My friends and I arrived in Denver after driving from Omaha for one of the biggest Star Wars Conventions ever. We were excited about the Star Wars tournaments, which were our only real reason for attending. Upon our arrival, we were impressed at how far others had come to play at this huge tournament: Canada, California, Michigan, Illinois and many others. We arrived ready to play 45 minutes before the tournament, only to find that it had been delayed an hour. Decipher was about to attempt a 92 person tournament in three hours.
Once Decipher finally got the tournament started, we were told that the tournament would only have three games because of time constraints, and it wouldn't be sanctioned! The 92 participants hollered until they decided to give everyone a first round bye. Decipher had poor organization when pairing off, not enough people one walked around to answer rule disputes (even Matt Potter and a few squadron members had some), and the entire area was cramped. After two rounds, it was clear Decipher had screwed up big time. At the beginning of the third game, they said that they'd have to cut the time short and that we'd only have 32 minutes to play! This "sanctioned" tournament couldn't have much more go wrong.A friend of mine received only a timed win but was otherwise undefeated. Add him to at least eight other undefeated players at the end of two and a half rounds and you have Decipher's Constructed Deck Star Wars Celebration Tournament results for Friday! A tournament with 92 people NEEDS to have eight games! Decipher's best flew to Denver and stood in the mud and rain for hours in order to play only 2 1/2 games!
The prize support you ask? It was awarded to a squadron member (who would receive free boxes of Endor anyway) and one box of Young Jedi (the setup of Magic combined with the strategy of War) was divided between all the top finishers. No T-shirt, actual SWCCG cards, or anything else was given out. No one even got a complementary pack of cards for making the trip.Decipher wasn't exactly saying thank you for playing. Instead of celebrating Star Wars cards, Decipher ran an insulting tournament for its best players. Instead of relishing at how much we loved the game, players talked about quitting. As I walked around, the topic of most conversations wasn't whether Darth Vader was better than Dark Lord, but whether they really felt like playing anymore.
As for the tournament's trends, the top few players' Light sides won everything with decks aimed at not letting your opponent play (No Shelter, Maelstrom). The Dark spread out with ISB, saw their Visage's cancelled, and generally collapsed under the Light's force retrieval abilities. EPP's were huge, HB is still around, and push cards (There'll Be Hell To Pay, etc.) were a must.
The next time Decipher makes a personal appearance at a tournament, I hope they can scrap together enough preparation, organization, and generosity to match their average college tournament directors. Mad As Hell.
Aaron Sawyer