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Cars, chips and warm words for ESL One Hamburg players

This Dota 2 Major’s organizers gave players a big welcome before the big event.

By Victoria Rose
Eric Khor (ReiNNNN) via Twitter

ESL One Hamburg, this weekend’s Dota 2 tournament, is big in a few ways: the event is held by the biggest esports company in the world, and it’s the first Major in the Dota Pro Circuit, with a big $1 million at stake.

The tournament organizers wanted to give the players an equally big welcome—or at least, a warm one, before the pressure of the weekend finally settled in.

It appears everyone participating in the event, from players to talent, received a gift package of sorts. Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner shared his, a literal bag of goodies:

From there, things got a little more personal. Each of the teams and the talent received a personal letter, outlining their journey to the event. Newbee graciously shared theirs on Twitter:

The tournament director later shared all of the letters online for all to see in a gallery.

Players also shared a tasty treat from one of their more famous sponsors, Pringles:

Every player from each team received a customized can of Pringles, with their handle and team logo printed onto the package.

If it seems a bit underwhelming to the fancier fans out there, no worries—ESL got some real drive for this event.

A few months ago, Mercedes-Benz announced their sponsorship for ESL One Hamburg, to the cautiously-optimistic surprise of many fans. They then announced that the fan- and talent-voted MVP of the event would receive a ride of their own.

But it didn’t stop there. When teams stepped out for media day, they were greeted with custom-skinned cars for each team.

And, of course, Matthew “CyborgMatt” couldn’t help but crack a joke about American pub star Jacky “EternaLEnVy” Mao:

It was a joke, of course; all’s good in Fnatic, unless you count them getting stomped against Newbee today.

Unfortunately, it seems only the MVP will get their own car. It may be for the better, as with the busy Pro Circuit season, there may not be much time to appreciate the free ride.

ESL One Hamburg continues until the weekend; be sure to plan your weekend with our full schedule of the event.

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