Crossposted to http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/shadowfist_forum/message/39021
DarkCon 2007, the triannual local gaming & costuming convention held in the Phoenix metropolitan area, included several
Shadowfist demos & tournaments the weekend of Thursday the 4th of January 2007 as I had previously posted to the
Shadowfist Yahoo! Group.
Thursday 1pm-3pm (Demonstration)
No one showed up, and several other games in the same ballroom didn't have enough players to play either.
Thursday 3pm-5pm (Demonstration)
No one showed up, but at least the other games in the same ballroom started having enough players.
Thursday 6pm-10pm (100 Names Tournament)
Jay (who had played in demos at
HexaCon last autumn) was the only one who showed up. We waited a bit, and after several minutes Trey showed up from another ballroom where there were too many players for the game he had signed up. He was willing to learn Shadowfist, but not play in a tournament. So first I helped him in a duel against Jay, then when he felt comfortable let him experience a multiplayer against both Jay and I. He seemed to like the game, and might be persuaded to play it again.
Friday 3pm-5pm (Demonstration)
There were a lot more people at the convention on Friday. We had Shadowfist regulars Emilio, James, Jonathan, & Ken, plus Frank from the last HexaCon. Frank had brought along his friend John, who watched the first round, then let us show him the ropes for the second round. The two three player games were Frank, Jonathan, & I plus Emilio, James, & Ken for the first round. The second round was Emilio, Frank, & Jonathan plus James, John, & Ken. John didn't really seem interested in the game from the start, so I don't think we'll see him again unless Frank keeps pushing the issue.
Friday 6pm-10pm (Market Square)
For the Market Square, players paid $5 for a Standard deck, Throne War booster, Netherworld 2: Back Through the Portals booster, Red Wedding booster, and Two-Fisted Tales of the Secret War booster. Returning players Alex, Emilio, Frank, and Jay were joined by Paul (Paul Brown, not me) who had remembered playing Shadowfist back when Jose and Robin were demonstrating the new game at GenCon! The last set Paul recalled was Netherworld 1, but he was ready to jump right in and play. With only five players, I had to convert the swiss plus final tournament from the announced multiplayer to dueling, as none of the others were qualified or even comfortable with judging so as to allow me to join in on the fun.
The first round saw Emilio (l) versus Frank (w), Jay (l) versus Paul (w), and Alex with the bye. The second round saw Alex versus Emilio (but they both wandered off, never to return), Frank (l) versus Paul (w), and Jay with the bye. The third round saw Frank (w) versus Jay (l) and Paul with the bye. Frank (w) and Paul (l) entered the final each with two wins, and Frank won with his deck which he named Dragon's Delight. I then allowed the players to divide up the remaining cards for their collections. When Emilio came back late that night, he was also allowed to retrieve his deck and his fair share of the remaining cards. Frank left the winner with his very own The Bazaar to add to his deck building pool.
Saturday 8am-12noon (Whirlpool of Blood)
No one showed for the first few hours (people staggered in between 9:30am-11:00am), and because those tables were in use starting at noon, I canceled the event. I was able to give Alex his cards (including the remainder left over from the tournament) which he had left the night before, but he wasn't interested and gave them to me.
Unscheduled Saturday 5pm-6pm (Pick-up Games)
Before the scheduled Both Guns Blazing tournament, Frank, James, Ken, and I played a pick-up game with Shadowfist regular Harley looking on. Shortly thereafter, Amanda (who had first been introduced to the game via Sean at Hexacon last autumn) and Shadowfist regular Sean showed up and played a duel which was cut short for the tournament.
Saturday 6pm-8pm (Both Guns Blazing)
We had a great turn out for this tournament, with returning players Frank & James, Shadowfist regulars Harley & Sean, and relative newcomer Amanda. We started the tournament with Frank (l) versus James (w), Harley (w) versus Sean (l), and Amanda with a bye. Next we saw Amanda (l) versus James (w). Frank was about to take the bye, but Paul showed up late and joined in on the fun. After Frank (l) versus Paul (w) we saw Harley (l) versus James (w) and Amanda (l) versus Sean (w). Finally, we saw Frank (l) versus Harley (w) and James (w) versus Paul (l). James was the winner both in terms of number of games played and number of wins, having been undefeated with his deck named Paradox Nexus. Frank was the winner with the greatest number of losses, have lost every match-up of the entire tournament! James left with his very own copy of Public Enemy No. 1, which he was in everyone's eyes.
After the tournament, Amanda, Frank, Paul, and Sean purchased decks which had been intended for the cancelled Whirlpool of Blood to help them build decks. Paul actually bought several, as he intended to introduce his family to the game. His daughter was watching his tournament play and being instructed in the game by me between my judging duties. She left with several
playmats, so I think we'll be seeing a few more players added.
Tangental Saturday Late Night (Dark One's Party)
The only game dealer in the dealer's room approached me and asked for an explanation as to why he's always asked for Shadowfist at the cons, but he couldn't sell it for years when he had a game store (he's now an online only retailer). After explaining the benefits of Shadowfist to a non-TCG player, I promised him that he could contact me by email or phone to ask if I would be running any Shadowfist for any particular local convention. So, hopefully we have a new Shadowfist retailer.
Sunday 10am-3pm (Final Brawl)
Unlike the previous multiplayer swiss plus final tournament, we had enough players to leave the tournament as advertised. Vying for the prize were Emilio, Frank, Harley, James, Jonathan, & Ken. The first round was Emilio (l), Frank (w), & Harley (l) plus James (w), Jonathan (l), & Ken (l). The second round was Frank (l), James (l), & Harley (w) plus Emilio (l), Jonathan (l), & Ken (w). The third round was Frank (l), Harley (l), & Ken (w) plus Emilio (l), James (l), & Jonathan (w). The finals saw Frank (l), James (w), & Ken (l) battle, with James' Paradox Nexus deck winning again. He popped open his Can of Whupass: Old Skool Edition for everyone to see, then went upstairs and had Special Guest Liz Danforth sign the Jack Donovan card (which she was more than happy to do, of course).
Tangental Sunday 7:30pm-8:00pm (Post-Con Hotel Happy Hour)
Sean asked for help constructing an Ascended deck from the cards he and Amanda had bought that weekend. He's misplaced his old decks which the late Michael Lee Jackson had made for him. So we quickly built him a generic deck, with promises to help him again if it didn't playtest well. Amanda was ready to fall asleep after that, otherwise I could have helped her build a quick Eaters of the Lotus deck as well.
Over all, I'd say that Shadowfist was successful at DarkCon 2007. We had ten returning players, two new players, and one player reintroduced to the game after almost a decade (who will be introducing the game to several others in the near future. It looks like it's not worth running Shadowfist before 6pm Thursday or Friday, nor is it worth running Shadowfist before 10am Saturday or Sunday. Most of the weekend
Living Arcanis took one of the three tables Shadowfist was scheduled, and like other conventions I only needed that third table two times. The times that third table is needed seem to vary depending on what Shadowfist is scheduled opposite, and thus unpredictable pre-con. So far I've refused to use the most current booster set at conventions in the hopes that I don't conflict with dealer sales, and it's not worked yet. However, hopefully that too will change.
Winning deck builds will be posted shortly.
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