The World Grand Prix is the highest level competitive event for Force of Will and the conclusory event for each competitive season (This year’s being 2016-2017). The best players from across the world, who have all earned the right to participate through victories at the various Grand Prix Events during the season, gather in Tokyo Japan to compete in the end all tournament to find the strongest ruler of them all!
With prizes, a new twist on the usual World Grand Prix format, and side events, it’s sure to be an enjoyable time for all Force of Will fans!
Unlike previous years, the first day of the tournament will feature two formats.
Swiss Rounds 1~4 will use the New Frontiers format, pitting each player’s personal constructed deck against one another.
Swiss Rounds 5~7 will use the Draft format, pushing each player’s decision making to the limit as they use cards from random booster packs to form their deck for these last several rounds.
After events conclude on Saturday, the Top Eight players will be announced, and the finals will commence on Sunday, using the Single Elimination New Frontiers format.
Blank sections below will be filled in as they happen. Notifications of new information will be posted on the official Force of Will Facebook Page (facebook.com/fowtcg). Check back often for new information!
Friday, Registration Party
Party Begins at 5PM JST on Friday, September 22nd 2017.
The party to welcome all attending players has concluded. Food, drink, and laughs were shared. But now it's time for players to buckle down and practice for the first day of events tomorrow! Check back on Saturday for coverage of the first day's events!
Saturday, Day 1 Swiss Rounds
Set Up and Player Meeting:
Round 1 Feature Match Report:
Aaron Miles (United States) vs. Johnathan Heng (Australia)
Game 1: Aaron's dependence on 《Demonic Dead》proved to be his undoing for the first game, as he consistently found himself confounded by cards like 《Dawn of the Earth》. Aaron ended up paying 1400 life for 《The Final Battle》which Johnathan countered with 《Severing Winds》. Although Aaron attempted to push his card through with 《Faerur's Spell》, Johnathan surprised Aaron with a 《Faerur's Spell》of his own. Aaron had a tough time recovering and ultimately lost the first match to Johnathan.
Game 2: During the second game, Johnathan switched to 《Flute, Time Altering Priestess》for his J/ruler. Johnathan landed an early 《Captain Hook, the Pirate》, pushing Aaron behind on magic stones. Unfortunately for Johnathan, Aaron's hand held a lot of disruptive cards, and not the immediate threats Johnathan had prepared his hand to answer. With only answers in Johnathan's hand and no way to push the game himself, Aaron took the second game.
Game 3: With both players at one win each the round proceeded to the final match. Aaron quickly established a dominant position on the board with cards like 《Abdul Alhazred, Sinister Vizier》and 《Lilias Petal, Kitsune King》, quickly building up his field presence while also forcing Johnathan to sacrifice his own resources. After a long hard fought battle, Aaron, the defending champion, took the first match!
Round 2 Feature Match Report:
Jose Ontana Luque (Spain) vs. Sora Furugori (Japan)
Game 1: Both players, using 《Reincarnated Maiden of Flame, Pricia》, went back and forth on the field with cards like 《Red Riding Hood》and 《Red Riding Hood, Rainbow to the Heavens》. Jose used Pricia's Judgment, but found himself without Swiftness with no 《Sprinting Flame Horse》in his hand. He was forced to wait a turn for lethal damage. Sora, on his turn, used his own Pricia's Judgment, and was able to grant it Swiftness with 《Sprinting Flame Horse》. Jose attempted to respond with two 《Lightning Strike》 and destroy Sora's J-ruler, but Sora used another 《Sprinting Flame Horse》to boost his J-ruler up to keep in the game. With Sora's second attack with Pricia, after being recovered from its God's Art, he pulled a third 《Sprinting Flame Horse》, boosting up Pricia enough to attack for lethal damage on the second attack. First game went to Sora.
Game 2: Jose was able to clear the board of blockers early on, played 《Jack, Climbing the Beanstalk》, granting it Swiftness with Pricia's ruler side ability, and attacked immediately, dealing damage and calling out 《Skyscraper Giant》. With Skyscraper Giant out on the field, Jose was able to use its activate ability to keep the field clear of weaker resonators. Sora tried to defend himself with his Pricia J-ruler, but after Jose added 《Mariabella, the Machine Hearted》to his field, his victory was assured. The second game went to Jose.
Game 3: Sora got an early 《Mariabella, the Machine Hearted》on the field, but it was quickly removed with a few 《Lightning Strike》. Jose attempted to play 《Jack, Climbing the Beanstalk》to set up the same field that won him the second game, but 《Soul Debt》from Sora prevented that from happening. Sora had both 《Sprinting Flame Horse》and 《Rapid Growth》in his hand, but didn't have enough will to play Rapid Growth twice, keeping his Pricia from claiming the game for him. Jose was able to play a 《Mariabella, the Machine Hearted》, granting it Swiftness with his 《Pricia, True Beastmaster》's effect, and dealt enough damage to earn him the victory. The third game, and the match, went to Jose.
Round 3 Feature Match Report:
Julia Happel (Germany) vs. Giovanni Santucci (Italy)
We asked several players which card they'd pick for a draft using a sample Ancient Nights booster pack that we opened! Here's our sample pack, with each of their answers below!
Hikafu (Japan) -
Hikafu's first pick was The Three Evil Little Pigs. Citing that it's a big card that he thought he could build around. Additionally, he personally enjoys Darkness when drafting Ancient Nights, so the choice for him was between The Three Evil Little Pigs or Bloodspray, but ultimately preferred the power of the pigs over Bloodspray.
Aziz (Indonesia) -
Aziz also chose The Three Evil Little Pigs as his primary choice. He reasoned that he didn't want to lock himself into a ruler decision so early and getting three resonators by playing only one was something he preferred. He metioned that Hell Flame was strong, but would force him to make a choice on his ruler early on, which he didn't like.
John Paul (Germany) -
John Paul's first choice was Jeweler of Sasaru Palace. He reasoned that there weren't a lot of immediate picks for him and so he wanted to choose what he thought would incur the least amount of commitment later during the drafting process.
Federico (Italy)-
Federico's top pick was Bloodspray. He explained that Darkness tends to do well in draft and Bloodspray was something he thought could provide a lot of card advantage for him.
Stephanie (United States) -
Stephanie's choice was Hoellesaurus. She chose this because she liked it as a tempo play card. Although it costs two fire will to play, making it a little tougher to field she felt confident in Fire's strength in the draft format. Additionally she thought she could discourage other players from playing Fire if they saw she was assembling Fire cards and thus not passing any to them during the draft.
Round 5 Feature Match Report:
Giovanni Santucci (Italy) vs. Jean-Paul Klintworth (Germany)
Game 2: After trading off for the first several turns, Giovanni ultimately wiped the field by turn three with 《Hell Flame》and 《Dino-Rush》. Jean-Paul comes out strong a few turns later by playing 《Ocean Floor Archelon》to keep his side of the field protected. Giovanni plays a 《Vanish in Fire》to clear Jean-Paul's field save for the Archelon. Giovanni then attacked with 《Stone Tongued Basilisk》, prompting Jean-Paul to block with 《Ocean Floor Archelon》. After combat, Giovanni finally destroys the Archelon with 《Hell Flame》. The following turn Jean-Paul played a 《Stone Tongued Basilisk》and an 《Apprentice Beast Tamer》right afterwards. With the boosted up Basilisk on his side, Jean-Paul quickly re-established control of the field and took game two.
Game 3: The final game of the match started off with both players staring each other down, calling stones and not wanting to make the first move. Jean-Paul's 《Coral Reef Mermaid》and Giovanni's《Explorer on Mt. Hoelle》trade off against each other, with mutual destruction. A few more turns and Jean-Paul plays 《Flame Style》to wipe the field of everything except a 《Giant Squid》Jean-Paul had played earlier and Giovanni's 《Two-Horned Almiraj》. However, Giovanni struck back with a 《Hell Flame》, destroying Jean-Paul's Squid. Giovanni then pushes in some damage with his Almiraj. Jean-Paul, taking a chance, plays 《Wolf's Rain》, using all three of the token resonators to attack Giovanni's Almiraj in the hopes of destroying it. However, Giovanni plays a 《Burning Awakening》to keep his Almiraj alive and on the field. After his failed attempt, Jean-Paul drops a 《Guard at the Coral Palace》. Now Giovanni's turn, he destroy's Jean-Paul's blocker, by attacking and losing his Almiraj, and playing another 《Hell Flame》to destroy the 《Guard at the Coral Palace》. Giovanni then quickly regains his strength counters via Judgment, holding onto a 《Vanish in Fire》 to help him maintain board dominance, ultimately winning him game three. The match went to Giovanni Santucci.
Round 6 Feature Match Report:
Chemsi Ben Othman (France) vs. Hiroyuki Tsukamoto (Japan)
Game 1: Hiroyuki 《Bloodsucking Butler》 quickly took the first game in only around five minutes with cards like 《Dark Elf Spy》and 《Demonic Rabbit》. A quick 《Vitality Drain》a turn or two later ended the game right before our eyes with barely any time having passed. Chemsi (《Treasure Hunter Fierica》) was in a tough position to recover from for the rest of the match.
Game 2: Chemsi chose to play second for the second game. The first several turns there was much back and forth on the field, with low costing resonators like 《Dark Elf Spy》 and 《Ahriman, Malicious Eye in the Dark》trading back and forth with 《White Raven》and 《Gem Trader》. On turn four Chemsi was able to play two 《Wing Rider Panda》to the field. Hiroyuki followed up with a 《Dark Elf of the Murky Grove》on his turn. Both sides continued to build up their field presence, neither taking particularly large attacks at one another. Hiroyuki played 《The Three Evil Little Pigs》and Chemsi followed him with 《Heavy Arms Panda》and a 《Gem Trader》. Hiroyuki was able to get rid of one of Chemsi's Wing Riders with an awakened 《Vitality Drain》, following it up with another 《Dark Elf Spy》. Eeager to keep the pressure on, Chemsi played another 《Heavy Arms Panda》, now boosted up thanks to Chemsi having amassed enough gems. Hiroyuki then expended a 《Bloodspray》to pull a few extra cards and attacks with a powered up 《Dark Elf of the Murky Grove》to destroy his opponent's rested 《Heavy Arms Panda》after combat he also played 《Saffina, Frayla\'s Right Hand》to the field. However before the end of the turn, Chemsi took revenge for his panda, casting 《Reduction》in the damaged 《Dark Elf of the Murky Grove》causing it to be destroyed. With his Dark Elf threat gone, Chemsi was able to quickly build up a powerful field advantage, ultimately forcing Hiroyuki to concede the second game to him.
Game 3: For both of the players' first turns they could only call a stone, not playing any resonators. On turn two, Hiroyuki plays an 《Ahriman, Malicious Eye in the Dark》, to which Chemsi could only follow up with a 《White Raven》 on his turn. By turn three, Hiroyuki awakens a 《Bloodspray》to draw two cards destroy's Chemsi's raven, allowing him to start playing more aggressively. Chemsi, finding himself in a tough spot again, can only play a 《Demonic Rabbit》. Not wanting to lose steam, Hiroyuki plays 《Cleansing Rain》to bounce Chemsi's 《Demonic Rabbit》back to his hand, while also playing a 《Treasonous Guard》.On his next turn, Chemsi drops a 《Wing Rider Panda》and passes. Hiroyuki continues to strengthen his board with 《Dark Elf Spy》and 《Dark Elf of the Murky Grove》. Chemsi continues to trying to match Hiroyuki's pace by playing 《Gem Trader》, 《White Raven》, and 《Transforming Vampire》. Hiroyuki generates the last bit of advantage he needs with another awakened 《Bloodspray》. With a well developed field staring him down, Chemsi conceded the final match to Hiroyuki. Hiroyuki took the match.
Top 8 :
The first day's events have conlcuded and the Top 8 Players have been chosen. Tomorrow, these eight will compete for the championship!
Players:
Leonardo Mechilli -1st
Giovanni Santucci -2nd
Federico Zeppini -3rd
Alessio Campagna -4th
Nick Hayes Blandin -5th
Luca Barcella -6th
Kevin Carrara -7th
Daniel Voon -8th
Top 8 Player Interviews:
Leonardo, 23, Student, Italy
What did you enjoy best about the New Frontiers segment of the tournament?
Trying to find the best version of my deck to build. I had a lot of fun doing it.
What did you enjoy best about the Draft segment of the tournament?
The attributes were really well balanced for drafting. I really liked the attribute fixing that the Basic Rulers had.
What attribute do you like best for Draft?
Darkness for sure.
What is your favorite deck?
Anything with Riza or Melder.
Giovanni Santucci, 26, Veterinarian, Italy
What did you enjoy best about the New Frontiers segment of the tournament?
Trying to find the best version of Kyuubi, especially when going up against a mirror match.
What did you enjoy best about the Draft segment of the tournament?
The stamped exclusive cards.
What attribute do you like best for Draft?
Water.
What is your favorite deck?
Dark Yggdrasil.
Federico Zoppini, 26, Student, Italy
What did you enjoy best about the New Frontiers segment of the tournament?
Trying to compete against control and mirror matches.
What did you enjoy best about the Draft segment of the tournament?
I got really lucky and was able to pick the attribute I like best.
What attribute do you like best for Draft?
Wind.
What is your favorite deck?
Yggdrasil.
Alessio Campagna, 19, Student, Italy
What did you enjoy best about the New Frontiers segment of the tournament?
High speed competitive decks with some surprises!
What did you enjoy best about the Draft segment of the tournament?
The variety of being able to run low risk as well as high risk strategies (I did high risk :D).
What attribute do you like best for Draft?
Wind with elves.
What is your favorite deck?
Pricia because it's a powerful J-ruler and I love playing her.
Nick Hayes Blandin, 20, Traveling Trader, United States
What did you enjoy best about the New Frontiers segment of the tournament?
Calling Killing Stone on the first turn, it feels really good.
What did you enjoy best about the Draft segment of the tournament?
The set was really well designed and balanced for the Draft format.
What attribute do you like best for Draft?
Water.
What is your favorite deck?
Lilias Petal.
Luca Barcella, 22, Shop Owner, Italy
What did you enjoy best about the New Frontiers segment of the tournament?
I actually enjoyed the new Reiya cluster cards the most.
What did you enjoy best about the Draft segment of the tournament?
I really enjoyed the innovation and I've seen many other fellow players enjoying it too.
What attribute do you like best for Draft?
Fire.
What is your favorite deck?
Arla Combo.
Carrara Kevin, 21, Student, Italy
What did you enjoy best about the New Frontiers segment of the tournament?
I think that the best part about New Frontiers is that all the players play competitively to their highest level.
What did you enjoy best about the Draft segment of the tournament?
I really like how viable all the Basic Rulers are for Draft.
What attribute do you like best for Draft?
I really like Darkness.
What is your favorite deck?
Lumia Hook Combo.
Daniel Voon, 24, Card Store Assistant, Singapore
What did you enjoy best about the New Frontiers segment of the tournament?
I think the best thing about this format is that it rewards consistent practice and testing.
What did you enjoy best about the Draft segment of the tournament?
I got to try out a new format which I had never tried before.
What attribute do you like best for Draft?
I just really enjoy all the attributes and how the Basic Rulers are tuned to help support the cards you draft.
What is your favorite deck?
Anything with Zero <3
Sunday, Single Elimination Finals
Quarter Finals Feature Match Video Report:
Quarter Finals Text Match Report:
Alessio Campagna (Italy) vs. Nick Hayes Blandin (United States)
Nick Hayes Blandin (United States) vs. Daniel Voon (Singapore)
Game 1:
Nick (《Lilias Petal, Agent of Salvation》) continues to be unable to call up a 《Killing Stone》on his first turn, only able to play 《Planting Beans》to pitch 《Demonic Dead》. Daniel (《Lilias Petal, Agent of Salvation》) takes his turn to call a 《Killing Stone》and play 《Divine Bird of Attoractia》. Nick plays his Demonic Dead to the field by paying the life. Nick again misses calling a Killing Stone, and chooses to play 《Abdul Alhazred, Poet of Madness》, and attacks Daniel with Demonic Dead. On his turn, Daniel also calls an 《Abdul Alhazred, Poet of Madness》and passes his turn. Now into the third turn, Nick calls 《Shade, Envoy of Darkness》and passes his turn. Hoping to make an aggressive play, Daniel spends 1200 life to play 《The Final Battle》to give his opponent's cards -600/-600. He then uses his Judgment to put 《The Nine-Tailed Fox》into the field and calls a 《Griphon, Racing Across Darkness》and then a 《Shade, Envoy of Darkness》 using the stones he got from Griphon. At the end of the turn, Nick fields his Demonic Dead again. Nick uses his Judgment on his turn to play his 《The Nine-Tailed Fox》as well, accompanied by a 《Fox Spirit》. He then attacks with Demonic Dead, and quickly uses it for the fodder of his own 《Griphon, Racing Across Darkness》, the rest of his resources are spent playing 《Shade, Envoy of Darkness》and 《Abdul Alhazred, Poet of Madness》. The two continue like this for several turns, each vying for greater control of the field before wanting to make more aggressive plays. Ultimately Daniel's earlier playing of The Final Battle did him in, having lost 1200 life points and locked in a back and forth with Nick, Nick was finally able to edge him out in life points, whittling him down until Daniel conceded the first game to Nick.
Game 2:
Daniel takes the first turn this game, missing a 《Killing Stone》, and only able to play 《Planting Beans》 for 《Demonic Dead》. Nick fairs a bit better this game, calling a Killing Stone on his first turn and using it to play 《Fox Spirit》. On his second turn, Daniel was only able to call a stone and pass. Nick follows up by playing 《Tama, Familiar of Holy Wind》, and then using his Judgment. In response however, Daniel destroys Nick's Fox Spirit with a 《Dark Purge》, keeping nick from being able to play a Chimera this turn. Daniel calls a stone and plays 《Tama, Familiar of Holy Wind》on his turn, then passes. As Nick takes his turn to play 《Demonic Dead》, Daniel, in response, uses his Tama to destroy Nicks, again trying to keep him from the resources needed to play a Chimera. The two exchange a few more turns with Nick slowly taking the advantage more and more, and Daniel trying to keep him from the resources he needs to pull out big plays. Things ultimately culminate with Nick being able to call an 《Ammit, Beast of Gluttony》 to destroy the 《Ammit, Beast of Gluttony》that Daniel had played only a turn earlier. With Daniel now far behind in life points, and Nick with a 《Lilias Petal, Kitsune King》, 《Shade, Envoy of Darkness》, and 《Abdul Alhazred, Poet of Madness》on the field, Daniel takes a few more moments to look over his options, before conceding the second game to Nick. Both games were long and drawn out back and forth fights, but both times Nick was able to put himself ahead in life at crucial points, all but sealing his victory. Nick takes the match and moves onto the finals, while Daniel will play against Giovanni for 3rd.