OTB Crowns 2006 Grand Champion!

Columbus, OH (Origins Convention 2006)

This year’s Grand Championship could be called the “Legacy Tournament” as two sons of former tournament legends battled it out for the title of “Master of Award Winning Fun” for 2006. Andy Mericle, son of OTB tourney legend Tony Mericle, faced off against another OTB tourney legend’s son, Xavier Shamrowicz; Son of Chad – 2 -Time Master of Award Winning Fun - Shamrowicz.

What neither of them expected was an army of new faces to the OTB Grand Championship scene this year.

Out of the Box Publishing’s Grand Championship tournament is a unique 4-day event where players are challenged to play in as many different Out of the Box tournaments as possible. The player who accumulates the most total tournament points is crowned OTB Grand Champion. (Otherwise known as “Master of Award Winning Fun”). Points are awarded for each event in the following way: 1st Place (5 pts), 2nd Place (3 pts), 3rd Place (2 pts) - and anyone who simply plays in an event gets 1 pt.

The tournament got started off with a decisive victory by Bill Gilson winning the 10 Days in Africa event with a second place finish by Xavier Shamrowicz. This was followed by a third place victory by Bill in Cover Up as he fell to another familiar name in the OTB Hall of Fame – Paul German. Paul went on to face Andy Mericle in the finals and, after a long arduous game, came out on top.

Andy’s second place finish was just the start of his display of skills as he went on to blast the competition in Cloud 9, a game which saw the rise of this year’s “quiet storm” – Gayle McNeill. A teacher in the local area Gayle came to the OTB tourney to “hang out” while her son played other games, but she didn’t just hang out. She glided through tournament after tournament racking up several first, second or third place finishes. This included 3 back to back first place finishes in Tutankhamen, Easy Come – Easy Go, and Wildside!

The second day battle, between Gayle, Andy and Xavier, raged on with at least one of them earning a spot in the championship round of almost every game. The highlights included a rowdy raucous game of Snorta, where Xavier edged out the competition with a keen memory of barnyard sounds. Another highlight of the day featured a mother-daughter duet from PA. Brenda and Sophia Anderson came to the blink tournament dressed as cats and the clawed their way through the competition to end up facing each other in a tense final match. In a best two out of three match the two played cards in a blur and in two shakes of a cat’s tail the senior cat, Brenda brushed aside her daughter in a narrow victory to secure the title of Fastest Player for 2006 and bragging rights for the ride home.

The third day was started with the knowledge that Gayle could not attend any more OTB Events, but she did vow to return next year to give it a “real go!” This day saw more great match-ups as the young rivalry between Xavier and Andy carried on. Each shared a first place victory. Saturday was also the day of the Apples to Apples World Championships. Several tables of players squared off, all with the dual goal of winning one of the top three trophies and of having the most fun. I think everyone involved achieved the second goal but it was Kylen Franz alone who could hold that large trophy up high at the end of the day. At the end of the day Andy had eeked past Gayle by a one point margin.

The last day Andy Mericle stayed focused, and won enough points to complete his goal of becoming the Master of Award Winning Fun with a total of 44 pts! Way to Go Andy! Gayle Mcneill, despite missing the last two days of the tournament ended up in second place with 38 pts and Xavier finished third but vowed to be the champ next year.

Congratulations to all our magnificent players!