How I Became a Catan National Champion
On August 19, 2023, I found myself in São Paulo, Brazil, for my second Brazilian Catan Championship. With 57 proven competitors from all corners of this vast country, I managed to secure the title of champion. For me, this was more than just any title; it was redemption. After numerous lost finals in online tournaments, my first title came in a face-to-face national tournament.
In my last post on this blog, I discussed how Catan is a game of strategy, emphasizing that this strategy can only be truly appreciated when viewed in the light of consistency. This is because small samples of games are heavily influenced by luck. I maintain the conviction that my achievement doesn't fundamentally change the player I am. A championship of six games is just a small slice, insufficient to fully define someone. However, celebration is inevitable, and given the circumstances, I believe this result was somewhat fair (though I am far from advocating a result-oriented analysis!).
In this text, I want to share a bit of my journey and briefly discuss the strategies involved in official Catan matches (IRL Catan) compared to major online tournaments.
Come along with me!
My Online Journey
Since the creation of this Substack, I've been promoting it as a blog. I'm not sure if this is the ideal classification for the types of texts I usually post here, which are more discursive and analytical. But, to tell a bit of my story today, calling it a blog is justified!
Well, for those who don't know, I'm a Catan player almost 100% online. I live in a small town in the countryside where I work as a doctor, a profession I pursue with dedication. This context naturally limits my ability to play in-person.
Catan is my biggest hobby, the activity that takes up most of my time outside of work. It all began in 2020 when I started playing online. To be fair, I was introduced to Settlers of Catan a bit earlier, around 2018 or 2019 when my brother brought the board game home, and we played a few family games. But it was in December 2020 that I discovered Online Catan and truly dedicated myself to the game.
The transition to the new dynamics was quite fast. In a few months, I realized I could maintain a good win-rate in random games. At the end of March 2021, I saw the announcement of the newly created Catan Championship League and joined in time for the first historic Season 1 in April.
At the time, the already largest online Catan league in the world operated monthly with a three-division system based on player skill levels. Due to my win-rate in random matches, I was placed in the 1st division. In the first season, I made it to the final (after a regular season, the top 16 players compete in a single-game semifinal, followed by the final).
I lost. And I would return to the final in Season 3 and Season 6. Still very inexperienced, I was making many mistakes and was far from the player I am today. I lacked better English communication skills, trading abilities, tracking, and a bit of patience.
I continued playing. As I always say, the best way to improve in Catan is to play many games competitively and analytically. And that's what I did.
I reached a high level of play around Season 15. From there, my win-rate started to soar. However, despite performing well during the regular season, I always fell in the semifinals, in single games, when the top 16 was formed.
In Season 21, that changed. I made it to the final again. I was at my peak as a Catan player, and nothing would stop me...
Well, that's what I thought. But, as we say in Brazil about disappointing football results: "I played like never before, but lost as always." My fourth finals loss, the most painful of all of them.
After nearly two years of playing Catan, it seemed like I was destined for failure. And it deeply affected me. I've always had a strong competitive spirit, and to this day, I'm not sure if it brings me more good or bad results.
The truth is, I was very frustrated and nearly gave up the game after failing so many times in my goal.
I would still go on to compete in the fifth final, in Season 23, losing again with 9 points. Already somewhat tired of the league system and concerned with other internal decisions, I decided to retire in Season 24, after two years (and nine hundred and eighty-eight games!) in the most competitive Catan routine in the world.
Throughout this period, I also remained somewhat active in other Catan communities, participating in tournaments with scheduled games. The Premier League and CPI are undoubtedly the best competitive spaces in the world of Catan, in terms of game quality. While they don't offer the same daily competitive environment as the Catan Championship, due to their temporary nature, these two servers feature an exceptional level of play and I cannot fail to highlight them as essential in my progress as a player during all this time.
But also in those communities, I couldn't become a champion.
In-Person Journey
If a thousand games define my experience in online tournaments, 18 (yes, eighteen) summarize my experience in in-person tournaments. Personally, I consider this the main disadvantage of a purely in-person competitor compared to a purely online one. The volume of games possible is infinitely smaller. This leads to less strategic memory forming, less ability to handle adverse situations, and a greater reliance on luck.
Anyway, my in-person experience began in 2022, in the only qualifier in my state for the national championship. I managed to reach the final, which was enough to qualify for the grand Brazilian championship of 2022. At the time, I was still adjusting to the in-person gameplay – something I hadn't done for 3 or 4 years. Competitively, it was my first time.
And this somehow reflected in my national tournament performance. Despite winning 2 out of 4 qualifying games, I finished in eighteenth place, two positions away from the semifinals. I left São Paulo promising myself that I would try to play better in 2023.
And 2023 arrived. This time, with three qualifiers in my state. I didn't manage to reach the final of the first one. But in the second one, I achieved my first goal: a spot for another chance in São Paulo.
Differences in Catan Modalities
Before I delve into the grand tournament, I'd like to offer some strategic reflections on my perception of the different competitive Catan modalities around the world. Keeping in mind that different environments require different strategies was the first step I took this year to try and improve my performance, which I found to be quite mediocre in 2022.
Over time, I realized that each Catan modality requires a focus on specific skills.
I categorize Catan tournaments into three specific modalities, naming them as follows:
Online Catan Organized Play: The online leagues, which I generally focus on in this blog.
Online Catan Unorganized Play: Ranked systems on official or unofficial websites, with random games and a wider range of opponents.
In-Person Catan Organized Play: Official in-person championships, qualifiers, nationals, continentals, and world championships.
Organized Play (Tournaments): In this format, you are usually playing against highly experienced players who make few mistakes and can balance an inherently unbalanced table. Games tend to be decided in the details, and therefore, those who make small decisions as optimally as possible gain an advantage. You know those moments of doubt like "Should I buy a development card or build a city?" "Should I fight for the largest army or just aim to build up to 10 points?" "Is it worth spending my resources to compete for the longest road?" Well, these moments are CRUCIAL in these games. Those who consistently make good decisions like these (which I call Micro Decisions) stand out more in these inherently challenging environments, which are already hard to distinguish oneself in.
Similarly, being able to read the game can make a huge difference. Blocks are more important in this context. Knowing how to identify leaders, potential leaders, or potential spots that could make someone a leader is also crucial. Blocks define the details, and as mentioned earlier, this type of game is all about the details. Therefore, Board Awareness plays a significant role here, more so than in other modalities.
Being able to talk and convince others is important in Catan in general, and it's especially true here. However, more than that, being able to propose trades that tilt the balance more in your favor than your opponent's is also a differentiating factor. Skilled traders usually have better win rates in leagues. The reverse is also likely true.
It's worth noting that in Organized Play, the game is less rigid. It's less dependent on clichés like "no wheat equals defeat," and it's also less reliant on the famous OWS strategy. Since the table is generally experienced, players who rely on OWS are somewhat more likely to be balanced, which is challenging to achieve in less experienced environments (like ranked games and generally in-person tournaments). OWS is still undoubtedly one of the primary Catan strategies, but it's far from being as determinative here.
Unorganized Play (Ranked Platforms): The meta here seems more traditional, purer in a sense. OWS holds immense importance, and players who buy many development cards usually have a better chance of winning.
But the curious thing is that, since there's a wide and diverse pool of players, it becomes much harder to rely on the table - that is, on other players. Generally, even at higher levels, ranked games tend to require a more individualistic approach than league games or in-person tournaments. The reason for this is that you often find players who don't make an effort to balance the game, whether due to lack of understanding, greed, or simply disinterest. Table talk can sometimes be viewed negatively in these games, and the chances of a "troll" disliking your attempts are considerable.
It makes sense to say that ranked and random games focus more on individualistic approaches, and having strong Initial Settlements is crucial. Generally, betting on a Dev card strategy, combined with good ports for flexibility and the ability to develop your game independently, seems to be a successful idea in this type of game.
I emphasize here that decision-making should also be precise. Perhaps it doesn't have as significant an impact on the outcome as in league games, but it will be an even greater differentiator if you are the "most optimal" player at the table.
In-Person Organized Play (IRL Tournaments): Catan as it was meant to be played: face to face. Yet without the strategical strenght of the Online Organized Play, anywhere in the world, but with an interesting meta.
In the tournaments I've participated in, I've noticed that most tables also feature a wide diversity in terms of player skill. This seems to be common even in national championships, whether in Brazil, the USA, or anywhere else. The amount of not-very experienced players usually leads to games with fewer optimal plays, less game balance, and less Board Awareness overall. Therefore, as in ranked games, a player possessing these skills can also gain an advantage. However, at the same time, these skills may not be as required due to the lack of cooperation at the table, which is characteristic of diverse or less strategic tables.
Here, social skills take center stage. Not just table talk but all the social skills that only face-to-face interactions allow: the use of facial expressions, empathy, kindness, and, of course, table talk itself. There's immense potential here. The key difference from ranked games lies in this aspect: the table may be less cooperative, but you can change that simply through these social skills.
Because of the lack of natural cooperation in diverse or less strategic tables, the same flexibility found in ranked games, with the use of ports and effective use of OWS meta, is also important.
The following table shows a comparison of the importance of each strategy within its own modality, based on my perception (all these strategies are VERY important in any context, with some being more critical depending on the environment):
The Road to the Title
"How should I behave tomorrow? What should I do differently from my usual approach?"
These two questions occupied my mind about 24 hours before the big tournament. Anxious as I hit the road, my thoughts shifted from my recent important online tournaments games to my matches in last year's national championship.
I arrived in São Paulo and met some friends and recognized some familiar faces. Most of the 57 players had also participated in the tournament the previous year. From the online league scene, only my friend Bruno (it4rahell) was there.
The games began, and as expected, there was a mix of players with varying levels of experience and different playing styles. It was a volatile field. However, I found a pleasant surprise: table talk!
Unlike the previous year, the players in this tournament were more open to trades, conversations, and taking the patience this game deserves seriously. I tried to take advantage of this perception, more than I usually do.
Four qualifier rounds awaited me. I lost the first two with 9 and 8 points. After the lunch break, I knew I had to win the remaining two to qualify.
"Now I need to channel my inner Shanks1700," I thought.
And I did. I won the last two games, with the fourth game ending in a close score of 10-9-9 (in a three-player game).
I made it to the semifinals! And what a semifinal it was! Of all my tournament games, this one was the standout. It will be remembered with special affection. Why? Because I started with a bad setup and unfavorable dice rolls, but through creative trades, board awareness, and table talk, I managed to make a comeback.
Despite starting with no ore (I’m Orange here), I managed to build three cities - all through player trades, with no 10 sheep rolling during the game and thus no porting.
Having the opportunity to use my skills in a game like this is something very rewarding.
The GRAND FINAL
"Now, Bruno, what should I do?" I asked my friend as I prepared mentally for the big game.
The ghosts of my five losses in Catan Championship League D1 finals in 2021 seemed to haunt me, but at the same time, I started to feel a sense of confidence.
I glanced at the trophy. While few were watching, I used the palm of my hand to gesture a stroke of affection, a kiss, as if to say, "You will be mine!" Then I remembered that some time ago, some football player did the same thing, and it supposedely brought him bad luck.
Well, speaking of luck and bad luck, Catan is largely about that. As enthusiastic as I am, I acknowledge that sometimes nothing is enough to stop that.
And after a while, luck smiled upon me.
No, the final wasn't my best game. Yes, the score was huge: 10-4-4-3. It's true that I played well, especially in the initial trades that gave me early cities. Nevertheless, not all the credit goes to me. I had some tremendous luck in that game with the dice rolls.
Anyway, I celebrated. And why not? After years of consistency resulting in failure, I had finally achieved my title. And it wasn't just any title; it was a national title!
How I Became a National Catan Champion
Well, the answer is straightforward. I won 4 out of the 6 games played, with two of them being decisive. It's as simple as that.
Honestly, anyone could do the same. Any player with a minimum knowledge of the game can win 4 out of 6 games in a row. Just as any experienced player can lose all 6 games.
But to be fair to myself, in my situation, at the tables I found myself at, I wouldn't have won 4 games if I didn't have the knowledge of the game that I do.
And that's what summarizes strategic Catan: optimizing your chances! In a way, all I did was optimize my chances. Still, a different roll of the dice in my third or fourth game could have knocked me out of the semifinals. But if I hadn't played the way I did, I wouldn't have been there as well...
Am I the best Catan player in Brazil? I don't know, but it's likely. Not because of the title, but because of my experience and the consistency of my journey. Because I'm an enthusiast of the game, passionate about its strategies. The title doesn't change the player I am. But it definetely feels good.
When I lost my third final in D1 in 2021, I had already accumulated enough coins to buy this crown above from one of the popular Catan websites in order to add to my avatar. However, disappointed with the loss, I promised myself that I would only buy it after becoming a Champion, as a reward.
Consecutive failures left me very disheartened and frustrated. Slowly, I began to realize that Catan is not about winning. Today, I take more pleasure in a good game than in a bad victory.
"A gambler wants to win; a gamer wants to play well."
But now, I decided to give myself this crown as a gift. Not for Felipe Maranha, the champion who had already developed this awareness; not for RetiredPro, an alt of mine I used after stepping away from the competitive scene after such frustrations; but for Shanks1700, my first and original nickname, chosen completely at random, who fell in love with competitive Catan and became an enthusiast back in the early days, two years ago. Promise fulfilled.