Host of the Month Reborn! February 2009: AzN Lep
by
falln
March 12 2009, 6:36 PM
If you've been around on All Is Brawl since its origin, then you may already know about
Host of the Month. For those on the site who don't know, the Host of the Month award was given to exemplary tournament hosts for their proficiency in all aspects of running large tournaments. This March is the first revival of the Host of the Month, and the featured host is
AzN Lep, known for his tri-weekly tournaments in SoCal, and even more for his management of the Winter Game Fest.
AzN's been hosting tournaments since '06, the first one being at his house. Even on his very first tournament, he had over 50 attendees. From there he started helping out
CAOTIC with the UCSD Triweeklies. At the time, CAOTIC was in charge, but he eventually passed the torch to AzN Lep. From there AzN diligently hosted his tri-weeklies, but not without help. "Players like
Edrees and
Mango help me out with the tournaments. Edrees for Brawl, Mango for Melee," says AzN.
In January '09, AzN was responsible for hosting the biggest Brawl-related tournament since Axis. When asked how long it took for planning, he responded: "It took several months, especially for an attendance of 274 people." The
Winter Game Fest is now seen as one of the most successful tournament for Brawl to date. However, on smaller tournaments, he claims: "I've had tri-weeklies with 12 hours' notice, but it still brought in 30+ people."
There is controversy about whether or not tournament hosts should be able to make money for what they do. AzN Lep, out of all his tournaments, "hasn't seen a dime." He states that the only money taken out of the pot is for venue. When asked whether he plans to make this a business, he replies: "Probably not. I just do it because I like the community that surrounds the game." He says he'll keep running tournaments as long as people show, but purely for a hobby. Another controversy seen is whether or not tournament hosts should partake in their own tourney. AzN has no problem with entering his smaller ones. When asked, he simply responds: "Brawl? Sometimes. Melee? Usually." However, he did not play in the Winter Game Fest just to stay on top of things. When pressed, he said that larger tournaments need their hosts active, while smaller ones they can afford taking part in.
AzN says that when he graduates from UCSD (he's currently a sophomore), then he'll assign someone else the duty of hosting these tri-weeklies. Until then, he'll be the one to look to for all Smashers looking to enter the events. Any Brawler living in SoCal is highly advised to enter the tourney scene and check out his tri-weeklies.