I’m planning on hosting a charity event for a friend of mine, but before we talk about the event, I want to highlight a few details about my friend’s recent struggle.

Recently, a close friend of mine had tragedy strike. Brendan Triano, or Gunblade as he’s come to be called in the competitive Smash Bros community, was asleep in his house in Clifton, NJ, when an electrical fire sparked in his attic. His grandfather, who had just come back from vising the local market, came home to see smoke and flames. He raced upstairs to wake his grandson up, but then found himself too weak to make it down the stairs. Brendan carried his grandfather out of the house safely, leaving two people saved by each other.



Brendan Triano: “If it weren’t for my grandpa, I would be dead.”

The fire engulfed his house almost entirely, and destroyed all of Brendan’s earthly possessions, minus his wallet, keys, and his trombone. Brendan loves jazz, and said that he’s going to be looking towards music to get him though these next couple months.

Brendan is a long standing member of competitive Smash, and supporter of competitive gaming, attending tournaments for games like Marvel vs Capcom 3, Smash Bros, Street Fighter 4, and much more! You can even see him commentating at the biggest Brawl event in history. His knowledge and love for the gaming community is boundless, and it’s time that he cashed in some of the loyalty he’s shown to us.

While I intend to donate, I’ve been racking my brain to think of how I can better help the kindest, more lovable person I’ve met since I started gaming competitively. It’s amazing how obvious it was, really. It’s ironic, that I’m going to try to fight fire with fire.

As most of you know, I’ve been way, way too excited about Diablo 3’s rapidly approaching release date of May 15th. Little crosses my mind besides the idea of venturing back into Deckard Cain’s world of stupidity and anguish. (Seriously, he’s like a thousand. Give it up.) Besides this game, I don’t really have much coming up on my calendar. I thought, since I’m going to be playing this game a lot, maybe I can use it for good.

So, I thought “how can I help Brendan with Diablo 3? OOOOH, CHARITY DRIIIIIVEEEE!”







Yeah. We kind of go hard.

I’ve decided that I’m going to play a twenty-four hour marathon. Straight through. I’m going to race my way through the normal difficulty as fast as my fingers will humanly take me. I certainly might not make it out, but I will not stop for an entire day’s time, sans bathroom breaks and trips to retrieve food. I’m even going to eat at my desk.

Yes, I know it’s unhealthy. But hey, it’s Diablo 3.

I’m going to live stream this entire event, twenty-four hours in a row, and I’m going to do my best to ensure that I have as many viewers as I can. I’ll have a donation link up for my friend and I’ll be periodically talking about the tragedy that lurked it’s way into my friend’s life just this past morning. I will be pushing for my viewers and supporters to donate as much as they can to help my friend and his family get back on their feet. As incentive, I’ll be raffling off prizes such as gaming stuff, t-shirts, and much more! If you would like to contribute in any way, feel free to hit the donation link early to give a truly wonderful person what you can spare. If you don’t have CASH and still want to contribute, then feel free to leave a comment about what you can ship out as a raffle prize!

EVERY. LITTLE. BIT. IS. GODLIKE.

I’ll be doing what I can, this man of little means, to ensure my friend’s life isn’t engulfed by this fire. You can help too!

DETAILS!

What: Marathon Gaming Charity Drive! Fighting Fire with Fire! At least twenty-four hours of straight gaming on Blizzard’s upcoming online RPG, Diablo 3!

When: May 14th. 11:30 pm PDT. Thirty minutes before launch time to get mentally ready for the task ahead. I’ll be taking questions in the meantime! (And probably shaking a bit.)

Who: Brandon Nance (dmbrandon) gaming for Brendan Triano (Gunblade.)

Where: http://www.twitch.tv/dmbrandon

Why: A friend’s house got caught up in an electrical fire. This is how I can truly contribute to my close friend.

How: lolidk. hope I don’t die!

Brendan would like to make a note that he is going to personally thank every single person who donates. If you want to be kept anonymous, you can be, but he’d much prefer to celebrate your generosity!

I’ve done these marathons before, but with the promise of sleep. I’m going to do it without the luxury of a bed. Sleep is lame, anyway! I want to do something special for my friend, anything to help him and his grandparents in time of need.



Brendan’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gunbladeisbroken

I urge everyone to check this event out, and give what they can. This guy would put the world on his back to save a mouse; I would hope we collectively could at least put his world on our backs, if not just for a few hours.

In the meantime, please follow me on http://www.twitch.tv/dmbrandon as to not miss the event! And do your best to spread this article around! I really want this to be a success, and I need all of you to do it!

Help me fight fire with fire. May 14th, 11:30 pm PDT.

UPDATE: The facebook event page is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/133496273448809/

And a video of the damage has been uploaded here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xlUiQnJ3c4&feature=youtu.be

Your generosity is amazing, and because of that, some gaming companies/teams will be helping us by providing us with products for us to raffle off for our contributors!

Every two hours, starting at noon, we’ll be giving away prizes! For every five dollars you’ve donated, your name will be entered in a drawing, where you could win some seriously awesome stuff!

12:00pm: 1600 Microsoft Points and 3-Month Subscription to X-BOX LIVE.

2:00pm: MadCatz MLG X-Box 360 controller

4:00pm: Hori Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Arcade Stick, signed by some of the top players in world, plus a Street Fighter x Tekken poster signed by Yoshinoro Ono!

6:00pm: Pair of Gunnar MLG Legends Advanced Gaming Eyewear

8:00pm: MadCatz MLG Tournament Edition Fightstick

10:00pm: GRAND PRIZE!: Microsoft Comfort 5000 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse, Pair of Gunnar Advanced Gaming Eyewear, and a Digital Copy of Diablo 3

(Prizes are subject to change up until the time of drawing. Though, it would probably only to be improvements!) Sponsors and partners include Local Battles Lan Center, Dominion Method Gaming, Delta Red Squad, Twitch.TV, and Gunnars.com!

Personal prize donations from Aldrin Buniel, Patrick Wallace and Doug Henry! Make sure to leave a note, as Brendan wants to personally thank everyone who sends in anything! If you would like to be kept anonymous, that’s fine, too. (But he’d much rather celebrate your generosity!)