Ok here is the actual run down of events.
Friday I got to the convention at 3pm and unloaded the massive amount of prize support I had. Though I did apparently forget to bring the roll up map and artwork. For the best really as my demo table got busy fast. I'll state this now: If not for the other Charlotte Mage Warriors I could not have done this by myself. From 3pm-1am I was non-stop teaching/playing/demoing/talking Mage Wars. I did not get a seconds breathing room. The game was VERY popular and I kept hearing "I've always wanted to try this but....." Yeah the dealers room sold out of core sets by the time it closed Friday. I eventually got all the newbies together and had them compete in a "newbie tournament" for some of the smaller prizes. That went over like free candy at fat kid camp. I wrote down all their names....I'll find that list when I go through my bags.
Saturday I woke up after getting little sleep cause my third shift working booty didn't adjust as well as it normally does and I drank too much caffeine the night before. Whatever I'm a Silverclaw Grizzle thus I can do anything, so long as my friends are backing me up again and they were. I got to the con at 9am. The local Mage Warriors all wanted to practice for the tournament but nobody wanted to use their actual books against each other. This led to them fighting it out with their "B Books." More new people came by and I showed them the game and taught some of them.
At 1pm I left the demo table in the hands of some of the other players while I went out to eat with some more. I got attacked by an angry yellow jacket and my Japanese food was horrible. This has no bearing on anything Mage Wars....just putting that in there for excitement. For the record I'm alive and the yellow jacket isn't.
At 2pm I moved all the prize support to the Tournament Hall. This was a giant ballroom where all the convention tournaments were going on. Legend of the Five Rings, Hero Clix, Marvel Dice Masters, and something else were going down. We ended up with 12 people in our tournament which was double the next highest turn out. We rule, they drool. The pizzas Papa Johns donated came in and I gave some of them to the other tournaments. Again that went down like candy at fat camp(I heard that expression and now it's my new thing.)
At 3pm I paired everyone up and we got down to business. The players and their mages were:
John E(Force Master)
VS
Josh W(Araxian Crown Warlock)
Brian V(Priestess)
VS
Andrew N(Necromancer)
Jimillia W(Wizard Air)
VS
Logan(Wizard Earth)
Sara B(Force Master)
VS
Kiara M(Priestess)
John M(Wizard Earth)
VS
Adam M(Adramelech Warlock)
Rob R(Druid)
VS
Joseph C(Priestess)
In the end the top six were:
1st: John E(Force Master)
2nd: Joseph C(Priestess)
3rd: Sara B(Force Master)
4th: John M(Wizard Earth)
5th: Brian V(Priestess)
6th: Jimillia W(Wizard Air)
I'll note that several matches came down to very close calls and those rankings almost looked very different indeed. Jimillia in particular showed incredible skill but she lost very close matches against Brian and Joe that could have easily gone her way and neither of her losses came from Mage death.
In the end Johns Force Master stood triumphant after 4 rounds. He took one of the artworks donated by Lord of Winter and a t-shirt donated by Arcane Wonders. Joe took another of the artwork and the roll up map. Sara took the last of the artwork and Forged in Fire. John M took the core set.
The champ John E has requested that next year Karate Kid III rules be in effect so he'd only have to fight in the last round.....but I think I'm just gonna ask him to help me judge instead lol.