Hey all!

So, I'm planning to attend Gen Con this. I learned this game at Gen Con last year.

The Event catalog is up over at GenCon.com, but there are only 5 AGoT events listed, and 2 of those 5 are Legacy (I'm LCG only...). Of the other 2, one is Core set only, while the other 2 are championship events. For someone who is still pretty casual, but owns more than the core set, what is there to do?

Is this normal, or are there "pickup" matches that aren't in the catalog?

Thanks in advance!

PatEllis15 said:

There is no "normal" since this is the first year for the LCG format. No one really knows what Gencon will be like for AGoT this year. And with the lack of a dedicated person for organized play over at FFG right now, there isn't likely to be a source for a "big picture" update that isn't simply "best guess."

It is not unusual for there to only be 5-6 total organized events for AGoT from the previous CCG days, and for 2 of those events to be "legacy"-type play.

The CCG allowed for "pickup draft," which is not a possibility in the LCG's fixed packaging. I doubt that FFG is going to have a bunch of Core Sets lying around to open for people who just want to play casually or as 4 interested players happen to come in (the way they did when 8 interested players were ready to Draft with the CCG).

It sounds like your only choices for constructed, organized play with more than just the Core Set will be the "Joust" and "Melee" championship events. Organized play events at Gencon, quite honestly, are not designed for casual play. It is competition and you should be ready for people to be pretty serious about it. If you are turned off by that sort of thing, you're not going to want to play.

What kind of events are you looking for? There are always side matches and "pickup games" going on between events in the card hall (or wherever) that are casual and have nothing to do with tournaments, events or the like. But those aren't events that are listed in the catalog; they're just the normal product of 1000's of gamers happening to be in the same convention center.

If you are not a tournament player, then organized events from the Gencon catalog for this game are probably not what you're looking for. But if you're ready to compete, whether you care about winning the tournament or not, the championship events are likely to be fun no matter how many games you win (everyone plays in each preliminary round, no matter how many times you win or lose).

heh... Let me rephrase.

I come from D&D Miniatures, where I was a ranked player, and won or placed in the top 4 in several major events.

I'm used to a competitive atmosphere, and enjoy the adrenaline rush of a real tournament.

That said, I don't play AGoT LCG much. I've never played in an OP event. I've played Joust only a few times, having played mostly Melee, and all of these events, are only with a handful of players, only one of whom has also purchased the core set.

So, what I'd like are "Tier 2" tournaments. I don't feel like I'm going to win the Championship (obviously!), so I'd rather player in an event where the stakes aren't so high.

With DDM, the way that WotC has run things in the past is, if 4 or 8 people (or more) show up, and want to run a tournament, they run a tournament for them. Sure there isn't as much in the way of prize support, but it's an official event, but its obviously a bit more casual than a Qualifier, or Championship style event.

Pat E

PatEllis15 said:

Well given the nature of LCG, you're probably fine playing the championship events. What you have to remember is that there is no ranking system for this game (currently). So there is no "Tier 2," because there is no "Tier 1." Especially with many of the most competitive CCG-era players shying away from the less competitive (current) LCG card pool, the level of competition for the LCG is likely to be about the same as you experience in casual level, non-qualifier/championship DDM, particularly this year with the LCG format being so young. This will be even more noticable in the "lower brackets" of the Swiss pairings. Traditionally, and more so than usual with no ranking system and given FFG's history of not offering cash prizes, the "stakes" are not much of a consideration in AGoT events. The highest stakes tend to be progressing to the Top 8 single elimination rounds (in Joust) or Final Table (in Melee) more than the prizes or titles themselves. It's not unusual for players to not even be entirely sure what the prizes are for the various finishers.

FFG has not traditionally brought additional prize support for "pick-up" tourneys. You could probably talk the organizers into doing pairings for you if 4, 8 or more people showed up and wanted to do an impromptu event, but there will be no additional prizes (except possibly something scrounged up if the organizers have the time/inclination to do so) and it won't be "official" because there is no ELO or other ranking system available to be official for, anyway.

It's certainly something FFG could take under advisement once they hire a new director of organized play, though.

ktom said:

how come you haven't applied yet? i'm sure they'ed let you do the job from home

Lars said:

how come you haven't applied yet? i'm sure they'ed let you do the job from home

~ Cause that's what we need around here - me with real authority.

Also, Pat, if you wanted you could play in the legacy draft event. You would be on the same footing as everyon else in the draft becuase of the natural handicap of draft. If you are worried about not knowing the cards, well you just need to pick the best card that you see in the first two packs and pull that (or those) house(s).

You will certainly be fine in the main events. There have been new players in every worlds I have seen, and they are much more welcome than in most competative environments. As long as you are at least SOMEWHAT good with the rules and don't time people out (or concede to a losing board before time runs out), you won't have any problems.

I have played at every Worlds so far, and always love to see new people and try to help them along. After the first couple of rounds you will most likely be paired up with fairly newer players regardless...~or Kennon or Staton. Oh, snap!

The aGoT players usually hang out in the aGoT area 90% of the time regardless, so you should have pretty much no problem getting a game in.

If I go (probably 75% chance) I would certainly play - and I will bring my cube draft (am cube, will travel) for an informal draft or 3 as well (one of them being drunk draft '09 maybe? Rings lost in Indy again? Who knows...?)

This will be my first trip to GENCON and AGOT is what is bringing me there. It's hard for me to imagine 4 days of solid gaming but I am looking forward to it!

So, just 5 events total for AGoT... I guess I'm just a bit surprised that there aren't more...

What are qualifiers for if anyone can participate in the championship? Do you get first round bye's?

Any guess's as to what the "core set" game is intended to be? For those who haven't seen it, here is the description: This is a casual tournament designed for new players. Participants must make the best use out of 1 A Game of Thrones Core Set. Staff will be on hand to assist you with questions.

My core set is now taken apart... It says that materials are not provided. Do we need to reconstruct the orignal decks, or can we make our own deck using cards from only the Core?

Thanks in advance all!

Pat E

Unlike other major games, we pretty much only have people for one tourney at a time, and tourneys take some serious time. Not a big surprise that they only have 5 scheduled events. In the past they had unscheduled filler drafts for people who dropped or couldn't make the whole tourney...not sure if they have anything simliar this year.

Oh, and Pat anyone can play. In the past there was a "plus" for being a Regional winner. First it was a bye, and then it became just that you couldn't be matched up with another Regional winner in the first round.

PatEllis15 said:

Well, how it has worked in the past is that the individual Swiss rounds were listed in the catalog and the final cut (to single elimination in one-on-one and to a final table for multiplater) is listed as the championship. So the catalog has looked like separate events, but from the way it plays, it is a singe event with a cut for the top players. I don't know what the catalog looks like this year, but if there are "qualifiers" on the same day as a "championship," it's run as one event even though it's listed as two.

PatEllis15 said:

Brand new this year, so this is all a shot in the dark. My guess, though, is that when they say "make the best use out of...," they do not mean you can only use the decks in their pre-constructed forms. I think they mean you can construct any deck you want using only the cards from a single Core Set. Mix and match cards from the decks as you please, but no grabbing two extra copies of Flame-Kissed or Support of the Kingdom from two other boxes.

ktom said:

they did not post the cut as a seperate event this year. It is five different events including:

LCG Joust

LCG Melee

Legacy Joust

Legacy Draft

and Core Set only