Well, Well, Well. It’s hard to believe that FIVE weeks have flown by. Our 53 rising stars are certainly not the same players they were at the start of this tournament. I want to thank you all for the kind words and messages. I’m still in shock from how many people were viewing the event yesterday (peaked at 1100 viewers..... Thanks Viper!), it really felt like a dream. First and foremost, this tournament would not have been possible without the huge support of our donors. cbassjr713 is an instrumental member of the AoE community. A mental health advocate, a hard-working tournament organizer, and a friend - he is such an absolute pleasure to know. CB’s map/civ pick was Aztecs on Four Lakes, so we have him to thank for those INSANE badaboom-jaguar warrior moments. What a phenomenal match in the finals. Thank you to ZabiasFavoriteSon (NipZzZzZzZzZz) for being so supportive of the tournament and always having the best darn usernames. We have him to thank for requesting Hideout in the map pool. The Britons, Teutons, and Khmer hideout games that we saw were certainly legendary. mgxiongmao is a very selfless friend and incredibly motivated AoE player. His fast improvement in RM and desire to learn DM for this tournament was so exciting for us to see (Any opportunity to see him get housed is a win lol mgxHoused). MGX’s map/civ pick was Incas on Acropolis, so we have him to thank for that super fun game. Another phenomenal match in the finals. Anything with siege is a win for me, the casters and viewers LOVED it. supermonkeycar3000 is a fantastic person and a great AoE teacher (and the Earl of Sandwich DUH!). He picked Goths on Socotra for the finals and it was one of the most anticipated match-ups. Including Socotra in the map pool led to some seriously exciting games for us to cast - such as the shortest game in DMRS3 history: 2 minutes and 59 seconds.
And who in the AoE community doesn’t know CrazyJoeInSJ?! They don’t call him Crazy Joe for nothing! This wonderful man is one of the most supportive people there is in the community, bouncing from stream to stream and making everyone feel welcome. As a huge fan of DM, Joe adds so much fun and excitement to the chat (HAKA) and we were so thankful that he wanted to support this event. TN_ZLivingston was so excited about this event and immediately provided his support. He is part of an Apex Legends team (Team Nova) and decided to start playing AoE2 with a few of the members and they are all SO much fun to watch. No matter if I was streaming RM or DM, Livingston always provides so much positivity in the community and brings a smile to so many people.
Thank you to [QuEnDi] True. They must call him True because he literally makes peoples dreams come true. As the host/organizer of DMRS1 and DMRS3, he paved the way for DMRS3 to have credibility and respect. I sent him a message in July indicating that I wanted to organize a low-elo DM event. He set aside time to discuss with me and then said “Why don’t you host DM Rising Star 3?” and my jaw dropped. Host a tournament that is tied to True’s legacy?! NO WAY! He provided such helpful guidance, advice throughout the entire tournament, and pep talks when I needed it. I can’t thank him enough for his thoughtful insight and friendship. All my random thoughts about the tournament, he was there to help and talk me through it. I never thought I would be capable of organizing a tournament and he really helped me and p0ni believe in ourselves. When I said that I was a big fan of TaToH, he indicated that he would ask him to co-cast with me (and same for p0ni and Nili). and it HAPPENED. True is one of the most selfless people I have ever met and has never asked for any recognition whatsoever. The Semi-Finals and Finals was one of the best days ever and I have him to thank for that. Thank you to [RS] ImComing, [Valhalla] The Otter One, [OG] PoLaR, [OG] THE MEG, aawwd, SilverHawk Model 4700 (swooping in with the impromptu cast), & pseudo5 for co-casting throughout the tournament. I can verify that all of these amazing people will indeed add so much value and entertainment to your castings. wb_Polar and The Otter One streamed many of the games live, which was really special for all the players involved. While p0ni and I streamed many of the games as recordings, it was great for the EU players to watch the games at a reasonable time for them. Polar quite literally started casting at 11PM and joined us for 4 hours of mayhem. That was one of the highlights for Rising Star for me… especially those docks from B3Z!
Thank you to TaToH for making yourself available to co-cast with me. I mean who else co-casts while playing in KOTD at the same time (jk!). I have really looked up to you for years and it was beyond exciting to have the opportunity to meet you and learn about your perspective of the game. I appreciate you answering all of my questions and laughing along with all of the terrible joke attempts. I have played this game since I was a kid and co-casting with you was an experience that I will truly cherish forever. Thank you to Nili_AoE for adding your fun, analytical mindset to the semi-finals casting. You are truly valued in the DM community for your hard work and efforts. I watched your co-casting with p0ni today - it was such a great dynamic and your commentary was really insightful, educational, and of course, entertaining Thank you to [OG] Spooly (aka KDanJuro) for creating the most epic trailer. As some of you know, I spent many hours creating a mediocre trailer to the song Manas from the AoE2:DE Soundtrack. I released this to create additional interest for the tournament, and shortly afterwards, KD messaged me to ask if he could make a trailer for Rising Star. Upon seeing this, I was afraid to ask for any assistance whatsoever, so I messaged him “No - That's okay. But thank you so much!” even though I had really wanted a new trailer. I just didn’t want to ask for someone to spend time on it and well…. KD quickly responded and let me know that he already created one LOL. It was beyond EPIC and one of the nicest things that anyone has done for me. He has a true gift with video-editing and brought such a professional and hype vibe to the tournament. I am greatly looking forward to his YouTube series where he dives into Clemensor's DM guide and highlights each civ.
Thank you to robo_boro for being our advisor and answering every single one of our questions. Whenever any issue came up, he assisted quickly and always had the right answers. We had never really used AoEZone prior to this tournament and appreciated all of your guidance. WWRD (what would Robo do) is probably the mantra for many members of the AoE community. I simply don’t know how you do it all, but all of the knowledge and experience is truly invaluable. you have such insightful and level-headed solutions for everything. also - thank you for co-casting the daehiise/mundo series!! it was a BLAST! Thank you to [QuEnDi] Clemensor for making the best dang guide, which heavily benefited the players. All of the time you spent creating this all-encompassing document increased the game knowledge for the casters, and of course, made it easier for new-comers to learn DM which was the whole point of the tournament! (Also thanks for slinging me 50k in resources in that showmatch, who needs a Market when you have Clemensor?) Thank you to our Scoreboard Masters aawwd and AlphaSalt for seamlessly updating the scoreboards during the Semi-Finals and Grand Finals. Thank you JoRo for teaching players throughout the tournament. Your dedication and passion to train competitors led to very healthy competition among the players. Thank you HAIVIZA for being our Scheduling Guru and advising throughout the tournament. I actually have a lot to thank you for. You were the one that inspired me to organize a tournament in the first place when I was talking about wanting to plan an event to give back to the Death Match community. If you hadn’t encouraged me to want to plan an event in the first place, this tournament would’ve never happened.
Thank you to the Capture Age Team for forging an awesome overlay that revolutionized our casting experiences. SirLaurenceNZ and abductedPlatypus were an absolute pleasure to work with. Having CA made the entire tournament feel so professional and all the additional statistics included such interesting talking points during casting. Thank you to [RS] ImComing for creating training resources and setting aside time to help new players. He completed training streams for new players and provided a very thorough analysis of what they can do to improve. Seriously - he had streams where he indicated that he will teach ANYONE that showed up! So many people have learned techniques from him and we are so incredibly grateful to have him in the community. Thank you to @Jex and the Age of Empires Team for promoting our event on the AoE Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Age of Esports monthly newsletter. Getting the word out about the event increased sign-ups, viewership, and all-around excitement about the tournament! Thank you to @p0ni_b0i for providing endless encouragement and selecting such creative map and civilization match-ups. His research and desire for the most chaotic battles ever resulted in the incredible games that our competitors played. The “BADABOOM, MANGO BANGO, CASTLE CREEP” energy was so much fun to co-cast alongside, we have created so many inside jokes that honestly are making me laugh at this exact moment. I am so grateful for his friendship and optimism during this entire experience. Thank you to [OG] Hydra for training me and challenging me. I unfortunately was knocked out in the first round, but I am officially feared by many because of my Huns/Arabia gameplay. Thank you to [OG] SteBron_James and OG Clan for being the best clan there is. You welcomed me into your family right before DMRS3 was announced and have been so kind and supportive throughout.
Thank you to the entire DM Community (& obv GoldiGlock) for welcoming me and p0ni with open arms. We were both very new to DM and you all endlessly supported us during this event and for that - we are eternally grateful. I joined the community in May after watching [QuEnDi] LeAsH__’s stream - he was so welcoming and helped me learn DM. He even did a 1v1 against me and explained step-by-step how he beat me, which was really instrumental in my desire to learn more about DM. From there, [OG] PoSeR saw one of my YouTube uploads (where I literally just… spammed longswordsmen as Persians) and offered to teach me the ropes of DM. A week later, I invited p0ni_b0i and our friend m3ati_b0i into a ranked game with True. P0ni had an “unstoppable” idea that would beat any competitors and, while hysterically laughing, he started building bombard towers across the entire map!!!! P0ni and I were completely unaware of the BBT taboo and were like OMG THIS IDEA IS THE BEST IDEA. True was probably shocked, but laughed along with us. It was such a fun game and at this point, I realized that DM was something I could have endless fun with. I met @[OG] Daywalker shortly after that and was incredibly star-struck every time he came into my Twitch chat. In every "who will win DMWC3" vote or conversation about DMWC3, I would tell everyone “that Daywalker will win it all” “Daywalker will win this, just wait and see” "have you SEEN Daywalkers MICRO, that is what a WINNER looks like!!" In what other community can you message the pros and ask them an endless amount of questions? This is something I truly love about the DM Community.
Thank you to my first round opponent [ODIN] Trace for kickin my butt 2-0 and giving me more motivation than ever to improve. Trace really is an absolute micro beast. Can't wait to play more forest nothing with you! Thank you to [DREAM] Helmburg and [DREAM] GreenDude for training for DMRS3 with me. We had so many laughs together with BOTH of your unorthodox strategies and I look forward to playing more with you both. You both also trained new players and gave them confidence before their games, which was extremely kind and admirable. The DM Community is a better place because of your welcoming personalities.
I started consistently streaming DM and despite being absolutely horrible, it made me really happy when people pointed out that I was improving. When I lost 0-3 in DMWC3, I had so many friends and clanmates cheering me on. When I lost 0-4 in DMWC3 Silver League, I felt like a dang celebrity when people told me how great I played. I wanted to do something that helped players feel the same way I did and be rewarded for their improvement so therefore - the idea to organize DMRS3 began. Watching every single one of the competitors become more CONFIDENT throughout the tournament was incredibly heartwarming. I very much look forward to being defeated by all of you in the ladder (Kappa). Our finalists - Silverhawk, Funny Liquid, and The Otter One really developed their own unique playstyle and the sheer efforts exerted in some of those back-and-forth games was entertainment beyond belief (Look out DMWC4 - these players are BEASTS)! The future of DM is looking really bright with the eagerly awaited team game tournament, Winter’s War, on the horizon. Thank you all for everything (and thank you all for reading this). Long Live DM
And who in the AoE community doesn’t know CrazyJoeInSJ?! They don’t call him Crazy Joe for nothing! This wonderful man is one of the most supportive people there is in the community, bouncing from stream to stream and making everyone feel welcome. As a huge fan of DM, Joe adds so much fun and excitement to the chat (HAKA) and we were so thankful that he wanted to support this event. TN_ZLivingston was so excited about this event and immediately provided his support. He is part of an Apex Legends team (Team Nova) and decided to start playing AoE2 with a few of the members and they are all SO much fun to watch. No matter if I was streaming RM or DM, Livingston always provides so much positivity in the community and brings a smile to so many people.
Thank you to [QuEnDi] True. They must call him True because he literally makes peoples dreams come true. As the host/organizer of DMRS1 and DMRS3, he paved the way for DMRS3 to have credibility and respect. I sent him a message in July indicating that I wanted to organize a low-elo DM event. He set aside time to discuss with me and then said “Why don’t you host DM Rising Star 3?” and my jaw dropped. Host a tournament that is tied to True’s legacy?! NO WAY! He provided such helpful guidance, advice throughout the entire tournament, and pep talks when I needed it. I can’t thank him enough for his thoughtful insight and friendship. All my random thoughts about the tournament, he was there to help and talk me through it. I never thought I would be capable of organizing a tournament and he really helped me and p0ni believe in ourselves. When I said that I was a big fan of TaToH, he indicated that he would ask him to co-cast with me (and same for p0ni and Nili). and it HAPPENED. True is one of the most selfless people I have ever met and has never asked for any recognition whatsoever. The Semi-Finals and Finals was one of the best days ever and I have him to thank for that. Thank you to [RS] ImComing, [Valhalla] The Otter One, [OG] PoLaR, [OG] THE MEG, aawwd, SilverHawk Model 4700 (swooping in with the impromptu cast), & pseudo5 for co-casting throughout the tournament. I can verify that all of these amazing people will indeed add so much value and entertainment to your castings. wb_Polar and The Otter One streamed many of the games live, which was really special for all the players involved. While p0ni and I streamed many of the games as recordings, it was great for the EU players to watch the games at a reasonable time for them. Polar quite literally started casting at 11PM and joined us for 4 hours of mayhem. That was one of the highlights for Rising Star for me… especially those docks from B3Z!
Thank you to TaToH for making yourself available to co-cast with me. I mean who else co-casts while playing in KOTD at the same time (jk!). I have really looked up to you for years and it was beyond exciting to have the opportunity to meet you and learn about your perspective of the game. I appreciate you answering all of my questions and laughing along with all of the terrible joke attempts. I have played this game since I was a kid and co-casting with you was an experience that I will truly cherish forever. Thank you to Nili_AoE for adding your fun, analytical mindset to the semi-finals casting. You are truly valued in the DM community for your hard work and efforts. I watched your co-casting with p0ni today - it was such a great dynamic and your commentary was really insightful, educational, and of course, entertaining Thank you to [OG] Spooly (aka KDanJuro) for creating the most epic trailer. As some of you know, I spent many hours creating a mediocre trailer to the song Manas from the AoE2:DE Soundtrack. I released this to create additional interest for the tournament, and shortly afterwards, KD messaged me to ask if he could make a trailer for Rising Star. Upon seeing this, I was afraid to ask for any assistance whatsoever, so I messaged him “No - That's okay. But thank you so much!” even though I had really wanted a new trailer. I just didn’t want to ask for someone to spend time on it and well…. KD quickly responded and let me know that he already created one LOL. It was beyond EPIC and one of the nicest things that anyone has done for me. He has a true gift with video-editing and brought such a professional and hype vibe to the tournament. I am greatly looking forward to his YouTube series where he dives into Clemensor's DM guide and highlights each civ.
Thank you to robo_boro for being our advisor and answering every single one of our questions. Whenever any issue came up, he assisted quickly and always had the right answers. We had never really used AoEZone prior to this tournament and appreciated all of your guidance. WWRD (what would Robo do) is probably the mantra for many members of the AoE community. I simply don’t know how you do it all, but all of the knowledge and experience is truly invaluable. you have such insightful and level-headed solutions for everything. also - thank you for co-casting the daehiise/mundo series!! it was a BLAST! Thank you to [QuEnDi] Clemensor for making the best dang guide, which heavily benefited the players. All of the time you spent creating this all-encompassing document increased the game knowledge for the casters, and of course, made it easier for new-comers to learn DM which was the whole point of the tournament! (Also thanks for slinging me 50k in resources in that showmatch, who needs a Market when you have Clemensor?) Thank you to our Scoreboard Masters aawwd and AlphaSalt for seamlessly updating the scoreboards during the Semi-Finals and Grand Finals. Thank you JoRo for teaching players throughout the tournament. Your dedication and passion to train competitors led to very healthy competition among the players. Thank you HAIVIZA for being our Scheduling Guru and advising throughout the tournament. I actually have a lot to thank you for. You were the one that inspired me to organize a tournament in the first place when I was talking about wanting to plan an event to give back to the Death Match community. If you hadn’t encouraged me to want to plan an event in the first place, this tournament would’ve never happened.
Thank you to the Capture Age Team for forging an awesome overlay that revolutionized our casting experiences. SirLaurenceNZ and abductedPlatypus were an absolute pleasure to work with. Having CA made the entire tournament feel so professional and all the additional statistics included such interesting talking points during casting. Thank you to [RS] ImComing for creating training resources and setting aside time to help new players. He completed training streams for new players and provided a very thorough analysis of what they can do to improve. Seriously - he had streams where he indicated that he will teach ANYONE that showed up! So many people have learned techniques from him and we are so incredibly grateful to have him in the community. Thank you to @Jex and the Age of Empires Team for promoting our event on the AoE Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Age of Esports monthly newsletter. Getting the word out about the event increased sign-ups, viewership, and all-around excitement about the tournament! Thank you to @p0ni_b0i for providing endless encouragement and selecting such creative map and civilization match-ups. His research and desire for the most chaotic battles ever resulted in the incredible games that our competitors played. The “BADABOOM, MANGO BANGO, CASTLE CREEP” energy was so much fun to co-cast alongside, we have created so many inside jokes that honestly are making me laugh at this exact moment. I am so grateful for his friendship and optimism during this entire experience. Thank you to [OG] Hydra for training me and challenging me. I unfortunately was knocked out in the first round, but I am officially feared by many because of my Huns/Arabia gameplay. Thank you to [OG] SteBron_James and OG Clan for being the best clan there is. You welcomed me into your family right before DMRS3 was announced and have been so kind and supportive throughout.
Thank you to the entire DM Community (& obv GoldiGlock) for welcoming me and p0ni with open arms. We were both very new to DM and you all endlessly supported us during this event and for that - we are eternally grateful. I joined the community in May after watching [QuEnDi] LeAsH__’s stream - he was so welcoming and helped me learn DM. He even did a 1v1 against me and explained step-by-step how he beat me, which was really instrumental in my desire to learn more about DM. From there, [OG] PoSeR saw one of my YouTube uploads (where I literally just… spammed longswordsmen as Persians) and offered to teach me the ropes of DM. A week later, I invited p0ni_b0i and our friend m3ati_b0i into a ranked game with True. P0ni had an “unstoppable” idea that would beat any competitors and, while hysterically laughing, he started building bombard towers across the entire map!!!! P0ni and I were completely unaware of the BBT taboo and were like OMG THIS IDEA IS THE BEST IDEA. True was probably shocked, but laughed along with us. It was such a fun game and at this point, I realized that DM was something I could have endless fun with. I met @[OG] Daywalker shortly after that and was incredibly star-struck every time he came into my Twitch chat. In every "who will win DMWC3" vote or conversation about DMWC3, I would tell everyone “that Daywalker will win it all” “Daywalker will win this, just wait and see” "have you SEEN Daywalkers MICRO, that is what a WINNER looks like!!" In what other community can you message the pros and ask them an endless amount of questions? This is something I truly love about the DM Community.
Thank you to my first round opponent [ODIN] Trace for kickin my butt 2-0 and giving me more motivation than ever to improve. Trace really is an absolute micro beast. Can't wait to play more forest nothing with you! Thank you to [DREAM] Helmburg and [DREAM] GreenDude for training for DMRS3 with me. We had so many laughs together with BOTH of your unorthodox strategies and I look forward to playing more with you both. You both also trained new players and gave them confidence before their games, which was extremely kind and admirable. The DM Community is a better place because of your welcoming personalities.
I started consistently streaming DM and despite being absolutely horrible, it made me really happy when people pointed out that I was improving. When I lost 0-3 in DMWC3, I had so many friends and clanmates cheering me on. When I lost 0-4 in DMWC3 Silver League, I felt like a dang celebrity when people told me how great I played. I wanted to do something that helped players feel the same way I did and be rewarded for their improvement so therefore - the idea to organize DMRS3 began. Watching every single one of the competitors become more CONFIDENT throughout the tournament was incredibly heartwarming. I very much look forward to being defeated by all of you in the ladder (Kappa). Our finalists - Silverhawk, Funny Liquid, and The Otter One really developed their own unique playstyle and the sheer efforts exerted in some of those back-and-forth games was entertainment beyond belief (Look out DMWC4 - these players are BEASTS)! The future of DM is looking really bright with the eagerly awaited team game tournament, Winter’s War, on the horizon. Thank you all for everything (and thank you all for reading this). Long Live DM