August 22, 2003 (SEATTLE) - Kyle Dembinski, a 15-year-old from Olathe, Kan., was crowned DC HeroClix(tm) world champion after rising to the top and defeating all opponents at Wizard World Chicago on August 10, 2003.
Dembinski survived six grueling qualifying rounds and more than 100 of the best HeroClix players in the world to advance to Sunday's Championship. Preliminary rounds were Booster Drafts, with contestants building teams on the spot using figures from booster packs opened on site. For the final round, Dembinski and the other finalists assembled hand-picked forces from their own figure collections.
Dembinski's winning army consisted of a Veteran Nightwing, two Rookie Live Wires, a Rookie Hawkman, an Experienced Bane, a Veteran Deathstroke and two Rookie Easy Company Medics. These figures carried him to victory through four single-elimination rounds against the best HeroClix players in the world.
"I wasn't even sure I was going to play," Dembinski said after he received the Construct Trophy - Sinestro's yellow energy construct mounted on a trophy base. As part of his prize package, Dembinski also received a full set of DC HeroClix: Cosmic Justice figures, a complete collection of DC HeroClix Limited Edition figures, 24 DC HeroClix: Cosmic Justice booster packs and DC HeroClix Indoor and Outdoor Adventure Kits.
The event's Fellowship award, given to the player who best embodied the spirit of sporting play that WizKids tries to foster in its player community, went to Billy Zonos, a 23-year-old from Yorba Linda, Calif. Zonos attended the Championship with a cadre of players dubbed the "SoCal Clixers." Zonos said his goal in playing in the event was "having fun."
WizKids' Organized Play division sponsors more than 10,000 WizKids game events every month in hobby stores across North America and Europe. Its Mage Knight(tm) and MechWarrior(r) game tournaments rank participants according to wins, and highly ranked players are invited to playoff rounds. Championship matches for the HeroClix game are Open events, with qualifying rounds leading to the Championship round. To find out more about WizKids, or to find the next tournament in your area, visit www.wizkidsgames.com.
(c)2003 WizKids, LLC. All rights reserved. Mage Knight, MechWarrior, HeroClix and WizKids are trademarks of WizKids, LLC.
