The fifth season of Skirmish is officially behind us, with over 660 events across 40 countries! We've seen what is perhaps the most diverse Blitz metagame during any season to date, with only one hero failing to get a single Top 8 appearance this season - Kavdaen, Trader of Skins, who also only had one registered player across all events!
In the final week of events, Benji, Piercing Wind won his second event of the season with Eric Lee in the United States. Of his fellow Ninjas, Ira, Crimson Haze also managed another victory with Aleksi Sorjonen in Finland, while Fai won seven events with Manuel Sanlorenzo in Spain, Abhay D Srivastava in Canada, Glenn Van Roey in Belgium, two events with Jacob Hand in the UK, and one event each with Adam Ragsdale and Thai Hershberger in the United States. Katsu didn't quite get first past the post at any events this week, leaving him as the sole Ninja without any points to his name this season.
While Prism locked in another three wins with Josef Mendez, Taotao Chu, and Patrick Weiss in the United States, unfortunately, Dromai burned herself out in the final week of events, despite making the finals with Pierre-Olivier Vallerand Beaudry in Canada, Matthew Boudreaux in the United States, and Silvia Ondiviela in Spain.
If it's Lexi you're looking for, she won one final event with Steven Liu in Australia, while fellow Ranger Azalea didn't pick up any more Living Legends points this week. Boltyn also didn't win any events, leaving him without points on the leaderboard this season, but he did achieve a finals finish this week with Jeffrey Elvigan in the United States. Dorinthea picked up five more wins with Man Hiem Cheung in the Netherlands, Sran Thongsory in Thailand, and David Kincaid, Nick Bova, and Kevin Fontan in the United States. Kassai, Cintari Sellsword also picked up five wins with Bas Aartsma in Sweden, Nicolas Kyriakou in Cyprus, Ernie Marino in Canada, and Paul Carr and Colby Delaune in the United States.
Rhinar took a massive swing this week with another eight wins to his tally, and fellow Brute Kayo, Berserker Runt won one final event with Ernie Marino in Canada. While Levia didn't win any events this week, she did make the finals of two events with 野兎 木揚 in Taiwan, and Robert Friday in Australia.
Chane secured five events with Laurens Overgaauw in the Netherlands, Ferdinand Mendoza in the Philippines, and Freddie Crespo, Andrew Lorenz, and Aneil Seetharam in the US. Briar proves that five is the lucky number of the week, winning five events with Ivan Abundan in Indonesia, Andrew Padlesky in Canada, Robert Friday in Australia, and Giovanni Scuderi and Kevin Canales in the US.
For our Guardians, Bravo won six events with Sasha Skelton in New Zealand, Simon Klein in Germany, 野兎 木揚 in Taiwan, and Suryan Bhatia, Derek Brothers, and Edward Knight in the US. Valda Brightaxe failed to rise to victory at any events, but she did make the finals of an event with Edward Joseph Batoon in the Philippines. Finally, we have Oldhim, who locked in a total of ten wins across the weekend.
After her performance in Classic Constructed at the Calling: Singapore, the younger Dash did well this week with a total of eight wins. Fellow Arcane Rising alumni Kano won four events with Gavin Wu in New Zealand, Michael Caronchia in Canada, and Adam Fiffles and Nigel Loutzenhiser in the US. Last but certainly not least, Iyslander froze out the competition for her final showing of the season, racking up 21 wins over the last weekend of events.
Congratulations to all our winners this Skirmish season! Thank you to all the stores who hosted events for their local communities, and to the tournament organizers who sent in coverage information. Thank you also to all of the players who turned out in force to embrace the spirit of Skirmish, and play in events worldwide. As we look to more coverage of the competitive scene with the Pro Tour and National Championships season, don't forget to stop by your friendly local game store to enjoy some games in the flesh and blood!
Storm Gate Games - Malaysia
"It was great to see a number of fairly new players who were willing to join an event, despite being new and having very little knowledge of the limited format. But with a little bit of help, they were able to hold up on their own. What a beautiful sight, seeing players teaching and guiding each other towards victory."
Top 4:
1st: Emil Mohamed Eusoff - Dromai
2nd: Scott Lim - Fai
3rd-4th: Mun Hong(pony) Ma
3rd-4th: Michael Cheah Khai Hoong
Game Kastle Santa Clara - United States
"17 players arrived to play Blitz including RTN and ProQuest winner Jon Ho, RTN Winner Alan Hoang, and RTN Runner-up and Battle Hardened Top 4 Taotao Chu. There was a wide spread of heroes including less often seen Levia and Kayo with Iyslander being the most represented. The sole Prism player who won the event, Taotao, forgot his usual Katsu deck at home and played the judge's (Oliver) loaner deck which was just a watered-down Classic Constructed deck that was assembled in a few minutes before the event. Watching Taotao work his magic and learning the intricacies of Prism throughout the day was quite a sight to see!"
Top 8:
1st: Taotao Chu - Prism
2nd: Jon Ho - Iyslander
3rd-4th: Dominic Dee - Iyslander
3rd-4th: Alan Hoang - Iyslander
5th-8th: Joshua Hahn - Fai
5th-8th: Suryan Bhatia - Bravo
5th-8th: Franche Tan - Kano
5th-8th: Samantha Turner - Kassai, Cintari Sellsword
Red Riot Games - Canada
"As time moves on, we have been greeted to new heroes, runeblades, ninjas, and illusionists. But something that has not changed, is the connection to the old guard. While there is a new wizard in Rathe, there is still only one Lord of Arcane, and his name is Kano!
While many players attempted to replicate the power that this hero wields. Only one could do it with ease and finesse as Michael Caronchia. There is many an argument of "who is the best wizard" however, there was only one that mattered this weekend. Winning our one-year anniversary in the same store he first stepped foot in and one of our first in-person weekly. Mike has proven that with time, his Kano only, like fine wine, gets better."
Top 8:
1st: Michael Caronchia - Kano
2nd: Victor Mercado - Kano
3rd-4th: Sacha Akow
3rd-4th: Sau Hoang
5th-8th: Brandon Bianco
5th-8th: Leon Chow
5th-8th: Jackie Chiem
5th-8th: Kelvin Lau