College basketball fans aren’t the only ones who get excited
about March Madness. We in R&D
decided to get into the spirit of the brackets this week with our own Elite
Eight draft challenge. As part of our development
process, of course, we draft with the cards we are currently developing, and
this week, we continued to put set 10 through its drafting paces. We are fortunate enough to have software that
not only keeps track of every card we have ever made and are still working on,
but also can simulate an 8-man booster draft!
Isn’t technology great?!
Normally, when we draft, everyone plays everyone else with
their draft deck to get a feel for the set and how it drafts. We try and figure out where the holes for
limited play are and how to fill those gaps.
Occasionally, we even declare one drafter Myrmidon, if he is able to
beat everyone else in the draft with his deck.
And sometimes, one unfortunate soul is named Reverse-Myrmidon (or
Reversidon, for short) when they manage the embarrassing feat of losing to
everyone else in the draft. But this
time we decided to do something a little different in honor of March
Madness! We named Pat Sullivan our very
own WoW TCG Draft Tournament Commissioner, and had him create an Elite Eight
bracket to determine the 2009 WoW TCG Set 10 Draft Champion! I know, a rather prestigious title, to be
sure.
So here’s how the quarterfinal matchups broke down:
Ken ‘Kenho’ Ho (Alliance
Shaman)
Vs.
Paul ‘The Mailman’ Ross (Horde Druid)
Jeff ‘Third Most Common Name in China’
Liu (Alliance
Hunter)
Vs.
Aaron ‘Lewdawg’ Lewis (Alliance
Mage)
Andrew ‘The Wolf’ Wolf (Horde Warlock)
Vs.
Ben ‘TBS’ Seck (Horde Warlock)
Dave ‘The Hump’ Humphreys (Alliance Hunter)
Vs.
Ben ‘Big Ben’ Cichoski (Horde Warrior)
Four Horde drafters and four Alliance drafters. Looks like it’s shaping up to be an
interesting tourney. Two Hunters and two
Warlocks! Which faction and class will
end up on top? Round one action saw tournament
favorites moving on to the semifinals, as Ken Ho was able to best Paul Ross and
Jeff Liu managed to beat Aaron Lewis. On
the other side of the bracket, Andrew Wolf was barely able to squeak past Ben
Seck in a nail-biter of a mirror match, and Dave Humpherys dispatched Ben
Cichoski. Looks like there would be no
Cinderella’s at this dance. And the Alliance sent three decks
into the next round, including two Hunters.
Hmm, maybe we made Hunter too good…
So the semifinals had shaped up like this:
Ken Ho (Alliance
Shaman)
Vs.
Jeff Liu (Alliance
Hunter)
Andrew Wolf (Horde Warlock)
Vs.
Dave Humphreys (Alliance
Hunter)
In semifinal action, Ken Ho continued his strong tournament
showing, sweeping past Jeff Liu, with Feral Spirit leading the charge. But there was an upset brewing on the other
side of the bracket, as The Hump was able to take down preseason favorite The
Wolf, winning two out of three games, all hard-fought victories by the most
narrow of margins, thanks to the power of his Trophy Gatherer. So it was Ken’s Alliance Shaman vs. The
Hump’s Alliance Hunter for the title and all the marbles. Sorry, Horde lovers, maybe next year will be
your year.
Who would end up on top, and take home the title of 2009 WoW
TCG Set 10 Draft Champion? After two
grueling and hard-fought rounds, an epic battle for the ultimate title and
bragging rights failed to disappoint.
Although he put up a valiant effort, eventually Ken Ho went down in
defeat, beaten by Dave Humpherys’ Alliance Hunter, proving once and for all
(or, at least, until next year) that The Hump truly is the Draft Champion, and likely
deserving of a future spot in a Wow TCG Hall of Fame. So, until next year, there you have it, sports
fans. And good luck to you all with your
brackets!
Andrew 'The Wolf' Wolf