Today marks the launch of a new Finnish esports organisation, NYYRIKKI Esports, who have assembled and signed an all-Finn roster who are set to compete at the upcoming $9500 ASUS ROG Summer event this week.
Although the roster had originally registered to compete as "To be announced", there were hints that a reveal would be forthcoming. The new brand draws from Finnish mythology where Nyyrikki is the god of the hunt and very much intends to champion the Finnish Overwatch scene.
In the press release Martti "SuBa" Vahimets, a director at NYYRIKKI, lays out their vision:
"It is an honour for us to be able to launch the NYYRIKKI Esports brand within Finland, specifically within the Overwatch scene. Our objective at NYYRIKKI is to build an organisation that holds an extremely strong reputation for supporting our players and help them to make esports a career rather than just a hobby.
Finland has a very talented player base in Overwatch, having one of the strongest domestic scenes in Europe as a whole. With Overwatch starting to grow stronger with every announcement that Blizzard makes, there is no doubt in my mind Overwatch is the perfect market for us to enter to begin with for our organisation.
A lot of time and effort went into constructing our team and we are extremely pleased that we were able to sign the players we had wanted to have in the team. For those who perhaps don't recognize the name 'Nyyrikki', in Finnish mythology he was the God of hunting. We felt the name NYYRIKKI would be extremely fitting for esports and bring an aspect of the Kalevala to the Finnish esports scene and internationally. Our team will be debuting at Assembly Summer 2017."
The roster brings together battle-tested components, combining ex-Nerf Gaming (a team owned by SuBa) talents tonder and tappomasa with ex-Splyce tank twidi, TF2 scout monster Astt, perry the Lucio brains behind teams such as Void Child and a young upstart DPS by the name of baba.
We managed to snare the team captain, perry, on Twitter on our hunt for more information:
What are you expectations for ASUS ROG Summer given that the previous ASSEMBLY Overwatch tournament was a battle for second place? Do NiP/RiP still rule the roost?
perry: RiP is obviously the team to beat, but they have gone through heavy roster changes and rough periods. The position as the best team in Finland is definitely up for grabs, RiP will have to play their best to keep it. ENCE have made tremendous progress, and are a strong contender in this tournament. GamersOrigin and Helsinki Reds are also strong teams. Overall, the tournament is going to have plenty of exciting Overwatch for both players and spectators.
What adaptations have you guys made with the arrival of Doomfist? Has the patch changed your expectations for ASUS ROG?
p: We've paid close attention to all the changes made in the game recently. We have a clear idea of how we want to play the tournament. I think we're in a really good position compared to all of our opponents, as nobody knows much about us, whereas we've seen our opponents play plenty of times, and we know what to expect from them.
How did the team come together? Did the org build the team or were you already a team before signing?
p: The organisation built the team. We started building it around the core of Nerf Gaming (tappomasa, tonder and sami as coach). Myself, twidi and Astt joined the fray, and we also ended up adding baba to the final roster. We've been scrimming actively for the last 2 months now.
What are your thoughts on the current state of European Overwatch? Where does the Finnish scene fit in?
p: The European Overwatch scene is currently really quiet. There haven't been too many tournaments, and organisations are constantly dropping teams. Funnily enough, while the European scene is quiet, more and more Finnish organisations are starting to support teams. The ASUS ROG tournament is a clear indication that the Finnish scene is more alive than ever. We have an active discord community, and also a regular tournament called kaupunkisota that brings in new players to the scene.
Does this mean you guys full time Overwatch professionals now or do you have other commitments such as jobs, school, etc?
p: We are not full time pros. However, the support of Nyyrikki will allow us to commit more time to Overwatch. Over time, all of us are hoping to make the transition to becoming full time professionals
Lastly then, why should the fans root for NYYRIKKI at ASUS ROG? Give us your best sales pitch!
p: We're a fresh new team to the scene, and we're trying to raise the bar for all Finnish organisations, in terms of what the support of a team should be like. We want to help the scene grow, and we want to become a team all Finnish people can root for. We're going to be kind to our followers and fans, and we're hoping they will be kind to us in return
The new NYYRIKKI Esports roster is:
- Sami "Astt" Kuortesaho (DPS)
- Samuli "baba" Vento (DPS)
- Jussi "twidi" Tiipiö (Tank)
- Toni "tonder" Rehn (Flex)
- Miku "perry" Airaksinen (Support)
- Petja "tappomasa" Kantanen (Support)
- Sami "sami" Ferm (Manager)
Discord