'It's absolutely electric': Dota 2's The International brings elite esports spectacle to Vancouver

Rock stars, a struggling hockey club and plenty ofentertainers have found out the hard way that filling Rogers Arena isn't easy for one night, let alone six.

But on Monday,theCanucks' home will open its doors and usher inthousands of raucous fans of the video gameDota 2, an event akinto the Super Bowl of esports.

They'll bethere for the main event of The International: a six-day, all-day professional esports eventpitting16teams of the world's bestDota 2players against each other in a $30-plusmillion tournamentthat will drawthousands of viewers in person and millions moreonline.

It's the pinnacle of competition for a video game with an estimated 10 million active players worldwide, drawn by the game's blend of fantasy, strategy, and teamwork.

The game has arabid fanbasethat invests hours oftime and millions of dollars, crowdfunding almost all of the big money prize pool.

• Esports, competitive video games, a multimillion-dollar industry

Vancouver's Kurtis'Aui_2000'Ling is former winner of The International,capturingthe 2015 title and with it, a cut of the $6.6 million US first place prize money.

"Dotais an incredibly hard game to get into. But once you get down to understanding it, the strategical depth of the game is so high, and it's incredibly exciting to watch," he said.

"But at the same time, if I was a new spectator I wouldn't have any idea what was going on either."

If you're one of those new fans, here's some of what you need to know about The Internationaland Dota 2.

What is Dota 2?

Here come the acronyms.

Dota 2isa multiplayer online battle arena game, or MOBA. In the game, two teams of five players each selectcharacters and battle across a virtual landscape in an effort to destroy each other's base, referred to as an ancient.

Dotaitself is an acronym forDefense of the Ancients, and as the name implies, Dota 2 waslaunchedasa sequel to the originalDota.

One more:The International is the event's formal name, but most there will call simply call itTI. Vancouver is hosting the eighth editionof the tournament, so this one is known informally as TI8.

"It's absolutely electric," said Ling of The International. "There's so many people from all over the world who are just there to watch you play video games. It's insane."

Isn't it boring watching other people play video games?

In your living room, it probably is. But, ata tournament setting inside a NHL arena, it'sa true sporting spectacle.

"The crowd is really nice. Everyone in that arena wants to see goodDotaso if you display goodDota, people are going to be happy about it," saidArtour'Arteezy'Babaev, a Vancouver-raised TI veteran at just 22 years old.

Matches play out with teams each sheltered in transparent soundproof booths positionedroughly where centre ice would be ata hockey game.

Fans watchand reactas the action unfolds live on the view screens above.

"The only thing you can really hear is the vibration of the crowd," said Babaev of playing amid the pressure-packed TI atmosphere.

"It's muffled a bit, but you hear the vibration."

Most matches at TI's main event will be best of three games, with Saturday's grand finalsbetween the final two teams contested as a best of five.

No one has won The Internationaltwice, meaning a TI victory carries with it a singular prestige in the gaming world.

Who will local fans becheering for in this?

Some teams are made up of players solely from one country or region, so nationalflags are a common sight in the stands.

Some players have massive social media followings and are the rock stars of the tournament.

For hometown fans, there will be fiveCanadians at TI's main eventthis week two players and threecoaches including B.C.'s Ling and Babaev.

• Artour'Arteezy' Babaevraised in Vancouver's West End, Babaev will be competing in his fifth TI, this time with Evil Geniuses.
• Kurtis'Aui_2000' Ling winner of TI5, he's at this year's tournament as a coach for Fnatic.
• Jacky 'EternaLEnVy' Mao an Ontario player competing for Fnatic who's playing inhis fifth trip TI.
• Aaron 'Clairvoyance' Kim a Korean-born, Toronto-raised coach who will be at his second TI, this time working for VGJ.Storm.
• Sivatheeban "1437" Sivanathapillai a Toronto-based gamer who's a veteran of five TIs as player and will be coaching TNC Predator