Training For The Omegathon

Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for short, is a convention run by the creators of the webcomic Penny Arcade. There are several PAXs every year including one in Melbourne, Australia scheduled this year for October 26th-28th. If you have purchased a three-day Early Bird ticket like I had you are given the option to enter a lottery for the chance to participate in the Omegathon. This year, out of the thousands of potential entrants, I was selected.



The Omegathon is a 3-day tournament that takes part both in front of a live audience and a Twitch audience. Each Omegathon is different and for PAX Australia there are 24 competitors. It is comprised of several rounds where a portion of the losing players will be eliminated until there are only 2 people in the final round. Every round is comprised of a different game and the games will vary wildly for each round. This year there are 6 rounds:

1. Boomerang Fu
   
2. One More Line
   
3. Rat-A-Tat Cat
   
4. Worms Armageddon
   
5. Giant Rhino Hero
   
6. Final Mystery Game
   

2nd prize gets you re-entry into next year's Omegathon. 1st prize is free entry, accommodation and travel to the PAX of your choice. You'll probably only ever get one shot at playing in the Omegathon so I intend to make mine count. Join me as I chronicle my attempts at training for these 5 games. I'm so goddamn nervous.