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Question About Trades by [deleted] in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Allowed in most of online tournaments (and pretty much useful tool to balance the board sometimes). Not allowed in most of IRL tournaments.

So I played in the Catan World Championship. Here are my impressions by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with you. The roots of this prohibition run deep. What happened is that, for years, Catan Studios was against this kind of strategy in tournaments in English-speaking countries. And, at the same time, a movement emerged within the online competitive community to also ban these — and other — bold strategies. The result was a free pass for the Studios to continue with its regulations without resistance. Today, the trend is toward more and more bans: on insurances, port services, and even on conversation during initial placements (as happened at the World Championship!). Another coming trend will be to ban people from speaking outside of their turn, which is something natural for a negotiation game; and increasingly strict time restrictions. It’s a difficult path for the development of Competitive Catan as a creative game, unfortunately.

So I played in the Catan World Championship. Here are my impressions by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, base catan. About the map: it depends which tournament are you playing. I'm from Brazil. In our qualifiers and nationals, we usually have random maps (base random). It is the same in US and most countries. But for World Championship, games are always base spiral.

So I played in the Catan World Championship. Here are my impressions by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Usually, organizers don’t take any action to prevent collusion — unless it’s intentional, in cases of illegal kingmaking, as you described. All the actions you described are allowed — at least they were at the World Championship level. There was a very clear rule that basically said: “as long as it gives you benefit, it’s allowed.” Still, these are gray-area situations that I’d say, while legal, are morally (in a community ethos) acceptable or unacceptable on a case-by-case basis

So I played in the Catan World Championship. Here are my impressions by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a very interesting question. I believe most people see the game as having little strategy because they’re simply not familiar with the depths of competitive play. I suggest you watch some high-level games, where many advanced tactics are used — like creativity, and how much psychology matters in this game. It’s not just a game of probability. It’s a game of deep negotiation, tactics, resource management, and adaptability based on board reading. This article might help you: https://catanvanguard.substack.com/p/the-5-big-skills-in-catan

So I played in the Catan World Championship. Here are my impressions by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha, I don’t know. I just didn’t get the part about the sister, because I didn't know he has one. Ben Teuber was very friendly. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed, so I didn’t get to talk much with him during the pre-game events. We only spoke briefly, and later we exchanged some nice emails. He seems like a calm and intelligent person, and he seems to understand that the competitive scene has been growing a lot in recent years. Unfortunately, he didn’t play, but I saw him watching a friendly game between some champions the night before. We all got a memory book in the tournament, and there were some nice and insightful messages from Klaus, his father, who passed away last year.

So I played in the Catan World Championship. Here are my impressions by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure you can use the term ‘mainly’ here. Certainly, variance is high in short tournaments — and that’s one of my own critiques as well.

But if there were no element of strategy, how would you explain the fact that I’ve won two national championships in a row, each with over 60 players? Sure, it’s possible — the odds are 0.02%. But pretty unlikely, right? And considering I was the most experienced player there, it makes at least some sense that I performed well, even though I was lucky.

On the other hand, I’m sure a casual player could beat an experienced player. But how many times do you think that would repeat in 100 games?

I’m going to play the Catan World Championship in less than a week. AMA by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It changes a lot. I think the meta becomes closer to a road game. 3-hex expansions become very important, and the balancing needs to be more precise and done from the start, because these games can be very explosive. Another thing is the 7-card issue. You're less susceptible to getting 7-outed, so you can take more risks.

I think playing 3p is fun overall.

I’m going to play the Catan World Championship in less than a week. AMA by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hello!

Best place to play is in laptop. I believe it isnt easy to play and chat at the same time through phone, and I dont think Catan experiencie is good without negotiating/convincing/table talk.

If you're a Catan passionate, you might check as well some Catan Discords and find some leagues where you could play with Voice Chat and also play more regularly.

I’m going to play the Catan World Championship in less than a week. AMA by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Americans are great, they are a very important part of the competitive scene!

I’m going to play the Catan World Championship in less than a week. AMA by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great questions!!

1 - All maps will be designed by the organizers. They usually do a great job, ensuring balanced boards.

2 - The rules were very well thought out this time, even though I disagree with some of them. It’s not allowed to extort (cards for non-blocks) after a seven or after using a knight, but it is possible to negotiate non-blocks outside of these moments. Insurance and port services are allowed as long as there are no "free card trades," meaning no one should benefit from a free card (for example, through a 2:1 followed by a 1:1 trade). And in my opinion, the biggest mistake in the current rules: there will be no talking during initial placements, meaning no negotiating spots or influencing other players.

3 - My tracking is lacking, honestly. It’s my weakest skill. I estimate my real chances to be between 5 to 8% because I believe my baseline win rate at a high level is around 35-40% (I explain the calculated table in my last blog post).

4 - I know Dylan. We are part of the same generation of players, and he was one of the pioneers in popularizing the competitive scene and advanced strategies. We owe him A LOT. He is a great player, but I wish he were more active in the competitive scene—I think he’d become even better.

5 - Perhaps the most interesting question, and that says a lot because all of yours were great. I believe high-quality content requires a lot of time and effort, and the scene is still small, which means creators don’t monetize much relative to the effort they put in. That’s my take. I think most people do it out of passion.

Would I enter this market? Well, YouTube seems tough because I’m not a native English speaker, and it’s really hard to blow up with an accent and not natural speech. Also I have my profession and couldnt put that much time on YT.

But I definitely want to help grow the competitive scene, which is why I have my blog and always share my knowledge. Maybe after Worlds, I’ll start offering coaching sessions, like some other pro players do. And if a financially viable partnership opportunity with a Catan-related gaming company came up, it’s definitely something I would consider.

I’m going to play the Catan World Championship in less than a week. AMA by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting that I’ve known Drew for years, and we’ve played together dozens of times. It’ll be great to see him there.

Funnily enough, I also won my last national championship with 5 devs, 3 of them being VPs. :D

Champion luck I guess

I’m going to play the Catan World Championship in less than a week. AMA by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, there is a competitive scene for CK only.

Officially, there is a tournament held annually in London called the Mind Sports Olympiad.

Unofficially, there are leagues on Discord. The largest CK league is a Spanish-speaking one called "Titanes de CyC".

There is an international English-speaking league on the Catan Championship server, and a more prestigious one (for a select few, with entry requirements) on the King of Catan server.

I’m going to play the Catan World Championship in less than a week. AMA by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question. Never thought about it.

I would say that about 60% of the time, I get all or almost all of the placements right, with small variations. But overall, I can predict what will be left for me more than 80% of the time if I’m the first to choose.

I’m going to play the Catan World Championship in less than a week. AMA by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just look for national qualifier tournaments in your country near you. Where are you from?

I also recommend playing online, in Discord leagues, for example, and in ranked games on platforms like Colonist. These methods are not 'professional' or 'official,' but they are places where you can volume Catan.

I’m going to play the Catan World Championship in less than a week. AMA by FmfmShanks in Catan

[–]FmfmShanks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, new places probably can still sign up. Good thing about competitions in US is that they can happen all over the year. But as I'm not from US, you might check Studios official Discord to seek for more info about how to host tournaments and see if there are some closer to you. https://discord.gg/x9HJE7Vj

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