[stoovie]

As approved by Casanova the Rake...

2011 Australian Continental Championships

Brought to you by our good friends at...

...for all your gaming needs!

WHEN
Wednesday the 29th of June to Sunday the 3rd of July 2011


WHERE

Good Games, Burwood
Level 1
195A Burwood Rd
Burwood NSW 2134

[Details for Biermeister Venue are yet to be finalised]

WHAT
Plenty of STAR TREK CCG First Edition and STAR TREK CCG Second Edition action in one weekend, including the Biermeister, a pre-release, two Nationals and THREE Continentals, featuring for the first time, the Australian Continental Championships for the Tribbles CCG!

WEDNESDAY
6pm - Australian Biermeister Nationals [Biermeister rules] [2011 Biermeister Promo Spoiler List] (Coming Soon!)
Rounds: 4
Edition: Second Edition
Format: Academy Constructed Deck
Venue: TBA
Cost: $10 (plus cost of drinks)
Decklists: No
Other: Academy Format means build a deck with only Common, Starter, Virtual cards (i.e. cards with "C", "S", or "V" ONLY) as well as ANY missions. Each participant will be provided one pack of 27 Biermeister promos, containing at least one copy of each 2011 Biermeister Promo. These cards will already be affixed to backing cards, so no backing cards will be required. Players may add these to their decks prior to the start of the event. Open trading of the promos will be allowed up until just prior to the announcement of the Round 1 pairings.

THURSDAY
2pm - Australian First Edition National Championships
Rounds: 3
Edition: First Edition
Format: OTSD Sealed Deck
Venue: Good Games, Burwood
Cost: $10
Decklists: No, but participants are encouraged to post their decklists online after the event.
Other: Each participant will receive a sealed OTSD as well as a number of other First Edition boosters (exact numbers and sets TBA).

6pm - Australian Second Edition National Championships
Rounds: 4
Edition: Second Edition
Format: Infinite Diversity Virtual Draft
Venue: Good Games Burwood
Cost: $12
Decklists: No, but participants are encouraged to post their decklists online after the event.
Other: This is a full, pure ID Draft. PLEASE BRING SLEEVES AND BACKING CARDS! This will be a virtual card event. Includes all full colour printouts, ready cut, ready to play. Just bring your sleeves and backing cards.

FRIDAY
3pm - Australian First Edition Continental Championships QUALIFIER/FINALS
Rounds: 4-6*
Edition: First Edition
Format: Official Tournament Format - Constructed Deck
Venue: Good Games Burwood
Cost: $25
Decklists: Yes. Please enter your decklist in trekcc.org's Deckbuilder and print out a decklist (don't forget to check "Print Decklist" before clicking the "Print" button!)
Other: *The number of rounds will be determined by the number of players in attendance prior to the start of the event: 4 rounds if there are 8 or fewer, 5 rounds if there are 12 or fewer, otherwise, 6 rounds. The finals structure will be determined by the number of players in attendance prior to the start of the event: if there are less than 12 players, there will be a single final confrontation held at the end of the event to determine the 1e AC champ. 23 or fewer there will be a Top 8 Modified McIntyre bracket held on Saturday after the Second Edition AC Qualifier. A majority player vote will be sought to approve of these decisions in border cases.

6pm - Second Edition Side Event
Rounds: 3
Edition: Second Edition
Format: Standard Constructed Deck
Venue: Good Games Burwood
Cost: Free
Decklists: No, but participants are encouraged to post their decklists online after the event.
Other: Anything goes. Continentals Warm-up, or play mind-games against your potential Day One opponents?

SATURDAY
9:45am - Mission Briefing
Important briefing about procedure for the day, as well as important rulings and the finals bracket.

10am - Australian Second Edition Continental Championships QUALIFIER
Rounds: 6
Edition: Second Edition
Format: Standard Constructed Deck
Venue: Good Games Burwood
Cost: $25
Decklists: Yes. Please enter your decklist in trekcc.org's Deckbuilder and print out a decklist (don't forget to check "Print Decklist" before clicking the "Print" button!)
Other: The finals structure will be determined by the number of players in attendance prior to the start of the event: if there are less than 12 players, there will be a best-of-three final confrontation held between the top 2 players at the end of the event to determine the 2e AC champ. 23 or fewer there will be a Top 8 Modified McIntyre bracket. 24 or more players will see a Top 16 Modified McIntyre bracket. A majority player vote will be sought to approve of these decisions in border cases.

6pm - Australian First Edition Continental Championships FINALS (ONLY if 12 or more players in 1e AC Qualifier)
Rounds: 4-5*
Edition: First Edition
Format: Official Tournament Format - Constructed Deck
Venue: Good Games Burwood
Cost: FREE
Decklists: Yes. Please enter your decklist in trekcc.org's Deckbuilder and print out a decklist (don't forget to check "Print Decklist" before clicking the "Print" button!)
Other: *If there were 23 or fewer players at the 1e AC Qualifier, this will be a Top 8 Modified McIntyre bracket, otherwise it will be a Top 16 Modified McIntyre bracket. The Final Confrontation will be single elimination.

SUNDAY
10am - Australian Second Edition Continental Championships FINALS
Rounds: 4-5*
Edition: Second Edition
Format: Constructed
Venue: Good Games Burwood
Cost: FREE
Decklists: Yes. Please enter your decklist in trekcc.org's Deckbuilder and print out a decklist (don't forget to check "Print Decklist" before clicking the "Print" button!)
Other: All decks will be checked prior to the event and retained at the Judge's table between games as usual. *If there were 23 or fewer players at the start of the 2e AC Qualifier, there will be a 4-round Top 8 Modified McIntyre bracket. 24 or more players will see a 5-round Top 16 Modified McIntyre bracket. The Final Confrontation in either case will be best-of-three.

12pm - (Second Edition) Pre-Release Draft
Rounds: 3
Edition: Second Edition
Format: Infinite Diversity Draft
Cost: TBA
Venue: Good Games Burwood
Other: A FIRST for Australia! This PRE-RELEASE EVENT will be THE FIRST tournament in the world to premiere the next Star Trek CCG Second Edition virtual exapansion! More details, including the full name of the set, coming soon. This is a full, pure ID Draft. PLEASE BRING SLEEVES AND BACKING CARDS! This will be a virtual card event. Includes all full colour printouts, ready cut, ready to play. Just bring your sleeves and backing cards.

4pm - Awards Ceremony
Prizes from the five days will be presented. Any other announcements will also take place.

4:30pm - Australian Tribbles CCG Continental Championships QUALIFIER and FINALS
Rounds: 5 rounds each
Edition: Tribbles CCG
Format: Tribbles Constructed Deck
Venue: Good Games Burwood
Cost: FREE
Decklists: Yes
Other: Players will be randomly split into roughly even pods of four or more players. After five rounds, the top player from each pod will progress to the finals (if less than four pods, the finals pod will be filled with the highest scoring player from across all pods until a group of four players is formed. The four finalists will play out another five rounds to determine the Tribbles AC champ. The remaining players will play out a second tournament for the "minor premiership" (highest scoring winner from across the remaining pods).


WHY
I know I say this every year, but this will truly be the biggest Star Trek CCG event ever held south of the Equator. C'mon, whether you are a regular or a part-time player, you will regret not being a part of this huge festival of one of the world's most ubiquitous trading card games. DON'T MISS IT!


Coming Soon...
- Articles regarding some big names in Australian Star Trek CCG lore returning this year
- The 2011 Australian Continentals Dream Team Competition
- Venue for the 2011 Australian Biermeister Nationals
- 2011 Biermeister Promos Text Spoiler List
- Casanova the Rake's plans for world domination, one whiplash at a time.

Stay Tuned!


====================

Subscribe to this thread (link at top of page) and stay informed of any updates as they happen!

====================

[Honest]

Bring it!

I have taken Tuesday-Tuesday of this week off work to totally immerse myself in the week long festival that is TREK

Honest

[Mike2E]

I'll definitely be there.

Might be the only one from Queensland...but I'll definitely be there.

[chompers]

Nice ... if I don't qualify for the top 8 I can just use the excuse i wanted to play in the pre-release event instead

[stoovie]

Nice ... if I don't qualify for the top 8 I can just use the excuse i wanted to play in the pre-release event instead

Depending on how fast the 2e Finals are going, I'm hoping that between 2-4 players from the finals can participate in the draft when they get knocked out.

But just like last year, so no-one misses out a chance to ogle at some cool new cards, those dropping out of the finals after the pre-release has already started can pick up their packs and build a deck for the next round, they obviously just can't participate in a draft. Of course, the best part is, finals drop-outs get to play in the pre-release for free!

[Shanebrier]

Nice ... if I don't qualify for the top 8 I can just use the excuse i wanted to play in the pre-release event instead

Depending on how fast the 2e Finals are going, I'm hoping that between 2-4 players from the finals can participate in the draft when they get knocked

Excllent! judging from past history I'll be able to play in the pre-release then! I'm trying to psych myself up for this one, been out of the loop a bit lately with the game but it is time to get back into it.

[stoovie]

An article will be up on the front page shortly with an important announcement regarding the 2011 Australian Biermeister Nationals.

While you wait, you can visit the Dream Cards forum to see the spoiler list for this year's Australian Biermeister promos!

[Ensign Gibbers]

Our first event coverage article will be up shortly too!

In regards to the decklists for Continentals, the instructions say you want a printed decklist from the website for decklists this year.

It does make sense, so there wont be any spelling errors, or fewer to no mistakes, however, there may be players who will be making late changes to their deck on Friday night or early Saturday morning and who may not have access to or be able to print out a decklist in time for the event.

So would it be possible to just have a hand written decklist in that case?

[stoovie]

Print it out earlier, and if you want to make changes, grab a pen and write it in.

Several reasons why I asked for printed decklists from the deckbuilder:

1. Easier for me to read and for deck-checks to be carried out (anyone who saw Kenny's 2e Finals decklist last year would agree). Cards are in order, titles are accurate, and multiples clearly indicated.

2. Forces players to create a decklist in the system, which then makes it only a trivial matter of two clicks to add the completed decklist to the tournament after the results have been entered. Of course, this will need to be done by the player, but having everything in front of the player already helps.

[Shanebrier]

Biermeister venue this year sounds top notch. Hoping I'll make it.

and in what can only be described as a drinking coup, I have secured thursday and friday off work. I will see you at the pub for some paralytic Trek.

[stoovie]

Biermeister venue this year sounds top notch. Hoping I'll make it.

and in what can only be described as a drinking coup, I have secured thursday and friday off work. I will see you at the pub for some paralytic Trek.

That is awesome!! The Biermeister is one of those events you'll remember most over the weekend... though some say if you can remember any of it at all you're not doing it right.



While I'm here, just a reminder to everyone the Biermeister spoiler thread can be found on the Dream Cards forum (I relocated the whole Biermeister discussion thread there just to be safe ).

[stoovie]

Special offer to all 2011 Australian Biermeister Nationals players! Go to the thread in the Dream Cards forum for more details...

[stoovie]

NEWS UPDATE: Thursday, 16th June 2011

Given almost half of the players are travelling from outside New South Wales, some concerns have been expressed regarding the volcanic ash cloud currently disrupting flights around Australia and New Zealand and how it could affect travel plans for the 2011 Australian Continentals, scheduled to start in under two weeks.

At the time of writing, domestic and international airline services in the south-east of Australia have been disrupted. Current reports suggest that the ash clouds will begin to directly affect the south-western part of Australia over the next few days, which will disrupt commercial aircraft travel from Perth to the eastern states. The good news is that current models are reported to say the ash will dissipate in a matter of days, sped up by the significant rain activity we are currently experiencing on this side of the Nullarbor.

Exacerbating the problem is the backlog of passengers and cargo, which depending on how long the ash clouds blow over Australian air space, may take until the AC and beyond to clear out.

Given I have in my possession many of the materials required for many of the tournaments, in event that I (as well as my fellow members of Team WA) are not able to get to Sydney on time (or at all), the 2011 Australian Continentals will go ahead, but with some alterations to the tournaments.

As we approach the end of next week, if it still looks bad, I will look at alternative options of getting tournament materials (e.g. draft packs, prizes) to Sydney. In addition, an alternate judging structure will be nominated, and alterations to the scheduled tournament will be announced.

If you have any comments or questions, please PM me or post them in the 2011 Australian Continentals thread.

I wrote the article on the morning of the 14th and since then almost all flights in and out of Perth were cancelled. Reports as of 12 hours ago were that the volcano was continuously spewing out ash 8km up into the troposphere. So unless the weather patterns change, I'm still a little stressed about just how long this will all go for.

Good news is that selected carriers have recommenced flights on several routes in the eastern states. The prediction is this will all clear in a few days, so let's hope for the best.

____________________

Due to scheduling concerns, the 1e Continentals finals structure will be modified slightly:

• In the event the qualifying rounds are completed before 9pm on the Friday, a single Final Confrontation will be held that night between the top two players (as determined by final ranking from the qualifying tournament). Players must use the same deck as in the Qualifier.
  
  If the qualifying rounds go over time (say, if an increased turn-out increases the number of rounds played), and we finish past 9pm, a single Final Confrontation will be held the following day (Saturday) after the 2e Continentals Qualifier. Players are free to use a different deck than the one used at the Qualifier.

There will not be a bracketed finals for the 1e AC this year. If the turn-out this year is good, it may be considered for following years.

____________________

Tribbles CCG decklists may now be entered into the new deckbuilder, and players may print off their Tribbles CCG Australian Continentals decklists from there. All players are encouraged to update the tournament listing with their decklist after the tournament, as only these qualify for deck-related Achievements. And if you've already entered your deck into deckbuilder, then it's only a matter of two clicks of the mouse to attach the deck to the tournament!

____________________

Congratulations to Daniel Hyde for winning free beer at the 2011 Australian Biermeister Nationals! Daniel took up the Facebook challenge to build a 2011 Toyota AFL Dream Team and score more than me in a single round. In the round just passed, Daniel's new team scored a massive 2114 points versus my pithy 1934 points. Congratulations Daniel, and don't drink too much at the Biermeister.

[chompers]

You guys should all jump in a car and drive to Sydney ... road trip!!

[Ensign Gibbers]

If they can't make it to NSW, we should hold it in a neutral location: New Zealand... oh wait...