With the recent announcement of the Fire in Ice tournament being presented by eMazing Gaming, it is only natural to sit down and talk with Matt Marcou, the Head admin of the tournament. This tournament is the largest tournament as of now on the American soil, and hopefully it will be a start for other organizations to step up and follow.

Interview with Matt Marcou

Hello Matt. Your name has been in the eSports scene for quite a while, and you have basically been a background guy for the DotA scene. Can you tell us a little about yourself, and explain your previous involvement in the DotA community?

Most people will probably remember me as the Founder and Manager of the verGe.DotA division, which proceeded me in my move to eMazing Gaming. My involvement in DotA started nearly two years ago when I was the CAL Operations Manager for Warcraft III. I was approached by the developers of the modification (Icefrog and Vinh) regarding the creation of a CAL DotA league. I was a big fan of the game having spent many hours in the past year playing it. After hearing their input and willingness to support a competitive community, I was thrilled to setup a league and rule set for the game.

What made the eMg Organization decide to hold one of the largest DotA tournaments yet?

Jim Tyler - CEO of eMazing Gaming, Whisperwind, and myself have been discussing the DotA community and its growth for many months and had all come to the same conclusion: "We need more tournaments!" Rather than wait for someone else to take a step up, we decided to hold our own.

There is a rumor going around saying there will be a 2v2 karaoke battle! Can you confirm this? What other activities are being planned?

We're currently planning out some side activities and karaoke is definitely making it to the forefront thanks to Whisperwind. We'll keep everyone updated as the schedule is finalized.

Have any teams already signed up? Who?

Of course, eMazing Gaming will be there there. Other teams that have registered include XLO, pandemic, MYM, transcendence, and FD.

The LAN center itself, Ignite of Chicago, is looking like a very good spot for this tournament to happen, since it is Mid USA, as well as a very nice looking LAN center. Has eMg ever had previous relationships with Ignite, or how did you mark this as the LAN spot.

We knew from the start that we wanted a location in the Midwestern United States that would give good coverage for the rest of the country and Canada. Whisper and I made a short list of LAN centers and made contact with them.

We had not had a previous relationship with Ignite. I had been aware of Ignite's presence in Chicago for about a year and decided to meet with their staff about the idea of hosting a tournament. I was glad to see that their facilities are very modern and aethetically pleasing. Most importantly, the guys behind the center, Flavius and Reuben, are awesome guys and very thoughtful! After our initial meeting, both Whisperwind and I agreed that Ignite would be the perfect spot for this event.

There has never been a huge tournament in the United States, and after the CPL winter tournament CPL announced that they would not be having a DotA tournament at that time. Do you think that the large LAN organizations, WCG, CPL, etc, should look back into the DotA scene?

I think DotA is definitely an overlooked game with a lot of potential. I know that the primary concern that most tournaments have around DotA is the team turn out and its spectator unfriendly nature. I'm hoping that this event will show that there is definitely a community demand for tournaments. Additionally, I know first hand that the developers of the mod (Icefrog & co) are continually looking into improvements that will shorten the length of games and many of those strategies have been implemented successfully already.

What will the coverage be like at the LAN itself? Will there be cameras (Video and digital)? Written Interviews? Live updates?

The center itself is planning some media coverage as they have an in house videographer. Additionally, I know we have already extended an invite to several Gotfrag? writers.

Last question, the prize money right now is huge for this tournament, but will there be any more prizes added? Such as hardware?

We are currently in talks with additional sponsors to augment the prize pot with hardware and other goodies.

I would like to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer these questions. Do you have any last comments?

I'd like to thank Whisper and Jim again for their support and assistance. Without them this wouldn't be possible. Flavius and Reuben from Ignite for their professionalism, enthusiasm, and use of their LAN center. Also, thank you to the individuals who have volunteered as admins for the tournament so far.

I'm extremely pleased to be able to present the DotA community with a tournament and I thank you all for your feedback and support.