Henning Wins Evolution!

Evolution returned in 2023, after a short hiatus. 38 unique players participated in the Heats. A total of 71 total player starts over the Heats, Semifinal and Final.

Heat 1

We had 19 players join us for the first Heat. There was a lot of discussion about the carnivores, and whether they were overpowered. Through the 5 games played in heat 1, carnivores were used by only 3 of the winners.

Heat 2

Heat 2 may have been played at a more favorable time; we had 21 players show up. We had 4 tables with 4 players, and 1 table with 5 players. Each of the 5 winners were unique to the first Heat winners, so we still have no players with 2 wins.

A change in GM

Unfortunately, COVID hit as the GM’s roommate tested positive for COVID. The GM put out a call for someone to take over, as he could not take the chance of bringing COVID to the WBC. Sarah Stewart and Adam Hurd were awesome in taking over the event at this point.

Heat 3

This heat only saw 12 participants show up. The players were set up at 3 tables of 4 players. The 3 winners were also unique, so there were still no players with 2 wins.

Semifinal

Final

The Final comments were written by a guest writer, and they did an awesome job describing the Final.

The Final of Evolution was the tale of lush greenery, until the ecosystem collapsed.

No players started out with carnivores on Turn 1, but very little food was flipped, so Ian’s long necks had a stronger start. Turn 2 continued in a similarly peaceful manner with Christian developing a defensive set of traits while Ian and Sebastian focused more on herbivore synergy.

Sensing that he was falling behind, Nick created a carnivore on Turn 3, but it was a little late as the Warning Calls of Ian and Christian’s middle animals prevented greedy feeding. Unfortunately, Sebastian did not have the same defenses and fell prey to Nick’s beasts.

Vast quantities of food continued to fill the watering hole and Ian and Christian continued to pull ahead. Ian was able to take greater advantage of the food stores, but Christian was more defensive in his focus. Sebastian pivoted into a scavenging focus, as Nick failed to further develop his carnivore and instead focused on creating smaller herbivores to partake in the great bounty.

Still unable to find good attack cards, Nick created a new species with no defenses aside from a middling body size, primarily for the purpose of feeding his carnivore. Food continued to flow, and it was clear that Ian’s luscious green army was taking a lead, with Christian close behind thanks to a scavenger & fatty tissue combo that took advantage of the meat-eaters' desperate cannibalization. Sebastian, meanwhile, had created an ecosystem of self-sustaining species to try and catch up. Due to the inherent defenses that had been built up over the course of the game, no other player seemed to be interested in developing a carnivore, as the game seemed to turn into a pure race for food.

Finally, the attack cards came. The species that was once fodder for Nick’s alpha carnivore became a carnivore itself, horrible pack-hunting ambushers that could assault the majority of the creatures in play, save for a few of Christian’s better defended species. Ian’s smaller herbivores fell to the hunters. Plant food was becoming scarce, and some starvation occurred.

A titanic shift occurred in the final Turn. Suddenly, food in the watering hole was nearly nonexistent. Foragers, cooperators, and a lack of resources meant that Christian did not have the opportunity to feed from the watering hole, dooming one species to extinction and the others to starvation. Nick’s carnivores feasted on Ian’s undefended herbivores, and Sebastian observed with glee as his scavengers worked with his other species to fill up.

When the dust settled, very few creatures were left alive. The end game scoring and final carnivore push propelled Nick to a close victory, followed by Christian’s well defended herbivores, and Ian ended in third thanks to his early consumption. The final scores were 66 - 59 - 55 - 46.