What a weekend! KublaCon is, in my humble and narrow opinion, the best gaming Con. The people it draws, mainly the players from all over California and Nebraska, are simply some of my favorite people, period.
For background: Last year at the Regional Championship, I made it to the final table to face off against the ignominious
John Bruno. He beat me handily, after I had built up quite a bit of confidence defeating Ram DeLeon and Greg Atkinson to make it there. Needless to say, I left last year with the desire to win a Regional more than ever. I had a taste of victory, yes was denied the ultimate fruit of glory.
Fast forward to this year, Regional Season. KublaCon has always been the hear of Regional Season in the West. For years it was the only Northern CA Regional, and it has always drawn the largest and best fields. So naturally I thought that to win the illusive Regional Tourney, I would have to perform there. But this year brought with it some strange and new realities. California, for the first time ever, would play host to 5 Regional AGOT Tournaments. This meant I, a Bay Area native with little travel budget, would be able to attend another Regional, in San Francisco. In all honesty, I perceived the SF Regional as a kind of practice for KublaCon. It would give me the chance to cut my teeth on a competitive deck and get a feel for the metagame in CA. I did not expect to win, but fortune and skill smiled upon me, and at the end of the day it was I hoisting the trophy high. I had done it, won my first AGOT Regional Tournament.
So what about KublaCon? My thoughts exactly: so what.
The pressure was off, and as a result I was able to relax a lot more during the Regional Championship. I took the deck that won me the SF Regional and made a few changes. It was Stark Siege with some added Shadows characters to help recover the resets, a couple of plot swaps, and I made some cuts to get 3 paper shields in the deck. In the end I think the addition of the PS won me one game and probably lost me another, so we'll call that decision a wash.
Round 1 : Alex playing Greyjoy Kings of Winter
Lucky for me I flopped a card to shadows that helped me deal with Alex's flop that contained two Distinguished Boatswain. By winning initiative I was able to bring Syrio out of shadows to participate in MIL challenges, then pop back to help alleviate some of the STR differential created by those Boatswains. Even so, the game was very close right to the end. First turn I wiped Alex's board, only to see him Narrow Escape (great play). After some serious deliberation, I ended up tossing my hand to keep his characters out of the game. In the end it was the right decision, but at the time it was a tough call.
1-0
Round 2: Justin Alterman playing Targaryen KotHH
I know Justin well as he plays in my Meta. He is a great friend and a great competitor. I figured he expected me to play Fear of Winter to really make him pay for using the KotHH agenda, but I opted to open with Realiation! Instead. Turned out to be too much for him, as I played Fear turn two to really turn the screws. The game went for a few more plots, but I maintained pretty strong board presence throughout and won the game.
2-0
Round 3: Brandon (Rave) playing Lannister Shadows
I have known Rave for many years. He has been coming to KublaCon a lot longer than I have, and this was our first meeting in a Joust tournament, Regional or otherwise. I wasn't too worried about Lannister, but when I saw the Shadows Agenda a bit of doubt crept into my mind as visions of Black Cells and Guild Halls swam through my head. I pushed the nightmares aside and just focused on my game. I was very lucky to draw a Frozen Solid for his Guild Hall early on, and by the time he got another one out it was the last turn and victory was but a challenge away.
3-0
Round 4: Brooks Mitchell (TheKingg) playing Greyjoy Kings of Summer
I began the game giving my friend and fellow CA players a high five for his House and Agenda choice. What would I be getting myself into? Brooks had a great flop, lots of characters and locations, including the new Asha. I made a probable error and did not play Fear of Winter first turn. I just didn't think I would be able to improve my position enough if I could only play one card. I don't think it really mattered though. He had three saves by the end of first turn marshalling, and though I made him use them all by the end of the second turn, his board was still no worse for the attempted ware. From there, I got rolled handily.
3-1
Round 5: Jimmy Bagels playing Targaryen KotHH
Jim and I go way back. He has been regularly attending KublaCon and Calicon for years. In fact, he knocked me out of the Kubla Regional two years back, and this was my chance for revenge. Like my game against Justin I held back on Fear of Winter, and as a result took an early lead. About mid-game Jim started getting all his burn effects, including two Hatchling's Feasts, one of which he was able to get back with his clever plot choice. Luckily for me it came down to winning one more challenge, he burned down three characters, leaving only Arya with 1 STR. I knelt her for my opportunity to win--and Jim played Forever Burning. Luckily, I had held onto a Paper Shield most of the game for just this kind of situation. I played it, and won the game with her successful military challenge.
4-1
TOP 8:
I went into the top 8 as the 5th seed, playing Ram as the 4th seed. This was a particularly satisfying match up, but not for me. Ram is a tremendous player, and when we met last year in the same round I was more than a bit relieved when I came up victorious. This year, the game was Ram's. I got out to a good lead thanks to a couple of Paper Shields. I never really put him against the wall though. Ram found ways to mitigate the damage I was doing, and by the time he finally reset the board, I could not recover with enough oomph. One of the greatest things about Ram's deck was its ability to disrupt my expectations. When I saw his agenda I thought, sure, I just have to take into account the City plot sequence. Much of my play decisions were anticipation of these plots. It was about the 3/4 plot I realized Ram was not running City Plots, and my decision making had been pretty flawed based on that incorrect assumption. Overall, it was a competitive game though, right to the very end. Very fun, and if I had to get knocked out by anyone, I'm glad it was Ram. He and I are now 1-1 in back to back KublaCon elimination rounds. Next year Ram, I look forward to playing you again.
So that was my road to elimination after making the 5th seed. Not bad. Though I did very poorly in the Random Plot event (totally misjudged how that format would effect the play space) I did manage to make the final table at the Melee Championships. As the TO for that Tourney, I did step down though (as I think any TO should do in similar circumstances).
BUT, I did not go away from KublaCon without a championship! John Bruno ran an Ascension tournament on Saturday night. I have only played the game about a half-dozen times (recently purchased it) and after the first round I took last place. But my next two games I ran the table, and at the final table, after a slow start, I got my deck rolling and won by a fair margin. Thanks to John the prize support was amazing, and since I already won a Regional this year, winning the Ascension tournament was without a doubt my favorite event of the weekend. Way to run a great tourney John, and I hope you do it again next year so that I can defend my title! (do I get a title?)
Thanks for reading, and to all that were at KublaCon this past weekend, thanks for making it the best Con in the West.
Next time!