Catan has a new World Champion... and he is a New Zealander player called Hamish Dean.
The path to becoming a member of the elite Catan World Champions club was not completely smooth. Competing against 87 players from 44 countries, his early games were close and Hamish qualified for the Semi-finals 16th out of 16, Then in the semi-finals and final Hamish played some excellent games to win the title and become the 2022 CATAN World Champion.
Held in Malta, this was the first Catan World Championship to be held in almost four years due to Covid. And it has been noted by Benjamin Teuber that Hamish is the first ever winner from the Southern Hemisphere!
Hamish qualified for the World Champs by winning the New Zealand Championship back in 2021. Organised as part of Wellycon, this was the first time New Zealand had held a qualifying event. The New Zealand Championship was sponored by PixelPark, the New Zealand board game distributor and local agent for Catan. As well as prizes for those reaching the semi-finals and finals, the grand prize was a truly amazing all expenses paid trip to Malta to attend the World Champs.
Below are some screenshots from the final table event in Malta. The entire game and one of the semi-final games can be viewed online in Youtube. There is also more information on the championship on the Catan website.
01. Final Table - Game Play
02. Waiting to win... and secretly hoping Eric is not able to make a trade!
03. Placing the 8th road on the map
04. Taking the Longest Road card for the win
05. Seeing the trophy and letting it sink in... WORLD CHAMPION!!!
MALTA 2022 - Special Promotional Hex and Mini-Scenario
A feature of the Malta event was a special hex for attendees of the event. The Malta hex is a very limited edition hex and will be a sought after collectible.
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