We had 47 players show up for this year's Titanic Rumble Royale (with cheese). This year we went with the five highest total scores from the three preliminary games advancing to the final, with place as a tie-breaker. One particular player would have made it to the finals if it had been the other way around, but instead placed 11th. Because of this, I am seriously considering switching it around for next year, and I would appreciate anyone's comments about this.

In the 23 games where such statistics were kept, I was able to come up with some interesting facts concerning eliminations. By far the most hated character was the Warlock, who only survived three games, was eliminated eight times in the first round, and, just to be sure, another eight times in the fourth round. The most cherished combatant was the Hydra, who survived 15 games, and was the only creature to never be eliminated in the first round. A weird fact of note is the Cyclops, who was only eliminated six times in the 1st and 2nd rounds, but a whopping nine times in the third. For as much effort as people put into killing off the Titan in the first two rounds (11 times between the two), he still managed to survive seven times.

The final was played by Brenden Coomes, Rob Brode, Josh Campbell, Chris Greenfield, and Gerald Leintz. Things were pretty easy the first round, with everyone making secret bets, and no one betting on the Unicorn, which died predictably. However, with all other combatants having bets on them, someone was going to have to lose some points in the second round. It turned out to be Josh, whose Cyclops bit the dust. This left two players, Brenden and Rob with two surviving 1st round bets as they entered the 3rd round. The other players noticed this, as Brenden's Titan died. Unfortunately, this was also Chris' Titan, as he had the 2nd- and 3rd-round bets on it. In the 4th round, everyone's attention was focused on Rob, who still had two surviving 1st-round bets, and this led to the demise of the Warlock, which was also Josh's 2nd-round bet. This left four creatures, each with a first round bet by a different player. It wasn't long before the Ranger was killed, leaving Dragon, Hydra, and Troll. Brenden won with 14 points by virtue of not only backing the Hydra, but shrewdly placing a secret bet on the Troll. Gerald ended up with 11, also because he had a secret bet on the Troll. Then Josh, whose secret bet on the Hydra helped him get 10 points. Chris backed a survivor, the Troll, but unfortunately made his secret bet on the Titan, taking him out of the running with 7 points. And Rob got ganged up on in the last two rounds, removing all of his bets, including his secret one on the Ranger, to net him 0 points for his efforts.

I'd like to thank each and every player for showing up and making this event what it is. I hope to see you all next year. Also, please, if you have any constructive suggestions on how to make next year's tournament better, please email me.