Interview – Catan National Champion Elliott Yap
It’s not every day you get to speak to a national champion, but thanks to CATAN Studio and their recent release of Catan sixth edition, we were able to chat with Elliott Yap, 2023 Australian Champion who recently competed at the Catan World Championship in Stuttgart, Germany. We spoke to Elliott about his Catan journey and how he developed into such a skilled player.
For those needing context around some of the Catan specific terms Elliott uses, check the bottom of the interview for a handy glosary!
Player2: Elliott, thanks so much for taking some time out of your busy schedule to speak with Player2! Catan is ubiquitous with ushering in a new era of modern boardgaming, yet is often derided by some in the hobby as being ‘passe’. What do you think has prompted such a response over time?
Elliott Yap: I don’t think I’m too familiar with the ins and outs of the opinions of boardgames over time but if I had to imagine why some people may think CATAN could be considered out of fashion, it would be that they don’t look at the game deeply enough to understand the endless amounts of creativity that it can bring from such a seemingly simple dice rolling game.
P2: Designer Klaus Teuber made many other games, but none managed to achieve the success of Catan – why do you think Catan became such a phenomenon?
EY: Building off my previous answer, the ingenuity to me at least comes from its easy-to-learn but difficult-to-master gameplay. This allows for a larger proportion of people to play it for fun but also allows those that are really into it to push the game to its limits.
P2: Has Catan been your ‘gateway’ into the wider world of hobby boardgaming or have you remained focused on it alone?
EY: I liked a variety of board games before Catan and I still do. I got many prizes from going to the World Championship that I have played with my friends here in Perth but as of right now my priority lies with doing the very best I can to become the best doctor out there.
P2: In the span of just two years, went from Catan novice to a National Champion – what was that process like and what aspects of that journey were the most challenging and most rewarding?
EY: I’m not entirely sure if you’re familiar with my story but it started with me playing Catan with my cousins while I was still in high school and I realised I was quite good. I eventually found a YouTuber that went by the name DyLighted and kept watching to learn basic strategies and eventually joined the Catan discord scene, where I made top cut in my first two online tournaments. I had the luxury to do all of this because of COVID19 and I was studying for the UCAT (medical entrance test) and interviews for 6 months before starting in February 2022, so I had a lot of time to spare. By joining the discord scene, I met many new experts and learned from them. One of them was the now 2024 USA National Champion who has a YouTube channel called DandyDrew. He opened my eyes to a lot of these exotic strategies and helped me understand Catan better than needing all 5 resources, but rather trading and balancing the game. I personally believe that had I not done so well in my first two online tournaments, I wouldn’t have had the motivation to go crazy into it, so to me the most rewarding part was winning and getting better as a player. The most challenging part was eventually when university started.
Trying to get really good at something while juggling medical school wasn’t a very feasible task. It’s not that my grades were taking a hit but rather the amount of time I could sink into Catan became more limited, so I couldn’t put as much time into it. That was until I saw a flyer in a Tactics boardgame store that said ‘Catan State Championships’. I don’t fully remember what I did, but from that time until the tournament I was playing loads of games, even sending pictures of boards and asking online friends to help me place them out and playing games with the best of the best, where making mistakes is much more punishing and to be successful one has to be near perfect. This environment helped prepare me for the WA State Championships where I didn’t fare too well in the preliminary rounds, but it was enough to make top 16 barely. I believe I went 6 10 9 for 1 win, 25 total*.
My Semi’s game, I was last to pick* but managed to get an efficient ore/wheat/sheep setup with a wood port, which was also the beginning of my pattern of gruelling Semi’s games. I was doubled and eventually tripled on a 6 wood with a wood port, but it simply would not roll. All the while, everyone else was building up around me. My only saving grace was that people weren’t blocking me because I was behind and no one was chasing for Army*. When the 6s eventually started rolling I built up, played knights and won the game with a victory point pull.
My Finals game I was again last to pick because everyone else on that table had gotten 2 wins in their Prelims, which put me at a disadvantage when I saw how poor the board was for 4th player pick. I took ages on the table to place and an unexpected placement by another player left open space on the board. I seized the chance to trade and get the extra production while an early monopoly* helped someone else get 2 cities down while the rest of us were all quite far behind. I was able to win the game with a 5-point turn; Largest Army, Longest Road* and a City upgrade*, clinching my win when Mike (another finalist) failed to pull Knights when he needed.
Following that tournament, I was on cloud nine! The online Catan competition was more developed than the in-person one, so I knew I had the skills, but to see it come to fruition was something else. This win gave me a bye to the Semis at the Australian National Championship where again, it was a long and gruelling game where I was very behind. With good play and yet another lucky VP pull, I managed to win and make it to the Finals – although this time as the top seed, I could pick my placements however I wanted. I saw 1 placement with isolated ore and took it as my first pick, knowing no one else would have ore. With that I kept buying Knights to defend myself and eventually built up. Someone mentioned that I was winning early on, but soon it was too late because all I had to do was reveal my Dev cards* and get my win. To me, while winning Nationals felt amazing, again I didn’t know if I was truly one of the greatest, because I felt I was playing better players on average online. Only at the World Championship did my impostor syndrome disappear.
At World’s, I lost the first Prelim game on 9 and could have won earlier had I not rolled a 7 and lost half my hand, but I’m not unhappy with this. I proceeded to win the next game against Griffin, the 2023 USA National Champion, with good balancing and capitalising on the rolls when I needed to. I managed to squeak another win in the 3rd game by pulling one of the greatest Monopolies ever; my hand was full of wheat and my opponents had lots of ore. Going into my last Prelim game, I only needed high points to secure a Semi-final spot but got into a good position and managed to win as well, giving me a record of 9 10 10 10.
Once in the Semi-finals, I saw a really good starting spot and knew I had to take it going first. The next player did something unexpected and tried to Plow* me right off the bat by taking the spot next to me and pointing his road towards mine. The board placed weirdly and he then placed on only two resources to prevent me from getting a setup that would have been unstoppable. It was another long, gruelling Semis game; it’s a curse that my Semis game is always the last to finish. Eventually I played my Monopoly defensively to prevent another player from winning for my 9th point, but I knew the game would end in a defeat without some massive luck and Kohulan, the current World Champion, ended up winning. Coming out of World’s, the impostor syndrome was gone and I knew I was one of the best players in the world.
Recently, I went to this year’s WA State Championship, as the organisers didn’t let me compete in 2024 because I had already secured my ticket to Worlds. I won once, then twice, then all 3 Prelim games in a reasonable fashion. I then had another long Semis game where I was very far behind but by balancing the table, I was able to ensure that I had the best chance to win which I did. The finals I pulled 2 Road Builders early which let me get my setup going quite quickly to the point where I only needed specific rolls for 3 orbits* to get the win but unfortunately it never came. That’s sometimes how the game of Catan goes when dice are involved, but at the end of the day I know I have the skills, and I know I’ll keep playing.
P2: Following your 2023 National Championship win, you allegedly said “I already have the win, don’t bother collecting” to the other players – how did they take that?
EY: That quote is incorrect. In the final orbit*, I was so nervous because I knew I essentially had a ‘guaranteed win’ because I was holding a ‘Year of Plenty’, so I sat there quietly and tried to make no actions nor influence other players. Then when the dice were passed to me, I said “We don’t have to collect, I already have the win”.
P2: You’ve said in the past that Catan is “about 75% skill, 25% luck”. Has time changed that sentiment at all, and what skills do you think are most valuable to succeed in high level Catan play?
EY: The percentages have probably changed to 30% of games, you will always lose due to luck or board dynamic (whether social or board layout). 10% of games you will always win due to luck and the remaining 60% of games there is always something you can do to improve your chances and win. When all the players at the board are really good you could say the chances someone wins is 25% if everyone plays optimally, because what really makes someone good at Catan is knowing how to ‘balance’ the game. By balance, I mean it doesn’t matter how the dice rolls, but with the right trades, tracking, robs, blocks, board awareness and decision making, every game of Catan can be prolonged to maximise one’s chances at winning. Therefore, a good Catan player, regardless of the dice, will succeed which is what I like to think I have demonstrated.
P2: Is it challenging to find equally skilled opponents in Australia? What is your training regimen looking like these days in the lead-up to competitive events?
EY: From my online experience I know there are great players around Australia so it would not be challenging to find equally skilled opponents from there. But otherwise to me there are very strong players out there. I think what separates strong from the best is knowing how to play uncomfortable setups and bad positions by making good trades. To be honest, Catan is on the back burner for me as I am now going to hospital placements. In the weeks leading up to the WA State Championship this year, I did zero preparation and did amazingly. I like to think the skills that make me a great player are well ingrained into me already, but I will definitely do more prep for the Nationals.
P2: What advice would you give to aspiring players looking to move into the highest competitive levels of the game?
EY: Join the discord servers! The volume of games you play will far outweigh however many games you could play at home or at local tournaments. Practice makes perfect, but only if you play against the best and learn from the best. I am considering starting a Catan training course at some point in the far future (whenever I have time) to help others that really want to do well in Catan make it to the next level! If any readers are interested, my discord is Cooldool1290 – add me there and we can talk some more.
P2: The sixth edition of Catan released worldwide earlier this year, did you have any concerns when you heard about a new edition on the horizon? Do you have a preferred edition and/or configuration of expansions?
EY: I was only excited to give it a go. At World’s, everything was in German so I had to learn how to recognise ‘Year of Plenty’ (now called ‘Invention’) and ‘Road Builder’ quickly to ensure I didn’t give any extra info away. I have played Seafarers, Cities and Knights and Traders and Barbarians and so far, I like base game the best.
P2: Elliott, thanks again for talking to Player2 – we wish you all the best in your future Catan competitions!
*For non-Catan players, here’s a handy guide to some of the terms Elliott uses in the article:
10 points is the score needed to win a game of Catan – players scores are added together after consecutive games to decide relative places e.g. 4 9 10 would be one win in three games and a total score of 23.
Army: Largest Army is a card which is worth 2 victory points when held, taken when a player is the first to play 3 Knight cards. It can be taken by another player playing a higher number of Knight cards.
City Upgrade: Upgrading a Settlement (worth 1 point) to a City (worth 2 points).
Dev Cards: These cards allow players to perform a number of in-game actions which can chain into point scoring such as Monopoly, Longest Road, Largest Army or even extra Victory Points outright.
Longest Road: Awarded to the player who completes the first continuous road of five pieces or more.
Monopoly: A card which allows a player to steal all of a resource of their choice from the other players.
Orbit: A player’s next turn in the subsequent round.
Pick: At the start of a game, players ‘pick’ their starting Settlements in player order.
Plow, Plowing: Purposefully building roads to block another player’s progress.
