Format: DCI Sanctioned 200 point Constructed Assault.
Number of players: 11
Factions: 3x LG; 4x CG; 3x LE; 1x CE

Eleven players showed up for a DCI sanctioned 200 point constructed tournament on at Game Kastle in Santa Clara, California on Saturady, December 16th, 2006.

Final Standings

1st - Guy Fullerton (5-0) Storm Silverhand; Valenar Nomad Charger; 2x Bralani Eladrin; Shadowdancer; 3x Xeph Warrior; Frostfell Rift

2nd - Michael Domezio / TianZi (4-1) Urthok the Vicious; Snig the Axe + 3x Goblin Skirmisher; Large Green Dragon; Maug; Blood Ghost Berserker; Greenspawn Sneak; 2x Kobold Monk; Hellspike

3rd - Louis Sacha / LCS (3-2) Cleric of Dol Arrah; Slayer of Domiel; Kolyarut; Dwarf Artificer; Sacred Watcher; Aramil, Adventurer; Warforged Scout; Aasimar Fighter; Dragon Shrine

4th - Ian Bell / IanB (3-2) Battle Plate Marshal; Tordek, Dwarf Champion; 2x Thundertusk Cavalry; Hill Dwarf Warrior; 2x Man-at-Arms; Hellspike

5th - James Chang (3-2; 1 bye) Nentyar Hunter; Free League Ranger; Guenhwyvar; 2x Storm Archer; Axe Sister; 2x Elf Warrior; Dragondown Grotto

6th - Brian Johnson (3-2; 1 bye) War Chanter; Frenzied Berserker; 3x Shadowdancer; Gnome Trickster; 2x Xeph Warrior; Mithral Mines

7th - Dave True (2-3) Dark Naga; Beholder; Maug; Large Duergar; 2x Acheron Goblin; Greenspawn Sneak; Frostfell Rift

8th - Alessio Cei / Korhal_IV (2-3; 1 bye) Tiefling Captain; Hill Giant Barbarian; Marilith; Orc Wardrummer; 3x Orc Warrior; Dragon Shrine

9th - Tyler Anderson (2-3) 2x Red Hand War Sorcerer; Fire Giant Forgepriest; Dragonmark Heir of Deneith; Greenspawn Sneak; Timber Wolf; Kobold Miner; Keep of Fallen Kings

10th - Joshua Peterson (2-3) Champion of Eilistraee; Aspect of Kord; Mounted Drow Patrol; Crow Shaman; 2x Hero of Valhalla; Devis, Half-Elf Bard; Wild Elf Raider; Caves of Chaos

11th - John Schatz (1-4; 1 bye) Sword Archon; Mercenary Sergeant; Dragon Samurai; Justice Archon; Man-at-Arms; Drow Outpost

(I didn't keep the 5th round pairing sheets, so I'm missing one player's bye.)

Additional Info
Tournament Report on Hordelings

My Matchups

Round 1: John Schatz - He was running a 5 activation warband, and he hasn't played in a few months. To make matters worse, I won map init, which was painful for his relatively slow warband. He was admittedly rusty, and overextended his Sword Archon, who fell pretty quickly. It was mop-up after that. Result: Win (1-0)

Round 2: Dave True - Man, I did not want to face Dave's Beholder warband with my low save guys. He plays Beholders very often and knows how to make your life miserable with them. I set up second and got some leverage after eliminating a few minor pieces early without exposing my own. After destroying the Maug, I had to go all-in against the Beholder ("...the Death Star has cleared the planet ... the Death Star has cleared the planet..."), and I didn't quite blow enough rolls for me to lose the match. But it was *very* dicey ... as Beholder matchups often are. Result: Win (2-0)

Round 3: Michael Domezio - I won map init (my +4 vs his +5), which was very important. Although it took me 4 (!) attacks to kill his Greenspawn Sneak early, and I effectively wasted a bunch of ranged attacks on Kobold Monks with their pesky AC 26 in cover, I eventually put enough damage on bigger creatures to give me a chance. The game came down to one lucky roll, after a mistake I made; I had a chance to move a Bralani such that his LGD couldn't morale check it, but I forgot to do so. The LGD hit, forced the morale save, and I fortunately succeeded the +10 morale save. When time was called, both scores were still pretty low, but I had enough activations left to finish off his Blood Ghost Berserker for the win. Result: Win (3-0)

Round 4: Ian Bell - I lost map init, but won setup init and set up on the magic circle side of the Hellspike map. I took a risk and put myself at a 3 point disadvantage by using a Xeph as a target for a whirlwind blast. Eventually we engaged, then the dice gods decided to laugh in Ian's face. I won the two important mid-game initiatives despite being at a +4 vs +7 disadvantage. Then he missed some +14 attacks vs AC ~18. Then, despite me making the huge mistake of moving Storm away from the melee*, he missed more attacks and I won *another* important init. I eventually killed everything but his two Man-at-Arms. Result: Win (4-0)

* Moving Storm was a mistake in triplicate:
1) I moved her away with 20 hp left because I didn't want Tordek to be able to provoke an AoO and move to kill her. However, Tordek *couldn't* do that unless he crit because of Storm's Electricity Healing. Duh!
2) Moving her away meant by VNC and Shadowdancer lost fearless from her commander effect.
3) Moving her away meant losing the benefits of Countersong, which allowed Tordek to benefit from the BPM's Retaliate commander effect, which in turn allowed him to kill my VNC in one swing instead of two.

Round 5: Louis Sacha - I won map init again, despite being at a +4 vs +7 disadvantage. I used my ranged advantage to get as much leverage as I could, but the Warforged Scout was very hard to displace and the Sacred Watcher was a big pain. I got enervated left and right. Then I took a gamble and extended my Shadowdancer and VNC out very far to harvest some fodder points. That gamble was actually a big mistake; I forgot about the Kolyarut's hold monster spell! Yikes! Fortunately for me, the enervated VNC made its save and I was able to successfully extract it and the Shadowdancer. Eventually, once Louis had moved his Slayer of Domiel close enough, I went all-in and killed her. The CoDA fell shortly thereafter, followed by Aramil, which was enough to give me a solid win. Result: Win (5-0)

Final Thoughts

I strongly believe you can't win a tournament unless you play well *and* catch some good luck. Today's results reinforced that for me. I really should have lost that fourth match...

Between the store's booster prizes and a bunch of prizes the players and Derry donated to the prize pool, everybody walked away with at least 2 minis plus other stuff. I chose a Marilith out of one of the prize boosters. Michael chose one of the map packs. Ian took a Blood War booster and (fittingly) got another Thundertusk Cavalry. Dave took the AT-AT. I don't remember what anyone else chose, though.

Oh yeah: Dave "I always play Beholders" True bought a Deathknell booster just before the event. Guess what rare it had. Yup.