Mont Jalla and Mont Jalla -> summit of Mont Rachais. I was only able to keep my pace up to Fort de la Bastille. Just before the ascent to Mont Jalla, I already slowed down and walked, just as most of other participants. I would consider this stage to be the hardest stage of all because the trail is narrow and steep, plus the rain, it was very slippery that day. It is so narrow that taking over is very difficult. And since it is very steep, trees are unable to take root, so this part of the trail is very exposed. I thought it should be a spectacular view on the trail from far away, while a hundred people climbing to Mont Jalla in line.

approaching the foot of Mont Jalla
(photo credit to Sylvain Prévot)

After Mont Jalla, the trail became flatter and rocky, but not that rocky that one cannot run on it. It seemed like everybody was back to running again and so was I. Actually reaching Mont Jalla meant reaching only the half way point. The trail that followed was sheltered under the trees, all the way to the summit. So along the way, there was only a few chances to have a clear view on the town of Grenoble. These chances were precious, because the view was breathtaking. The trail during these precious moments was just beside a very steep drop. By now Grenoble was so far down below, by looking at the road in front of me and then quickly looked at the building far down below, it almost made me dizzy. Probably because of exhaustion, my eyes didn't seem to be able to adapt fast enough to see the trail and then those buildings clearly. The switch in between was probably blurred for merely a second, but it felt longer than it should be and my legs were very light, almost as if I was going to fell off the hill. But nothing too serious was happened to me, at least not until I reached the finish line.

I reached the summit with the time 1 hour and 6 minutes. But there was no resting yet, because I had to climb down to the Bastille before I could get some food and drinks. And this was the time I suffered the most. It happened to me before, during the last few kilometers of the triathlon in Aix les Bains. I was hungry like hell, and no more reserve to be burned in my body. Probably low in blood sugar, my dizziness accentuated. The only thought in my head : I need food!!! I tried to get down as fast as I could, walking clumsily. Trying to run a little but I was afraid that the dizziness would kick in and I would loss balance and fall. Plus the rain and the cold weather, I was really in hell.

At last, I asked for help. I asked for food from another participant who was going downhill too. He carried with him a back pack and he gave me a chocolate bar. It was funny to think about, that I was almost like a beggar, begging for food. But seriously that chocolate bar was my life saver. I swear that it was the most delicious chocolate bar I have ever eaten. After a moment of digestion and recuperation, I was alive again, running this time, all the way back to Bastille, and ate like a barbarian.

Over all, the race was fun and it gave me an insight into the sport of trail running. If comparing this course to the famous UTMB (Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc), this is really nothing. To complete the UTMB, one must run 160km with 9000m of ascent in just 48 hours. UTMB is basically the synonym of insanity to me. Here is a video summary of this year UTMB.
(http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14ynob_utmb-2013-by-eurosport-english_sport?start=1)

One important lesson to be learnt after this race and also triathlon Aix les Bains : my body is a V12 engine, burning fuel fast and violent, especially during cold weather. I should really bring some food along when the race takes longer than an hour to complete. It should be a good investment to start looking for some energy gels and bars, including them in my training sessions.

And here is the link to the full photo album of this race this year, by Wider Classic.
(https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.736187856406666.1073741826.296681357023987&type=1)

A rewarding visit from my friend

My friend Kian Joo, came from Prague to visit meet in Grenoble two weeks ago. When I first received his message about his visit, I actually didn't know what to plan for the weekend. I mean there is practically nothing much to visit in Grenoble besides Bastille and Vizille, and skiing, but winter is not here yet. Grenoble isn't a touristic town strictly speaking. So I was a little worried, worried that he would be bored and nothing much I could offer, feeling guilty for being a bad host. 

But to my surprise, Kian Joo actually wanted to do some sportive stuffs. Two days of his stay, he wanted to do a hiking on a day and cycling uphill on another. Surprise because normally when people visit a town, they don't normally want to this kind of stuffs. His suggestion suits me well indeed. And so I planned a hike on to Bastille and further up to Mont Jalla, and then cycling up to Revel. 

Bringing people up to Bastille is not new to me. Instead, it is almost like a yearly ritual to hike up the Bastille, the senior Grenoblois bringing those who just move to Grenoble, to visit Bastille. But bringing other people along with me to cycle uphill, cycle out of Grenoble to the country side, is totally the first time for me. Never before had ever people wanted to follow me cycle that far, especially doing a climb on bicycle.

I don't consider the cycling trip we did together very tough. It was a 35km ride, with 600m elevation and the climb is around 7 - 8% . It was tough enough for the first-timer, but achievable. We came back and he straight went to sleep after a quick bath. I knew it would be very tiring for him. And that evening, we watched some documentaries of Tour de France and Lance Armstrong. I think I was explaining alot of cycling stuffs to him very passionately and he was listening most of the time, studiously. 

Kian Joo and our bikes, and Grenoble far behind at the background

Me at the first 5km mark, with Isère beside me

I got to admit that I feel really happy when someone finally understand how tough those competitions I did in the last few months. When people say to me : "Wow! You actually finished a triathlon?! Wow, you cycled up a 25% slope to Bastille?!", I don't feel like they really know how tough those events are. Those people had never swam in an open water, never cycled over 10km, never cycled uphill before, how could possibly they understand the difficulties that lie behind. 

But this time is different with Kian Joo. He once told me that I am crazy man, after the 35km cycling trip and he added that doing the Tour de France would be insane. I can be sure for this time that his words are sincere because he went through what I had been through. He tasted the bitterness of the hard work that lies behind whatever I did. It is a strange to put it this way but during the cycling trip, seeing him suffering was my greatest pleasure. The more exhausted he was, the more my pride grew. At the same time, there were almost tears in my heart, because all those pain during the training I felt for the last few months, all those determination and perseverance, all was felt by Kian Joo. It was a sense of empathy, and I was the one being empathized.

"That's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt."

John Green, The Fault In Our Stars

And then on my birthday, Kian Joo posted my Facebook wall, "happy birthday bro... you are my inspiration... thinking of getting a bike..." This is the best birthday gift I have ever received in years. A great gift doesn't have to be expensive financially. Simple, honest words can be of the greatest value. My happiness isn't because of the fact that he remembered my birthday or whatever. But the fact that I actually inspire him to work out and to buy a bike?! That is just insane to think about. I really appreciate his birthday wish. His words just send me to cloud nine.