My team "Boondocks" took second place this past
weekend at the December Laser Storm regional at Jester's Court. First
place went to "Oblivious" from Pittsburgh.

It was a decent tournament, with 6 teams we were able to take
our time and still get done before 4am. We did make the mistake of setting
up the arena the night before the tournament, this is always a bad idea, and it
would come around to bite us in the ass. When the players came in to look
at the arena after the captain's meeting, they found 3 barriers we had one one
side but not the other. This was fixable, but it is amazing that we missed
so many in a 2,000 sq foot arena.

The real issue didn't show itself until later when Justin
(Pittsburgh) pointed out a barrier that was one grid length off from the other
side. This one barrier space created a "god" spot that was
really able to effect the game play. We knew better than to change the
arena so late, but we really didn't have any other choice as most of us are very
busy most of the time.

Oddly enough, the green side had the advantage, and we
only got to play on that side once. That is the time we beat
"Oblivious" by 45 points, (30 player hits, 3 pod hits). All of
our other games were played on the red team. The games we lost to
"Oblivious" were by 8 points and by 11 points.

All the teams played really well, and "I Love
Lamp" was able to celebrate a victory. Our second team "FauxOblivion"
was able to not only stay in the game, but almost beat
"Oblivious". Hopefully they will stick together to make a good
showing at Skate Zone in January.

 

Our fledgling brother region to the east has a successful
weekend with their first tournament gathering. It was a 3 on 3 held a
little late in the hopes of generating some interest for a full 5 on 5 on
January 7th. People who never traveled before, traveled, and I hear there
were some really good games played. The event seemed to have really paid
off as teams are now coming together for the tournament. The big question
remains, are they ready for a traveling team from the Great Lakes region?

I am not sure what the format will be, 5.x, 3.1, divided,
open... But they will probably use their own set of rules as they refuse
to use the National standard. This is fine as we shouldn't have any
problem adapting, but it may bite them in the ass if some of the new players
decide they want to come to Nationals.

Nationals being in Pittsburgh this year is not that bad of a
trek for these guys, and with a successful region, they have a very good chance
of being able to host Nationals the following year, that is, if they show up.

January 7th is just a month away, and I will be just getting
back from Texas the weekend before, so I am not 100% sure I can make it.
But there is a good chance. Will we take a full team, will
Pittsburgh? Or will we take one combined team? Perhaps our
Armageddon friends from Baltimore will show up?

And why did I blog with with an old ass picture of Nathan? Well it was the only picture I had of him and I don't have anything else to represent their new region. And for the people just playing with him for the first time, they can see him fron years ago when they first came to our region.