Gencon 2014 Tournament

felwred · 08-17-2014, 05:21 AM

Last night, I had the opportunity to go up against some of the best Munchkin players I have had the privilledge to face and was fortunate to come up with the win in the finals. It was my first year at GenCon (definitely won't be the last) and the first time at a major Munchkin tournament.

I want to thank everyone involved in the Gencon 2014 World Tournament. The MIB's did a great job balancing working with less experienced players and making rulings on the typical "edge cases" where we push the game into the breach. Most of all, there were some "heavy hitters" that were both great competitors but also ambassadors of the game. SJG should take great pride in having such a committed fan base (yes, in some cases - committed in all senses of the term).

I was able to get a pic of all of us playing at the final table (I will post and link shortly). Yes, there was a request to get a ruling before the deck was even brought out. The MIB running the final round (Mike (?)) did a great job

I didn't get everyone's names that was in the final round and I would love to keep in touch with most of you. Please private message me if you'd like to keep in touch.

I hope to return to Gencon in 2015 to attempt to defend the title!

Fred Kessler

Olin Froid · 08-17-2014, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by felwred

Last night, I had the opportunity to go up against some of the best Munchkin players I have had the privilledge to face and was fortunate to come up with the win in the finals. It was my first year at GenCon (definitely won't be the last) and the first time at a major Munchkin tournament.

I want to thank everyone involved in the Gencon 2014 World Tournament. The MIB's did a great job balancing working with less experienced players and making rulings on the typical "edge cases" where we push the game into the breach. Most of all, there were some "heavy hitters" that were both great competitors but also ambassadors of the game. SJG should take great pride in having such a committed fan base (yes, in some cases - committed in all senses of the term).

I was able to get a pic of all of us playing at the final table (I will post and link shortly). Yes, there was a request to get a ruling before the deck was even brought out. The MIB running the final round (Mike (?)) did a great job

I didn't get everyone's names that was in the final round and I would love to keep in touch with most of you. Please private message me if you'd like to keep in touch.

I hope to return to Gencon in 2015 to attempt to defend the title!

Fred Kessler

Wow, that is awesome! Congrats!
How many played? What types of items did you use? Did a lot of people use items? Was it basic fantasy?

And most important of all-what does a Munchkin tournament winner win?

felwred · 08-18-2014, 04:34 PM

The Gencon tournament is +1 rules for all rounds but the finals (stud - meaning no promos except those explicitly stated on the rules sheet pdf). People had a fair selection of stuff but with +1 rules, in prelims most rounds had someone who had 1 or 0 items. The most I got to use in a round was 2 in prelims and 2 in Semis. Mainly people brought those for humor in the games against the MIB's. (Side note: I want to congratulate the 2009 champion for his unlimited promo items round by beating the MIBs in 1 turn without them coming up with a way to stop him). Having the best stuff wasn't the determining factor to advancing because the +1 rule balances things out pretty well.

The prelims had quite a few rounds - something like 14 or 16 rounds with 18-24 people in each. The semis had 36 people with 6 people in finals. The event had sold out in advance - they probably could have had enough people to have quarterfinals, semis, then finals if they had wanted to.

Editions played were: Bites, Zombies, Classic, Space, and I believe Pathfinder. I got unlucky and drew the edition I played the least twice (Bites).

The finals was the most closely contested match of a game I ever saw. Everyone at that table had definitely earned it. We had everyone at level 9 (with some downs and ups) for over an hour without anyone able to punch out the victory. There were many, many attempts to get to the winning level stopped by prepared

The best news for players considering the tournament who haven't done it before was that 2 of the players in the finals were first time Gencon attendees who had never done that tournament before (including the winner). The others included 3 prior champions and a Munchkin Quest champion.

Fred

MunchkinQueen · 08-21-2014, 09:17 PM

Congrats on the win Fred!

08-17-2014, 05:21 AM	#1
felwred Join Date: Jun 2014	Gencon 2014 Tournament Last night, I had the opportunity to go up against some of the best Munchkin players I have had the privilledge to face and was fortunate to come up with the win in the finals. It was my first year at GenCon (definitely won't be the last) and the first time at a major Munchkin tournament. I want to thank everyone involved in the Gencon 2014 World Tournament. The MIB's did a great job balancing working with less experienced players and making rulings on the typical "edge cases" where we push the game into the breach. Most of all, there were some "heavy hitters" that were both great competitors but also ambassadors of the game. SJG should take great pride in having such a committed fan base (yes, in some cases - committed in all senses of the term). I was able to get a pic of all of us playing at the final table (I will post and link shortly). Yes, there was a request to get a ruling before the deck was even brought out. The MIB running the final round (Mike (?)) did a great job I didn't get everyone's names that was in the final round and I would love to keep in touch with most of you. Please private message me if you'd like to keep in touch. I hope to return to Gencon in 2015 to attempt to defend the title! Fred Kessler

08-18-2014, 04:34 PM	#3
felwred Join Date: Jun 2014	Re: Gencon 2014 Tournament The Gencon tournament is +1 rules for all rounds but the finals (stud - meaning no promos except those explicitly stated on the rules sheet pdf). People had a fair selection of stuff but with +1 rules, in prelims most rounds had someone who had 1 or 0 items. The most I got to use in a round was 2 in prelims and 2 in Semis. Mainly people brought those for humor in the games against the MIB's. (Side note: I want to congratulate the 2009 champion for his unlimited promo items round by beating the MIBs in 1 turn without them coming up with a way to stop him). Having the best stuff wasn't the determining factor to advancing because the +1 rule balances things out pretty well. The prelims had quite a few rounds - something like 14 or 16 rounds with 18-24 people in each. The semis had 36 people with 6 people in finals. The event had sold out in advance - they probably could have had enough people to have quarterfinals, semis, then finals if they had wanted to. Editions played were: Bites, Zombies, Classic, Space, and I believe Pathfinder. I got unlucky and drew the edition I played the least twice (Bites). The finals was the most closely contested match of a game I ever saw. Everyone at that table had definitely earned it. We had everyone at level 9 (with some downs and ups) for over an hour without anyone able to punch out the victory. There were many, many attempts to get to the winning level stopped by prepared The best news for players considering the tournament who haven't done it before was that 2 of the players in the finals were first time Gencon attendees who had never done that tournament before (including the winner). The others included 3 prior champions and a Munchkin Quest champion. Fred

08-21-2014, 09:17 PM	#4
MunchkinQueen MIB Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Cary, NC	Re: Gencon 2014 Tournament Congrats on the win Fred! __________________ Babe in Black