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Uthminister graciously backed up the start time on Saturday so the players who played TEAMS could have a 2 1/2 hour nap (this would prove fateful in one of my games).

The category I love and drove to play started Saturday:  T1 2P!!!!!!!  (as always I will be vague to not reveal major deck strategies)

Round 1: I was matched against the tourney host: Uthminister!  He wasn't as excited to see me because according to him, tough Rd. 1 match ups are typical and he felt I would be a tough matchup (as opposed to the opinions of certain HoF member biases and yes I am strictly looking at you ProfUnderwood and crustpope... -->for everyone else: you have to know me in person to get my sense of humor and the way I think).  This game was over quick because of a spectacular draw on my part.  In fact, it was over so quick that we played a second game. 
Result:  W 5-1

Round 2:   Alex (alpal on boards)
Alex received a great first round hero and my Defense was a bit shy early in the game.  I used some Doms to help keep him at bay, and we went back and forth.  Neither defense could really stop the other's offense.  Ultimately, I received my "big 2" before he did which became the difference maker.
Result: W 5-3

Round 3:  Nic (fyero on boards)
I really don't want to talk about this game (not one of my prouder moments).  This game had contained a huge mistake made by each player which were direct results of major lack of sleep.  Despite Nic's mistake, he still about won except that my last card drawn was a timely SoG.  This game caused deep reflection for me as a player, person, and Christian.  Some agreed with what I did, some disagreed, and others understood because they might have likely done the same thing.  It highlighted that judges view the game of Redemption differently.  Ultimately, Nic took the loss graciously, and I have the utmost respect for him.  I would rather forget about this game as much as he would... this game would ultimately decide 1st and 2nd place.
Result: W 5-4

Round 4:  Alex Olijar (can't remember his board name though.  )
Alex and I knew this match up was inevitable.  He had changed his style since NE Regionals, and it was benefiting him greatly.  I about switched decks because I knew that there was a strong possibility that he teched against my deck (or at least its idea in general).  I decided to stay with what was working and it proved to be the right idea.  I got a great early draw and never looked back.  Unfortunately for Alex, it was the worse draw he had seen that day.  A lack of drawn lost souls gave him a slight chance, but his Guardian never showed and the lost souls did.
Result:  W 5-0

Round 5:  Matt (mjwaree)
This was the 2nd time Matt and I faced each other in the final round at Regionals.  I joked with him that I hoped the result would be the same.  My draw was mediocre, but it was enough to keep him at bay.  Ultimately, my deck began setting up quickly and I won the game.
Result: W 5-1

I placed 1st at NE Regionals.  Nic beat Alex to place 2nd, and Alex got leapfrogged by a couple of timeouts (ironic because he used to cause timeouts).

My son took a different route in the category, but I'm proud of him for overcoming a tough first game and completing the tournament in good spirits.  An additional note:  he paid his own entry fee to keep Goliath instead of his dad getting it.    

Quote from: soul seeker on June 20, 2011, 01:38:58 AM
he felt I would be a tough matchup (as opposed to the opinions of certain HoF member biases and yes I am strictly looking at you ProfUnderwood and crustpope... 

I think someone has a "sour" copy of the most recent good dominant.    

Quote from: soul seeker on June 20, 2011, 01:38:58 AM
An additional note:  he paid his own entry fee to keep Goliath instead of his dad getting it.     

   
I think someone has a smart son.

And rather than create a separate thread for my own tourney report, I think I'll just add on to this one.    

Perspective of a father:
Iron Man: Alecia (7yrs old, and the youngest person playing) was in this with the other youngsters at the tournament.  I admit that I was worried after reading on the forum here about how Jonathan Greeson's son had done at a previous tournament, and how his dad had been training him.  Then I found out that Ron Sias' daughter was also playing, and I wondered how my kid could compete with these prodigies of legends.  However, she ended up being just fine as she went on to win against both of these opponents as well as win a couple other challenge matches to end up in 2nd place.

T1-2p: I don't really know how her games went, but I know that she won 1, and tied 1, and ended up finishing in 17th place.  The fact that she ended up higher than at least 5 other people was pretty cool, and she kept a great attitude as far as I could tell.

T1-mp: She had a great attitude in her first game despite never getting a LS.  I don't know about the second game (other than that she lost again).  But in the 3rd game, she was VERY excited to win a close one over Ron Sias and Drew Wills (which I think ended up putting her in 4th place for the event).

T1-2p:  I actually woke up pretty refreshed and ready to go at 10am.  I checked in 2 decks.  The first was a turtle that I had hoped would be able to win a Regional (which I think would be the highest finish ever for a turtle deck).  The second was a faster deck, but not one that I enjoy playing as much.
Round 1: vs. Jonathan Pequinot.  We've been good friends and rivals for years and our games always seem to be close.  This was no exception, as he also chose to play a turtle deck.  The game was slow, and the defenses were stout.  The difference ended up being that he drew SoG/NJ and I only drew SoG.  Timeout loss (2-1)
Round 2: vs. (I can't remember) I decided to give the turtle one more round.  This time I was able to shut down my opponent completely, but I ran out of time before I could finish walking in for the win.  Another 15 mins and this would've been a win.  Timeout win (4-0)
Round 3: vs. Stephen Schyer.  I felt like I was getting faster, and decided to give the turtle one more round.  The last time I played Stephen, he demolished me with a Genesis deck in about 3 turns.  This time was quite different as I was able to hold him off the whole game.  Unfortunately, I was again out of time before I could get to 5, and ended up just barely being ahead.  Timeout win (2-1)
Round 4: vs. Drew Wills. I figured out that I could place as long as I won my last 2 rounds, so I decided to give the turtle one more round.  This game was similar to round 2 except that my opponent got their SoG/NJ.  Timeout win (4-2)
Round 5: vs. Alex (something).  I was currently in 7th place, and everything had to fall right for me to place at all.  Jonathan Greeson (Soul Seeker) had to win his last round to be undefeated for me to pass up the loser of the top table.  The 2nd table had to have a clear winner and not timeout for me to pass up the loser of that game.  The 3rd table needed to have the lower ranked player win small for me to pass up both of them.  And most importantly, I had to actually win a game (which I hadn't done yet).  Amazingly all of those things happened, and I was able to jump into 3rd place.
Overall, I think the time limits on rounds really makes it impossible for a turtle deck to be able to finish games consistently, and that makes winning tournaments unlikely.  I think I'll have to change things up for the next tournament.

T2-mp:  Kayleb was my only guy who played in this (using a borrowed deck).  The other players were Ron Sias (former nats champion in the event), John Early (current nats champion in the event), and Allen Collins (former regional champion in the event).  Amazingly Kayleb didn't come in last and walked away with 3rd place.  Full Win (5-2)

Booster:  Ian, Isaiah, Kayleb, and Wyatt were all playing in this event, but some other people got some absolutely amazing decks, and none of them ended up in the top 3.

T1-2p:  Alecia, Brian, Drew, and I were all playing in this event, and it had some REALLY close games....
Round 1: I was blessed with a matchup against 2 novice players and Brian as well as a great draw.  The game was over very quickly.  1st at table (5-1-0-0)
Round 2: Jonathan Greeson (who had won his table) started early with the diplomacy to get the table to gang up on me.  It obviously worked because my 1st rescue attempt was blocked with a King of Tyrus (whatever happened to giving away the first LS), and my 2nd rescue attempt was defeated by a Christian Martyr (still no LS here people).  Naturally after everyone focused on stopping me, they ignored Jonathan Pequinot to their own demise and he won the game.  2nd at table (4-5-3-2)
Unfortunately that put he and I in a tie for 1st place with both having one win and one 2nd place finish with 4 LSs.  And my feeling is always to play an extra round (after all we go to tournaments to play, right?).  Since the Booster that was going simultaneously also had another round left, Travis was generous to give us another round.  And Jonathan Greeson was generous to play the extra round despite great tiredness and a long drive coming.
Round 3: Greeson's diplomacy again prevailed as I had ALL 3 of my opponent's play Falling Away on me.  This was in spite of the fact that all 3 of my opponents had more LSs rescued than I did (except for by the time of the last FA).  As a result, the outcome of the game was pretty much the same.  Pequinot walked away with the win.  2nd at table (4-5-3-1)
Overall Jonathan Pequinot won the day, I came in 2nd, and Greeson had enough LSs to pull out 3rd.  I really enjoyed the event as always (except for at Nats), and I feel like I really got to know some old friends even better

Uthminister is a great host and friend.  He is accommodating, gracious, and generous.  Personally, I want to thank Travis for being awesome (especially in the way he handled my oldest son on Friday night).

I want to echo these sentiments.  Travis was also gracious in the way he handled an issue with my daughter at one point, and he was EXTREMELY generous with trades (as he always is) with both myself and all the people in my playgroup.  He is an inspiration to me with his catchphrase of "they're only cardboard".  The tournament was a big success, and all the people with me had a wonderful time.  This is largely due to the great job hosting that Travis consistently does.  Thanks again Travis!

Round 1:  Ron Sias, Galadgawyn, and a young kid.

Just an FYI, that young kid is Drew Wills, and I suspect that someday he will be much better known than simply a rlk.  Watch out for him if you play him at Nats in the next year or 3.

Perspective of a father:
Iron Man: ...I admit that I was worried after reading on the forum here about how Jonathan Greeson's son had done at a previous tournament, and how his dad had been training him....

I didn't realize you added this.  To be fair to my son, I failed him as a trainer the week leading up to Midwest Regionals.  Both weeks leading up to each Regionals could not have been more opposite.
The week ahead of NE Regionals, I made and invested more time into training my son.
The week ahead of MW Regionals, my son had 3 baseball games (as his year wrapped up that Sat.), and I had a heavy load of schoolwork to finish so that I would be free to play that weekend.

Despite all of this, players said that my son played well (for being 8 yo).  Overall, he maintained a good attitude and placed 20 out of 22 in T1 2P. (I didn't realize they did placement in Ironman, so I have no clue how he did there).  True, he did better at NE Regionals, but it does highlight the difference practice can make.  I hope to continue to work with my son, so that he has a shot at being the youngest Redemption National Champion ever!!!!! (not that I'm pressuring him or anything ) 

I find it interesting how fathers (Mark, Ron, and I) desire, hope, and equip their children to do well, but it's up to the child to implement the knowledge given them.  Seems to me there are some spiritual parallels there. 

I find it interesting how fathers (Mark, Ron, and I) desire, hope, and equip their children to do well, but it's up to the child to implement the knowledge given them.  Seems to me there are some spiritual parallels there. 

I also see that spiritual parallel, and it is actually one of the scariest things about being a father, I think.  I hope and pray that with great dads like you and Ron, that our kids will all "not easily depart" from the way they have been trained.

We got an early block with Mannaseh (who ProfU had no faith in  )

This is totally true.  since it was the black brigade version, I thought he was just going to let him die so that he could use recursion with King Amon, but then he went and really messed us up instead.  Sure taught me a lesson

Booster Draft.

We did a tins draft, with Disciples and Treasures, as well as Patriarchs and Kings since we had both Foof and Roa tins.

I had tin 4 (Blue/Brown)

This is a pretty good tin, with Jacob, Uzzah, Complainers, and multiple ways to search the deck for more Heroes via Jacob play first.

My draft was so sick – Especially when we got to the Treasures pack, in which I picked up Leah, Judah and Well Reopened – I also had 4 sites in various colors, and a plain AoC from the unlimited pack. I had two shots at Captain of the Host being in a pack, but alas I didn’t get him, or an FBTN character at all, which are very nice to have in booster, especially with Numerous as the Stars CBN adding them to battle on top of a Gen character, but that’s a minor complaint. I was very confident of my chances, until after deck check Travis told us that he thought my deck was the weakest of the three. Turns out everybody at the table was getting sick stuff.

I still managed to win that table 5-4-4.

Table two I played against Nic and Matt, and didn’t do so well, as they both had crazy defenses.  – Nic won 5-4(matt)-2(me)

Table 3 I won because Jacob + Angel of Might is almost as good as Jacob + Captain in booster. I also had a white site for access to the guy to my left who kept putting them there. Had he left them out where he could give them away I probably would have had a much harder time. 5-3-2.

Result – 2-1, 2nd Place.

Needless to say, a very enjoyable tournament, Travis is a great host, and it was good to see Jon, Jon, Alex and others that may not be able to make it to nationals.

I figured I'd post my tourney report here too, seems like all the cool kids are doing so

With his placings, I wouldn't be complaining at all.