Looks like there were 5 other Regionals this weekend and I can't wait to see the other reports, we had a good showing in Cincinnati with players from all over Ohio plus our guests from Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee and elsewhere! Even though some of our local guys couldn't make it we had 21 players attending with a pretty good spread of Houses, heres the breakdown, with apologies to anyone whose name I misspell:

Houses

Stark - 2
Lannister - 5
Baratheon - 2
Greyjoy - 4
Martell - 4
Targaryen - 4

Final Standings

1 Tyler Hockman - Martell, Long Voyage, TVB
2 Nathan Tarantelli - Greyjoy, TMP, TMP
3 Eric Lawell - Targ, HoD (Dragonpit or AH, not sure which), Aegon's Hill
4 Casey Galvan - Martell, KotHH, TVB
5 John Niemann - Lannister, HoD (Tunnels), Vale Refugee
6 Todd Frazie - Stark, no Agenda (Kindly Man), Fury of the Wolf
7 Richard Chang - Lannister, PbtT, Pentoshi Manor
8 Allen Burkes - Lannister, PbtT, Pentoshi Manor
9 Chris Schlegel - Targaryen, no Agenda (Griff), FoW
10 Michael Pandorf - Lannister, PbtT, Pentoshi Manor
11 Mike Skau - Lannister, no Agenda, Castellan
12 Travis Hixson - Martell, KotHH, TVB
13 Mickey Desilva - Baratheon, Black Sails, FoW
14 Mallesh Gopalswami - Greyjoy, no Agenda, Fury of the Kraken
15 Rob Guzman - Martell, no Agenda, TVB
16 Josh Buza - Targaryen, HttIT, NE
17 Sandy Barnabas - Baratheon, no Agenda, Fury of the Stag
18 Dodd Harris - Greyjoy, Black Sails, Vale Refugee
19 Luigi Ventura - Targaryen, Kings of Summer, KoS
20 Tony Crawford - Greyjoy, Hod (Longship Grief), S&D
21 Troy Harmon - Stark, no Agenda, no restricted card (?)

Our event saw less Agendas than expected, 1/3 of the players had none or ran charagendas, not sure if Rob and Troy had KM and Quentyn in their decks.

Five rounds of Swiss followed by a cut to the top 4 (top 8 would have been better but for reasons I wont get into now we only did top 4).
After the cut it was:
Nathan (GJ) vs Eric (Targ)
Casey (Martell) vs Tyler (Martell)
then Tyler vs Nathan, with Martell Long Voyage winning it all.

Thanks to everyone that came out, especailly those that drove through the night to make our 10 AM start time, we'll see many of you again soon and the rest of you at GenCon!

Interesting. Any insight on why the Martell Long Voyage deck did so well? Was it a great deck, great driver, both, something else?

I haven't gotten the chance to play against any Long Voyage decks yet.

Thanks,

~Rehlow

Heh. I've heard if two Regional results so far, and both were won by TLV decks.

Skowza said:

I played them both and the answer is yes in both cases.

Gratz Tyler. Awsome deck!!! It was great to meet you and your meta. Truly looking forword to seeing all of you at worlds.

To the gaming store that ran this event. Amazing job but mabye next year instead of cutting to the top 4 with no lunch break, we could cut to the top 2 with no bathroom breaks.

The Michigan Meta has always been a loyal group that are willing to travel and support the game and retailers hosting these events. Its just very sad to see these retailers not willing to accomodate there clientele. There were 22 players screaming for top 8, the only thing Derp Quest could say was our shop our rules, its set in stone. I cant speak for my whole meta but I will never be attending any event hosted at this store again. Places and owners like this is why brick and mortar gaming shops are becoming extinct but Iam truly loking forward to the day that this particular store goes out of buisness.

lalchant said:

Well that seems a bit harsh, though I agree that the cut to top 4 was handled poorly and when both of the TOs are telling them to do a top 8 they should probably do it… great to see you guys again though.

Skowza said:

It was great to see you guys again, too. I have the utmost repect for the Ohio Meta. I know my comments seem harsh but apply this store's logic to any other company in the U.S. and it just wouldn't fly. The trouble with most gaming store owners is that they use their stores and their clientele (mostly kids, right?) to return all the bullying they had to endure when they were young. It's nothing more than a power trip and because they don't have control over anything that really matters. This type of ultimate control for no ultimate reason just wouldn't be tolerated in any other industry or business. Only when natural selection fails can places like "Derp" Quest exist.

Hey there! Todd here. Myself and Skowza were the TOs of the event and agree that the 5 swiss, no lunch and cut to 4 unstead of 8 was poorly done. We all tried to petition it to no avail. Nonetheless, the tourney was a success and deserving players still came out on top.

I would like to make a point to say that last year for regionals, when the tournament was run by the store owner, it was run very well with no complaints. Lunch break and top 8 included For this year's event the store owner was unfortunately sick. So, it was placed upon the two employees of the day with no real preparation for the LCG styles. And to be fair, they are only experienced in running the nightly MtG tournament events (Where being stern and brief is a must). It was a sad turn of events and is being addressed.

In any case, I hope you change your mind and give us a shot again next year.

We'll see who the "deserving" players are when a particular "Waylan Corp" shirt wearing TO isn't colluding with his meta-mates during games all through the entire tourney. Let's see who the deserving players are at worlds. You can call me a liar and deny what happened but I witnessed the "help" that this TO was giving his meta-mates (standing behind his meta-mate's opponent and making facial and hand gestures to signal to his meta-mate, interrupting games, making commentary on ongoing games, etc.). Bottom line, if you want to play a tourney in a crappy store with a cheat of a TO and people who could care less running the thing, then go to Ohio. Otherwise, if you're a serious player who wants to play in a fair, well-run tourney, stay away. Let's see how many deserving players from Ohio even make it to the top 16 at worlds.

Wish for a store to go out of business, accuse people of cheating, make sweeping profiling comments. I think I stumbled into the wrong board.

Wowzer! I thought you had some legitimate complaints but this is just hostile. I don't know what would be considered colluding in my behavior. I'd like to get some lessons if this is legit. I've been to several worlds and worked side by side with Nate and Ktom. I wouldn't consider myself a rules guru by far but I made a point to only have casual conversations after games and only ever answered rules questions when addressed. I did pop in and prevent a player from putting a "deciet" back in his hand after he played it on the final table. If you saw me giving advice at any time, I can't really answer to that. It simply didn't happen. I'm sorry that you drove so far and didn't place as well as you felt you should have. 1/3rd of my Meta would have been in top 8 if we would have cut to top 8, so we should be so salty. Sometimes ya just don't win.

We placed: 6th (Me)
7th
9th
11th

13th
17th

lalchant said:

I'm guessing you'd HATE the DC regional

lalchant said:

I agree with Todd (Plebian Maw), this did get pretty hostile.
To clear things up some, Todd was the TO you are referring to, and I was the other TO. I can tell you that Todd isn't a cheat and I can practically guarantee that he wasn't giving hand signals to anyone in our meta or trying to influence games in any way. If you thought this was an issue, why didnt you mention it at the time? Perhaps you did but not to me, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt there… which game are you referring to? Do you even know who the members of our meta are? Who is this anyway? I thought lalchant was Luigi but I know that he would have said something to me about it (at least I hope so). And btw, although we didnt make it to World's last year, five of us went to GenCon and we had two members of our meta make the melee cut, and both Todd and I made the joust cut - I'm not implying that we are spectacular players or puffing my chest out, but we obviously did ok.
And really, you have a problem with something like this and you don't bring it up at the event, apparently don't even mention it to the other players since I didnt hear anyone else talking about it at the event, then you come to the forums to talk **** and call us cheaters?

First of all, I didn't come to the regionals expecting to place (I built my deck as a joke about 2 full minutes before walking into the "Derp" Quest), I just wanted to play and have a good time. Secondly, I'm not trying to be hostile, I truly like both of you TOs personally. Maybe you are just an animated talker and I misunderstood what was going on but a TO shouldn't walk up behind players and start doing commentary in the middle of a game, it throws people off. On top of this, I personally witnessed eye contact and gestures that I found to be very questionable. I watched this go on for several minutes during one game so I know I wasn't imagining it. So, regardless of your self-proclaimed prestigious past, I'm just letting everyone know what I saw and what I understood to be happening. This experience has shown me that this store doesn't care about its customers or tourney rules. I am not just venting and falsely accusing you because I "didn't place as well as I thought I should". As I said, I didn't expect to place. Maybe I would have done better if I hadn't been…

[ADMIN: Edited for content. Opinions are fine so long as they refrain from foul and derogatory language.]

lalchant said:

Wow dude. That's a far cry from " I have the utmost repect for the Ohio Meta."

I really don't understand the sudden shift in the tone of your posts, but youc an lay off the hostility any time now. It isn't becoming.

Indeed. I am now called upon by Yottaquest (I'm not even an employee of the store) because of this thread, to clear up the 'Conspiratory Events' of the tournament. This Xbox live style flaming is now threatening my favorite activity and something I care about very much. This is a game and a community I've dedicated the last 4 years of my life to pretty heavily and because of what can only be a misinterpretation of my friendly and engaging personality (Yes, sometimes twitchy), is very much at stake.

So in Yottaquest's defense, they do care.

I was asked by the store owner of the centerville game store to TO their regional in May. I accepted, but might have to decline at this point if I'm somehow under the acceptable par.

I wish this could have been addressed personally. I hope that at least some appreciated what we put together here and Luigi is not speaking for everyone. It at least seemed as such.

lalchant said:

Seriously? I'm having trouble with your credibility when you have to resort to such childish rhetoric. If you are just trying to troll, then job well done sir. If you are trying to legitimately air your concerns about the event you attended you are doing a piss poor job. Congratulations to those who placed well and to Yottaquest in the success of their regional event. Despite one persons whining it sounds like everyone else had a great time. Don't let one turd ruin your hard work.

PlebeianMaw said:

This is Tyler.

Todd, please TO the regional in centerville. I'm not going to comment on what others saw or expieranced, but as far as my expierance you were a great TO. You answered questions when asked, and played everything fairly. And even out of games we ( the columbus meta) just had fun asking you ruling questions. As well, in the finals you caught that deceit mistake I made, and I would of felt awful if I would of just thrown that back in my hand.

As for my expierance I didn't see a big problem with no lunch break. I had brought poptarts in the throught that I might get hungry, and they were nice to have, but with the excitement and concentration on the whole tournament I wasn't even hungry till it was all over. As far as the cut goes, yeah I'm fine with the top four, but that was because my whole meta made it, but I did feel bad for some people who were "cheated" out of a better chance to win the tournament. I know the player who got 5th was so close to making the top cut, but because of a bye he had he didn't make it. In my opinion he was maybe the only player "cheated". I don't want to say my meta is the best, but we won our games and earned our place in the top four. If the store wants to run their tournament that way then more power to them. I understand why it went that way and it all makes sense to me. The crazy thing about the world is that nothing is perfect, and sometimes things don't work out exactly as you want.

It would be sweet to see a friendly face when we head up to centerville for that regional, and I hope I see you there todd.

Congrats to Tyler and all the Cbus guys they really were both great players and great people. I hope we can get a play group going with Clevleand and you guys in the future. I also had no issue with the TO but more with the store itself. I am more upset that they wouldnt budge on the cut to top 4 even when it seemed all the players wanted it to be top 8 as it should be with 5 rounds of swiss, but the store was ok with starting 30 min late to let players from that city come in late. I dont see how you can say we cant change from what was posted we must do top 4 but you are ok with starting later than the posted time? I will say I had a great time and enjoyed meeting everyone but will most likely not return to that store because of the way they ran things. Ill leave on a high note, I cant wait to see all you guys in centervile and hope to get a crack against that deck of yours Tyler.

With that nastiness out of the way, I'd like to say that I was really happy with the spread of decks. I was surprised to see only one other stark deck besides my own. I'm very excited that what I thought to be a more cute agenda than teir 1 just plain stomping (TLV). I only personally encountered a small handful of the decks at the tournament but enjoyed what I saw. A special shout out to Michael Pandorf and his Lani deck. Our game ended pretty quickly with some lucky stark answers to his lannister tomfoolery. But, I found the design really impressive!

Game of Thrones continues to impress with it's deck diversity. Targ burn still exists too much. For that I am sad, but that's more of a personal vendetta than a reasonable distaste They do require skilled pilots.

First off, a big thank you to all the players who attended the Yottaquest Game of Thrones Regionals. We greatly enjoyed hosting the event, and look forward to running more LCG events in the future.

We would like to bring some clarification to the event, our decisions, and the results from that. Our objectives for events at Yottaquest are to promote a fun, exciting environment, while still maintaining a professionally run atmosphere. To begin with, the tournament was initially announced on March 15 ^th , with the Top-4 cutoff being explained in this announcement, as well as the rest of our rules. At the beginning of the event, this process was again explained, and dissenting voices were allowed to be heard about any of the rules or procedures. No issues about the Top-4 were brought up at this time. We even discussed potential FAQ problems, and agreed with the consensus of the group. Our TO’s were announced at that time as well, both of them being Yottaquest employee’s, David and Zack. While Todd and Mike are very active players in our community, our resident rule masters, and help in other LCG events, we at Yottaquest do not allow TO’s to participate in our events. This is to prevent such issues that have been brought up in this thread.

From the reports we have received, there was not a single incident of potential cheating, and would of hoped that if someone felt wronged, they would of immediately come to Yottaquest Staff and attempted to resolve the issue. Bringing any such problems up after the fact is still extremely important to us, if done properly and through the official channels, rather than throwing accusations around anonymously on the internet. We acknowledge that there were requests for a change to Top-8, however, these were not made till after at least the completion of round one. Changing the rules after the event had already started could have given the impression to some that we were attempting an unfair bias, and would have been a breach of the Tournament Rules that we agreed to with FFG. As pointed out earlier, by doing so would have brought three of our local players into the Top-8, and perhaps we would be defending ourselves against even more accusations of favoritism.

We did start later than we imagined, but that was more due to the problem of pairing without a software, and dealing with the restrictions put in place by FFG about players who travelled together and such.

In conclusion, we hope that we addressed the concerns that have been levied against us. We will work on our communication for future events, but we can only do so much if players do not bring such issues up to us. Yes, it may seem at times that we have a “stern” setting, but after running events for almost nine years, there are certain issues of integrity that we stand steadfast by. We will be listening on in this thread if there are any further questions or concerns, and would be glad to discuss anything. Again, thank you to everyone who participated, we hope to see all of you again at our future events, and most importantly HAVE FUN!

Yottaquest said:

Not sure what other problems happened but the players were told that the issue was with some local players being late and that they were late becasue of being drunks (I assume that was a joke)

Hey rob here, yea i had quentyn, probably ran too lighly on uniques but o well, i'm still wrapping my head around the loss of control with the faq and treating my deck as though th e loss of control doesnt effect it as harshly as it did was a serious misplay, that and drawing high grounds with no armies certainly didn't give me any help lol. all in all i had a great time and learned alot about the ohio regional meta. no complaints aside from top 4 really screwing john out of winning, the lannister tunnels deck was the strongest deck there but top 4 kept him out of it. can't wait to see you at centerville guys later

o that and starting late so a local player could make the event was a little lame, since it directly gave john the bye round that cost him top 4

lol, yeah. Centerville should be a fun meet-up. I don't know about any of you guys, but I've never been to a regional (Or worlds/nationals for that matter) that ever started within 15 minutes of the start time. The YottaQuest one did. The only delay was working out the pairings to avoid meta mates playing each other round one. The local that showed up late had to miss the first round. We didn't wait for him at all. I thought byes were given to the lowest scoring player. Am I right on that one?