March Madness 2024 - Sweet 16

by Charlie Plaine, Staff Writer

20th March 2024

Welcome back to March Madness 2024. This is our 3rd week, which means we're nearing the midpoint of this annual bloodbath. And more than ever, this round was a bloodbath with a ton of upsets. We have just 16 cards remaining thanks to the votes of just over 90 of you. But before we get to the new bracket, I have the pleasure of announcing 2 winners from the random draws for this past week's polls! Here are the lucky winners for Week 2:

• micahwmorrison@gmail.com
• crimsonravage@gmail.com

Congrats to this week's winners; each of you have won a random First Edition borderless promo! These promos will be shipping to you as soon as our warehouse gets back up and running! Now, let's take a look at the results from Round 2:

Edosian Bracket
(1) Prefect Dukat loses to (9) Admiral Willrich, 43-51.
(4) Tuvix wins over (5) Quite Hypnotic, 49-45.
(3) Shades of Gray: Extinction falls to (6) Shran, 44-50.
(2) Tokath & Gi'ral loses to (7) Lunar Hospital, 44-50.
(1) Structured Test falls to (9) Mostly Uninteresting, 39-55.
(4) Lirpa can't hold off (5) Maquis Hideout, 39-55.
(3) Reg Barclay loses to (6) Too Hot to Handle, 38-56.
(2) A Man Alone keeps (7) Audrid down, 52-42.

Flaxian Bracket
(1) 98th Rule of Acquisition fends off (9) Rianna Mayweather, 52-35.
(12) Shipboard Fire wins over (13) (Federation) Flagship: Unready, 46-41.
(3) Celebratory Bloodwine can't stop (6) Emony, 39-48.
(2) I'm a Doctor, Not an Engineer mothballs (7) B'tanay, 50-37.
(1) Microbe Research wins over (8) The Most Toys, 55-32.
(4) Emblem of "Fair Trade" puts an end to (5) Examine Energy Barrier, 54-33.
At the buzzer, (3) Shades of Gray: F-Something falls to (6) Changed History, 44-43.
Also at the buzzer, (2) The Federation's Cut can't put (7) Catspaw away, 44-43.

As I said, a bloodbath. But alas, we pick ourselves up and vote again in the new poll:

Vote in the Sweet 16 Bracket

Here are the featured matches in Round 3:

Game #49- Admiral Willrich vs. Tuvix
The new admiral has done very well for himself, perhaps inspiring a new flavor of Cadet deck for the future. But Tuvix has been one of the most popularly requested characters in First Edition for over a decade... can he overcome the momentum of Red Squad?

Game #55- Microbe Research vs. Emblem of "Fair Trade"
The free market economy, in the form of a support card, has done very well. But Microbe Research, one of the original #1 seeds, has been dominant. Do people want to see help for Ferengi more than they want a support mission for a new Shades of Gray deck?

Now it's up to you. Remember, you can vote in each match based on any criteria you like - the choice is literally yours. Good luck and have fun! Voting will be open until 8 AM Pacific on Monday, March 25th. And don't forget to join the discussion on our Gameplay (1E) forum to speculate on what might happen next!

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