The numbers

I am back from WBC and I was curious to look at how my numbers shook out for the week.  I played a bunch of different games competitively, but it turns out my results don't look much like I would have thought.  Heck, I can't imagine anyone would have picked how it would go.  Mainly the strange thing is that the game I was best in I lost in the semis, and two games I only learned right before the heats I did very well in, one of which gave me a 2nd place plaque.

Games that I was really prepping for:

Puerto Rico
1st   1st   SemiFinal  3rd

Total
2 1st
1 3rd

Games I thought I was competent but not great at:

Vegas Showdown
1st   1st   SemiFinal 1st *Final 2nd*
Carcassone
1st 1st 2nd   (Skipped SemiFinal due to conflict)
Agricola
2nd 1st 2nd  (Missed SemiFinal due to tiebreakers)
7 Wonders
1st 1st SemiFinal 2nd
Lords of Waterdeep
1st  (Skipped SemiFinal due to conflict)

Total
9 1st
5 2nd

Games I didn't know the rules to, or barely so:
Ra
5th
Castles of Mad King Ludwig
1st 1st Semifinal 1st *Final 2nd*
Thurns and Taxis
1st 1st Semifinal 3rd
Innovation
1st
Galaxy Trucker
3rd

Total
6 1st
1 2nd
1 3rd
1 5th

Super Random Dice Games
Can't Stop
1st 4th
Ra Dice
1st 2nd 3rd  SemiFinal 3rd

Total
2 1st
1 2nd
2 3rd
1 4th

Grand Total:

19 1st
7 2nd
4 3rd
1 4th
1 5th

The pattern is consistent - I win a lot, but my wins have nothing at all to do with my preparation.  I did just as well in each category in the skill based games, winning the majority of my matches no matter whether I had logged hundreds of games, a few dozen games, or zero games before playing at WBC.  The super random dice games I was barely better than average, which really is about what you would expect.

I only missed advancing in two games, both of which I only played one match in.  Galaxy Trucker I legitimately suck at, and Ra I took a big risk trying to place well and it blew me out.  I am not *good* at that game, but I could totally win it.

If I really want to have a massive win percentage I think I would approach it by skipping all semifinal games and just focusing on playing as many heats in games I am competent in as possible.  Far better to be in a heat in a game I am okay at than a semifinal in a game I am excellent at, I think.

Not that I am trying to maximize my win percentage that way, but that is how I would do it if I was aiming for that.

I definitely need to learn some more games before next year though.  There were lots of gaps where I could have fit in more heats but I didn't know how to play the games at all.  Lots of games at WBC were absolutely boring to me, either because they were extremely random or because they took a really long time to play.  However, I am sure there are a bunch of games that fit in the 1 or 2 hour time slots that I would greatly enjoy so I need to get cracking so I have more options for next year.

I think it is happy circumstance that my best tactic for winning a lot of plaques happens to be the same as my best tactic for having a blast - learn to be pretty good at lots of games and play them all.  I am really good at Puerto Rico and I lost.  I think I was the strongest overall player at my semi final table, but I got beat.  I watched the finals and I think I am as good as any of those players, but I didn't make it.  Playing one game one hundred times makes you better... but I don't think it wins you nearly as many plaques as playing ten games ten times each, presuming you are good at games in general.  And like I said, I will have a blast playing ten games ten times each and going in feeling good about each of them, because I have a good chance to get to the final table at something, even if I don't know what that something is.  Also it means that I don't have to fuss about scheduling - I will just go to whatever heats I want and attend the semis of any game where I make the cut.  Nice and relaxed.

I have a plan.  It involves playing a lot of board games.  Do it!