The weekend started off with the obligatory demo event on Thursday morning. I prefer to start my conventions with the demo so that any participants have the option to compete in any of the later tournaments. More time to play, practice and decide that the game is right for them!
For Origins 2009, we started up three new players from Beverly Hills, Florida, two brothers and their friend. Our fledgling secret warriors are Jesse Joseph Lambert, Devan Landry and Matt Cruickshank.
Anyone in the Beverly Hill, FL area who would like a few new players should contact me so I can give you their e-mail addresses for contact.
Following the demo event, Inner Kingdom Games hosted its very first convention tournament with the Comrades in Arms Event! John Merrill dominated this one to a first place win thanks to his formidable Darkness deck.Braz took second and Eric McKie won third place.
Friday morning kicked off with the National Dueling Championship. After eight preliminary rounds and best of three finals, I won the tournament with my power-ramped, coin-operated Jammer deck. Braz took second place with his hitter-filled, final brawl-laden Dragon deck. Tim Linden bested John Merrill for third place, with his haunting wailing apparitions/ arctic fortress madness taking down John's sword-wielding ice commandos.
The Whirlpool of Blood Tournament had a tragic five player turn-out. Not wanting the tournament to be limited to a single, never-ending five-player game, Braz graciously bowed out and allowed the tournament to proceed as several four-player games. Tim Linden trounced the competition with a draft deck that inexplicably pulled Homo Omega, Assault Drone and Destroyer Drone. New to the tournament circuit, Erik Bjarnar won second place with a strong win in the fourth round. Jason Blackthorn took third place, beating me out in Game Points.
The Multi-Player Nationals was a triumphant series of hard-fought battles culminating in an epic finals round between Tim Lindon, Braz King, Erik Bjarnar and John Merrill. Tim Linden won his second title of the weekend with a victory after four and a half hours of battling his three finals opponents. Braz won second place and Erik and John tied for third. Only the most formidable of secret warriors could have endured such a lengthly battle, and these players did not disappoint.
After the Final Brawl finals went on ridiculously late, we had no choice but to cancel the New Heroes Tournament.
Sunday morning presented another difficulty, as we had five players for the Ritual of the Unnameable Tournament, with less than half of them actually having a Ritual of the Unnameable deck. In the face of this road-block, we all decided to play a friendly game and make use of Cavebear's perfect execution of an otherwise impossible five-player game.
With four full tournaments and three new players, Origins was a modest success with some great potential for future growth. Inner Kingdom Games made a few sales of the new merchandise and got some great feedback on the new Tournament Rules and the new Rulebook.
We're looking forward to seeing an even bigger crowd at GenCon next month. Many thanks to all Origins attendees for a great weekend!
Cheers,
Daniel Griego
Inner Kingdom Games