director-s-report-rochester-mn-11-4-00
Title: director-s-report-rochester-mn-11-4-00
Author: Peter "jeeps" Jacobson
Date: Nov 7, 2000
This is a director’s report on the November 4th tournament. It’s a little bookish, but I hope to get all the important info out that occurred on Saturday. It doesn’t express direct game reports, but more of a general overview of the tournament as well as my reactions as a director. please give me some feedback on how I could improve this. Thanks!
On Saturday, Face the Music or Rochester, MN hosted the largest Star Wars event it’s ever held. 24 players from 3 states (South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa) were brought together in very competitive and action packed games. Many people were concerned about the impact the new Jabba’s Palace Sealed Deck cards would have on the tournament scene (more on this later). Since distribution seems to be scarce, especially in Minnesota, many were unable to get their hands on the new cards. Luckily, Face the Music was able to provide enough boxes as their was a supply seemed unlimited.
With this being the 4th tournament under my belt, the 24 participants marked the largest tournament I’ve ever had to direct. I had a feeling that 20 would be reached and my inklings were correct. Many of the top players in Bespin came down for this one, making it perhaps the highest rated tournament as well. I knew that I would have to be on my best directors’ behavior for this one. I was right.
This director’s report will try to recap three rounds of play and highlight many of the big events that I witnessed as well as rulings I had to make which were tough (especially for a new guy getting into the tournament scene). I hope to impart some advice onto any new directors out there interested in evolving into a director.
Pre-tournament preparation.
I find it necessary to get a good night’s sleep. I try for 8 hours. The night before, I played it low key. I stayed home, played some Game Day 2001, put up some shelves in my bathroom, oh and read, reread, and re-re-read my CRD. Being that this was only my fourth tournament, I really wanted to know my rules. (side note: I know that memorizing rules doesn’t give you savvy understanding necessarily, but it’s so important to be able to keep the games going and at least know where to look when a rule arises). I then got 8 hours of sleep.
The Tournament
That morning I drove the 50 minutes to Rochester. Face the Music is near an OfficeMax where I can print out command cards. I figured that 20 would be a nice number with the extras I thought I had in my director’s binder. the store opens promptly at 10:00 and a few of us (Scott Poster, Josh Kohman, Chad Thompson) are waiting outside. We chatted about whether or not the new Jabba’s Palace Cards would be sold there and if they would have much of an impact. Face the Music has a nice atmosphere. Being a music store, they always have a nice selection of music as well as great variety of things. They have a large playing area that was maxed out for this event. Prize support consists of my Decipher issued CC, as well as a pack provided by each player and cards and packs donated by the store for added prizes. Within minutes, we had 15 people. By 10:30 24 people. Wow... I used all my command cards, plus the extras I made. I was really pleased by the turnout, but I was even more pleased by the quality of players. Most of this event’s group had ratings of 1600 or higher, showing the experience of many games backing them. This works like a double-edged sword. Usually, tournaments I have ran in the pass draw the local crowd of players new to the game. The average rating per player isn’t high keeping the level of competitiveness down. This makes for a more relaxing day. When the level of competition rises, so does the director’s stress level. Today was no exception.
Round One starts a little shaky as I have to yell over the crowd noise (something I expect with a tournament this size). I announce who I am, thank the store for hosting, when the lunch break will be and ask for questions before we begin. I make sure players know that they should count their opponent’s cards, make sure card sleeves don’t have the hologram showing on the back, etc. After this, I pair, using the command cards. (side note: I have seen the computer software used before, but my experience of running the tournament with it has been once you make a mistake with a pairing or score, the software doesn’t let you go back and change. So, I prefer to use the command cards and lay them on the table announcing the pairings. It’s quicker to see for everyone.). Round One starts after I make sure everyone has counted their opponent’s cards and at about 10:50 and we begin.
During the round, there aren’t many rules disputes. But right off the bat, I knew I was in for a challenging day. After about 15 minutes, there was a question regarding using the Executor Docking Bay with a Star Destroyer Launch Bay. I explain that the rules for a launch bay are similar to those of a generic site. You need an unique site to base it. I explain that the launch bay rules say it needs to be associated with a Starship "card." Since the Executor DB has a Starship symbol it’s considered a starship card for play purposes. After I say this, a player, not related to the discussion expresses his opinion and says that I am wrong. I try to explain, but he doesn’t listen and shakes his head. I was frustrated by this show of disrespect. I don’t want to lose my cool, but I don’t want to be seen as a push over. I decide to make my ruling, then walk away, only to come back after the round to justify my opinion. Even when I did this, he agreed I was right, but thought that the rule was stupid and it didn’t make sense. After round one here’s where I make a mistake. During the round, I walked around, looking at what was being played. I also normally walk around to make sure everyone is playing the right allegiance... well.... I think that the sheer size of this tournament was a little intimidating, oh well... As I match up the pairs, some people played the wrong allegiance the first round. It’s not a big deal, but it can be quite confusing trying to reset pairings. With a delay of an extra 5-10 minutes, we begin at bout noon.
Later rounds don’t prove to be any less stimulating. In round three, the same gentleman mentioned above begins accusing his opponent of cheating. I have to step in and investigate. This scenario is this: one player come to the event with several signed cards from D-con of opponents he played. None of the cards had markings on their backs, except one. The card was written using one of the gold grease pen. This ink smudges inside the card sleeve, creating a small fingerprint to be shown on the back. The card was the Millennium Falcon, the only one in his deck. I ask to see the rest of his card backs, all of them clean. I realize that this wasn’t intentional. I felt that if he was really trying to mark a deck, a lone destiny two card wouldn’t be the one to mark. I see that it just takes a little rubbing to remove the paint and game resumes. Even after all seemed fair, the accuser continued to protest his opponent’s moves and strategy. I realized this was a game that would decide the fate of the eventual champ (each had high ratings or 1900+ and 1700+) of this tournament, so both had some stakes on the line. I monitor the play from a distance, but when it was time to report scores, only one player came up. The other was nowhere to be seen. The winner, as I were, reported the score, but with tears in his eyes. The other player, who had earlier accused him of cheating, continued to berate him and refused to shake hands as well as storm out. Well, I knew he came with others and was from out of state, so he couldn’t have gotten far. I also knew that this had to stop. I spoke to the winner about what was said and he presented his side. I also waited patiently for the other to return. He did and I listened to him. He too felt like he was slighted by what he considered to be suspicious playing style. I understood his point and explained that both had "a lot" riding on this game. It’s tough to lose to a player who is A) half your age and B) you think swindled you. I assured him that the latter wasn’t the case and that he should apologize for his comments and accusations. Both apologized for taking the game too seriously. Whew. A potential time bomb situation that needed to be settled before the next round! (side not: As a director it’s very important to listen... not to necessarily judge, but to listen to both sides and work towards a compromise rather than a bullheaded uninformed decision.)
The rest of the rounds go fairly smoothly, with the exception that each round ended with at least one timed game, if not THREE! It’s tough to manage timed games when I call time in between turns. The point needs to be made whose turn it is immediately when I call time. We sort out the situations and move on.
The tournament ends about 1 hour late. Parents of players, as well as parent players, needed to get going. Some needed to leave before the last round had ended. When this happens, I give them the bottom tier prize support and they usually understand.
Here are the final standings for my tournament:
1) Graham Neal (1900+) 12 (134) 13) Scott Poster 6(-17)
2) Josh Kohman (1800+) 10 (122) 14) Nathan Harmon 6(-26)
3) Tom Stewart (1700+) 8 (29) 15) Byran Casey 5(12)
4) Michael Raveling (200+) 8 (28) 16) Chad Thompson 5(2)
5) Tyler Williams (1700+) 8( 26) 17) Brian Lucier 4(42)
6) Eric Pearson 8(17) 18) Eric Churchward 4(-38)
7) Larry Egeland 8(13) 19) Ben Pischke 4(-65)
8) Benjamin Steines 7(86) 20) Ryan Trogstad 4 (-99)
9) Shannon Daringer 6(33) 21) T.J. Rosner 2 (-51)
10) Ian Hubrig 6 (11) 22) Aaron Kurtzhals 2 (-63)
11) Joel Kurtzhals 6(7) 23) Matt Orr 2(-85)
12) Andrew Stenson 6(-2) 24) Jeff Warne 2(-116)
Post tournament reactions (i.e. props and slops).
Overall, this was a terrific tournament. I loved seeing the sheer magnitude of the level of play. I loved the engaging rules questions presented by this tough level of play. I grew as a director this day. I hope to get better.
I thought that the new Jabba’s Palace cards would have a greater impact, but the tournament champion, Graham Neal, played an old school RalOps deck, not fearing the dreaded Ounee Ta. Of the 48 decks, I counted only 5 decks using the new objectives. Personally, I feel that the resentment players had about this set was "much ado about nothing." But the apparent lack of presence these cards had may have been due to poor distribution. We’ll see.
For light, EBO using ANSB was popular deck. Fake-out Hidden Base was also strong. For Dark Side, Court Of The Vile Ganster and Bring Him Before Me were very popular. There were a smattering of This Deal Is Getting Worse All The Time. Hunt Down was also seen. Surpisingly, Endor Ops and New Age Throne Room was apparently absent this day. I don’t want to go into specifics about the winner’s deck simply because I will let them divulge that info if they want.
A big congratulations goes to Graham Neal for taking it all. I big thanks goes to the out state Iowa players for coming up. A huge thanks goes to Face the Music for getting the owner to come in and bring chairs and tables... WOW! Props goes to Michael Raveling for not kicking my @#$% for ruling against him and that new-fangled LS objective. Even more props goes to those beautiful Jenny McCarthy cards Face sells... hmmmm.... Jenny McCarthy.
thanks for reading.
Peter Jacobson