Morris Prevails In Star Studded Final!

7 Wonders is under new leadership; the GM switched from Philip Shea to Elizabeth Shea. After several years of being an assistant GM, Elizabeth is ready to take up the mantle for 7 Wonders. That is, at least until college for sure. This new leadership introduced a “Most points” section on player-filled-out score sheets, timely posting for Quarterfinal entrants, simplified Quarterfinal to Semifinal success, only a few blunders in table count, and a single incorrect ruling. (One cannot purchase resources a neighbor put out that turn. It must be present before you decide to borrow it. I ruled the opposite in a case during a heat.)

The main change added a new pledge for the 7 Wonders Heats. Summed up, this pledge meant thinking twice about passing science to your neighbor who is playing green. Last year, science swept the board in Heats and even won the Final. As a player myself in those Heats, I kept thinking, “No one knows how to defend against science anymore!” Stepping into my new role gave me the authority to make a difference. I will admit to stealing from Puerto Rico and giving a pledge to my players. (Like their “think twice before craftsmen pledge”) This pledge was received with near-unanimous support from the player base. It sparked fun table talk in Heats, and more importantly, it balanced out the scores. I saw fierce tucking of science, science cards being treated as useless, multiple people playing science (and both of them still getting decent scores off it), and still the occasional exponential science win. This is how science is meant to be played. I, alongside most 7 Wonders players, am overjoyed with this addition.

In the Quarterfinal, I took data on which kind of card earned people the most points. I also took this for the Heats, Semifinal, and Final. The Quarterfinal data compiled a very confusing graph. I’ll explain the findings here. We had 105 data points, the breakdown is as follows: 44/105 had blue as their highest points, 25/105 had science as their highest points, 13/105 had guilds as their highest points, 12/105 had military as their highest points, 10/105 had wonders as their highest points, and 1/105 had yellow cards as their highest points. This goes to show the versatility of blue cards, as they have a strong majority here. Another thing of note, most of the people who scored the most points in military got a 1st place or a 3rd place. This is surprising as a perfect military score is 18 pts, and people still won with over 60 pts in some games. I am quite impressed with those players' generalist strategy.

In the 7 Wonders Final, we had a fun Final table. Most of the players were sharks you’ll know, Andrew Emerick, Lumin Sperling, and Philip Shea. I have heard defeating one of those names is more important to some than making it into the Quarterfinal. There was a new face at the table though, Cary Morris. The results of the Final standings were Cary Morris in first, Philip Shea in second, Lumin Sperling in third, and Andrew Emerick in fourth. The sole reason Philip got second was because the others at the table bid high during the bidding section of the game. Philip took Babylon for free and won because of bidding points. So, when bidding be careful not to go too high.

I hope you all enjoyed your WBC this year. May 7 Wonders continue to be a nice start to your convention. I look forward to seeing you all again next summer.