Dice Down:
I would absolutely recommend all TO's to implement this rule into future tournaments. There were numerous occasions throughout the weekend where 'Dice Down' was called, to both the glee and dismay of various players. While I can sympathise with those players that honestly missed out on many battle points by a fraction of a turn, the viewable time tables, clock in the hall, 15 minute warning and my hovering presence during the last moments should all have been strong indicators to get a move on.
I believe 15 minutes was an adequate amount of time for players to finish off the turn sequence (if they weren't keeping an eye on the clock).
Pros: timeliness, interesting new element/tactics to the game, encourages proactive playing.
Cons: Potential for cheating via time wasting, some players may miss out on potential/deserved battle points.
Masters' Round:
The point of this trial was to protect those players that are seeded against other high-ranking opponents in the final round from those who get a cheap win and play leap frog. In this area I believe the Masters' Round was successful. With Masters' Round, Harry and Dan Butler played off for first and second, while Nick and Phil Wu repeated their previous round draw in a battle for third and fourth. The rest of the field played off for the Butcher prize, and fifth place overall.
Without the Masters' Round, Daniel Butler, who put up consistent performances playing in the top tables all weekend, would have slipped to fourth (a place few would say he deserved after such a dominant weekend).
Pros: great showcase for final round, submarine protection.
Cons: players may be forced to play an opponent they have already been paired against.
Anyways, enough rambling... time to post some photos!!!
Great tournament mate, and as you can see Master's Round saved my demonic bacon. Dice Down too was just fine with me, and actually I never hit it, all my games were in under the limits. From my own batrep of the weekend:
ReplyDeleteHigh time I did this, and as I enjoy reading other reports so much, it's the least I can do. This was for the Tin Soldiers IV tournament, held on the second floor of the Onehunga RSA. The venue itself was pretty damn good I thought, perfect for purpose and could probably have accommodated 40 gamers without much trouble at all. It was warm enough, and plenty of light came in from the large row of windows looking over the Onehunga ghetto (I kid, I kid, I didn't see even one drive by). The location had food options available in most directions for the ravenous gamer, James and I gave our patronage to a superb peddler of lamb kebabs. Our accommodation was par excellence, although the standards upheld by James's grandmother has not continued into my everyday life, and the expectations of a bacon and eggs start to the day has been summarily crushed.
TO was Josh Warne, who did a great job for what was I understand his first attempt at the TO's role. Especially considering the adoption of two non-standard concepts, the "Dice down"(I play fast and encourage my competitor as well, so timing has never been an issue) and the "Masters Round" (I really like it, saves playing well for 5 games, then getting a bad match that smashes you down into 12th place from first).