Brad Raszewski loses to Dave Meyaard 99-66 in the semifinals ....	... while Tim Keating loses 187-138 to the defending champ.

2012 brought interesting new wrinkles to our event history, such as a new location, a smaller but potent demo gathering, a remarkable increase in attendance, and (spoiler alert) our first successful title defense. We spent all of our time in the Heritage room, having been vacated this year by the erstwhile perennial tenants - the Juniors. Heard nothing but favorable reviews for the new venue, even though the overflow crowd had to forage for playing space elsewhere. Only two persons attended the demo, but, with the addition of another family member, they played nine games during the four heats and one of them, Thomas Tu, advanced to the elimination rounds. Our attendance soared beyond the former highwater mark, breaking through the 200 glass ceiling. While your GM was basking in the light of this turnout, someone introduced doubt by remarking about refugees from the debacles in Lampeter and the open gaming areas, but our side chooses to doubt this possibility ... or redoubt this? Anyhow, here is the tale of the tape. The first heat drew a record 67 pairs, while the numbers recorded for the remaining three heats were 59, 58 and 40 pairs, respectively. 31 attended all four heats; 40 others participated in three heats. William Hoch had the high score of 313 (and only score above 300) and joined David Gagne, Isaac Clizbe, Shannon Keating and Thomas Tu as the only players to score over 200 in two games. Mr. Tu also earned the Monster Mash Award with a margin of victory in one game of 244. Steve Lollis and Yoni Weiss won all four heats. 23 others won three heats and 34 won at least two. Notable preliminary slugfests: Natasha Metzger amassed 273 to best James Gilmore 268, yielding the highest cumulative score of 541 and the only score over 500. I would probably suffer permanent shock and awe if I ever scored 268 points and lost. Seven other pairs posted cumulative scores above 400, but no individual player has yet to score 400 or more points in a single game. The closest contests were 1-point wins by Doug Gallulo's 118 topping Nels Thompson, Cathy Raymond's 99 edging Chris Lefevre, and Rod Davidson's 93 over Andrew Emerick. Matthew Beach's 46 over Bryan Berkenstock's 35 was our showcase defensive game. At 107 apiece, Rob Flowers and Gino Sinigaglio obliged us with the only tie game, rectified by a fourth hand, which generated a convincing 3-point shellacking. 2005 champion Chris Entwistle managed to score 122 points for ONE expedition. As you know, 156 is the most points that can be scored per expedition. Which card was he missing?

Entering single elimination play, 24 of the 32 qualifiers had three or more wins. The remaining eight qualifiers and six alternates had at least two wins as well as a pool of 20 additional players from which more alternates would have been taken as needed. Three alternates were needed to fill the bracket. At this point, a word of thanks to one of the qualifiers, Rob Brode, and one of the high alternates, Nick Henning, for giving advance notice that they would not be able to continue. This simple courtesy adds immensely to the overall enjoyment of the event for all concerned. Of our ten former champions, only the reigning champ, Eric Hufford, qualified. After three rounds, Hufford, David Meyaard, Brad Raszewski and Tim Keating advanced to the semis. Tim and David had qualified as alternates. Lost Cities used to be David's team game; would he rue the change this day? Eric blew open a tight game with Tim, by scoring 106 for the third hand and winning 187 to 138. Brad and David exchanged the lead in the first two hands. Both of them started five expeditions in the third hand. Three failed for David and two failed for Brad, but David prevailed with better surviving expeditions, 99 to 66. Tim won his "Wood Consolation" game to earn the bronze plaque, besting Brad in a close game, 109 to 101. In the title game, Eric built an early lead of 39 points through two hands, that David was unable to overcome. Eric won with a score of 176 to 140, becoming the first Lost Cities champion to successfully defend his title. I'm sure all who have run this gauntlet will doubly congratulate him for the feat of winning two years in a row. Eric has quickly joined Sean McCulloch and Rebecca Hebner as the only two-time champions.

Thanks to all who played and enjoyed this tournament. Hope to see you in 2013. Please remember to pack your copy of Lost Cities next year, even if you only bring the cards, because games are always needed. One final thought: With the additional players this year, and the significant number (59) of multiple game winners, it appears that the sun has finally set on the advancement of a one-game winner into the playoffs, and that a more efficient means of advancement as well as registration is needed. Therefore, your GM will be making some changes for 2013, so please check the Event Preview when it is posted next year.

Brad Raszewski drops the consolation match for third to Tim Keating. This ended a very successful playoff run by the alternate - surpassed only by second alternate Dave Meyaard.	David Meyaard drops the title match to Eric Hufford as Eric accomplishes the unheard of back-to-back title defense over 210 entrants.