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Excitement grows as I prepare (toothbrush... CHECK!) for the drive to Indianapolis on Wednesday. I've gone over my list of needs a couple of times, and right now there are only a few things missing...

• [s]A charger for my camera (may need to bite the bullet and buy another one).[/s]
  
• A good set of backup questions for my interviews (I have some questions, but extras never hurt).
  

Other than that... all systems are go! I'm super excited about GenCon this year... more so than any other I've been to. Why, oh why can't it be Wednesday already?

--sam

I was roving the minis hall as the first round of the Grinder finished and I was able to snag Jason Lioi a former D&D Minis Champion for an interview. Jason was not able to qualify prior to GenCon this year so he's playing the Last Chance Qualifier (aka "The Grinder")

L: So what are you playing?

JL: Playing Ryld Argyth, 2 Black Dragons and Thrall of Blackrazor (astute readers will not that the Thrall of Blackrazor is Jason's very own design from when he won the Championship, repaint pictured below). The Thrall has been repainted by Peter Lee.



L: What did you face in the first round?

JL: Cleric of Syreth with Sacred Watchers and Tordek. I won map init and we played on Hellspike instead of King's Road. I chose Ryld just for this sort of situation.

L: Was the match a rout or was it close?

JL: It was pretty one sided. I passed 6 of 7 incorporeal checks, and getting Hellspike as the map really helped a lot.

L: Is the field what you expected?

JL: Yes I was expecting CE dragons and forgepriests... and some random stuff.

L: Other than the Thrall, what's your favorite fig? Lifeleech Otyugh!

L: Which figure gives you the most problems?

JL: Cormyrean War Wizard... the slide, the scorching rays, the lightning bolts. And they're usually over activated and running in the forest.

L: Who is your nemesis, and would you like to talk some smack?

JL: Kevin Cleveland is my nemesis... He has harvested at least 100 DCI points from me. I've been losing to him since he was 15. As he's gotten older he's become a great player that you have to respect. I just want to win every once in a while. I'm too nice for smack talk...

Here are a few interesting warbands from the Last Chance Qualifier

Player: Jesse Kindwall (currently 2-1)
Living Flaming Sphere x6
Gnome Trickster
Satyr


Player: John Zink (currently 3-0)
Death Slaad
Large Shadow Dragon x2
Tiefling Captain
Orc Wardrummer
Timber Wolf
Orc Warrior x2


Player: Nicholas Hiatt (currently 2-1)
Storm Silverhand
Raistlin Majere
Wulfgar
Timber Wolf x2
Cormyrean War Wizard
Arcanix Guard x2
Bat Familiar

Player: Louis C. Sacha (currently 2-1)
Couatl
Shield Guardian
Shadowbane Inquisitor x2
Sacred Watcher x2
Warforged Scout

I asked Shoe (Stephen Schubert) what was in his pocket... and this is what he showed me...





--sam

I only gave a partial report earlier of the top 15 players. This time I'll give a list of the remaining 24 players. The tournament started with 50.

It is now 11PM Eastern and there is one more round to go.

Standings after Round 5...

Benjamin Burnside 5-0
Paul Grasshoff 5-0
Mathieu Gelinas 4-1
David Gausebeck 4-1
Wayne McManus 4-1
Declan Lynch 4-1
Louis Sacha 4-1
John Zink 4-1
Clint McGill 4-1
John Corbett 4-1
Michael Strauss 3-2
Cory Brosnan 3-2
Jocelyn Beausoleil 3-2
John Latus 3-2
Jeremiah Schmidt 3-2
Daniel Thomson 3-2
Stuart Bleything 3-2
Carl La Terreur 3-2
Martin Simard 3-2
Adam Hubbard 3-2
Jason Lioi 2-3
Nicholas Hiatt 2-3
Dario Pini 2-3
Jeff Murra 1-4