Hey guys,

this is the first year since I've started playing GoT so this is my first experience with regionals. Could anyone give a newb some insight as to how they work and what to expect? Also, Any tips on Deck construction/meta to be aware of?

thanks a bunch!

Regionals usually involves a mix of players that includes anyone from the local gaming group (newbs, casual gamers, and experienced competitors) to travelers who are usually more serious about the game (~though not necessarily good). As you can probably guess, few new and casual players are willing to travel for hours to a distant regionals event. That said, it's a good way to meet people you wouldn't normally meet.

For numbers of participants, it really depends on your local area. If you have a large local group and are in a big city, chances are you'll get more people. For Washington, DC and New York City last year, I think each regionals got ~15 players. That seems a bit low historically, and I would expect/hope there to be more (especially in NYC) this spring/summer....hopefully in the 20-30 range. I think the HBO series could help with that, but not sure. (The more people there are, the more tend to be newer players.)

In terms of costs, there's often an entrance fee, though not always...how much depends on the organizer. Last year it was something like $10 for DC and $20 for NYC, since the NYC registration also included cool T-shirts. FFG charges for the regionals kits but sends some very cool prizes. Last year, there were enough prizes for 15-20 people to get something (possibly more), in addition to the first-place glass trophy. Despite the prizes, I wouldn't say there is an "ultra-competitive" atmosphere or anything. People still tend to be very friendly and genuinely happy to meet new players, etc.

What's competitive depends of course on the cards and the local gaming area. These are very different things. A couple years ago (or was it last year?), Finite brought a Lanni deck but was afraid of Greyjoy Winter decks. He therefore played 3x Black Raven, despite having no cards in his deck that worked with season. That year, I think he ultimately took second places, in part because he drew the ravens when another card would have been better. On the other hand, had the finals match (or a bunch of other matches) been against a GJ winter deck, the Black Ravens could have been all-star cards.

So then do the local regionals winners go to a national game, or is the regionals the top tier of the Organized Play?

Winged_Human said:

Regionals winners last year who attended GenCon received reimbursement (in the form of FFG store credit) for their GenCon passes...something like $100. Other than that, I'm not aware of any link between the two events.

So short answer is there's no direct relationship between "regionals" and "nationals/worlds," other than perhaps a couple of perks. I guess it could change this year, but I doubt it.

Kind of an interesting quote in the LCG Days post on the main site:

'For the competitive crowd, LCG Days will be host to the 2011 LCG Midwest Regionals for A Game of Thrones, Call of Cthulhu, and Warhammer: Invasion. Bring your best deck and duke it out for the chance to move on to the LCG World Championships at Gen Con 2011. In addition to gaining an advantage at this year’s World Championships, winners of the Regionals at LCG Days will be awarded with an exclusive hand-crafted trophy - the ultimate proof of your triumph.'

"An advantage" could be construed many different ways. Sounds like more than a gift certificate though?