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From Fragster
For the first year since the release of Starcraft 2 the Assembly Winter 2013 will not feature a bigger eSports tournament. The Head of eSports and main organizer of ASUS ROG tournaments, Petri Hämälä, told fragster that there will be no major tournament at the known LAN in Helsinki this February. He adds that the reason for that step is missing motivation for eSports at the moment. "There is no possibility to get a full time job with eSport in Finland", Hämälä told fragster. He had been in eSports-business for more then ten years till now and found no legit way to get employed as an organizer. After several years it's time to take a break for the Finnish organizer.
Apart from Hämälä there are no persons involved into eSports who could organize a tournament as big as the ASUS ROG tournaments. The organizers of Assembly LAN themselves are not in shape to organize an event at own cost. This means moreover that there will be no eSports tournament at Assembly Winter this year. For the summer edition this may change. Hämälä told fragster that he is kind of bored without eSports at the moment. A comeback in later 2013 may be possible. But this does not mean that there will be an event in summer again. This is just speculation at the moment, Hämälä complemented.
In the last years the ASUS ROG events have made themselves a huge name in eSports. The tournaments startet in early 2011 at the winter edition of Assembly. The first event was named "SteelSeries Starcraft 2 Challenge" and found a winner in Jos 'Ret' de Kroon. It was followed by the ASUS ROG Summer 2011 as well as the Stars Invite in the same year. In 2012 another three events of the series took place.
+ Show Spoiler [Rakaka Translation] +Trasnlated from: http://rakaka.se/?newsID=20478There will be no StarCraft II ASUS ROG-Tournament at Assembly Winter in Helsinki, Finland in February Petri Hämälä (Head Manager of the ASUS ROG-sponsored tournaments) revelad on the German e-sports site Fragster.de on January 8th, 2013. The main reason why is his lack of motivation and that he cannot receive a fully-paid salary within the e-sports industry.
Fragster.de (The source they got it from) also wrote that he says there is no one else that can replace his position at Assembly, and that they themselves (Assembly) can't organize such a big tournament by themselves without him.
On a separate note, Aseembly Winter won't be the only LAN organization that are moving away from e-sports. The Gathering (A lan party hosted in Norway) also released earlier in December that they would not host any e-sports events during 2013.
Even though Petri Hämälä has stated he won't organize any tournament, nothing is 100% official as ASUS is still the main sponsor for Assembly. According to their website (that is regularly updated), they say that more information regarding the e-sports tournaments will be released soon.
Personal opinion: Though the article was kind of awkward to read (as they say that there is deff 100% no chance there will be a ASUS ROG Tournament at Assembly in the beginning, and then towards the end they hint that it might not be the end), this really sucks! It's honestly these type of events that keep e-sports and StarCraft II alive and keep the passion going in the community. Very sad to see it go though. But maybe it's due to the over saturated e-sports market that we experienced this later half of 2012? Idk. What do you guys think?
Edit: Fixed grammar mistakes.
UPDATE:
There will be a tournament at Assembly for SC2. However, it's not that of the magnitude ASUS ROG was.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=393159
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Aww, I love the SC2 tour at Assembly, wanted to see Polt go ahead and win it!
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Without an SC2 tournament there won't be any reason for me to attend!... I hope they manage to organize something.
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I would just like to use this topic to say that I respect Petri an incredible amount. It is unfortunate guys like that do not get the credit they deserve. He is one of the most pleasant people I have had the pleasure to work with, and it is unfortunate he couldn't make this work for himself. Of course it couldn't happen without the support from ASUS, but Petri is the reason these tournaments were happening. Our players also enjoyed coming to these tournaments so much.
Truly incredible work and thanks for everything you have done for this community.
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it was one of my fondest memories of 2012 and Petri was a really cool guy, I'm really sad and wish them all the best.
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Such a shame if Helsinki loses such a tournament  damn, I really wish they come up with something else
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Germany767 Posts
That's really sad to me. I really loved the work atmosphere at ASUS ROG and I have to give Petri huge credits for that, very pleasant personality, sad to see him go. We need more people like him. Both playing and commentating at ASUS ROG was great and I'm thankful for that.
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That's really too bad, the two asus rog events from 2012 were amazing and memorable, Polt beating Stephano in the finals of the first one and Taeja beating MC in the second. I'll miss them.
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These events had been the highlight points in the year, so its such a shame. Its also so unfair that petri and his team of volunteers have executed these tournaments so well and cannot keep continueing and not even receiving deceny salary from it ((
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I've been at every single Assembly ASUS ROG tournament since the beginning. They've been fun and run better than most tournaments. I'd just like to give a big shoutout and thanks to Petri for doing a great job throughout the last couple of years and I'm going to miss all the things he brought to the scene. Best of luck in the future, friend.
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That's a shame really. Wish you all the best Petri!
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Too bad, Petri is an awesome dude! Sort of sad but it's how it is across the scene. Going to be hard to get the proper people paid when so much of the tournaments money go towards prize pool + casters salary.
Hope Petri figures it all out, I really enjoyed working with him!
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Damn this is sad; Nazgul, TLO and Bumblebee commenting about their experiences makes it that much sadder.
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On January 09 2013 23:20 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:
I would just like to use this topic to say that I respect Petri an incredible amount. It is unfortunate guys like that do not get the credit they deserve. He is one of the most pleasant people I have had the pleasure to work with, and it is unfortunate he couldn't make this work for himself. Of course it couldn't happen without the support from ASUS, but Petri is the reason these tournaments were happening. Our players also enjoyed coming to these tournaments so much.
Truly incredible work and thanks for everything you have done for this community.
100% agree with this. Petri works so much behind the scenes for free while not trying to get in spotlight. He really should get more notice!
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Really enjoyed going there when I had the opportunity, thank you for all that you've done for esports!
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ASUS ROG was one of my favourite tournaments to watch. Such a shame and thank you Petri for making it possible.
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It's a shame. I hope someone gets to arrange a new ROG tournament for the next Assembly.
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Well... I don't think this is sad to be honest.
Most of TL pretty much agreed that there are too many events and we would be better of having a few really big ones.
It is sad for Petri that he can't receive a full salary for the great work he does but what do we honestly expect from E-sports?
Surely there is decent jobs in it in lets say Germany, Sweden etc but we can't expect that from smaller countries like Finland.
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Thank you for the work and contribution you have done to Esports Petri. Hopefully there's a way out of this slump. I will say I haven't watch much of Asus ROG tournament and i don't really know much of the background on who is promoting and bringing and contributing the support they need for another tourney like that. Thank you though.
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And so Finland loses its biggest E-sport event (for now). I personally didn't attend any of the ASUS ROG's despite it being held fairly close to me, but i did enjoy watching it everytime. GD Studio, Incontrol, TLO and guests casting last time was one of the best and most entertaining events to date, if you ask me.
Very sad news.
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ASUS ROG was a tournament i always watch, i hope they get it back :|
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I cannot believe it! But is there still a chance for separate events like ASUS ROG Stars Invite that was held with a select group of players fighting over a decent pricepool?
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Wow! Sad news Best of luck to Petri though
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i want to say big Thanks to Petri for everything you do for e-sport and i hope everything will be good in ur life <3 stay stronk 
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Sad facefor petri.
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On January 09 2013 23:49 Jakkerr wrote:
Well... I don't think this is sad to be honest.
Most of TL pretty much agreed that there are too many events and we would be better of having a few really big ones.
It is sad for Petri that he can't receive a full salary for the great work he does but what do we honestly expect from E-sports?
Surely there is decent jobs in it in lets say Germany, Sweden etc but we can't expect that from smaller countries like Finland.
While I generally agree we have too much of a lot of things, we don't have many of anything that are this well ran. It's a huge loss.
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Damn it... no. I so wanted to finally visit Helsinki to see ASUS ROG Assembly :/
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So sad, I liked Asus Rog, even bought their gfx card cuz of it.
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On January 10 2013 00:03 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:Show nested quote +On January 09 2013 23:49 Jakkerr wrote:
Well... I don't think this is sad to be honest.
Most of TL pretty much agreed that there are too many events and we would be better of having a few really big ones.
It is sad for Petri that he can't receive a full salary for the great work he does but what do we honestly expect from E-sports?
Surely there is decent jobs in it in lets say Germany, Sweden etc but we can't expect that from smaller countries like Finland. While I generally agree we have too much of a lot of things, we don't have many of anything that are this well ran. It's a huge loss.
I agree with this. The production of ASUS ROG tournaments have always been top-notch. They have been super super enjoyable and from reading posts from those who have had the experience of working with him, I can see that he was a great person and a good guy for the e-sports scene! That is what makes this sad, that he can't find the motivation to continue this great event . Sure there were a lot of tournaments last year, but losing this one is sad in my personal opinion.
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Katowice25012 Posts
I want to chime in and say that Petri has always been a pleasure to me as well, he went out of his way during TSL to help accommodate us with scheduling problems and was very pleasant about it.
An unfortunate loss, best of luck in the future.
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Aww i absolutely loved the 2012 event it was so fun to watch.. It was a really unique tournament and i hope that something similar comes along soon...
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Sucks about the tournament.
What DOESN'T suck is my ASUS gaming laptop. YAAAAAAAAHOOOO!
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ASUS ROG was always a fun tournament to watch, especially with TLO commentary etc. Saddened by this, but I understand. Thanks for bringing us excellent events in the past and good luck in the future, hopefully to recreate it again.
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Does this mean they skip winter or that they stop indefinitely?
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On January 10 2013 00:38 Sieni wrote:
Does this mean they skip winter or that they stop indefinitely?
From the Fragster article:
After several years it's time to take a break for the Finnish organizer.
Apart from Hämälä there are no persons involved into eSports who could organize a tournament as big as the ASUS ROG tournaments. The organizers of Assembly LAN themselves are not in shape to organize an event at own cost. This means moreover that there will be no eSports tournament at Assembly Winter this year.
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although there may be tournament over saturation, asus is one of the better ones and it sucks :/
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Well this is sad i was planning to go watch it this year.
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I guess that's what you get when the host of the show says and I quote: 'My mum loves cock'
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That's too bad, Asus ROG was the height of the Assembly event for me.
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On January 10 2013 00:51 Soda-88 wrote:
I guess that's what you get when the host of the show says and I quote: 'My mum loves cock'
What? Most people wouldn't be alive if that weren't true for their respective mums...
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On January 10 2013 00:51 Soda-88 wrote:
I guess that's what you get when the host of the show says and I quote: 'My mum loves cock'
Ah yes this must be the reason, how did I not see that, thx!
But really it's a sad thing, let's hope for a comeback with hots in the summer!
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In fact, there are two small SC2 tournaments at Assembly Winter 2013, one non-byoc and one byoc, but like the title says no ASUS ROG tournament. This means that there is no great production and no big prize money. The non-byoc has a prize pool of 1500 € at the moment (might increase but not much). Only the big names in Finland are likely to attend, but a few spots are reserved for decent foreign players who are interested and request an invite. More info about the tournament should be released later this week.
Sad to see Petri taking a break from organizing but hanging around us still working might kindle the spark once more. 
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Assembly events have the best quality and least technical difficulties of any tournament though... I haven't seen their stream go down or lag since I started following the scene... Sad to see such a great tournament go. Hopefully they resume events in the Summer.
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too bad another of the big events lost in europe, now only dreamhack and iem remain?
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Dire news indeed. Finland isn't too big of a player in the eSports field which only magnifies losses like this. Hopefully there is the summer tournament though, I can't participate for the winter one anyhow but I'd like to get to go to a live SC2 tournament someday.
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On January 10 2013 01:08 Azhrak wrote:In fact, there are two small SC2 tournaments at Assembly Winter 2013, one non-byoc and one byoc, but like the title says no ASUS ROG tournament. This means that there is no great production and no big prize money. The non-byoc has a prize pool of 1500 € at the moment (might increase but not much). Only the big names in Finland are likely to attend, but a few spots are reserved for decent foreign players who are interested and request an invite. More info about the tournament should be released later this week. Sad to see Petri taking a break from organizing but hanging around us still working might kindle the spark once more.
I still remember attending the first "SteelSeries" sponsored SC2 event at Assembly Winter 11 where Ret beat MorroW in the finals. Glad to see someone is stepping up to get something going!
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Russian Federation604 Posts
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United Kingdom14103 Posts
Oh wow, this is sad news...
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Maybe 2GD and crew could step in and help organize an SC2 tournament at ASUS ROG after all? From what I read it's just because the person who organized it no longer wants to do it, right?
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Oh man...that's so sad. I have very fond memories of the ASUS ROG tournaments and I really loved that they partnered with 2GD. I thought he was one of the characters in eSports who was underrated and brought a lot of fun to the tournament. Thanks for the great tournaments in the past and I hope that they might continue in the future.
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I feel that it says a lot when i can recall ROG events more than some of the other SC2 events....
Even more so, I've never heard of Assembly and ROG is the only reason I know of this event.
Very sad indeed.
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Well it always seemed a bit too good to be true for Finland to have one of the bigger LAN tournaments in Europe with the small scene we have.
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Why the best stuff always goes first...
Seriously those tournaments were one of the best in the past couple of years, not to mention the number of people watching them online!
FIngers crossed that this is just temporary
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Noooooo....
The best sc2 tournament in my opinion. Always extreme funny, always good games and always good production...
You will be missed.
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Thats really sad the event last year was exceptional but I cant help feel that something can be worked out here for the future.TheGDstudio didnt use all their budget last time and it spilled over into another event. Maybe Petri could partner up with James and trance. We need to value everyone involved in these events not just casters and players.
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This makes me sad
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Nah, I always enjoyed watching these, they were great :'(
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Meh. Even though a "cancelled" sc2 event is always a bummer, I can't say I was a big fan of it.
Sure, they always had great production and great games, but the invitation only means slamming the door into the face of any up-and-coming player.
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I can fully understand Petri Hämälä point of view. Good luck for him in the future.
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Petri is so awesome met him a couple of times and was always lots of fun. Hope to see him again in the future.
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Too bad, but understandable with the amount of tournaments. If so many proplayers and managers give the organizor credit, he must have done a lot of things right. I hope he stays close to the scene.
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How horrible, I loved the Assembly tournaments in Finland, and they always had a great deal of entertaining and high level games.
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Brace yourselves, SC2 is dying comments are coming.
I loved the ASUS ROG tournaments, I'm really sad to see them go. It's a bummer that Finland's scene isn't taking off more.
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Well, I think right now is simply a bad time for WoL tournaments. I mean: Everybody is interested in HotS, so WoL has lost some appeal for the moment.
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I'm hoping for a DreamHack investment to help them.
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We held our biggest BarCraft to an Asus ROG event, over 300 people showed up. Sad to see them go.
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This is the first tournament I've ever watched when I came to starcraft 2 with polt winning against stephano. Sad to see them go I hope they return
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EPT
