DecipherCon 2000
DecipherCon 2000 was Decipher's second company convention, held 5–8 October 2000 at the Doubletree Resort and Conference Center in Kissimmee, Florida. It hosted World Championships for Star Wars CCG, Star Trek CCG, and Young Jedi, more than 60 side tournaments, seminars, autograph sessions, and the first Decipher Olympics.[1][2][3]
The 1999 convention had been in Virginia Beach. Decipher billed 2000 as "the Whole Shebang": World Championship play, first looks at new product, and seminars inside product development.[4]
Venue and dates
- Dates: 5–8 October 2000 (Thursday–Sunday)
- Site: Doubletree Resort and Conference Center, Kissimmee, Florida (near Orlando)
- Master of ceremonies: Mark Tuttle, Decipher net representative[2][3]
World Championship constructed days for all three games ran Thursday through Saturday. Sunday held team constructed events and remaining side tournaments.[1][5]
Guests and programme
Special guests were Michonne Bourriague (Aurra Sing) and Shannon Baksa (Mara Jade). Both sat autograph tables during the weekend.[4][2]
TheForce.net's September preview listed autograph sessions, Q&As, seminars (including a card-design seminar whose output was meant for a future expansion), and the first annual Decipher Olympics: sorting competitions, card-house building, and card tosses. Charles Hickey's trip report recorded a card flung the length of the hall into a chandelier.[2][6]
Decipher had announced its The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game licence on 10 August 2000. A LOTR TCG poster hung behind Baksa's signing table in the official photographs.
World Championships
| Game | Champion | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Star Wars CCG | Matt Sokol (United States) | Yannick Lapointe (Canada) |
| Star Trek CCG | Eric Johnfauno | Brian Sykes |
| Young Jedi | Ian Vincent | Philippe Parise |
Full Star Wars results, lists, and GEMP imports are on 2000 Decipher World Championship. The constructed pool was Premiere - Death Star II.[4][7]
Wikipedia and Star Wars Insider 52 list 72 Day 1 Star Wars players. Francis K. Lalumiere, writing from the floor on 5 October, put 170 competitors in the main hall fighting for a Day 2 seat. Sokol finished 36th on Day 1, then advanced through Day 2 and Day 3.[8][3][9][10]
Day 1 started hours late. Alex Tennet wrote that Peter DiBiasio went undefeated and won that day's Swiss. Several players were disqualified for deck-list errors, among them Jonny Chu (5–2 into game 8) and Steven Lewis.[11][12]
Justin Pakes ("Juz") directed the Star Wars rooms. Twelve players reached Day 3. Lapointe led that table 8 (+47); Sokol 6 (+23) took the second Final Confrontation seat.[7][13]
Final Confrontation
The match was played in a closed room with only Sokol, Lapointe, and judges. The audience watched on a large screen in an adjacent cinema-style room. Joe Alread, Kyle Heuer, and Kendrick Summers commentated.[7][11]
Game 1. Sokol Hidden Base (X-wings / Numbers) against Lapointe Bring Him Before Me. Sokol's Light list had been turned in at 59 cards; he added Civil Disorder at registration and the deck had no Luke. Lapointe won by 20.[7][12][14]
Game 2. Sokol ISB Operations (walkers / Sandwhirl) against Lapointe's Super Falcon list. Sokol needed at least 21 Force of differential. Lapointe retrieved heavily with On The Edge / Off The Edge while Battle Order slowed Sokol's drains. An Abyssin Ornament left Sokol on 25 Life Force; Lapointe drew his last card. Combined score: Sokol 2 (+5), Lapointe 2 (−5).[7][11][14]
Insider 52 called it the United States' first Worlds title since Matt Potter in 1998. Sokol told the magazine it was the first time he had beaten Lapointe, after many games since the Ottawa Grand Slam. Lapointe kept a Yoda doll at the table as a luck-bringer.[3]
Team Albany (including Brian Terwilliger, Chris Terwilliger, Jonny Chu, Art Wright, and Aaron Kingery) built Sokol's Day 3 ISB list overnight. Sokol later won the Sunday team constructed event with the same group.[12][10]
Final Confrontation video
Decipher streamed both games from the convention site (20 kb and 80 kb RealMedia). The Player's Council later posted the recording on YouTube (1 hour 21 minutes), with the original Alread / Heuer / Summers commentary.
- DecipherCon 2000 SWCCG World Championship Final Confrontation — Yannick Lapointe vs Matt Sokol (Player's Council)
- Matt Sokol interview looking back at the match
- Original Decipher finals page (Wayback 8 February 2008), with RealMedia links and championship deck URLs
Star Wars side events
The published master schedule listed these Star Wars events besides Worlds (fees as printed):[5]
| Date | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 5 October | 12:00 | Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck ($20) |
| 5 October | 13:00 | Death Star II Sealed Booster Draft ($15) |
| 5 October | 14:00 | Race for Alderaan Constructed |
| 5 October | 17:00 | Death Star II Constructed |
| 5 October | 18:00 | Reflections Sealed Booster Draft ($20) |
| 5 October | 21:00 | Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck ($20) |
| 6 October | 09:00 | Reflections Sealed Booster Draft ($20) |
| 6 October | 12:00 | Turning of a Skywalker Constructed |
| 6 October | 14:00 | Death Star II Sealed Booster Draft ($15) |
| 6 October | 16:00 | Death Star II Constructed |
| 6 October | 18:00 | Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck ($20) |
| 6 October | 19:00 | Highlander Constructed |
| 6 October | 21:00 | Japanese Sealed Deck ($25) |
| 7 October | 10:00 | Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck ($20) |
| 7 October | 11:00 | Death Star II Constructed |
| 7 October | 12:00 | Easy Come, Easy Go Sealed Deck ($10) |
| 7 October | 14:00 | Race for Alderaan Constructed |
| 7 October | 16:00 | Death Star II Sealed Booster Draft ($15) |
| 7 October | 18:00 | Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck ($20) |
| 7 October | 20:00 | Japanese Sealed Deck ($25) |
| 8 October | 10:00 | DecipherCon Constructed Team Event |
| 8 October | 12:00 | Kibitzing Constructed |
Thursday's first-ever Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck product tournament drew 24 players in a side hall while Worlds Day 1 ran next door. Light Side dominated (Lapointe was the only Dark winner after game 1). Koen Meijssen (Holland) 8 (+69) beat Martin Akesson (Sweden) 6 (+17) in the final by 3 Force. Tournament director Jeff Weitkamp (Gold 40).[9]
Photographs
Decipher posted a JavaScript gallery of about 166 photographs from 4–8 October 2000 (`/deciphercon/2000/photos/`). Thumbnail clicks opened pop-up pages; crawlers mostly missed the full JPEGs. The Internet Archive kept eleven 400×300 originals, recovered from `http://decipher.com/deciphercon/2000/photos/pictures/{id}.jpg`.
-
The Great Tribble Hunt banner (4 October) -
Shannon Baksa signing, with a Lord of the Rings TCG poster behind the table (6 October) -
Michonne Bourriague (6 October) -
Michonne Bourriague and Shannon Baksa at the guest table (6 October) -
Main tournament hall (6 October) -
Young Jedi staff table and 30:00 clock (6 October) -
A player at the tables (7 October) -
Star Trek CCG 2000 World Champion plaque (7 October) -
Star Wars CCG 2000 World Champion plaque (7 October) -
Magazine feature "Who is Mara Jade?" on Shannon Baksa (8 October) -
Young Jedi Duel of the Fates uncut sheets (8 October)
Trip reports
Official Decipher "Zoom In" copy came from Francis K. Lalumiere, Jean-Luc Simard, Marcus Sheppard, and John Kaufeld. The Star Wars pieces are Lalumiere's Jabba's Palace Sealed report and Simard's Final Confrontation report.[15]
Player reports went up on Decktech within days:
- Matt Sokol — all three Worlds days, Team Albany, the missing Luke, and the Final Confrontation
- Yannick Lapointe — Day 3 table, Super Falcon vs Sokol, and the Final Confrontation
- Alex Tennet — UK travel, Day 1 games, DQs, and watching the final
- Charles Hickey — Endor crew, card toss, Day 1 games
- Matt Sokol interview, Trandosite, 25 October 2000 (Rod Latham / Alex Tennet)
- Decktech also carried reports from Dominic Gaudreault, Brian Terwilliger, Bastian Winkelhaus, Doug Faust, Martin Akesson, Mike Kessling, Tim Guzman, and others, indexed from the tournament-reports list under 8–15 October 2000
See also
- 2000 Decipher World Championship
- 1999 Decipher World Championship
- Championships
- List of SWCCG tournaments
- Matt Sokol · Yannick Lapointe
Sources
- DecipherCon 2000 home (Wayback 17 February 2004)
- DecipherCon 2000 schedule (Wayback 9 October 2006)
- Master tournament schedule (Wayback 13 October 2008)
- Reports index (Wayback 16 November 2000)
- Jean-Luc Simard, Final Confrontation (Wayback 17 November 2000)
- Francis K. Lalumiere, Jabba's Palace Sealed (Wayback 7 January 2001)
- Championship finals videos (Wayback 8 February 2008)
- Photo gallery (Wayback 24 January 2001)
- Wayback calendar for gallery JPEGs
- TheForce.net preview (5 September 2000)
- Final Confrontation, Player's Council YouTube
- Matt Sokol Decktech report
- Yannick Lapointe Decktech report
- Alex Tennet Decktech report
- Matt Sokol interview, Trandosite
- Wikipedia World Champions table
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 DecipherCon 2000 schedule, Decipher (Wayback 9 October 2006)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Decipher Update: DecipherCon 2000, TheForce.net (5 September 2000)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Star Wars Insider 52 (2000), "It's a CCG TKO When Star Wars Fans Compete at DecipherCon 2000"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 DecipherCon 2000, Decipher (Wayback 17 February 2004)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 DecipherCon master tournament schedule, Decipher (Wayback 13 October 2008)
- ↑ mr-hickey-goes-to-florida, Charles "Teacher" Hickey, Decktech (14 October 2000)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Matt Sokol, 2000 Star Wars CCG World Champion!, Jean-Luc Simard, Decipher (Wayback 17 November 2000)
- ↑ Star Wars Customizable Card Game, Wikipedia
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mighty Jabba Sails Across the Atlantic, Francis K. Lalumiere, Decipher (Wayback 7 January 2001)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Matt Sokol interview, Trandosite (25 October 2000)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 deciphercon-2000-juz-beer-and-cards, Alex "Greedo" Tennet, Decktech (13 October 2000)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 sokols-dcon-2000-report, Matt Sokol, Decktech (11 October 2000)
- ↑ DecipherCon 2000 Day 3, Decipher (Wayback 3 March 2001)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 world-day-3-whos-the-man-not-me, Yannick "Crusher" Lapointe, Decktech (11 October 2000)
- ↑ DecipherCon 2000 reports, Decipher (Wayback 16 November 2000)