Hello and welcome Heroclix Players to another exciting announcement! Today we are going to be revealing the next inductee into the Heroclix Hall of Fame! It has been a bit since the last round of inductees and this time we will be changing up the process moving forward to make the organization a little more fluent. 

 

For those unaware,  here is how the hall of fame works. Year one, members of the ROC team  chose 5 members of the  community whom they thought to exemplify Heroclix excellence. These players have risen above the competition, won major events, and have been staples of the community for decades. The ROC felt it was very important to not just focus on world champions, but also Judges, Podcasters, Team leaders, and anyone else who has proven their commitment to the game. 

 

Here are the  original members of the ROC Heroclix Hall of Fame:

 

Patrick Yapjoco

Scott Cramton

Daniel Joynes

Edward Shelton

George Massu

 

From here on out, new members of the hall of fame will be chosen by its current members. An internal panel will determine a list of names they feel should be considered, and then the entire group will vote to choose who will make it in.  This year, only two people were chosen to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Today, our article is written by none other than George Massu. George and our new Inductee go way back and he wanted the change to give his insights into the career of our inductee. Take it away George. 

Hello Heroclix Players! 

Today, (with a bit of help) I have the absolute pleasure and the privilege to induct into the Heroclix Hall of Fame a player that has woven himself into the fabric of Heroclix,  has been a personal inspiration and idol to me(and to all of Canada;). Rob Barazzuol. To help me introduce Rob I had to call on the Queen of Canadian HeroClix, Patricia Lam. She has known Rob longer than I have and definitely has a story to share and something to say. 

“In the US, when we talk about GOAT’s of sports, we talk about Tom Brady, Michael Jordan; in Canada, the GOAT is Wayne Gretzky. Quite fittingly, this year’s inductee into the Heroclix Hall of Fame was once referred to as the “Wayne Gretzky” of Heroclix. That man is Rob Barazzuol.

Rob is a pillar of the local Heroclix Community in Vancouver, Canada. He has been judging and running weekly events since the game first started, teaching many new players hoe to play and have fun. The countless hours he devotes to sharing the game also includes running an annual local charity event, Clix for the Cause, which has raised over $6000 for the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, He is also a founding member of team “Department H”, and has been a mentor to many who want to play at the same elite level that he does.

Rob was a fixture at many past conventions (Wizard World, GenCon, Origins), and made fast friends with many Heroclix players due to his easy-going nature and signature Canadian friendliness. He is also a bit of a prankster. One time during a tournament, he went up to Scott Cramton and started gushing excitedly that he was in the presence of “the” Scott Cramton, perhaps making Scott’s opponent feel a little nervous and embarrassing Scott. Another Prank Rob had pulled (with the help of George Massu) was wearing George’s badge for a day during the con, and pretending to be George. A lot of people that only knew George only by name and not by face went up to Rob/fake George and introduced themselves, and got their pictures taken with Rob/fake George!                  –Patricia Lam

Before I begin to share some of my fond memories I think it’s important to know who just Rob is. Rob’s beginning started in 2002/2003 when he was a weeeee Canadian lad birthed from the frozen icy lakes of British Colombia at the age of 33! Rob liked to play pickup games of basketball where he met a “random guy” (his words, not mine) that introduced him to Heroclix Hypertime. Rob was already a fan and reader of comic books such as Punisher, Hawkeye, Wolverine, Judge Dredd and Nightcrawler. So the leap from comic book stories to little plastic figures battling on gridded terrain wasn’t very difficult for him. Rob was also a Magic player at this time, so the Nerd was strong with him. Rob may have started Heroclix with Hypertime but his first purchasable set was Clobberin Time, and through his Random friend he began to build more mutual friends and they introduced Rob to local venues that had weekly events scheduled where he met even more players and began to expand his interest in the game. By 2004 Rob was already judging local events and had his first out of town traveling experience at Wizard World LA. where approximately 80-100 players were in attendance. Sometime between WWLA and 2005 Rob and Patricia met, and they would become traveling companions for years to come, Department H was reppin Canada across the USA! Rob frequented all the major events WWLA, WW Philly, WW Chicago and it was in 2006 Rob secured his first big victory, winning Wizard World LA! A team lead by Veteran Black Adam from the Unleashed set. BA was loaded up with feat cards such as Fortitude and Nano Bots. Rob’s prize was a one of a kind Peanut Base Masterpiece Ghost Rider Heroclix. These figures are One of a kind, meaning there is only one in existence. Rob was also the first player to win major back to back events, WWLA in 2007 followed by WW Chicago in 2008 (also known as US Championship). He won both events with the exact same “Spy” themed team.  In addition to being the first great champion of Heroclix, Rob loves the social aspect of the game, he socially branches out befriending new players and people, eating meals with friends after long gaming days, drawing us all together. If you’re a veteran player then you should surely see, that Rob should  be credited with templating the “family” like community that Heroclix is known for. Rob was the games first recognizable champion who really helped shape the social framework of how we still behave to this day in clix. That family spirit that defines Heroclix from all other competitive games stems from this guy. There have been several faces to carry this mantle such as myself, Patrick etc….. but this is where it started, with Rob. The new players that enjoy the welcoming, friendly, respectful, everyone is welcome mindset is projected through the players, but started with Rob. It’s important to know this, to know our history and be thankful for what we all share and enjoy.   

When I was new to clix I had similar beginnings in ‘06 and won my first major event in ’07 WW Chicago. I was flying high at that time. It wasn’t until ’08 that I met Rob and actually watched him play a match, and at that (humbling) moment I knew I wasn’t even in this guy’s league. He was setting up plays and calling out shots turns ahead. I may have been a US Champ, but this guy was in a whole other tier. I quickly thought to myself, “that’s how I want to play, that’s the guy I want to be like”. So I grew idolizing Rob, he’s Ryu to my Ken, Palpatine to Vader,…. You get the idea. It wasn’t until 2011 that we actually had a chance to meet on a competitive platform at Worlds (remind you I’m the current Champion) and the best I could do was Tie Rob. He ended up winning that game. It was one of my greatest matches I ever played and I still couldn’t best him.

He is the best! Rob is “Mr. Heroclix”

So please help me give a warm (and deserved) welcome introducing and immortalizing Mr. Heroclix, Rob Barazzuol into the Heroclix Hall of Fame of 2021! 

 

To my friend, and brother, congratulations!

-George Massu