News

(United States) West Coast Qualifier Recap

On Saturday, May 26 the West Coast Qualifier was held at the Strategicon Gateway convention located at the Hilton Hotel near the LAX Airport in Los Angeles, California. This open-invite tournament was free to participate in as long as players purchased a badge to get in to the convention (it was $35 for a 1-day badge). As an aside, we will be actively seeking feedback from players who attended this Qualifier to gauge the quality of the location, venue, time slot and overall experience to help us improve future Qualifiers. On that note, upon completion of this Qualifier we did get confirmation from the Convention Coordinator that any future Exodus TCG Organized Play events held at Strategicon will cost less for any players who wish to participate in only that single event rather than the whole convention.

10X points were awarded to all Exodus players who attended this sanctioned Qualifier event over Memorial Day Weekend. Chuck W. was the Tournament Organizer and game creator Jake M. was present as Head Judge.

Attendance was comprised mainly of Exodus players from Los Angeles, Ventura and Fresno county areas. All participants received the Entry Promo for the month of May (Tethered to Eeventide), an Exodus button-pin and a large 39" (Set 3) Crystal Forge poster. Raffles included signed Crystal Forge cards that were autographed by the artist. After all rounds finished and the prize ceremony concluded, players were surprised to also receive nine (9) different Promo cards as thanks for attending this premiere event. All Promos handed out were or are currently Monthly Promos of the latest printing. 1st-4th Place each received their invitation to compete in the 2018 Exodus TCG World Championship Tournament to be held in July. See here for that announcement.

Without further ado, let's take a look at some of the Top Decks that were played that weekend!

Deck Lists:

1st Place: Alecks H. (4 - 0)

x2 Lantern Leaflore

x2 Alana the Star Formation

x2 Emberia, Bringer of Infernos

x1 Legendary Blade Luhzarus

x1 Invoke

x2 Leech

x2 Chains

x2 Glimpse of the Sanctuary

x2 Reversion

x2 Unsummon

x2 Crystal Cove

x2 Vortex

Main Deck: 22 cards (7 creatures / 15 symmetry)

Energy Deck: 31 cards

Guild Alignment: Skyborn

2nd Place: Victor M. (3 - 1)

x2 Reversion

x2 Drifter's Dueling

x2 Cierice the Liquescent Icicle

x1 Chief Bandit

x2 Awakened Star Glacier

x2 Crystal Cove

x2 Leech

x2 Chains

x2 Starship Galacia

x2 Frostbitten Portal Cavern

x1 Unsummon

Main Deck: 20 cards (7 creatures / 13 symmetry)

Energy Deck: 20 cards

Guild Alignment: Shardveil

3rd Place: Marcus W. (3 - 1)

x2 Dawndust Paladin

x2 Dimensional Desperado

x2 Dimensional Dragon

x2 Dimensional Dust

x2 Maelstrom

x2 Vortex

x2 Energize

x2 Endowment

x2 Chains

x2 Unsummon

x2 Leech

x1 Reevaluate

x1 Bridge Bastion Dragon

x2 Carter, Champion of Cardsmithing

x1 Crystal Cove

Main Deck: 27 cards (7 creatures / 20 symmetry)

Energy Deck: 20 cards

Guild Alignment: Skyborn

4th Place: Zach C. (2 - 2)

x2 Carcery the Chemical Oddity

x2 Venus Treetrap

x1 Wishwaker Willow

x2 Lightstruck Lebanon

x1 Sparkspore Cluster

x1 Energize

x1 Endowment

x2 Reversion

x2 Crystal Cove

x2 Treeforge Complex

x2 Leech

x2 Glimpse of the Sanctuary

x2 Chains

x2 Reevaluate

x2 Vortex

x2 Unsummon

x2 Maelstrom

Main Deck: 30 cards (8 creatures / 22 symmetry)

Energy Deck: 20 cards

Guild Alignment: Treeforge

It's important to take note of the variety of decks that finished in Top 4; from Aleck's hard-hitting Rare-heavy deck to Marcus' classic Dimensional Deck, a total of 3 different Guilds were represented in the Top 4! Interestingly enough, 3 of those 4 decks were playing exactly 7 creatures, perhaps hinting at what players have found to be an ideal number in the current format?

In a game where infinite Deck Recycles means no deckout, players are constantly experimenting with the best total number of cards in their Main Deck. Most kept reasonably close to the minimum 20 cards, but many lists ran as high as 35+ cards in the Main Deck. We've definitely seen an increase in the average deck size since the release of (Set 3) Crystal Forge compared to when (Set 2) Galaxy Tides came out, when it was rare to see any Main Deck run more than 25 cards. We expect that trend to somewhat continue at least in the short-term. With the upcoming (Set 4) Converging Chasms being a booster expansion, there will be more options than ever before. It'll be interesting to see how the upcoming expansion set causes players to make tough decisions on which new cards to add to their deck versus which cards they drop from their list. (Having more cards in your deck means more ways to play, counter your opponent's moves, and ultimately win—but keeping the deck close to the minimum 20 cards greatly increases consistency and nets you Deck Recycles more often.)

When players were asked about how they decided on which deck to play at the Qualifier, the answer seemed to be a unanimous, "Play what's tried and true" when tickets to Worlds were at stake. Playing decks that were familiar helped alleviate stress during unfamiliar matchups. There was even the infamous All-Symmetry deck on the roster! Of course, decks like that and variants of Starbound/Luhzarus/Leaflore have been making the rounds all Season with tweaks and updates each month.

During event registration before the tournament began, a small selection of singles went up for sale to offer players a chance to pick up any last minute cards they needed before presenting their deck and decklist to the Organizer. Within minutes, the first card to sell out was Glimpse of the Sanctuary—multiple copies at $10 each. Glimpse was originally printed as a Promotional card in 2016 and distributed at tournaments and has since earned its spot as a staple in many decks. A slightly more vibrant printing will be released as the Monthly Promo next month in July, so be sure to get yours this time before they're gone—and keep an eye on it because its value may rise regardless of more being put into circulation depending on its performance at Worlds!

Ranking News

Events are checked at least once every day and Rankings are updated several times per week. Placements changed quite a bit, especially after 10X points were awarded from the Qualifier. Congratulations to our current Top 10 players:

1st: Alecks H.

2nd: Dave S.

3rd: Zach C.

4th: Kristopher H.

5th: Alex P.

6th: Miguel A.

7th: Luke C.

8th: Russell M.

9th: Victor M.

10th: Elly C.

Afraid you're knocked out of the running for Worlds? Never fear, there's a good chance you'll still make the cut!

While Qualifier events award loads of points to participants, those very same players who placed Top 4 in a Qualifier have already secured their Worlds invitation. Any player on the public Rankings with a "Qualified" badge next to their name has already secured their spot at Worlds by winning a Qualifier, and you can only earn a total of 1 Worlds invitation per Season. That means the Worlds invitation they would normally receive at the end-of-season points tally will be passed down to the next eligibly ranked player.

Always check your Player Profile to see what your Season Rank currently is. The Top 10 Ranked players (minus those who already have a "Qualified" badge) will also receive an invitation to compete with the best-of-the-best at the Exodus TCG World Championship!

We will be reaching out to players this month regarding invitations to the World Championship. So, if you hear from us by the end of June, be sure to let us know ASAP if you will be able to travel to Worlds this year. There will also be some awesome mail-out prizes at the end of the Season even for those who can't make it to the Championship.

There will be a strict set of Rules & Regulations utilized at Exodus Worlds, so keep your eyes and ears open for those to be announced very soon. While there is no side-deck/sideboard, finalists at Worlds ARE allowed to play a different deck if they make the cut to Day 2 (since the event is stretched out over multiple days). We hope everyone brings their A-game and we can't wait to see what decks will be seen at the Championship!

Remember, there's still time to rack up more points by playing in your local Exodus tournaments and draft events every week! Think your store deserves to host a Qualifier? Contact Us to discuss more.

— Exodus TCG Organized Play Team

Existence Games