With roughly 6 weeks to go, I thought it would be a good time to post some more detailed information for the Chicago Area Regional. The Chicago Area Regional will be the LAST CHANCE to participate in a 2012 Regional competition before Gencon in August and the World Championships in November. (Yes, there is a Regional in Tennessee on the same day, but with the time difference, this is still the "last chance".)

Place: Games Plus, 101 W. Prospect Dr., Mount Prospect, Illinois, 60056

Date: Saturday, June 30, 2012

Time: 12 noon (registration), 1pm (first round begins)

Format: Joust Format. 4-5 Rounds of Swiss pairing (single game, not best of 3…), cutting to single elimination (4-12, depending on turn out)

Rules: All standard AGoT rules, as outlined in the Core Set Rulebook, Current FAQ, and Tournament Rules will be followed. REMINDER: Cards from the "Beyond the Narrow Sea" Chapter Pack cycle will not be legal at the Regional, even though the first 2 packs may be available by June 30.

Entry Fee: $5. That's right, just $5.

Agenda of Events:

Friday, June 29th: Starting around 6pm, we will do a "meet and greet" with casual play of AGoT (and anything else people are in the mood to play) at the store for anyone who is around and wants to get together. It's a great opportunity to get to know people, tweak decks, see how other metas are approaching the game, and so forth the serious competition begins.

Saturday, June 30th: Registration begins at noon. The first round of Swiss will start at 1pm. This will be a Joust competition with a cut to single-elimination rounds for the Top 4-12 after Swiss (depending on turnout) to determine the winner of the Regional. Standard AGoT tournament rules will apply. All deckbuilding rules, including banned and restricted lists, will be used. Cards from the "Beyond the Narrow Sea" cycle will not be legal. Period. Decklists are preferred (please come with them prepared at registration….). Regional Prize support from FFG includes a trophy for the winner, stylish wooden House cards for the finalists, kick-ass play mats for the Top 4, art prints for the Top 8, and special Regionals House cards for the Top 16.

Thinking of heading home if you don't make the elimination cut? Well, don't! During the elimination rounds, we are holding a Draft event for everyone else! We will be drafting from booster packs from CCG sets. For anyone who has never drafted AGoT, it is a blast. The deck construction rules in AGoT draft are as follows:

1. We will be drafting 4 booster packs for a total of 44 cards. These 44 cards will be supplemented with basic resources (see below)
2. Minimum deck size is 40 cards. (With 21 possible supplemental cards, maximum size is 65)
3. There is no copy limit. If you draft 8 of something, you can use 8 of something.
4. Nothing is banned or restricted. If you draft it, you can use it.
5. When building your deck, you may use 2 Houses (including "House only" cards from either House) instead of 1. If you do, you may not use an Agenda (if you drafted one) and will need 20 power to win instead of 15.
6. Plot decks are 7 cards, chosen from among the basic 7 supplemented for each player (see below) and those that are drafted. "House only" restrictions on plot cards are enforced.

In building the deck, you can supplement the cards you draft with the following basic resource locations and plots:

• 3x Crossroads (Core Set)
• 3x The Roseroad (Kings of the Storm)
• 3x The Searoad (Kings of the Storm)
• 3x Kingsroad Fiefdom (Queen of Dragons)
• 3x Narrow Sea (Core Set, Lords of Winter, Kings of the Storm)
• 3x Summer Sea (Core Set, Princes of the Sun, Queen of Dragons)
• 3x Sunset Sea (Core Set, Kings of the Sea, Lions of the Rock)

• Counting Favors (Core Set)
• Fleeing to the Wall (Core Set)
• Summoning Season (Core Set)
• Wildfire Assault (Core Set)
• Alliance (Princes of the Sun)
• Calm Before the Storm (Lords of Winter)
• Regroup (Kings of the Storm)

While we will try to have extra sets of these 28 cards available at the event, it would be really, really helpful if people could pull their own from their collections.

If there are any questions, contact me through PM or at kevra1575@yahoo.com

Should be a great day playing a great game. Hope to see tons of people there.

CORRECTION:

As per the new tourney rules document posted today, the 1st Chapter Pack of the "Beyond the Narrow Sea" cycle (Valar Morghulis) will be legal for play on June 30th.

 I'm a new player, I haven't even played a game yet. This really isn't worth me driving down from Milwaukee, is it? 

Depends on what you want to do.

If you have never played a game before, it might not be that much fun for you playing in the tournament because you'll probably feel overwhelmed by all the cards you've never seen. Even expecting to learn about gameplay rather than win a tournament, the "analysis paralysis" might be frustrating for you.

But if you want an introduction to the game, you could certainly come and watch. And people will be happy to play pick-up games between rounds and whatnot, so you are bound to learn a lot. And you'll be able to network with other people from all over the area (I've heard of some other southern-WI people planning to come.)

You could also play in the draft. Since we'll be playing with old CCG cards (exact same rules, mechanics, etc., just with cards from the days before everything was fixed in the package), no one will have much experience with those cards. Even the people who did play back in the CCG days (pre-2008) haven't seen them for awhile. So everyone will be feeling overwhelmed by all the cards they've never seen.

I don't have a problem losing or not knowing the cards. As long as the player I'm playing with understands that I'm a total noob.

Just tell them at the beginning of each game. Thrones players usually are a helpful and likeable lot (~although I don't know about these Chicago types). I'd go if I were you. You'll learn a lot about the game, and you'll get to know great people. We had a pretty much total newbie at our Regional, and as far as I can tell he had a good time. Just don't get frustrated if every game is a blowout.

Yeah, if you tell people before the game starts that you're a novice and that the game is likely to be slow as you read each card, you should be fine. There are always some people that could stand to relax a little more, but for the most part, people are pretty laid-back in this community - probably because the stakes are pretty low, relatively speaking. Most people are there to have fun, and are helpful to new players.

Ask your opponents what they think you should do differently in deck-building, what kind of strategies they think you should employ, etc., and you'll find that most players are very helpful, both from a game and a metagame standpoint.

 As a new player in the same boat I was thinking of the Friday get together to get my feet wet in this game. I don't know if I can make it for the full day Sat but thought Friday might work for me to get someone to help me along. If I can make it Sat. I was planing on just watching anyway.

Executive decision -

Even though Valar Doheris has been officially released today - 2 weeks before the event - I'm worried about practical availability of the cards throughout the meta. That is, I doubt that everyone in this meta will be equally able to get their hands on the cards, physically, in a reasonable time before June 30th.

So, the executive decision is "no Valar Doheris cards for this event."

Eric T Huffman said:

I'll go down Friday night to play as well. I'm new so we can play together if you wish. 

Ulairi said:

For sure. I'm still planing on going to get a 1st game in or even just a demo. Would love to go through it with ya.

 I will be there.  I haven't played in several years, so I'll be a slow-read-every-card-n00b also!  I'm semi-familiar with the rules, although as ktom can attest, I never put much time in bothering to learn the rules when I was actively playing! ;)  

Can't wait to see new and old faces.

Sweet! It'll be great to see you!

Yes, it'll be great to see everyone again.  I just received a solid beatdown playing LUke over OCTGN.  Like GRRM's books, the game can be quite brutal.  I'm weeping and going to bed, need some sleep before work.  I'll be able to put together a draft pack I'm sure.  Most likely I can field some extras too.

What's the time frame likely to be ktom, in your estimate?  I'm planning on hanging out for the tourney/s and perhaps a meal/drink afterwards, but then I think I'm going to warlord it back home.

themountainthatpwns said:

 lol.  True.  See you all on Saturday =)