Good evening folks, I have a question for you that first seriously occurred to me this Saturday. I was playing at the Game Preserve tournament with many of you and a situation came up where my sportsmanship and desire to win were at odds.
Ishmael and I played our second game since he has started his new Tau army and it was a both a good game and a solid win for me. Because of this win I was matched up with Lucas. Before the game, during the lunch break, I was walking back into the game room and saw the matchup sheet and found out that Lucas and I were in the winner's bracket along with Loki and Lucas' brother. While Lucas and I took our time with playing the game and while the game was still going on we found out that Lucas' brother had beaten Loki.
Now I was faced with a dilemma: If I won Lucas' brother and I would be the only two undefeated players in the tournament and would square off for the grand prize. I might have been able to pull out at least third place with a loss and two wins, but if I tied Lucas there was a possibility I would be able to play someone else. Lucas' brother's army is based on the use of Capt. Shrike making his army fleet, a horrible thing for Tau, especially when used with twenty terminators and twenty assault marines. So the question became "do I want to win and play Zach or tie and face some unknown opponent?" As I've said before I view playing your best game as a way of honoring your opponent and showing that you believe they are a worthwhile player.
Which is more important to you, giving your opponent the best game you can or playing in the hopes of winning the tournament as a whole?
