Rain City Tops UBC in 6ix Oh Four Classic

By Brandon Booth and Serena Cheong The 6ix Oh Four Classic, held in Vancouver, Canada on Jan. 9, was hosted by the University of British Columbia and is likely the last USQ tournament that will ever be held in Canada. The tournament was well run, with some fortunate weather; noticeably absent was the usual rainy skies of Vancouver’s winters. The Swiss-system tournament was structured similarly to USQ World Cup 8, but ended up being a mix of Swiss-style and round robin amongst seven teams: British Columbia Quidditch Club (BCQC), Emerald City Admirals (ECQC), Rain City Raptors (RCR), Simon Fraser University (SFU), University of Victoria (UVIC), University of British Columbia (UBC), and the Vancouver Vipertooths (VV).

British Columbia Quidditch Club

Tournament record: (2-3)

ECQC vs. BCQC: 100-50*

BCQC vs.UVIC: 110-80*

UBC vs. BCQC: 190*-40

BCQC vs. SFU: 70*-50

RCR vs. BCQC: 220*-60 (This extra game was played as a qualifier for the Northwest Regional Championship.) BCQC started the tournament with a win and a loss, with the common thread being an inability to stop strong hero-ballers from ECQC and UVIC. ECQC was able to utilize fresh legs and a strong starting line to beat BCQC, but UVIC was not able to do the same thanks to a lack of scoring depth even within its starting lineup. After being gashed by solo rushes, BCQC tightened up its game substantially and bottled up SFU’s MVP, James Champion. In a thrilling game, the two rivals were within snitch range when BCQC’s Lachlin Robertson snuck up behind the snitch to give his team a 70*-50 win. To satisfy regional gameplay requirements, BCQC played another game against Rain City at the end. Down multiple key players, BCQC put up an admirable effort, scoring as many quaffle points as UBC did against RCR earlier in the day, but lost 22o*-60. Overall, BCQC should come away from this tournament happy with its performance, barring the upset loss to ECQC earlier in the day. The team showed great ability to adapt and change its game plan to come away with a win against SFU. It showed that being able to practice with UBC will only continue to help BCQC learn and grow and make strides towards becoming a threat to any team. BCQC will be tested again soon, when the team faces off against other mid-tier Northwest regional teams at the Subdued Excitement Showdown in Bellingham, Washington. Emerald City Quidditch Club

Tournament record: (2-2)

ECQC vs. BCQC: 100-50*

RCR vs. ECQC: 210*-0

ECQC vs. UVIC: 120*-60

UBC vs. ECQC: 160-60* ECQC showed up to play in its first game against BCQC, coming up with an early victory, but then finished the rest of the day as expected. As mentioned above, ECQC’s chaser defense frustrated the BCQC offence, and its keepers drove through BCQC’s defense like Swiss cheese. After the team’s win against BCQC, ECQC played RCR and was outmatched and shutout. ECQC then bounced back against UVIC and pulled the snitch in a SWIM situation to win 120*-60, showing again that the team has some athletic players who can put up points and a seeker that can make a clutch save when necessary. ECQC’s final game against UBC went as expected, as UBC came away with a 160-60* win. This ended ECQC’s day with a 2-2 record with losses to RCR and UBC, two of the top teams in the Northwest region thus far.

Emerald City Admirals | Photo Credit: Danny Ly

Overall, it was great to see ECQC finally make it to an official USQ tournament and get in some official games before the Northwest Regional Championship. The team had a great showing at this tournament, considering its small roster and inexperience. ECQC is scheduled to be at the Subdued Excitement Showdown, where it will be interesting to see what improvements Captain Eric Andres is able to make with this team going forward. With an offense led by new-to-quidditch athletes Christopher Hart and Chad Breeden, ECQC has shown it is able to put points on the board. The two biggest flaws in ECQC’s game were its inexperienced beater game and a lack of understanding of the rules, which were evident in the fouls committed by newer players. If ECQC can tighten up its beating strategy and do some more rulebook study sessions, it should be able to compete within the middle tier of the Northwest.
Rain City Raptors

Tournament record: (4-0)

RCR vs. UBC: 150*-60

RCR vs. ECQC: 210*-0

RCR vs. SFU: 140-40*

RCR vs. BCQC: 220*-60 RCR came to this tournament wanting the same thing UBC did: a rematch of the championship game at the Rocky Mountain Rumble, where UBC made a snitch catch when down by 10 to win the game and the tournament. The game between these two teams was slated to be in the first timeslot of the day. RCR jumped out to a 50-0 lead on UBC with an offense led by Jake Ronhaar, Ross Schram von Haupt, and Drew Sutorius. RCR’s beating game was firing on all cylinders and tournament MVP Jacob Keith had a stellar game. RCR was able to maintain the lead the entire game and was up 120-60 when seekers were released and Brandon Booth was able to get a quick snitch pull to win 150*-60. Many expected this to be the game of the tournament, but were left shocked with UBC thoroughly dominated. After this game, RCR was able to cruise through the rest of the tournament to go on to a 4-0 day and was eventually crowned the champions.

Jake Ronhaar | Photo Credit: Jeremy Johnson-Silvers

Overall, RCR was able to see UBC again and was able to come away with a giant 90-point win. Beating UBC so handily and continuing to dominate middle and low-tiered teams shows RCR has established itself within the Top 3 teams of this region. Unfortunately, with such a small roster, and also struck with the devastating news that chaser Robert Stolzberg had suffered a broken collar bone, RCR struggled to maintain its peak later in the day. If RCR can fight through limited substitutions, it may be able to compete with the top teams in this region and vie for one of the three bids the Northwest receives.   Simon Fraser University

Tournament record: (2-2)

SFU vs. VV: 110-70*

RCR vs. SFU: 140-40*

BCQC vs. SFU: 70*-50

SFU vs. UVIC: 120*-20 SFU has been able to prove it is one of the better teams in the west. James Champion is the main threat and offensive catalyst, especially off the rush. His on-pitch vision, along with his ability to direct play on the field, is the core of SFU’s offense. The team was able to beat VV and UVIC, keeping the games out of snitch range, and expectedly lost to RCR. However, the game to note was its match against BCQC. SFU was able to beat BCQC earlier this season by a significant margin, but offensive MVP Champion was unable to get going and BCQC did a good job of shutting him down with some great keeping by Justin Kim. This allowed the game to stay in range, and BCQC was able to steal the game with a snitch catch. Overall, SFU has shown it can be better than most of the other teams at the tournament; however, the team follows Champion. If SFU is able to develop a few of its newer players more and put out a few more offensive threats, the team would be able to more consistently play at the middle to high level of competition and give some of the top teams a possible upset. A noticeable rookie is keeper Avery Herbert, who does well as a substitute for Champion but needs more experience to match Champion’s on-pitch vision. SFU will be looking to avenge its loss in the Subdued Excited Showdown tournament, where it has been placed in the same pool as BCQC. University of British Columbia

Tournament record: (3-1)

RCR vs. UBC: 150*-60

UBC vs. BCQC: 190*-40

UBC vs. VV: 90-50*

UBC vs. ECQC: 160-60* UBC hosted this great tournament and put out a great showing. The only blemish on its record was an early game against RCR. UBC looked sluggish out of the gate and was missing some key players; most notably star keeper Cameron Cutler who is out for the season after suffering an injury at the Tree City Tournament earlier this season. After the initial game, UBC quickly recovered and proceeded to demolish BCQC and be well out of range against VV when the Vipertooths made the suicide catch. Overall, UBC has a fast, physical offense led by Lendl Magsipoc. Despite the noticeable absence of Janik Andreas, UBC’s beater corps is fast, strong, physical, and accurate with strong team chemistry. Beater Brandon Rivas is a nightmare on the pitch and directs play with great on-pitch vision. UBC has shown this season it is still among the Top 3 in the region, with a 1-1 record against RCR (0-1 in USQ official games) and a loss in its one game against the Boise State Abraxans. If UBC can stay healthy and field its best players at the same tournament, it has the potential to beat anybody and the depth to do it the entire game. And if UBC can keep the game in snitch range, Austin Wallace is always a legitimate threat to give his team the win.

Austin Wallace | Photo Credit: Jeremy Johnson-Silvers

University of Victoria

Tournament record: (0-4)

VV vs. UVIC: 100-60*

BCQC vs. UVIC: 110-80*

ECQC vs. UVIC: 120*-60

SFU vs. UVIC: 120*-20 UVIC went 0-4 with a suicide catch loss to start the tournament, followed by two hard-fought games against BCQC and ECQC. Its own struggling offense capitalized on a defensively disorganized BCQC and weaker beater lineup of ECQC to score more often than usual. UVIC could never really get going for the last match as the SFU offense came at UVIC in waves without any challenge. Overall, UVIC struggles to put together much of an offensive rhythm and mostly relies on the hero-balling of its keepers, most notably keeper David Warburton. Warburton is fearless, making the play of the tournament in the team’s game against BCQC where he scored on a falling hoop after the first two were knocked down. The team’s beater lineup remains weak and plagued with inexperience in the strategy department, although it was slightly boosted by the temporary addition of Alex Lamoureux of the Calgary Mudbloods. It is clear that the team continues to grow and get better every time it gets to play. UVIC’s flaws lie in strategy and systems play, which are easily fixed if the team receives proper coaching. UVIC has greatly improved since its showing at Rocky Mountain Rumble and are more organized, which is a sign of good things to come.

University of Victoria | Photo Credit: Danny Ly

Vancouver Vipertooths

Tournament record: (2-2)

VV vs. UVIC: 100-60*

SFU vs. VV: 110-70*

VV vs. ECQC: 90-70*

UBC vs. VV: 90-50* Vancouver had an extremely good day considering its unfortunately small roster. The Vipertooths started with approximately 11 players, and ended with just nine by their last game of the tournament. Regardless, the team played hard by leaning on veteran players and were able to get two wins on the day. Their last game against UBC was started with nine players and while the team played their absolute hardest, they eventually ended with the Vipertooths going for the suicide catch in a 90-50* loss. Overall, the Vipertooths are clearly devastated by lack of depth, especially once they lost Coach Scott Muxlow in the SFU game. The lack of Zack van Zanten was noticeable in the team’s offense even before Muxlow was taken out of the game, as most of its offense runs through him. The Vipertooths’ beater lineup was very thin this tournament; as a desperate measure, they converted a good chaser in David St. Germain to a beater for the entirety of the tournament, who played great for someone who does not naturally play that position. The Vipertooths have some great players, especially the ones that could not attend the tournament. Like most new community teams, roster size remains a huge issue. If the team is able to bring in a few more players and give its starters some rest, it has shown it is able to hang with most mid-tier teams.