Thank you to everyone who joined us for an exciting weekend of tabletop gaming at the 2015 WizKids U.S. National Championships. Hundreds of players attended the events in Glen Burnie, Maryland to battle it out for the right to call themselves a WizKids U.S. National Champion and win an invitation to the World Championship, taking place in June at Origins Game Fair. With HeroClix, Dice Masters, Star Trek: Attack Wing and D&D Attack Wing tournaments taking over the Baltimore area, there was never a dull moment.
We would like to give a special shout out to our hosts from Games & Stuff. The success of these events would have never been possible without your help.
Congratulations to our new 2015 U.S. D&D Attack Wing National Champion Richard Kopacz.
To learn from the best, we interviewed the new Champ – check out what he had to say:
Name: Richard Kopacz
WES ID: Trooperrich
Location: Scotch Plains, NJ
Favorite Local Venues (for D&D Attack Wing): Highlander Games & Comics (Boonton, NJ), Comic Fusion (Flemington, NJ)
What was it like to win the 2015 D&D Attack Wing U.S. National Championship? I am very excited to be the first US National Champion for D&D Attack Wing. I have been preparing for quite a few weeks for this event. I normally don’t play for “titles” but with D&D Attack Wing I felt like this game means enough to me that I actually wanted to try and become the US National Champion. With any luck I hope to also win the Canadian National Championship and then Worlds!!!
Did you enjoy the competition? The competition was very good, especially considering that this was the first ever National D&D Attack Wing event. I don’t know if any of us knew exactly what to expect when we arrived, but it turned out be a really fun group of people. It was also nice that we had exactly 16 players because everyone was able to qualify for day two. That way there was less pressure on us all and we were able to just play a bunch of fun games. Then day two it got more serious (but still fun!) The skill level of the players was pretty high. I was very impressed with some of the builds, in fact I was genuinely scared of a few of them!
How did you come up with your winning legion and what was your main strategy? I started brainstorming ideas a few weeks before Nationals. I would make a team and then test it out against other types of teams. Once I found a solid team I would try to beat it and if I could, I would then see what could beat that team. I knew I wanted to be able to penetrate armor, thus the Adamantine Lance. For 3 points how can you go wrong?
Then add in a Hand of Fury with Challenge to make sure you can get a melee attack on anything that flies.
For my heavy hitter I spent a lot of time testing different dragons with all kinds of breath weapons (cone/line). In the end I settled on Vakka for obvious reasons, her high health, 3 armor and 2 spell slots make her a very powerful dragon. Not to mention you’re probably attacking first at level 17. I had many a test session end with a simultaneous kill, so having the highest level creature on the map when both creatures are removed is an advantage as well.
Finally, I knew if I wanted to be able to win I had to be able to take down things like Calamity (or just generic ballistas) as well as Lord Max. If you can’t beat those things you probably won’t win Nationals. My solution to the problem was Cold Breath, Disintegrate and Iron Tail Spike.
My main strategy was to ground any dragons and tear them up with my Adamantine Lance. Positioning and movement are SO important in these games. One little mistake or bad move and you’re done.
What were the legions you went up against like? Strangely enough, out of 16 players I only actually faced 6 unique builds during my 9 games over the weekend. So there were 9 builds that I never got to see or play against.
The legions I did face were all very strong. The best I think was the Vakka/Calamity build played by both the father/son team using a fortress strategy where his dragon would keep bumping calamity to stop moving. This build was FIERCE! The amount of raw damage it can throw at you was just crazy. With a 4 range on Calamity you didn’t have much of a chance to do anything before it could pummel you with six attack dice with a target and a concentrate (thanks to Vakka). Oh and did I mention Calamity had both Artillery Master AND Dwarven Precision? There was also a surprising Harper Elf Legion (the only legion used in the entire tournament) with Calamity and Nymestra that was hard to beat. I also faced double dragon teams and of course good old Lord Max.
How long have you been playing D&D Attack Wing? I have been in love with this game since it first came out and have been playing since day one.
What first brought you to the world of D&D Attack Wing? I have been a long time Wizkids customer. First with Heroclix in 2004, then Star Trek Attack Wing, but once D&D Attack Wing came out it quickly became my favorite game. As soon as I heard there was going to be a D&D version of Attack Wing I knew I was going to want to play. I love the subject matter being a long time D&D fan, both of the table top RPG but also the various computer games over the years like Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale, etc.
How often do you play, and where do you play D&D Attack Wing? I play about once or twice a month, but many more hours are spent at home testing new builds and ideas.
What is your favorite things about D&D Attack Wing? I love the fact that defeated creatures in D&D Attack Wing are not removed until the end phase. That is a huge difference from other games and I feel it makes this game more fun and fair because you usually will get a chance to retaliate before your creature is removed from the game. I also like that D&D Attack Wing is currently very well balanced. I feel like there isn’t any one build that will dominate. It’s all how you play it and how well you roll.
As a National Champion, you are pre-qualified for the D&D Attack Wing World Championship at Origins.
Are you planning on going? Yes
Any idea of what you might be playing? It totally depends on what creatures and upgrades come out between now and then.
Anything else you would like to add? Maybe the winner of Worlds can help design or create a creature/upgrade for an upcoming wave? (hint, hint)
Thanks for a great weekend!