So, I actually went to watch the invitationals at the location for the last day. Kind of neat, but the ricing, oh god the ricing in the losers bracket final. Dem Chinese gold farmers, eh? A good spectator sport, this does not make, Valve. And the crowd was really only interested in cheering for Navi the last day, IG got a couple of cheers, but unless it was Navi doing something, the response was kinda meh. I mention this because it only really became fun when the crowd was into it. All the Navi games were therefore fantastic, and the chinese ones where they went Anti Mage and riced it up for 60+ minutes were slack jawed bore fests.There were also some weirdly bad plays, where people would just be sitting in their lane watching as a bunch of enemy heroes ran up to them and raped them. Or someone would be creeping while their team fought for their lives a mere screen away. Also, some pretty big ult whiffs. That said, the Finals definitely had some quality plays.
Then, after the last game, GABEN shows up, says 'great touney' and walks off. Didn't even hand anyone a check or anything. Then everyone, including the players on stage, just stood around, not really sure what to do, before being beckoned off stage as well. Well, they did all hold the aegis trophy for a bit, but whatever. Then everyone in the crowd just milled around in confusion before wandering back out towards the lobby, where they proceeded to shuffle side to side around a scattered array of TVs looping the top 10 plays video as the DJ blasted skrillex and one chick danced. Pretty abysmal for a world class, million dollar+ event.
On the plus side, they handed out some swag bags at check in, including some in-game items, a scarf, a weird straw/bottle thing, a leather bracelet with a dota symbol, some 'collectible' hero cards, and the bag itself, which is a drawstring pack.