The Dodgers of esports: How L.A.'s Liquid Guild won the attention of over 100,000 people
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It might not be an Olympic sport, but an event in Santa Monica happening quietly for years would overflow SoFi Stadium.A grassroots community event in the game “World of Warcraft,” the Race to World First is more of a marathon, sometimes lasting over a month.
Liquid Guild — led by Max “Maximum” Smith — is tasked to play through the most difficult group content in gaming, he said.They race with other groups to be the first in the world to complete it.
“It is the regular season, the Super Bowl and the playoffs all at one time,” Smith, 27, said.Liquid is the Dodgers of WoW esports.
The L.A.-based team has won the last three races in a row, and mean to make this one their fourth.Winning requires not just the 20-man group playing the game — called a raid group — but dozens of analysts and support staff.
There’s no prize pool or gold medal to be won.In this race, a team of esports athletes stare forward at a screen instead of the starting line.
Without each other, there’s no hope of winning.Smith’s guild contracted with Team Liquid, an esports company, in 2021.
They bring players from across the country to play from the Alienware Training Facility in Santa Monica around six to nine months, depending on when new game content is released.The race turns an ordinary office into an otherworldly production space.
Dozens of computer setups line several rooms inside.Players only stop their 14-hour days to use the bathroom, eat and sleep.
Even those breaks are all coordinated.The race is a full-time job for about 60 people for at least a month, if not longer.
Players have been preparing for weeks, working with fans to funnel powerful items into their characters.“It’s one of the few sports or esports where the community actively feels involved in helping prepare the team to compete,” Smith said.
He acts as an eagle eye, not playing the game himself, but w...