I know there is another "Worlds" thread, but this is a little different.

My buddies and I were planning to make the trip up and play. This will be our first competitive tournament with AGOT. My friends have been playing competitive card games for years, but this is my very first card game. (And I love it.) We consider ourselves "competitive" (to a degree) but we also play for fun with no stress or worries. We have made up our mind to come to worlds (so don't try and talk us out hahaha) and I was wondering if anyone had any tips, or ANYTHING that we (especially myself) need to know for AGOT tourneys? I keep hearing the AGOT community is the friendliest (….kinda scaring me away from other card games…) so im not TOO nervous to drive up and have a good time with everyone. Im just looking for a little advise.

Thanks.

1. DO NOT wear deodorant on tourney day. The stink will distract your opponent and if you smell nice you won't fit in.

2. DO plan to drink heavily win lose or draw. Over consumption of alcohol is a staple of all aGoT Tournaments.

3. DO NOT plan to win, because you probably won't. Planning to have fun instead of trying to win will guarantee success and avoid frustration.

4. DO bring a large bottle of water for hydration purposes on game day. Dehydrated nerds can get the Pesci-Cranks.

5. DO NOT feed Kyle after midnight. NO MATTER WHAT.

6. DO expect to have fun, because you will, even if you go 0-6.

7. DO NOT take anything that I say seriously, up to and including this list and this bullet point (did I just blow your mind?).

8. DO buy every DC meta player that you meet lunch…..seriously, we're poor…..like punch a girl scout and steal the pennies from a unicef box for a kit-kat poor.

dcdennis said:

Well… don't take MOST of his points seriously… have fun is a good point to take away from it all.

Well, are you looking more for play tips or tournament etiquette? I feel qualified to give the latter, not so much the former.

- Don't be afraid to ask questions. If this is your first real play experience outside your meta, you're very likely to run into opponents playing cards and decks you haven't seen before. Your opponent might play something and expect you to know what it does, but feel free to ask to read the card (I always ask before touching someone else's cards) or have them explain more exactly what they're doing. I've played in a bunch of tournaments and I still do this.

- Try to know how your own deck works. This might seem obvious, but I know I've been guilty of this a number of times. Try to be familiar enough with your cards that you don't delay play too much by reading your own cards.

- Be ready for people to be less "casual" in their play style. In any tournament, but especially big ones like GenCon or Worlds, people play to win, so if you forget to trigger a Response or make a play you don't like and ask to take it back, be prepared for your opponent to say no. I don't know how your meta plays, but if you're more casual and allow takebacks, maybe play without them in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Feel free to respond the same way if you're asked.

- In a related manner, if you feel like your opponent is rushing things so that you don't have an opportunity to trigger your responses, do call them on it. A lot of regular tournament players will ask if you have responses to something before moving on for this reason.

- Call for a judge if you don't understand something. If you just don't get how some card is working against you (or for you for that matter) raise your hand and call for a judge (at Worlds, it will probably be Nate French et al)

I don't mean to make this all sound negative, because like you've said, the AGoT community is a great one. The vast majority of players are very cool. Do take the opportunity to socialize and have fun. Don't miss out on going to the bar afterwards, even if you don't drink.

Enjoy!

The AGoT community really is the greatest most laid community I've been a part of. However, since this is a World tournament, people are going to be a bit strict on some rules stuff, so be warned. If you have a dominance action, and you are already picking plots, people generally aren't going to let you go back and do that dominance action. They won't be a total jerk about it, but they are within their rights to say "sorry bud, no can do." That's really the only problem I've ever had with a newish player at a big tournament like that. Other than that, have fun, meet a bunch of cool people, and bring your irish liver.

Staton said:

Staton said:

Some1new said:

~I mean what I type.

Staton said:

~Dammit, as if I needed one *more* reason why my wife won't let me go to worlds

who dares me to cosplay as khaleesi during melee?

dcdennis said:

Don't act like you won't do it regardless

Staton said:

I will now refer you to the thread that discusses FFG giving out "playmates" as prizes. javascript:void(0);/*1346877122637*/

~The good ole' Rumor Mill is going to bring in a LOT of new players.

Thank you so much for all your help. I learned a lot, but I still have a couple questions:

1) how long should we expect to play, someone said 6 games, so im assuming hours, but any estimate?

2) along with Carrion Bird, Dissension, Paper Shield and Nightmares/Milk of the poppy what other cards do you guy think should be added to make a well rounded tournament deck?

3)…….sorry fellas….we aren't quite 21…..so "drinking" wont be on our agenda…….

Can't wait to meet everyone, thanks again.

erockbaratheon said:

The more i play this game the more i believe there is a simple axiom that is true for every deck archetype. And that is "if you draw, you win". Whatever deck you build, make sure you put in several non redundant types of draw to keep your hand full. In my opinion that will give even the greenest of players the best shot at pulling out a W. There is no fate worse than topdecking by round 4.

I'm guessing the Joust will start around 11am (you'll want to get there at least by 1030am to fill out a decklist and register) and the swiss rounds should finish around 5 or 530. there will be an hour break for dinner and then top 8 or top 16 will start.

Don't start changing things around a lot at the last minute. You will get there, get the deck list sheet in your hands, and see everyone else scouring their boxes of cards, walking around making comments…think your cards through well ahead of time, and try to tune out the random card tourney banter that is going on. There is a tendency to get to a tourney, see one random person shuffling up a certain deck, and think, "oh noez….my deck isn't built well against THAT deck!" And, then you spend time messing your deck up, when that person whose cards you saw ends up losing miserably, and someone with a deck close to your original build wins.