Recap:
This trip was really fun! It's Las Vegas of course! What could go wrong? Oh, I dunno, how about accidentally leaving your wallet at home so you have no form of identification or cash. Yeah, I'm dumb, but I'm fortunate to have great friends that spotted me for food all weekend. 😊
I streamed the night before the tournament in our hotel room. We just jammed in a few games and did some last minute practice for the tournament. You can view the
Twitch VOD here. There's a good portion of the video when my friend took down the camera. Sorry about that. He can be pretty secretive with his decks.
I saw some familiar faces again from previous tournaments and SoCal locals and also got to meet some new friends at the event. There were 38 players. For how last minute this event was planned and announced, it was a decent turnout. I think the late announcement for the event only a month before took a toll on attendance, along with some other factors such as post holidays/school starting up again.
The ballroom was packed with hundreds of people playing different games. Forgot to take pics again. 😕 It was a cold weekend, so I dressed for it. But at the event, it was an oven in there with all that body heat. I also experienced some of that con smell going on. Doesn't sound nice, but at least it was brief. It was mostly the heat that made everyone uncomfortable. Luckily for me, I can deal with the heat very easily. I am a Californian after all. 😊
So I'm still pretty slow in playing my games. I get nervous when people spectate my match@. Like, stop watching all my misplays! Lol 😛
The Swiss Rounds were Best of 1 with 6 rounds. There were 10 people that tied 4-2 competing for 5th-8th place. Damage wasn't recorded, so the tie breakers relied on the Strength of Schedule.
Swiss Rounds Results
Everyone was surprised, myself included, to have gotten 8th place. It was just very unexpected. Here's Top 7, all solid players so no questions there. Then I somehow managed to steal 8th place. I don't really know how that happened, but I'm super thrilled to have done well in a big tournament. It's a big first for me. Thanks to everyone for all the shout outs too!
Congrats to Matthew Okimoto for going undefeated! I unfortunately had to go up against him in Top 8. It was a slaughter, as expected, but I did take away a lot from those games and I think I know now how to deal with that kind of deck.
There was a vote for splitting or playing the finals for prizes. Many voted for splitting, but there was at least one person that wanted to play, so Top 8 played. Once we got to Top 4, they split. The event ended quickly enough to everyone's relief. Everyone wanted to get out of that packed ballroom.
Later that night, there was a constructed tournament and Opus I-IV draft at LGS Darkside Games. The turnout for those events were good. Apparently, that was their normal attendance numbers. Some people just didn't know about the event or most likely were busy with other things. I was personally burnt out by the time we started at Darkside Games. I used up all my energy and skills in the ARG tournament, so I didn't do so hot at Darkside Games. I think people were wondering how I managed to get Top 8. I was playing the same deck. 😕 But I still had fun and that's what matters. 😊
I've played against both owners/workers for the store at previous tournaments and they're super good and passionate for the game. Their prizing is phenomenal. All players get promo cards and a booster pack per win. I thought this was just an ARG weekend exclusive prizing, but they said that this was their normal prizing. They do this to help build the local community for the game. I suppose it works too since attendance was pretty good, even for the draft.
After that ended, the rest of the night was pretty uneventful for me and my friend. The other half of our party got to party in Matt's room with a ton of other people. Apparently, we missed out on a lot of fun. 🙁 But I was too tired to do anything anyways. I knocked out quickly after we got back to our room.
Prizes:
I received a $50 ARG store credit, so I got myself a trade binder. The rest of the credit I let my friends spend. We got 3 Opus I Booster packs, two Hecatoncheir Opus I foils, an Opus I Terra Hero.
Can't forget about the Top 8 playmat. It's super soft! I also received two foil promos of my choice. I chose a Vincent and Sazh promo. As much as I still need a Bartz foil promo, I went for value and got the two most expensive promos from the lot.
Overall, I'd call it a great weekend. Socializing with other players in the community and playing with them is fun. I hope to do this again. Maybe regionals when they get announced later this year? 😀
