Enrique Gómez Gutiérrez was studying Industrial Engineering in Villa Clara when his life was turned upside down. He discovered a custom Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne map with his brother and shared it with his classmates and neighborhood friends. Since then, he has been determined to get players from the rest of the country to join and compete with each other. In a Dota 2 National Tournament

«I have been organizing events for four years. Although I have had the support of several friends, and in one way or another with the support of the Hermanos Saíz Association. Many things have been done with willpower, to create something different.»

He had already organized several important tournaments before, but at the end of 2014 he coordinated the first National Tournament of this video game, which took that name because of the number of provinces involved. In that competition his team, the A5 (by Amazing 5), won, representing the province of Ciego de Avila, with Holguín as opponent in the final.

The structure of the tournament is double elimination. In the first stage there is a Round Robin (round robin), with twelve teams divided into two groups of six. The two highest scorers from each group move on to a winning phase.

The second National Dota 2 Tournament will take place from April 16 to 19 at the Carmen cinema in the center of the city of Avila. On this occasion, gamers from the Isle of Youth, Havana, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Santi Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila and Holguín will participate.

Enrique says that the most recognized nationally are the teams from Havana, Ciego de Avila and Holguin. Another outstanding participant is Camagüey, which this time will not be in the national competition because it coincides with a previously planned provincial competition.

Some sixty people, distributed in teams of five participants, transport their computers by personal means to the meeting site.

How do you make sure that those who attend for each province are the best?

There are provinces where this information gets out of hand. But I have mechanisms to know which are the best teams of, for example, Pinar del Río, La Habana, Santi Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Granma and Holguín; because I know which are the first places in their provincial tournaments. In addition, those who have achieved good results in previous events are automatically invited.

Does this mean that there are well-organized provincial events in all these provinces?

Quite well organized, especially in Las Tunas and Camagüey, which I support, although I do not participate.

Will you play in this tournament?

Yes, this is probably the last one I will participate in. But I have a guaranteed handover so that what we have created is not lost. Although I consider this something quite serious, at 29 years old I’ve realized that it’s time to grow up too. I will always love Dota, it has given me friends from all over Cuba that I would have never met otherwise.