Code of Milan Suspended

Well, it appears I have more to write about tonight. This post will be about the first tournament from Saturday the 17th, Code of Milan Suspended.

We kicked off the weekend with a record 24 player attendance.

Game 1:
Mike Courtois> Dennis Lien (Anu and Anarch Pals)> Cassie Kahel (Kiasyd Bleed)> Mike Zajac (!Ventrue vote/bleed)> me (Lasombra stealth vote/bleed)

I really don't remember what Mike Courtois was playing this game, maybe it will come to me later. I started out with a good crypt and soon had Giant's Blood + Villein in hand. I got out Moncada and Villeined him for 9, fearful of shenanigans, then played Giant's Blood to refill. Pretty cool, eh? Before I had a chance to do that, Mike Zajac nailed me with a Conservative Agitation for 4 from Ingrid Russo. Mike and I had a close battle for votes this game because he brought out Quentin, who cancels votes, and eventually Kyle Strathcona. Dennis had out Anu and boosted bleeds against decks he didn't want to play against, like Mike C.. I picked up a VP and brought out Gratiano and a midcap Lasombra.

Mike Z had three dom dudes behind me, which added to my fear of being archoned by Dennis to make me very careful about how much I bled for. I stepped away from the table and when I came back, Cassie was dead. Maybe a lack of Deflections? I was trying to coach her on responsible bleeding, but ended up receiving at least one strong stealth bleed from her before she went out.

Dennis kept me on my toes, but I eventually was able to Banish Ingrid Russo and pick up another VP, putting me in a strong position. With minion advantage, I was able to take out Mike Z for a solid win.

Game 2:
James Lin (Brujah vote?)> Me> Jeff Kuta (Thucimia bleed)> Joel Efferson (Beast, Theo Bell, Eurobrujah rush/2nd tradition/bleed)> AJ Wiley (FoS corruption bleed)

James brought out Dmitra, which gave me a target for the Golconda I drew early. Right after I played it, I had second thoughts. What if James is playing Parity Shift? Fortunately, he wasn't, so I was safe. I brought out Moncada again and he recruited Francisco Palonia. AJ was bleeding James heavily with Nakhthorheb from the get-go, so I had little pressure for a few turns. Jeff got Blessing of Chaos on Thucimia, which slowed down my bleeds a bit.

Early in the game, Jeff gained at least three pool from Alu bleeding and keeping the edge, then playing Haquim's Law: Leadership. I chipped away with Francisco's ability for a while until the opportunity arose to do a bit more. AJ brought out Sundervere and bled out James in short order. Joel rushed Nakthorheb and ate him with Theo, then rushed backwards. Sensing a serious threat, Jeff bled for 4 or 5 with Thucimia and was AI'd. At this point, I knew I could oust Jeff, but I wasn't quite sure how badly I would get beaten down in a fight against Joel. I ousted Jeff and I left enough blood on my guys to do hands for 1 a few times and S:CE against Joel before he ran out of blood. I ousted him, banished Sundervere and ousted AJ.

Finals:
I was top seed, a rare treat.

I noticed that Robert was playing FoS, who are generally bad at surviving, so I chose to be his pred. James might have beat me down with back-rushing (I never really got to see what his deck did in round 2), so Robert was a suitable bleed sink for me. Little did I know that Dennis wouldn't bleed me hardly at all until the very end of the game.

Dennis> me> Robert Scythe (FoS breed/temptation/vote)> James> Joel Marbella (Ravnos)

Moncada came out and I Villein + Giant's Blooded him yet again for the 2nd or 3rd game in a row. Robert showed no bounce, as I expected, so I was able to land little bleeds here and there. Moncada appeared with Angelica and my two five-caps in my uncontrolled region, so I brought the small ones out with him and hoped for the best.

James and I had most of the votes on the table for a lot of the time, leaving Robert to breed and con boon, begging for James' help to stay alive. He got it, but the table was collapsing quickly. Dennis leant James +1 bleed several times to oust Joel, but a bleed for 4 was archoned, leaving James without Jann Berger. James' Victor Pelletier was temptationed early on and Robert cashed the counters in on eventually to get a VP and position himself against Dennis.

Robert Temptationed my Julius Sutphen and called a FSR, but I don't think that he ever got to steal him because I hunted every turn. Anu leant me +1 bleed against Robert several times and I ousted him. In my second to last action, I exploited the fact that Dennis wanted Robert out of the game to call an Ancient Influence on my second to last action, netting my 11 pool that turn.

Anu and Co. couldn't bleed me enough to beat me, even though they put up a great effort. I ousted Dennis in about 2 turns.

Here it is, my first standard constructed tournament winning deck:
Deck name: Shadowplay
Deck description: For a long time I had written off Murmur of the False Will as being inferior to Deflection. In this deck it really shines, especially when you are down to the endgame or aren't being bled. It is very important to be able to be able to oust by bleeding if you can't pass votes and this deck is built for that purpose.

Crypt:
2x Angelica, the Canonicus 10 DOM OBT Cardinal, intercept for master cards
2x Ambrosio Luis Moncada 10 DOM OBT Cardinal, untaps Lasombra, can't block
1x Francisco Domingo de Polonia 9 DOM OBT Archbishop burn 1 blood for +1 bleed
1x Antonio Delgado 9 DOM OBT Archbishop he untaps after successful political action
1x Alvaro, The Scion of Angelica 9 OBT dom Archbishop, +2 blood for abstaining from referendum of political action. +1 bleed.
3x Gratiano 8 DOM OBT Priscus, +1 vote in sub-referendum, +1 bleed
1x Dr. Julius Sutphen 5 dom obt Bishop, younger vamps burn 1 blood to attempt to block
1x Guido Lucciano 5 OBT dom

Library: 73 cards

Master: 14 (6 trifles)
5x Villein
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda
1x Power Structure
1x Information Highway
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Elysian Fields
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x The Barrens
1x The Coven

Actions: 6
6x Govern the Unaligned

Political Actions: 10
3x Kine Resources Contested
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Ancient Influence
1x Banishment
1x Neonate Breach
1x Conservative Agitation
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment

Action Modifiers: 18
5x Shadow Play
3x Shroud of Night
3x Tenebrous Form
2x Seduction
1x Blanket of Night
1x Shroud of Absence
1x Private Audience
2x Foreshadowing Destruction

Combat: 3
3x Shadow Body

Combo: 5
5x Murmur of the False Will

Reactions: 17
5x On the Qui Vive
3x Wake with Evening's Freshness
7x Deflection
2x Obedience

A few additional notes on the construction of this deck for my readers:
After I chose the group 2-3 Lasombra for the deck, I wanted to be able to survive long enough to get out a few of them. Villein + Giant's Blood and Villein + Golconda are so strong you just have to include them in the deck. In general, you want to leave about five blood on your guys after Villein (Except Alvaro because of his special). The +1 bleed from 5 of my crypt cards helped carry me to victory. Foreshadowing Destruction and Murmur of the False Will helped for the occasional +bleed to close the gap and let me win. As I mentioned in my VEKN post, bleeding has to be a viable path to victory when voting fails and that, with a little luck, is exactly what carried me to victory.