Week 4 of the Skirmish season just wrapped up, and it's been fantastic to see the level of support that players have shown for the series. Over our first month of Skirmish events, we've had players from all around the world throw their hat into the ring. Local game stores in Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, USA, Canada, Greece, Malaysia, Germany, Poland, Portugal and Austria have hosted players both near and far, whether online or in-person.
On top of this, we had our first week with over 2,000 players showing up for Armoury events, which is a fantastic milestone. A huge thanks to all the store owners who are putting on events each week for people to play in, and to everyone in the community putting in the effort to tune up decks and get in amongst the competition!
Channel Fireball - USA
The largest Skirmish event to date took place online on this last week, courtesy of Channel Fireball, featuring 127 players from across the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Germany, Norway, Hawaii, France, Poland, Brunei, Bulgaria, Czechia, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
The event was straight Swiss rounds, with no Top 8 playoffs, meaning that the winner had to go 7-0 on the day. As tough an ask as this is, Canada's Dante Delfico emerged from the field once again, taking top honours and his fifth Skirmish Series win so far this season.
- Dante Delfico from Canada (7 wins), playing Ira, Crimson Haze
- Joshua Lau from Hong Kong (6 wins), playing Dorinthea Ironsong
- Hayden Dale from Australia (6 wins), playing Rhinar, Reckless Rampage
- Chris Ray from the USA (6 wins), playing Dorinthea Ironsong
- Zac Lau from Singapore (6 wins), playing Ira, Crimson Haze
- Dimos Kaloupis from Canada (6 wins), playing Rhinar, Reckless Rampage
- Michael Clair from the USA (5 wins), playing Rhinar, Reckless Rampage
- Michael Caronchia from Canada (5 wins), playing Dorinthea Ironsong
The team at CFB put in a lot of effort to make this event a success, and it was great to see such a strong field and big turnout for the event!
Cat Footprints Zhongli - Taiwan
The second-largest event of the weekend was hosted by Cat Footprints in Taiwan, where an in-person Skirmish was hosted at their Zhongli store.
Johnathan Lam, who has a Road to Nationals win under his belt, and Chung Chi Wang, who came 2nd place in the Taiwan National Championship, went head-to-head in an Ira mirror match-up in the finals. After a fierce battle, Johnathan emerged victorious as the champion of Taiwan's second Skirmish event.
Top 8:
- Johnathan Lam - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Chung Chi Wang - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Limbo CFP - Ira, Crimson Haze
- SID - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Ruey-Lin Jou - Kano, Dracai of Aether
- Sie Ruei - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Zhang Yong Zhao - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Hsu Fan Keng - Ira, Crimson Haze
The Top 8 players, from left to right: Jou Ruey-lin, Zhang Yong Zhao, Johnason Lam, Wang Chung Chi (front), Limbo CFP, Sid, Fan Keng Hsu, and Sie Ruei.
Shadowrealm TCG Whangarei - NZ
Meanwhile, in the land of the long white cloud, the action was taking place in the scenic coastal town of Whangarei. Local fixture Shadowrealm hosted the tournament, with a number of players travelling up from Auckland to play, including well-known names such as Matt Rogers and Jacob Pearson fighting alongside Radio Reflex stars Iain Kenderdine and Alan Hale.
From left to right: Ethan Sih, Gary Lynch, Aaron Curtis (front), Matt Rogers, Jacob Pearson (front), Nish Nimmagadda, Calum Gittins, Iain Kenderdine.
In the end, the Ira mirror showdown between Matt Rogers and Jacob Pearson saw The Calling Auckland 2021 winner Jacob deal the final blow, and send his fellow Ira player into second place for this Skirmish.
- Jacob Pearson - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Matt Rogers - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Iain Kenderdine - Rhinar, Reckless Rampage
- Nish Nimmagadda - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Aaron Curtis - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Gary Lynch - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Calum Gittins - Dash, Inventor Extraordinaire
- Ethan Sih - Ira, Crimson Haze
Winner Jacob Pearson shows off his new Ira playmat and Kodachi tattoo
Edmonds Unplugged - USA
Our first Dorinthea winner, Adam Roach took the trophy for his third Skirmish event, in only his second time reaching the Top 8. A relative newcomer to competitive play, Adam had only previously battled in Armory Events, but this fresh win may yet prove to be only the first of many battles on his path to becoming a legend. We also had a rare top cut appearance from Katsu, the Wanderer, piloted by Jeremiah Dotter
- Adam Roach - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Mike Shipp - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Jeremiah Dotter - Katsu, the Wanderer
- Casey Malone - Ira, Crimson Haze
RC Crew Australia
The Calling $10k double alumni Nicholas Butcher joined The Calling $10k two-time winner and LSS staff member Sasha Markovic in the RC Crew Skirmish, but in an unexpected turn of events, it was two newcomers to the competitive scene who took to the stage for the final battle of the day.
Ryan Lewis Jonns brought his Ira, Crimson Haze deck to the plate, while Steven Young aimed to fight fire with fire in the form of Kano, Dracai of Aether. While both players fought bravely, it was Ryan Lewis Jonns who emerged triumphant.
- Ryan Lewis Jonns - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Steven Young - Kano, Dracai of Aether
- Nicholas Butcher - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Patrick Wang - Dorinthea Ironsong
- Roy Lai - Kano, Dracai of Aether
- Sasha Markovic - Kano, Dracai of Aether
- Lorenzo Niceta - Ira, Crimson Haze
- Harry Rumble - Ira, Crimson Haze
Top Deck Games
Across the ditch, Top Deck Games hosted their own Skirmish in sunny Melbourne, with the final showdown taking place between Andy Palermo, owner of Midian Gaming, and Luke Fletcher, finalist of The Calling $10k Auckland 2020, who is currently #2 on our lifetime XP leaderboard.
Top Deck Games ran a Welcome to Rathe sealed event, and while Luke maintained his assault as Dorinthea throughout the day Andy Palermo switched from Rhinar to his drafted Katsu deck in the finals. Ultimately, it was Luke and Dorinthea who reigned supreme, and claimed the prize.
Mighty Games - Switzerland
Switzerland saw their first Skirmish event this week, courtesy of Mighty Games. Winner Christian Franco beat French player Marc Figard in the final round, beating back the cheeky Dash Teklo with his Viserai deck.
The Week Ahead
Week 5 of the Skirmish Series will continue to feature events across the world, with Hong Kong, Singapore and Denmark all featuring their first appearances this week. In addition, there are events in the UK, the US, Australia, NZ, Taiwan, Canada, Greece, and Spain, so there'll be plenty of opportunities available for those who want to get in on the action!
North America:
- Lucky Gaming, CA, USA - March 21st
- Golden Phoenix, FL, USA - March 21st
- Atlantis Hobby, MN, USA - March 21st
- Fat Ogre, TX, USA - March 21st
- Magnolia Gaming, AL, USA - March 21st
- Gods' Arena, QC, Canada - March 22nd
Europe/UK:
- Kingdom Gaming, Northamptonshire, England - March 20th
- GenX Gaming Store, Kerasountos, Greece - March 20th
- ZZ Games, Rugvænget, Denmark - March 21st
- HeroFreaks, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain - March 27th
- Fantasy Shop, Septemvriou, Greece - March 27th
- ManaScrew, Northamptonshire, England - March 28th
Asia / Pacific:
- Cerberus Games, Wellington, New Zealand - March 20th
- Cat Footprints, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan - March 20th
- Sushi Knight Gaming, Wellington, New Zealand - March 21st
- Dragon's Lair Hobbies and Gaming, SA, Australia - March 21st
- Valkyrie Gaming, Palmerston North, New Zealand - March 27th
- Dice Jar Games, Dunedin, New Zealand - March 27th
- Good Games Central, Sydney, Australia - March 27th
- CardCellar, Tainan City, Taiwan - March 28th
- The Gamestore at Megazone, Dunedin, New Zealand - March 28th
- BattlegroundHK, Kowloon, Hong Kong - March 28th
- Agora Hobby, Singapore - March 28th
Bonus Content
The last week saw Radio Reflex's Iain Kenderdine face off against NZ National Champion Matt Rogers, pitting Rhinar against the infamous Ira at Shadowrealm Whangarei's Skirmish event - and Rhinar came out on top. When asked about the 'triumphant victory', Iain said it ultimately came down to one good turn.
His Rhinar Claws deck focuses on waiting for the right opportunity, keeping up your defenses while getting scratch damage in where you can - it may be counterintuitive to many Brute players, but Iain places his focus on setting up one big turn with Bloodrush Bellow, making use of intimidate and go again to deal as much damage as possible. He stresses that the biggest tactic against Ira is patience.
"I think the main thing for new players to remember.. don't be afraid of a person's stature. They hear who they've been matched with and think they're going to lose, and at that point they've already given up... Until you have zero life, you always have a chance of winning."
For those who are curious about Sasha Markovic's Kano deck, we've included his decklist on our website, and an image of the deck below:
