SUCCESS

SUCCESS! The word kept on echoing at the back of my head, even as I was resting on my bed that night. The night of August 3, 2013, Saturday, which will be left in our history as the date when the First Philippine Dust Tactics Tournament took place!

After hours of play testing and preparing our armies, after days of brainstorming and engaging several key individuals and organizations, after being postponed for a month, it’s done. It’s over. Just like that.

But who am I kidding here? Did it really pass by just like that? Hell no!

We’ve had a good attendance of eight players, with an equal representation of the two major blocs available locally. We saw players who are relatively new to the game like me. Some were more experienced, who owned and played the game since the release of the first Starter Set. My heart goes out to my brothers in arms: Dax, Vic, Jojo, Raven, Binbi, Mike and King, you boys are champions in my books!

L-R: King, Mike, Vic, Bin, Paolo, Dax, Raven, Marc and Jojo

Neutral Grounds Glorietta provided a good amount of space for us, providing enough play area good for 8 commanders to wage war with each other. Special props go to Mike “Gat-X” Lao and to the Big Boss, Sir Freddie Tan, branch manager and owner of Neutral Grounds, respectively. We look forward to more Dust battles under your roof. More power!

As if that’s not enough, we were all surprised to our bones when the very creator of the game we love, Mr. Paolo Parente himself, showed up at the shop’s doorsteps! And what’s better than having a Paolo Parente visit you on your first tournament? That’s right, a Paolo Parente with a lot of Dust goodies for everyone! We salute you, Sir Paolo, for the visit, for the prizes and freebies, but most importantly, for creating a great game for us to share and enjoy!

So what’s so successful about the tournament? Jojo took home the title and honor of becoming the Champion of the First Philippine Dust Tactics Tournament (Congrats!) and I was only second place due to tiebreaks. I didn’t win the Best Painted Army, Vic did (hats off, bro!).

Well, for starters we got the game and the community on the map; we’re now known as Post 52 of the Philippine Front with Dust Devils International, the official organizing body for all Dust events. After a year-long struggle at getting products locally, we now have a promising support from our local gaming store. We have people and friends, engaged in other hobby/ gaming systems, expressing interest in the game. Heck I even saw a total stranger who bought a BBQ Squad on the spot after watching us for a few minutes that day! We even have a couple of dormant players with reignited interest in playing again. And if we would go back 3-4 months ago, those were the things we aimed to achieve. So yes, I can definitely say this again: The First Philippine Dust Tactics Tournament was a SUCCESS!

…And we have a lot more in store.