It’s been an incredible year for big money tournament gaming, and the ambitious launch of Dreamblade was a big part of the excitement. The regular 10K/1K/Edge tournament structure rewarded both consistent local play as well as traveling to the big events, and players who did either or both with any consistency are now invited to the year’s biggest event: the 50K Dream Series Championship.
The 50K is being held at Gen Con Indy on August 18–19 and features 12 rounds of mixed constructed and draft play in the most grueling format to date. The format tests a variety of skills, as well as rewards practice, knowledge of the game’s rules and miniatures, and simple endurance and concentration. A little luck isn’t going to hurt either, as players fight their way through hundreds of opponents in what will be the largest field since the game’s release.
That field is invitation-only and is composed of most of the 416 players who received invitations after compiling at least 1,000 points over the course of the season. (Martin Vanasse, player #416, squeaked in at 1,002 points…go Edge!) Add in a lucky few who win Last Chance Qualifiers at Gencon in the days before the tournament and you’ve got the deepest, most talented field of Dreamblade competitors ever assembled.
The tournament invitation list can be found here.
The tournament fact sheet can be found here.
One might think that the split draft-constructed format would level the playing field a bit for folks without the time or skill to create a top-tier warband for the tournament, but history shows us that the sealed 10Ks were won by some of the game’s top players. No, the format isn’t going to bail anyone out. Drafting from all three sets is exciting and fun, and it’s difficult to end up with an awful pool of miniatures because you get to choose how you assemble your band. Of course, those with experience are going to be able to make better choices. I’ve participated in more than 40 drafts since May, and there are definitely right and wrong choices to be made. Who knows who could play spoiler, though, and with a draft anything can happen!
The constructed part of the tournament offers us much more of a chance to look forward, though, as we can sift through the championship warbands that have come before to find a hint for what might be crowned as the ultimate Dreamblade warband. It’s a virtual certainty that we’ll see hundreds of unique designs as every player wants to have had a hand in building the warband that wins it all. Along those lines, let’s take a look back at the warbands that won the major events this season, as well as those that made a big splash but never managed to win.
Coming off his win at the 20K Release Championship, Sam Black proves that it wasn’t a fluke by riffing off John Siadak’s Chessmaster design in order to build this powerhouse band. His design would quickly become the standard build for this type of warband.
Although he never won a 10K, Carl played this warband for all it was worth in a field dominated by Chessmaster, making two consecutive Top 8s and defining and archetype.
Robert Hatch shows a glimpse of the design brilliance that will carry him to the #2 rating and a total of three 10K trophies. Passion of the Reapers utilized the until-then ignored Heartsblood Temple to power out bigger and better creatures than his opponent, turn after turn.
Nicolas Pilartz crosses the ocean to literally come out of nowhere and win the 10K at Gencon SoCal with this bizarre mix of creatures. What’s more, he did it without using the Kitsune, a piece that would become an almost automatic play in the next month.
Chris McCreath makes it two in a row for unknown players, and once again he slices through the Kitsune using Temple Goodstuff. Kitsune warbands made up all seven of the other Top 8 warbands at the tournament.
Note that Kitsune is no longer tournament legal, and that most of the top players were running Kitsune variants throughout November and December. I chose Justin’s because it was the most successful variant after the most time had elapsed.
In the first post-Kitsune 10K, Elliot Ortiz brings this powerful and versatile mix of pieces all the way to a trophy, beating U.K. player Steven Marshall in the finals of the cosmopolitan tournament in New York City.
Robert Hatch bookends his season with another constructed win using what is considered by many to be the most dominant warband in play that weekend. His double-Blademiller, double Hunter-Killer core is still popular with many players and is sure to feature prominently at the 50K.
Another popular archetype that’s sure to make an appearance at Gencon, this Hellbred/Unwishing Well combination helped Charles Baker to get to his team’s first finals appearance.
Jeremy Maiden defends his home turf and brings an old favorite back into the spotlight. Players were using Carrion Spiker mono-Fear builds as far back as base set, but with a few tweaks Jeremy has brought it into 2007 and made it a clear contender for the Dream Series Championship.
Christophe Tutier showed us that Unwishing Wells didn’t need a Crypt Worm to do all their dirty work, instead utilizing the power of Madness to keep the board clear of enemy creatures.
Thus ends our trip through the history of constructed warband greatness, and no doubt there are bands that got left off that will influence designers going into the 50K, but hey, I can’t spoil *all* the surprises, now can I?
If you’re going to be competing in the 50K, I hope you’ll stop by and say hi as I rush around doing coverage of the event for the Website. If you aren’t able to play, then I’ll see you online that weekend as I bring you blow-by-blow coverage of the tournament, the competitors, and the event that is the culminating event in this season of Dreamblade play: the 50K Dream Series Championship.
Looking Back
As we look forward to the competition, I thought it might also be fun to look back at the year that was Dreamblade’s inaugural tournament season.
7,000 BC–2006 AD: The world awaits the design of Dreamblade.
2006
March: Dreamblade is given its first public appearance at the GAMA Trade Show, where Boneblade Serpent (collector number P1) minis are given out as promos. The first promo t-shirt appears here as well, it is black with the four aspect symbols on the back. The first articles appear on dreamblademinis.com, featuring a basic introduction to the game and the first of the Behind the Mini series.
April: A call for writers goes out on dreamblademinis.com that finds John Siadak landing a spot on the roster, and the community on the message boards starts to really jell. Early adopters compile spoilers of all previewed minis, one at a time, from photographs in magazines, online sneak peaks, and live sources from conventions where the game is being demoed.
May: The first VASSAL mod appears utilizing the spoiler list from a miniatures fan site, allowing players to meet and play online before the game is even released. Some players print their own cardstock minis and play on hand-drawn battlemats. A Virtual Starter set appears on the website that people can download, print, and use to learn the game.
The first batch of Organized Play information is released by Wizards of the Coast, including the Tournament Floor Rules, Invitational Policy, and the fact sheets, formats, and prize structures for the Dream Series, 1K, and Edge tournaments.
June: A Virtual Booster follows the starter, giving us seven more minis to add to the spoiler list and to start using online.
Several online communities begin to form for discussion of the game, and online play of the game starts to flourish around a core set of early adopters. John Siadak, myself, Brad Shugg, Amy Lehuta, and even an incognito Mike Donais (VASSAL name: Baxar) can be found playing online at all times of the day and night. Nascent strategies begin to emerge, and the talk is all about the power of the Fleshless Reaper. In the meantime, information on the 1K and 10K tournaments pops up on the website.
A big event in Seattle known as Dreamblade Day takes place. Invitees include several well-known players from other WotC games as well as retailers and media. All are treated to extended play of the game, a tour of Seattle and the WotC offices, and a presentation and meet-and-greet with the game’s designers and support staff. The promotion really ramps up excitement throughout the community as players discuss their experiences on the message boards.
The game is also demoed in Charleston, SC at the Magic Pro Tour Teams and Duel Masters Continental Championship events. This is part of an outreach program to evangelize the game to tournament gamers currently focusing on other games.
The Dreamblade trophy is displayed at Wizard World East in Philadelphia.
Delegates receive their demo packages in the mail, and a select group of “elite gamers” also get demo kits to spread the word. Starters and boosters appear on Ebay almost immediately.
The first Dreamblade Judge tests appear on the DCI Website. Retail stores receive applications for Edge events and sanctioning, and the Dream Series and 1K schedules are posted.
July: The first articles by the four writers selected to write for dreamblademinis.com start to appear. Each writer was given an aspect to cover: Fear (John Siadak), Madness (Warren Tusk), Passion (Lance Hawvermale), and Valor (Ron Vitale). Tusk gives us Crazy Uncle Gene (Book of Nothing), while Siadak posts an insightful article about Appease and hints at a Valor/Fear Corpsebuilt warband that’s not much different from the ones we’ll be seeing at the 50K. The Cathedral of Thorns fiction by Robin Laws begins, and the entire set of miniatures is spoiled by WotC a month in advance of the game’s release!
Meanwhile, Delegates and retail stores around the country run demos and build grassroots network of players utilizing WotC’s incredible marketing and cash tournament structure to lure players to the game. Online play and strategy discussions reach critical mass with the full spoiler’s release, as players who would soon be teammates and competitors work together to figure out the new game. The Fleshless Reaper still dominates strategy discussions, although Scarab Warcharm has been identified by early adopters as the piece to have. The ability to come back from just about any deficit, which is seen as a (sometimes frustrating) big plus, is cited as one of the game’s most brilliant designs.
Wizards launches an online demo and gives out four $1,000 prizes to random fans who try out the demo. The Dreamblade trophy is once again on display, this time at San Diego ComicCon.
August: The big month is here! A series of articles on sealed play hits the website so that people can tune their sealed strategies for the big release tournament at Gencon. Perhaps the most influential article in the history of the game is released a week before Gencon: John Siadak’s Chessmaster. His Valor/Fear warband concept would dominate the metagame for months. The game is demoed and the trophy displayed at Wizard World Chicago.
Gencon arrives and the game is everywhere. The report from Gen Con is that the game is being demoed late into the evening every night, with all available hands teaching new players how to play. One shop already has singles for sale, with Scarab Warcharm going for $15, to be eclipsed by such notable powerhouses as Axemorph Demon and Night Queen. The Wizards booth is handing out promo miniatures and a green Dreamblade shirt with Madness art on the back.
On Saturday, 436 entrants gathered in the miniatures hall to take part in the 20K Release Championship. Some are lured by the promo shirt (black with Madness art on the back) and half-price miniatures and drop after a couple of rounds, but hundreds stay until the final bell rings at around midnight. Players that don’t make the Top 8 cut bring their constructed warbands to the first $1k on Sunday. Ben Stoll wins the event, as Sam Black is busy winning the $20K. Judges receive a gray promo shirt with the four aspects on the back.
In order to encourage retail sales at brick and mortar stores, Wizards distributes six pre-sale promo figures: P2 Hellshrieker, P3 Dreamstuff Entity, P4 Jack Of Blades, P5 Knight Of Autumn Gate, P6 Blind Spikemauler, P7 Hive Pincer. These are also handed out at Gencon and other conventions where the game is being demoed.
September: 1K and Edge tournaments spread like wildfire across the country with attendance encouragingly high in many places. The first repainted promo figure is given to Edge tournament winners: P9 Loyal Scragglemaw. A new repaint would be given out each month at Edge events. The first 10K tournament at Dragoncon in Atlanta follows hot on the heels of the 20K, giving players a chance to showcase their constructed prowess at a game that was still very new. Sam Black comes out on top again with his Chessmaster variant, although Carl Reddish posts several impressive finishes with his Brighthammer Beats warband. Players receive the 10K promo shirt, which is black and features the Lunar Handmaiden on the back.
Just as the metagame is heating up, the first Omens appear on the Website, previewing pieces from the first expansion, Baxar’s War.
October: Sam Black gives us the first thorough walkthrough of a championship warband, providing the community an incredible look into the deep strategies of the game. Robert Hatch unveils his innovative Passion of the Reapers warband at the Chicago 10K, and in one blow spells the end of the Chessmaster era. Spawn acceleration is now seen as the dominant archetype, although many people will continue to use Chessmaster until the release of Baxar’s War opens up the game even further.
Dreamblade’s first team, the Dreaming Dragons, is formed. The formidable force includes several of the top Dreamblade players in the world, including John Siadak, Robert Hatch, and Jesse Dean.
Edge Repaint: P10, All-Seeing Mage.
November: As the Baxar’s War meta goes into full swing so does Dreamblade promotion. Wizards releases new promo minis at conventions and retail stores across the country. By visiting them at conventions or pre-ordering from brick and mortar stores, players can get their hands on P13 Butcher, P14 Nevret Warmaster, and P15 Bloodcut Behemoth. In addition, there are two 10K tournaments this month: the first at Gen Con SoCal, and the other in the home of Dreamblade, Seattle. Players in Seattle are treated to designer meet-and-greets, and some even get a tour of the Wizards of the Coast facilities! The first international Dreamblade champion, Nicolas Pilartz, wins the Gencon event, while Chris McCreath, an unknown player up until then, plows through the most talent-laden Top 8 field in the game’s history to take the Seattle trophy.
The Dreaming Dragons help to popularize the Kitsune warband that makes up 11 of the 16 warbands making Top 8 at a 10K this month. The Kitsune’s Attract Bloodcut spawn ability causes spawn phases to outlast action phases and cause a record number of games to time at Gen Con So Cal. Even the top players acknowledge that something is wrong when they’re all playing the same warband.
Edge Repaint: P8 Faceless Stalker.
December: Several exciting developments occur this month, including the announcement of a Limited format tournament structure for the release of Chrysotic Plague. Even more exciting, first and second prizes at these tournaments will be P11, a repainted Scarab Warcharm! These little Valor bombs are going for up to $80 on the open market, so excitement is high at the chance to take one home for free.
Of course, Kitsune is still the talk of the town, and has drive prices on Valor pieces like Clawclan Scout and Brighthammer Avenger through the roof. Kitsune and Clawclan Scout, both Uncommons, are regularly topping $10 on the secondary market. Some players start to grumble that the game is being overshadowed by this piece and its dominance of the game.
The first European 1Ks are held in Spain and Germany, with Jose Vivo taking it home in the former and Thomas Hofmann winning the latter.
In response to the success of the Dreaming Dragons, several other teams are formed around the country. The two most successful of these are the Redcap Council and Dream Elysium, each of which features Top 10 players.
Omens for Chrysotic Plague begin.
Edge Repaint: P17, Raging Vanguard, which is a Bloodcut and is featured in some Kitsune bands.
2007
January: Chrysotic Plague kicks off with a bang at the Sealed 10K in Orlando, featuring 12-year-old phenom Brayden Efseroff in the finals against Robert Hatch, who wins his unprecedented second Dreamblade trophy. “Warcharm tournaments” are held across the country, and suddenly a lot more players have their hands on the coveted piece. Chrysotic Plague turns out to be a great sealed set, but players wonder if anything in it can unseat the Kitsune in constructed play. Still, a month of sealed events acts as a pressure valve to release growing tension over the dominance of the Kitsune and the still-pricey Warcharm.
Demo teams receive their 2007 promo shirts, black with Queen Chrysota on the back.
Edge Repaint: P18, Decapitrix.
February: Wizards starts off February with a bang, announcing on the first day of the month that Kitsune has been banned from tournament play. Players react with enthusiasm at the change and the suddenly wide open metagame that can now use pieces from Chrysotic Plague. Even the top players, most of whom felt that Kitsune significantly increased their chances at major events, say that it’s a good decision.
Of course, they now have a scant few weeks to put together new warbands for the New York 10K, leading many to fall back on old favorites spiced up by new tech. The Aviax Firebrand is the story of the tournament, with players using him to move around Fleshless Reaper and Unsated Ragedrake. In a repeat of Seattle, however, a relative unknown, Elliot Ortiz, cuts through the top players with a unique Temple-powered warband to take the trophy.
A change is noted in the Dream Series: there will be one less 10K event than originally planned, but they are adding 10 1K tournaments a month to compensate. Players and tournament organizers are excited by the change.
Edge Repaint: P16, Lady of the Fang.
March: Wizards of the Coast announces that their initial plans to increase 1Ks could not be sustained due to low turnouts, and that they were focusing tournaments in areas that had large, consistent player bases. Meanwhile tournaments continue across the country, and an unprecedented level of diversity is seen in top-level warbands. Although tournaments are being cut, promotion is still in full swing as Wizards debuts three new convention/retail promo pieces: P19 Mujina, P20 Freakazoid, and P21 Beetleback Mass.
The first Anvilborn miniatures are previewed on the Website.
Edge Repaint: P22, Infernal Preacher. It is heralded as the most useful repaint yet.
April: The race for DCI points is in full swing as summer approaches and the last big wave of 1K tournaments begins across the country. Sam Black and Robert Hatch are far and away the leaders, and are so close in points that neither can hold onto the top spot for more than a couple of weeks at a time. The 10K in Kansas City at the end of the month looks to be the first of two very important events that may determine who comes out on top. It is a sealed event to celebrate the release of Anvilborn, but neither player wins it. Instead, the Frenchman Nicolas Pilartz is back on American soil to capture his second Dreamblade trophy, tying him for the most 10K wins with Robert Hatch.
Edge Repaint: P23, Canis Horribilis.
May: The release of Anvilborn injects new life into the game, as several metagame-defining pieces are found in the set. Unfortunately for warband designers, the first constructed 10K comes only a week after the release tournament in Kansas City, so time is tight to find the winning combinations. At that 10K in Hartford, Robert Hatch once again proves his analytical prowess by piloting his Barag Barrage to victory, and his third 10K trophy. He credits his superior warband for the victory, and it looks like he’s cornered the meta once again. Designers are skeptical, however, and find that Anvilborn has once again thrown the meta wide open. Hellbred, Unwishing Wells, and the ever-present Temple Goodstuff all perform well against Barag Barrage after its initial dominance.
Top players begin to produce articles at a fast pace, giving their own take on the state of the game and what to look forward to over the summer as the Dream Series Championship approaches. With only one major tournament left, in England, the format is fixed and now the only thing players are worried about is finding the warband that will take them to victory at Gen Con. Most of the testing being done is playing with variations on the four dominant archetypes mentioned earlier.
Online play jumps to new levels as Robert Hatch delivers a way to simulate the Dream Series Championship format for drafts. Top players can be found online night and day practicing draft and tuning their constructed warbands against one another.
Edge Repaint: P24, Crazed Maenad.
June: The final 10K of the season takes place in Manchester, U.K. Despite the presence of several Top 10 players from America, the Brits hold serve by crowning Jeremy Maiden the champion. Interest is high to see what warbands are being played as this is the last glimpse at the metagame before Gen Con. A surprising new archetype emerges at the tournament, Corpsebuilt, which seems to have what it takes against all of the current warbands. It seems that rather than there being a dominant warband choice, skill with whichever warband a player chooses is the most important factor in success at the game.
The schedule of events for Gen Con is released, and includes a surprise: a Night Fusion pre-release event, a month before the set releases! Speculation is rampant about the new set, which features dream lords as well as dual-aspect creatures.
Summer conventions unveil three new promos: P25 Elite Gladiator, P26 Nosferatix, and P27 Mantlet!
Edge Repaint: P27, Infernal Bomber.
July: With only a month to go until the Dream Series Championship, Wizards announces a reduction in the Organized Play program for next season. Edge tournaments will continue to be supported, but the 1K and 10K tournaments will not. At first the community does not take the news well, but a groundswell of grassroots support emerges and plans are made for player-run tournaments in order to keep the money tournament scene alive.
The first previews for Night Fusion hit the Website.
Online play continues to grow as scores of players draft and tune in preparation for next month’s Championship. Final information on the 50K Championship is released as the season ends on the 12th, and the official invitation list is posted a week later. Sam Black has won his battle with Robert Hatch and goes into the 50K as the #1 rated Dreamblade player in the world!
Edge Repaint: P29, Omen Locust.
End of Year Kudos
I’d like to thank Gordon Kane for his many contributions to this article, and the players, designers, event staff, and judges for making this an incredible year of gaming and fellowship. Robert Mull, Jeff Vondruska, Reid Schmadeka, and Toby Maheras are one of the best teams with whom I’ve had the pleasure to work. Special thanks to Ross Richey for roping me into the game; his enthusiasm and early work on proxies are the reason I’ve had such a wonderful time over the past 18 months.
See you all at the 50K, or on the message boards, and until then keep dreaming the good dream!
