4/20 COVID Ancients Event

This past week 21 Warlord CCG hopefuls connected over the internet during a time of global uncertainty and unrest to make battle with some of the most powerful cards from throughout the history of Warlord CCG. This is their story.

• Untap.in

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shelter-in-place orders, Josh King had messaged the developers of the browser-based card gaming platform Untap.in about adding the 2001 AEG classic Warlord: Saga of the Storm as a game on their website. The website is free and easy to use and, combined with voice chat, could solve the issue of player shortage that keeps many longtime fans of the game from being able to actually play it. The Untap admins completed the task just a week or so before the writing was on the wall that the virus was spreading fast and that everyone would be quarantined. Pictured above is Warlord, an official game on Untap.in, nestled adjacent Universal Fighting System and Weiß Schwarz, beneath Naruto CCG only in terms of positioning.

• The First of its Kind: Warlord's 4/20 COVID Ancients Event

We started by sprucing up the Warlord Discord adding a section for the tournament and briefly discussed logistics and prizes. Below is the announcement alongside the rules and prizes for the event:

After the week's sign-up window closed we had 21 participants across three continents with a lot of mismatched time zones, newness to the online client, and potential for failure. We got everyone entered and paired and put the event up online so that people could see their pairings, breakers, and who was playing what. You can view the event here. Shoutout to Westly Youngren, by the way, for all the data entry and attention he gave the event throughout its week-long duration! Great job, Wes!

After round one we had a player drop due to the understandable frustration with the experience of playing on an online client. After round two we had a player drop because their desire was just to play casually and they realized the event didn't necessarily meet that desire. But beyond that everyone played every round of the event and, dare I say, had a blast!

And so after five 23-hour rounds of Swiss we had the following standings:

• The Top 8 and Finals

When the dust settled on the Swiss portion of the event three Elves, two Dwarves, and a lone FreeK, Throg, and Dev were left vying for victory. And though the Deverenians showed up in force, they didn't convert many to the Top 8 while on the other side of things, despite only have two pilots, the Free Kingdoms and NoThRoG did manage to get one of their two pilots inside the cut.

The Top 8 saw Iceman (Ginerva) taking down JamesFaheyWarlord (Feyd) in the full three games. Meanwhile Kamacausey (Lucian) fell 1-2 to QTP (Serolia) after some incredibly close nail-biters. Westley (Thekem) trounced JackalofMourn (Sullack) in three games while the only remaining Dwarves in Slugman (Trench) and CaptainToni (Xod) would cut the faction's chances in half right out of the gate! Xod took that, by the way, winning both games.

In the semi-finals we had Iceman (Ginerva) get the 2-0 win over QTP (Serolia) in a match where both players had access to the rarely seen card type "Dungeon" in their decks. On the other side of semi's, Westley (Thekem) lost to CaptainToni (Xod) in what Westley described as a 2-0 "slaughter".

This left only the errata-laden scourge of Epic Edition Ginerva of the Moon to take on the old school and Open format heavyweight King Xod. Who would take home the title of first online champion and claim the Temple of Lore FOIL Rare set?

With Xod threatening to take out 3 characters a turn, however, Ginerva pulled the trigger on Blood Beneath Your Wings with just one of the two Mass Blessings she hoped for and a massive army. But Xod had built up a few items by this point and his AC, while not astronomical, was really really high. Ginerva wasn't able to deal enough damage and King Xod with his beloved Lady, Havat-lahn Stance, and Gloves of Mercy threatened to dispense of Ginerva's army and take the game. So both players just agreed to give the win to CaptainToni (Xod) despite not completing even the first game of their best of three match. Three hours was enough to scare them out of the potential for two more games. And thus, we crown a champion! Congratulations to CaptainToni (King Xod) on becoming the winner of our first (the first?) ever Online Warlord Tournament!

• Outro

Thanks to everyone that participated - for so many things. For the sportsmanship between players, the flexibility and understanding it takes to play games between Japan, America, England, and Greece, for learning something new, and for all the enjoyable games! We've mentioned it multiple times already but we put this first event on largely to gauge community interest and work out kinks. And of course to use the opportunity to have some good clean fun in the midst of the COVID pandemic. We hope every participant's mental state was positively impacted by the extra fun activity throughout the week and we hope that everyone stays safe and protected from the virus itself and its broader effects on society. We will do this again!

Last but not least, here are your Top 8 decklists (*denotes game one starting formation):

• 1st - CaptainToni

// Characters (25):

1 King Xod*

1 Wall*

1 Tinker*

3 Profit***

3 Denali Sagebound

3 Korin Blackstone

3 Duri Earthwalker

2 Balance

2 Mentor

2 Destruction

1 Supply

1 Toren Yscar

1 Kiyarr Undying

1 Hymn of Kor

// Actions (8):

3 Meet at the Inn!

3 Loyalty's Reward

2 Well Supplied

// Items (17):

2 Drac Mail

1 Horn of Fog

1 The Cardinals' Blessing

1 Amulet of Waking

1 Bruntor's Helm

1 Collar of Damnation

1 Falter Stones

1 Havat-lahn Stance

1 Staff of Secrets

1 Breastplate of Power

1 Gloves of Mercy

1 Kringle's Armor

1 Alholland Bramble

1 Sir Tython's Shield

1 The King's Lady

1 Tome of Champions

• 2nd - IceMan

//Characters (26):

1 Ginerva of the Moon*

1 Acolyte Dorra*

1 Justinian*

2 Sidor the Avenged**

1 Genecourt Initiate*

3 Richard Key

3 Ghed Invictus

2 Ghed Vengir

2 Johan Halfblood

1 Halo of Secrets

1 Lord Joxanus

1 Toren Yscar

1 Cardinal Scelus

1 Corinne Drac

1 Mother Deiane

1 Sir Geoffrey Drac

1 The Sable Knight

1 Ghed Morak

1 Prioress Sophique

//Actions (17):

3 Cauterize

3 Mass Blessing

3 Blood Beneath Your Wings

2 Exhaustion

2 Infinity's End

2 Reflect

2 Scourge of Dythanus

//Items (3):

3 Bag of Holding

//Dungeons (6):

3 Malrog's First Test

3 Troll's Warren

• 3rd - Westley

//Characters (25):

1 Thekem Netheryn*

2 Talyn**

3 Amatria Tansiq***

3 Daedelia

3 Dex Glyn

3 The Lost Bride

3 Valanthe

3 The Cutting North Wind

2 Ciane

1 Kapix

1 Amon-Ka

//Actions (25):

3 Evoke Crisis

3 Fiery Bolt

3 Final Power

3 Back Alley Tavern

3 Incinerate

3 Heaven's Wrath

3 Teleport

2 Chain Lightning

2 Hero's Gambit

• 4th - QTP

//Characters (25):

1 Serolia Calix*

2 Rafkin the Impure**

3 Javvyn***

3 Treyik

3 Tresven

3 Bescez

3 Bis

3 Daedelia

3 Nildrach

1 Toren Yscar

//Actions (21):

3 Dragon's Hoard

3 Exhaustion

3 Meet at the Inn!

3 Clerical Blessing

3 Forewarning

3 Lift Up Your Voices

3 Wheel of Fate

//Items (1):

1 Tzin's Secret

//Dungeons (3):

3 The Bastion of Bascaron

• 5th - Kamacausey

//Characters (23)

1 Sir Lucian*

3 Rosalie*

1 Za'beth Candlebane*

3 Clerimonde**

1 Hardy Tate*

3 Brindle

3 Brother Dominy

3 Mairead

3 Rafkin

1 Toren Yscar

1 Sir Thomas of Celinar

//Actions (21):

3 Aid

3 Bandage

3 Innocence

3 Rally to the Cause

3 Sacrifice

3 Good Wife's Parry

3 Reflect

//Items (6):

3 Potion of Youth

3 Spirit Potion

• 6th - Slugman

//Characters (25):

1 Trench*

1 Hymn*

1 Lightstone Gargoyle*

3 Bastion***

3 Chain

3 Darkness

3 Drum

3 Profit

3 Talon

3 Quest

1 Toren Yscar

//Actions (22):

3 Exhaustion

3 Hero's Gambit

3 Innocence

3 Judgement Day

3 Stolen Destiny

3 Rescue

3 Advanced Planning

1 Into the Tunnels

//Items (3):

3 Limited Wish