Road to Nationals Coverage: Week Four

Chane is no doubt still the leader of the pack. The hero remains not only the most represented, but has also picked up the most first place Road to Nationals finishes over the last week. Dash, who had been really starting to put Chane in his place, seems to have cooled her jets a little over the last seven days is still floating around the top tables across the globe, but a first place finish has eluded her this week. Still a great meta choice, expect to see her popularity pick up again in the weeks to come!

Bravo has been keeping up his slow and steady metagame presence picking up a good share of victories. Being able to apply consistent pressure turn after turn with Anothos while maintaining a high life total is a fantastic way to put the hammer on Chane and at the same time, have great matchups across the board. Guardian is in a great spot right now so expect Bravo to keep the hits and the Ws coming!

Katsu is still going strong with midrange, control and aggressive strategies all picking up extended art Fyendal’s Spring Tunics over the last week. Aggro builds have slightly edged out the other two archetypes which can be accredited to their ability to play the aggro game as well as Chane, if not better, making Katsu a pillar of the Classic Constructed format once again this week.

Another hero who takes the form of multiple archetypes doing extremely well this week is Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn! Boltyn has picked up some massive momentum this week and plenty of wins to go with! The Cintari Sabers build, often centred around building a massive soul and attacking up to an overwhelming eight times a turn thanks to the help of Lumina Ascension, has gone from meme to dream, taking most of the first places finishes for the Warrior. Aggressive Raydn decks have also proven to be effective winning events and leading by example.

Rhinar, Dorinthea and Prism are in the middle of the pack at this stage of the season. All three heroes have picked up first place finishes over the last week. Rhinar’s ability to disrupt slower opponents is a great choice in more control type environments and it’s great to see the Brute being represented more each week. Dorinthea and Prism have been showing up in droves but due to a few less than 50/50 matchups for these two, their first place conversion rate isn’t as high as others. These two heroes can sometimes be in need of a little “right place, right time” phenomenon to get over the line, but remain very solid choices to bring to a Road to Nationals event near you.

Almost all of our heroes have picked up a first place finish over the last week however, not everyone can be a winner. Although Levia, Shadowborn Abomination picked up a top four finish, the first place spot still eludes her. As practice and understanding of the Shadow Brute increases, so too will her victories! Watch this space. Viserai, Kano and Azalea have a wee way to go before being considered forces to be feared this season. Don’t count them out just yet though! With a very broad range of heroes being played at Road to Nationals events and a wide open metagame, anything could happen at any moment and innovations are appearing daily!

You may also note multiple United States stores throughout this article with a larger number of no-shows. The U.S. was hit by a hurricane last weekend, and the wild weather impacted the ability to travel for many players, leaving some events smaller than expected. We hope that everyone stayed safe, and that those who did travel for their games made it home without issue!

Baseline Inc. - IL, United States

"We had 42 players registered of which 34 players show up to our Road to Nationals (possibly due to weather conditions). Katsu ended up winning the whole thing going 6-0 in Swiss rounds, and winning out the Top 8 for an impressive 9-0. The player that was running Katsu and took first place was Derek Watring. Derek knows Katsu and his list in and out, not only going undefeated at our Road to Nationals, but also went undefeated at the previous Road to Nationals he attended as well."

"We also held a raffle for a sealed case of Arcane Rising Unlimited, players were each given a free ticket upon entrance. We pulled the winning ticket at the end of Swiss rounds, and Ben Lang was our lucky winner.

When some of our players originally heard we were going to be able to hold a Road to Nationals, everyone was excited and couldn't wait. Our players quickly began thinking of what they were going to play and how to make the most out of the day. It eventually came to a conclusion that the event would not be official in their eyes unless the Judge was properly dressed for judging. So with the Judges consent our players bought a powdered wig and robe for the Judge to wear. Our judge had a great time playing the part and only had to make a few judge calls throughout the day. The players involved were all very knowledgeable about the game and the need for a judge was almost non existent."

Top 4:

1. Derek Watring - Katsu, the Wanderer
2. Ryan Wegner - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Ethan Van Sant - Levia, Shadowborn Abomination
4. Mark Garlitz - Chane, Bound by Shadow

Trinity Card Capital - United Kingdom

31 players gathered for the Road to Nationals hosted by Trinity Card Capital, with only one hero unrepresented on the battlefield. The only Viserai player of the day made it through to the top 8, alongside two Dorintheas, a Boltyn, and four Chanes. The final victor of the day, Sharif Shabaan, has been attending the store's weekly events during lockdown, but like many others, this was the first event he'd been able to attend in person; clearly leaving a strong impression with his decisive win.

Top 4:

1. Sharif Shabaan - Dorinthea Ironsong
2. Jamie Ross - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Jason Hamer - Chane, Bound by Shadow
4. Dan Tripp - Chane, Bound by Shadow

Kavdaens Market - WV, United States

"The Kavdaens Market Road to nationals was a blast with members of the community from all over the region. 36 players from 8 different states! Some players drove upwards of 7 hours to be at the event, but in the end it was the resident local from Charleston West Virginia to take the win - Christopher Shrive!"

"Don from Critical Games and Hobbies, Jim from Fabtcgcards.com, and Louie and Zach from Kitchen Table TCG were all in the venue to support players and help keep the event running smoothly.

The sportsmanship, comradery, and commitment to competition was the highlight of the event as we saw just how powerful our community can be when we do things together.

2 Side events were run as well as players played Arcane Rising and Welcome to Rathe Sealed Chaos with 2 Crucible of War Packs and battled it out in a Monarch Draft."

The Kavdaen's Market team also livestreamed the event over on the KitchenTableTCG YouTube channel.

Top 4:

1. Christopher Shreve - Chane, Bound by Shadow
2. Jey Bey - Katsu, the Wanderer
3. Nathanael Hunt - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
4. Robert Bryant - Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire

Table Top Warfare - Australia

"We hosted the Table Top Warfare leg of the Road to Nationals on August 22nd and had 24 players in attendance. The Winner of the event after top 8 cut was Alex Forndran, who was playing Chane, defeating Alvin Yeap, who was also on a Chane deck.

It was an amazing day with a great atmosphere and lots of laughs. The top end of town became very serious after the top cut with many thoughtful pauses while calculate next moves."

Top 4:

1. Alex Forndran - Chane, Bound by Shadow
2. Alvin Yeap - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Nathan Hunter - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
4. Alex McDonald - Chane, Bound by Shadow

Source Comics & Games - MN, United States

The team at Source Comics & Games hosted thirty players for their Road to Nationals event, featuring almost every class in the game.

Top 4:

1. Adam Bidler - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
2. Matthew Tickel - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Michael Berg - Katsu, the Wanderer
4. Justin Kent - Chane, Bound by Shadow

Darby's Dungeon - FL, United States

Darby's Dungeon saw their tournament kick off with thirty players this weekend, represented by a wide range of heroes from the world of Rathe.

"Bronson was the overall winner with a Bravo deck; Joseph fought well to the bitter end, but Blood Debt got him in the final rounds."

Top 4:

1. Bronson Jones - Bravo, Showstopper
2. Joseph Santianna - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Justin Hittell
4. Noah Cagle

Top Deck Keep Cards & Games - PA, United States

"After 6 rounds of Swiss, it was William Gomez as the only undefeated player with his unique Dorinthea hatchets deck. William's perfect record gave him the first seed in a Top 8 consisting of 3 Dorinthea decks, 2 Chane, 1 Bravo, 1 Boltyn, and 1 Prism. William continued his streak with a quarterfinal win over fellow Dorinthea pilot John Dinh, granting him a Nationals invite along with our other top four players: Craig Pollack on Bravo, Adam Fiffles and Chris Iaali on Chane.

William's run ended in the Semifinals though, with Craig's Bravo deck coming out on top in the grindy match-up. The Chane mirror on the other side of the bracket didn't last nearly as long, but it was just as intense with Chris winning the match with only one life left! Craig did his best to defend against the multiple attacks dished out every turn by Chris' Chane deck, but an Eclipse bringing forth Ursur, the Soul Reaper on turn 9 was enough to close out the match. Congratulations to Chris Iaali on becoming our first Road to Nationals champion with Chane!"

Top 4:

1. Chris Iaali – Chane, Bound by Shadow
2. Craig Pollack – Bravo, Showstopper
3. William Gomez – Dorinthea Ironsong
4. Adam Fiffles – Chane, Bound by Shadow

Darkhold Games - OH, United States

Darkhold Games hosted thirty players for their Road to Nationals event.

Top 4:

1. Scott McCrory - Chane, Bound by Shadow
2. Anthony Bugoci - Bravo, Showstopper
3. Brad Moore - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
4. Dan Groseclose - Katsu, the Wanderer

Mr Bill's Collectible World - WA, United States

"We had a full house showing at Mr. Bill's in Belfair Washington for Road to Nationals! 32 players strong with players showing up just in case of no shows, knowing full and well that the event was sold out to our full store capacity. Chane held the majority of the Top 8 cut and owned the entirety of the Top 4 cut. Live streaming of table 1 for Rounds 2-5 of Swiss and through the 3 rounds of finals available on our Twitch channel."

Top 4:

1. Austin Yost - Chane, Bound by Shadow
2. Nick Barreca
3. Andres Perez
4. Phillip Plew

KABOOOM - Switzerland

Kaboom's 20 player event saw an even split of two Boltyn's, two Katsu's, two Bravo's and two Prism's battle it out in the Top 8.

The final match of the day was a mirrored battle between Christopher Bizau and Ralph Schlauri, both playing Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn.

Top 4:

1. Christopher Bizau - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
2. Ralph Schlauri - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
3. Joyce Bugnard - Bravo, Showstopper
4. Matias Baumeler - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light

Most Excellent Comics & Games - CT, United States

The team at Most Excellent Comics & Games welcomed 28 players for their event,

Top 4:

1. Timothy Grant - Bravo, Showstopper
2. James Silver - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
3. Joe Colon - Chane, Bound by Shadow
4. Cody Williams - Chane, Bound by Shadow

ZZ Games - Denmark

The small but cozy Road to Nationals event saw 26 players gather at ZZ Games Taastrup, playing 11 different heroes.

Top 4:

1. Felix Larsen Stenderup - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
2. Michael Bonde - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Thomas Brygmann - Katsu, the Wanderer
4. Christian Kragelund Pedersen - Katsu, the Wanderer

The Collective: A Comic & Game Community - FL, United States

"This past Sunday was The Collective's Road to Nationals featuring 49 players battling it out to earn their spot at the National event! We were lucky enough to have all 12 adult heroes represented in some capacity.

In the end Brian Catrett as Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn was able to defeat Alexander King as Katsu, The Wanderer in the finals."

Top 4:

1. Brian Catrett - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
2. Alexander King - Katsu, the Wanderer
3. Jamie Grantham
4. Justin Graham

Golden Phoenix Games - FL, United States

Golden Phoenix Games' event saw 21 players join the battlefield, with most of the field consisting of the runeblade Chane, the illusionist Prism, the ninja Katsu, and the guardian Bravo.

Top 4:

1. Will Laystrom - Chane, Bound by Shadow
2. Alex Enslow - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
3. Aaron LeBlanc - Chane, Bound by Shadow
4. Alejandro Ziegenhirt - Katsu, the Wanderer

SideQuest - Poland

This Road to Nationals event was one of the largest of its kind to date, kicking off as part of a double event hosted alongside Centrum Gier Pegaz. SideQuest saw 92 players take to the field, with a wide array of heroes including the wizard Kano and ranger Azalea.

Top 4:

1. Piotr Krzempek - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
2. George Karampinis - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Wojciech Klimczyk - Katsu, the Wanderer
4. Jan Starek - Rhinar, Reckless Rampage

Centrum Gier Pegaz - Poland

In other half of this double header Road to Nationals event, Centrum Gier Pegaz kicked off with 92 players.

"On Saturday 21 August 2021 Centrum Gier Pegaz have organized and run Road to Nationals event. This event was part of Double Road to Nationals weekend in Bydgoszcz, Poland, that Centrum Gier Pegaz organized in partnership with SideQuest Gdańsk.

In order to host so many players in one place we have arranged a venue from Uniwersytet Kazimierz Wielkiego in Bydgoszcz, located in the very center of the city. Which was highly appreciated by many of the players arriving for the tournament. We even managed to get attention of some foreign players from Greece, Czech and Germany. However big majority of the players arrived from local Polish groups.

The event in total was played over a single day between 9am and 8pm. Thanks to many supporters we managed to secure a hefty prize pool. Beside a regular RTN prize kit we given prizes to each top hero based on Swiss standings after round 7, prize for unlucky 9th spot, prizes for 5 players placing at the end of standings, prizes for player who traveled longest to get to event, and finally a special souvenir for the winner:

The prize pool was reinforced by two individual donators – Marek Łuczak from Poland and OrganizedPlay.eu from Greece (they arrived all the way from Athens to join the event). We were also supported by Fab-Lab channel with a livestream and games recordings. Both before (Friday) and after (Monday) event weekend we held additional smaller and more casual tournaments for interested players."

Top 4:

1. Grzegorz Kowalski - Katsu, the Wanderer
2. Wiktor Woźniak - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
3. Mariusz Suchanecki - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
4. Wojciech Klimczyk - Katsu, the Wanderer

BattlegroundHK - Hong Kong

The Road to Nationals event at BattlegroundHK saw 53 players take up their weapons in the fight for a spot at Nationals.

Top 4:

1. Allen Lau - Chane, Bound by Shadow
2. Faye Lai - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Monk Chan - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
4. Tsang Chi Shan - Chane, Bound by Shadow

Distrito Zero Bilbao - Spain

Distrito Zero hosted 21 players for their Road to Nationals event, with 8 coming from the local community. They posted some additional photos to their Instagram account, and one local player wrote their own review of the event at La Biblioteca de Solana.

Top 4:

1. Enrique Escudero - Rhinar, Reckless Rampage
2. David Redondo - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Pablo Pintor - Bravo, Showstopper
4. Adrián Ruíz – Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn

Play! Hoboken - NJ, United States

Unfortunately the team at Play! Hoboken saw less than the registered 52 players for their Road to Nationals event due to the extreme weather conditions, but pressed on regardless. You'll note the name Cody Williams appearing once again in this article, pushing for another Top 4 finish with his Chane, Bound by Shadow deck.

Top 4:

1. Ryan Goldfinger - Chane, Bound by Shadow
2. Cody Williams - Chane, Bound by Shadow
3. Pheano Black - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light
4. Matt Henemyre - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light

SpielRaum GmbH - Austria

This 28 player event in Austria saw Martin Hechtberger's Ser Boltyn deck take center stage in a decisive victory for the Light, defeating the would-be winner Kano from claiming the final win of the day.

Top 4:

1. Martin Hechtberger - Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn
2. Martin Okruhlica - Kano, Dracai of Aether
3. Matúš Martinko - Katsu, the Wanderer
4. Christian Wutte - Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light