The Road to Worlds

Once again, we had a pair of regionals in the United States last weekend. On the West Coast, Ken Tufts (Worf Son of Mogh) emerged on top of a five (5) player field; but detailed information about Ken's deck wasn't available when writing this column.

So this week, we're going to take a look at the six (6) player event in Acton, Massachusetts. Robin Honeycut (robin1234) emerged victorious piloting a deck that might be familiar to readers of this column. Robin played a Vulcan deck originally designed and built by Brian Sykes (Armus) - a deck that won the first Trek Masters Series event of the year. Robin played the deck exactly as Brian built it, but lets get his take on it:

Tournament Reports

This was an action packed weekend, so let's jump right into it with a look at our two regionals. As mentioned above, Robin Honeycutt (robin1234) piloted Brian Sykes' Vulcan deck to victory over a tough field. Matthew Zinno (commdecker) played a Romulan control deck aptly titled Regional Control, and he's included detail instructions for how to play the deck at home. Event host Lucas Thompson (edgeofhearing) played Parabellum, a Klingon deck that handed Robin his only loss on the day. In fourth place, Chris O'Connell (Brak) brought a favorite deck, Old Is the New New with Federation, Maquis, and Non-Aligned cards. Rounding out the day were Austin Chandler (DarkSabre) and Chris Morse (Trekker777), but we don't know what they played at press time.

On the opposite coast, Kenneth Tufts (Worf Son of Mogh) emerged victorious in the five (5) player field playing a deck called OTF - Lean Mean TNG Fed Scientific Diplomacy 4.6.2. I'll be reaching out to Ken, and hopefully we'll have more information about his deck next week. Michael Van Breemen (The Ninja Scot) ended up in 2nd place, also playing Federation, but an unknown flavor. Justin Ford (Resistance-is-futile), Richard DeLashmit (benericardus), and Leianne (LeianneK) rounded out the day, but there are no decklist available. We hope that everyone had fun!

Outside of these regional events, there were five (5) other events across the weekend. The day before his regional, Justin hosted a Voyager warp speed tournament that also saw Ken and Michael go 1st and 2nd as well. Personally, I hope someone played Kazon and had success with them, but we don't have the data to know for sure!

Likewise, Robin Honeycutt hosted and won a quick little tournament where he piloted an intense Romulan deck to victory, reclaiming his custom title belt in the process. Mark Panna (Shambinks), his near constant partner, took 2nd with a Vulcan deck titled Logical Espionage. Tyler Clark played Klingons and completed the trifecta needed for the tournament to take place.

In the frozen north of Minnesota, Justin Kaufman hosted a three-player tournament that saw Jason Tang (Pants o.t. Tal Shiar) play a Cardassian/Dominion deck to victory. Justin brought a Klingon Starfleet Treaty deck and scored 2nd place, and Borg came in 3rd piloted by Robert Petersen (Hobie). If Jason is playing the deck I think he's playing, it's a cool deck and I hope he will link it in the future.

The coolest looking sealed event of the weekend took place in West Melbourne, Florida, where players played Second Anthology warp speed. Across four rounds, Sean O'Reilly (Jono) went undefeated - hopefully he'll post his deck at some point in the future. Product donor Matthew McClain (Indyguy1183) came in second, while youth superstar Avery Matteson (averybean) claimed 3rd place. Robert McGinty (creon1690) and host Daniel Matteson (OKCoyote) rounded out the day. I wish I could have been there!

Finally, over in the United Kingdom, Paddy Tye (KazonPADD) piloted an Enterprise-E/Cardassian deck to victory over three undefeated rounds. His deck, Bruces Philosophers Song v2, looks like a lot of fun. Alex Dixon (alexd) played an unknown Federation deck to take the runner up spot, while Gary Jackling's Klingons and Tony Thrustle's (NCC-1764) unknown Non-Aligned deck finished out the field.

If you played in any events, scheduled or unscheduled, formal or casual, let us know! We'd love to feature your events in this column! Send me an email or a private message, and I'll be happy to advertise your event or games to the world in a future column. My contact information is at the bottom of every column each week.

Tournament Previews

On the heels of an epic weekend of Trek, we have a quiet one. On Monday, June 3rd, Thomas Kamiura (bosskamiura) will host the monthly tournament in The Dojo. This OTF Complete Constructed event has four (4) pre-registered players, including frequent and powerhouse players Michael Van Breemen and Austin Chandler. We'll keep an eye on this event as it unfolds.

But this quiet weekend is most like the eye of a hurricane, as next weekend will see the next event in the Trek Masters Series. The Cube Draft Trek Master Series event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota only has two players pre-registered at this time, but we know for a fact quite a few local players will be there. And if you're going to have two pre-registered players, the #1 and #11 ranked players in the world - Kevin Jaeger (Hoss-Drone) and Kris Sonsteby (LORE) - are good ones to have. Hyped by format creator Kevin, this unique take on 1E should be a spectacle for all to see and enjoy.

The following weekend, the spectacle continues with the last regional of the season in Austria, followed by the Austrian National Championships the next weekend. Two players - Julius Melhardt (Clerasil ToB) and Julius Melhardt (Clerasil ToB) - are signed up for both events. If only we had a transporter and I could easily get to Austria, I'd be there!

And finally, at the end of June, we have the double whammy Continental weekend with both the North American and European Continental Championships taking place on Sunday, June 23rd, 2019. The North American Continental Championships are being held in Atlanta, Georgia and currently show twelve (12) pre-registered players, while the European Continental Championships are in Manchester, United Kingodom and have six (6) players scheduled. Across those two events, there are eight (8) players in the Top 20, which will make for some fierce and amazing competition. We can't wait to see what happens!

Short Takes (In Other News)

• The public comment period for my appointment to Director of First Edition is ending soon. While I may have been selected to take on this position full time by the Board and its selection committee, I cannot serve in this role without the support of the community. We've opened a thread for you to ask questions, share your feelings, and express concerns about me and the work I've done as Acting Director. I'd be grateful if you'd join the conversation, and spread the word to anyone in your community who wants to participate.


• Monday, June 3rd is the next date for announcement of bans and errata. Going back to the Decipher era, the stewards of First Edition have used the first Monday of the month as the fixed date to announce changes to the ban list, errata, and rules changes. June 3rd will be the next date for such an announcement, and the odds are good there will be some changes announced then. For some clues about what might be changing, check out the watchlist.


• Do unstealable missions really make a better game? Forum user Ensign Q asks this question on our Gameplay (1E) forum. The Official Tournament Format (OTF) has long made missions (except for duplicated, 40+ points, and universal) safe from theft, but they ask if this is good for the game. What do you think?


• What are your Top 5 favorite cards? Forum user Trekcc rules wants to know, and there are already pretty varied answers. What are your favorite cards?

That's all for this week's brief roundup of First Edition news and events. For more news, you can follow The Continuing Committee on Facebook, Twitter, or bookmark our front page. News about upcoming First Edition projects can be found in the most recent Project Status Update from March 2019. My next office hours will be on Tuesday, June 4th at 6 PM Pacific. If you've got an event coming up and you'd like to be featured in this column, or if you have comments about this column's content, feel free to contact me at cplaine@gmail.com or on the forums via PM to MidnightLich. Until next week, may you expand your power in the universe and live long and prosper.

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