Crossposted to http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/shadowfist_forum/message/48995LepreCon 37, the annual science fiction, fantasy, and horror art convention held in the Phoenix metropolitan area, included several
Shadowfist demos & tournaments the weekend of the 06th - 08th of May 2011 as I had previously posted to the
Shadowfist Yahoo! Group. The convention had a special gamer badge and an expanded gaming schedule due to the fact that no gaming conventions are being held in the area this year. Next year there will be three:
DarkCon,
Vul-Con, and ConFlagration.
I picked up something while there, starting with a severe headache which wouldn't go away and culminating with a severe fever by Sunday evening. So, I apologize for the lateness of this report.
Looking through the program book, I discovered that all my event descriptions were removed. Apparently the convention program book director decided to save money by cutting all of the game descriptions. Luckily, the gaming director made copies of
my LepreCon 37 Shadowfist flier and posted copies all over. It still annoyed the heck out of me. They want the money of gamers by offering a gaming only badge, but they won't be bothered with printing the gaming event descriptions. I definitely will have reservations about ever running events for the LepreCon convention again.
Thursday Late Evening (Pick-Up Game)Despite the fact that Gaming did not open until 1pm Friday, Shadowfist regular Ken S. and I both decided to play a couple of hands of Shadowfist after the panels for the evening were finished. As we were both Game Masters for LepreCon 37, we grabbed something to eat in the Staff Lounge, and munched while we played there in the Staff Lounge. It was a fun way to while the time away while waiting between the last scheduled LepreCon activities of the day and the midnight premiere of
Thor.
Friday 2pm-5pm (Open Play & Demonstrations)Shadowfist regular Mike M., Shadowfist irregular Talon S., and Michael D. (who came seeking a demo because it had been too long since he had last played) showed up at the start of the time block. Mike used his Dragon Weapons deck, Talon used my Syndicate deck, and Michael used my Lotus Hoods 100 Names deck. I didn't see who won, as midway through Shadowfist newbies Anita and Kyle both showed up for a demo. Anita used my Jammers Mo' Monkeys deck while Kyle used my Guiding Hand Gardens, Sanctuaries, and Senshi Chambers 100 Names deck. Anita seemed to really struggle with the rules, so I asked the other table to call me as needed. Eventually, Kyle decided they'd had enough and they both quit mid-game. They both said that they might try again later, but whenever I saw them again in the game room they had other games planned. Michael, Anita, and Kyle all declined to take a free deck for future playing, so I suspect Michael will occasionally play when nothing else presents itself, Anita will never try playing again, and Kyle may or may not ever play again.
Victor B. of
Strategicon indicated that he was interested in learning Shadowfist as well as having it at his convention including OrcCon, Gamex, and Gateway. He didn't have time for a demo though, as he was gamemastering an event as well. He promised to get a demo from me later in the convention.
I had some free time during the time slot before Shadowfist regulars Harley K. and James S. showed up along with Shadowfist newbie Tezar F. Harley borrowed my Architect Drones deck, James used his Lotus/Purist deck, and Tezar borrowed my Dragon Tech Weapons deck. Tezar confessed afterward that he might play again someday, but that he was more of an RPG player than TCG player. Shadowfist regular Lico A. also showed up and played me while the other 3 played, his Architect deck versus
Michael Lee Jackson's Dragon/Ice Elope deck.
Friday 7pm-11pm (Final Brawl)Shadowfist regulars Mike M., Lico A., Harley K., Ken S., James S., and I, plus Shadowfist irregulars Talon S. and Steve C. showed up. For the first round Mike's Dragon Weapons deck won a time out game versus Lico's Ascended/7 Masters deck, Talon using my Syndicate deck, and Harley using my Ascended Max Brunner/Undercover Cop deck. Steve talked himself out of playing despite Ken and I attempted to talk him back into the game, so out table went from four players to three players before we drew cards. Despite that, I won using my Purist Chi deck versus Ken's Dragon deck and James' Lotus/Purist deck. The second round saw Mike win versus Talon, Ken, and I while Harley won versus Lico and James. Because only three players had wins, they were the ones who made it to the finals. I managed to win versus Mike and Harley, proving that a Purist deck without any Magic was viable. I won a $10
Samurai Comics Gift Certificate,
Can of Whupass: Old Skool Edition (which I donated back to our prize pool),
Kinoshita House of Pancakes,
Devil's Rope, and
Lateral Reincarnation. Mike won our 2nd place prizes of an
Elephant Gun and a
Ting Ting. Harley won our 3rd place prize of a
Military Commandant.
Saturday 10am-noon (Open Play & Demonstration)Shadowfist irregular Talon S. was the only one to show up, so I played a duel against him. Midway through the game Shadowfist regular Mike M., and Shadowfist newbie Mikhail both showed up. Mike offered to demo duel Mikhail, and I promised to be available if either of them called for me. As we finished up James and Ken arrived. So Mikhail got to try a multiplayer versus Talon, Mike, James, and Ken. After they started Daniel showed up, so I played a duel with him. Mikhail declined to take a free deck, but he said he had fun and would be willing to play again someday.
Victor B. of Strategicon once again made it known that he would like to learn Shadowfist and have the game run at his conventions. He didn't really have time for a demo due to his own gamemastering schedule, but he did request a free deck, and took an Eaters of the Lotus deck because he liked the idea of someone getting to play the evil bad guys. He declined taking a playmat, though.
Saturday 1pm-3pm (Both Guns Blazing)Shadowfist regulars James, Daniel, Mike, Ken, and I showed up. The first round found me using Michael Lee Jackson's Dragon/Ice Elope deck to beat James using my 7 Masters deck and Mike using his Architect Ambush deck to beat Daniel using his Ascended/Purist deck. Ken was going to to play the winner of the James and I duel, but just as I won Shadowfist irregular Jason Y showed up. So the second found saw me beat Jason using my Guiding Hand Garden/Sanctuary/Senshi Chamber 100 Names deck while James beat Ken using his Dragon deck. The third round saw James beat Mike and Daniel beat Ken. The fourth round saw me beat James again while Mike beat Jason. The fifth round saw Daniel beat me and James beat Ken again. The sixth round saw Ken beat me by deck out and Daniel beat James. Each of the three games ended while I was pointing the previous one, and after the 10 minute warning, so I warned people to get started on the seventh round as soon as possible. It was to be Daniel versus Mike, James versus Ken, and Jason versus me, but none of us got far enough into our games to even get a site played before time out. Daniel won by six Game Points, and was awarded a $10 Samurai Comics Gift Certificate,
Syndicate button,
Reascension Agenda,
Scrounging, and Ting Ting. Jason was the only player with all losses, so he was awarded a
Shadowfist mug with a broken handle and
The Gimp. Also, despite being in 3rd place, James earned enough
Secret War Society points to graduate from Zen Logician to Priest of the Unnameable.
Saturday 7pm-11pm (Whirlpool of Blood)Players paid $20 for a 2
Standard boosters, 2
Throne War boosters, 2
Netherworld 2: Back Through the Portals boosters, 2
Dark Future boosters, 2
Two-Fisted Tales of the Secret War boosters, and 2
Empire of Evil boosters. This was the first convention tournament in Arizona to use pods, but those who hadn't played with pods before picked it up fairly easily. In attendance we had Shadowfist regulars Daniel H., Mike M., and I, Shadowfist irregular Talon S., and Arcosanti, Arizona Shadowfist regular Travis N. Daniel grabbed Eaters of the Lotus and Four Monarchs pods, Mike grabbed two Eaters of the Lotus pods, Travis grabbed Architects of the Flesh and Ascended pods, Talon grabbed two Jammers pods, and I grabbed two Guiding Hand pods. I totally should not have won, it should have been Travis, but he misread
Cutting Loose Ends and waited until I made the attack for the win to use it. For 1st place I won a $10 Samurai Comics Gift Certificate, Purist button,
Sacred Heart Hospital, Lateral Reincarnation, and Military Commandant. Travis still made 2nd place and won Xin Ji Yang and Devil's Rope. Daniel, Mike, and Talon all tied for 3rd place and each walked away with a Ting Ting.
Sunday 10am-3pm (Arizona State Championship - Final Brawl)Shadowfist regulars Mike M., James S., Lico A., Daniel H., Ken S., and I plus Shadowfist irregular Talon S. all showed up for the state championship Final Brawl. The first round saw James' Lotus/Purist deck win by time out versus Mike's Dragon Weapons deck, Lico's Architect/Ascended deck, and my Hand Garden/Sanctuary/Senshi Chamber 100 Names deck while Ken's Dragon deck and Talon using my Jammers Mo' Monkeys deck tied by time out versus Daniel's Ascended/Purist deck. The second round saw Talon have to bow out, so Mike won versus James and Daniel while Lico won by time out versus Ken and I. The third round saw me win versus Mike and Ken while James won versus Lico and Daniel. Arcosanti, Arizona regular Travis N. showed up during the third round hoping to make it into the next round, but time limitations made the next round the final. Mike, James, and I were the only ones with non-time out wins, so we advanced to the final round. James stomped Mike and I savagely. He walked away with the Arizona State Championship plaque from Inner Kingdom Games, $20 Samurai Comics Gift Certificate, Kinoshita House of Pancakes, Xin Ji Yang, and
Tom Donovan. Mike and I tied for 2nd place and we both walked away with a Lateral Reincarnation and Military Commandant each. Also, despite being in 5th place, Ken earned enough Secret War Society points to graduate from Thunder Squire to Thunder Knight.
Sunday Mid-Afternoon (Pick-Up Game)Regulars James S. and I, plus Arcosanti, Arizona regular Travis N. played one last game for the convention before the gaming area was closed down. Travis used an old Purist deck which predated
Shuirkens & Six Guns and beat down James' and my newer decks, proving his Shadowfist skills were not diminished since he moved away from the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Over all, I'd say that Shadowfist was as successful as it could be at LepreCon 37. Despite the program book failure, we had ten returning players--including myself, five new players, and two players reintroduced to the game after some time. We also had two players increase their Secret War Society level as well. Our thanks to both IKG and Samurai Comics for all the prize support. Winning deck builds will be posted shortly.
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