[FIST] Gencon 97 - Nationals tournament report
Andrew S. Davidson
GENCON 97 NATIONALS
The last day of Gencon brought the highlight of the 1997 Shadowfist
season - the US National tournament. The qualification requirement
made for a lower number of participants than on the previous day -
12 players. To control these top players, the event was officiated by
top umpire, Steve Fritz - the organiser of regular events at Neutral
Ground and so used to controlling the most ornery of prima donnas.
Talking of which, there was a rumour that Dennis Heffernan would be
appearing for this event on the last day. Unfortunately, this was not
to be but there were several others to carry the flag for the East
Coast.
The participants and their decks were:
Player City Faction Theme/Name
Andrew Davidson London, UK A.FH... Tickertape
Brian Carty ? .D.H... ?
Danny Cruz New York A..H... You'll be sorry...
Janifer Cheng New York .DFHLJM Melting Pot
Joseph Livotte New York ..F.... Trinity
Joshua Kronengold New York .D..... Walk Softly
Lissa Sabia Los Angeles A...... I'm Huge
Matt Widmann Los Angeles .D..... Smack Back,Yak Attack
Michael Nickoloff Los Angeles ..F.L.. Dangerous Experiment
Stefan Vincent Los Angeles ...H..M Displaced Chicks
Tom Luongo Gainesville, FL ...H.J. ?
Yuit Sum Vong London, UK .DF.... Butch
Faction popularity
4 Dragon
4 Architects of the Flesh
4 Guiding Hand
3 Ascended
1 All factions (aka Peacock)
1 Eaters of Lotus
1 Four Monarchs
1 Jammers
Being the last day, time was short and Steve set a limit of
45 minutes for each game. This was rather tight and several games
were timed out and decided by a tie-break. The rules used for these
were those published by Daedalus (version 1.0) - the first tie-break
was feng shui sites + feng shui sites burnt for victory. The
tie-break system was also used to determine places in each game but,
happily, these were not needed to establish the finalists.
The Architects had been very popular and successful on the previous
day, besting the Dragons in the final. There seemed to be a reaction
against them in consequence and they were shot on sight, e.g. when
Stefan used the Displaced to toast my Architect resource. This is one
reason that the previous day's undefeated winner, Joseph, did not
win a game - perhaps he should have changed deck.
The results of the first three rounds were:
Round 1
Joshua Kronengold beat Andrew Davidson, Stefan Vincent, Brian Carty
Janifer Cheng beat Yuit Sum Vong, Lissa Sabia, Mike Nickoloff
Matt Widmann beat Danny Cruz, Tom Luongo, Joseph Livotte
Round 2
Stefan Vincent beat Lissa Sabia, Joseph Livotte, Andrew Davidson
Matt Widmann beat Janifer Cheng, Joshua Kronengold, Yuit Sum Vong
Mike Nickoloff beat Tom Luongo, Brian Carty, Danny Cruz
Round 3
Joshua Kronengold beat Tom Luongo, Yuit Sum Vong, Andrew Davidson
Lissa Sabia beat Stefan Vincent, Mike Nickoloff, Matt Widmann
Janifer Cheng beat Danny Cruz, Joseph Livotte, Brian Carty
The three double-winners then fought a final. A full listing of each
of their decks accompanies this article. Unfortunately, I missed the
start of the final game (licking my wounds and checking my notes) and
so didn't see the key play which, as I understand it, was Joshua
taking a Drug Lab from Matt while Janifer, to Matt's fury, did not
interfere. When I started watching, the game was already decided -
Joshua had about five sites and at least one big character -
outmatching the other two players combined. His deck is fast
and, having established a dominant position, the winning attack came
soon. This very rapid victory was somewhat anti-climactic but, like
they say, speed kills.
FINAL
Joshua Kronengold beat Janifer Cheng, Matt Widmann
Joshua's prize for winning this event was a 1st edition of Feng Shui
signed by John Woo. The real prize, though, is earning the right to
swagger as The Man for a year. Congratulations to Joshua and his home
town, New York. I attach a jpeg photo of Joshua in his Artful Dodger
hat, displaying his MVP - Ting Ting, of course.
Commiserations to the others, especially Matt Widmann. His record
over the last two days was very impressive - five wins in eight games
- and it must have been very galling to come away without a trophy.
Thanks to Steve for running the event and to Daedalus for their
sponsorship. And thanks to all those who took part - you were all
great competitors and sports. Finally, a special mention for Stefan
Vincent whose good-natured and witty banter kept myself and others
entertained throughout.
Andrew