The Road to Worlds 2013, Week 13

by James Hoskin, Director of Organized Play

27th June 2013

This is a weekly series that aims to preview upcoming Regional tournaments, review Regional tournaments that have just taken place, highlight winning decks, interview players, and more. Last week's article was The Road to Worlds 2013, Week 12.

How can you contribute to this series? First and foremost, I am relying on results and deck lists being promptly entered into this site. I can't write about them otherwise. Other ways you can help include: taking photos, interviewing players, writing previews, and providing background information. Any other way to help the community be a part of your Regional tournament would be appreciated, too. Contact details are at the end of this article.

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Week 12 Review

Saturday 22nd June		Sunday 23rd June
Second Edition (Standard) GameKnight Games and Cool Stuff 726 Osborne Street Winnipeg, MB R3L 2C2 Canada [Results]	Second Edition (Standard) Rusty's Pizza 3731 State Street Santa Barbara, CA 93105 United States [Results]	First Edition (OTF) Good Games Burwood 195a Burwood Road, Level 1 Burwood, NSW 2134 Australia [Results]
Tribbles (Standard) Rusty's Pizza 3731 State Street Santa Barbara, CA 93105 United States [Results]

GameKnight Games and Cool Stuff: This Second Edition Rura Penthe Regional attracted four players. Four is a rather fitting number when you consider that this is the fourth year that this Regional has been organized, and this year saw the fourth different player take the title. For the followers of numerology, the only thing that would have made this perfect would have been if there were four rounds. Alas, an impossibility with only four players. Kyle Schewe (caravanhymn), playing a Klingon deck, was undefeated over three rounds and won his first Regional title in the Continuing Committee-era. Kyle has only played in two tournaments this year - both Regionals - and six wins from eight games has seen his rating jump 94 points as a result. The favorite to win, Matthew Hayes (karonofborg13), playing a Terok Nor deck titled "Guess I'm showing my age", took second place having lost his round one game against Kyle. This was the eleventh Regional Matthew has played in this year. Other affiliations played include Original Series and Terok Nor. Three deck lists can be found on the tournament results page.

Statistics from GameKnight Games and Cool Stuff:

Total achievements awarded	13
Most achievements won	Ivo Ciric (Entilzha) with 8
Average achievements per player	3.3
Biggest ratings gain	Kyle Schewe (caravanhymn), up 54 points to 1589
Average rating of all 4 players	1566

Winner	James' Prediction	Kris' Prediction	Rem's Prediction
Kyle Schewe	Matthew Hayes	Matthew Hayes	Matthew Hayes

Rusty's Pizza (Second Edition): The penultimate Regional double-header of the year took place in Santa Barbara, California or the Risa Region. Five players participated in this first event, each getting to play everyone else in a round robin. After two rounds, two players were undefeated: tournament organizer Chris Donati (Swisherfan), playing a Starfleet deck titled "Meat & Potatoes (Second helpings)"; and Matt Kirk (CaptMDKirk), playing a Romulan deck. Chris took a modified win in that game, and then won his final game to take the title as an undefeated player. This was Chris' second Regional title in the Continuing Committee-era. With Matt's loss in round three, his game against Aaron Weil (Jewbacca), playing a Relativity deck titled "The Walking Fed", in round four would ultimately determine who finished in second place, Matt or Aaron. Aaron won that game, again a modified win, in what was his first Second Edition Regional since he began playing. Matt finished in third place. Other affiliations played include Deep Space 9 and Dominion. Four deck lists can be found on the tournament results page.

Statistics from Rusty's Pizza:

Total achievements awarded	9
Most achievements won	Chris Donati (Swisherfan) and Carlos Maya (Vindelron), with 3 each
Average achievements per player	1.8
Biggest ratings gain	Chris Donati (Swisherfan), up 28 points to 1758
Average rating of all 5 players	1539

Winner	James' Prediction	Kris' Prediction	Rem's Prediction
Chris Donati	Nick Culpepper	Nick Culpepper	Nick Culpepper

Rusty's Pizza (Tribbles): All five players stuck around after the Second Edition Regional to contest this Tribbles Risa Regional. Carlos Maya (Vindelron), playing a Bonus deck titled "Bonus and other things", scored 823,362 Tribbles to take the title. That was almost double the score of Chris Donati (Swisherfan), who finished in second place, and more than half of all the Tribbles scored in the whole tournament. That's quite a feat for Carlos' inaugural Regional win in the Continuing Committee-era. Congratulations Carlos! Chris played a Rescue deck titled "Rescue for fun and latinum", and finished with a score of 424,468 Tribbles. That was almost double the score of JD_Ashley (Holodeckplate_Leader), playing a Bonus deck titled "JD Bonus", who finished in third place with a score of 220,312 Tribbles. That was just over double the score of Matt Kirk (CaptMDKirk), who finished in fourth place with a score of 101,011 Tribbles. Sadly, Aaron Weil (Jewbacca) couldn't keep the "double" run going, and was approximately 30,000 Tribbles short of scoring half of that scored by Matt. Three deck lists can be found on the tournament results page.

Statistics from Rusty's Pizza:

Total achievements awarded	2
Most achievements won	Carlos Maya (Vindelron) with 2
Average achievements per player	0.4
Total Tribbles scored	1,591,466
Average Tribbles scored by all 5 players	318,293

Winner	James' Prediction	Kris' Prediction	Rem's Prediction
Carlos Maya	Nick Culpepper	Carlos Maya	Matt Kirk

Good Games Burwood: This First Edition Kazon Collective Regional saw five players in attendance. With defending champion Mike Nugent (Iron Mike), playing a Borg deck titled "In a world gone mad, we will not spank the monkey, but the monkey will spank us", losing his first round game the title was up for grabs. Matthew Ting (Wedge772), playing a Klingon deck titled "OTF Klingon TNG", took that opportunity with both hands. Three wins from three games saw him win his first Regional title. That's not bad when you consider that Matthew only started playing Continuing Committee-sanctioned tournaments less than a year ago. Mike recovered from his first round loss to take second place, ahead of Peter Hill (leonardmccoy), who was playing a Bajoran deck. Other affiliations played include Federation and Starfleet. Four deck lists and three tournament reports can be found on the tournament results page, and an interview with Matthew Ting is below.

Statistics from Good Games Burwood:

Total achievements awarded	14
Most achievements won	Matthew Ting (Wedge772) with 11
Average achievements per player	2.8
Biggest ratings gain	Peter Hill (leonardmccoy), up 43 points to 1402
Average rating of all 5 players	1481

Winner	James' Prediction	Kris' Prediction	Rem's Prediction
Matthew Ting	Matthew Ting	Matthew Ting	Matthew Ting

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Interview

This week, Matthew Ting (Wedge772), runner-up at the 2012 First Edition World Championships, crowns his first year playing in the Continuing Committee-era with the ultimate accolade: this Road to Worlds interview.

James: Congratulations on your win Matthew. Which decks you were considering playing?
Matthew: I almost brought my Hirogen deck. I have another deck I'm working on, which I might just save for Continentals if I can get it working properly by then. Having a Regionals so close to Continentals is tricky, as it means having to build several competitive decks and deciding when to play them!

James: What decks did you expect to face?
Matthew: I expected to see more TNG decks. Strangely, I was the only one running a TNG deck.

James: Can you describe how your deck works?
Matthew: Here's the deck list. It's a fairly basic Klingon solver. I can get Duck Blind up and running on turn one (getting around General Quarters) thanks to Officer Exchange Program to download William T. Riker to hand, and then Assign Support Personnel for Vagh. After that, I'd keep using Officer Exchange Program to get hordes of B'Somgh and Zegov. With Equipment Replicator, I'd give them all Medical and Science with Medical PADD and Tricorder.

James: Are there any special tricks or combos in the deck?
Matthew: There's a Federation Data in the deck, with Mr. Tricorder, just to act as a magic bullet for the Access Denied / Ferengi Ingenuity / Dejaren combo. That combo really annoys me.

James: What was your dilemma strategy?
Matthew: A lot of kills, and some potential ship damage for more kills from the Battle Bridge. There's also a combo in there (Chula: The Game / Dignitaries and Witnesses) I can very easily get past with Zegov, Gowron and Lore, allowing me to steal Raid Ancient Burial Site quickly if the opportunity arises. As it happens I did manage to steal Historical Research with that combo.

James: How did the tournament play out?
Matthew: The deck worked as planned, and I was able to take advantage of some opportunities as they came up. Like stealing Historical Research, and shooting at Steve Hartmann's ships.

James: Who was your toughest opponent?
Matthew: Peter Hill's Bajorans gave me trouble. I lost a lot of personnel to his dilemmas, and had to Space-Time Portal a full crew when they hit Cytherians. I was worried I would lose the game to time, due to his points from Dabo. Luckily, I was able to stop him solving a second mission on his last turn. It was close though, some random selections going in his favour would have won him the day.

James: Now the tournament is over, how would you improve the deck?
Matthew: It's a pretty solid deck, but it would be nice if it could get one more free play engine in there. Currently it gets three personnel out per turn, it really should be hitting four per turn to compete against some of the faster decks.

James: It's only a few weeks until the Australian Continental Championships. What deck(s) do you think will do well there?
Matthew: Hopefully the crazy deck I'm trying to put together now! Otherwise, I'd say TNG continues to be a safe bet. Borg could be good too, simply because most Australian players haven't had much opportunity to play with or against it.

James: The next set of tournament promos are being released next week. What cards would you like to see in Series F?
Matthew: I'd love to see more uncommons which can be tricky to track down. Espionage: Bajoran on Cardassian and Hidden Fighter would be great picks.

James: If you could create an achievement, what would it be?
Matthew: More story achievements based on specific episodes would be great, like the First Edition Hologram Ruse achievement.

James: Do you have anything else to add?
Matthew: Big thanks in advance to Matthyas Kiraly for what is going to be a great Australian Continentals! And while I'm here, my girlfriend wants to know if she can get a copy of the Matthew Ting promo foil Biermeister card.

My thanks to Matthew for taking the time to answer these questions.

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Byes

This week, one player won a Day One, Round One bye into their local First Edition Continental Championships:

• Mike Nugent (Iron Mike), second place (bye handed down) at Good Games Burwood

And, two players won a Day One, Round One bye into their local Second Edition Continental Championships:

• Kyle Schewe (caravanhymn), winner at GameKnight Games and Cool Stuff
• Aaron Weil (Jewbacca), second place (bye handed down) at Rusty's Pizza

And, one player won a 100,000 Tribble Headstart into their local Tribbles Continental Championships:

• Carlos Maya (Vindelron), winner at Rusty's Pizza

These bye winners have been added to the list of current bye winners for the Continental Championships and the World Championships here. For everyone who didn't win a bye, the giant Regional countdown clock on my wall is flashing a big "7". If you want a Continentals bye, this weekend is your last chance to earn one.

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Deck Statistics

There were 5 players at one First Edition tournament this week, taking the total players at First Edition Regional Championships to 124 - an average of 6.5 players per tournament. This week saw Starfleet being played for the first time outright. Kazon and Terran Empire are still the only two affiliations yet to be played this year.

The best performing First Edition affiliations to date are Vidiian, averaging 11.6 victory points per tournament; followed by Bajoran, averaging 10.7 victory points; and then Ferengi, averaging 10.0 victory points. The worst performing affiliations to date are Hirogen, averaging 7.4 victory points per tournament; followed by Klingon/Cardassian Alliance, averaging 7.0 victory points; and then Starfleet, averaging 6.0 victory points.

The most popular First Edition affiliations are currently:
1.	Federation	Used by 27 (22%) players	4 Regional wins
2.	Ferengi	Used by 15 (12%) players	5 Regional wins
2.	Klingon	Used by 15 (12%) players	4 Regional wins
4.	Romulan	Used by 13 (11%) players	1 Regional win
5.	Borg	Used by 12 (10%) players	1 Regional win
6.	Vidiian	Used by 9 (7%) players	1 Regional win
7.	Hirogen	Used by 7 (6%) players
8.	Dual Affiliations	Used by 6 (5%) players
9.	Non-Aligned	Used by 5 (4%) players
10.	Bajoran	Used by 4 (3%) players	2 Regional wins
10.	Cardassian	Used by 4 (3%) players	1 Regional win
10.	Unknown?	Used by 4 (3%) players
13.	Dominion	Used by 1 (1%) player
13.	Starfleet	Used by 1 (1%) player
13.	Klingon/Cardassian Alliance	Used by 1 (1%) player

There were nine players at two Second Edition tournaments this week (and six at a tournament from week 2 that has only just been entered), taking the total players at Second Edition Regional Championships to 243 - an average of 7.8 players per tournament. Of note this week is the triple headquarters deck played at that week 2 tournament. We all thought the release of Matter of Time had put an end to triple headquarters decks, but it hadn't. It's just that everyone who saw the deck was so stunned that they couldn't get the results entered until now.

The best performing Second Edition affiliations to date are Relativity, averaging 12.6 victory points per tournament; followed by Klingon, averaging 12.2 victory points; and then Maquis, averaging 11.9 victory points. The worst performing affiliations are Voyager/Equinox, averaging 9.2 victory points per tournament; followed by Terok Nor, averaging 8.8 victory points; and then Non-Aligned, averaging 7.4 victory points.

The most popular Second Edition affiliations are currently:
1.	Next Generation	Used by 31 (13%) players	1 Regional win
2.	Klingon	Used by 27 (11%) players	8 Regional wins
3.	Starfleet	Used by 21 (9%) players	4 Regional wins
4.	Borg	Used by 20 (8%) players	5 Regional wins
5.	Dominion	Used by 17 (7%) players	3 Regional wins
5.	Original Series	Used by 17 (7%) players
5.	Relativity	Used by 17 (7%) players	1 Regional win
8.	Cardassian	Used by 12 (5%) players	1 Regional win
9.	Voyager/Equinox	Used by 11 (5%) players
10.	Deep Space 9	Used by 9 (4%) players	2 Regional wins
10.	Unknown?	Used by 9 (4%) players
12.	Earth Space 9	Used by 8 (3%) players	1 Regional win
12.	Romulan	Used by 8 (3%) players	1 Regional win
12.	Terok Nor	Used by 8 (3%) players
15.	Bajoran	Used by 7 (3%) players	1 Regional win
15.	Maquis	Used by 7 (3%) players	2 Regional wins
17.	Dual Affiliations	Used by 5 (2%) players
18.	Ferengi	Used by 4 (2%) players	1 Regional win
18.	Non-Aligned	Used by 4 (2%) players
20.	Triple Affiliations	Used by 1 (1%) player

There were five players at one Tribbles tournament this week, bringing the total players at Tribbles Regional Championships to 140 - an average of 6.7 players per tournament. Excluding preliminary heats, a total of 42,322,842 Tribbles have been scored to date, an average of 302,306 Tribbles per player.

Please note: Deck lists are a vital resource for our design teams. We are still missing almost 25% of all Tribbles decks played at a Regional this year. If players do not enter their deck lists, it is the responsibility of tournament organizers to enter them. Those organizers that cannot follow the rules will not be allowed to run a Regional next year.

The most popular Tribbles powers in each deck are:
1.	Unknown?	Used by 34 (24%) players	5 Regional wins
2.	Go	Used by 26 (19%) players	5 Regional wins
3.	IDIC	Used by 9 (6%) players
4.	Clone	Used by 8 (6%) players
5.	Bonus	Used by 7 (5%) players	3 Regional wins
5.	Discard	Used by 7 (5%) players	2 Regional wins
7.	Poison	Used by 6 (4%) players	1 Regional win
8.	Battle	Used by 5 (4%) players
8.	Utilize	Used by 5 (4%) players
10.	Rescue	Used by 4 (3%) players
11.	Freeze	Used by 2 (1%) players	1 Regional win
11.	Replay	Used by 2 (1%) players
11.	Battle/Score	Used by 2 (1%) players
11.	Assimilate/Poison/Score	Used by 2 (1%) players
15.	Copy	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Draw	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Recycle	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Replicate	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Scan	Used by 1 (1%) player	1 Regional win
15.	Skip	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Toxin	Used by 1 (1%) player	1 Regional win
15.	BaH!/Qapla'	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Battle/Go	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Clone/Go	Used by 1 (1%) player	1 Regional win
15.	Clone/Replay	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Discard/Go	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Discard/Rescue	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Go/Masaka	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Go/Rescue	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Go/Scan	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Poison/Rescue	Used by 1 (1%) player	1 Regional win
15.	Reverse/Skip	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Scan/Utilize	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Toxin/Utilize	Used by 1 (1%) player
15.	Bonus/Reverse/Skip	Used by 1 (1%) player

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Predictions

James	Kris	Interviewees
21/70 (30.0%)	23/70 (32.9%)	23/70 (32.9%)

2013 Prediction Accuracy

Before getting into last week's predictions, the delayed results from the Second Edition Risa Regional that was due to take place in week 2 were submitted this week, and the leaderboards have been updated to reflect that. All three predictions were correct, so nobody gained an advantage. However, Nat Kirton does jump from fifth place to second place as a result of his improved accuracy. A review of the tournament has been added to the week 3 article.

Last week's results saw me getting one out of four predictions correct while Kris got two out of four. With last week's interviewee Rem Boon (Boon of Bolian) only getting one out of four correct too, Kris has now caught the interviewees up. I'm two correct predictions behind both and am unlikely to retain the predictors crown (yes, I made one for myself) I won last year. With only seven tournaments to come this week, it should make for an exciting finale. The fate of the crown is all up to this week's interviewee, Matthew Ting (Wedge772).

Past Interviewee Prediction Accuracy
Week 6	Matthew Frid (bandana8472)	1/1 (100%)
Week 2	Nat Kirton (Nate Jeezy)	3/6 (50.0%)
Week 7	Johnny Holeva (jjh)	4/9 (44.4%)
Week 1	Sean O'Reilly (Jono)	4/9 (44.4%)
Week 3	Matt Kirk (CaptMDKirk)	3/8 (37.5%)
Week 11	Cristoffer Wiker (Smiley)	1/3 (33.3%)
Week 9	Steve Hartmann (chompers)	2/7 (28.6%)
Week 12	Rem Boon (Boon of Bolian)	1/4 (25.0%)
Week 5	Johannes Klarhauser (Kaiser)	1/4 (25.0%)
Week 8	Chris Lobban (Maelwys)	2/9 (22.2%)
Week 10	Jon Carter (pfti)	1/5 (20.0%)
Week 4	Soren Ramme Nielsen (s_ramme)	1/5 (20.0%)

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Week 13 Preview

The complete schedule can be found in the article 2013 Regional Championships Schedule. The final seven Regional tournaments of the year take place this weekend:

Saturday 29th June		Sunday 30th June
Second Edition (Standard) CVJM Kassel e.V. Wolfsschlucht 21 34117 Kassel Germany [Discuss] [Pre-register]	Second Edition (Standard) OKCoyote Residence 2190 Forest Knoll Drive NE, Apt. #201 Palm Bay, FL 32905 United States [Discuss] [Pre-register]	First Edition (OTF) The Pommeler's Rest 198 Tower Bridge Road London, SE1 2UN United Kingdom [Discuss] [Pre-register]	Second Edition (Standard) The Prudential Center, Food Court 800 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02199 United States [Discuss] [Pre-register]
Tribbles (Standard) OKCoyote Residence 2190 Forest Knoll Drive NE, Apt. #201 Palm Bay, FL 32905 United States [Discuss] [Pre-register]	Second Edition (Draft) Paradox Comics-N-Cards 26 Roberts Street N Fargo, ND 58102 United States [Discuss] [Pre-register]	First Edition (OTF) Sutton Shanty 514 Second Norway Lane Oliver Springs, TN 38740 United States [Discuss] [Pre-register]

CVJM Kassel e.V: This Vandros IV Second Edition Regional on Saturday serves as the warm-up for the 2013 German National Championships, being held on Sunday. Past years have seen between nine and 15 players participate, and those numbers should hold true for this year too, as there are ten players pre-registered already. Two-time defending champion Tobias Rausmann (garetjax) will be hoping to make it three wins in a row at this tournament. Not only has he won the last two Regionals held at this venue, but he has also won the last two Regionals he has entered this year. Reigning European Continental Champion Thomas Schneider (thsch) has the pedigree to beat Tobias, and has done so in eleven of the 30 games they have played. However, he is not guaranteed to play as he has judging duties. Other challengers for the title include 2011 German National Champion Jens Beilstein (Goran); and Sascha Kiefer (Sascha Kiefer), who was undefeated at a recent 20-player tournament featuring many of his potential opponents. Despite this, my pick to win is Tobias. He has all sorts of form heading into this tournament. Side note: Tobias has also won the last two National Championships he has entered, and looks a good bet to make it three-in-a-row at Sunday's tournament too.

Kris: Tobias Rausmann to win. Why? In just the past two months, The Total Package has doubled down on Regional gold and defected to Prussia where he was crowned National Champion. But as you know, Gorilla, it's feast or famine in this business so if he can gorge himself on gold, I say do it!

Matthew: Tobias Rausmann. He's my hero for winning a Regional with Relativity.

Past Second Edition Regional results at CVJM Kassel e.V:
2012, won by Tobias Rausmann (garetjax) playing Next Generation.
2011, won by Tobias Rausmann (garetjax) playing Deep Space 9.
2010, won by Thomas Schneider (thsch) playing Borg.
2009, not played.
2008, not played.

OKCoyote Residence (Second Edition): This Regional forms the first half of the final Regional double header of the year. It also marks the inaugural Second Edition Regional to be held at the venue. There are eight players pre-registered already, and host Daniel Matteson (OKCoyote) expects at least two more to join the fun. Daniel has won two of the four constructed tournaments at the venue this year, and finished in the top two of over half the tournaments he has played in since January, so he looks a good choice to win. That would be if Thomas Kamiura (Bosskamiura) wasn't playing. Thomas has already won a Regional this year, and his record of having won 69% of the 404 games he has played in the Continuing Committee-era makes him stand out. That, and his rating is over 200 points higher than any of his competitors. Thomas to win.

Kris: Thomas Kamiura to win. Why? With The Uncrowned Champion's Legend contract situation still unresolved, this Elimination Chamber match is likely going to boil down to The Ravishing One against The Big Boss Man. And while I don't normally bet against the "Family," provided his hand doesn't cramp up responding to all of his fan mail, just this once I'm gonna stake my reputation as a broadcast journalist on The Big Boss Man proving once and for all that he is the boss down in southern Polatsk.

Matthew: Thomas Kamiura. Just so I don't get a deck named after me if I pick wrongly.

There are no past Second Edition Regional results at OKCoyote Residence.

OKCoyote Residence (Tribbles): Part two of the Palm Bay, Florida double header sees the inaugural Tribbles Regional to be held at the venue. As with the Second Edition tournament preceding it, eight players have pre-registered. Host Daniel Matteson (OKCoyote) is expecting at least three more players on top of that though. A look at the Tribble breeders in the Cardassia Region show Thomas Kamiura (Bosskamiura) has the most experience by far. He has played over twice as many tournaments as his nearest competitor, and has almost as many victories as all of his competitors combined. He also has the highest average score per tournament of everyone at 391,246 Tribbles. Tammy Vititoe (tamtoe) has the closest record to Thomas'. She has won five of the 17 tournaments she has entered and has an average score of 310,152 Tribbles per tournament. The only other player with an average higher than 300,000 is Sean O'Reilly (Jono), with an average of 302,552 Tribbles per tournament. I think one of these three players will win, and Tammy has the best recent record (three wins in her last four tournaments), so she is my pick to win.

Kris: Daniel Matteson to win. Why? Averaging over 223k in Battle Royale's so far this year, the Gunslinger's star is clearly on the rise in that environment. He's also the man dressed like a zebra for this match, and like I always say, Gorilla, there's nothing better than a good, blind referee.

Matthew: Daniel Matteson. But Tribbles are fickle beasties.

There are no past Tribbles Regional results at OKCoyote Residence.

Paradox Comics-N-Cards: This will be the sixth year that this Second Edition Andoria Regional has been organized. This year, it will be a rainbow draft with players receiving one random starter and then drafting one booster pack from every Decipher expansion that was released in boosters. That means players will receive boosters from Premiere, Energize, Call to Arms, Necessary Evil, Reflections 2.0, Strange New Worlds, To Boldly Go, Captain's Log, These Are The Voyages, In A Mirror, Darkly and What You Leave Behind. Tournament organizer Chris Volk (volkerii) has enough boosters for 24 players, so if you plan on attending pre-registration is recommended. At the time of writing, there are only six players pre-registered, but a tournament like this doesn't happen very often and we can surely expect some last minute additions. As the tournament is so unique, there is little to base predictions off. 2011 World Champion Mike Harrington (Ajnaran) has won four of the ten sealed tournaments he has played in. Nat Kirton (Nate Jeezy) also has four wins to his name, but from 16 tournaments. Matthew Hayes (karonofborg13) has more wins (6) than Mike and Nat, but he has played 30 sealed tournaments. These players look to be the only players with significant sealed deck experience. I'm going to pick Nat to win. He has only won two of his last five sealed tournaments, but he only has one bad result amongst them. Form may be temporary, but class is permanent.

Kris: Mike Harrington to win. Why? The Natural and I have been sparring partners since grade school, and the man's been one of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's top ten wrestlers nearly twice that long. With a perfect record in steel cages matches against his tag team partner, The Beast from the East, and a resume that includes holding both the AWA and T2E World Heavyweight Championships simultaneously, just like a broken drum he'll be hard to beat.

Matthew: Nat Kirton. Sealed formats can be unpredictable though, so it could be anyone's day.

Past Second Edition Regional results at Paradox Comics-N-Cards:
2012 (alternate venue), won by Kevin Jaeger (Hoss-Drone) playing Dominion / Klingon.
2011, won by Kris Sonsteby (LORE) playing Original Series.
2010, won by Kris Sonsteby (LORE) playing Next Generation.
2009, won by Barry Windschitl (JamesValEson) playing Borg.
2008, won by Keith Morris (Foreman) playing Voyager.

The Pommeler's Rest: This will mark the third year that this First Edition Omarion Nebula Regional has been organized. Eight and four players attended in the past two years, and this year sees six players pre-registered already. Defending Champion James Hoskin (RedDwarf) hasn't won a constructed tournament in the Continuing Committee-era, and will surely be well out of contention after the first game. William Hoskin (Gumbo) has five times the experience of his brother, but his high-level tournament results show a tendency to finish in the bottom half of the field. JurgenP (JurgenP) only began playing Continuing Committee-sanctioned tournaments in January, and is something of an unknown factor. When it comes to experience, Niall Matthew (sexecutioner), is the one to watch. He only has one tournament win to his name (a Regional last year), but I'm reliably informed (see Matthew's prediction, below) that he has a solid deck this year. Unfortunately, Niall's (and everyone else's) kryptonite is Danny Nuttall (nuttersuclan). Danny is currently on a ten tournament winning streak, and he has won 33 of his last 34 games. Even though his individual game winning streak was ended at 28, he has already started working on his next streak. It stands at five, and will no doubt rise to nine on Sunday. As much as I want to pick myself, I think Danny will win without breaking a sweat.

Kris: Danny Nuttall to win. Why? After tearing the house down in a Tornado Tag at Insurrextion, my sources tell me the Rock n' Roll Express went out and bought a new one to celebrate retaining the NWA Tag Team Championships. And while the British Bulldogs are no ham-and-eggers themselves, I gotta believe The Rock n' Roll Express are gonna keep right on rockin' come Sunday.

Matthew: Danny Nuttall. Because. Actually, I think I want to change my prediction after some playtesting sessions with Niall and Danny. Niall Matthew. It'll be a challenge to beat Danny, but I believe he has a solid deck which has a great shot at victory.

Past First Edition Regional results at The Pommeler's Rest:
2012 (sealed), won by James Hoskin (RedDwarf) playing Federation.
2011, won by Danny Nuttall (nuttersuclan) playing Romulan.
2010, not played.
2009, not played.
2008, not played.

The Prudential Center, Food Court: This will be the third year that this Second Edition Romulus Regional has been organized. The past two years have seen twelve and eight players attend. Six players have pre-registered so far, including the top three players from last year's tournament. Len Neidorf (Dirty Nel) looks to be the favorite. Since joining the Boston playgroup in 2011, he has won 13 of the 18 tournaments he has played. In those tournaments he didn't win, he has never been more than one loss away from winning the tournament. That's the sort of form you earn with a 78% game winning record. Lucas Thompson (edgeofhearing) has the closest rating (1726) to Len's 1872. Lucas also has a lot of second place finishes to his name at recent tournaments, most often behind Len. He also has two wins from his last six tournaments. The third player to watch out for is Steve C (Kor). He already has one Regional win to his name this year, and will no doubt be looking for another on Sunday. My pick to win is Len though. I just can't look past the 77% or higher winning record he has over all of this potential opponents.

Kris: Len Neidorf to win. Why? The Narcissist is a reigning DCW National and Regional Champion that hasn't "done the honors" for another Superstar since Valentine's Day. What else is there to say? Don't you have a banana to go peel or something, Gorilla?

Matthew: Len Neidorf. Because he can win tournaments with Ferengi in Second Edition.

Past Second Edition Regional results at The Prudential Center, Food Court:
2012, won by Len Neidorf (Dirty Nel) playing Cardassian.
2011 (alternate venue), won by John Corbett (KillerB) playing Klingon.
2010, not played.
2009, not played.
2008, not played.

Sutton Shanty: This First Edition Qo'noS Regional is the final Regional of the year. It is also the inaugural Continuing Committee Regional to be held in the state of Tennessee. Four players have pre-registered so far. With free entry and lunch included, it is only the prospect of an eight hour flight that is stopping me from flying over to join in. Oh, and my own Regional on the same day. Never mind. Host Ryan Sutton (rsutton41) already has two Regional titles to his name, and he has only been playing Continuing Committee-sanctioned tournaments for 18 months. In that time he has won eight of the 20 tournaments he has played, probably due to the 81% of games he has won. Scott Baughman (Neelix) has beaten Ryan twice in five attempts, and looks the most likely to challenge him for the title. Scott last won a Regional in 2011 and must be itching to get revenge on Ryan in his own home, after Ryan won the Regional Scott held in his home last month. The third player to watch out for is Nathan Miracle (GooeyChewie). He has only played in three First Edition Regionals. He didn't perform very well in the first two, but finished in second place behind Ryan at his most recent Regional in May. He must be looking to make that step up to the winners circle on Sunday. That being said, I think Ryan will win this one.

Kris: Scott Baughman to win. Why? Scotty 2 Hotty's a former Regional Champion in his own right, and was one of the last men eliminated in a First Blood title fight at the Night of the Legends pay per view last month. With The Ruffneck splitting time between a combatant and the guy donning the zebra stripes, I gotta believe Scotty 2 Hotty's gonna be crowned king of the Smokey Mountains once again.

Matthew: Ryan Sutton. He's already won a Regional with his Klingons in Block. All he needs to do is fix it up for OTF and it'll probably be a scarier TNG Klingon deck than I ran.

There are no past First Edition Regional results at Sutton Shanty.

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Next Week

Week 14, the final article, of the Road to Worlds sees this weekend's seven Regionals reviewed, one last interview with a winning player, and the final roundup of statistics. There will also be a bunch of pretty graphs for those that like pictures more than words. The article also sees the return of the annual Regional Championships award ceremony. If you want to nominate a category or an individual for an award, check out this forum post.

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