As our car pulls onto the five-acre lot in rural Dallas, we are instantly amazed at the size of the property and mainly the landscape in general. It's nice, to say the least. The front-yard is nearly half of the lot with a gravel road loading from the front to the house, which is situated a few hundred yards back from the entrance. When we finally stop in front of the house and pile out, we are greeted with the combination of sunlight and steady breeze blowing through the front yard. I'm sure griffin is just releived to not have my elbow jammed into his side, after sitting four-wide in the backseat driving out there.

Our first steps into the house, we are met with about five large fold-out tables with two PC monitors sitting on top each and Ethernet and power cables run along the the wall. Needless to say, this must be the PC practice room. Even with the tables and chairs, there is still plenty of room to walk around, and it's hard to imagine people bumping into eachother with as many people as they had at the bootcamp. Behind us, some of the players carry in their bags and some of their equipment from the car. After a weekend of hotel-living and intense competition, an expression of relief washes over their faces with their first steps in the door. That's when Joe Patrick, the American Steel team manager, meets us at the door to give us the grand tour.

On the left side of the practice room and up two or three stairs, is a raised landing with a round table in the middle with a table light overhead. At the moment, it's covered in boxes of Magic The Gathering cards and tubs filled with colored stones; ERMAC and Lost-Cauze big fans of the game from what I hear.

Walk even further into the house, and we arrive at the kitchen where. Patrick explains to us that during the bootcamp, players were able to buy and bring their own food into house, and store it in the fridge and cabinets that wrapped around the counters. It's a decent sized kitchen with plenty of space to keep enough food to feed an army.

Following the hall out of the kitchen, we pass Joe's office on the left and another living-room-type area on the right. Though the room is empty now with the exception of two green blowup couches, we are told that this is where PMS Clan and Frag Dolls set up their consoles and practiced here for the entirety of the bootcamp. Future plans for the room include fully furnishing it with better seating and installing several large TVs and consoles for console-gamers. He then further explained that this facility wasn't just for PC gamers to use, but for any competitive gamer who is looking for a place to stay and practice. "we know there are bootcamps out there that cram gamers into a small area, and before you know it, people are fighting because they are packed in together and they start getting on each others nerves. With five acres of space, gamers can spread out and not have to worry about invading each other's personal space" Patrick explained.

Even further down the hall, we pass the first room where the players slept. The other two bedrooms are further on down the hallway and each side, and look just like the first. In the house, there were three player rooms with two bunk beds in each, making space for 12 gamers. Past these rooms is a medium-sized guest area that has almost nothing in it. He tells us that during the bootcamp, they bought inflatable mattresses for even more players to sleep on. Walking back, we see Lost-Cauze already asleep in one of the bunks after being back for only about a half-hour. I guess he's not a morning guy.