[Throwback] A heart as big as HQ - 2nd @ EMEA TTT

This is a love letter to the entire staff of EMEA: organizers, judges, volunteers, you name it.

Organizers: Atien & Porkobolo. You two are really pure souls. I could sense the stress of running such a large tournament with high expectations. Despite some intense moments, you managed to pull through in order to mange an amazing tournament. This is no small feat, so kudos to you both. The amount of work you put into it, the help you've given me and so many other people with stuff as basic as accommodation or travel, the ability to direct everyone asking countless questions, all shows what amazing human beings you two are. Hug Mirio and the kitties for me.

Tech wizard: OF15-15. I can see you still working to help people do stuff in the community and holy shit fam, take a chill pill. Please, RELAX. You put in so much work, did an incredible job with all the streaming gear, pretty much always got to the venue first and left last. The amount of energy you showed almost makes me a little envious. We both know about that feeling neither of us can express with words, so let's just leave it at that.

Booth partners: ALFlex & tempest. Commentating with you both on Saturday and receiving all your help during the entire weekend is something I can never forget. We spent so many hours in that once chill (and then incredibly hot) room just chatting and having fun. There's no way I'd have been able to survive such a long day of commentary without you two.

Community commentators: Veronica212, OF15-15, rubenpieters, Aksu, awildturtok, not_yeti, jan tuno, Augustus Caesar, Baa Ram Wu, Rhahi, wowarlok, J0N4LD, ryanbantwins. You people are the real deal. You all have different styles of commentating, but I loved having each and every one of you on stream, ready to discuss games and strategy on top of playing in the main event (some of you even made it to the top cut). I don't care if you were on for a few rounds or just a quick interview, without your spirit and insights the tournament just wouldn't have been as enjoyable and exciting.

Judges: galehar, harmonbee, Herbart, Jakuza, krysdreavus, RainbowMonkey. You kept the tournament fair for everyone involved, as you always do, without skipping a beat. I absolutely loved thinking about some judge puzzles and how to solve them, I think I have lots to learn from you all. Thank god I got moved away from the position of head judge just weeks before the event, though I'm sure things would've been fine with such an amazing team watching my back.

The countless volunteers: (I genuinely don't know how many of you there are or who you are exactly). THANK YOU. I can't wait to have another big tournament in Italy with you all. The fact that I'm not even aware of how much better you made this year's EMEA just goes to show that your impact was of really high quality. It's so much easier to notice things that don't function properly.

NSG & the players. Thank you for putting your trust in us and keeping the game alive. None of this would've happened without you. This was one of the most tiring yet rewarding experiences I've ever been a part of. Thank you for all the memories and the kind words. They really do add up.

TAIB folks. You're helllla cool. Can't wait to spend more time with you. Also, let's show those EA losers who's boss, I can't stand that level of disrespect and trashtalk in their writeups.

Oh and Ams, f u for instantly drawing back Clot after Ashen. That game was sooo close!

Till next time.