BattleGroundSanDiego had its second event of the inaugural tournament season yesterday in beautiful Irvine California.
We had a great turnout for the constructed event with 14 combatants taking to the tables and wittleing themselves down to a 4 person final for event champion.
In the end, John Patchell took the day playing a Bonewall deck that had the others guessing. Sorry Woros, maybe next time you'll finish a man when he is down instead of "Monologuing". :)
For those of you there, you know what I mean.
The spoils for the day were a Servants of the Betrayer Playmat, a Servants of the Betrayer Warlock Deckbox and two autographed EA cards. In addition, the packs that went out saw a "Foam Sword Rack" scratcher as well.
Congratulations to Patch and a thank you to everyone who showed for the event. It was a great time.
I will be publishing the top 8 decklists shortly for your perusal.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Fields of Honor Sneak Peak, or the TO and His Labor of Love
This past Saturday I made my way up to Orange County to check out the Sneak Peak being held at the Upper Deck Store in Huntington Beach. The Sneak Peak event, highlighting the newest release of the World of Warcraft TCG, Fields of Honor.
I saw some familiar faces in the crowd. Noah, Patch, Robert, etc. They had 48 combatants show up for the event. Will Estrella, the host and store manager did a great job of promoting and facilitating the event. In my view a good time was had by all.
In looking at the event from an organizers point of view, I was very heartened by the turnout. 48 persons is nothing to scoff at. Then it got me to thinking about the turnout at other events held, both by this tournament circuit and by other tournament organizers. What was so special about this event that it was able to break the glass ceiling of 12 to 16 players that most other events get. Obviously the hype to get new cards. Definitely the participation reward of a new EA brought out a few faces. But could that possibly be it? Is that all that is really necessary for a turnout?
If so, then why are the regional qualifiers doing so poorly? Is there that much of a difference between the Sneak Peaks and the other "qualified" events?
The event was certainly a great time. The first head to be hunted belonged to Patch, who was dispatched with great fanfare giving up his prize. Will offered some bounties to several matches to keep the interest going. The location was ideal due to the size of the shop. With the mobility that Will has with the rolling merchandise racks, he is able to create a rather large place allowing a comfortable tournament area. The shop being immediately off the 405 freeway is definitely centrally located in Orange County and being located in a shopping center with plenty of parking and access to food and such obviously plays into his favor.
All of these factors are great, but I would submit that they are not it. They are not the direct reason why the event was such a great success. Yes, you can obviously make the argument that they assisted, but I would submit another factor that I believe was the decision maker.
Persistence.
Will is a consistent and persistent poster on the WOWTCG posting boards for tournaments. He offers two great events a week and is consistent in the timing and execution. Will has gone out of his way to ensure that his player base is always taken care of. Long and the short of it, Will cares about the player base as much as the product. Believe me, as being involved with a great many businesses in my life thus far, this is a quality that is not lost among those he calls his client base. Will gets what so many people in his arena do not. That the player base is more important than any other factor in building a community.
Take it from someone who is attempting to build as strong a player base in my region as it seems he has in his. This is not an easy foray. There are several of outside factors that affect the execution of a tournament and a tournament circuit. Player bases, costs of doing business, competition, player loyalty, support from retailers and manufacturers, locations logistics...the list can be overbearing and at times unmanageable. These factors can and do sometimes yank the attention of the TO away from the player base in order to manage each of these details in turn.
So my hat is off to you Will. Congratulations on the great event and on the well earned rest you had that night I'm sure.
Persistence was the key factor in the great event in Huntington Beach.
I saw some familiar faces in the crowd. Noah, Patch, Robert, etc. They had 48 combatants show up for the event. Will Estrella, the host and store manager did a great job of promoting and facilitating the event. In my view a good time was had by all.
In looking at the event from an organizers point of view, I was very heartened by the turnout. 48 persons is nothing to scoff at. Then it got me to thinking about the turnout at other events held, both by this tournament circuit and by other tournament organizers. What was so special about this event that it was able to break the glass ceiling of 12 to 16 players that most other events get. Obviously the hype to get new cards. Definitely the participation reward of a new EA brought out a few faces. But could that possibly be it? Is that all that is really necessary for a turnout?
If so, then why are the regional qualifiers doing so poorly? Is there that much of a difference between the Sneak Peaks and the other "qualified" events?
The event was certainly a great time. The first head to be hunted belonged to Patch, who was dispatched with great fanfare giving up his prize. Will offered some bounties to several matches to keep the interest going. The location was ideal due to the size of the shop. With the mobility that Will has with the rolling merchandise racks, he is able to create a rather large place allowing a comfortable tournament area. The shop being immediately off the 405 freeway is definitely centrally located in Orange County and being located in a shopping center with plenty of parking and access to food and such obviously plays into his favor.
All of these factors are great, but I would submit that they are not it. They are not the direct reason why the event was such a great success. Yes, you can obviously make the argument that they assisted, but I would submit another factor that I believe was the decision maker.
Persistence.
Will is a consistent and persistent poster on the WOWTCG posting boards for tournaments. He offers two great events a week and is consistent in the timing and execution. Will has gone out of his way to ensure that his player base is always taken care of. Long and the short of it, Will cares about the player base as much as the product. Believe me, as being involved with a great many businesses in my life thus far, this is a quality that is not lost among those he calls his client base. Will gets what so many people in his arena do not. That the player base is more important than any other factor in building a community.
Take it from someone who is attempting to build as strong a player base in my region as it seems he has in his. This is not an easy foray. There are several of outside factors that affect the execution of a tournament and a tournament circuit. Player bases, costs of doing business, competition, player loyalty, support from retailers and manufacturers, locations logistics...the list can be overbearing and at times unmanageable. These factors can and do sometimes yank the attention of the TO away from the player base in order to manage each of these details in turn.
So my hat is off to you Will. Congratulations on the great event and on the well earned rest you had that night I'm sure.
Persistence was the key factor in the great event in Huntington Beach.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
I Take A Few Day Off from posting and BAMM!!!
Well, either UDE read my blog about dropping peaks like candy, or it was in their marketing plan all along to build the buzz (more than likely the latter :)). Where do I start? Do I keep moving with my short, amusing and partially brilliant assessments of the FOH cards or take a look at what it is that I have been craving for oh so very long, the beloved DK?
I know, I know, it may seem that I am "slightly" worried about how the DK is going to affect the TCG, but does that mean that I can't drool at the possibilities a little? While I personally was not happy with how the new Uber class took the MMO world by storm and set back raiding guilds for months, that doesn't mean that in the end the decision wasn't a smart one by Blizzard. After all, it did allow for people who were so attached to the game that they never really developed an alt to be able to skip a couple...well 50 to be exact...levels in order to have a respectable alter ego. As if the game didn't lend itself to that in the first place. I am sure that Blizzard is seeing people on more as a result of having the option of developing two toons versus just the single. Obviously they had the fore site to realize that when a person had geared that toon to a certain point, they would leave the game behind until the next expansion. Now, the user in question simply moved to the second toon and brought that one to god-like proportions of gear, gold and achievements.
Enough with that tangent, back to the TCG. Over the last few days we have seen the previews for the Death Knight. We have seen that they will employ pets, as expected. We have seen two of the heroes, my personal favorite is Randolphe Mortimer due to the obvious reference to that epic 80's movie "Trading Places" with the antagonists of the film being two brothers, Randolph and Mortimore Duke. His flip ability isn't half bad either. We have seen one of the new abilities, Mind Freeze, and believe me when I say that when quadruple stacked in a deck, it will have game changing potential.
Overall, these initial releases seem as though the Death Knight will have a very welcome introduction to the game. It can pretty much be said without reserve that when the set goes legal and the first booster packs with additions hit the shelves, they will be hitting the tournament tables shortly thereafter.
Interesting to say the least.
I know, I know, it may seem that I am "slightly" worried about how the DK is going to affect the TCG, but does that mean that I can't drool at the possibilities a little? While I personally was not happy with how the new Uber class took the MMO world by storm and set back raiding guilds for months, that doesn't mean that in the end the decision wasn't a smart one by Blizzard. After all, it did allow for people who were so attached to the game that they never really developed an alt to be able to skip a couple...well 50 to be exact...levels in order to have a respectable alter ego. As if the game didn't lend itself to that in the first place. I am sure that Blizzard is seeing people on more as a result of having the option of developing two toons versus just the single. Obviously they had the fore site to realize that when a person had geared that toon to a certain point, they would leave the game behind until the next expansion. Now, the user in question simply moved to the second toon and brought that one to god-like proportions of gear, gold and achievements.
Enough with that tangent, back to the TCG. Over the last few days we have seen the previews for the Death Knight. We have seen that they will employ pets, as expected. We have seen two of the heroes, my personal favorite is Randolphe Mortimer due to the obvious reference to that epic 80's movie "Trading Places" with the antagonists of the film being two brothers, Randolph and Mortimore Duke. His flip ability isn't half bad either. We have seen one of the new abilities, Mind Freeze, and believe me when I say that when quadruple stacked in a deck, it will have game changing potential.
Overall, these initial releases seem as though the Death Knight will have a very welcome introduction to the game. It can pretty much be said without reserve that when the set goes legal and the first booster packs with additions hit the shelves, they will be hitting the tournament tables shortly thereafter.
Interesting to say the least.
Friday, June 5, 2009
From the Stores to the Floors
I started my day at 4:30 am west coast this morning. I am typically an early riser, but this morning I had an agenda to follow. First on my list as usual was to log into wowtcg.com and check out the posts from the night before. As my PC fired up I pondered the latest releases from the ladies and gentlemen at UDE. I had seen some new locations, arena plays, those damn gnomes (how I hate em), and some ramblings about the new dwarf allies featuring the "find treasure" aspect of the game.
Then it hit me. UDE was handing out sneak peaks of FOH like candy, and I was eating it up. As of this post, UDE has released seven peaks at several cards, and if you actually took the time to read the entire posts as I do, you would have found an easter egg for the image of an eighth. The druid, the gnome, the dwarf, the undead, the arena, a peak into honor...what's next. The sneak preview at in-store locations, happens in just over a week and UDE is feeding my addiction with a very slow but consistent infusion of text and artwork. The mind wanders aimlessly at the wonder that is the internal plan for play. How the hell do I get Drek'thar into play before that damn druid Illidan's again?
If you aren't excited about sneak previews, then perhaps you should check your pulse. Partnered with UDE's decision to go completely in-store with the sneak preview releases, has been an obvious attempt to build buzz with releases in as fast and furious a manner as possible.
So the next obvious question is, are the store ready? Do they have any idea what is in the cards for them (pardon the pun). The biggest question is, have they ordered enough product? Has UDE done enough to ensure that the players showing up for these events will get to walk with new product in hand awaiting the grand release with the 10's and 20's ready to go? These are not indictments of past transgressions nor glimpses into the future based upon some misinterpreted "inside information". These are honest questions. UDE, the card stores and more importantly the player base has an opportunity to be a part of the next progression in game play. It is limited to one day. It is limited to the size of the store and the product ordered based upon the forecast of interest.
Here's to hoping it is one hell of a home run.
Then it hit me. UDE was handing out sneak peaks of FOH like candy, and I was eating it up. As of this post, UDE has released seven peaks at several cards, and if you actually took the time to read the entire posts as I do, you would have found an easter egg for the image of an eighth. The druid, the gnome, the dwarf, the undead, the arena, a peak into honor...what's next. The sneak preview at in-store locations, happens in just over a week and UDE is feeding my addiction with a very slow but consistent infusion of text and artwork. The mind wanders aimlessly at the wonder that is the internal plan for play. How the hell do I get Drek'thar into play before that damn druid Illidan's again?
If you aren't excited about sneak previews, then perhaps you should check your pulse. Partnered with UDE's decision to go completely in-store with the sneak preview releases, has been an obvious attempt to build buzz with releases in as fast and furious a manner as possible.
So the next obvious question is, are the store ready? Do they have any idea what is in the cards for them (pardon the pun). The biggest question is, have they ordered enough product? Has UDE done enough to ensure that the players showing up for these events will get to walk with new product in hand awaiting the grand release with the 10's and 20's ready to go? These are not indictments of past transgressions nor glimpses into the future based upon some misinterpreted "inside information". These are honest questions. UDE, the card stores and more importantly the player base has an opportunity to be a part of the next progression in game play. It is limited to one day. It is limited to the size of the store and the product ordered based upon the forecast of interest.
Here's to hoping it is one hell of a home run.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
will of the forsaken...WILL OF THE FORSAKEN
The call rings true in my ears even now. I hearken back to Karazhan in a 10-man raid, being one of the tanks and an orc at that, partnered with another tank from my guild, a member of the undead race. Without exceptions, at least twice to three times a run, you could hear the shout..."WILL OF THE FORSAKEN" as the undead warrior extricated himself from the hold of one immobilizing effect or another.
Now, WoW TCG has taken the call to all new levels, introducing the ability to the TCG format. The effect is slightly different in the TCG than in the MMO. Currently the sneak peak details two allies that can utilize the ability and ensure that they either can't be removed from play, save fatal damage, or may take damage in place of another recipient. It almost makes me want to yank out my collection of heroes and dig through for an undead or two to build decks around this ability, if for nothing else than to say that I did.
Now, WoW TCG has taken the call to all new levels, introducing the ability to the TCG format. The effect is slightly different in the TCG than in the MMO. Currently the sneak peak details two allies that can utilize the ability and ensure that they either can't be removed from play, save fatal damage, or may take damage in place of another recipient. It almost makes me want to yank out my collection of heroes and dig through for an undead or two to build decks around this ability, if for nothing else than to say that I did.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Fields of Honor Sneak Peak and All that It Entails
Currently up at wowtcg.com is the sneak peak for the next release in the WoW TCG family of cards.
Fields of Honor as it has been designated will be the third and final release for the Drums cycle and brings together a very solid corps of cards. We saw Arena Grand Melee bring a short release of cards that took the game to a more cartoonish level (not necessarily a bad thing). We saw the introduction of flip heroes with costs and the almighty Ravager. Now, as we wait for FOH to come down the pipe, we are offered the traditional glimpses of cards that UDE has graced the pages of the WoWTCG site.
In reviewing the cards listed the themes become evident. UDE is taking the card game on a path, at least with this release, that brings it more in line with the MMO. One of the pillars of the MMO's popularity and longevity has been the Arena. Since the first days of Arathi Basin and the 4 hour Alterac Valley it was evident that those partaking in the World of Warcraft desperately desired the means to battle with live, sentient beings. You could only kill Ony so many times before you began to move on to other forms of mental stimulation. The Battle Grounds were the answer. Then came the Arenas, the next progression in the line was the two, three or five man teams that could use short burst tactics and quick wits to overcome adversaries in a format that took typically no more than 10 minutes at the very max. Very distinct rewards awaited players of any of the three formats that they chose to enjoy. The result has spoken for itself, as the World of Warcraft MMO has continued to destroy the competition and continued to be the gorilla in the living room of on-line play.
Now comes the Arena counters and effects to the TCG. Another great advance. Not only does this bring the TCG player a little bit closer to his or her on-line personality, but allows the minds at UDE to expand the rewards for counters infinitely. In fact, if I had to pin point the single aspect that makes these cards so important to the growth of the game, I would state with resounding certainty that it was the ability these cards provide to get more cards into play. With 40 to 60 plus cards in a playdeck in any given limited or constructed match, very rarely does the aspect of being decked out even come into play. This allows for great range in the ability to allow the combatant to get 4 or 5 additional cards into hand.
The initial cards revealed are pretty amazing. A brief overview reveals
Location : Arathi Basin, Remove 5 honor and draw a card
Location : Alterac Valley, Remove 8 honor and resurrect a card
Quest : Eye of the Storm, Pay 3, draw a card and add honor counter
and Drek'Thar a 14 point Ally that I may just put into my decks just to see if I can ever even get it out of my hand.
SICK
Fields of Honor as it has been designated will be the third and final release for the Drums cycle and brings together a very solid corps of cards. We saw Arena Grand Melee bring a short release of cards that took the game to a more cartoonish level (not necessarily a bad thing). We saw the introduction of flip heroes with costs and the almighty Ravager. Now, as we wait for FOH to come down the pipe, we are offered the traditional glimpses of cards that UDE has graced the pages of the WoWTCG site.
In reviewing the cards listed the themes become evident. UDE is taking the card game on a path, at least with this release, that brings it more in line with the MMO. One of the pillars of the MMO's popularity and longevity has been the Arena. Since the first days of Arathi Basin and the 4 hour Alterac Valley it was evident that those partaking in the World of Warcraft desperately desired the means to battle with live, sentient beings. You could only kill Ony so many times before you began to move on to other forms of mental stimulation. The Battle Grounds were the answer. Then came the Arenas, the next progression in the line was the two, three or five man teams that could use short burst tactics and quick wits to overcome adversaries in a format that took typically no more than 10 minutes at the very max. Very distinct rewards awaited players of any of the three formats that they chose to enjoy. The result has spoken for itself, as the World of Warcraft MMO has continued to destroy the competition and continued to be the gorilla in the living room of on-line play.
Now comes the Arena counters and effects to the TCG. Another great advance. Not only does this bring the TCG player a little bit closer to his or her on-line personality, but allows the minds at UDE to expand the rewards for counters infinitely. In fact, if I had to pin point the single aspect that makes these cards so important to the growth of the game, I would state with resounding certainty that it was the ability these cards provide to get more cards into play. With 40 to 60 plus cards in a playdeck in any given limited or constructed match, very rarely does the aspect of being decked out even come into play. This allows for great range in the ability to allow the combatant to get 4 or 5 additional cards into hand.
The initial cards revealed are pretty amazing. A brief overview reveals
Location : Arathi Basin, Remove 5 honor and draw a card
Location : Alterac Valley, Remove 8 honor and resurrect a card
Quest : Eye of the Storm, Pay 3, draw a card and add honor counter
and Drek'Thar a 14 point Ally that I may just put into my decks just to see if I can ever even get it out of my hand.
SICK
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