Today we have a guest post from Dread Pirate Tim himself. He brings us the summary of the legendary Kumite IV...

DISCLAIMER - The following tournament report was written prior to hearing about the positive tests for COVID-19 within the attendees of the Kumite event. In hindsight we should have done more, such as requiring masks while not eating/drinking and asking all in attendance to have their vaccinations so that we could better do our part in managing the risk of spreading the disease. While we all want to get back to times of bro hugs, late nights slinging cards, and gathering from multiple states, there are still risks associated with all of these activities which can be deadly. This is a reminder that we cannot yet be lax in our actions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The primary defenses that we have in masks and vaccinations are things that we need to take seriously, in particular if we are going to be gathering in person. We all need to manage our own risks, but when anyone starts imposing the risk they've taken on others they will be around, there is a different level of consideration to take. Lets all do our part to look out for those that we will be meeting with in person by trying to manage the risks as best as we are able. Wear a mask and get vaccinated.

Kumite IV has brought together 37 Old Schoolers from across the Midwest and from wild lands beyond like Tennessee and Kansas. This event is later in the year than when we would typically hold the Kumite, but with the way things have been going the last 18 months we’re just glad to have been able to host the event in person this year.

As many OS events are becoming, there was a full weekend of events starting out with a chill gathering at the Dread Pirates house. Pizza, Malort, copious amounts of beer, and some pick up games of OS and MS were all able to be found.

People from near and far were able to meet in person for the first time with many of those out for Friday night. As has come to be expected within the OS community the buzz and excitement was on full display when groups are able to get together to show off their brews, flipping skills, and sweet cardboard. Not pictured was the wildlife wandering by trying to figure out what these creatures were doing in their typical location. John was stalking a deer that wandered across the road into the neighboring yard and if he had gotten any closer we may have had buckskin playmats for the group and some killer stew for the event.

Charity proceeds from the event totaled $530 to support Andy's Angels, a local charity in Jackson. ( https://andysangels.net/ ) In addition, a special charity event was organized to support the Angell family. Lorrie is fighting terminal cancer, and Taylor Quail donated a fully altered Ukiyo-e style Erhnamgeddon deck to be auctioned off. The auction raised $3,000 dollars to support Lorrie's fight.

The main event had a little something for everyone with an amazing prize pool. All the prizes were alters donated to the event by people like Quail, Shaman Ben, Nick Viau and Pete Lupo among others. In addition there were some additional prizes for two randomly determined final standings as prints for Dance of the Dead and All Hallow’s Eve, but one of the coolest prizes was a signed copy of Bloodsport on Laser Disc to the first match win of the event.

The fighters within this year’s Kumite all brought the heat for 6 rounds of mayhem. Amazing stories were heard buzzing around the venue such as destruction of 14+ basic lands in some mono colored decks to casting Ancestral Recall 5 times within 1 turn. The opportunity for people to gather again brought out their fun, and it was evident by the smiles and laughs all around as people were turning dudes sideways, being offended by their opponents lands and doing things about it, or trying to combo out in some crazy way. Many people were able to finally meet in person someone who they had only been interacting with online and the stories, reunions, and gathering of the people really was the focus of the energy in the room. However there was pride and a belt on the line and competition at the top tables was on to claim that traveling trophy. Ultimately it was Pez who came out on top for a well deserved victory.

The Knights had decided to have a very relaxed policy on proxies, and basically anything went as long as some effort was put into the card so that it was clear to everyone what was going on at any given time on the board. This event was able to demonstrate that with a good attitude and sense of community the cards can be of secondary importance. It was great to see that despite this policy people were still playing the cool stuff that got them excited and the unique expression that everyone was able to have with the selection of their decks, alters, etc. was truly a sight.

How to balance the challenge of getting cards with allowing people to play fun cool things is a challenge that will only get worse with time. I also think it’s important to think of ways to address that so that new blood can join in because I know how much this community means to me and I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of it and have met the people that I have and think it’s only fair that others who would value it as well should be able to join in, but finding out how to do that is a challenge that each group will need to consider so that some of the things (rules lawyering, angle shooting, being a dick, etc.) that OS has been a refuge for do not start creeping in and losing the trust and companionship that I’ve found to be a hallmark of any OS player whether you’ve met them before or not. 

Listed below are the decks from the event in alphabetical order by first name.

Amberly Lupo (decklist missing)

Christopher Andorfer (decklist missing)

Jonathan Guillen (decklist missing)

Nate Barnes (decklist missing)

Pete Lupo (decklist missing)