Road to KGI

The hype is real folks!

Today, I'm travelling all the way up to Northampton to participate in the Kindgom Gaming Invitational that's going to take place tomorrow, Saturday the 29th.

I also plan to do the Blitz Armoury later tonight at Kingdom Gaming (KG), bringing Oldhim to the table, so look out for a post!

As for the event itself, I only plan to do the Saturday. Due to Sunday travel being restricted to bus/coach replacement this weekend, unless I somehow get into top 8, I thought that coming home Saturday would be more logistically sound. Might even give me a chance to play in a London Farewell to Welcome to Rathe event as well!

My Gear

Now remember, I have not ever been to a big TCG event. So, using my limited common sense, I packed what I thought would come in handy for the event. It's not much different from what I pack each time I go to an Armoury, to be honest, just catering for the much longer day. Let's hope I'm not forgetting anything.

Power Bank

My phone does not have the battery capacity to survive a whole day being out. I certainly don't want to have to charge it plugged to the wall, as I'll be moving around the large space and shouldn't leave my phone unattended. I felt a power bank is a must for this adventure. I'm using an Anker PowerCore Power Bank with 13000mAh. This should give my phone enough juice about 4 times over. Its also rather compact, making it easier to fit in my bag's zippered space. Can't claim I know much about power banks. But, Anker usually make good electronic accessories at competitive price points, so I went with them.

Water bottle

Probably the most important piece of gear here. I swear I've lost games I should have won probably because I was dehydrated and couldn't think straight. And, that was only a couple hours at an Armoury. Imagine the kind of plays I can make going a whole day without water 😂. Mine doubles as a coffee container as well.

Hand Sanitiser and Hand Cream

Essential stuff. I do like to wash my hands before holding some pack fresh cards. Only after sleeving them would I apply hand cream and carry on.

Dice and Counters

Can't leave these behind. Playing Oldhim, having counters like these are really useful. For example, When defending, I'll pitch a blue and grab 3 of these counters. I'd place one counter on Crown of Seeds, Rampart of the Rams Head, and the pitched card to show what I'm defending with and how much resource is left. If I get to defend again with Rampart, I can also move the leftover counter from the pitched card to Rampart. This makes it clear to both me and my opponent how much defence Rampart has. You can grab these counters at Tabletop Supply, they're really affordable compared to alternatives, like £2 for a pack of 6. But, also support your Local Game Store if they have a similar product. Alternatively, if you happen to have something you can use, a really thick jacket button or similar, that wouldn't be a bad call either.

If you like how I'm using counters, you have to see how Steve Charlick plays Dash.

Decks and Deck Boxes

Both my Blitz and CC decks are stored in Deck Boulders, efficient and affordable! I also recently acquired a separate deck box, the Gamegenic Sidekick, for my equipments and tokens. A separate deck box allows me to share equipments, tokens, and even Generics, between decks more easily whilst still being able to transport them. Additionally, I'm using Ultra Pro Mini Snaps for my equipments, which don't fit in Deck Boulders anyway. I feel like this combo is both very affordable for having multiple decks, whilst still being very high quality. I highly recommend them if you were looking for deck boxes. Do ask your Local Game Stores if they have these in stock before buying them online.

Playmat

They define the play space, they keep our cards from collecting grime, and they're beautiful. Whilst less of a necessity, I personally feel much more comfortable playing with a playmat than without, especially for a whole day game-packed event where tables might have food or drink spillage. I'll be bringing along my Briar Blossoming Spellblade playmat, which was gifted to me by Geek Retreat Camberwell on their last day. South East London represent.

Trade Binder

I'll bring along my binder just in case. I'm using Ultimate Guard's 8-Pocket ZipFolio. Once again, an 8-Pocket binder means is really compact. Given the number of cards I usually have for trade and the preferred size of my bag, being small to medium, it's just a good size. This binder also uses a zipper instead of a strap, which just makes me feel more secure. Check if your Local Game Store have these in stock!

Extra Sleeves

I'll be getting some sleeves from KG to draft anyway. But, I thought I'd bring some extra sleeves I have laying around, just in case. Never know if I might need to sleeve a promo. I usually use Dragon Shields for my main decks, so am bringing those. I've been hearing good things about Blackfire sleeves though, both affordable and smooth, so hoping KG have some in stock.

Backpack

All this gear fits into Tarion TB-02 Camera Backpack. My previous backpack that I was using to carry gear to my local Armouries was starting to come apart. So, I must shamefully admit that I did spend a lot of time trying to find the 'perfect' backpack. The Tarion backpack isn't perfect, but its as close as I'll get at the moment. As with most camera backpacks, it has dividers which are really convenient for organising my deck boxes. The backpack also opens so that I can see the content of my entire backpack all at once, allowing me to easily select the gear I need. No need to dig around from the top, like with a regular laptop backpack. The backpack has mesh pockets on the side, really convenient because a water bottle is absolutely a necessity. It also has a laptop compartment, which I use to store my binder instead. The zippered compartment I use to store smaller items like the dice and counters, hand creams and so on. Would have preferred if the backpack opens like a door, swinging to the side, rather than swinging down like a drawbridge. Opening like a drawbridge is slightly annoying because it takes up the length of a table just to open it up. But, I must give this backpack credit because it kept the 'door' smaller than the size of the backpack. Maybe one day, a perfect backpack will come along. Hopefully this Tarion one will last until then.

The Journey

I took the train from Euston at around 3pm to arrive at Northampton at around 5pm. I then walked for another 20 minutes to reach my hotel for the evening. I did also cheekily pick up some takeaway on the way. There's quite a few takeaways and restaurants so if I ever come back this way, I'll at least know where to pick up some food. After 20 minutes, I reached my destination, The Langham Hotel.

The hotel was a bit old and could use some furnishing. But, I picked the Langham primarily because of its distance from KG, only 5 minutes! Given that I'll go between the two places a couple times this weekend, the convenience was just too good to pass up. The Langham being one of the more affordable option in the area wasn't bad either. Additionally, there's free breakfast! So, it's a fairly good deal. I also haven't spot any major issues with my room, so I reckon it'll be a rather nice stay.

The Excitement

I'm very hyped for this weekend, its set out to be an awesome couple of days. I will see you later tonight with a post about how my Oldhim deck fair against players outside the London meta! The deck is not fully competitive, missing pieces like CnC. But, I'm very happy with the deck in its current state and really enjoy playing it. I will also then reveal the CC deck I'll be using tomorrow in the event itself.

And tomorrow evening, I shall report in with how I did at KGI, and show off some lovely FaB promos!