Freshly back from Ontario, I give you, in no particular order:

A Not So Serious List of Things I Learned From NASL

1. Boxer's Hair

Picture Boxer in your head. You might be thinking of his bunker rushes, or his micro, or his immense contributions to esports. You might be thinking about his team, SlayerS, or about the dedication he has put towards his fans. But you know what else you should be thinking when you picture Boxer?

His Hair.

Boxer's hair is a bonjwa in its own right. Perfectly coifed, it holds as magnetic a presence as the Emperor himself. Walk up to Boxer, and the two things you leave behind will be your awe for Boxer and your awe for his hair.

2. Boxer's girlfriend Kim Ga-Yeon -- Jessica -- is an amazing artist.

No, really, she is. While she was waiting, she drew Boxer the picture here. And it took all of 5 minutes. She claims it isn't very good, but well, that obviously isn't true at all!

3. If you want to meet Koreans outside of games, one of the best places was In-N-Out

Here is a list of players I've seen and/or eaten with at In-N-Out: July, Squirtle, Puma, Boxer, Alive, and MC. And if you too go to In-N-Out next time, make sure to get it animal style.

4. The Korean players do some interesting practice techniques while waiting for their games to start.

Squirtle and Puma were practicing Marine micro against Hellions. They had the the Hellions in a giant ball, and practiced microing and splitting the Marines to minimize damage. Boxer, while waiting, repeatedly split a large group of Marines and Marauders. He would first double click Marauders and move them to the front and then rapidly spit the remaining Marines behind the Marauders into smaller and smaller groups. MC, before playing a Zerg, off-raced as the race (and did pretty well to boot).

5. Daniel, Moon's manager, is pretty much the coolest person you'll ever meet.

Seriously. If you ever see him, give him a high five. He takes lessons in English in order to improve, and can actually speak a decent amount of Chinese. He quit a relatively cushy job at Samsung years ago to go into esports full-time. When he was part of Kespa, he helped found the Proleague. Share a drink with him, if you can.

6. Day9 is supremely dedicated to his fans.

Day 3 of the NASL. Finals were long over. Tastosis had left the building. The players had left the building. But not Day9. Long after other esports figures had left, he stayed behind and patiently worked through a line of fans. He signed autographs and cracked jokes with aplomb. Day9, gentleman of esports.

7. Boxer and Jessica are two birds in love.

They were holding hands nearly constantly when he wasn't practicing. When he was, Jessica would often times watch and give pointers. The two were constantly smiling at each, constantly by each other's side. The couple and woman portrayed in Boxer's Wings and her interviews? Yeah, that's right. They were spot on.

8. Artosis and Tasteless talk to each other off camera the same way they do on camera.

Think their ribbing and chemistry is only for show? Hell no. The same jokes, the same back-and-forth, the same constant hilarious riffing on each other's sentences happen off camera, during casual conversation. When Tastosis appears to cast, it no more and no less than Dan and Nick, friends forever, coming together to chill, relax and talk about some StarCraft.

9. If you ever sit next to or near Artosis in the audience, listen for his personal commentary

Much of it is insightful. Artosis will mumble to himself and talk to the others around him about what's happening during the game. If you get the chance, keep your ears open. Every casting duo needs a dash of Artosis in your peripheral hearing to liven things up.

10. ESPORTS

We all love it. But nowhere is that in evidence as much as when you're in a room full of hundreds of people all cheering and shouting for the exact same things you are cheering and shouting for. The MC vs Sen series, the MC vs Puma finals, the incredible last game of July vs Sen. As good as they were streamed over the internet, they were better live. The thunder of a live crowd responding to a live cast is something that everyone needs to experience at least once.

At the end of the day, after all the drama and memes and flavor-of-the-hour trends, one thing was true for every single person in that crowd: they <3 SC2.