New OP for A Game of Thrones LCG

Fantasy Flight Games has announced a new three-tiered Organized Play program for the A Game Thrones Living Card Game:

Once you’ve mastered the basics with your friends and family, it is time to visit your friendly local gaming store, and play in a structured league for bragging rights, swag, and the opportunity to influence the future direction of the game. In addition, you can take part in monthly hedge tournaments, where you can win Great House pins that qualify you for a special invitation-only A Game of Thrones LCG event to be held at Fantasy Flight headquarters. Finally, bring your best deck to compete for glory, and meet the greater AGoT community at Regional, National, and World Championship Events.

AGoT LCG Storyline Leagues are run on a six-weeks-on, two-weeks-off schedule. The limited card pool ensures league games are accessible and enjoyable for newer players. It challenges established players to rely on their playing abilities rather than the size and scope of their collections. By participating in the league, new players can begin building their collections for constructed formats, while simultaneously gaining experience against the veterans on even footing. Leagues will also provide structured play, tracking, and game-related incentives.

The first league will start tomorrow, Jan. 7. League play is your chance to cast votes in the storyline challenges. For the 2008-2009 tournament season, league play will be used to determine the results of four distinct storylines. The outcomes of each storyline decides the future direction of the game. Depending upon how they perform each week, league participants earn votes which they can then cast towards one of three storylines. The house cards that players choose for league play and the results they acquire with that house, are used to determine the results of the fourth storyline. Throughout the course of the 2008-2009 tournament season, four league campaigns will be fought, with results from all four campaigns being tallied and applied toward the storylines. At the end of the league season, the compiled decisions will be tallied and implemented in the design of future expansions.

Each league kit supports a playgroup of 4-8 participants, costs $15, and two kits can be ordered per store. The contents of the first league kit are:

• 1 A Game of Thrones Playing Card Deck featuring the art of AGOT LCG(For winner)
• 8 Art Prints(for participation)
• A Storyline poster (for keeping tracks of the store’s weekly votes)

In the future, league kits will feature different prizes like promo cards, power counters, deck boxes, special house cards and playmats.

Hedge Tournaments are monthly tournaments held at your friendly local gaming store. The first and second place players at these tournaments receive a shield or banner pin featuring that month’s Great House icon. The first Hedge tournament will be called the Tourney of Casterly Rock, and can be held anytime during the month of January. There will be a new tourney with a new pin every month. January’s tournament features the shield pin of house Lannister. This program is free to participate in, but must be sponsored by a brick-and-mortar game store. The deadline for signing up for this program is Dec. 29. Hedge Tournaments are run by a Night’s Watch Tournament Organizer.

When your britches are getting a little tight from winning your local tournaments, it’s time to test yourself, your deck, and your luck at a major championship. These tournaments are LCG melees and jousts, but feature classic side events. They are run as national tournaments internationally and regional tournaments within the United States. This program culminates in the A Game of Thrones World Championship that is held every year at GenCon. The winner of this tournament will be able to help design his own tournament legal card. This program has already started, and two regional championships have been run already this year.

For more information about AGoT organized play, visit http://www.fantasyflightgames.com.