Repeat Performance By Vaz In Sagrada!

Sagrada celebrated its 5th year as a tournament event, welcoming 144 unique entrants over 3 Heats. There were 91 players in Heat 1, 95 players in Heat 2, and 71 players in Heat 3. Last year, the Heats were fiercely competitive, with 2 triple winners and a record breaking 11 double winners. It was a little more forgiving this year, with only 1 triple winner, and 9 double winners. Utilizing the “heats-most-wins points” format, a minimum of a first, second, and third were needed to make the top 16 and advance to the Semifinal. Three of the four previous Sagrada champions punched their ticket to the Semifinal again this year.

Table assignments for the Semifinal were again decided by random dice drawing from a bag. Continuing the format from the previous year, random sets of objectives and tools were chosen for the Semifinal. Below are the objectives, tools, and results from each Semifinal.

Semifinal #1

• Scores: Michael Vaz (70), Kathryn Stanton (60), Alyssa Mills (60), Peggy Ng (56)
• Public Objectives: Column Color Variety, Deep Shades, Row Shade Variety
• Tools: Lens Cutter, Cork Backed Straightedge, Flux Remover

Semifinal #2

• Scores: Megan Mossman (68), Daniel Ottey (63), Mancy Arseneault (58), Joe Birnbaum (53)
• Public Objectives: Light Shades, Color Variety, Color Diagonals
• Tools: Grinding Stone, Copper Foil Burnisher, Grozing Pliers

Semifinal #3

Semifinal #4

• Table 4 - Scores: Tyler Houle (70), Erik Mooney (68), Alex Schlosser (58), Tricia Wolff (56)
• Public Objectives: Color Diagonals, Shade Variety, Column Color Variety
• Tools: Cork Backed Straightedge, Grozing Pliers, Lens Cutter

Final

• Tools and public objectives were again randomly drawn.
• Public Objectives: Column Shade Variety, Shade Variety, Row Shade Variety
• Tools: Grozing Pliers, Eglomise Brush, Glazing Hammer

It was an interesting set of public objectives, as each one dealt with shade (i.e., the numbers on the dice). A set-up like this generally allows the players more flexibility on chasing their private objective (which is a specific color) and results in higher scoring games. Indeed, the scores reflected this, with a significant increase in scores over the Semifinal round. Ultimately, Sagrada crowned its first ever repeat winner, with last year’s winner Michael Vaz emerging victorious. It was a super tight finish, with the difference between 1st and 2nd coming down to leftover favor tokens and an empty space on Tyler Houle’s board. The scoring breakdown for the Final was as follows:

1. Michael Vaz (77)
   • Private Objective (32)
   • Public Objectives (41)
   • Token left (4)
   • Empty Spaces (0)
2. Tyler Houle (76)
   • Private Objective (33)
   • Public Objectives (41)
   • Token Left (3)
   • Empty Spaces (-1)
3. George Swift (64)
   • Private Objective (23)
   • Public Objectives (41)
   • Token Left (1)
   • Empty Spaces (-1)
4. Megan Mossman (57)
   • Private Objective (25)
   • Public Objectives (31)
   • Token Left (1)
   • Empty Spaces (0)

A heartfelt thank you to all the players who came to the event and whose continued enthusiasm make Sagrada a successful event year after year. An extra special thanks to my Assistant GM’s Howard Marron and my son Jacob who really do all the hard work. This event would not have happened without them. See everyone next year at WBC 2026!