Author Topic: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021) (Read 3001 times)

MrMiYoda · « **on:** June 01, 2021, 09:09:20 PM »

LEARN THE GAME!!! PLAY THE GAME!!! SPREAD THE GAME!!!

Bella Vista, AR--July 16, 2021

Local Tournament (Open)
Host: Mark Underwood & ReyZen
TXRedemption@gmail.com
The Underwood Residence
36 Knighton Dr, Bella Vista, AR 72715
Type 1 2Player (FREE) Type 2 2Player (FREE)
Starts 5pm

Bella Vista, AR--July 17, 2021

AR State Tournament
Host: Mark Underwood & ReyZen
TXRedemption@gmail.com
The Underwood Residence, 36 Knighton Dr, Bella Vista, AR 72715
Type: Type 1 2Player (FREE), Type 2 2Player (FREE), Type 1 Multi (FREE), Closed Deck 2Player ($20.00) and LoC Booster Draft 2Player ($30.00)
Starts 9am

***
LODGING:
Please view suggestions by Prof Underwood:
https://www.cactusforums.com/official-tournaments/ar-back-to-back-localstate-tournaments-(1617-july-2021)/msg604784/#msg604784

I booked this hotel for myself and may cancel if y'all get a hotel where we all could be.
Quality Inn Bentonville-Rogers
215 SE Walton Blvd, Bentonville, AR 72712
(479) 250-9944
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2mFvgwAxyGcKQKG87

Prof Underwood · « **Reply #1 on:** June 08, 2021, 05:22:24 PM »

Hi everyone! Feel free to come join us for a fun, small tournament. Roy will be there, so you know it'll be AWESOME!

If you're looking for a place to stay, here's a couple options:

Best price / quality, but 30 minutes from my house:
Best Western Plus Castlerock Inn & Suites
501 SE Walton Blvd, Bentonville, AR 72712

Closest to my house, but more expensive:
The Inn at Bella Vista Bed & Breakfast
101 Chelsea Rd, Bella Vista, AR 72715

Prof Underwood · « **Reply #2 on:** July 19, 2021, 12:05:56 PM »

We had an AWESOME tournament this past weekend. As far as I know it was the first Redemption tournament ever held in the state of Arkansas. And we had 12 players play a total of 8 categories over the 2 days. 6 of the players had never played a single game before, but they picked up on it quickly and are excited to play more. 2 other players have only been playing for about a month. Here's my memory of the event (which is a bit fuzzier than my old recaps due to me being out of practice, and older).

Prof Underwood · « **Reply #3 on:** July 19, 2021, 12:06:18 PM »

Friday's Local Tournament

We started off by introducing everyone since no one knew everyone, although there were some surprise connections. Some of the players were friends who were invited by my friend Jamie. They turned out to be friends with my friend Jacqueline, who I didn't think would know anyone else there. So it was a small world, and everyone hit it off greatly. We also did a quick "teaching game" for 4 of the people who had never played a single game, and then we were ready to go.

We started by doing a T1-2p tourney at the same time as a Sealed Tourney. Jamie and his son Liam played Sealed. They played two rounds. The first round ended in a tie, which made the second round even more important. After a tough fought game, Jamie ended up on top for 1st place and Liam felt like he finished a strong 2nd.

The rest of us (8 people) played T1-2p. We had a couple of brand new players named Justin and Kitty. They played well for just starting out and picked up on the game well. Josh had only played one game before the tournament, but also picked it up really quickly and ended up placing in the event. My kids, Katrina and Jonathan, have been playing for many years, but we are all really rusty. And we even got Roy to play in order to make the numbers even. I was glad that my son Jonathan had the privilege of playing a game with him. In the end, I came out on top for the 1st place finish.

Most people had to head home at that point, but those of us who stayed played a T1-mp event to finish the night. Jaqueline showed up for this event as well, so she joined in with Jamie, Liam, Katrina, Jonathan, and I. We played a couple of rounds. I fuzzy on the details, but I think the top table for the final round was myself, Katrina, and Jaqueline. After a close game, I ended up with the win. This experience also continued a long-standing observation of mine that T1-mp is a LOT of fun when played at low levels. When everyone is using decks that have both offense AND defense, it leads to really interesting interactions. But at the top levels (ie. Nats) it seems that too many top players just go so heavy on the offense that the battle phase of the game disappears and it just isn't very enjoyable an experience. I suggested to Roy that the best way to make T1-mp fun at Nats would be to simply add the T2 rule that each deck has to have an equal number of good and bad cards. I would be really interested to see how that simple rule change could re-invigorate that event.

Prof Underwood · « **Reply #4 on:** July 19, 2021, 12:06:43 PM »

Saturday's State Tournament

We started bright and early with two events. The first was a Booster Draft, and the second was a T1-2p event. The T1-2p event had my kids, Katrina and Jonathan, and Josh's kids, Dannon and Turner. Dannon had played the night before, but this was Turner's first time playing after he had enjoyed watching his brother play. And Katrina and Jonathan were a bit less rusty after having also played the night before. I remember that the championship was between Katrina and Jonathan and ended up with Jonathan winning the game 1 turn before Katrina would have. So it was super close, and all the kids were super excited about their prizes.

In the booster draft, it was the first time either Jamie or Josh or Liam had played a booster draft. And it was the first time that any of us had seen most of the cards that we were choosing between (since I've been out of the scene for about 6 years). Therefore, we were SUPER SLOW at drafting because we had to read everything pretty carefully to understand how it worked. I even had to get Roy to teach me what the "star of David" symbols meant on cards. But in the end we were all really happy with our drafts. I had drafted 90% to win and 10% to get cards. The other guys had drafted more around the 50/50% range. So unsurprisingly I ended up with the win after a couple rounds of playing the 2p version of Booster. I would like to point out that I really enjoyed playing booster in a 2p version after all drafting together in a 4p group. Booster has a lot of randomness already due to the nature of getting your cards. So having only a single opponent reduces the randomness of the actual gameplay making it feel more strategic. And knowing that you can't just give lost souls out like candy to spread them out means that you have to draft enough defense to hold off an opponent long enough to win. And again, Redemption is at its most fun when there are battles and LS are fought over. I've heard that this version will be used at Nats this year and I highly support that.

The next two simultaneous events were TEAMS and T1-mp. I had really been wanting to play TEAMS, but the way the numbers worked out, I ended up being in T1-mp instead. This time Jonathan and Liam teamed up against Josh's kids, Dannon and Turner. They just played a single round and the brothers got to an early lead. But Jonathan and Liam made an epic comeback and ended up taking the win.

Meanwhile Jamie, Josh, and I were playing T1-mp and also did a single round. But at the end of regulation, I had the victory and the 2 of them tied for 2nd place. So I chipped in one of my packs to them to make it so they could have even prizes and everyone had a great time. It was another example of T1-mp being fun when people just use decks that are balanced between offense and defense.

At this point, most people had to leave again to go home. So we ended up having the final event, Sealed Deck, with just my son Jonathan and myself. We both traded a LOT of cards with each other and with the booster packs we were amazingly able to turn our starter decks into basically single color offense and defense decks. It made for a fun match with a lot of non-starter cards, and we enjoyed playing each other for the first time in the tournament. I ended up on top of that one.

Prof Underwood · « **Reply #5 on:** July 19, 2021, 12:56:37 PM »

Final thoughts

I haven't hosted an official tournament in at least 7 years. That was 1 year in MN preparing for international ministry, followed by 3 years in Indonesia, followed by 3 years here in Arkansas. I did have a playgroup in Indonesia, and we did an unofficial tournament, but never did an official one. And I hadn't been able to start a playgroup here in Arkansas yet. But Roy had faith that if we held a tournament that people would come. And Roy was right. I was hugely surprised that we had a dozen people show up for this tournament. And everyone had such a great time together. The new players are so excited about the game. They enjoy playing and they are looking forward to creating decks with all the new cards that they just got.

I want to especially thank Roy, not only for encouraging me to host again, but also for driving 11 hours one-way in order to be here for the tournament. He brought all the supplies that were needed. And he was really helpful at answering all the ruling questions that naturally come from a bunch of players who are either brand new or extremely rusty

I hope that we'll be able to build on this success and over time Arkansas can join the broader Redemption community. We won't be at Nats this year, but hopefully someday soon.

robm · « **Reply #6 on:** July 20, 2021, 03:55:00 PM »

Mark,

It was a blessing to read your tournament account. So wonderful that Roy was able to help you make this happen.

I hope that you guys can plan early enough in advance next year , as we would love to make a stop at Arkansas states as a part of a family vacation, maybe even book one of your escape rooms.

God Bless,

Looking forward to a Kentucky reunion some time next year.

Prof Underwood · « **Reply #7 on:** May 11, 2022, 11:52:21 AM »

Quote from: robm on July 20, 2021, 03:55:00 PM

I hope that you guys can plan early enough in advance next year , as we would love to make a stop at Arkansas states as a part of a family vacation, maybe even book one of your escape rooms.

Looking forward to a Kentucky reunion some time next year.

Hi Rob,
We are planning to do an AR State tournament again this summer and would love to do a KY reunion with y'all

robm · « **Reply #8 on:** May 12, 2022, 01:17:07 AM »

Hey Mark! Good to hear from you! Not sure what our summer will bring but we will see! At the very least , hope to see you at Nationals.

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Author Topic: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021) (Read 3001 times)

MrMiYoda

AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021)

Prof Underwood

Re: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021)

Prof Underwood

Re: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021)

Prof Underwood

Re: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021)

Prof Underwood

Re: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021)

Prof Underwood

Re: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021)

robm

Re: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021)

Prof Underwood

Re: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021)

robm

Re: AR Back-to-Back Local/State Tournaments (16/17 July 2021)