04:40 PM

The backstage area at Expo des Paris is alive with activity. There's a technical crew making last minute preparations, several tournament admins are giving out instructions and the commentators go over names, ages and nationalities.

PGS are standing in a circle, there's some light small talk, bad jokes and anticipation so thick you can paint the walls with it. You hear the heavy rhythm from the music that's warming up the crowd, more than 5500 people have gathered in front of the stage to watch the underdogs from NoA face PGS for the title and a pile of dollars.

ESWC promo-videos play on the big screens. Fast cuts and funky music are reliving the magical moments from years past. Team 9 wins the cup and The Titans beat Spixel. Complexity is exploding in a hugging-huddle and MIBR take the title home to Brazil.

PGS are pacing back and forth, and across the hall NoA are gearing, they are talking and shoulder pats each other as they visualize the moments they will live through in a minute. The French announcers hit the stage and the crowd erupts for the first time. It's loud, even in the backstage area.

Filip "Neo" Kubski only smiles, he is clearly content with the conditions he is about to play under.

ESWC will culminate with a setup that couldn't be more perfect. It is the ultimate story; the experienced, merited champions are facing the hungry underdogs who have clawed their way to this opportunity. Tooth to nail. NoA have risen to the occasion, beyond themselves and PGS have defied the odds to make it to a grand final – again.

NoooooooooooooA!

The announcers shout their name and the Danes make their way to the stage to the enthusiastic praise and applause of the surprisingly active crowd. The hall is jam-packed.

Can this really be electronic sports?

As NoA introduce their players and organisation, talk about their earlier matches and give their perspectives on the task at hand Lukas "Luq" Wnek is playing with three coins in his pocket. They were his lucky ones' he told me and smiled as he took to the stage.

I wasn't sure if he was kidding or not, twenty Eurocents couldn't be that of a big deal. But I guess you do what you have to do in such a situation, being on a very good team notwithstanding. Suddenly, the music starts playing again as the announcers draw another deep breath.

PGS are giddy as schoolboys and enter the stage. Some girls with SK logos on their shirts cheer and a dedicated following are flying the Polish flag. The players bask in the attention and are absolutely eating it all up, smiling from ear to ear. After all, these are the moments they will remember.

The audience is so loud now, thousands and thousands of people are about to take the roof off the Porte des Versailles. We're in the Mecca of Counter-Strike 1.6 and the ten young men on the stage prepare for the two most important hours of their professional lives.

OKAAAAAAAAY, Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas screams out as the match goes live before someone dies from an overdose of adrenaline.

Welcome to the show.