Imagine arriving in beautiful Seattle. You hardly slept last night out of sheer excitement. You've been waiting for this since last year's TI. You walk into the Key Arena and spend an entire day watching some of the world's finest Dota matches.

Between games, you decide to stretch your legs, and head outside into the warm Seattle sun to grab a Dota-themed drink, or pick up some swag at the Secret Shop. You can smell the delicious scents of fresh coffee and food trucks, see an adorable Crystal Maiden cosplayer, and ultimately feel at home knowing that you can talk to anyone here about your favorite game.

It's as if Gaben himself descended from the heavens and created the perfect real life map for a Dota 2 fan. This is TI7.

But then, the air changes. Something feels...upsetting. It was all too perfect.

Ho ho ha ha, motherf*ckers!

You try to run, but you're no match for the range on that gun. Laughing manically, he pins you down in a shrapnel of Dota plushies.

Valve might never invite us back, but it was worth it.

Building the Cannon

At The International

Unbeknownst to us, Brontothunder (the workshop artist who originally created this in-game skin) was also at TI7. Needless to say, we were all pretty excited to meet each other!

Header image: Dotamods.ovh