The North American Grand Prix (NAGP) made a triumphant return after many years away. The circuit event had been a regular fixture in the tournament scene for years but disappeared after lack of interest. With added focus on face-to-face play at convention events these last few years, we elected to resurrect the circuit on a trial basis to gauge interest from the North American player base. 

Those players answered the call!

The overall participation of the circuit was amazing, with more than 300 competitors registering at least one event in 2025. To help support the event throughout the year, we added some promotion with shirts, stickers, magnets, and more. Just like the glory days of the Grand Prix, attendance is directly linked to the culture of the events. Getting an opportunity to play against people you want to see again and again helps convince people on the fence to sign up for that next event and travel great distances. This is what the 2025 edition looked like:

We elected to use a similar scoring system as F1, with added emphasis on finishing in the Top 7 (Top Board) instead of Top 10. Participating in any event earns points. The better a player performs at an event, the more points they earn (25 points for a 1st place finish, 18 points for a 2nd place finish, 15 points for 3rd, etc.). To make the events more accessible, we held all NAGP events at public game conventions. Lastly, as an incentive to win we awarded a free trip to the World Series of Board Gaming to the champion. Onto the results:

1st Robert Zahn

2nd Phil Burk

3rd Robert Lacy

4th Evan Walter

5th Brendan Lim

6th Richard Sweat

7th Ryan Feathers

Congratulations to Robert Zahn for winning the 2025 North American Grand Prix! Zahn was a constant traveler this year, attending seven of the possible events. Of course, it’s not enough just to attend these events: you’ve got to perform well to earn those big points and have a shot at being the champ. This is where Zahn outclassed his opponents as well. Zahn finished 1st at PrezCon (Charlottesville, VA) to start the year. He followed with a 2nd place finish at Circle DC (Washington, DC) a month later. Two events, two good finishes.

Zahn then got to put away his luggage and enjoy some home cooking in Columbus, the site of Origins Game Fair. The 20+ year veteran of the convention snagged a come-from-behind victory in the final round of play to win that event for the 4th time. He was the early and runaway leader for the circuit and the biggest event of the year was coming: The US Diplomacy Championship at Gen Con (Indianapolis, IN). Zahn was the defending champion of the event and had a target on his back. The blades of his opponents delivered and for the first time in many years, he was locked out of the Top Board on Saturday night. Nevertheless, his consistent play over the four qualifying rounds earned him 8th place at Gen Con. He didn’t defend his US Championship, but he was still picking up points in the Grand Prix. 

A month later players from all over the globe descended on the World Series of Board Gaming (Las Vegas, NV) to compete at the National Diplomacy Masters. There were TWO opportunities at this convention: the classical Diplomacy event with a Top Board and the first-ever Era of Empire tournament. Zahn finished 4th in the Diplomacy event and 2nd in the Era of Empire event. Both solid finishes keeping up a strong lead in the event. Going into the final two events for the year, Zahn’s lead would be difficult but not impossible to beat. His biggest competition (Robert Lacy, Phil Burk) would have to show up and grab a victory while denying Zahn a Top Board finish.

The next event was Battlefront Dayton at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. This event also happened to be the first Diplomacy Triathlon – a three round event featuring three different Diplomacy games. Those games were classical Diplomacy, Era of Empire, and the yet-to-be-released Golden Blade card game. For the latter, designer Rosco Schock was on hand to conduct multiple teaching sessions during the convention to give everyone an opportunity to learn before the final round’s game. Zahn proved himself adept in the first two rounds, earning Silver in each of classical Diplomacy and Era of Empire. It was in The Golden Blade round where he met his match: a 5th place finish in the final round. After scores were tied, it required two tiebreakers to determine the champion. Robert Zahn edged out Phil Burk for the Battlefront Dayton win at the first Diplomacy Triathlon.

A well-deserved title for the resurrected North American Grand Prix. Zahn had three tournament wins and six Top Boards. For his efforts, Zahn earned the championship plaque and a free trip to the World Series of Board Gaming in 2026. Congratulations again to Robert Zahn!

Retrospective: Overall, we were extremely pleased with the circuit event. Renegade is aiming to have more circuit events for their games going forward. They already run a successful Heroscape organized play circuit (over 1500 events in the first year!). The participation in Diplomacy events at these conventions have a strong positive response from our community of players. Expect the Grand Prix to return in 2026. We plan to make some adjustments to the circuit. In the 2025 edition, we only had events in the USA. For 2026 we’re adding an event in Canada, Breakout Con, which is also the Canadian National Championship. We’re also planning an event in Mexico, but confirmation on that is TBD as of this writing. 

For anyone out there running Diplomacy tournaments at conventions, please reach out to Heroes@RenegadeGames.com to express your interest. We’re adding more tournament events. More opportunities to play Diplomacy is great for the community. See you there!

Tournament Events 2026

February - PrezCon (Charlottesville, VA)

March - Breakout (Toronto, Canada)

April - Circle DC (Washington, DC)

May - BGG Spring (Dallas, Texas)

June - Origins (Columbus, Ohio)

July - WBC (Seven Springs, PA)

August - GenCon (Indianapolis, IN)

September - National Diplomacy Masters (Las Vegas, NV)

October/Nov - Battlefront Dayton (Dayton, Ohio)

November - BGG Con (Dallas, Texas)

December - PAX Unplugged (Philadelphia, PA)