Red Arrow's Mark Presents:

A blast!
Greetings from ORCCON friends! I had a good time at the convention which happened to be my first. Actually, I had a blast! But getting there was another story. Less than 20 miles to the convention I had to change a flat tire, also my first. So much for that, on with the report!

On Saturday, February 17, 2001 eight people participated in a sealed deck tournament (woohoo! yep, another of my firsts) at the OrcCon held at the Westin Hotel in Los Angeles.  I finally met these guys from the list: James Gutt, Anthony Barrett, Michael Urban and company. We all thank Chris Lefevre for bringing the cards which made the sealed deck possible. Thanks again Chris! I personally didn't meet him, but Jeff Stolt, designer of the now famous dragon's hoard scenario, dropped by and gave the group some boosters for the prize. He  was however unable to stay and play. There's always a next time... 

Of the eight who came to the tournament, four were veterans. We had two people who joined the tournament who had no prior experience in playing the game. They were Brian Scott and Bryant Luba. And like me, Michael Urban hasn't played in a while. James, Anthony and Chris were very generous with cards. Brian Scott even got a fully constructed deck courtesy of James Gutt. 

I got trashed, big time!
We had a three round sealed-deck tournament. During the first round, I got a real beating from Thomas Barrett. This young gentleman had a mean deck! I can't remember how many points exactly but I think he had 30 points over my 11. Ouch! How? Imagine having a dwarf store the Book of Mazarbul at the Ironhil Dwarfhold and then getting the Ironhill dwarves in play as well. All that in one turn! And lucky me, unable to bring an item nor a faction in play which doubled his points! Double Ouch! 

I was impressed with Thomas. No, no, not because I lost to him in a game but because while we were having a short talk on other CCGs, he admitted that he actually dropped Pokemon and said that MECCG is his favorite card game. I was surprised! Most youngsters will do quite the opposite. This kid is made of good stuff! This kid will make us all proud. We need more young ones like him!

My second game was no better, worse actually. I played with Bryant Luba, who only learned the game on site. I tried to guide him with my limited and rusty knowledge of the game while we were playing each other. Occassionally we got to bug others on some rules questions. He got to play his wizard early while I had bad hand after bad hand. Folks, he decimated most of my company! That left me with two characters for a measly two marshalling points when time ran out and we had to call the council... I should have shouted Elbereth Gilthoniel! at the start of the game. That should have given me a little favor from the valar. I did get to play my Witchking of Angmar as a creature on a company while they were in Mount Gram.  I thought that was pretty cool. But I lost again!

During the third round, I had to leave and lose by default (...shame, shame, shame). Hey, I had to get dinner for my family who was with me during the trip! We started playing around 6:00 pm and it was already 8:45 pm when I left. Folks, I'd rather lose a game by default than face an angry wife later on.

In the end a victor...
After three rounds, three people emerged victorious. Thomas Barrett won third place. James Gutt won second place. And Anthony Barrett won first place. And me? Don't ask! ; )

Some of us played constructed decks afterwards, that was around 10 pm. The games lasted well into the first hour of the next morning. I watched first while Anthony played a hero deck vs James' minion deck. I learned a lot just watching these guys play. They explained some of the game details or their deck to me while they were playing. I could have just sat there and enjoyed being a spectator and learn about the game in action instead of reading about it from books or strategy guides. It was like watching ball game with in game analysis!

Chris and Thomas on the other hand played hero vs hero decks. Thomas got badly beaten by Chris  with his three assasins! He effectively used them by cycling them with his Mouth of Sauron and Uvatha the Horseman cards, cold... It made minced meat of all of Thomas' characters. I believe the last one to fall was Gloin or Balin. After that it was hopeless.

Anyway, after that, I got to test my hobbit/stealth deck against Chris during a pick-up game. I soon realized his deck was a deadly squatter/speed deck if I am not mistaken. Yup, my luck holds true, again! If there was a card/phrase to describe what happened it will be "short legs are slow" my hobbits though stealthy could not keep up with the items and factions Chris was able to play. I did get to eliminate his Eomer though but he already had enough points by then to call the council and win the game. I learned a lot about my deck during the game. Got to tune that deck...

Did I say I enjoyed the convention?
So how could I have possibly enjoyed this tournament/convention when I basically had my rear end handed to me everytime? It was the friendly atmosphere and friendly participants. You only have to sit there while Chris and James try to introduce the game and teach novices how to construct a deck (not an easy thing to do if you ask me) and you will feel welcome. 

Hey we all want to win but it was a friendly tourney at the same time. I think this is what we all want to see at this point, everyone having fun win or lose. A success my friends. A success!

I reflect and conclude...
Okay, let me reflect here for a while. Iron Crown Enterprise ceased production and sales of MECCG in late 1999. ICE has since filed for bankruptcy, therefore no more company support for the game. Hmmmmmm... This is 2001. And yet we just had a tournament for the game... We had a total of eight participants at ORCCON... We had a sanctioned tournament, a sealed one to boot! We had people playing constructed decks until the next morning... And I should also note that at the entrance of the room where we held the games, there was a poster with a familiar logo that said "Council of Lorien". Folks this MECCG event was a SUCCESS!

All this won't be possible without the efforts of Anthony Barrett. This guy as I said before, has valiantly helped keep MECCG alive here in southern California. Thanks for organizing this tournament. We hope for more! Maybe I'll win next time...
 

Aiming for the Mark,

Red Arrow