Weekly 1E Roundup - 8 JANUARY 2020

by Charlie Plaine, Director of First Edition

8th January 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

The semi-annual printable promo update happened on Monday, adding twelve (12) new First Edition cards to the printable pool. These include last year's only release promo, Preserver Obelisk from The Cage as well as the Borg Queen and her cube from last year's Regional and Trek Masters Series championships. Additionally, you can now enjoy the DS9-themed Promo Series N in printable (thought not shiny) form. Outside of 1E, there were also fourteen (14) Second Edition promos and two (2) Tribbles promos also made printable. I hope that you'll all enjoy your newly printable cards! The next such update will be on Monday, July 6th.

This Day in Trek

Today is the fifty-fifth (55) birthday of Star Trek: The Next Generation actress Michelle Forbes. She is best known for her role as Ensign Ro Laren, troubled Starfleet officer who found redemption aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D before ultimately defecting to the Maquis. She earned that role after impressing the producers during a previous appearance in the fourth season episode "Half a Life," playing the distraught daughter of Timicin, Dara.

Ro Laren was one of my favorite characters during the run of TNG, even though she only appeared seven (7) times as the character. She was twice asked to reprise the role, as a regular on Deep Space 9 (a part that would eventually become Kira Nerys) and again on Voyager, but declined both times. After appearing on Star Trek, she would go on to appear on the television show 24 (one of many, many Star Trek vets to do so) and again on Battlestar Galactica. Happy Birthday, Michelle!

Tournament Reports

As it's been several weeks since our last column (thank you all for the break), we've got some ground to cover - let's get started. In Auburn, Washington, USA, Justin Ford (Resistance-is-futile) hosted a weekend of food, friends, and First Edition starting with a Voyager Warp Speed event on Saturday, December 21st. Ken Tufts (Worf Son of Mogh) won the four (4) player tournament, with Justin taking second, Michael Van Breemen (The Ninja Scot) taking third, and Leianne (LeianneK) rounding out the field. Unfortunately, there's no data about what was played, so that's all I can report.

On Sunday, the 22nd of December, the same four (4) players battled in an OTF Complete Constructed event. This time, Justin would win (though we don't know what he played), and Ken took 2nd with a Illegitimate Leader of the Empire deck. Michael and Leianne took 3rd and 4th again, respectively.

Jumping forward to the next decade, we next had the annual New Year's Charity draft in Roseville, Minnesota, USA. Players took place in this OTF OTSD Draft tournament, with all of the proceeds going to support charity. With fourteen (14) players taking part, bidding on their pairings and on prizes, the "Frozen Chosen" raised over $1,500 for charity. What a fantastic day! And kudos to Kevin Jaeger (Hoss-Drone) for his victory, winning all three (3) of his games against some of the toughest players in the world.

Finally, my old play group in San Diego, California, USA hosted the annual Phoenix Tournament with a one day, three tournament event hosted by Rogue Shindler (SirRogue) and Johnny Holeva (jjh). The 1E tournament was a Silver Tin Draft where the contents of a full set of Premiere are drafted and supplemented with additional cards. Thomas Vineberg (Exon) won the day, with host Johnny taking second; Johnny was kind enough to post his deck, if you're ever looking for reference for a future tin draft. Dan Hamman (SirDan), Rogue, Matt Kirk (captmdkirk) and JD Ashley (NerdyByNature) rounded out the field. This event was also a going away celebration for JD, who's just retired from the Navy and is moving out East. Fair weather, my friend; I'm sorry I wasn't there to see you off.

Outside of tournaments, we'd love to cover casual games too! If you'd like to have your 1E get together covered in this column, 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.

Tournament Previews

There are no physical events or get togethers scheduled this weekend (that I'm aware of), but there are two Online tournaments that I'd like to point out. First is the inaugural event in Brian Skyes' (Armus) Return to Talos IV tournament series. The first event is a recreation of the original game's format Brian is calling 1E PURE, though it's officially an OTF Complete Constructed event. The only wrinkle is that your deck must be exactly sixty (60) cards, with no more than thirty (30) seeds - including missions - and no fewer than thirty (30) cards in the draw deck. This is how decks were made when the game was launched, and it's how they'll be made in this event. Eight (8) players are registered for this throwback format, including Jon Carter (pfti), who is currently the 14th highest ranked player in the world. The event formally kicks off on Friday, January 10th, so there is still time to pre-register and get in on 1E PURE.

The second online tournament this month is hosted by Thomas Kamiura (bosskamiura) as part of The Dojo's online league. The event will be OTF Complete Constructed and kick off on Monday, January 13rd. Currently, Niall Matthew (sexecutioner) is the only pre-registered player, pulling double duty as he's also pre-registered for the 1E PURE event. Good luck, Niall!

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 Takes (In Other News)

• January brought no rules nor errata updates. It was a quiet month for our Rules and Errata Teams, with neither group issuing any rulings or changes on the first Monday in January. It's this day (the first Monday) each month that is the standard window for such releases, so the next opportunity for rulings, errata, or bans will be February 3rd.





• Printing problems have delayed the next set of tournament kits. As I posted in an article, the normal release of the next set of promos did not happen the first Monday in January. This is due to issues we're having with some equipment at our printing facility. We're hopeful this will be resolved soon and you'll get to see Tournament Promo Series P very soon.


• The First Edition Period of Review is coming soon, and there's still time to ask questions. Currently there is a thread on the formus to ask questions. As it stands, I'll be answering them live on an Omnibus/Call-In session, so if you have questions to ask, now's the time.


• Find out about the current status of all the 1E projects in the latest update. I have usually posted these updates on the forums, but this month I wrote the update as an article. In this update, I explain the delays behind Projects Na'Toth and G'Kar, as well as introduce a new project.


• Are there any pieces of other games you'd like to see in 1E? That was the most recent Friday question, asking for ideas for rules, mechanics, cards, components, or anything else that might be a good fit in First Edition. A common suggestion was "ships with crew," based on the ships with pilots from Decipher's Star Wars CCG. Any and all suggestions are welcome!


• Should we collect official posts in a dedicated forum? A number of people have suggested to me that an official posts forum would be a good idea. I posted a discussion topic about this very issue, and the reactions are mixed. We'd like you to weigh in - should we collect project status updates, Friday questions, and other topics from the Department of 1E in a single place?


• What are you looking forward to in The Neutral Zone? This expansion will be focused on the cards and the Neutral Zone Region itself. In the most recent Friday question, I asked what you all were expecting (or hoping) to see when this expansion releases later this year. And speaking of the Friday questions, you can catch up on the ones you missed over the break as well.


• A series of ten (10) Return to Talos IV tournaments will take place in 2020. I mentioned this earlier in the upcoming tournament section, but Brian Sykes (Armus) is hosting a Return to Talos IV tournament series this year. If you aren't familiar with this program, the tournaments start out with a basic card pool - like Premiere only - and gradually introduce new expansions. Check it out, and participate if you'd like.

The Time Capsule

Five years ago this week, way back in 2015, we announced The Gamma Quadrant, the third and final expansion in the Deep Space Nine block. This expansion would focus on the Dominion affiliation, the Ferengi and Federation exploration of the titular quadrant, and more. I expect this is a theme we'll be returning to in the future, as generally the reception of the entire DS9 block was underwhelming.

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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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