First and most importantly - Mike, you ran an amazing event! Great venue, easy to get to, super cheap by New York standards, and the event ran without a hitch. Definitely glad you made the pairing process 30 minutes, as even with the extra 15 minutes there were *plenty* of games that didn't finish.
Second, re: Clubs and National Teams. We played by the rules of the event - show up with 5 people, play 5 rounds, see what happens. If the idea was National Teams, like an ETC, you would have likely had the same 5 of us there.
There is this unfair notion going about that we aren't a "club," that we formed this team off of the rankings etc., and that's all I'm seeking to correct here. Yes, we are highly ranked in the USA Malifaux Rankings (which truth be told are pretty shoddily maintained and missing lots of data ). But we're also a Club. Is it so hard to believe that people in the same very-competitive Club are also highly ranked? We've been friends since 2005. Since ETC 2013 in Serbia, when we all were able to finally attend an ETC together, we've been playing almost exclusively together at all team tournamnets and national events. We then went back to Serbia for ETC 2014, and I captain'd the 2015 team but Alex and Travis took a year off after years of ETC burnout. We've only ever played with each other for Bragging Rights 4-man events, generally splintering off with the others in our Club that didn't attend ITC. For the Malifaux UTS, we did a draft with 12 of the members of our Club to form the 3 teams. The definition of "Club" in the UK quite clearly means something different than it does here, and I'm certain geography has a great deal to do with that, but as a New Yorker, I've gone through several gaming stores through the years. I've had friends I wargamed with for 15 years leave New York for reasons unrelated to Malifaux. Does that mean they aren't my Club mates anymore? Hengl's entire former WHFB club went to AoS, leaving him to game alone when it comes to Malifaux. Does that mean they're his Club? Is there a rule that he can't be a part of a Club that exists on the East Coast? When we went to CaptainCon in February, basically the entirety of our Club made the Top 8 cut to Day 2. We spend all of our 2-day events together. We talk to each other daily in our club Facebook Messenger chat. I talk to these guys more than anyone else on Earth.
Maybe the UK could have had a few stronger unified teams - no one is disputing that. But Poland sent some of their top ranked players all in one team, and they even merc'd someone who wasn't Polish, and no one seems to care. I know our team didn't care at all, they were great opponents and more importantly, great sports, but for some reason since the end of Saturday we've been hit with this "Super Team" moniker, as if it somehow diminishes anything that we did, and the other teams that took highly ranked players escape the same scrutiny.
Define it how you want to paint the picture that you want - just know that you're wrong. Ask the Admins on AWP. Look at our Facebook photos and posts. It's easy to see who is with who, regardless of any geographical distance, and I'm sorry but trying to knock what my teammates did this weekend just comes off as sour grapes. Perhaps most importantly, there wasn't a single rules complaint or sportsmanship issue with ANYONE on Team Trump Card. Not one. We were visitors in the UK, we had a great time, and we were respectful. Just tip your caps, say congrats, and gear up to win the trophy next year.
- Larry