Weekly 1E Roundup - 27 FEBRUARY 2020

by Charlie Plaine, Director of First Edition

27th February 2020

Welcome to the Weekly 1E Roundup, a weekly column looking back at the past week in the world of First Edition as well as a preview of the week ahead. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for content, you can contact me at cplaine@gmail.com or on the forums via PM to MidnightLich. I'm happy to write about your tournaments, get togethers, or other 1E-related goings-on. But for now, let's get into the column and see what's been going on in the world of First Edition!

The Big News

We've announced the promos for some of our special events, and 2020 is the Year of the Cardassian. For this year's Regional Championship events, players will be able to get a great, alternate image, foil version of Evek (pictured to the right). Players that attend a Nationals or a Trek Masters Series event - including the one in just a few short weeks in New York City - can claim his ship, the Vetar. There will be even more Cardassian-themed promos for Continentals and Worlds this year, though we haven't announced those yet. But I'll give you some clues: for Continentals, you'll get a cool, thematic AI of a very useful card in Cardassian decks. And for Worlds, you'll have a chance to grab a Cardassian-related mission. Stay tuned for details and spoilers as we continue down the Road to Worlds 2020.

This Day in Trek

Today is the 59th birthday of former professional basketball player James Worthy. While it might seem odd to talk about a basketball player on a Star Trek website, it's not random: Mr. Worthy appeared as the towering Klingon Koral in "Gambit Part II." Worthy apparently met Robert O'Reilly (Gowron) on a flight, and was convinced to contact the producers of The Next Generation for a role on the show. Happy birthday, Mr. Worthy!

Tournament Reports

We had four (4) tournaments take place over the past weekend, and that's not including the Steel Cage match at Aberdeen Anarchy, which hasn't been reported yet. So let's jump right to it with our first tournament, an OTF Complete Constructed event in Roseville, Minnesota in the USA. Eight (8) players came out and joined the fun in the Frozen North, with tournament director Kris Sonsteby (LORE) emerging undefeated. Kris played "Are You Telling Me You Built a Time Machine... Out of a DeLorean?", a riff on the decks that have been common recently. Jason Tang (PantsOfTheTalShiar) came in second place piloting a deck, and he wrote a tournament report as well.

Robert Petersen (Hobie) played "Cartrashians Dreaming About Empok Nor," a deck with a fabulous name. Three (3) players tried out the new - Joe Kallstrom (Commander Joe), Matthew Hayes (karonofborg13), and Justin Kaufman (CrimsonRavage); their decks are linked to their names. James Heaney (BCSWowbagger) played a battle-oriented Klingon/Federation deck, providing both notes with the deck and a tournament report. Ben Johnson (mindmage) rounded out the field with an unspecified flavor of Romulan deck. Check out the photo to the right, provided by Kris himself.

On Sunday, February 23rd, in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, three (3) players got together for an OTF Complete Constructed tournament and started practicing for Worlds. Michael Moskop (comicbookhero) won, trying out a deck. Jason Beyer (sevencrdspud) played an deck he titled "Terran Empire: The Next Generation", and Maggie Geppert (jadziadax8) played a Deep Space Nine Bajoran/Federation deck with lots of gender dilemmas and romantic couples. I hope the three of you had fun, and learned a lot about your decks!

In Brooklyn, New York, six (6) players rallied at the Lock Yard - the site of next month's Trek Masters Series - and played in an OTF Complete Constructed tournament. Matthew Sokol (mrpurple) won the tournament with what I assume was a deck, as he called it "Cage - Season 2;" unfortunately, it isn't public so I can't link to the deck. Bar and restaurant owner Christopher Ghiorzi (RomulanAleSmith) came in second, beating local legend Robin Honeycutt (robin1234) on a differential tiebreaker. Robin wrote a brief tournament report and provided a link to his Combined Task force deck. Rounding out the event were Jules (Jules), Tim Rice (RegentWorf), and Jack Johnson (NOTaMerryMan). It's great to see so many players getting ready for a major event in their area!

Finally, in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, four (4) players battled in an OTF Complete Constructed tournament. Michael Van Breemen (The Ninja Scot) and his wife, Amber (Marquetry) each played Kazon; Michael and his deck came in 1st, while Amber and her deck came in 4th. Kenneth Tufts (Worf Son of Mogh) and Richard DeLashmit (benericardus) came in 2nd and 3rd, respectively, but as of the time of writing this column I don't know what they played. I do hope everyone had fun!

I'm happy to cover tournaments and casual games in this column - you just have to let me know. You can find my contact information at the bottom of every column, and you're welcome to email me, PM me, or just post on the forums. So if you're out there, playing 1E in any way, shape, or form, tell us about it!

Tournament Previews

There are no scheduled events this coming weekend, so unfortunately I have nothing to preview for you. However, if you have upcoming events, get togethers, or anything else scheduled that's 1E related, let me know. I'd love to feature you and your friends in this column.

Short Treks (In Other News)

• The February 2020 meeting of the CC's Board of Directors is this Sunday. Ironically, the board's February meeting will be taking place this Sunday at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time. There isn't much 1E on the docket other than my usual report, but if there is anything you'd like to see discussed, please visit the thread and post. We're happy to add discussion points to the agenda.


• Applications for 2020 Regional Championships are now open. Every year, the Road to Worlds kicks into high gear with the start of Regional Championship season. Director of Organized Play Kris Sonsteby (LORE) recently posted an article outlining the process and the costs for hosting a regional, as well as a link to the application. I encourage everyone to consider hosting an event, as they are unrestricted.


• Which Decipher-era expansion should get a sequel? I've been doing a lot of long-term planning of upcoming expansions. As part of that, I used last week's Friday question to ask which Decipher-era expansion people wanted to see get a virtual sequel. By far, Blaze of Glory is the leading answer, but if you haven't had the chance to sound off yet, please do!


• Do you think the game should have and support alternate-win conditions? Forum user Tim Mirkes (tlmirkes) started discussion about thematic alternate-win cards, giving decks different paths to winning the game. It's started an interesting discussion, including some ideas about how these cards could be built and the inherent dangers of designing such cards. Check it out and weigh-in, if you're interested.


• What side events do you want to see at Worlds 2020? As mentioned earlier, the 2020 World Championship will be in Chicago, Illinois, USA in August. Maggie Geppert, the event coordinator, posted a poll asking potential participants to weigh-in on the types of side events they want to see. Options include sealed events like the Official Tournament Sealed Deck or Coming of Age, to variant formats like Warp Speed or Cube Draft. Go sound off and let her know what you want to play!


• Leonard Nimoy left us five years ago today. The iconic actor that created and defined Mr. Spock passed away five (5) years ago today. I often think about his final tweet, sent out to the world three days before his death: "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" Poignant words. Live long and prosper indeed, to Mr. Nimoy, his family, and to all of you.

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That's all for this week's 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 January 2020. 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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