In which a team of five video game players wind up with a giant check for $1.3 million dollars and some lovely trophies.
I spent the weekend at the Smite World Championships in Atlanta, watching live as eight teams from around the world were whittled down to two — Cognitive Prime from the U.S. and Team Titan from Europe. By the time the Grand Finals rolled around on Sunday afternoon, everyone was exhausted — the players, the spectators, the developers of the third-person MOBA, the people handing out the free Red Bull — everybody.
So when Cognitive Prime took the first two rounds of the best of five final, I was ready for a nap. They'd destroyed Titan during their first meetup on Friday, and it looked like this was just more of the same. But then Titan rallied, taking the next two games. Suddenly the entire Cobb Energy Center was on the edge of its seats.
It was the most exciting sporting event I'd watched in ages, even if the outcome wasn't the one I'd hoped.
Check out the rest of the matches and the trophy ceremony over at the SmitePro YouTube channel.