Muster For Middle Earth: Aug. 30 - Sept. 2, 2024 in San Jose, CA

[Goblin King]

Hello everyone,
I'm happy to announce an upcoming event for both the Middle Earth CCG and the Lord of the Rings LCG will take place in San Jose CA, USA over the Labor Day holiday weekend. We are calling it Muster For Middle Earth.
This event will include a MECCG Open Tournament with a One Ring replica prize. it will also have ARDA and DARK ARDA, challenge decks and open play throughout.
At the same time there will also be a coordinated saga and campaign for the Lord of the Rings LCG.
The event will take place inside of the PacifiCon Game Expo in Santa Clara. Your ticket to the convention is all you need to pay. There are no additional costs for the MECCG or LOTR LCG events.
More details will be coming. But begin planning now to join us.
Muster for Middle Earth!

[Goblin King]

Here are plans (and some of my thought behind them) for Muster for Middle Earth in Santa Clara (San Jose), CA of the United States of America from 30th August to 2nd September, 2024.
My ultimate goal, plain and simple, is to establish an annual MECCG event for the USA. In order to re-establish a firm player-base of this country, an annual event is logically required. I’m more than willing to work with other organizers elsewhere in the country to have an event outside of CA, I just need a local volunteer cell to work with. There are some exciting efforts beginning in both Colorado and Nevada! And I hope Muster for ME 2025 will be hosted outside of California! But for this year, we will stick to CA where we have a solid player base across the state.
The event itself is modeled after Lure of Middle Earth in Germany, which I had the honor and pleasure of attending for the first time in February 2024. The synergy created by having both MECCG and LotR LCG in the same space is something I’m really hoping can take hold here in the USA. I’ve been a lurking member of the LotR LCG community for about a decade (started listening to the Cardboard of the Rings Podcast back in the Brandon era)! It really is a wonderful and supportive community.
This year, I decided to place the event within an established gaming convention if I could do so. There are a few reasons for this, but the primary one is financial. There were costs associated with hosting Worlds 2023 in a convention space even with a local business offering its support. Without a firm idea of how many people are going to attend these events, there are just financial risks that I’m not willing to take every year. By having the event inside of an established gaming convention, I don’t have to worry about it (beyond convincing the convention organizers that the event is worth a risk for them to host). This also gives attendees the advantage of One Stop Shopping. You can now fly or drive to the venue and stay in the same location where you are playing.
Someday I’m hopeful Muster for ME can grow to the point where it can stand on its own (or that another solution to the financial burden presents itself), but for the time being, I believe we have a workable and repeatable solution that other player cells can duplicate.
Now to the event itself! The major activities take place from Friday, August 30th through Sunday, September 1st. The convention itself runs through Monday, September 3rd, for those who want a last day to play other games. The opening day, Friday, evening is for casual gaming and getting to meet each other. The official MECCG tournament games begin on Saturday morning and run until Sunday. At the same time, there will still be options for new and returning players to join in an ARDA multi-player game or a challenge deck tournament. Meanwhile the LotR LCG group will begin working on their collective objectives and campaigns and will do so throughout the weekend.
I want to mention briefly here why I’m choosing to have a competitive tournament (with tournament rules, timed rounds, and judges etc). Those of you familiar with Lure will know that Wolfgang intentionally doesn’t host Worlds at Lure (except for once during the pandemic), because hyper competition is not the vibe he is looking for in his event. In Europe, there are other opportunities to play at Worlds or some countries host a national championship. I feel the USA needs a national competitive tournament and the competitive players need an option to play in this environment in order to compete with the Europeans.
Ok back to the event itself! On Saturday we will have a General Opponent, two-deck format tournament. The tournament will be Swiss structured, so everyone plays a set number of rounds on Saturday. The number of rounds will be determined by the number of players participating. If there are 16 or more players, the top four finishers from Day 1, will be playing again on Sunday in a Round Robin showdown. As was the case at Worlds 2023, the deck you play on Day 1 is the same deck you play on Day 2!
Sunday will also feature more casual play for those not in the finals. Bring your Dreamcard decks if you have them! There will also be ARDA & Dark ARDA and Challenge Deck tournaments offered.
I want to encourage everyone to invite friends and family who like gaming to this convention! Pacificon is a great game convention with about 250 different events and activities throughout the 4 day weekend. I’ve gone several times over the years. There are historic miniatures, wargames, Euro games, and tons of roleplaying games and live action RPGs.
Of course, I always want to make those interested in our MECCG feel that they are welcome to learn and play as well. This is why we will have Joe Bisz’ ARDA, the multi-player game cube, available throughout the weekend. ARDA requires no prior experience to play and after a session or two, you are ready to participate in a Challenge Deck (pre-constructed deck) tournament. Again, no card ownership is required (but if you want to score some cards MECCG cards of your own -- play in these events because we give decks and boosters to new players).

Schedule of events:

Friday: Joe Bisz’ ARDA; Dark ARDA; Casual play possible Challenge Deck Tournament

Saturday AM: General Opponent 2-deck semis
Lunch Break
Saturday PM: General Opponent 2-deck semis (continued)
Throughout Saturday Joe Bisz’ ARDA / Casual play


Sunday AM: General Opponent finals (Top 4 play again round robin if there were 16+ players in semis)
Joe Bisz’ ARDA; Dark ARDA; Casual play/Dreamcard Deck Expo (show off your deck made with fan-generated Dreamcard expansions)
Sunday PM: Ring Award ceremony for tournament; Casual play/ Dreamcard Deck Expo

[Goblin King]

Here's a revision of the schedule:
Schedule of events:

Friday:
LOTR LCG
For beginners and returning players: Joe Bisz’ ARDA; Dark ARDA; Challenge Decks (No card ownership necessary! We provide all the cards!)
For returning and veterans: casual play or Challenge Deck Tournament

Saturday
Throughout Saturday: LOTR LCG; Joe Bisz’ ARDA / Challenge Decks No card ownership necessary! We provide all the cards!)

AM: General Opponent 2-deck semis
Lunch Break
Saturday PM: General Opponent 2-deck semis (continued)

Sunday
Throughout Sunday: LOTR LCG; Joe Bisz’ ARDA / DARK ARDA (No card ownership necessary! We provide all the cards!)
AM: General Opponent finals (Top 4 play again round robin if there were 16+ players in semis)
Lunch Break
Sunday PM: Ring Award ceremony from tournament;
Challenge Deck Tournament: If you were an new player who participated in at least 3 ARDA/DARK ARDA and Challenge Deck games over the weekend -- you can win starter and booster decks in this challenge deck tournament! You have joined our muster!
Casual play/ Dreamcard Deck Expo

[TradewindRider]

Greetings Goblin King,

Great to see you down here in LA for StrategiCon over the Memorial Day weekend, and thanks much for setting this up for Labor Day weekend!

I’ll attend both Saturday and Sunday—I won’t be playing in the general tourney as I have early dinner plans on Saturday, but am happy to play casual games and/or help run the Arda game (please provide a printout of the rules), and I’ll bring DC decks for demo on Sunday. See you then!

Tradewind Rider

[Goblin King]

Hello fellow Travelers to Middle Earth
The Muster will be upon us before we know it!
Just 7 short weeks away!
There are tickets available https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pacificon- ... tdtcreator
The Muster for Middle Earth is taking place inside of Pacificon Game Expo and $28 bucks gets you in the the entire convention including all Muster for Middle Earth Events. I'll be posting more information here about some cool swag being created for everyone who will be joining us. So be sure and check back.
Goblin King

[Goblin King]

[Goblin King]

I wanted to have the give-away for this tournament to be a tribute to Bernard “Theoden” Hill who passed earlier this year. One free to all that participate in our Muster events, while supplies last.
The schedule of all the events at Pacificon Game Expo have been posted!
If you haven't registered for the Convention yet, please do so. http://www.pacificongameexpo.com
And once you have registered, please sign up for events such as ARDA or the main Tournament. Doing so will give the organizers the opportunity to adjust the capacity to accommodate our event if they need to do so.
https://pacificon.conreg.net/reg/Events.asp

[Goblin King]

Join us at Muster For Middle Earth during Labor Day weekend (Pacificon Game Expo in Santa Clara). We will have a One Ring tournament for the veteran players. For new and returning players, join our ARDA, DARK ARDA and Challenge Deck tournament (no card ownership necessary) for a change to start a card collection or add to an existing one. There are hydro flask stickers for everyone and I might even through in leftover custom dice from Worlds 2023 (if I can remember where I hid them).
Goblin King

[Goblin King]

Muster Report Sept. 3, 2024
In pairs they galloped by, and though every now and then one rose in his stirrups and gazed ahead and to either side, they appeared not to perceive the three strangers sitting silently and watching them. The host had almost passed when suddenly Aragorn stood up, and called in a loud voice:
“What news from the North, Riders of Rohan?”
The Two Towers, The Riders of Rohan

Hello everyone!
I bring news of a gathering in the Western Lands. In California, over the Labor Day Holiday weekend we held the first of what I hope will be many and annually an event called Muster for Middle Earth.
Alas, there were not as many riders as the The Three Hunters saw that day, but the ones that came were strong of heart with many tales. A couple of them traveled great distances to heed this call and at least one or two new recruits joined the ranks for our worthy cause. So here is my report of the inaugural Muster for Middle Earth event in Santa Clara during the 45th Annual Pacificon Game Expo.
Myself and Jerod Bastard (JB), my co-organizer from Boardgame Geek who handled all things for Lord of The Rings Living Card Game (LOTR LCG), both arrived at precisely 9 a.m. on Friday. We checked in to our room and hustled downstairs eager to get our area set up. Unfortunately, our organization skills were far advanced to those dedicated volunteers who were running this convention for no pay.
But it all worked out and after getting practices setting up (and breaking down) and getting about a half mile of steps in inside of the hotel grounds, we were ready to go!
JB’s game was scheduled first and he did manage to Lure in a new recruit and introduce him to LOTR LCG. There was, of course, nothing better for me to do at that moment than join in the fun! So we played a 3-person scenario for both Passage Through Mirkwood and Journey Along the Anduin. We beat both scenarios handily and our new recruit (Joe) would be coming back for more Middle Earth later in the weekend.
By the time we finished our games, there were people arriving from near and far! Kenny from KC, a friend from Worlds 2024, arrived as did BrendansBoat from Illinois! Red Arrow Mark from Bakersfield and his sons, Beren and Michael, arrived along with others from the area. We settled into various casual games with constructed decks or Challenge Decks. Red Arrow and Beren made up on the spot a new variant for a 2-person ARDA game in which both players control two Wizards! It went great with a new dice tower from the dealer room that looked an awful lot like Gandalf’s accommodations at Sauron’s AirBNB. (No wonder he called in an airlift.) We wrapped up at about 11 p.m. for the day.
Day 2, Saturday, was the big day with JB running the beginning of the Lord of the Rings Saga for LOTR LCG and the Swiss tournament for a copy of the One Ring. But an interesting thing happened. It turned out that most of those mustering we not feeling up to the challenge of a grueling day of clock watching and MP counting. Having run Worlds in 2023, I understood where they were coming from. Hyper competitive play is not for everyone all the time!
So we made some adjustment! We had 4 people who wanted to play for a ring and so they were placed in a Round Robin Tournament. Meanwhile, the rest of the players were given options. They played some Hero ARDA and also some challenge deck games throughout the day. It all worked out very well! The One Ring tournament even had a nice balance: one Fallen Wizard player, one Minion player, one Hero player and one Ring Dunking Hero deck. Everyone was able to test their deck against every other category of deck. In the end it was Kenny and his Fallen Gandalf who went undefeated for the day and took home the prize. The day was capped off with a game of Dark Arda in which Beren gathered 8 MPs on his last turn in order to beat me out by 1 point! (It was my own fault I lost! I had 25 points a turn earlier and should have played Sudden Call. But I wanted to show off and get a style point by recruiting the Great Lord of Goblin Gate on my last turn. Oh well, at least I lost with style!) We wrapped up at about 11 p.m. again.
Day 3, Sunday, and since we had no finals to worry about, I was able to relax and join JB and a couple other players for the LOTR LCG Saga scenario: Flight to the Ford (nightmare version): It really looked like we were going to win this one by the skin of our teeth when a Shadow card removed one of two Hit Points from Frodo as he was being rushed into the safety of Rivendell He died on Elrond’s doorstep!
Meanwhile in MECCG, there was an 8-person Challenge Deck tournament that the players ran themselves through. I’m not sure if anyone was keeping score. I kept time only occasionally so that I could not miss happy hour at a Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood. (Myself and a friend or three discovered that margaritas come in sizes larger than pints!)
We returned to the Convention in time for the Dark Arda challenge where the winner received a unopened booster pack for Lidless Eye. Kenny won this match as well with a large group of humans led by an elf who refused to be gnawed with words. We wrapped up at midnight.
Gandalf Gene got Kenny safely off to his eagle mount at dawn, then he raced back to the convention where he joined me, Larry and Joe (remember him?) for our first game of War of The Ring card game by ARES. In the end, the forces of Mordor and Isengard proved too much for the Free People.
We were weary, but not sad nor beaten. For we knew already that this war was not over. Yes! There will be more battle to come! At a different time. In a different place. We will gather again. Some day, not too far away, we will again muster.
Muster for Middle Earth!
Goblin King

[TradewindRider]

Pacific Game Expo, 31 Aug-2 Sept

I lived for 15 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, but this was my first time attending the Pacific Game Expo at the Marriott Hotel in Santa Clara. I felt very nostalgic driving around the area once again, since I hadn’t visited much since before COVID, but the area is definitely thriving, albeit expensive to live in. The still-new Levi’s Stadium, the home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, is only a few blocks nearby, but the Marriott itself is an older property that has a wide footprint and plentiful parking. The venue is also across the street from the Great America amusement park, though that will be closing soon to give way to more real estate development.

I arrived Saturday morning to find Goblin King and Jerod already set up, so I sat down with Jerod to play the first couple of scenarios for the LCG Saga—the first one went swimmingly well, while the second one was quite hair-raising, even after we managed to dispose of Bill Ferny in the first turn. I had to leave early but returned Sunday for the third Saga scenario, only to see—as the Goblin King described—Frodo die on Elrond’s doorstep.

Goblin King and I then sat down for a “quiet” dream cards game next, he took my Elrond deck and I played my Dain deck. Neither was really anything special, I’d been playing online during the COVID pandemic that it is really taking an effort to organize physical decks, so I just basically took my online designs and put the physical decks together. Turns out that the Elrond deck was missing the cards to be fetched by Possessions of the High Elves, so that needed to be fixed, but Goblin King did have the pleasure of wielding Aranruth for a few turns. Lord Dain arrived early as well and roamed around dragon country equipped with the usual Dragon Feuds and drake hazard side, but I forgot that I needed to sideboard in more man factions. Yes, still lots of rust to shake off.

Now for a brief advertisement—the margaritas were courtesy of Pedro’s restaurant, merely a few blocks away from the gaming venue. I frequented this establishment quite a bit when I lived in the area, both for after work get-togethers and happy hours before my weekly bowling league. Let’s just say that the Pedro’s signature margarita pitchers and I are buenos amigos!

There was one more day of gaming, we took up Monday morning playing the War of the Ring card game—it was only my second time playing the game, and my first for the full trilogy scenario. Overall, my first experience with the Pacific Game Expo was very favorable—it’s a smaller and more relaxed venue than the Strategicon at the LAX Hilton, and the neighborhood around the Santa Clara Marriott is definitely much less sketchy than Century Blvd in Los Angeles. I’m planning to attend this venue next year, with better-tuned dream card decks, haha!

TradewindRider