This year I was invited to the exclusive invitational event at Gen Con. I was selected for ranking in the top 10 for most points scored in the Secret War Society for the previous year. All of these point had been earned the previous year at Gen Con.
I wasn't given much notice for this. The final list was published the week of Gen Con. I had not been keeping track of the points year to date, so I did not know if I would make it. I had thought about harassing Daniel about getting an invite for winning New Heroes at last year's Gen Con, but I didn't want to pressure him into extending an 'unearned' invite.
As an aside I think the method for earning an invitation should be somewhat different. Anyone who won a world championship or won the invitational should get a lifetime invite. I find it hard to believe someone like Jan Malina (among other previous champions) would not be considered a worthy opponent at this type of event.
Back to the topic at hand. I did not have time to try to develop a new deck with which I would be comfortable. I decided to update my Lotus Stealth deck that I played in the world championship last year. As it turned out, I could have made a brand new deck and not done any worse. I lost all my games and ended as the Gimp. Well it was an honor to just be invited and throwdown with the best of the best. I'd like to take this time to thank my coaches, my parents, and my creator.
Willow won the tournament for the second year in a row. Her deck was a Monarch fire deck with maybe a Dragon splash.
Here is the deck list (notice that the Stealth was removed):
Knife (As in I took a Knife to a Gun fight)
Foundation (13)
Sinister Priest x5
Wailing Apparition x5
Shamanistic Punk x2
Petal's Attendant
Characters (13)
Eater of Fortune
Reverend Adam Wither x2
Destroyer
Xin Ji Yang (F7)
Madam Yen
Infernal Army
Midnight
Gao Zhang
Cloaca
The Alabaster King
Sheriff Agathon
Evil Twin
Events (15)
Flying Sleeves x3
Evil Whispers x2
Die!!! x2
Verminous Rain
Poisoned
Pocket Demon
Tortured Memories x3
Discerning Fire
Infernal Pact
States (5)
Tommy Gun
Amulet of the Turtle x2
Mark of Evil
Lunar Sword
Edges (3)
Insidious Plan
Throne of Skulls
Twelve Thousand Skulls
Sites (2)
Death Ring
The Library of Souls
FSS (14)
Disco
Gambling House
Rainforest Ruins
City Park
Hydroponic Garden
Golden Mile
Fox Pass
Hot Spring
Ancient Stone Arch
Mobius Garden
Temple of the Angry Spirits
LaGrange Four
Coral Reef
The Alabaster Palace
With players being clipped for this tournament, was there even enough for the 'lower rank' tournament this year or was that just scrapped?
ReplyDeleteThe World Championship was still played. I can't think of any players who were at the invitational and did not also play in the Championship on Saturday. I am still working on my report for the remaining events for the con.
ReplyDeleteOk, so if the first event is exclusive and the ability of players to get into the exclusive tournament is determined by them winning tournament, this means said new player has to beat the exclusive group to get into the exclusive event? Just sayin...
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of ways to get into the invitational tournament.
ReplyDelete1) Win a major tournament (So far these include GenCon, Origins, and Smackdown in Jacktown AFAIK)
2) Win a local Proving Ground
3) Win a State Championship (in Wisconsin, this is held at Plattecon every year)
4) Be in the top 10 for Secret War Society points earned in the last year (this is how I got in)
So yes, new players will probably have to go up against veterans to get into the invitational, but there are a number of routes to get there.
I also think that part of the goal of the invitational is to get the "best of the best" for the current year. But it is more of an honor than anything else. The grand prize for the year (having your ugly mug featured in a card) is still awarded in the World Championship, which is open to anyone.
Indeed. I think the primary purpose of the invitational is just to have an exhibition tournament of just very good players (Mind, while I get the idea of rotating the membership by having it just be popple who won this year, as someone who's won a few things in the past I can't say I'd -object- to your idea of auto-inviting anyone who's won a world championship or invitational :).
ReplyDeleteMind, I'd prefer that the exclusive event not occur on Thursday night -- that way you can't qualify by winning other events at Gencon! In my ideal world, it would occur simultaneous to a draft -- thus you've got the most open type of tournament simultaneous to the most closed type.
Was the invitational actually opposite any other event?
ReplyDeleteI approve of your qualification standards, for obvious reasons.