ASUS ROG announces the complete list of invited players for the ASUS ROG StarCraft II Tournament sponsored by NVIDIA at ASSEMBLY Winter 2012, starting February 24., sheds light on the coming updates and describes the venue.
Assembly Winter 2012 as well as the ASUS ROG StarCraft II Tournament are wrapping up the preparations as the event launches in two weeks. The roster for the $20 000 tournament is now full with 32 high level players from all around the world. All the invites are clear except for the last spot reserved for the ESV TV/Grand Prix 1 winner. Also, one modification has been made since the last announced player list because Yoan “ToD” Merlo cancelled his participation due to personal reasons.
During the next two weeks we are going to release the tournament groups, broadcasting schedule for all of the official on-site streams and tournament rules. The groups will be announced early on next week to ensure players can be fully prepared for the first rounds of the competition. The maps will be announced with the rest of the rules soon after the groups. The broadcast schedule will be released closer to the event with details which games will be taken care of by which stream and caster duo.
The Venue – What the Live Spectator, Press and Players Can Expect
We have received questions regarding the venue from several directions. That is why we want to share some information about our preparations in advance and let everyone know what to expect. The goal is to create the best venue to date for any Assembly or ROG Tournament event and cater to everyone attending the event.
For the players we have created a spacious player area with 12 high-end ASUS ROG CG8565 desktops featuring NVIDIAs GeForce GTX 560 Ti graphics cards. The main stage and arena that offers a true LAN tournament feeling, is located at the heart of the venue providing Starcraft II action all day long. On top of this, thanks to TwitchTV, we will also offer A VIP area for the press and players with possibilities to practise on the twelwe ASUS ROG CG8565 desktops, get a massage from a professional sports therapist or just relax with some casual gaming.
For the spectators we will offer an over the top spectating and interaction experience. With over 300 bleacher seats located in front of the main stage arranged in a rising auditorium style, the viewers are sure to get their money’s worth of entertainment. In addition, the venue will offer more than 100 seats located at the player area and at the second shout casting stage. In cooperation with TwitchTV there will be scheduled autograph signing with your favorite players. The spectator capacity is more than doubled from any of our previous events.
To get a sneak peak at our planning and 3D illustration of the venue head on over to the Nordic ASUS ROG Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/rognordic?sk=wall
Be sure to like it since we will be following up with more behind the scenes content.
ASUS ROG Finally, to remind you all of the company who makes this tournament possible, ROG -- Republic of Gamers, a gaming sub brand of ASUS that is comprised of cutting edge hardware tailored for serious gamers. The product branches include; Motherboards, Graphics Cards, LCD Monitors, Gaming Peripherals, Desktops and Notebooks. The ASUS ROG Tournament will be solely powered by ASUS and ROG hardware.
About ASUS ASUS, the world’s top 3 consumer notebook vendor and the maker of the world’s best-selling and most award winning motherboards, is a leading enterprise in the new digital era. ASUS designs and manufactures products that perfectly meet the needs of today's digital home, office and person, with a broad portfolio that includes motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, displays, desktops, Eee Box and all-in-one PCs, notebooks, netbooks, tablet devices, servers, multimedia and wireless solutions, networking devices, and mobile phones. With a global staff of more than 10,000 and a world-class R&D team of 3,000 engineers, the company's revenue for 2011 was US$13 billion.
NVIDIA® Gear Up. Game On. GeForce® GTX Take on the latest barrage of games with NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX graphics cards and secure the most immersive PC gameplay on the planet. Engage with the intense realism of NVIDIA PhysX®, NVIDIA 3D Vision™, NVIDIA Surround, DirectX 11, and the expandable power of NVIDIA SLI® technology. Whatever style of game you live to play, you can count on the ultimate experience. Every time.
All in all, considering that MLG will be taking place at the same time this is actually a good lineup. As far as players I'm interested in it's at least as good as the last Dreamhack.
On February 10 2012 07:44 Bagration wrote: Cool. It sucks that MLG had to schedule right over ASUS, but I hope ASUS has a great tournament nevertheless.
Well on a positive note, with the timezones this probably means an entire weekend with no sleep and 24/7 starcraft almost :O :D
As a slight side thought, isn't this a mini spoiler for White-Ra and Lucky not getting top 8 at KR qualifier? :D Not sure how many expected them to but... :D
On February 10 2012 08:01 archonOOid wrote: solid lineup i'll watch asus rog instead of MLG not only because of the more convenient timezone but the players as well.
Same for me. I'm a fan of many players in this lineup ^_^
I will totally watch this over MLG. First of all it is for me as an european a way better and secondly most of my favorite players are in it. The date is also perfect, I come home from my math exam and good StarCraft2 is just waiting for me.
On February 10 2012 09:52 cyclone25 wrote: Everyone said that Asus RoG is screwed because MLG scheduled over them, but I'm really curious to see which event gets more viewers
They won't be really competing for viewers since they air at different times AFAIK.
Ideally there will be 7 hours offset to each other due to time-zones. But since neither schedules are set by the hour it is hard to judge at this point how much real overlap there will be. Also grand finals will be on different days (ROG 25th, MLG 26th) which will allow for viewers to catch the peak of each tournament live.
On February 10 2012 18:59 y0su wrote: eu viwers will still be screwed having to be up late sun night to watch mlg finals...
For anyone attending the event.. Is there interest to have an "after hours" mlg viewing area? (fri/sat night)
This tournament is looking SWEET! Kaelaris: can't wait to read your final preview
To be honest i never watched MLG finals "live" before.... Just a quick rerun next day in the work.
Tournament shouldn't have finals on sunday.
Yeah, I haven't actually stayed up to watch a NA based finals live either. I think sunday would be fine for eu/kr based tournaments (i actually wish ASUSROG was going to be fri-sun, but they've done a great job with their past tournaments and I'm more than excited to attend this!!)
The only player in this tournament that can beat Lucky is Stephano imo. Polt is good but seems to struggle against zerg at times. JYP and Hero are good against zergs but Lucky is really good against Toss. I think either stephano or Lucky will take this tournament
On February 10 2012 19:07 Corsica wrote: so where is defending champion DIMAGA?
Although technically IdrA won the last ASUS ROG tournament and Ret's win was Assembly (pre ASUS ROG sponsorship) none of the defending players will be there... I understand why IdrA and Ret are absent, but Dimaga? ):
Not to say that the player list isn't very impressive. 10 Koreans! + Show Spoiler +
counting select and assuming the ESV GP winner will be Korean
On February 10 2012 19:17 Shellshock1122 wrote: The only player in this tournament that can beat Lucky is Stephano imo. Polt is good but seems to struggle against zerg at times. JYP and Hero are good against zergs but Lucky is really good against Toss. I think either stephano or Lucky will take this tournament
Whoa there Lucky is one of my favorite players but it's way too early to be talking about him in such a manner. For one thing we don't know enough about his ZvZ prowess to say he's safe against the rest of the zergs. His ZvT is just okay from what I've seen despite his 5-2 record against MMA. ZvP is definitely Lucky's forte but when DRG and Nestea say ZvP is hard right now, I tend to believe them.
About DIMAGA: the list of players is confirmed invites, meaning that the player has been invited and he has accepted. I doubt that DIMAGA was not invited, more likely he just declined.
I like seeing the two less-known protosses from Empire and Type getting invites. Also looking forward to seeing Seiplo play after his performance at Dreamhack as well as watching Bling in a big tournament after more practice in the Marseille-house. To not be a complete protoss-fanboy I also look forward to Stephano's games =P
On February 10 2012 20:17 yakkk2000 wrote: why u y invite huk ? sad face
First time I see someone fail such an easy meme. Also to answer all the people asking "y u no invite XXX he's my fav :'((", maybe, maybe XXX was actually on the invit list but declined for Y reasons (talking about Huk, that could be "Oh hay IEM Kiev had a shitty day 1, not going to bother going to another event that shares little to nothing with Kiev). What you see here is those who accepted their invites.
To be honest I don't see the reasons for the drama that occured, it's not like having too much of something and having to choose between the two is a bad thing compared to have only one event sheduled at this time, since you would anyway only participating to one event at each time. Most probably delusive MLG/NA fans thinking that MLG is the only tournament where pros deserve to participate.
Cheering for White-ra and Polt for this one! I for one like that it's not just top top top players, some unknowns gotta have the chance! ASUS ROG 2012 lets go!
On February 10 2012 21:57 Zeburial wrote: Cheering for White-ra and Polt for this one! I for one like that it's not just top top top players, some unknowns gotta have the chance! ASUS ROG 2012 lets go!
There's really no unknown or underperforming players on the line-up, not everybody has an internationnal championship title in its pocket.
On February 10 2012 20:17 yakkk2000 wrote: why u y invite huk ? sad face
First time I see someone fail such an easy meme. Also to answer all the people asking "y u no invite XXX he's my fav :'((", maybe, maybe XXX was actually on the invit list but declined for Y reasons (talking about Huk, that could be "Oh hay IEM Kiev had a shitty day 1, not going to bother going to another event that shares little to nothing with Kiev). What you see here is those who accepted their invites.
Huk qualified for MLG Arena, which is on the same weekend. =P
On February 10 2012 21:57 Zeburial wrote: Cheering for White-ra and Polt for this one! I for one like that it's not just top top top players, some unknowns gotta have the chance! ASUS ROG 2012 lets go!
There's really no unknown or underperforming players on the line-up, not everybody has an internationnal championship title in its pocket.
yeah true. Kinda formulated myself bad there. XD meant what you said. I like tournaments where not everybody is super famous XD
I really dislike this tournament for one big reason. Invites only kinda sucks in my opinion. I don't think invite-only tournaments are the future, I even think they are bad. You should give players the opportunity to qualify. I for one know a lot of peopel capable of beating a lot of the invites, but they don't get any recoginition for what they do on ladder and online cups, because they don't get any invites (which is understandable). I think it lifts the value of a tournament if the players who want to play have to win some games to be there. Thats why I love IEM, you see people who are worth playing there because they qualified through a bracket with all the big names (MaNa, Stephano, etc etc) and beat them.
I am sick of always seeing the same players, I want to see players like Snute, who can totally kick ass, or Targa! Or some young dutch guys like Poyo or Harstem (already beat Bling, MaNa, MKP, sup?). Or some german teenagers like DBS or Xlord Young, fresh, talented blood instead of the old one!
On February 11 2012 00:57 Tarotis wrote: I really dislike this tournament for one big reason. Invites only kinda sucks in my opinion. I don't think invite-only tournaments are the future, I even think they are bad. You should give players the opportunity to qualify. I for one know a lot of peopel capable of beating a lot of the invites, but they don't get any recoginition for what they do on ladder and online cups, because they don't get any invites (which is understandable). I think it lifts the value of a tournament if the players who want to play have to win some games to be there. Thats why I love IEM, you see people who are worth playing there because they qualified through a bracket with all the big names (MaNa, Stephano, etc etc) and beat them.
I am sick of always seeing the same players, I want to see players like Snute, who can totally kick ass, or Targa! Or some young dutch guys like Poyo or Harstem (already beat Bling, MaNa, MKP, sup?). Or some german teenagers like DBS or Xlord Young, fresh, talented blood instead of the old one!
I think it's okay to do 50%.. even 75% invites, however I really do agree that I would like to see at least 8 spots for qualifiers. I also think that this would also provide more viewers by hyping the main tournament... Maybe assembly summer
On February 11 2012 00:57 Tarotis wrote: I really dislike this tournament for one big reason. Invites only kinda sucks in my opinion. I don't think invite-only tournaments are the future, I even think they are bad. You should give players the opportunity to qualify. I for one know a lot of peopel capable of beating a lot of the invites, but they don't get any recoginition for what they do on ladder and online cups, because they don't get any invites (which is understandable). I think it lifts the value of a tournament if the players who want to play have to win some games to be there. Thats why I love IEM, you see people who are worth playing there because they qualified through a bracket with all the big names (MaNa, Stephano, etc etc) and beat them.
I am sick of always seeing the same players, I want to see players like Snute, who can totally kick ass, or Targa! Or some young dutch guys like Poyo or Harstem (already beat Bling, MaNa, MKP, sup?). Or some german teenagers like DBS or Xlord Young, fresh, talented blood instead of the old one!
I think it's okay to do 50%.. even 75% invites, however I really do agree that I would like to see at least 8 spots for qualifiers. I also think that this would also provide more viewers by hyping the main tournament... Maybe assembly summer
Yes, ofc its okay to invite some people, like the best players from last assembly or something, I just dont agree with the decision to do 100% invites
They either denied the invitation and chose MLG or they declined it for other reasons. If a top player is not on the list it's not because they didn't invite him. eod.
this is gonna be sick tournament, great line of players, awesome stuff. everybody who is involved with asus rog tourney, thank you and keep up the good work
On February 10 2012 19:07 Corsica wrote: so where is defending champion DIMAGA?
Although technically IdrA won the last ASUS ROG tournament and Ret's win was Assembly (pre ASUS ROG sponsorship) none of the defending players will be there... I understand why IdrA and Ret are absent, but Dimaga? ):
Not to say that the player list isn't very impressive. 10 Koreans! + Show Spoiler +
counting select and assuming the ESV GP winner will be Korean
As well as some of the best EU players!
Well Dimaga won, assembly like 64 man tournament it was very big,and Invitational was smaller and kinda other tournament with 8 people ( Not to take anything away from IdrA), so technically Dimaga is defending champion of assembly.
I was really interested to see how he will do after his run through IEM, I think probably he declined invitation, because it would be kinda .... strange? not to invite defending champion... ( Like not inviting puma to NASL S2)
On February 10 2012 19:07 Corsica wrote: so where is defending champion DIMAGA?
Although technically IdrA won the last ASUS ROG tournament and Ret's win was Assembly (pre ASUS ROG sponsorship) none of the defending players will be there... I understand why IdrA and Ret are absent, but Dimaga? ):
Not to say that the player list isn't very impressive. 10 Koreans! + Show Spoiler +
counting select and assuming the ESV GP winner will be Korean
As well as some of the best EU players!
Well Dimaga won, assembly like 64 man tournament it was very big,and Invitational was smaller and kinda other tournament with 8 people ( Not to take anything away from IdrA), so technically Dimaga is defending champion of assembly.
I was really interested to see how he will do after his run through IEM, I think probably he declined invitation, because it would be kinda .... strange? not to invite defending champion... ( Like not inviting puma to NASL S2)
Hope may be organizers can clarify?
The Assembly Summer was actually 32 player tournament, with a similiar format as the winter 2012 event we are going to enjoy later on this month. And yes, Dimaga is the defending champion, since the 8 player invitational was only a 'side tournament' if you will.
This organization has been faithful to the reigning champions in the past, so they have most definately invited Dimaga to attend in the event. For some reason he has probably declined the invite, which is a shame, would have been great to see dimaga in the event.
On February 11 2012 14:28 VPCursed wrote: hey, why no thorzain?
He probably declined. ...also
On February 11 2012 02:56 Daray wrote: Stop with the why no X?
They either denied the invitation and chose MLG or they declined it for other reasons. If a top player is not on the list it's not because they didn't invite him. eod.
On February 10 2012 19:07 Corsica wrote: so where is defending champion DIMAGA?
Although technically IdrA won the last ASUS ROG tournament and Ret's win was Assembly (pre ASUS ROG sponsorship) none of the defending players will be there... I understand why IdrA and Ret are absent, but Dimaga? ):
Not to say that the player list isn't very impressive. 10 Koreans! + Show Spoiler +
counting select and assuming the ESV GP winner will be Korean
As well as some of the best EU players!
Well Dimaga won, assembly like 64 man tournament it was very big,and Invitational was smaller and kinda other tournament with 8 people ( Not to take anything away from IdrA), so technically Dimaga is defending champion of assembly.
I was really interested to see how he will do after his run through IEM, I think probably he declined invitation, because it would be kinda .... strange? not to invite defending champion... ( Like not inviting puma to NASL S2)
Hope may be organizers can clarify?
The Assembly Summer was actually 32 player tournament, with a similiar format as the winter 2012 event we are going to enjoy later on this month. And yes, Dimaga is the defending champion, since the 8 player invitational was only a 'side tournament' if you will.
This organization has been faithful to the reigning champions in the past, so they have most definately invited Dimaga to attend in the event. For some reason he has probably declined the invite, which is a shame, would have been great to see dimaga in the event.
ya man probably he declined... My dream was to see Stephano vs Dimaga bo5 :D
great lineup will be good to see the top europeans against koreans that are beatable but still a huge challenge, Mana and Bling fighting. would love to see Kas take this though
On February 12 2012 18:21 Connor987 wrote: great lineup will be good to see the top europeans against koreans that are beatable but still a huge challenge, Mana and Bling fighting. would love to see Kas take this though
I could actually see Kas winning this if he's playing like he was at IEM Kiev.
On February 12 2012 18:21 Connor987 wrote: great lineup will be good to see the top europeans against koreans that are beatable but still a huge challenge, Mana and Bling fighting. would love to see Kas take this though
I could actually see Kas winning this if he's playing like he was at IEM Kiev.
Kas is barely in the top 10 of players playing in this tournament.
I'm going with Puma to win. Lucky and Polt are better than he is but Puma has such an incredible record at foreign LAN's it's very hard to bet against him with none of the elite level of players in attendance.
I just finished up looking through the brackets for the ESV weekly and damn some good players participating in that. So the winner of that will add another power house hopefully
On February 14 2012 15:12 Mycl wrote: I just finished up looking through the brackets for the ESV weekly and damn some good players participating in that. So the winner of that will add another power house hopefully
I would be surprised (and blame travel ) if the ESV winner doesn't get top 4 (likely better).
How long til the stream schedule is released? How many english casters and SC2 english streams will be available? Hopefully something better than what is being offered at MLG.
I wonder if Husky, Total Biscuit, dApollo, Mr. Bitter, and Rotterdam will be casting? All of them passed or weren't invited to MLG Winter Arena. If so that's a SICK lineup! CAN'T WAIT!
On February 16 2012 12:41 onedayclose wrote: I wonder if Husky, Total Biscuit, dApollo, Mr. Bitter, and Rotterdam will be casting? All of them passed or weren't invited to MLG Winter Arena. If so that's a SICK lineup! CAN'T WAIT!
TotalBiscuit + Apollo and MrBitter + Khaldor are confirmed.
On February 13 2012 19:04 R1CH wrote: I don't think I could take another HerO Puma final...
That won't happen. Both have been shaky lately (Puma did qualify for IPL4, but is 0-4 in NASTL). There are so many good players in this event, that it will be very difficult for them. I could see Stephano or Kas making the finals. The absolute top class Koreans are not here.
On February 17 2012 04:06 FishStix wrote: Truly freaking epic lineup. And just think, we could see someone like aLive or Taeja make it thru the ESV Grand Prix into that final spot ;D
On February 16 2012 12:41 onedayclose wrote: I wonder if Husky, Total Biscuit, dApollo, Mr. Bitter, and Rotterdam will be casting? All of them passed or weren't invited to MLG Winter Arena. If so that's a SICK lineup! CAN'T WAIT!
TotalBiscuit + Apollo and MrBitter + Khaldor are confirmed.
On February 13 2012 19:04 R1CH wrote: I don't think I could take another HerO Puma final...
That won't happen. Both have been shaky lately (Puma did qualify for IPL4, but is 0-4 in NASTL). There are so many good players in this event, that it will be very difficult for them. I could see Stephano or Kas making the finals. The absolute top class Koreans are not here.
heros been doing well in gsl, 5-0'd dimaga, etc. of course hes historically been inconsistent but i wouldnt count him out of making the finals at all. same goes for puma
On February 16 2012 12:41 onedayclose wrote: I wonder if Husky, Total Biscuit, dApollo, Mr. Bitter, and Rotterdam will be casting? All of them passed or weren't invited to MLG Winter Arena. If so that's a SICK lineup! CAN'T WAIT!
TotalBiscuit + Apollo and MrBitter + Khaldor are confirmed.
On February 13 2012 19:04 R1CH wrote: I don't think I could take another HerO Puma final...
That won't happen. Both have been shaky lately (Puma did qualify for IPL4, but is 0-4 in NASTL). There are so many good players in this event, that it will be very difficult for them. I could see Stephano or Kas making the finals. The absolute top class Koreans are not here.
Kas said on his stream that he has been sick for two weeks, so you shouldn't expect too much. Would be cool if someone made it, but it's more realistic to predict an all-Korean final or top four/eight even.
There will probably be some upsets, but there are still so many Koreans who'll make it through.
I would really like it if some foreigner started wrecking korean face to stir up teh competition a bit. I see the player roster and feel like: Ro.8, all Korean quarter/semi/finals is 99% probable. -__-"
EPT![[image loading]](http://sett.fi/sites/default/files/tuotekuvat/tl_rogtour12.png)
Assembly Winter 2012 as well as the ASUS ROG StarCraft II Tournament are wrapping up the preparations as the event launches in two weeks. The roster for the $20 000 tournament is now full with 32 high level players from all around the world. All the invites are clear except for the last spot reserved for the ESV TV/Grand Prix 1 winner. Also, one modification has been made since the last announced player list because Yoan “ToD” Merlo cancelled his participation due to personal reasons.
White-Ra
Bly
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/flags2/pl.png)
DieStar
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/flags2/ro.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/flags2/ru.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/images/flags2/pt.png)
![[image loading]](http://sett.fi//sites/default/files/tuotekuvat/ASUS%2BROG_590px.png)
Young, fresh, talented blood instead of the old one!
) if the ESV winner doesn't get top 4 (likely better). 
