Weekly 1E Roundup - 30 JANUARY 2020

by Charlie Plaine, Director of First Edition

30th 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

After a search that included four (4) very different and exciting candidates, James Heaney (BCSwowbagger) has been named the new First Edition Rules Manager. James was the unanimous choice of the selection committee that had the difficult task of picking from all of the interviewed candidates. In the end, James won out with his experience and his passion for the 1E Rules. Please join me in welcoming him to his new role!

Tournament Reports

Last week, we had two (2) tournaments and a casual game to examine - so let's get straight to it. The first event was a Warp Speed Cube Draft that took place in Roseville, Minnesota, USA. Jason Tang (Pants o.t. Tal Shiar) made a new Cube themed around the "Big Three" affiliations, designed to be drafted and played quickly. This tournament was the first test run of the cube, and reports indicate they drafted and played a full round-robin with five (5) rounds in less than four (4) hours. Hopefully, we'll find more details soon.

As for the tournament itself, Joe Kallstrom (Commander Joe) won, largely on the backs of the powerful personnel. Kris Sonsteby (LORE) came in second, having drafted and played Klingons; he was kind enough to post his deck for consideration as well. Jason Tang took third, having drafted Romulan. Robert Petersen (Hobie) was in all three affiliations and came in fourth, while Kevin Berg played / and rounded out the day.

On Sunday, January 26th, Robin Honeycutt (robin1234) and the men and women of the Lock Yard in Brooklyn, New York were able to gather for an OTF Complete Constructed Tournament. Five players engaged each other in the event, with Robin coming out on top; he played a deck titled Seize Prisoners. Bar owner Christopher Ghiorzi (RomulanAleSmith) came in second place with an deck while Alex V (Fire@Will) took 3rd place with a deck titled Green is (not really) honorable. Jules and Matthew Sokol (mrpurple) rounded out the day, playing and respectively. Good show!

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, California and in the world of casual play, Jon Callan's deck triumphed over Graham Matuszewski (matuszeg)'s Black Hole deck 145-90. As Graham reported, this was "our closet game in a long time. Both of us were on the cusp of winning with every turn." That's the best kind of game, in my experience. Hopefully it was memorable!

As you can see, 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

Looking ahead to the first weekend in February, we have two tournaments scheduled to kick off - one online and one in person. The second of Brian Sykes' (Armus) Mission to Talos IV series begins with an Open OTF Sealed event. This is full-on, old school 1E with no ban list and no protection from mission stealing, so hope for a Horga'hn and/or a Time Travel Pod in your sealed pools! Seven (7) players are currently pre-registered, including powerhouses Jon Carter (pfti) and Kris Sonsteby. I can't wait to read about this when it's over! This event kicks off on Saturday, February 1st - so there's still time to pre-register and get in on the fun!

On Sunday, February 2nd, Jon Carter is hosting the latest OTF Legacy tournament in Livonia, Michigan, USA. If you aren't familiar with OTF Legacy, it's exactly the same as OTF Complete, but still allows the use of backwards compatible cards from Second Edition. Aside from Jon, three (3) other players are pre-registered for the fun. I look forward to reading about it and seeing what cool stuff legendary player David Bowling (tomek) cooks up.

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 annual vote of confidence begins on Saturday, February 1st. Every year, the entire community is given the opportunity to vote on each of the sitting members of the Board, including yours truly as Director of First Edition. This year's vote begins on Saturday, and you can find out all about how to vote in Executive Officer Maggie Geppert's (jadziadax8) article on the vote. It's a bit backwards from how you'd think, but if you're happy with 1E and my work leading the department, I encourage you to vote NO on recalling me. (No means you don't want me to be removed; a yes means you would.) In any case, vote to make your happiness - or unhappiness - known.


• The CC's first raffle of 2020 is also on Saturday. Every so often, our Warehouse Manager Dan Hamman (SirDan) hosts a raffle in which we give out tons of foils and other prizes; the next such raffle is this Saturday at 11 AM Pacific (2 PM Eastern / 7 PM GMT). You earn tickets by playing in or running tournaments and/or donating to the site. If you can, join us here in the chat room for a chance to win even more prizes!


• Jason Tang kicked off a lively discussion of Empathic Touch on the Rules Questions forum. It seems that a seldom used card, Empathic Touch, was the center of a rules disussion at the Warp Speed Cube event in Minnesota this past week. Jason even went so far as to start a new thread with the category You All Couldn't Care Less. Obviously, people care as the thread is four pages deep, and has already caused James Heaney to ink his first ruling.


• What should qualify a card for the watch list? After discussing which cards should be banned and which ones should be pardoned, last week's Friday question was about the watch list. Specifically, I'm curious what criteria people would use - and like to see used - to justify a card being watched. After all, the point of a watch list is to bring extra attention to a card, and if we can better refine or criteria, the game will be better for it.


• The first 1E Masters of 2020 will be in New York City. Robin Honeycutt, the host, has posted a thread to start discussion of the event. I'm hoping to make it across the country to attend, so I've already started asking about affordable accommodation. Will you go test your mettle in New York in March? Stay tuned to this column for more details on this and other events as we get closer.

The Time Capsule

Five years ago this week, the rules update put What Does God Need With a Starship? on the ban list for the first time. That's notable because that card has been discussed quite a bit in recent months, both as part of the ban list research and in the context of which cards should be unbanned. Personally - and not speaking as the Director - I think WDGNWAS? is just as problematic now as it was in 2015 and deserves its place on the ban list; at least, until it's fixed. But it's interesting to me to see it back in the public eye, almost exactly five (5) years after it was placed on the ban list.

---

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.

Discuss this article in this thread.

Back to Archive index