Naylor Captures His First Ark Nova Title!

The Ark Nova tournament was back at WBC for a third year. Attendance was quite similar to the first two years. We had 113 unique players, and the same number of total tables as the two Heats as in 2024, with 20 in the first Heat and 21 in the second. The Heats mirrored game rules and BGA implementation for the most part. The one adjustment for 4-player tournament play was based on a suggestion from the designer–we designated five maps for each heat and selection was done in reverse turn order. Based on player feedback, we left out both Silver Lake and Rescue Station. We also allowed the more-balanced Marine Worlds end game bonus cards to be used when available.

There were a couple narrow wins in Heat 1, including Sean Inoue over Mike Mularski 116-114, Matt Miller over defending champ Bowen Niu 116-113, and Eric Freeman slipping by Richard Shay 127-123. In a table that self-reported as the “trash-talkingiest table” Terry Brown got bragging rights over Hazel Virdo by 10, and Dan Adams and Robb Effinger both by 12.

Outdoor Areas was the best map choice in the first Heat, winning 7 of 17 plays. Ice Cream Parlor won 7 of 19, followed by Commercial Harbor (3 of 11), Research Institute (3 of 17) and Hollywood Hills (0 of 15).

Cliff Flachsenhar put up the single highest score in the event with a score of 148 in Heat 2. The closest game was me, Chad Weaver, edging out Paul Sampson 114-111

Park Restaurant players won 7 of 21 games in the second Heat. Research Institute was close behind at 6 of 21, with Observation Tower (4 of 21), Commercial Harbor (2 of 13), Hollywood Hills (2 of 21), and Geographic Zoo (0 for 8) rounding out the map stats.

Turn order stats showed that getting first pick of maps successfully offset the disadvantage of going last. The 4th seat won 15 heat games, with 1st (10), 3rd (9), and 2nd (7) following.

This was the second year using the improved WBC advancement rules for big events. Everyone who wins a heat advances, while players with two great results earn a bye straight to the Semifinal. We had nine double winners—Andrew Freeman, Jonathan Naylor, Jack Munson, Felicia Alfieri, Cliff Flachsenhar, Alex Bove, Rich Miller, Chris Miller, and Sean Inoue. Due to the number of unique winners, we had room for two more byes, Bowen Niu and Eric Wrobel. The other 22 played in five Quarterfinal tables for the remaining spots.

Quarterfinal

In the quarterfinal, we set up maps and action cards at each seat, and players bid points (to be deducted at game-end) for seats. This took out some of the initial setup luck while still allowing for the randomness of hands and the display.

Luke Heinz won the closest Quarterfinal Game by 5.5 over Thomas Tu and Aaron Blair. Matt Miller edged last year’s runner up Erik Mooney and Chad Weaver to punch his ticket to the Semifinal. Eric Freeman, Mike Assante, and Randy Buehler also won their way to the next round.

Semifinal

In the Semifinal we retained the setup and bidding but also each table used their own same map. At the Outdoor Areas table, Rich Miller won the race to the university at 8 CP thanks to Release of Patents and Americas 4, and went on a 125-105-103-101 win over Eric Freeman, Bowen Niu, and Jack Munson

Sean Inoue also earned a free university on the CP track, boosting him to a big 132 1/2-102-92-86 win over Andrew Freeman, Chris Miller, and Luke Heinz.

Jonathan Naylor advanced through the Silver Lake table with piles of appeal from Native Farm Animals and Waza Special Assignment, getting by Cliff Flachsenhar and Mike Assante 127-113 1/2-93 1/2.

The Research Institute table was claimed by Alex Bove in a 110-103-81-70 win over Randy Buehler, Thomas Tu, and Felicia Alfieri. He won sprints to 5 on both Habitat Diversity and Species Diversity en route to his win.

Final

Ice Cream Parlor was the random map selection. Seat 2 had Association in the 4-slot, while Seat 3 had the same plus Cards in the 5-slot, so those were valued higher than Seat 1. Jonathan won Seat 2 for 2 1/2, Rich paid 2 for Seat 3, Alex bid 1 for the 4th seat. The projects were Predators, Reptiles, Europe, and Asia.

Jonathan and Rich used their Association advantage to take the relevant partner zoos, and Alex grabbed up the 2 rep uni. He followed that up with zoo school covering rep to get a Turn 2 card flip, flipping Animals. Jonathan snapped Native Lizards and Rich snapped the Yellow-Throated Marten. Jonathan played the first Animals, dropping two Asia lizards for a strong start. Alex played two predators to claim the early lead headed into the first break, triggered by Sean.

Europe 2, Asia 2, and Predators 2 were the first three moves after the break, with Rich the first to unlock a second worker. He used it for a Europe partner zoo before the next break. He snapped the Expert in Predators during the break and Lion on the first turn after it. Jonathan released a Flamingo to win the race to the free partner zoo, and the scores were fairly even until Alex played a Grizzly Bear and released it on his next turn. Sean kept it close with two reptiles including Komodo Dragon with 7 extra Asia appeal. At the third break during Round 16, Sean and Jonathan had a healthy income advantage.

Jonathan moved in front with his second release, this time the Australian Pelican. Rich played his Lion for 13 appeal, which set up Predators 4 for him on his next turn. Alex had another big turn with an Ibex plus NZ Fur Seal to go back in front. By the fourth break, he was up 49-43-33-27 with Jonathan, Sean, and Rich behind.

Jonathan started the next round with Reptiles 5 to go in front, and Rich’s quiet turn of European Grass Snake and Stout got interesting when the Hunter 1 ability of the Stout turned up the Golden Eagle. The animals set him up for Europe 5 on his next turn.

Alex played animals to get to Europe 4 soon after. In Round 24 Jonathan played animals to go back in front, 70-69-48-36 over Alex, Rich, and Sean. Rich followed with his biggest turn: Asian Elephant/Golden Eagle, determination into release the Lion. He jumped from 48 to 72 to briefly take the lead. Jonathan had one more big turn before the break–Asia 5 plus a double pouch making the scores Jon 89, Rich 72, Alex 69, Sean 43 into the final break.

Alex jumped up with a 16-point turn that included releasing a Cinerous Vulture, and Sean followed with Asia 4 for his own big turn. Jonathan and Rich needed a turn to set up their end games, which gave Alex time to refill his big enclosure with an Andean Condor, along with a Common Wombat, putting him in front 98-93-72-55. Sean played a max score Eurasian Lynx, and Jonathan triggered the end game with a Sumatran Tiger and Shoebill. Rich used Association 8 for a partner zoo/bird partner project for 21 on his final turn. Alex had a 3-point sponsor to play, and Sean released the Komodo Dragon for a strong end to the game.

Jon’s lead was 116-101-91-82. Sean had 2 CP to finish at 88. Thanks to his Elephant, Rich scored 7 CP from end game cards, jumping to 112. That was enough to eclipse Alex with 2 CP to end at 107. Jonathan had 2 CP and 2 appeal bumping his total to 124.

After the bids, the final score was 121 1/2-110-106-88.

Rich became the first player to reach two finals at WBC.

Last year’s winner took 30 turns, but this year it took just 27. Perhaps Ice Cream Parlor is a bit better than Research Institute, and possibly players just continue to improve with more and more play. Congratulations to Jonathan and the other finalists, and thanks to everyone who participated. Special thanks to those who helped the event run smoothly: Kyle Smith, Rich Miller, and Erik Schlosser.