Ozhadou Nationals 5 was awesome. As a player and as a volunteer at this year’s Ozhadou Nationals, I was heavily involved in the preparation and execution of the event. However the work I did was minimal compared to what the real organisers and moderators were doing in the background. Months before July 2006 discussions were already in place in terms of pre-registering, securing the venue, obtaining clearance, transportation of cabinets, inviting international guests among hundreds of other issues.
There were literally hundreds of issues that needed to be addressed. Although the organisers were armed with 4 years of experience, quite often unforeseen circumstances bitch us into doing something undesired. I remember meeting Ziggy at the UTS foyer and feeling his frustration because he was inspecting an alternate venue as the original Gallery Function was denied.
3rd Strike was my main game so naturally there’s a bias to make it as smooth and successful as possible. TSC was the main driving force in making H2H arcade cabinets available for 3rd Strike, and he had a lot of help from the Sydney 3S community who selflessly contributed in their own way to make OHN5 the biggest ever national. The truck driving, the tedious transporting of those 200kg monster cabinets down/up stairs, poster making/distributing, wiring up the internals, moving monster stereos, installing brand new sanwa sticks and buttons, etc…
I can reveal here that after the disappointing news that Empire guests backed out, OHN5 was nearly graced by one of Japan’s 3S gods. Travelling together with him will be one of the influential figures in SBO, but alas this duo eventually didn’t fly as the timeframe given to them was just too sudden. If only Empire had the courtesy and informed us earlier of their intentions. I took up anger management classes because of this.
The pre-OHN5 trip to Melbourne was not a coincidence. 1 week prior to the big event, this trip was planned to further persuade the bulk of Melbourne players still hesitating to come up to Sydney and have a great time. It was neither a ploy to gleam some tactics, nor a chance to embarrass ourselves. Without Adelaide, Melbourne or Queensland guests, OHN5 is nothing. We set out with that inter-state mindset and hoped to influence others into thinking that travelling for this event alone was worth it.
Day -2 (Wed)
Haichii arrived early and I housed him yet again. As the rest of the QLD contingent arrived later on Fri, Hai was being cheap and wanted a free place to stay. That’s just his excuse for coming early, I bet he’s here to sniff out the competition and get his rusty 3S skills up to scratch. Hai alternated between playing Tekken and 3rd Strike and he eventually got Best Capcom Player (BCP) in OHN5, which goes to show being kiasu paid off! That also made him the most hated person among Sydney’s Marvel community as he took away the prize Naomi MvC2 board, which was exactly what the Sydney Marvel players were starved of.
Day -1 (Thu)
The final ranbat was held tonight and Aurik managed to make it. We held a 2 on 2 casual tourny and he just beasted it to the finals with TSC doing zilch. My team got a lucky streak and went to the finals too, but I got soundly KOed by his Yun. His Yun is relentless and knows the Dudley match-up very well, got peaced out pretty bad 
Day 0 (Fri)
Arrived late evening to the OHN5 venue and found that 2 of the H2H cabinets were already moved thanks to the work of the Melb and Ozhadou team. The whole place was basically empty sans those cabinets and a few extension cords. With under 12 hours before going live we were still mucking around because we didn’t have equipment available and the delay in shipping fucked us up. So it’s left to tomorrow, the actual tourny day itself to set up and make the cabinets operational, layout the furniture, setup audio/video devices and tend to players’ requests. BIG day ahead.
Day 1 (Sat)
Got about 4 hours of sleep and it’s back to the venue at 8am, and some of the crew was already there. As I was a miscellaneous guy I just chipped in wherever help was needed. I remembered carrying TVs and console stuff from outside the building for the BYO section, as well as transporting 6 cabinets which arrived via a truck( 1 day late). It couldn’t get into the building as it was a Saturday, little things like these shit me to no end 
It was quite comical as a bunch of us tried to figure out ways to open the gate so that the driver can enter the carpark. The rest of the crew was out doing emergency runs to the electronic store Jaycar to purchase last minute components so that people can play on the arcade cabinets. The logistics involved was crazy, unforeseen circumstances are bitches.
Truly indebted to William, the technician who came all the way from Melbourne just to help us out with the equipment. Without him those arcade cabinets are just huge plastic boxes. As Daine mentioned, William went into beast mode and MADE cables on the spot, as he knows the intricate components of an Astro/Versus. I watched him solder some electronic components just bought from Jaycar minutes ago ….. then he goes “TA DAA! Done.” “Need any help?” “No, it’s OK.” 
Players started filtering in and the anxiety kept increasing as we were still working out kinks as we go along. Of course everyone else was oblivious to the organisers’ work but that was the nature of the job, it stinks. Approaching the start of the 3S pools things took a turn for the better, cabinets were enabled and players and organisers alike started to ease up in preparation for the real tournament. Also heard of news that Hong might not make it to OHN5 due to personal reasons, a big downer as he’s expected to feature in at least top 3 in 3S.
Start of Pools
I was grouped together with Justin, Benson and Aurik. All 3 capable of beating me soundly so I was a tad worried. One way I avoided this was to not even look at the brackets and just take it a match at a time. Luck was on my side and I made it through to the Final 8 by faking self belief. Watching the rest of the pools and supporting fellow Sydney players was so enjoyable. TimZ versus Lok was a nail biter, as was IXL’s frustration scream after beating Kechu. Many many highlights worthy of mentioning and of course captured in the DVD that’s about to be released.
Final 8
I enjoyed contributing to the event that was Final 8 as it was such a spectacle to watch. Paul beasting all the way and Chester providing drama as well as Joey. All 8 made this event so special and I reckon this is what OHN is about, the audience, players and atmosphere. Our international guests missed out big time.
Day 2 (Sun)
I slept like a log till noon before heading to UTS with emotions still on a high from yesterday. Had a great match with ToXY in ST, dogged Daine with counter character and finished higher than unexpected. ST is a funny game. In the team tournament my two teammates Jack and Joey were cleaning house till the finals where they succumbed to Lok, Akira and Aurik. Aurik finished me off neatly earning them those nice figurine trophies, I’m a sad man
Highlight of the day still has to be the 5 on 5 exhibition with Melbourne. Pride was at stake, no matter how less there is to go around. Started off terribly with a loss to Kevin, but the teams went back and forth till Paul steps up and kills us all. Where’s that ninja I hired? It was another enjoyable event which added to the overall competitive but friendly spirit which Australian players encompass.
Ozhadou Nationals 5 rocked.
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