Moof went above and beyond with helping people out at this LAN. Thanks so much moof

Thanks to luuuunch for helping me out, ur the best

Y'all need to drink more. I still had 5 unopened handles costing me an extra 200$ to fly back home with. Tsk tsk

Also shoutout to the other Sami (ESA staff guy) for being super patient with all us open bracket players and answering every question when we were salty about having to get shuffled around. He said, "I do this literally every event. I just wanna make sure that all of the communities are happy." What a champ.

I don't know their names, but white beanie computer support guy and the volunteers were also fuckin indispensable.

Thank you to everyone who made the lan possible, the whole production team and casters were awesome. I wanted to thank Nick at N1ght for the amazing experience in the open tourney, cant believe we got 4th. Thank you Shdsteel for allowing people to hang in his room and providing bottomless alchohol as well donating to the prizepool. Thank you weedmaps for sponsoring the event. Thank you to smitty, hildreth, dreamboat, frenz, rastsy, and Tino for making the day after one of my most fun experiences in a while. Thank you to drshdwpuppet and kevinispwn for not only doing production and being awesome people but also ordering lyfts/ubers and paying for them in addition to paying for some of the food and hanging out with us. Thank you to the other open teams for providing a super fun experience to me and all the others playing, thank you to esports arena for hosting the event, the staff were very nice and understanding about all the issues that I saw happening. Thank you to everyone there, this LAN was super fun.

Thank you, Dashner. My Canadian partner-in-crime to carry me as always for Ready Up, from the cinematography down to becoming a co-director. I'm glad you were able to experience this LAN after all the shit with i58. When I first showed you the concept trailer before DHS, I was worried it'd be impossible to take on. You are the reason Ready Up has blossomed into what it is now, and you are the reason I am where I am today. It's really hard sometimes, but I'm glad we're still fighting for this project, fighting for our TF2 family. Let's keep doing our best. Thank you for sharing your passion with me.

Thank you, Sideshow. You took time out of your schedule to help promote our documentary as well as conduct our interviews. It was something I hesitated with at first for cost justifications - now, I have no doubt in my mind now that we would not have been able to pull off all the things we did during setup without you. It's always stressful during filming, but you helped us find light when there was darkness. You were lovely as always with the work you put in for us, and I'm glad you enjoyed your interviews. Sorry about your busted vocals. Not sorry you're an uncultured anti-chopsticks plebeian. Thank you for sharing your confidence with me.

Thank you Geel and Marketplace.tf. You are the reason me, Sideshow, and Dashner could make it out to Rewind to finish filming for Ready Up. You are also the reason TF2 has continued to thrive. I am still just as grateful as I was when you first offered me the funds to fly to Dreamhack Summer, that you have this much faith in this project we share. You've always been there to help us out, and we will do our damndest to make this film something that not only you but the TF2 community can support and be proud of. Thank you for sharing your confidence in me.

Thank you to all the folks involved in the production of Esports Arena, from the casters and cameradudes to the staff and crew down to the water boys. Tino and Kevin, you killed it. Ma3la, slin, Truktruk, Bren, Fragile, eXtine, you killed it. Everybody killed it. Thank you Shdwpuppet for making sure to let me know about which plug I need to unplug from the power charger that had all the servers on it, to charge a laptop so that I didn't literally kill it. Thank you to the Samis for running the tournaments. Thank you to Wade for saying "yes" when Sami asked if we can do Rewind. Thank you for accommodating us for filming Ready Up. Thank you for making this LAN happen.

Thank you to ShdSteel for being awesome and doing what you could to make sure everybody had somewhere to go after LAN, as well as buying us some supplies we needed during the Ready Up filming process. Thank you as well for commissioning me for the poster, I'm sorry you didn't manage to get all the signatures you wanted but it looks fucking kick ass and I'm always happy to see my work printed and appreciated. Thank you Whisker for recommending me to ShdSteel for the poster, dropping by and giving us rides.

Thank you Hana for the rides as well, and the ginger tea + the ramen on the first day we met. We still need to go for a Pocky Asian supermarket run. Thank you Mana for coming in hot with the freshest of the memes and the freshest of the cookies from the 4th Street Supermarket. Wish we could have smashed karaoke together. Thank you Feathers for chilling out with us and volunteering, as well as helping set up. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself at LAN, wish we could have hung out more too.

Thank you TFCrew for turning up. Two worlds, but one family. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed yourself and enjoyed the games. Dane, if you dab on camera again, I will drag you off, i58 Getawhale style. Agro, if I'm not there to stop Dane from dabbing, it's up to you. Thank you Jasbutts for being my sister from another mister, and helping me with the photography stuff as well as scavenging food when the flash floods came into full effect. Cold In-N-Out fries have never tasted so good. Also, dicks.

Thank you not only to the American teams for turning up and Froyotech for their strong comeback, but the international teams for turning up. The Australians are bants. Thank you for the prestige you bring to LAN despite all the struggles of the Australian scene. Thank you to Paulsen who accepted an interview for Ready Up, and Mal for prepping him. Thank you Mal for a lot of shit actually, you're bants, I adore you, and the Tim Tams were delicious.

The Europeans are like second family to me. At that LAN, I could only count to Se7en. Thank you Kaidus for your insight for Ready Up, as well as buying me food and appreciating my Canadian 5 dollar bill. Thank you Se7en for your appreciation towards the brand I built you, and performing for LAN. Thank you Gubbins and Loris for showing me how far your support for your boys goes. Thank you Fribs and Lux for being so warm and welcoming to me. Thank you TEZC for your silliness. Thank you Bren for turning it up for casts as always and doing food runs with us.

Thank you, Starkie. There were many things you shared with me, such as that Hershey's chocolate bar it was disgusting, as well as also boarding this anti-chopsticks brigade the Brits keep rolling over me with fuck you guys and FUCK your Spy plays - but thank you for sharing TF2 with me. With Se7en. With your friends. With everyone who came to watch you play this dumb game one last time, all in the name of jomjom. Thank you for sharing your generosity with me.

Thank you, Ondkaja. Congratulations on being the first Euro to win an NA LAN with Legalize Ranch. Thank you for helping Dashner and I lug around equipment on the last day, as well as taking the risk with the motel's guest policy to have the early parties in your room. Thank you as well for letting me crash in that room when my god damn room sprung a leak due to nature pissing on California. Thank you for making sure Sideshow and Dashner did not piss laughing in a car while Whisker was figuring out how to get us to La Quinta. Thank you for sharing your sincerity with me.

Thank you to everybody period who turned up. Thank you for your applause when the Ready Up trailer debuted during the Grand Finals. Thank you for cheering on your favourite teams, no matter where they came from. Because they were all here for TF2. We were all here for TF2. My friends. My family. My loves. My thanks. Ready Up's filming is done, but one day when I have the chance, I hope we'll all meet again soon.

Thanks to everyone for being so loving and kind. I always feel at home at these events. You are all so wonderful.

I'd like to thank my liver

Thank you Sami, Wade, and the folks at ESA, for letting us have this event in the first place and organizing everything. Get some rest guys, you deserve it. Thank you casters and production, for keeping everything running smoothly and being our voice. Thank you Tino for all that camerawork, hope you're feeling better! Thank you eXtine, Fragile, Slin, Bren, Dreamboat, Ma3la, Trutruk, Getawhale!! Thank you Dashner, for the documentary video, just watched it at home and got a bit weepy. Also extra thank you Dreamboat for having the best hugs.

Thank you ShdSteel, for giving us a place to hang out afterwards and for providing so much booze for us! And great idea to go to karaoke on Friday, never have I laughed so hard. Thank you Shdwpuppet for the $12 dollars to spank KevinIsPwn and sorry for brutalizing you Kevin. Thank you Mana, for giving me a place to stay and always being a good buddy. Until next time we run into each other, which I'm sure won't be too far off!

Thank you to all the teams that traveled here to play, you all put on a great show. Especially to the Euros and Aussies- Thank you for having such strong presence and being great partiers! I'm sorry our toilets have too much water. Thank you Lux, for being a great party companion! Thank you Sideshow, for being as hilarious and sweet in person as you are online. Also thank you for whoever brought the Tim Tams and Arnott's biscuits, they're quite tasty.

Thank you to the attendees, for showing up and for your love of the game. You're the community, and it's a damn good turnout. We may not be the biggest but we're definitely one of the closest I feel. Thank you everyone who wore their Tip of the Hats shirts, it was so nice to see many of them. Thank you to all who liked the signs I made as well!

Thank you Uberchain, for always being a fantastic partner to work with again and a being a great friend. Thank you for trusting me with the camera and introducing me to people so I wouldn't feel so alone. I'm glad we were able to meet in person after years and I don't want this to be the last time.

Also lastly, thank you to everybody for being so kind and so wonderful and so welcoming- this was my first international event and honestly, I had a lot of doubts about going at all. What if people were mean, what if people didn't like me, what if I didn't have fun- all that melted away as soon as I stepped in the venue and started saying hi. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for making this weekend one I won't forget. I eagerly look forward to the next time we'll meet.

FeelsBadMan

ditto, this is why i don't thank people by name at the end of events because it's impossible to not forget people

AND DREAMBOAT AND GETAWHALE THEY ALSO KILLED IT I'M SORRY I FUCKED IT

https://static-cdn.jtvnw.net/emoticons/v1/37758/3.0

did i kill it

Shoutout to everyone who hugged me

Hug MVPs:
Jasbutts
Ondkaja
Maxi

Also shoutout to shdsteel's pepper

tfw third

TY to TEZC for actually giving me a team even though you were hardly at the event, the chase the sun chant made the whole tf2 side worth it - even if we sat around for 6 hours and only played 3 games total.
Hildreth for playing in our 4th LAN team together and getting through my snoring.
ShdSteel for free drinks and the rest of his crew for allowing Hildreth and I to hang out on monday before we headed back to LAX.
Griff, shadowpuppet and KevinIsPwn for explaining normalities of NA living, such as crossing the road and what Soda & snacks to avoid.
Uber & Lyft drivers provided so much character, from the 9/11 conspiracy guy to the chinese guy who gave us caramel.
La Quinta for making me realise how much I appreciate premier inn
Jasbutts for enhancing her dick with veins
Gecks for using our british tinder tips, waiting on that update
All the NA players who recognised me, even if it was just for posts on TFTV

Would love to fly out again next time, hopefully staying for longer as this weekend shot by.

It wasn't in order, you were just the 3 best huggers.

Tfw quoted but not even mentioned :(

Finally got back home after a rather painful 26 hour trip. I always intend to post in these threads but it's hard to find the words of gratitude sometimes, because I am a man of few words. However, this time I feel like I really need to write something as this was a very special event for me personally.

Thanks to Esports Arena and its staff for hosting, adminning and producing this event! Nobody would have been there without you!

I'd like to thank the Se7en squad and its entourage for showing and making me not the only European player at this LAN. I really enjoyed hanging out with you guys, drinking, eating breakfast and whatnot. I apologise for smashing Raymon's headset during the bootcamp!

Thanks to my team: saam, bear, bo4r, shiki and marmaloo. Despite having almost no chemistry, no practice and it being my roamer debut, we still made it and took the gold medal in the open tournament.

Thanks to AMS, alle and Bren for being good roommates. Thanks for booking ubers when I couldn't get my uber app working. The trip to Hollywood with AMS and alle was really fun, even though I got really badly chafed from the shoes I bought and I couldn't walk at the end.

Thank you Dashner and Uberchain for taking the time to come here to produce their documentary. I am really looking forward to see the results. Thanks for all the moments we shared, it was really enjoyable to hang with you guys and I will miss you guys the most! Hopefully we will meet again some day! Also thanks to Uberchain for taking my new Twitter profile picture, and giving me chopsticks when I didn't have anything to eat my noodles with.

Thank you Jasbutts for helping me take care of myself when I was more than slightly inebriated, and thanks for booking the uber back to the airport when I was the only one left at the motel.

Thanks to all the people I hanged out with during LAN, and everyone who came up to me and had a chat with me. You know who you are. The TF2 community has a lot of lovely people and will always have a special place in my heart. I've been to a lot of events and I feel like the community around the events is awesome every single time, and I always miss a ton of people after leaving.

Please lets keep making these events happen! They are always amazing experiences for almost everyone involved, and to people who haven't been to LAN yet, please take the opportunity to go to one if it shows up. I highly recommend them.

Finally, thanks Dreamboat for the GIANT hug.

P.S. Words can not really describe how grateful I am to have attended this LAN, but this is a solid attempt.

Words cannot describe the size of that hug.

I think we set a world record.

This kid's shoes are fuckin beautiful

In addition to all the standard thanks everyone is dishing out, I'd like to thank the ESA production guys that casually mentioned they could play two feeds at once when I was talking to tino about minimaps and then were totally OK with mindlessly having to switch the secondary demo rollout cam on and off for the remainder of the event.

ESA is good people, guys. When are we going back?

had much partying with ond_kaja lots of fun my man