March of Madness

(Deck) Weenie Black Hand !Gangrel

2012-01-23T00:18:00.000-08:00

In case anyone is interested, I played this deck a couple of times and it seemed to work pretty well in concept. It is not optimized, mainly because I wanted to try some cards that I had never played before. In one game I was trumped in combat by Theft and agg damage, in the next I won by trying to avoid blocking. That may be the direction I take future iterations of this deck. Enjoy.

Deck Name: Weenie Black Hand !Gangrel
Author: Brandon Haas
Description:
My first "black hand" deck

Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=2 max=6 avg=3.83)
===============================================
1x Bill Butler 3 pot pro !Gangrel:4
1x Charlie Tyne 4 obf pro ser !Gangrel:4
1x Denette Stensen 2 obf !Gangrel:4
1x Harry Reese 6 cel obf FOR PRO !Gangrel:3
1x Jeffrey Mullins 4 cel OBF !Gangrel:4
1x Jesús Alcalá 2 cel !Gangrel:3
1x Leo Washington 2 cel pro !Gangrel:4
1x Lula Burch 3 for pro !Gangrel:4
1x Maria Stone 5 cel obf pro FOR !Gangrel:3
1x Morrow the Sage 6 cel vic OBF PRO !Gangrel:4
1x Scarlet Carson O'Toole 4 pro CEL !Gangrel:3
1x Skryta Zyleta 5 obf pot pro CEL !Gangrel:3

Library (89 cards)
==================
Master (14)
1x Admonitions, The
1x Barrens, The
2x Bay and Howl
2x Cadet
1x Campground Hunting Ground
1x Dummy Corporation
1x Effective Management
1x Kingston Penitentiary, Ontario
4x Tribute to the Master

Action (20)
1x Black Hand Ritual
4x Blooding
1x Bloodwork
6x Computer Hacking
5x Embrace, The
1x Mustajib
2x Zillah's Tears

Ally (1)
1x Marijava Thuggee

Retainer (1)
1x Mr. Winthrop

Action Modifier (13)
1x Art of Memory, The
4x Cloak the Gathering
1x Faceless Night
2x Leverage
5x Veil the Legions

Reaction (25)
2x Eyes of the Beast
1x Forced Awakening
1x Keep it Simple
4x Ministry
4x On the Qui Vive
2x Sonar
6x Truth in Ink
2x Wake with Evening's Freshness
3x Watch Commander

Combat (12)
2x Claws of the Dead
10x Leathery Hide

Combo (3)
3x Rapid Change

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Jan 23, 2012 10:17:46)

Games from 1/16

2012-01-18T08:30:00.000-08:00

Ian, Andy, Gerentt and I got together for some casual games this last Sunday and were joined by Sean, Joe and Joel Efferson from the East bay.

Game 1:
Me (!Gangrel "Black hand")> Ian (Fat anarchs)> Sean (Gangrel force of will)> Joe (Toreador intercept combat)

I had a significant minion advantage this entire game. What did I do with it? Embrace, hunt, tribute, and discard black hand cards. There was some light bleeding, but I quickly saw that I should avoid combat with my predator or prey if at all possible. Joe brought out Anson and Tatiana Romanov, who each got .44s and learned superior in-clan disciplines. Sean brought out Ricki Van Demsi. He pulled blood off of him/her and then mistakenly blew her up with Force of Will. Ian brought out Silvia Giovanni and made her anarch.

Joe and Sean fought while I tooled up and Ian took zero actions (the entire game) and pulled blood off of his minions. Sean was eventually crippled and I accidentally bled him (Ian did play cards to bounce me). Fortunately, I was able to use my now actual black hand dudes to bleed Ian for 1, 2, or even 3 at stealth as often as 7 or 8 times/turn. It took some effort to find the stealth (veil), so I had to time it right. Ian went down and Sean did shortly afterwards. One of my !Gangrel punked Ramona with Claws of the Dead just in time to take the rest of his pool.

At this point, Joe was bleeding me for 4-5 per turn with a stolen laptop (he diablarized Basilia with Amaranth if you can believe that). Getting the two VPs helped, but I still had to not overspend and had to dig for Truth in Inks to reduce the bleeds. Anson and Tatiana often got the best of combat, but Leathery Hides did go a long way this game towards keeping my minions, including my embraces, ready. When I saw that Joe was out of wakes, I bled full force for two turns. He amaranthed one of my minions, leaving me with only 10 ;)

Me GW 4 vps

Game 2:
Me (Ventrue First Tradition)> Joel (Trem/!Trem burst of sunlight)> Sean (My ANI rush)> Gerentt (Ian's Blessed Resilience)

I made a version of Tiago Brum's Ventrue LOL Firm TWD with a few tweaks since I didn't have a lot of time to make decks and I thought I'd like to try it.

Gerentt brought out Mordechai Ben-Nun and asked me what the deck did. I explained that it is all about a FOR NEC card and burning your guys with Force of Will. I was mostly right and with some practice with the deck I think that Gerentt might have either won or tied me in VPs.

I started out the game with some Governs at DOM, a couple votes, and a first turn Info Highway. One action was blocked, so I Majestied and did another one or two. I quickly had out 2-3 princes and a primogen, easily securing vote lock against Kij and a Sean's Yuri. When I was doing my Parity Shift/First Tradition set-up, Joel did a Burst of Sunlight/Roschreck combo and put a prince in torpor. I pulled him out and had enough actions to put out two First Traditions in one turn.

One key difference between my version of the deck and Tiago's was that I dropped all Second Traditions for Deflections. As I see it, these Ventrue don't want to fight and they don't need to. I should get vote lock (or I'm screwed anyway) and have the DOM to bounce and then bleed for a lot. I bounced 1 or 2 bleeds that game, but it was enough to keep me out of Gerentt's reach (and out of reach of my First Traditions).

I pushed my luck and played a third First Tradition, making everyone pay six pool to take their turn. It was a close call, but Sean backrushed me and I didn't want him to have another turn to do that. He torporized two of my four minions and I had enough to oust him (two governs, one conditioning, two daring the dawn, he was at four pool). I risked an AI by Conditioning at DOM so that I could have an extra action to rescue. It paid off and I got enough pool to take another turn (barely).

Gerentt had a lot of pool from Villeining a lot of blood from his guys and then bringing them back with Blessed Resilience and Possession. In the end, he was about one card away from ousting me after doing some serious card cycling We both realized later that he had a two-bleeder that could have put me at exactly six pool, denying me a turn and giving him an extra one eventually. That was an exciting ending.

Me GW 4vps

We had a great time and I was glad to see the East bay guys come down. It was a bit of a trek for them, but it was good to see them. One thing to note is that we had seven players. Rather than face the usual no-win scenerio of either having to play a seven player game or a three and a four, Sean played two games at once. It worked fairly well, and no games timed out. Great idea, Sean!

Alastor: San Jose Regional Qualifier

2011-12-29T12:37:00.000-08:00

After a lot of holiday-ing, it is finally time to sit down and write this post. Let's see what the holiday cheer has left of my memory.

Game 1:
Ian Thompson (Group 4/5 Giovanni Powerbleed)> Brett Schofield (AUS obf flamethrower wall)> Me (Tremere BBBB)> James Lin (POT PRE (ANI) Master deck feat Nana and Shemti)

I started out the game by apologizing to my predator for the beating I was about to give him ;) While it wasn't a very real threat, it was funny the way things turned out.

I first influenced out Carna just as James was influencing out Shemti. Since he went first, it took Ian a little longer to bring out his mid-high cap giovanni. Brett brought out Kite. James tried to take some action, which I blocked. He threw a gate, but the Tremere are too crafty for that; I stole two blood and sent him to bed after he did a little dance on fire. My shock and awe complete, I felt like I was off to a good start. Brett and James worked out a way to rescue Shemti and it was soon Carna's turn to go to torpor at the hands of a disguised flamethrower. She got rescued cross-table at least twice that game, just like I rescued/broke Pentex (?), etc. for Ian.

After beating down James's minions he played shenanigans like Giant's Blood, Villein, Golconda and The Eternals of Sirius. At one point he was back at about 30 pool. With some bounced bleeds and repeated bleeds of ~3, he was back within range. Brett had assembled some toys by this time like Powerbase: Montreal, Powerbase: Barranquilla and maybe The Rack. I knew that if this went on for long, Brett could build back up (his minions were very low on blood and he was low on pool) and go on to win. I told Ian that if he helped me oust James that I would wait for him to out Brett before going forward. With some reluctance, he agreed.

I went backwards to burn Powerbase: Barantaquilla and steal PB: Montreal asap. James fell and so it was just a matter of containing Brett so that Ian could powerbleed him out. It took a couple turns, but Ian and I were soon in a heads-up game. His bleeds were mostly not powerbleedy enough to get past me and my combat beat the occasional S:CE, so that was that. After the game (and sometimes in-game) he said that he should not have rescued me so much. I still think it was the right move because even though James wasn't a nasty predator, Brett all tooled up and with six extra pool would wreck him.

Me GW 3vp Ian T 1vp

Game 2:
Brad Nozik (Ventrue tap and bleed)> Ian Lee (!Nos with dom 4cl)> Me> Dennis Lien (Anarch Diversion Rush)> AJ Wiley (Fatty Tzim bleedy toolbox)

I don't remember a ton of details from this game, but I'll give a quick summary. Ian wrote about this here: http://iclee.wordpress.com/2011/12/23/qualifier-2011/

Between Ian and Dennis, I was taking a beating. I did manage to limit Dennis' pool somewhat before he proceeded to beat my guys down. Ian's Preternatural Strengthed Gustaphe rushed my dudes and scoffed at my silly maneuver + theft combat. AJ was getting trumped in combat and doing nothing to Brad because of bounce. Many a Fiendish Tongue bleed went over to Ian and his defense seemed limited. Brad soon had out a small army of Ventrue and things did not look good.

I somehow managed to oust Dennis (mirror walk?) and then AJ didn't have enough blood or minions to resist me. Brad cleaned up with many actions and lots of +bleed.

Brad GW 3vp Me 2vp

Finals:
Brad (above)> Ian Thompson (Gio powerbleed above)> Me> Jeff Kuta (The Unnamed Maleficia Enkil Cog bleed)> Mike Courtois (Arika and Friends sans Arika)

I had already played with Ian and Brad, so I knew what their decks did. I had enough bounce to not be afraid of Ian, but maybe not enough to not be afraid of Brad. I didn't know what Mike was playing, but I was comfortable enough facing Ian and confident in my deck's ousting power. Jeff chose to be my prey. I had heard that he was playing an Unnamed deck that ran away with a table earlier, but I didn't think that would hurt me too much because he would be the bleed sink.

The way the game actually turned out was heavily effected by the early appearance of Leandro. That douche probably cost me a fourth minion because it wasn't economical to decrypt anymore. Leandro also got the other players at the table to carefully consider where they would spend their pool. There was other hosage from Mike in the form of Matthias, who reduced every bleed against him from Jeff by one.

The early part of the game wasn't very remarkable, other than the total lack of Villeins and Blood Dolls and the presence of both Vessels and Minion Tap. Mike must have farmed at least 20 pool from Leandro and other minions combined with MT + Renewed Vigor. Meanwhile, Ian neglected to bleed me at all and instead decided to block Brad. Lack of bounce? I don't know if it helped him, but it certainly didn't help me because I didn't get to cycle my bounce cards.

I dunked a Horde early with Theft + Walk of Flame. He stayed down because it was too costly in actions and pool to get him back out. The Unnamed, once equipped with the Enkil Cog, bled once in turn and once out of turn, but more importantly gained Jeff four pool per turn. When he managed to hold the edge (not often when I had anything to say about it) he gained a total of 5. Bruise bleed or no, it was hard to sustain that kind of pool damage against him without a fourth minion (Blythe, while a good weenie, had no dominate to contribute to the bleed party). I had to be careful because I was action poor and The Unnamed could decide to dunk my guys with his 2r agg strikes. Rego Motus saved me when it showed up, which wasn't often enough.

Ian fell to Brad's onslaught, but brad was low on pool. Mike ousted Brad with his freshly minted Queen Anne and friends, stealth and dominate. Jeff had out Unleash Hell's Fury, which was deterring me from announcing more than a bleed of one at a time (conditioning could sneak in after blocks). Mike had expressed an interest in ousting Jeff because of his crazy pool gain and I told him that with his help it could be done. I was down to just a few pool, one or so blood between my two guys, and would obviously not be too serious of a threat in the endgame.

Mike bled me for 7 at stealth, which I happily bounced over to Jeff. The Mirror Walk that I had been storing for that occasion came in handy when I needed to bleed Jeff for 6 at one stealth to finish the job. I pushed blood on Carna and her companion and landed the bleed, running me out of blood entirely. Mike made pretty quick work of me, but I gave him a scare when I started showing a fair amount of intercept at the very end of the game.

Mike Courtois GW 3vp, Me 1vp Brad 1vp

Congratulations to Mike Courtois for winning the Qualifier!

Here is his tournament winning deck:

Deck Name: Arika and Friends Tap & Bleed
Created By: Michael Courtois
Description: Big Girls bloat, taps, and bleeds BIG! Mind Rape bleed
with Heart of the City, add Conditioning and AI be damned, a bleed of
10 goes a long way! Be responable though! Sulubri Anti Fills them back
up then rinse and repeat.

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 26, Max: 44, Avg: 8.75)
----------------------------------------------
4 Arika aus cel DOM FOR OBF PRE11
Ventrue
2 Blanche Hill aus FOR OBE 6 Salubri
1 Carlotta Giovanni dom NEC obf POT7 Giovanni
1 Leandro AUS cel dom OBF PRE11Malkavian
3 Matthias AUS FOR nec OBE7 Salubri
1 Queen Anne aus DOM FOR obf PRE10 Ventrue

Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (22 cards)
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Heidelberg Castle, Germany
15 Minion Tap
2 Parthenon, The
3 Secure Haven

Action (18 cards)
2 Heart of the City
4 Mind Rape
9 Renewed Vigor
3 Spirit Marionette

Action Modifier (40 cards)
6 Cloak the Gathering
7 Conditioning
4 Daring the Dawn
5 Elder Impersonation
1 Enkil Cog
7 Lost in Crowds
3 Repulsion
5 Spying Mission
2 Veil the Legions

Political Action (2 cards)
1 Anarchist Uprising
1 Reins of Power

Equipment (3 cards)
1 Changeling Skin Mask
1 Heart of Nizchetus
1 Sargon Fragment, The

Event (1 cards)
1 Narrow Minds

Combo (4 cards)
4 Swallowed by the Night

Here is my tournament losing deck, which I thought was worth mentioning. There is a German player who won with a Tremere triple B (Bruise, bleed, block) deck and this adds a fourth B, bounce.

3x Carna 7 AUS DOM THA Primogen +1 intercept
1x Ladislas Toth, The Torch 7 AUS DOM THA for Archbishop
1x Selena 6 AUS DOM THA
1x Eugenio Estevez 6 AUS THA dom for
2x Aisling Sturbridge 5 AUS THA dom younger trem can't block her
1x Hannigan 5 AUS THA dom
1x Blythe Candeleria 3 THA aus -1 str vs malks
1x Brooke 3 dom tha
1x Erich Weiss 3 dom tha

Library: 90 cards
Master: 12
5x Blood Doll
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Sudden Reversal
1x Pentex Subversion
1x Direct Intervention
1x Metro Underground

Actions: 8
7x Govern the Unaligned
1x Slaughtering the Herd

Action Modifiers: 10
6x Conditioning
4x Mirror Walk

Equipment: 3
1x Ivory Bow
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Heart of Cheating

Combat: 31
12x Theft of Vitae
10x Apportation
4x Rego Motus
2x Telepathic Tracking
2x Walk of Flame
1x Weighted Walking Stick

Reactions: 25
5x Deflection
4x Eyes of Argus
4x On the Qui Vive
4x Telepathic Misdirection
2x Delaying Tactics
2x Eagle's Sight
2x My Enemy's Enemy
2x Wake with Evening's Freshness

Events: 1
1x Scourge of the Enochians

Thoughts on the deck:
-Never used Delaying Tactics because no vote decks showed up.
-Scourge of the Enochians wasn't useful in any of the games and would have hurt in the final if I had played it (barrenness)
-I had a hard time deciding before the tournament if the Slaughtering the Herd should be another Govern, but I thought that it probably wouldn't hurt me and could really help if it meant I could lock down my predator after stealing their blood.

Code of Milan Suspended

2011-12-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

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.

Tournaments may be closer than they appear!

2011-11-30T21:52:00.000-08:00

The day is quickly approaching when we will spill the blood of our enemies on the field of battle. The Code of Milan will be Suspended! An Alastor will be named!

Put forward your name if ye dare. Please do so promptly.

Anyone I've missed, please let me know what your plans are.

We have (21+ so far):

Brad Nozik
Ian Lee
Ian Thompson
Andy Haas
Brandon Haas
Nick Coelius (has offered rides from Millbrae BART)
Alex O.

Eric S.

Brett C.

Dan Ryan

Sean Ryan

Sean's +1

Seans +2

Brandyn

Cassie

Mike Zajac

Robert Scythe
Matt Wedge
Dennis Lien

Mike Courtois

James Lin

Maybes:
Jeff Kuta

David Corson-Knowles

Oscar Garza

Dunno:

AJ Wiley

Ayjay Reddy

Joel S.
Alex Con Hon
Kye

LV Crew?

Arizonans?

Seattlites?

Others?

Yar :(

Chris Shorb

Aaron Clark

Andy Fernandez

Ben Peal

Eric Haas

Gerentt Chan

Oliver Stacey

Michael Perry

Tournament One: Code of Milan Suspended
12/17/11
11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
> 2r+F standard constructed
> No entry fee, higher than normal prizes
>
> Approximately 1 hour break for dinner, then:
>
> Tournament Two: Alastor (San Jose Regional Qualifier)
> 12/17/11
> 6:00 PM to Midnight
> 2r+F QualifierNo entry fee, higher than normal prizes

Location:

Haas House
1644 Fallbrook Avenue
San Jose, CA 95130

Sunday- Casual play. There will be space to crash for those who need it Saturday night.

Games from 11/20

2011-11-22T23:55:00.001-08:00

We had a tournament scheduled for last Sunday, but due to short-ish notice, lack of harassment and the X-factor, we had only six players. We made the most of it with three grueling games.

Game One:
Me (Young Turks)> Eric (!Salubri weenies)> Jeff Yin (Masque of Judas)> Joel (Ravnos)> Andy (BH Assamites)> Ian (stealth bleed?)

Ian spent a lot of the game looking threatening and doing nothing significant. He got a +1 bleed retainer with one of his two dom/obf minions, left a guy untapped a lot, and was generally inscrutable.

Jeff saw Eric's army 'o dudes and walled up. His damage prevention was often, but not always, able to deal with Eric's ~3 agg strikes from Dagger and Armor of Caine's Fury.

Eric spent part of his time going forward, part rushing backwards. I had guys dunked at least twice and got a cross-table rescue one of those times. With enough time, I was able to get out two princes, giving me vote lock. I was just about to discard Framing an Ancient Grudge when Ian brought out Graham Gottesman. Perfect target! He lost his title and went anarch soon thereafter, disaffected by the whole ancient grudge thing. I Parity Shifted once against Eric, landed some bleeds, and soon he was out.

At this point, Joel was actually pretty low on pool. I'm not sure what he was doing, but Jeff couldn't have bled him for more than six. Maybe some of the bleeds were courtesy of Eric. I had to carefully set up Jeff and Joel at the same time because I feared Sensory Deprivation and other Ravnos tricks. Joel Sense Depped Andy, I guess because he was afraid of his two occasional intercept and ranged agg. I Paritied again, giving Joel one pool to bring him to four (one trochomancy bleed +1). After this, I managed to KRC twice and take that pool back as I ousted Jeff.

Andy ousted Ian with repeated bleeds of three and I knew there weren't too many of those I could deal with. Joel died, so I got six more pool. I put three down on Sir Walter Nash or Timothy Crowley, I don't remember. Andy bled me for 12/14 pool and I ousted him with a combination of bleeding and voting. Huzzah!

Me: GW 5vp Andy: 1vp

Game Two:
Me (weenie trem B&B)> Jeff (same)> Ian (weenie Nos anarchs) > Andy (Malk bleed) > Joel (AUS DEM obf vote) > Eric (Kiasyd s&b)

The deck I was playing was very straight-forward, basically a demo deck. It plays a lot of Theft of Vitae, Apportation, and then assorted other combat backed by Computer Hackings, a few Governs and a lot of Conditioning.

Jeff was dismayed to have another weenie deck for a predator. I bled into him a few times a turn and, after having Lessons in the Steel nearly torpor one of my minions (presses), I learned to move to long range and/or play theft against him to prevent damaging him. Joel was bled heavily from Andy and played a Parity Shift. I saw it coming and told him before he even announced the card that I wanted pool. I was sitting on a DT that I could have saved against him later, but there would be no later. Joel wanted all six of Eric's pool for himself. I told Eric that he shouldn't bleed me for two turns and I'd cancel the vote, but we settled on one. DT was played and the griping phase began.

Eric was true to his word and didn't bleed me the next turn, buying me a little more room to go after Jeff. Ian's anarch bleed machine was in high gear with Toby, Jeremy Wix, Foureyes, etc bleeding for three per action. I ousted Jeff eventually and finally saw what I was going to have to out-bleed. After Andy got Joel, Ian ousted Andy and it became a heads-up game. I did have a funny moment where a three-cap with DEM bled me but didn't have the stealth to get past the one action I tried to block that game and was beaten into torpor. Ian bled me really low, but I prevailed with a topdecked bleed card or two (not hard in a 76 card deck where 17 of the cards are +bleed).

Me: GW 3vp, Ian: 2vp, Andy: 1vp

Game Three:
Me (Fatty Lasombra vote/bleed)> Ian (Imbued + Mistress Fanchion)> Jeff (Same) > Andy (Stanislava + Gather)> Eric (!Salubri from above)> Joel (Howler wall)

I have to preface this game with the comment that Joel must have been playing an absurd amount of wakes.

Ian screwed the game up for everyone by playing an early Blood Cult Awareness Network. Great, like I need less stealth next to Howler and the imbued! I still managed to get out Ambrosio, Francisco Domingo de Polonia and eventually Gratiano. There were a ton of table votes, so I had to make some deals. Honestly, I was feeling pretty burned out by this point, as were a lot of the other players.

I bled Ian and was mostly bounced at zero stealth. Andy played a Political Stranglehold once I have two fatties out, giving me six pool. Howler got three raven spies, two carrion crows and an owl companion. Blah. Anarch Revolts that Joel played kept the pool total at the table down. When Ian was low enough on pool, fearing his bounce I Golconda'd Fanchion, played Ancient Influence and then bled a couple times, leaving him to die lamenting his lack of Anarchs.

Eric got the tar beat out of him. Without going into detail, I tried to coach him in how to overcome a wall deck. Rescue. Hunt. Rescue. Hunt. Bleed. Rescue. Hunt. You get the idea. He gave up and slowly died.

Ian pointed out later that I should have ousted Joel first to not have to deal with an annoying blocker. He's right. I had to settle for the one VP and let Joel and Jeff duke it out. This is why we practice before tournaments :)

Jeff: GW 4vp (I don't think it was Andy who ousted Eric) Joel: 1vp me: 1vp

World of Darkness Aesthetic

2011-11-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

My wife and I have been watching an inordinate amount of TV lately, but it isn't all bad. Years ago we had to wait for re-runs or TV marathons to see our favorite episodes of classic shows; now they are just a few clicks away.

The Roku box is not only a time-suck, but also a window into the past. It's very interesting to go back and watch some 90's television and observe the tropes, anachronisms and characters of shows like Doogie Howser, MD and The X-Files. One thing I've been spotting right away is how open these two shows are with medical records and confidentiality. As I'm learning in my medical assisting classes, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed in 1996, well after these shows got started.

Watching a lot of X-Files, I'm also brought back to a nostalgic feeling that I got from the World of Darkness. On the show, the antagonists are not always fully bad, but they are all twisted one way or another. The scenes are dark and the plot is conspiratorial. The show didn't start out as the overly complicated to the point of absurdity X-Files of later years. The early episodes have a grungy, gothic punk feel. Is it any coincidence that The X-Files hits on a lot of the same subject matter and feel as Vampire: The Masquerade, an RPG set in the same time?

So far I've watched a fair amount of episodes from seasons one and two. Some noteworthy plotlines:

-Werewolves have been living on an Indian reservation. The original one is killed, but a survivor has been bitten and bodies start showing up.

-A man who is at least a hundred years old emerges from torpor every thirty years to eat people's livers before he returns to his hand-made cocoon.

-Vampires stalk a gothic, blood cult club and claim new victims nightly.

-A Vietnam veteran who underwent an operation so that he'd never sleep comes back to kill off his squad after developing psychic powers. He uses fake weapons and people to do real damage to his victims by convincing them that what they are seeing is real.

-A computer-controlled skyscraper is programmed with artificial intelligence and starts to kill people that threaten its existence.

Vampire: the Eternal Struggle (VTES) is a collectible card game set in the World of Darkness. At this point, I've been playing VTES for over four years and it has become a bit of an obsession. I'm very into gaming and to have a game that you can play over and over again with different results is really nice. I'm not someone who likes to play a ton of different games because of the burden of learning all of those rules, playing the game once and then shelving it. When do you get to enjoy it? I've found my niche and hope to enjoy it for years to come.

Games from 11/6

2011-11-09T12:20:00.001-08:00

Game 1
Me (Midcap assamite B&B)> Ian (ani cel for .44)> Andy (BH assamites)

Why is it that any time I play assamites, my predator is also playing assamites? I started with two transfers, which was enough to start bringing up Hafsa, the Watcher. What's so special about her, you might ask.

Hafsa, the Watcher
6-cap assamite
OBF QUI aus cel
Camarilla. Camarilla vampires must burn 1 blood to attempt to block Hafsa. Assamites get +1 bleed when bleeding you. Blood cursed.

So, not only does my pred get to bleed me for +1 with every minion, but my defense and my pool gain are worthless. Nest of Eagles and Haquim's Law: Leadership do not help me against him. Oh, well. I could have contested Joe Boot Hill, but I didn't really feel like it. Slowing my death slightly wasn't going to help me, but it might help my prey.

My thin blood + dodge combat helped me not get too hurt by Ian, but I spent most of the game bleeding for 1 and ditching useless cards. After about 3 bleeds for 4 (and a couple of smaller ones), I was out. Ian nearly killed Andy with his guns and prevent, torporizing all but one of his minions. Andy bled Ian for 3 and that was enough.

Andy GW 3vp

Game 2
Me (Lasombra bleed/vote)> Andy (Malk stealth bleed)> Ian (FSR + Temptation)

I realize now that Ian was playing a deck that we had talked about way back when we rode down to LA for a tournament. The deck is based around presence, protean and serpentis. Unlucky for him, I was playing dudes with a lot of votes. Still, presence and serpentis can pack a punch, so I was lucky to have a good amount of bleed bounce. Or so I thought.

I governed down and did some minor bleeding while I built up my ready region. Ian was concerned about Andy getting to bleed for 4 and gain a pool repeatedly. Pft! He temptationed Bela, who got sent to torpor after lending some blood via Heidelberg. Andy didn't bother bringing him back out, but instead invested in Bloody Mary, Hagar Stone and some other guy I can't remember. Andy used Madman's Quill at superior to enhance his bleeds. Ian temptationed Mary and had her try to remove madman's quill, which Andy blocked. Andy played Dreams, so his hand size was 10 aside from Hagar's drawback.

Andy ousted Ian, leaving me with 3 wakes and 3 bounce cards. Fortunately for me, the three bounce cards were Murmur of the False Will. I burned the wakes on Andy's ousting bleed and bled Andy a lot the next turn. On Andy's last turn, he played Deal with the Devil to cycle his hand, but had a hand size of zero until he tapped Dreams for two cards and then Hagar to re-set his hand. The malks bled me for a lot, but Gratiano went in for the kill with a bleed for 5 courtesy of Foreshadowing Destruction.

Me GW 2vp, Andy 1vp

Game 3
Me (New nos royalty)> Andy (Stanislava Gather House of Sorrow)> Joel (Ahrimane and co.)> Jeff (Ian's deck from game 2)> Ian (Obf nec transfusion)

Jeff and Joel arrived, making us a tournament-sized table. Andy played House of Sorrow early and once Stanislava came out she showed how his Gather trick works. I disapproved and stole HoS with Disputed Territory. Alsonso Petrodon was in charge of getting me more Nos and he proved to be quite virile. Soon I had Benjamin rose, a couple weenies and briefly a Procurer.

Andy busied himself with ousting Joel, but he couldn't quite seal the deal. Jeff and I had a majority of votes on the table, but the edge turned out to be important to counter the threat of vote cards. Alonso banished Ingrid Rossler, who didn't come back out. From there I passed the votes I wanted to. I sent my procurer to burn Ian's Path of Bone, hoping he would let it happen and not lower his defenses against Jeff. Ian blocked and the procurer met a timely death. Ian used Baleful Doll to lower my blood, or at least threaten to. I had to hunt in order to keep Alonso happy.

Joel managed to hang on until time ran out, but he put down two anarch revolts (plus an earlier one I voted away), which ate away some pool from Andy and myself. With Joel on one pool and Andy on three, I tried to go for a twofer by bleeding Andy for one and playing Judgement: Camarilla Segregation. Joel blocked my J:CS across table, so he managed to survive the extra couple of minutes he needed for .5 vps. Jeff ousted Ian, so we tied at 1.5 each.

Game 4
Me (ANI rush)> Ian (Princes and Personal Involvement)> Jeff (Harbingers/Masque of Judas)> Joel (Baali vote/bleed)> Andy (Stanislava above)

Andy and I discussed it later, I don't think there was a way that once I saw Stanislava hit the table I could let her live. I rushed backwards 4-5 times and eventually torporized Stanislava. Andy bled me for about 12 and burned one of my three guys with Veles' Hunt. Joel had a pretty easy prey with Andy taking a beating, but he still had to bleed responsibly to avoid ousting me. I don't think that Jeff did much to Joel for 3/4 of the game, the infernal penalty did enough.

Ian played Personal Involvement about two times and lowered Jeff's pool significantly. Ian also brought out Anson, Jazz and Sir Walter Nash, basically giving him vote lock. Once Andy was subdued and I was nearly dead, I made good on the Fame I played on Jazz earlier in the game. A couple of rushes earlier in the game and I think some combat with Jeff had used most of Ian's Majesties. With Ian on three pool, I rushed him twice and took out Jazz, ousting him.

Jeff had Baroque, who did do some rushing against Joel. The Ivory bow was a little intimidating, but I quickly drew into Canine Hordes. Be not afraid, the dogs are with you! Petra used her special to try and contain Joel via agg damage against Baali. Joel used Conflagration to do 2 agg to Petra via Nergel, but was burned in the process. Jeff rescued Cybelle and Joel ousted me, then Jeff ousted Joel for the split.

Jeff 2vp Joel 2vp Me 1vp

Tournament Update

2011-11-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a re-post of what I sent out to the L.A. and bay area groups:

Tournament One: Code of Milan Suspended
12/17/11

11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
2r+F standard constructed

No entry fee, higher than normal prizes

Approximately 1 hour break for dinner, then:

Tournament Two: Alastor (San Jose Regional Qualifier)
12/17/11

6:00 PM to Midnight
2r+F Qualifier

No entry fee, higher than normal prizes

Sunday I was originally thinking about a third tournament, but it might work better as informal casual play. I'm open to people's ideas on that because we could do anything, but attendance is usually lower on Sunday.

Who all wants to come? Please announce your attendance on one of the local group websites and/or on my blog, the sooner the better.

I'm looking forward to these tournaments and I hope you all can come.

Games from 10/23

2011-10-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Ian already did a nice job of re-capping this game, so I'll just go over some highlights.

Game one:
Me (imbued cheese bleed)> Andy (BH assamites)> Jeff (HoS mill deck)> Ian (Gargoyles)

I managed to quickly outnumber my prey's minions and get a few powers out. Andy took maybe a couple of actions this game, but had a problem right away when he brought out a 9-cap without bounce. I got a flash grenade the hard way with a guy and the next round was blocked on a bleed. Bang! I think I landed a couple of bleeds that turn and next turn picked up all of the bleed I could. I pentexed andy's new guy and bled him out. He was ousted maybe 30 minutes into the game.

Jeff was playing very defensively, so ousting him proved more difficult. He left most or all of his 3 guys untapped every turn and had a fair amount of wakes. Jeff was also playing Masque of Judas and Tapestry of blood, so he was making me discard a thing or two. Thankfully I got to play Unity, so I was able to recurse some needed cards every turn for a pool.

Ian and Jeff were doing a bad job of teaming up to use trochomancy against me, but did get it off once. Once was enough to put a serious damper on my conviction supply. Low on conviction and trying to avoid having the last third or so of it burned, I stopped using it so much and just focused on bleeding Jeff for 1 repeatedly. That got him really low, but it beat up my guys more than I would have liked.

I brought out another 4-cap imbued (these guys are really freaking cheap!) and adjusted my hand (I think I had no deck at this point) to be able to bounce with him, wake and bounce with Jenny. He was rushed, which I could have made fail with the same card, but I knew that if I kept the conviction I could still bring him out next turn. I also preferred that Ian not have an extra bleeder. Jenny bounced what would have been the killing bleed and I swept up Jeff the next turn. Ian conceded, but I'm not sure he should have so soon.

Me: GW 4vp

Game two:
Me (Young Turks vote/bleed)> Jeff (same)> Andy (Malk bleed)> Ian (Anson personal involvement/parity shift)

I was unblocked in all of my tool-up actions this game, which was what I needed to avoid getting into ousting range while getting a bunch of minions. I only drew one prince in my opening crypt, which turned out to be pretty bad against Ian's two princes and Distant Friend (me). I built the deck to be good enough at bleeding that this sort of thing shouldn't stop me and it proved to work as planned.

Ian started messing with my pool with Personal Involvement, which I always chose to pay for. I figured "at some point, he has to realize that he has a small army of malks behind him and stop paying so much pool." He tried to Parity Shift me, but Andy blocked it. Andy apparently couldn't stealth bleed Ian most of the time, so he got blocked and bounced at one or zero stealth a bunch. Andy eventually ground down Ian's two princes and was able to oust him.

In the meantime, I landed some small bleeds against Jeff and set him up for the oust. I drew a Pentex and Approximation of Loyalty in addition to one or two bleed cards, so it was time to lunge. I pentexed Jeff's large vampire, which left him with a tapped 6-cap to block. I led with an entrancement bleed with my 8-cap prince and cancelled Jeff's wake. Then the rest went in. I think I had to freak drive some in order to draw the ousting bleed card, but I knew it was in there and sure enough, foreshadowing destruction finished the job.

Ian had too many votes for me to pass my votes, so I kinda felt like he should die right before I would oust Andy. I bled Andy a little to set him up, but he managed to find stealth and lots of bleed. He ousted Ian and with his last bleeder, he bled me for 6, just enough to oust me.

Andy: GW 3vp Me: 1 vp

Game three:
Me (!Tor anarch block and bleed)> Ian (Baali)> Andy (Baali bloat, beast, bleed)> Jeff (same)

Jeff steadily milled me this game. As I saw the cards I wanted disappear into my ash heap with my pred having no apparent strategy for victory in sight other than the obvious "maybe I kill this one guy" one, I became frustrated. I did my best to oust Ian and did late in the game, but not before being left with about a third of my 90 card deck vs 3 slaughterhouses and Masque of Judas.

Here is where I started making "mistakes." I pentexed Jeff's Byzar because I didn't want him doing anything other than defending when I should have saved the pentex for the great beast. Jeff did very little to defend himself (or so it seemed) and insisted that I be the one to remove his pentex. No favors for you my friend. I wasted a sudden on a skill card of Andy's even though I knew I really wanted to sudden his last Ashur Tablet (he played it next). In the end game, the great beast broke through my defense of S:CE and started torporizing my guys. Had it not been for the beast (with a Rutor's Hand), I think I would have had enough blood to win the long game. I conceded.

Andy: GW 3vp Me 1vp

What did I learn by these games?
-Imbued, while strong, do have their limits
-Fight the urge to sudden stupid stuff
-Milling is really annoying in a long game, so make it a short one

As a side note, I'll try not to gripe so much about Jeff's non-ousty mill deck. If that's what he wants to play, I'll just have to deal with it one way or another.

Side note number two: We could have had five players. We thought we had as many as six, but one no-showed and the other didn't want to be the odd one out. It sounds like we are much more willing to play a six player table and risk more timeouts than leave someone out. This is the way to build a successful game day; make sure people get to play any time they want to.

Joel, if you are reading this, sorry it didn't work out. Don't be shy about being player number six next time. For one, not everyone who wants to come actually shows up. Also, we are happy to have the problem of too many players.

December 17th Qualifier- Prizes

2011-10-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you Kevin Mergen and White Wolf!

P.S.: I don't think I'll give out all of this at the qualifier weekend in order to save some for future event(s), but there will be no entry fee and people can expect generous prize support.

Werewolves and Anarchs, Oh My!

2011-10-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

The first two games we played on Sunday, my werewolves and anarchs got their teeth kicked in.

Game One:
Me (!Tor anarch toolbox)> Joel (Tor Alastors)> Jeff (BH Assamites c/o Andy)> Andy (Malk dem bleed)

I was disappointed to see zero anarch converts in my opening crypt. This is not the only time that fate would mock me this game. I put my onely one counter on a five-cap !Tor with PRE and then saw Andy bring up Bela. Crap. Next up has to have AUS and I can't do anything until I can have enough bounce/intercept/wakes to deal with the bleed hurricane that is coming my way.

Jost arrives to keep Andy honest while I mind numb Bela. When will I get to go forward? The answer is never. I tried to go anarch with Jost only to get blocked. I am going to die. I manage to blood doll Jost and the five cap, getting some needed blood back to my pool. I use that to bring out the devout crusader, who bounces a bleed of two-three at three stealth to my prey. I am quickly ousted for lack of wakes. Even with wakes, it would be tough to deal with the number of minions Andy had. His Calls were going unblocked so that I could save intercept for his bleeds and he received an insignificant amount of pressure from the assamites.

Andy got Joel, but failed to get by Jeff before he decked himself. Andy played Cracking the Wall and both he and Jeff forgot how to play rock-scissors-paper, but got it on the fourth try or so.

Game Two:
Me (Ariadne Abactor)> Ayjay (obf dom bleed)> Joel (!Malks?)> Andy (Baali pool machine)> Jeff (Ravnos c/0 me)

I fucked myself so bad this game. I had a DI in hand but forgot to use it when Jeff Sense Depped my first garou. My second Garou, my potential savior, was stolen by Andy right before I died. I drew way too little pool gain this game to keep up with the jones', so I died. Ayjay fell to Jeff, but not before Ayjay got Joel. Andy killed Jeff for the second tie of the day.

Game Three:
Me (Ariadne Abactor above)> Jeff (Harbingers and Matthew)> Joel (Nergel and co vote/bleed)> Andy (Malks above)> Ayjay (obf dom above)

I had a pretty good game here, but I kept trying to block Ayjay and failing. He never drew a conditioning all game, so I took bleeds of only one to two. In the meantime, he spent pool on a hunting ground, a cooler, a short term investment and an elder library before he died with 2 vampires. Oh, and he had a muddled vampire hunter. Blood Dolls! ;)

I generated a bunch of pool by playing Villein on Ariadne after hunting for 6-7 with Abactor. Once Ayjay went down, I dunked two of Andy's guys and ate 'em with Ariadne courtesy of a freak drive. I ousted Jeff with the help of Fame and a couple bleeds (garou bleeds for 1 ftw!).

I expected to catch Andy, but it was never enough intercept to stop his big bleeds. I managed to kill Jeff, but I spent my way down to ~10 before Joel's turn. Joel tried to play Reckless Agitation, which I DT'd. He then played anarchist uprising, hitting Andy for three and me for 5-6. Andy proceeded to oust me. It didn't help that my Channel 10 was wasted trying to stop Joel's 2nd vote.

Joel killed Andy in the end game. Nine permanent bleed and votes proved to be pretty powerful after all.

I'm not sure what I want to do with my garou deck. I think that if I had played differently, the games would have gone better. Andy did say that he was sitting on 1-2 entrancements in game two, so maybe my werewolves would have been stolen/disabled no matter what. I could go full "ignore your predator mode," other than rushing them a lot. The intercept didn't work out for me, but I did face stealthy/sneaky opponents in each game. Playing intercept locations and sport bikes on top of 5-pool garou isn't cheap! On the other hand, I expect that I could block some actions and hold my ground while I build up for the end game. Hard to say.

I look forward to tournaments and more casual play. My class load will be dramatically lighter by November, which I look forward to.

Qualifier Weekend 12/17-18

2011-09-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

There will be 3 events the weekend of December 17th, over Saturday and Sunday at Andy's house. This has been an excellent venue for our prior tournaments because of two things: there is a ton of space and Andy and Steve's haaspitality. I had to say it ;).

Tournament One: Code of Milan Suspended
12/17/11
2r+F standard constructed

Tournament Two: Alastor (San Jose Regional Qualifier)
12/17/11
2r+F Qualifier

Tournament Three: My Kin Against the World
12/18/11
Format undetermined (storyline?)

As usual, I will keep the entry fee very low so that anyone can play. Prize distribution is relatively flat to encourage participation. I'll have to get back to this to post a more exact time frame for these events, but figure start times of about 11:00 AM, 6:00 PM, and then 10:00 or 11:00 AM.

Advanced notice of attendance is requested, the sooner the better to let me know how my recruitment efforts are going. I look forward to another successful tournament weekend!

Tournaments!

2011-09-21T23:24:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we played a tournament in Castro Valley. I met some players I had neither seen nor heard of before, which was exciting. Brandyn mentioned wanting to run tournaments regularly, which I am all for.

Speaking of tournaments, we'll be holding a qualifier weekend at Andy's house Saturday December 17th and Sunday the 18th. I am looking forward to another big weekend and hope we can get more new players involved. Ajay, a player I know through Andy, has come to our events and game days a few times now. It is interesting to see a new player get a better and better understanding of the game and overcome the nervousness that comes with being put on the spot. I still get nervous in tournaments, so I have a lot of empathy for that.

I apologize for not writing more. School is really kicking my ass. As I type, I am cutting into my sleep for the fourth straight night. Arg.

Deck ideas keep coming and I've had some great trades recently. Some notable acquisitions:

Kaymakli Nightmares
2x Liquidation (so broken)
Powerbase: LA
Black Forest Base

I was more than a little disappointed at the Castro Valley tournament when a newer player, playing Imbued, decided that his goal in life was to kill his predator. This apparently held true for both of the games he timed out in. For a while I was more peeved with him. Lately I realized that while he screwed me strategically, I could have still pulled through tactically. I got a GW and 3vp in round one, but nada in round two, which put me in 6th place before the finals. I think I was so pissed to see another shitty imbued deck and player that I overlooked the obvious: kill your prey. I was playing for the GW when it was unlikely and that likely cost me the tournament.

"Kill your prey and let god sort it out." That should be my motto from now on. Maybe then I'll remember ;)

School

2011-09-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

I've had a variety of ideas for decks, but not many opportunities to play them or write about them lately. This Saturday there will be a tournament in Castro Valley at Ronin, a game store I've been looking forward to checking out. I have some old decks and new decks laying around and I haven't really decided what I want to play. I have a few days before I need to bite the bullet and pick one.

Another thing that has been going on in my life is that I am now going to school full time. I quit my full time job and am hitting the books pretty hard, plus picking up a little work here and there. After enrolling in another class last night, I am now taking 18.5 units! Hopefully I can get done with the medical assisting program fast enough to be actually working as one by this time next year.

I really wanted to go to the tournaments in L.A. this past weekend. The timing was really bad for me. I saw that they had a 13 player tournament, which no one should have to do. Sorry guys, I'll try to make it next time if I can.

It is time to get back to my schoolwork, but, as always, I'll be thinking about VTES!

Giving Credit

2011-08-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

There were a lot of interesting deck ideas that I witnessed over this past weekend. I'll try to give credit where it is due, but my memory isn't always that great. Here goes:

Dennis Lien made an Inner Circle deck featuring some pretty cool combos. I would normally shy away from IC decks, but this one doesn't have to pay for too many of it's minions.

Key minions:

Mistress Fanchion

Amenophobis

Supporting crew:

IC members with OBF PRE

What does it do?

Mistress Fanchion digs for the parts of the combo you need and can play many of them herself. She calls Might of the Camarilla to burn vampires from each player's uncontrolled region. Amenophobis plays Eternal Mask at SER to put Dennis' burned IC member into play with a couple blood. Now you have two IC members.

Eternal Mask? But that means Amenophobis can't do anything, right? Not so! Martinelli's Ring comes to the rescue and, with the help of Heidelberg Castle, Amenophobis sheds Eternal Mask.

IC members play their usual trick with Alastor + Helicopter, then that gets moved around by the castle. When they are low on blood, they call a Banishment and voter cap (and untap via helicopter), then another one calls Might of the Camarilla to burn the banished vampire.

OBF gives the IC two good things: No Trace and loads of stealth.

Had it not been for Eric's two Determines to stop Dennis from banishing my last guy who could deflect, Dennis would have swept the table when he was my pred. By far the coolest deck at the tournaments. Kudos, Dennis!

Eric won with the imbued, but I was more interested in his War Ghoul deck. We don't get too many ally decks around here, other than Nocturns, so watching him play the ~75 card War Ghoul + S&B deck was refreshing. Unfortunately for him, the War Ghoul I saw him bring out was stolen. I wasn't too concerned about them because of all of the S:CE I was playing, so I was content to play his game as long as he wasn't going backwards too much or gaining pool. He got mugged in game one by weenie computer hacking, so that was it for him in the second tournament.

Jeff Yin had an Enkidu rush deck with some interesting tricks up his sleeve. Most notably, he was playing Well-Aimed Car + Target: Vitals. He got an impressive win on one table, but was shut down in the finals due to weenie/nocturn blockers.

James Lin had a D'Habi Revenant + Corrupt Construction deck that as pretty cool. He got out two or three uber strong constructions, one at a time and played Lunatic Eruption to give them a somewhat permanent rush. I was playing enough stealth to burn his Lunatic Eruptions and some of his important actions were at zero stealth. He bled himself a lot by failing to block with WMRH and Andy Fernandez finished the job with Blood Brothers.

In a preliminary game, Andy Fernandez played a deck based around Deploy the Hand:

Deploy the Hand

Political Action

Requires a ready archbishop, cardinal or regent.
Choose one or more Methuselahs who do not have a target counter. Successful referendum means each chosen Methuselah gets a target counter. During his or her untap phase, a Methuselah with a target counter chooses one of his or her ready minions, who takes 2 unpreventable damage. A Methuselah may burn the Edge to burn his or her target counter.

If it was a matter of burning a pool every turn like Sabbat Threat, why not just KRC? With Deploy the Hand, you can ding everyone at the table. With something like Horseshoes, you can finish them off. Andy had a bunch of used Target gift cards, which was the gimmick, but the political action was interesting enough.

Now that I'm at the end of my post, I guess I'll rant a little. All of the ideas above are good material for building decks. For the most part, I feel like people get credit for inspiring decks, or at least tournament winning decks. That said, there is little discussion of where particular ideas come from on the VEKN forum. I'm as guilty of this as the next guy. I'm not a big fan of nit-picking regarding citing sources or the way intellectual property works in general, but it would be good to at least give an honorable mention when it seems appropriate.

There are so many players out there with good ideas who don't post them. There are also a lot of very good players who don't discuss VTES at all. That's a shame when the game is already so hard to promote. I hope that said players will become more vocal in an effort to promote the game that they love. If it is a matter of getting credit the ideas that they would talk about, that can be dealt with. In my experience, the more people talk about their deck ideas the more deck ideas are generated. As Martha Stewart says, "it's a good thing."

Tournament Weekend

2011-08-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

Well, what a busy weekend! I drove over to Andy's house on Friday night to meet Aaron, Andy Fernandez and Eric for a couple games of VTES. We crashed by about 2:00 AM and met incoming tournament players from around 9:00 on. We got started around 11:30, only a half hour late. I find that seating takes a significant amount of time because of the need to organize the cards, herd cats, etc.

Regaining the Upper Hand
17 players
Game One:
Me (obt dom The Rising)> AJ Wiley (Daughters Vote)> Andy Fernandez (Torrance Circle)> James Lin (Corrupt Construction)

I got a strong start, stronger than I really even wanted. I find it better to avoid looking like a table threat than to get a quick vp, but you have to do what you can with the cards you draw. No events showed up for a while, so I bled for three at stealth a lot. The deck flowed nicely and I got some early help by Andy. One of his Blood Brothers smashed a Corrupt Construction with about eight strength and life, sparing me some nasty combat.

James got out WMRH and proceeded to bleed himself with it every chance he got. His deck was pretty fun, even if Lunatic Eruption should have been Bum's Rush or Harass. !Malks with vicissitude brought out about three corrupt constructions, which didn't get time to do too much. They had crazy strength, however, from burned D'habi Revenants. I put an early hurt on AJ, who eventually hit me for four with a Reckless Agitation. Why didn't I put Poison Pill in my deck?

My deflections came at the wrong time, so they were mostly worthless. James bled a little, but not enough to provide a big swing. I ousted AJ. Andy ousted James by tricking him into accepting a bleed for four instead of what he expected to be one to move the edge. I don't think James expected to win, but he wanted to play his game and resented not getting another turn to rush and/or bleed me.

When it came my turn to oust Andy, I miscalculated and probably could have ousted him if I had bled for four with a Conditioning instead of three (DOM vs dom bleeders). Right before that I forgot to use the coven, which Andy forgot to use and gave to me untapped. Had I used it early in my turn instead of trying to be clever and use it at the end, I could have saved an action that I had to use hunting. Andy bled a couple times and then bled me for four when I was tapped out, winning the game.

Andy GW 3vp me 1vp

Game Two:
Eric Haas (imbued)> Dennis Lien (Eternal Mask/IC tricks)> Me> Sean Ryan (AUS CEL +strength intercept combat)

Another very close game. I brought out dudes and tried to bleed responsibly, but was tooled pretty quickly by Sean's combat. With my minions low on blood and rescuing/hunting, Sean still didn't apply pressure to Eric. Eric was bounced to me and I ate a bleed for two, plus had a vampire banished and Might of the Camarilla'd. Before that, I had an incoming six-cap with two pool on him Mightily Mighted to my great dismay. Dennis took his burned dudes and animated them via Eternal Mask. A Heidelburg showed up, as did Martinelli's ring, so Eternal Mask was burned and Amenophobis was free to make more IC members. Neat trick.

I was almost out of blood and had only two mid-caps left when I eventually ousted Sean. Eric prevented me from being ousted by playing Determine on two of Dennis' actions. Had Dennis just bled me, I think he would have had the GW. I had a few pool, one minion in torpor with no blood and one ready with zero blood. The coven was out and was passed to me untapped. Since there were only us two players left, I unfortunately had no opportunity to use it before my turn, meaning that I could not pull of a rescue and prevent the hunt by giving Banjoko two blood. I don't think it would have mattered. I bled for six, hoping to draw into something, not sure what, and came up one short for the second game in a row.

Eric GW 3vp, me 1vp

From the Finals:

Eric ousted his first prey or no one was ousted, either way Eric was top seed and won. He was playing imbued and incurred a lot of table hate, but no one else ousted their prey.

Here's Eric's TWD:

Deck Name : Superstar at the Gay Bar
Author : Eric Haas
Description :

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 5 average: 4.25
------------------------------------------------------------

3x Travis "Traveler72 5 mar def Imbued:4
2x Jack "Hannibal137" 4 def jud Imbued:4
2x Paul "Sixofswords2 4 def vis Imbued:4
1x Jennie "Cassie247" 5 inn jud vis Imbued:4
1x John "Cop90" O'Mal 4 jud ven Imbued:4
1x Lupe "Cabbie22" Dr 4 def ven Imbued:4
1x Marion "Teacher193 4 red jud Imbued:4
1x Francois "Warden" 3 def jud Imbued:4

Library [73 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------

Action [1]
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal

Ally [4]
1x Moise Kasavubu
1x Ossian
1x Vagabond Mystic
1x Wendell Delburton (Hunter)

Combat [3]
3x Target Vitals

Conviction [18]
6x React with Conviction
6x Second Sight
6x Strike with Conviction

Equipment [8]
1x .44 Magnum
1x Crusader Sword, The
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Ivory Bow
2x Saturday-Night Special
1x Sniper Rifle
1x Sport Bike

Event [5]
1x Anthelios, The Red Star
1x Dr. Marisa Fletcher, CDC
1x Dragonbound
2x Unmasking, The

Master [20]
6x Angel of Berlin
1x Church of Vindicated Faith, The
2x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fame
1x Fortschritt Library
1x Jake Washington (Hunter)
1x Millicent Smith, Puritan Vampire Hunter
1x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Society of Leopold
1x WMRH Talk Radio
2x Wider View

Power [10]
1x Champion
3x Discern
3x Rejuvenate
3x Vigilance

Reaction [4]
4x Determine

Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Sat Aug 13 20:01:06 2011]

Fire in the Blood
20 players
Hey look, the 2r+f seating matrix is mis-printed!

Game One:
Me (Antimalism !Tor AUS PRE)> Jeff (Become....)> Andy (Baali bloat and bleed)> AJ Reddy (sigh....)> AJ Wiley (!Malks with +1 bleed KS)

This game was not obviously un-balanced for the first half hour. Everyone took a little pool damage (AJR mostly inflicted it on himself), Jeff made a Becoming or two and made Procurers, stuff like that. I managed to block AJW a fair amount and hurt him with Catatonic Fear + TV. I Enchanted down to make a couple free or cheap guys.

When AJ had two minions and about 10-12 pool, Jeff and I started asking him about pool gain; namely, did he have any. He wasn't sure. Elysium: PV cost him two and Pappion cost him three. 3x Con Ag really messed up AJW, but without a way to deflect bleeds or pull blood off his minions, AJR would be taking at least three bleed a turn. He got close to ousting AJW when Andy did his Beast + Soul Gem trick, sneaking in three bleeds of three in one turn (Mylan helped). AJW continued to bleed forward and was ousted.

At this point, Jeff has 4-5 vampires and about 2 procurers, maybe an Army of Rats, too, but has made no significant inroads to Andy's pool due to lack of trying and lack of +bleed. I had been somewhat threatening with a +1 bleeder, Unholy Penance and a couple other minions, but Jeff only paid for 14 pool of minions. I told him I would provide no forward pressure until Andy was ousted. I managed to block basically anything that Andy did and Pentex the Great Beast, but Jeff's deck didn't have the ousting power to seal the deal before time. I eventually told Jeff I'd have to start taking the edge to keep him from gaining pool and he walled up. Staying alive and getting .5 vps was my best course of action from that point, so I did.

Andy GW 2.5 VP, Me and Jeff .5 vp, AJR and AJW get the boobie prize, 0.0.

Game Two:
Me> Eric (Weenie Tzim War Ghoul)> James Lin (Shemti + Fatty POT PRE)> Jeff Yin> Aaron Clark (Etrius and friends)

Jeff provided about the same amount of pressure on his prey as game one, but at least I was on the other side of him and had the defense to survive it. I let Eric do what he wanted and only bled him a little. He brought out a war ghoul, which he had exactly one turn to do something with before Aaron stole it. Aaron rushed me every turn with the War Ghoul, but Catatonic Fear and the occasional T:V took care of it. When Eric had James down to maybe 4-8 pool, I started to apply some forward pressure. I ousted Eric, then James drew into his Villeins and walled-up. I gave up trying to oust James after making no real inroads on his ~20 pool with hardly any time left. I walled up and managed to keep Aaron at bay until time, but not by much.

Me 1.5 vp, Aaron, James and Jeff .5 vp, Eric 0

I played another casual game, so I didn't get to see much of the finals. When I did make it in there, it was down to Andy Haas, Robert and Aaron. Robert had too much pool for Andy to really oust him and Aaron came up slightly short of ousting Andy. Robert and Aaron were tied at the time-out with 1.5 vps each, but Robert was the top seed.

Here is the TWD(the formatting is all messed up when I try to cut and paste so here is the link):

http://www.vekn.net/index.php/forum/9-event-reports-and-twd/8303-re-twd-fire-in-the-blood-san-jose#8629

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
6 player draft

We had a disappointing turn-out for the draft, but it was interesting nonetheless. We drafted 9 boosters (6x 3rd edition 3x BH), which turned out to be too much. I got a ton of good cards and hate drafted some, too. Even though we wouldn't normally have a recursion with 8+ boosters, we decided to have one because I think that makes drafts more interesting.

Me (aus dom w/obf & for)> James Lin (weenies + weapons B&B) Aaron (weenie !Nos bleed + wall)> Andy Fernandez (stealthy B&B)> Robert (Lasombra tool up and knock you out)> Matt Wedge (Black Hand B&B)

All decks were, of course, toolboxy. Notably, Aaron had Pentex Loves you, Vermin Channel, Raptors and The Rack, Andy had Rumor Mill, Robert had Major Boon, Agg damage stuff, and Black Metamorphosis, and Matt had a lot of weenies. Matt eventually stole the Rumor mill, which discouraged me from taking many undirected actions. I started out by playing a Slave Auction for six, which I followed later with a Ventrue Investment for two or three and King's Rising.

James spent some pool bringing out a Bang Nak and I bled him out with a sneaky beed or three. Aaron put up a good defense with the Rack + Rapor. I would have Washed The Rack, but I wasn't paying attention when it was played and only noticed on the next turn. Oh well. Robert took some heavy pool loss from Andy and eventually Major Booned Andy, ousting himself. Matt was on the ropes for a while, but came back. I had enough S:CE and prevent to deal with a lot of his combat, plus I brought out more minions than I would have without the constant pool gain. I didn't have any wakes, so I had to time things carefully.

Aaron killed Andy and Matt, but I eventually stripped his minions of blood and locked him down. Succubus was key to slowing Aaron down and bully bleeding him.

Here's my deck, which was much better than previous draft decks I've made. I think it was the number of boosters rather than any particular drafting superpowers.

Crypt:
2x Orlando Oriundus
Jefferson Foster
Ulrike Rothbart
Jephta Hester
Kestelle Hayes
Polly Kay Fisher
Malgorzata
Carmen
Aksinya Daclau
Rashid Stockton

Masters:
2x Cadet
Wash
Trophy: Chosen
Drop Point Network
Framing an Ancient Grudge
Art of Love
Slave Auction
Ventrue Investment
King's Rising
Tribute to the Master

Actions and things like actions:
Enchant Kindred
Cardinal Benediction
Peace Treaty
Transfer of Power
Ruins of Ceoris
Succubus
Hexaped

Action Mods:
2x Shadow Play
2x Empowering the Puppet King
Foreshadowing Destruction
Veil the Legions

Combat:
2x Superior Mettle
2x Psychic Assault
Chript. Marauder
Burst of Sunlight
Staredown
Rolling with the Punches
Dodge
Theft of Vitae

Reactions:
3x Forced Vigilance
Darksight
Instinctive Reaction
Precognition
Redirection

Vague Memories of 7/24 Games

2011-07-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to make a write-up of our games from last Sunday and just never got around to it. Lets see how well memory serves me this morning....

Game One:

Me (Harbinger toolbox)> Andy (Guruhi ANI)> Ian (Assamites)

This was my first ever game playing Harbingers and it went pretty well, except that I proxied some Spiritual Intervention and forgot to put anything in the sleeve indicating what it was (I used Soul Burn). My first move in the game was to block an undirected action by Andy. Fish gave Unre a beating, bringing her down to about 4. Ian then tried to get a WoNR, which I also blocked. On my turn, I villeined Unre down to one and Giant's Blooded her back to health. Unre called a 3/1 KRC and stayed there. At some point she got a bowl and it was fairly early on. My next recruits were Billy and some aus for !Ventrue dude. Animalism wasn't kind to my minions. Ian wasn't playing very aggressively, so I got to build up a bit with Abbots, hunting, etc. There was a fair amount of fighting to go around, but nothing as bad as what Unre took in the beginning of the game. I eventually used Trochomancy to hurt Andy's pool. This made us generate an edge and only half an hour into the game! Another Harbiner came to join the party and I gave everyone AUS who didn't have it. When andy was low on pool, I snuck in a couple bleeds and ousted him. Ian conceded shortly afterwards.

Game Two:

Me (!Tor toolbox)> Jeff (Blur + Well-Aimed Car + TargetX)> Andy (Cavalier Malks)> Gerentt (New Brujah)> Ian (!Malks with Potence)

This was an interesting game to say the least. I thought I was doing well by throwing out a couple mind numbs, enchanting down and landing a bleed or two. Then Enkidu showed up and decapitated Lachlan, the Noddist. I was slowed down some, but focused on keeping away from Ian (who was busy getting really buff dudes and defending) and sneaking by Jeff. I got another couple cheap minions and eventually ousted Jeff.

Andy was in bad shape after having a really good start. Gerentt beat down some of his minions and Jeff might have done something to him (maybe?). I took my time and bled a little, blocked a little, etc. I told Andy that I wouldn't block much of his actions unless he Con Booned. I was playing a delicate balancing game between keeping Gerentt alive, having Ian and Gerentt fight, and chipping away at Andy. Gerentt tried to Giant's Blood an empty Dmitra. No dice, I suddened it. Why? Any would be dead soon and I didn't want her free to take a rush action + others in the same turn. Andy did a thing or two and I used some wakes/intercept to get ready to oust him. I Eagle Sight blocked something threatening that Gerentt was about to do (another Parity Shift?), bounced Ian and ousted Andy.

Funny thing, Andy saw he was dead, so he went to get his laptop or something. Gerentt went to get food, which left Jeff to play both Andy and Gerentt. They were both on the ropes, so it wasn't like they had anything to do other than defend. Andy had 1-2 untapped guys and a couple wakes, so he was no easy oust. Jeff brought out Karen (the prince), which brought him down to just a few pool. I thought that was kind of strange, but then he proceeded to pull out a handful of wakes and Psyches to keep Karen fighting until she was empty. I still ousted him, but it was painful. I believe Ian conceded.

Game Three: "Bring the Pain"

Me (Lawfirm)> Jeff (Enkidu deck above)> Gerentt (Toreador toolbox)> Ian (Unacceptably Pander)> Andy (Guruhi ANI above)

Jeff played his deck again and it worked better, or at least as much as you can expect that deck to "work." I was playing a lawfirm deck. It was like playing pinball. Jeff was my prey, Andy was my predator. Andy showed some blocking power in the form of permacept + Animalism while Jeff back-rushed or blocked with Andy's help constantly. Oh, and Andy Deep Song rushed me a few times, too. I don't know if I got any action through except one govern at DOM. It got to the point where I was digging for a Daring the Dawn just to get anything through. Gerentt wasn't rescuing me and suggested that he might vote against me. Being that I was in spite mode by this point, I played Framing an Ancient Grudge on his prince cross-table. My last act with my last ready minion was to call a Charming Lobby to play Ancilla Empowerment. The vote would have killed me and Ian, crippled Jeff and left Andy in a good spot. Jeff blocked. He played nice, I played Freak Drive and played just plain Ancilla Empowerment. Andy blocked. At this point I was down to 2-3 pool, Andy had about 5 minions, I had no more cards to cycle to draw a govern + conditioning + daring the dawn combo, so I transferred out. I left before the game was over to get stuff ready for this week. Part of me wanted Andy to win because that's what happens when you destroy someone's minions and leave them with no pressure, but then he did block the easy GW vote card, so I'm not sure he deserved it. Two out of three ain't bad.

Tournament Update

2011-07-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Here's the list of people who are coming so far (from below):

Ian

Andy

Eric

Aaron Clark

Jeff Yin

Chris Shorb

myself

Sean Ryan

Brandyn

A.J

Cassie

James Lin

Andy A.K.A. Torrence Circle

Dennis

Robert Scythe

Matt Wedge

-------------------

Time to pump up the numbers some by adding people I've spoken to (or heard about) who are "maybe"s

Oliver Stacey

David Corson-Knowles

Joel

Mike

Michael

There may be others that I'm forgetting, but hopefully I hear from others soon. It is possible that we'll get quite a crowd from Castro Valley, which would help a lot.

As for boosters, Ian ordered one booster box of 3rd Edition and one of Gehenna. We're set for prize support and left over boosters will be for sale at dirt cheap prices to re-coup the cost.

I'm back from my vacation and am ready for more VTES agitating!

Cards not in the Tournament Winning Deck Archive

2011-07-21T16:05:00.001-07:00

It has come to my attention that there is a long list of cards that do not appear in the tournament winning deck archive (TWDA). Ira got Mummify in there recently, although not as a card he intended to ever play. Here is a short list compared to how many there probably are out there:

Baleful Doll- Zero stealth, not that easy to take advantage of

Mummy's Tongue- I don't know why this hasn't made it. FoS short on pool?

Eyes of the Dead- Utter crap

Army of Apparitions- New and untested?

Crimson Fury- Cornercase

The Portrait- Ian hasn't been allowed to play this card enough, always DI'd or blocked

Fire in the Blood- Where's Jann Berger when you need him?

Poison the Well of Life- Just steal a HG or burn it with Conceal

Shoulder Drop- Usable

Elixir of Distillation- Crap

No Confidence- Almost as bad as the crap directly above

Urban Jungle- Not enough diablarie decks recently?

Divine Image- Costy, FoS usually can't fight that well anyway

Tara, the Hollow One(Mage)- Zero bleed, three pool, worthless special

Mehemet of the Ahl-I-Batin(Mage)- Zero bleed, three pool, could work with cryptic mission

Target Leg- Stupid, crap, blah

Betrayer- Wider View is too new for this to get play on the tournament scene. Still not good.

Malkavian Time Auction- This could be decent

Psychic Projection- Meh. Just play an intercept card.

The Spawning Pool- Too much set-up

Beyond Reproach- This could work....

Realm of the Black Sun- Wait, why do you want your prey to gain pool?

Terrorists- Only one life, have to pay for your bomb. Rico Loco?

Twisting the Knife- Jann Berger really wants that second round and needs a press?

Grasp the Ghostly- This should see some play

Inspire Greatness- Why does this cost a blood and require two disciplines and a younger vampire/ally? Potentially usable, probably better to do disciplineless combat.

Conquer the Beast- Mostly inferior to Trap, but not always. Could see a case for it.... (this is in a TWD, didn't see it first time around)

What does all this tell me? Build more decks!

Deck Ideas Aplenty!

2011-07-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

I've had a swarm of deck ideas bouncing around in my head lately. Here are a few highlights:

Shemti + cam royalty Parity of Pain

Shemti and camarilla vampires (preferably with obfuscate and presence, but potence and even a little dominate are appreciated) mess up your predator with Shemti's special, Touch of Pain, Crocodile Temple and my newly acquired Retribution. Don't think your prey gets off easy! Parity Shift away their pool and vote them into the ground. The version I was playing with most featured all princes for the camarilla vampires so that I can play Fear of Mekhet. Extra fun for Justicars/IC members, especially those controlled by my predator.

AUS PRE wall

I won't go into too many details, but I've wanted to make a !Toreador deck for a while.

AUS CHI nightmare curse

After looking at Ravnos for a while, I've been thinking about using the Tremere in group 4-5 with chi/CHI and some other dudes to lock down some vampires. I posted one version here:

http://www.vekn.net/index.php/forum/7-deck-clinic/6069-dominate-wravnos

A good deck must have a good title. Dominate with Ravnos is both a pun and ironic since there are no Ravnos in the deck and you can think of "dominate" as either an action or a subject. My parents would be so proud....

Lord Ephraim Wainwright

This guy is awesome and needs to be doing... something. Is he helping to make a less card-intensive Cryptic Mission deck, gearing all your dudes up with Rutor's Hands, actually playing Gear-up, doing the Nightmare Curse dance I was mentioning, but faster, or what? I just got a fourth copy, so he is ready to become a star.

Tremere tap and bleed

I've been waiting for a good use for Nocturn Theater. I'm not confident that I've found one, but maybe with some Tremere to block/Salt of Thoth for defense and dominate to make the tapping worth-while, it could work. The two pool is outrageous for someting that can be burned as a D action, plus you end up having to tap a vampire of yours to make use of it. So this requires having several dudes. Do you use small ones for fodder, Rutor's Hand, both? Justine the Elder of Dallas has a decent special to help, plus DOM to bring out more guys/bleed like hell.

Trem/!Trem with necromancy

This idea is a little further out there. There are a fair number of group 3-4-5 tremere and !tremere with some necromancy. That has to be good for something, right? Jar the Soul to tap and bleed, Trochomancy to bleed (and doubly hose Girls decks after tapping them), use necromancy for stealth to maybe vote, or what? It is possible to tack this on with the deck idea above to combine tapping and blocking stuff. THA gives you Magic of the Smith to go get a Sargon Fragment. It could work, but it requires using bigger vampires than I might like.

What deck ideas are rattling around in your head?

Summer Tournaments!

2011-07-09T22:03:00.001-07:00

Ok, so we're running a couple tournaments on Saturday, August 13th. Here are the attendees I've heard from so far:

Ian
Andy
Eric
Aaron Clark
Jeff Yin
Alex Con Hon
Chris Shorb
myself
Sean Ryan
Castro Valley Person #2 (TBA)
Castro Valley Person #3 (TBA)
-------------------
11

GOOD NEWS: Three+ people from Castro Valley are planning on coming down the 13th.

So... I've got my work cut out for me. I'm trying to see if Eric will be in town after our family reunion (he is). Castro Valley people, are you out there (they are)? Alexes, where do you stand (yes/no)? Oliver, Jeff Kuta, Jeff Yin, Ian Thomas (?/?/yes/no)? Jeff Thompson made the point that cards are cheap right now. We can have some good prize support if people speak up to let me know how many are coming.

Boxes of boosters are still selling for $50 from the WW store, so if we shoot for a tournament of 12 people, just for numbers' sake, $5 buys two boosters/person with one left over for prize support. What's left over after paying for the tax on each box (about $5) can go into the food fund or something. $5 per person per tournament should be reasonable and I'm sure that if one or two people need help with the money, that can be arranged.

With 12 boosters of prize support, each game win could be awarded a booster (up to 6 used there), one to each finalist and an extra one (plus boosters for games without GWs) to the tournament winner.

At this rate, each player who does above average would likely get 3+ boosters for their $5.

Tournaments 08/13/11

2011-07-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a re-post of what I sent out to BAVTES:

Hi All,
I talked to Ira about having the tournament on a different date and he said he'd try to play with people during the week sometime before he leaves. Too bad we can't have a going away tournament, but thems the breaks.

The official tournament date is August 13th. I'll go ahead and run it, but at a lower intensity level than before. If someone is willing to run part or all of the tournaments, that would be appreciated, I just want to make sure they happen. I can't make people come, only let them know what's going on, offer rides, and hope they arrive. Commitments to come are highly appreciated, the earlier the better!

There will be two tournaments, both 2r+f. Prize support is undetermined at this point, but we will likely have a pool for those who want to contribute money to food in any event. With the new tournament rules, any tournament winner with 10+ players is qualified for the 2012 North American Championship.

Location: Andy's house in San Jose.
1644 Fallbrook Avenue
San Jose, CA 95130

Tournament One: Regaining the Upper Hand

Start time: 11:00 AM sharp (arrive early)
Anticipated end time: 5:30 PM

Tournament Two: Fire in the Blood

Start time: 6:00 PM
Anticipated end time: 12:30 AM

The rounds are 2 hours each, but I'm trying to be realistic about the time to set the next table and the need for short breaks. There will likely be a place to crash for those who don't want to make the drive back late at night.

Please reply to the group with your attendance. I'll also be tracking the goings on on my blog:
http://brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/

I look forward to seeing you guys August 13th!

Best,

Brandon

Game Re-cap 06/26

2011-06-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

We got a bit of a late start due to Andy's job poaching him at the last minute and Gerentt forgetting we were playing. We still got in three games, which was a feat for us.

Game 1:
Ian Lee (The Becoming ani aus cel pro for)> Jeff Yin (Etrius and Goratrix intercept combat)> Me (g1-2 Ventrue Lawfirm featuring !Ven)> Gerentt Chan (Tzimisce intercept combat)

I had intended to take notes and even brought a notepad, but I forgot until half way through this game. Even when I tried, I realized how hard it is to take notes while playing and decided to focus on playing.

I saw that there was some intercept combat around, so I waited to have both Sir Walter Nash and Emerson Bridges before taking any actions. My first govern down was blocked, so I majestied and Enchanted some kindred instead. The next action was a govern, so I paid four to bring out Vanessa. The following turn, I may have bled. I know I paid four more to bring out Timothy Crowley. I did leave dudes untapped to deflect, fearing the five bleed + DOM behind me. Gerentt tooled up with a Raven Spy and Dabbler on Meshenka, then he proceeded to play mind of the wilds and read the winds + vic stuff to gain some blood. Caliban and Dragos came out, so I made sure to have dudes to rescue and/or combat cards.

Ian was busy making multiple Becomings with a crapload of skill cards, throwing out some procurers, and bringing some guys out. Marcellus, Greger Anderson, and eventually Danielle Diron. Diron seemed especially good at making copies of The Becoming due to her ability. The becomings did some bleeding (deep song) and dodging with generic dodge. He also played botched move. We had a good laugh at his many discipline cards and mostly disciplineless combat. Goratrix and eventually Etrius were busy tooling up. Etrius got Rutors, Kevlar Vest, Ankara Citadel and maybe a flak jacket. Oh, and leather jacket. Goratrix got a blood doll. I was blocked several times, but was mainy unscathed. And then Charnas landed on Sir Walter Nash. Dun dun dun!

Nash was slowly beaten down, at least until he was torpored and I diablarized him. Meshenka was visited by Charnas next, leading him to tap to gain blood every turn. I managed to bounce some bleeds to Gerentt and then followed up with a few bleed cards. That was enough for 6 pool.

Ian had a ton of minions, but Jeff was keeping him busy by having 2-3 minions untapped to bounce or block. Etrius emptied himself in order to send someone to torpor. When a society of Leopold put Crowley into a hunt-loop and Goratrix blocked, I rolled with the punches to avoid torporage. I had one turn to keep the votes from his prince title. I also had Ventrue HQ AND Demonstration. My prey was at two and I was at three. I stole Ian's Caitlin with From Sinking Ship and called an ancilla empowerment in the hopes that Jeff would settle for a tie. The next card I drew was... seduction! I seduced the untapped Goratrix for good measure and ended the game with two vps. Had I known I would have top-decked the seduction, I would have called Neonate Breach instead. I was satisfied with a tie given that I had to diablarize my own prince and was about to have another burned.

Me 2vp Jeff 2vp

Game 2:
Ian (!Malks with potence) > Gerentt (Euro Brujah)> Jeff (Laibon aus for toolbox)> Me(ANI rush)

I had only played my deck once before and it was on a three player table, so I wanted a more legitimate example of how it would do. I started out with Stick and then Yuri because votes are good. Stick took the edge, which I held most of the game. Next turn, Stick got me an Underbridge Stray and Yuri rushed a freshly famed Alicia Borrows. I was expecting to do some crows/press/taste action, but my spider senses were tingling. I was a little surprised when Yuri received a Burning Wrath. Good thing that Sprinkles, the underbridge stray, was there to keep Yuri safe from nasty potential diablarists. Good dog!

Yuri was rescued by Stick paying 1/1 and went back for revenge. He was blocked by another malk with potence, who took a beating. My predator and x-table ally were trading blows, so it was an attrition game. I tried to advise Gerentt which actions his prey took that he should worry about, so Jeff wasn't able to buy his elephants. I eventually torpored Alicia with my ~7th rush of the game, rescued her, punked her again, and then bled for one. Ian died during his untap. Gerentt put fame on Yuri and he eventually went down, but not without a fight. I left him there to share the pain with my fellow players.

Gerentt managed to oust Jeff with a conditioning, so it was head to head. I bled the tapped-out Gerentt a couple times and then left a dude or two untapped. The next turn, I decided that my best way to oust was to rush, rush, rush! Gerentt couldn't maneuver enough to catch me, so he conceded with zero ready minions.

Me 3vp GW Gerentt 1vp

Game 3:
Ian (Despiral Ishtarri)> Me (DOM OBT bleed feat. the Rising)> Jeff (Sabbat dom obf bleed/vote)> Gerentt (Tzimisce from above)

We were down to about and 1 hour 40 minutes before store closing, so we decided to make it a quick game. It was a VERY quick game for Jeff. He brought out Sebastian Goulet, who was hopeless to stop the onslaught of bleeds from me and the ones I bounced from my predator. Jeff did get KRCG, so I had to be a little more tactical. My nocturns helped bleed and block. One even haxored Jeff for 2 early on. Before Jeff could take all of the pool out of his uncontrolled region, he was bled out.

I started bouncing bleeds to Gerentt and then following them up with some of my own. I managed to oust Gerentt with a Pentex and some good old govern'. Without bounce being worth a damn, I had to block some of Ian's stuff. I did have some S:CE, which kept me from getting the additional strikes I knew were coming. I saved my blocking for the 2-3 bleeds and let the small ones through. Ian reduced a lot of my bleeds by 2-3 with laibon/scobax tech. A turn or two before I ousted Ian, I actually got The Rising in play, then drew two more gehenna cards. Julius Sutphen Adv saved the day with a +1 stealth conditioning when Ian was at two pool. The Coven helped me a lot, especially in the two-player game. I had commented to Ian that The Coven usually doesn't work out well for me. In this game, that was not the case.

I'll give an honorable mention to Ian's massive amount of bleed. He had 2 despirals on one guy and 1 on a couple others for a total of like 10. His laibon dude made good use of the card recycling vote to get lots of forced marches and tool up.

Me 4vp GW

Strong Cards or Not?

2011-06-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

I have a suspicion that a lot of cards are not as good as people may think. There are a variety of reasons for this:

1) The card has too many requirements
2) The card is unique
3) The benefit is overrated

Let's take a case in point...

Note the usual requirements:
1) Have the card taking card slots in the deck
2) Draw the card
3) Not have it DI'd

In addition to that, it requires that you:
1) Have a 10+ cap vampire
2) Successfully bleed your prey
3) Have the card in your hand at that moment

What do you get?
1) +1 bleed
2) A limited ability to act out of turn

Once copy one hits the table, any other copy you have is only good at clogging your hand. ONE of your fatty vampires can use this ability.

What is your objective? Why is this card worth playing? If only for +1 bleed, a laptop computer, vintage 1994, can satisfy. If it is to bleed in an un-archonable way, that assumes your prey does not have bounce. This does nothing that Madness Network can't do. Why are people paying upwards of $50 for this card? Does everyone need to make some cheesy Rachel Brandywine deck that is slightly better than the original cheesy Rachel Brandywine deck? I can see how it would be useful to sit around with some IC member with DOM, waiting to play obedience and then bleeding at the last minite. What's the opportunity cost there?

Summer Tournaments?

2011-06-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

I recently asked the BAVTES group who would be interested in running/playing in a tournament. I'll keep a tally of the responses here:

Yes, I'd like to play:
Brad
Alex O.
Gerentt

I might organize the event:
Alex O.

Maybe:
Richard

Legends 6/12

2011-06-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

Game one:
Me(!Brujah B&B)> Gerentt(Cock Robin Enkil Cog)> Ian(Unacceptably Pander)

Ian, Gerentt and I played a three player game while we waited for someone else to show up. I spent a lot of this game rescuing and hunting because Cock Robin Pwns at combat. Gate after gate was thrown by the justicar, plus a punch for five. Just when I was set up to do a ton of pool damage to Gerentt, Ian bled for 5-6 and ousted me. Ian then died to Cock Robin and co. Cock Robin got an Enkil Cog early in the game and used it and his animalism special to untap and bleed for three. Robin's only companion was Amelia, Blood Red Tears, who really didn't do much. I think that after showing that I had a lot of bleed, he played it conservatively.

Ian brought out Carolin Bishops, then Raphael Catarari. Raphael was found out to be only mildly ugly, so the !Nos kicked him out of their clan and into the Panders' loving arms. There was a lot of Pander love going around with Convergence and Joseph Pander. There were a lot of skill cards played and a changeling skin mask was magiced for. What was the ultimate purpose? Only Ian can tell....

Game two:
Me(OBT DOM bleed "pool is for sissies")> Ian(Goratrix/Etrius shotgun some blood)> Richard(Big Tzimisce wall)> Gerentt(The dreaded Salubri)

Two of the two Kiasyd were in my starting crypt, so I ignored the black hand part of the deck and went with it. Isanwayen took many a trip to torpor in this game and was consistently blocked when hunting. This meant that instead of bleeding Ian, I was focused on blood management and tapping out vs Gerentt to avoid Spirit Marionette. Even so, he got his SM + Heidelberg trick off 2-3 times against me. Nocturns eventually showed up to help defend, but at the cost if Isanwayen going down again.

Etrius and Goratrix spent a lot of time sitting around waiting for me to bleed, which I didn't really do. I discarded at least four bleed cards before I bled once. In the meantime, I was setting up for The Rising. On turn one I played Fortschritt Library to dig for The Rising, just so it wouldn't spend time sitting at the bottom of my deck. It took forever to get the other events in play and only got to play the card after Ian had already died.

The Tzimisce eventually beat down the Salubri and Etrius and I advised Richard to diablarize when he had vote lock, but I don't think that Richard knew how silly Salubri can be about not dying. I waited and then eventually recklessly bled Ian for four, then bled for a lot more the next turn. My guys had almost no blood and DOM OBT is not cheap. Gerentt wasn't really capable of doing pool damage ever, but even less so after Mattew was safely eaten. I said a couple times that Richard had the intercept/combat to kill us both, so we eventually conceded.

Game three:
Me(Tzim above)> Gerentt(weenie Malks bleed/block)> Richard(aus CEL +1 str)> Ian(Ishtarri bloat/block/bruise)

Gerentt had a really strong start by bleeding for the edge, holding it a couple turns, then bleeding Richard a lot with dementation. I took notice and Ian eventually did, too, so we all did what we could to constrain Gerentt's deck. I put a War Party on General Perfidio Dios and we took turns beating on him until he was eaten. Persia picked up an Ivory bow, which we all diligently avoided. A couple more malks were beaten and eaten, then I played Victim of Habit to burn Gerentt's Kindred Spirits from his ash heap to cause pool damage. It turns out that I should have chosen Life in the City since both Gerentt and Richard had a bunch of it.

Richard's game consisted mostly of digging for enough intercept to block Gerentt and staying untapped. When he did block Gerentt, the malks took a beating of +1 strength, sometimes with X additional strikes. Miller helped out by paying less for celerity cards.

Persia went down and Richard and I argued over who should eat her and get the bow, then Ian rescued her. I suddened a Life in the City that would have spared her hunting, then blew up the bow with some dogs when she did. I eventually had out Lambach, Stravinsky, Terrence and Corine Marcon. There was so much intercept/combat at the table that it was one long game of attrition. I got out Powerbase: Barranquilla and defended it well, which saved me from steady pool damage from a famous malk.

Ian had a bunch of Kerries and both permanent and transient damage prevention, plus one dude got an Elephant Guardian. The combination of these things was enough to grind a bunch of blood out of my minions. I did manage to torpor one of Ian's bloaty vamps, burning his Guardian Angel. Richard diablarized her with my blessing (after I tried and failed), taking a Kerrie and a WWS. We fought to a draw at store closing. It isn't clear who would have won the end game other than it not being Gerentt due to a lack of pool and minions. I had an empty Lambach and three minions with about one blood each, but I had a Giant's Blood and no one had a sudden, so I think I could have held out pretty well.

Metagame Considerations

2011-05-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

Sunday the 22nd we played at Legends for the second weekend in a row and even had a guest from the East bay, Oliver Stacey. I won't do a detailed re-cap of the games we played, just note some of the basics of what happened and go over my thoughts.

Game 1:
I played an anti-malk vote/blood denial deck, but things were not set up well for me. Jeff Yin, my predator, was bleeding me consistently, trying to bait me into blocking. No dice. I did get low on pool, but I brought out Hannigan and Villeined him and someone else, putting me out of range for a while. I had blood dolls on my guys and was farming blood via Hannigan against my pred, the only valid target. Cross-table was Andy, doing the Baali tool up forever and then sweep thing. Jeff couldn't block for the life of him, so Andy was getting away with murder. Ian was bleeding Andy a lot and even though I had vote lock, I was only able to do the occasional pool damage. I didn't draw enough votes and Ian was reducing most of my bleeds to 1 or 0 in a deck that isn't bleedy to begin with. Andy ousted Jeff and I was low on pool, so I ousted Ian to stay alive. I lost the endgame because someone went to torpor and I couldn't keep the pressure on enough to ever hope to take Andy below 10 pool.

People at the table seemed to think that I should have let Ian work on ousting Andy more before trying to lunge. Ian, or at that time Oliver because Ian had stepped out and let Oliver play, had about 8 bleed on the table. I don't think I had a huge chance to win no matter what at that point since Andy had all game to build up, but opinions may differ I suppose.

Game 2:
I played a demo deck this time around and did fairly well. I brought out Rudolfo Giovanni and then Regina as soon as I could along with Lia Milliner, then started creating Shambling Hordes and backrushing the big dudes with DOM I saw behind me. Apparently, this activity earned me the nickname "backrush Brandon." I'm not one to leave myself wide open to DOM bleeds, even if I do have some bounce, because I know how much damage that can do. Oliver was my pred and was getting out free guys with the help of the big blue hand. Unfortunately for my hordes, he had a lot of combat. Rather than just probe with rushes, I went after him again and again. For the most part I didn't make much of a dent, but I eventually caught him once or twice without too many combat cards. Ian was doing stuff, can't remember exactly what. He stole Scapelli from me. I never got to use him ;( I got a bunch of flak for rushing and then surprise bled Ian out. Whoops! Next I ousted Jeff who was locked down trying to oust Andy who had a Major Boon against him and a Dummy Corporation.

Oliver played Judgement: Camarilla Segregation and was pinging us both. Once Andy blew up one of his guys I knew I couldn't win anymore because Oliver was too well positioned for me to do anything. My guys were about out of blood and Oliver was all blocky. Bad news. If Andy could have messed him up for me or at least kept Oliver off my back for a couple of turns, things might have been different. 2vps is not bad for a demo deck, so I guess I'm satisfied with that.

Game 3:
In this game I played the hated stealth vote/bloat deck with Armin, Dmitra and friends. My pred(Jeff again) and my prey (Andy) teamed up to keep most of my votes from passing. I spent a good amount of time hunting and doing ineffective votes, which wasn't helped by the fact that Andy brought out Lutz. Oliver and Jeff were busy beating the tar out of eachother and Ian was having trouble keeping his bima deck afloat. I contested Jeff's priscus title by bringing out Hektor, hopefully building to a point where I could pass votes again. On his way down with like one minion left, Jeff played Fear of Mekhet on Dmitra. Why he did this rather than play it on Lutz, which would hit us both, I don't understand. He wasn't going to oust me anytime soon, so weakening Andy and crippling me would have made more sense. Lutz would have gone to zero blood, had to hunt, and thereby wasted a valuable action.

Andy ousted Ian, Oliver ousted Jeff by the skin of his teeth, and then both Oliver suffered an agonizing death. Beast rushed, Muddled Vampire Hunter blocked and torpored him, Wah thew horseshoes at the hunter (which should have been the first action) and that was about it. Oliver wanted me to rescue Beast, but I reasoned that he was tapped with zero blood and virtually no chance to defend. I tried to get ready to do heads-up with Andy, but knew it was doubtful since Oliver failed to torpor a guy for me to diablarize. Andy bled for ~3, Oliver bounced as his last act of defiance, and then he died. I stood no chance since Andy had no incentive to block Hektor, who was the only minion I had who was a threat in combat.

What's the answer to all these big vampires, votes and combat? If I'm right, I'll write about it later. Don't want to spoil the fun....

Update and Game Re-Cap

2011-05-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

I got to play at Legends in the Mall again this weekend, this time with four players. Jeff arrived for games two and three. While we were waiting, we played a round of Wings of War, which was sorta fun.

Game 1:
Me(ANI rush)> Ian(obf dom BH vote/breed/bleed)> Andy(Lutz Petra Resonance)

Andy got Arthur Denholm out as his first dude. The turn after, I brought out Janey Pickman. She had bad intentions from the get-go, especially after Andy passed a KRC that went 3-1. Janey rushed Denholm who was either torpored or emptied. Ian did some bleeding, Creation Rights, and successfully called Watchtower: The Greatest Fall. Andy was Soul Scanning and screwing around, trying to get his crypt in order. Ian called a damaging vote after I rushed a Denholm with one blood with Janey, trying to burn him. Andy blocked with Sean Rycek, who I burned instead. Andy blamed me for giving Ian vote lock and I pointed out that I had rushed Arthur, not Sean. Andy died to bleeds and votes, then I started rushing Ian with a vengeance. My fame was suddened and a rush was chump blocked by a creation rights, then I started rushing dudes with votes and diablarizing. Ian conceded.

Me: 2vp GW Ian: 1vp

Wings of War:
I was playing a Japanese Zero and was blown up in short order by some lucky hits, crippling Andy's Hurricane in the process. Ian and Andy duked it out, not quite finishing before we got tired of it. The game works better with a bunch of planes because dogfights can take a really long time. I'd play it again.

Game 2:
Me(Carna and friends toolbox)> Ian(something bleedy)> Jeff (G1-2 Nos Royalty)> Andy(Lutz from above)

I can't remember if Ian was playing the same deck as game one. I do remember it had Tarbaby Jack showed up and got a Dominate skill card, plus he had Gratiano. Am I confusing the decks? I dunno. Anyway, I tooled up Carna with the Bowl and Ivory Bow early, limiting what Ian and Andy could do. I used my Governs mostly to bleed when I felt that the timing was right and I succeeded in defeating Ian's bounce(maybe there wasn't much). I brought out Bryan, Brooke and Ehrich, who made up a good team.

Andy did two Petra Resonances that gave three pool from himself to Ian, plus Suddened a lot of stuff that didn't make much sense(like Wider Views played by Ian). I think Andy didn't want anyone to empty their crypt and make his Petra Resonances unplayable. His deck was supposed to soul scan and Wider View everything but one Lutz from his Crypt so that he could steal a bunch of pool with his weenie malks. This didn't help me oust Ian, so he ousted Jeff before I could get him, then I swept the table with bleeds and Bows/Bowls of cheating. I did manage to block an ousting bleed cross table once, which felt pretty cool.

Me: GW 3vp Ian: 1vp

Game 3:
Me(Armin Brenner and friends vote and bloat w/stealth)> Ian(g1-2 Tor all Jyhad toolbox)> Andy(Bimas w/for)> Jeff(SPCA SWAT Team)

I started out with a really good crypt draw and three transfers. I put two on Armin and one on Dmitra. Karen Suadela was in there and I had an extra copy of Dmitra, which I turned into Hektor with the help of an early Wider View. Ian brought out Victoria Ash and Francois, so there was briefly some competition for votes. Dmitra hit the table, followed by Karen. I started passing KRCs, Con Ags, and other stuff somewhere along the way, but Ian was bloating a lot, too. Andy made Bimas with fortitude after a while, but often forgot that his FoS didn't start with for/FOR. He layed down an Unmasking on probably his first turn, meaning that there was a fair amount of combat.

Jeff also happened to be playing an ally deck featuring Underbridge Stray and lots of equipment. Between Andy and Jeff, they had three intercept locations in addition to Unmasking. FBI Special Affairs Division was played by Jeff and used to the utmost. Strays would block Andy and torpor his guys. Andy even blocked something Jeff did with a Bima, which torpored Jeff's vampire. It was pretty funny. Ian played Aching Beauty on Victoria early and eventually Francois. I told Andy that Ian was playing Jyhad only to give him the hint that he didn't have Aire of Elation, but he still blocked Victoria's bleeds for one. Francois came in to steal two blood when Andy was at three. Andy blocked it, costing him a pool. Francois Majestied and bled for two against Andy, who was out of wakes.

I had been hoping that I would be able to oust all three in order, but Ian was bloating a lot from Minion Tap and Francois' blood farming. Sort of as a hedge, I stole Andy's Nephren Ka while I was rescuing his guy for the third(?) time. Nephren helped me torpor Victoria, who was eaten by one of my dudes. Francois was too good at getting blood, so I couldn't quite put him down. I did diablarize Jeff's Samedi and stole his Kevlar Vest, whittling away at the table. After Ian got Andy, I managed to oust him with several turns of bleeding for about five, backed up by some votes. My having vote lock was probably key in keeping his pool level under control. Jeff didn't have much left, so the Anarchist Uprising that I saved more than put me over the top.

Me: GW 3vp Ian: 1vp

I had been concerned when I made the ANI deck that it might be a little aggro for our group, but decided that was OK once in a while. In three player VTES, the deck was significantly better at controlling the table. Ian pointed out that the vote deck was a little low on ousting power, so I'll have to consider some more bleed or votes. Permableed would require the fewest cards, so maybe Heart of the City? There are some Iron Glares in there and I don't want to get AI'd. As it is now, it's just too slow to oust somebody that bloats without good timing and/or good luck.

Legends is a great location. The food in the area isn't great, but there are a few different choices. The best deal is probably the Subway or, if you like your fast food burgers, Burger King. The burritos are often made incorrectly and the rice is bland. The polish sausage is really just a big hot dog. I haven't tried the Terayaki, but the price point is a little high. Ms. Fields? The cookies are pure sugar and not that great. Ian likes the shakes there. There is a bubble tea place that I might patron from time to time.

I'd like it if more players from the bay area would come down and try the place. There aren't any games going on other than at Legends and at Eudemonia in Berkeley that I'm aware of. Brad, Ira, Con Hon, Gerentt, etc, have you given up on VTES? Kubla Kon is coming up Memorial Day weekend. If I go to the convention, I might run into some of those people there. Finals are the week after, so I dunno. I'll leave a post-it for myself to do more research.

On a side-note, I don't know if I'm "back" at blogging, it's too early to tell. I do know that it is unlikely that I'll finish the discipline series due to pure inanity. Like Merlin said, the mood may strike to write something else. I want to be free to go with it.

Lazy

2011-04-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

I could write something on this blog, but I've been lazy and also quite busy. For now, you'll see me on the forum: http://www.vekn.net/

I think Ian was right when he said that multi-part blog posts are boring to write. I've been putting off the last segment for a while. Let's see if I even finish it....

Superior vs Inferior Disciplines part 2

2011-01-25T15:08:00.000-08:00

First, a better explanation of how I'm awarding grades.

An F means that the power level is at or below what you can get from common disciplineless cards.

A D is poor. Slightly above what you can get from disciplineless cards overall.

A C is about average. You have some solid plays, but don't dominate. Be crafty!

A B is above average. Expect to do well, even win, without needing to try especially hard.

An A is the top rating. What you do well at, you do really well.

Ok, on to some more disciplines.

Fortitude- The power to resist extraordinary amounts of damage, to stay awake or work much longer than normal, or even survive exposure to sunlight.

Freak drive- The most commonly used fortitude card and for good reason. At inferior it is good because it lets you get multiple actions out of the same vampire. At superior, it is much harder to stop the vampire from successfully completing at least one action.

Soak- Preventing two for free is great, but only if you won't have to deal with agg. At superior, you can take a big hit from most potence decks and walk away with little or no damage.

Hidden Strength- Preventing one damage is to fortitude as a maneuver or a press is to celerity; the "par" for card power. The difference with Hidden Strength is that you prevent X+1, so you can pay blood to save yourself from nasty stuff like multiple points of aggravated damage or stop your opponent from playing Taste of Vitae, Disarm, etc. At superior, the press is good, but it requires that you have damage inflicted on you in order to use it. This fails against stuff like Theft of Vitae even more than many other fortitude cards do.

Rolling with the Punches- Prevent one at basic... yawn. At superior, prevent all damage from an opponent's strikes this round(like Skin of Steel at FOR).

Force of Will- For one blood, a tapped vampire can bleed at +1 bleed. Take two agg damage at resolution. This is... different. I don't ordinarily like to send my vampires to torpor, but this makes for a good surprise finisher. At superior, take 1 less agg and bleed at +2. If you need lunge, the extra bleed could make some difference while the 1 less agg probably doesn't.

Daring the Dawn- Action modifier that leaves vampires unable to block the action, but gives the acting vamp 2 agg at resolution. This is really nasty when paired with dominate. When left with just fortitude and disciplineless bleed, it is of somewhat limited use. At superior, take one less agg. NBD.

Offensive Power: C-
Defensive Power: F+ (don't forget Forced Vigilance!)
Combat: B+

Fortitude has some good tricks, but shouldn't be considered a bleed discipline, it's much more of a multi-acting discipline with a little "stealth." Fortitude will not protect your pool, forget it. Your fortitude guys are likely to stay alive, but don't count on them taking many heads(outside of strange tricks not covered here).

Obfuscate- The power to remain unseen while standing, moving, running, etc. You can conceal your posse or even disguise yourself as someone else.

Lost in Crowds- +1 stealth is par for obfuscate stealth. At superior, +2 stealth. The reason why this card is the backbone for obfuscate stealth is clear; any level of obfuscate can use it, some better than others.

Spying Mission- +1 stealth at obf. Yawn. At superior, save it for later on a successful bleed to get +2 bleed against that methuselah.

Cloak the Gathering- +1 stealth. At superior, lend +1 stealth to your acting minion. The superior version has power to let Mylan untap your guy with an extra stealth, to send Ossian to rush with a stealth, etc. Pretty nifty.

Elder Impersonation- +1 stealth for a blood. Boo! At superior, make a block fail and they can't block again. While not usually needed in a dedicated obfuscate deck, this is good to help you against plays like 2nd tradition, Enhanced Senses, etc.

No Trace- S:CE at long range for a blood at basic. Not great, but getting warmer. At OBF, plain old S:CE for 1 blood. Bingo! Obfuscate decks have classically had issues dealing with combat. Now that they have access to the strongest combat survival mechanism in the game, these decks should have even less of a problem raking up VPs.

Confusion of the Eye- At basic, reduce a bleed from a younger vampire or an ally by 1. Not big, but free and playable in many decks. At superior, cancel the votes of the acting vampire, which can make the vote fail in title-requiring votes. This is sometimes just the right card to stay alive, so I'd rate it as a key part of the toolbox.

Offensive Power: B-
Defensive Power: D
Combat: C

Obfuscate is the best payload delivery discipline in the game, but lacks much payload. You're not likely to survive off of obfuscate defense alone, but it can surely help. In combat, obfuscate now does as well as many disciplines at surviving. There are many cards I couldn't fit as obfuscate has so much to choose from(i.e. Veil the Legions, Swallowed by the Night, Night Moves, etc).

Potence- Unnatural strength. Throw a car, tear someone in half, you get the idea.

Torn Signpost- +1/+2 strength. Ok by itself, best in combination with other potence cards.

Immortal Grapple- At close range, limit strikes to hand strikes at basic. This is a real hoser to many other combat strategies. If you have it in combination with other combat cards or abilities, look out! At POT, get a press to continue and keep that round at close if successful. That's some hug!

Thrown Gate- 1r with a maneuver or 2r at basic. Good all-around card, works well on it's own or with other stuff.

Disarm- Tear the fool's arm off and send em to torpor if you've done more damage in a round than they have. What's worse is they get -1 strength, -2 at superior. Very annoying.

Touch of Pain- For a blood, make someone who succeeds at a vote or bleeds you take 1 damage. At superior, they take two. Not very cost-effective and often requires you to take pool damage first. If anything, you'll kill your predator and have a very strong grand-pred in a minute.

Brutal Influence- I had to dig hard for any bleed-related potence-only cards. Bleed at +1 bleed for a blood, tap X orun for +x bleed when announced. Potentially powerful? Sure. Does it require you to play a lot of silly cards to get something better than an inferior computer hacking? Yes, indeed. At superior, it lets you do something like a Govern down to an uncontrolled younger laibon, which is unexpectedly kinda cool.

Offensive Power: D- if bleeding, C if rush-combat.
Defensive Power: D-, D if back-rushing, C if threatening to back-rush.
Combat: A

Potence lacks the punch to deliver a bleed knockout. Don't look at your corner when trying to defend yourself; they don't know either! When it's time to tear some fool in half, fisticuffs is the way to go.

Why am I so violent all of the sudden? Maybe I'll calm down if I go chew on some glass. Until next time!

Superior vs Inferior Disciplines part 1

2011-01-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

A while back I got to thinking about the difference in power between superior and inferior disciplines. Which of the original 10 disciplines stands out as the strongest at inferior? What do you get for having a discipline at superior? Lets take a look at the different disciplines and try to evaluate their common usages.

Animalism- The ability to call animals to your aid or effect the Beast in yourself or the opposing vampire.

Aid from Bats- Solid at inferior. Keep your dude alive, ping the other dude. At superior, the press is good to either avoid a nasty fight continuing or to lay on the
extra damage from recurring environmental sources(read: Carrion Crows).

Carrion Crows- One extra damage isn't anything to write home about, except that environmental damage has a way of trumping a fair amount of combat defense. This stacks nicely if you can press for extra rounds. At superior, the additional damage is better, even more so with multiple rounds. Crows + Bats is a classic synergy for animalism decks.

Deep Song- Bleed at +1 bleed as an action? Really unimpressive. It is only at superior that this card shines with a rush. Is a rush that valuable? In and of itself, no. What I see as the value of this card is that it reduces the card slot dilemma for a lot of decks. Am I a rush deck or a bleed deck? With Deep Song at ANI, the answer is "yes." Side-note: Tapping the target of a rush is useful for specific decks(i.e. tap and bleed, tap and Reality *cough*, etc). Making an opponent play cards first is pretty cool, but mainly when you have some nasty payload to deliver that isn't claws of the dead. Song in the Dark?

Cat's Guidance- Untap after a successful block at inferior(after combat). I think this is a good complement for blocky decks, especially when part of their defense is to have guys untapped to eventually catch someone, or to play games with ani/dom decks that attempt to block and then bounce. In general, I am less enthused with this power than I am with wakes because of how well wakes cycle. At superior, +1 intercept for animalism is a much needed source of transient blocking power.

Raven Spy- +1 intercept retainer with one life at inferior for one blood. Very handy, but they can be too slow to stack up against serious S&B decks. At superior, the additional life is hardly that useful.

Guard Dogs/Rat's Warning- Untap vs a bleed against you. This ability is nice and often unexpected. While it lacks the versatility of a wake, you can do a lot of things in a turn if you are untapped. Do I block? Do I let this go by and reduce/Delaying Tactics later? Do I have some funky "tap to" ability or cards? At superior, these cards give extra combat prowess. Often times one maneuver or one press isn't enough(or you don't have one from any other source), so I can see a case for the superior being a big improvement.

Offensive Power(ability to hurt one's pool): C
Defensive Power(ability to protect your pool): B
Combat(Combined beat-down and survival skill): B+

Not much pool damage to speak of here, fairly good blocking potential and combat prowess that is versatile, but not unsurpassingly good.

Auspex- The ability to read minds, emotions, create a mental picture of the past, and even project yourself into the astral realm.

Telepathic Misdirection- Pay a blood for one intercept? Sub par for intercept, especially for auspex intercept. At superior, redirect a bleed and tap. Obviously, superior is where this card really shines. This is not to say that the inferior isn't good in a clutch, but bounce is a highly sought-after commodity in VTES.

Eyes of Argus- +2 intercept vs a D action against you is very nice for an inferior discipline, plus it is free. At superior, you can use it as a wake with no usage restrictions other than needing AUS. This is an automatic inclusion in auspex decks now because of it's versatility and because it's always good to have a variety of wakes.

Precognition- +1 intercept is standard for auspex reactions at inferior. Auspex has a variety of such cards to choose from, making it a very solid discipline for blocking. At superior, Precognition gives Auspex one of the few combat benefits you'll find for the discipline, the others being mainly a maneuver or a dodge. Light combat is better than no combat, right?

Pulse of the Canaille- A one stealth action that costs three blood. At inferior, it lets you look at all methuselah's hands for the turn. This is very expensive, so it's usually not worth it. At superior, you get a permanent +2 bleed. While not the most efficient way to get bleed, this discipline has few other ways to acquire permanent bleed(other than disciplineless stuff or 2nd disciplines).

Revelations- +1 stealth action to look at your prey's hand and discard a card from it for a blood. I like this ability a lot and am looking for ways to incorporate it into more decks. For Malk 94, it's golden if you are playing a deck that is in any way cautious. At superior, your prey has to play with an open hand(but the card and effect can be burned as a D action). Again, pretty cool. Abilities that let you cheat can be very useful.

Aura Reading- Opposing minion plays with an open hand during combat at inferior. Again, legal "cheating" is good for playing your cards right when you might otherwise have trouble doing it. Making someone play with an open hand is different than looking at their hand in that it gives everyone the information. This is good if you want to spoil someone's surprise bleed for 8 the next turn, bad if it shows them to be in need of cross-table help. At superior, you get +2 hand size for the remainder of combat, which is great for card cycling or just getting the last card your combat combo really needs. Either way, it cycles well during combat and is free.

Offensive Power: C-
Defensive Power: A+
Combat: F

It's nice to have some potential auspex bleed, but it is impractical to actually play it under most circumstances. Combat is about the worst in the game for any discipline, except for Telepathic Tracking which doesn't help auspex be much better in and of itself("next round, I still can't hurt you..."). Defense is where Auspex really shines. Auspex is the best blocking discipline in the game and it has bounce, so you have to get up pretty early in the morning to get one past a dedicated Auspex deck.

Celerity- The power to harness incredible speed and reflexes through the power of vampiric blood.

Pursuit- A maneuver at inferior is par for celerity combat. Flash adds the versatility of either a maneuver or a press, but it's superior is more of the same. Pursuit at CEL gives a free additional strike, something that is quite useful in battles of attrition.

Distraction- +1 stealth action to draw 5 cards and discard back down for one blood. While this is expensive for the cost of an action, a card, and a blood, I think that it doesn't get nearly enough play. If you're playing bruise/bleed, stealth bleed, or other archetypes that tend to hand jam, this is a decent remedy. At superior, you can tap a minion controlled by your pred or prey. Tap and bleed is a great archetype to get around blocks and bounce, so huzzah for having another way to do it!

Psyche- Press at inferior. Yawn. At superior, restart combat that would be ending. This card is key in CEL gun decks and for getting around S:CE. While it is not a game ender in and of itself, it goes well with weapons, specials, or permanents.

Fleetness- +1 stealth action that costs a blood to bleed. Without a special, this is a somewhat lame effect. If you have a laptop, some other bleed boosting cards, etc it goes from bad to potentially good. At superior, rush a tapped minion with a maneuver if successful. The tapped provision is a hassle for two reasons. First, your desired target may be untapped. Second, they may become untapped before combat(but not block) and make the card fizzle. This is similar to Harass, but at least Harass makes it easier for minions who are Eluding the Arms of Morpheus or seeing a Black Sunrise to block and fight you anyway. Can it be good? I suppose, but only with help.

Resist the Earth's Grasp- Costs a blood. At inferior, maneuver with an optional press(see Flash at CEL). This can be good, especially with permanents(just like most celerity cards). At Superior, +1 stealth. I'm much more excited by the superior than the inferior version here. Stealth is expensive for celerity, so this is ahead of the power curve. Now you can bleed, rush, etc at stealth.

Blur- Costs a blood. At inferior, one additional strike. If you don't have a gun, a walking stick, or some other source of extra damage, don't bother. Combat has to go past the first strike in order for this to even be played. You may not live that long, or your opponent might end combat. You may even be out of blood. At superior, two additional strikes. While better than inferior, it has the same problems of timing and cost.

Offensive Power: D
Defensive Power: F
Combat: B-

This discipline needs support to make it work well in almost any respect. It fares much better in combat than on defense(compare the single, conditional +1 intercept card that costs a blood to the plethora of combat assistance), but excels in nothing. I just realized that I left out Sideslip, which is also useful but not great(except when compared to a lot of combat cards that don't see play).

Dominate- The ability to bend others to your will.

Govern the Unaligned- Bleed at +2 for 1 blood at inferior is the best deal on bleeding to be had. Other disciplines strive to match this bleeding potential. At superior, a +1 stealth action to move three blood to a younger vampire. While there are other cards better at the superior version(i.e. Founders of the Ebony Kingdom, The Call), they are more specialized. Between the inferior and superior, this card is great at giving you cheaper dudes and killing your prey.

Deflection- Costs one blood. At inferior, redirect a bleed. Many decks graft on dominate specifically for this and other dominate cards and it's easy to see why. At superior, you don't tap. This is good, especially if playing very defensively(i.e. bouncing and blocking or playing many copies of deflection).

Seduction- When the action is announced, choose a younger vampire. They can not block this action. Using this card at inferior is hit-and-miss, so play at your own risk. On top of that, allies are not effected by this card. At superior, this card gets a lot better. Being able to use it on any vampire means preventing annoyances like No Secrets or untapped vampires from ruining your bleed for 8.

Conditioning- one blood for +2 bleed is costly, but very damaging if it lands. This card and Govern are basically auto-includes in most dominate decks because they allow you to bleed for a lot with small minions. At superior, the extra bleed is good if you aren't worried about Archon Investigation.

Autonomic Mastery- Close Range Only Strike: Burn opposing non-wraith ally. This card isn't great all the time, but it can really cripple another deck. Burning their war ghoul or renegade garou for free? Sign me up! At superior, S:CE after strikes are resolved, still only usable against non-wraiths and this time it works on younger vampires. This isn't so hot, but it at least has a use at DOM.

Dominate Kine- Costs two blood and gives +1 bleed +1 stealth. While expensive, that 1 stealth can be all it takes to get the action through- and then you can pile on the extra bleed! At superior, you get to stealth a location. This action is only at one stealth, but depriving a methuselah of some key part of their game is a double-victory for you.

Offensive Power: A
Defensive Power: B
Combat: D

The only thing that dominate is missing is more solid delivery. With that, I'd give it an A+. Defensively, dominate is the master of defending against bounce. What dominate lacks is intercept; it is also almost entirely lacking in vote defense. Combat is only slightly better than fighting without disciplines, generally speaking. Autonomic Mastery can be good in a pinch, but is really not a staple card.

This is about all I can do in one day. Enjoy and I'll be back to write part two later!

Quick Update

2011-01-06T14:59:00.000-08:00

I haven't written anything in a while and I intend to soon, so I'll do a quick update. The qualifier weekend went very well, at least until I realized that the Archon file for the qualifier tournament didn't record any game wins! I know I put them in because I wasn't playing and had tons of time, so hopefully qualified players aren't screwed because of a glitch. I have not had much cooperation in reconstructing the qualifier games, so whatever happens, happens.

Draft Decks

2010-12-21T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here's Ian's draft deck from his blog:

x1 Toby
x1 Louis Fortier
x1 Paul Forrest
x2 Mata Hari
x1 Aksinya Daclau

x1 Club Illusion
x1 Failsafe
x1 King’s Rising
x1 Libertas
x1 Sermon of Caine
x1 Svadharma
x1 Trophy: Safe Passage
x1 Warning Sirens
x1 Chameleon
x1 Fee Stake: Corte (all players were allowed to add these three)
x1 Fee Stake: Los Angeles
x1 Fee Stake: Perth
x1 Shattering
x1 Tumnimos
x1 Undue Influence
x1 Waters of Duat
x1 Zip Line
x1 Changeling
x1 Command of the Beast
x1 CrimethInc.
x1 Burst of Sunlight
x1 Song of Serenity
x2 An Anarch Manifesto (thought I had 3)
x1 Baseball Bat
x1 Sport Bike
x1 Consanguineous Boon
x1 Conservative Agitation
x1 Exclusion Principle
x1 Black Sunrise
x1 My Enemy’s Enemy
x1 Power of All
x1 Steely Tenacity

Here's his write-up:

The whole event first-

http://iclee.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/bay-area-qualifier/

Now the draft-

"I try to joke about it to seem less arrogant, but I’m a way better draft player than constructed player. I don’t screw around in draft. I know how to draft. And, yes, I was the second ranked limited player in the world for nearly a year and had won 5 straight limited events, including one in the DC area, playing with Josh Duffin and Matt Morgan. Might have even won the next event I played with them if someone hadn’t passed Matt a Mbare Market, giving him two(!!!), and if my grandprey in the finals had trusted me a bit better so that I could oust Josh (my prey, his predator), which I almost did anyway before Matt’s horde of minions rose up. Not that I’m as good as I was, as I don’t really enjoy draft anymore.

Nevertheless, even though I got zero Monkey Wrenches, zero Anarch Converts, passed most bleed cards and almost all Zip Lines, didn’t draft Assamites even though that was my preferred KMW strategy, and banked my deck on my two Mata Haris, I played 33 cards in my deck rather than the minimum 30 (with 1 recursion) because there was nothing to cut. For one thing, it helped that people didn’t realize how import An Anarch Manifesto is when drafting Twilight Rebellion. Second, I wisely didn’t try to draft a deck that Laecanus would fit into since he hates me and causes me to always lose. Third, people rare draft. Fourth, people often don’t know how to draft. Sure, I passed Garibaldi, which is insanely good. But, I got passed Failsafe(!), which made me incredibly happy as I now play Failsafe in most of my decks*. I got passed King’s Rising. I’m pretty sure I got passed Club Illusion. I got passed My Enemy’s Enemy. My first library pick? Tumnimos. By the way, we drafted vampires first.

* Friday night, after the game in which I sat at 1 pool for a bunch of turns, I commented that it’s really hard to play the game at 1 pool … but, at 2 pool, there’s a lot of things you can do. Failsafe is my way to get off of 1 pool, which happens far too often.

Of course, the real strength of my deck, besides pool gain, was Aksinya Daclau. Mata Hari really wasn’t that important, the only cards I needed her for were Waters of Duat, Black Sunrise, rushing with Steely Tenacity.

Round 1:

Andy -> Ian T. -> Eric -> Ian (I think Andy is the starting player)

In my opening hand, I have Failsafe and King’s Rising. It would have been hilarious to end my game on turn one with bodacity, but I only play the Failsafe. Mata Hari comes out, gets Tumnimos and Waters quickly. Andy and I keep up in minions. Eric threatens my pool with Steely Tenacity and stuff. I let Eric know that if I’m still at 6 pool, I’ll bring out another vampire. I stay at 6. I bring out Aksinya to go to 2. I defend well. I pop Failsafe, later play King’s Rising. Andy’s Anima Gatheringed Joe Boot Hill, btw, also encourages me not to go forward. Eric plays Constant Revolution, which actually ends up being his death both because he taps a guy to do it when he’s low on pool and Ian has obvious offensive potential and because it causes me to randomly lose Con Boon which I was thinking of using to give him pool. Eric goes for the 5 bleed, which I bounce, of course, but I stupidly didn’t try to block first as he had a Zip Line, so I actually have to tap a few more guys to oust Andy, Eric dies. I outminion Ian and had dropped Club Illusion for extra beats.

Round 2:

Gerrentt -> Eric -> Dan -> Ian

It doesn’t make sense that I’d go last twice, so in the previous game, maybe Andy wasn’t first. Anyway, Gerrentt brings out Convert, bleeds, gains like 5 pool from the Edge. Dan doesn’t bleed me forever, though his deck is full of bleed. I get Aksinya much earlier but don’t have my pool gain. Gerrentt amasses a ridiculous number of dudes. I bounce a 2 bleed at stealth. Dan tries a real bleed of Force of Will Monkey Wrench 6 at 1 stealth which I, of course, bounce, putting Gerrentt into kill range. I keep hoping Eric will oust Dan as I’m not nearly as scared of Eric’s deck; he doesn’t do that, but he kills Mylan with Keystone Kine, which I was all happy about. I sweep.

Finals:

Mike -> Sean -> Ian -> Gerrentt -> Matt

I’m top seed, winning a flip against Matt. I’m fine with being behind Gerrentt. I’m fine with having the only player without a brutal aggro deck (I don’t count) being behind me.

The game was actually quite interesting, involved, strange, and surprising. Let’s see. My predator brings out Lorrie Dunsirn! Wow, what a terrible choice. I transfer 1 to each of my three 5 caps rather than Mata Hari and know Aksinya is on top of my crypt since she’s upside down. If my predator, who I knew had Aksinya in his crypt didn’t bring her out, I would have decrypted, but he brought her out. Matt lent Gerrentt The Rumor Mill to stop my getting An Anarch Manifesto, which he regretted when Gerrentt got Heart of Nizchetus, which Matt was far more concerned about than I was. In fact, Matt was incredibly worried about me all of the time, which I think was mostly due to my being top seed and because he knew I had cards like Failsafe and King’s Rising, rather than knowing my true power. He lent Rumor Mill to Gerrentt later to stop me from getting a Sport Bike, and Gerrentt proceeded to get a Pulse of Canaille. Gerrentt put out Twilight Camp and Crypt’s Sons – damn, what hot rares!

Meanwhile, back in my world, it was pain. Mike conned Sean into rushing Mata Hari, which really didn’t affect me since I had no plans to go forward for the first 1.5 hours of the game, anyway. Sean also kept tapping Aksinya to do things, which was nonsensical as everyone knew Mike had two Monkey Wrenches. Mike contested Louis Fortier with me, which was probably accidental, so he spent all of the rest of the game trying to kill me as his grandprey, well, at least, put me down to where he could take Sean and me right away. So, I tried to kill him back. Mike cut deals with Matt to contest Crypt’s Sons with Gerrentt, so he was contesting 2 cards for a while.

It was hilarious. Sean kept hurting me with rushes or bleed of 4 or Perpetual Care for 4, but all I did the entire time was try to figure out how to keep him alive and keep his predator under control. As I expected, Matt finally lunged and took Mike out, something anybody should have expected given that Matt and I were tied with 7 (out of 8) VPs. Gerrentt was free, though, to Pulse bleed on Matt. I Power of Alled a Patsy that would have killed Sean. Fortunately, Matt had called a Peace Treaty when I was at 3 pool, so I kept my Baseball Bat and gained 4 pool from Failsafe, making me unkillable. I played King’s Rising, which was when two of the observing Haases knew I was going to win. Sean died. I ousted Gerrentt. When I contested Toby with Matt with about a minute left, Matt conceded in a very sportsmanlike move since he was dead on my turn.

Spend half the game contesting a 5 cap in limited? Have a grandpredator trying to kill me? Have a predator unwisely use his actions to maximize damage to me? Explain to my predator that keeping Aksinya untapped would do more pool damage to me than he could do by taking actions with her? Not ever bring out my Aksinya who pretty much gave me two table wins? Wait about 100 minutes to bleed my prey for the first time? Of course, my prey would concede in the endgame with 1 minute left. What other choice did he have? What other choice did any of my opponents have? Oh, right, they could have done less pool damage to me – that would have screwed me …"

Just because I'd feel left out of I didn't post my Tournament Losing Deck:

Theme: Sabbat vote and bleed

Orlando Oriudus 9 AUS DOM THA obf !Trem bishop doubles votes +1 bleed
Anton de Concepcion 9 ANI DOM OBT POT aus Lasombra archbishop, maneuver
Virginie, Prodigy 6 DOM POT obt Lasombra bishop burn 1 blood for +1 bleed
Mariel St. John 6 AUS FOR dom pro !Ventrue
Sean Rycek 4 aus dem malk 1 blood or tap for 2 votes
Bill Butler 3 pot pro !Gangrel

Master:
Ventrue Investment
The Art of Love
Mob Connections
Pentex Loves You!
Trophy: Diablarie

Actions:
Bloodbath
Soul Decoration(misread the card, it was useless)
Sunrise Service
Zip Line
Propaganda(got my only VP in round 1)
Creation Rights
Pulse of the Canaille
Recure the Homeland
Fee Stake: Corte

Votes:
Anarchist Uprising
Cardinal Benediction
Revolutionary Counsel

Equipment:
IR Goggles

Allies:
Mylan Horseed

Action Mods:
Lost in Crowds
Foreshadowing Destruction
Telepathic Vote Counting

Combat:
Shoulder Drop
Backstep
Haymaker
Shadow Strike
Undead Strength
Leathery Hide

Reactions:
Confusion of the Eye
Sonar

I figured that people would mostly ignore the Sabbat and go the Anarch angle and I was right. I passed up some good assamites, Ravnos, and a couple Followers of Set, not knowing how often breed cards would go past me. We did an Elder Draft, so my decisions were pretty much made for me when it came to drafting library cards. One of my first cards was a Cardinal Benediction. I had hoped to pick up a KRC, Con Ag or something, but only an Anarchist Uprising showed up to damage people. I had good control over votes in game two, but in game one I had to contest Sean Rycek with Matt to lock it up. Action modifiers that I could use were almost unattainable. Lost in crowds did have a protean +1 stealth draft text, so at least it was versatile.

Noteworthy events from my games:
-I was just short of a killing blow one turn against Dan Ryan because he failed to block in the right order. I bled him down to ~two anyway with Sunrise Service, Pentex Loves You! and Foreshadowing Destruction from Anton. The next turn, Dan ordered his blocks correctly, leaving his Malgorzata to block last. I played Propaganda at potence ftw.
-Game two, I had to convince Ian Thompson to not over-spend in the face of Mike's stealth bleedzooka(my fault, I drafted him too much anarch manifesto + Keystone Kine). Just when I was going to make life especially difficult for Mike with Pulse on Mariel, Mike Power of All'd the action card. I was so looking forward to beating up his minions. As it turned out, he had four maneuver cards(!!!!) to run away so that even with Mob Connections, Bill butler couldn't put a beat down on him(like he so desperately wanted to do the whole game).
-When Bill Butler blocked Sean's Aksinya Daclau(instead of Janey Pickman), he was ready to deliver a brutal Haymaker + Leather Hide combo. Apparently, Sean was packing a Claws of the Dead, which ruined Bill's day.
-Matt Wedge's Rumor Mill totally ruined my game. I forget how, but an intercept every turn is really strong.
-Mike's bleed bounced to me in game two burned Mylan, reducing the offense I could apply on Mike. This would have been bad for Sean, but my one VP and his 10-16 extra tournament points was enough to put him ahead of Ian Thompson and myself. This put him in the finals. I was charging up an Anarchist Uprising to nuke the table and give Sean and myself a VP, but was about one turn short.

I was pleased with the draft. Everyone seemed to have a fun time and make a reasonably effective deck. Gerentt somehow drafted a Heart of Cheating, Twilight Camp, Saturday Night Special, and other powerful stuff. He said he swept a table by only playing 5-7 cards. Ian won the final with a well-rounded deck. Matt probably had a moral victory by conceding when he could have timed the game out(but not ousted Ian) and equipping someone with two berettas in the final for total combat pwnage.

As a side note, thank you Matt and Robert for trading me Waters of Duat and Tuminos. I shall make good use of them.

Qualifier Weekend Results

2010-12-20T12:49:00.000-08:00

We had our qualifier weekend this past Saturday and Sunday and I was really pleased with the way things worked out. We had fourteen players for each of the two tournaments on Saturday and twelve for the draft on Sunday. For a $5 entry fee per person, players got some boosters and on Sunday, three times the number of boosters and a starter deck. Promos were handed out each day, which seemed to be especially motivating for many players.

When I get the tournament reports from the winners, I'll post them and add some comments where they might be enlightening/informing/humorous.

Tournament Preparations

2010-12-16T08:31:00.000-08:00

It sounds like we will have about the right amount of players for the tournaments this weekend based on what I've heard from people. I'm going to be spending a good amount of time re-reading tournament rules and errata to be ready to judge the qualifier. Andy and I will meet up either Friday night or Saturday morning to get some basic food and get the house set up. Andy and Eric are in charge of deciding on some music and how to get it playing on their stereo. I would encourage people to BYOB, if desired. We'll get soda, snacks, and other basic stuff to keep people from starving. When it comes time, we'll make a pizza order and have it delivered to the house. People should throw in a couple bucks for snacks if they want some and we'll see how the economics will work out with pizza.

(Deck) Favors Remembered

2010-12-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking "I wonder if anyone has done a Major Boon + Parity Shift deck." I don't know the answer, but here's what I came up with:

Deck Name : Favors Remembered
Author : Brandon Haas
Description :

Basic idea is to spend pool or get hurt and parity off of(usually) your prey. Major Boon can help you earn favors for later, especially on bleeds of one against your pred. Back-up plan is to bleed, although you can bleed for at most three. Some pool gain from Fourth Tradition and Ancient Influence. You can survive combat with Skin of Steel or S:CE. The sewer lid is in there for flavor and to keep people on their toes. If you make it to the end game, the boons you have saved up may lock down your pred somewhat.

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 7 max: 9 average: 8.16667
------------------------------------------------------------

4x Suhailah 9 FOR OBF pot ser prince Ventrue:2
2x Sheldon, Lord of t 9 ANI AUS OBF POT for justicar Nosferatu:1
2x Selma the Repugnan 8 OBF POT ani for prince Nosferatu:1
2x Murat 7 OBF POT ser prince Nosferatu:2
2x Nikolaus Vermeulen 7 POT ani for obf prince Nosferatu:2

Library [74 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------

Action [5]
4x Fourth Tradition: The Accounting
1x SchreckNET

Action Modifier [20]
3x Elder Impersonation
3x Faceless Night
3x Forgotten Labyrinth
6x Lost in Crowds
5x Old Friends

Action Modifier/Combat [4]
4x Swallowed by the Night

Combat [8]
2x No Trace
5x Skin of Steel
1x Thrown Sewer Lid

Event [1]
1x Scourge of the Enochians

Master [16]
1x Barrens, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Information Highway
2x Legendary Vampire
4x Major Boon
1x Ventrue Headquarters
4x Zillah's Valley

Political Action [14]
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancient Influence
1x Ancilla Empowerment
4x Kine Resources Contested
7x Parity Shift

Reaction [6]
6x Second Tradition: Domain

How can I fit some Wider Views in here and not choke the deck on masters more than it already is? I guess that of the 16 masters, only 2 are OOT, so they might cycle easily enough. Any improvement ideas?

*edit: 4 are OOT masters, the boons. For some reason, I always think of Legendary Vampire as OOT when it is not.

San Jose Continental Qualifier- Prizes

2010-11-23T14:42:00.001-08:00

I received the boxes I ordered from TheLasombra.com, along with the promos that he offered as a promotion to hold Fee Stake: San Jose. Here's what I got:

1 booster box KMW
1 booster box 3rd Edition
1 booster box Twilight Rebellion

30x Lilith's Blessing
30x Fee Stake: Corte
30x Fee Stake: Perth
30x Fee Stake: Los Angeles
30x Gran Madre di Dio, Italy
30x Subdued by the Blood
30x Infamous Insurgent
30x V:EKN Membership Cards

Other things I'm throwing in:
-A Qualifier T-Shirt for the winner of the Continental Qualifier
-Clan pins for tournament winners(not a great selection, but still)

What's White Wolf/CCP throwing in? Oscar Garza sent us three booster boxes of Lords of the Night and four starter boxes of Black Hand. Thanks to them, we can afford to make the event cheap and full of prizes. Awesome!

Day two special promotions:
-All leftover promos from the Fee Stake challenge. This is a be there or be square offer. If we get 15 players on day one and 8 on day two, that's two extra sets per person just for showing up to play some VTES with us Sunday.
-It's cheap as hell for what you get

What will all this cost? $5 per tournament. What's the prize distribution? It will depend on exactly how many people we get to show up. At this point, here's how it works out:

Saturday Tournaments:
-3 boosters per tournament for participation
-Extra boosters for game wins
-Random starter for being a non-winning finalist(trade if you want)
-Half a starter box(1 of each) for winning a tournament

Sunday Draft:
-Six boosters to draft with
-A random starter for participating
-About half a starter box for winning(depending on attendance)

I really hope that a lot of people can come, I've tried to make the events as convenient and affordable as possible. With VTES ceasing production, it's not clear how many tournaments like this we can have; don't miss out!

Fee Stake: San Jose Roll Call

2010-11-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

Per Andy's suggestion, here's the list of people/groups I've contacted and their likelihood of attending:

Localities/Forums:
rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad
White Wolf
Freakdrive.com (Seattle area)
Presence (Texas)
VTES.org
Thepathofblood.com
BAVTES (SF Bay Area)
VTESinLA.org

Players by region:

Castro Valley:
Sean Ryan- yes
Danny- yes
AJ- yes
Brandyn- no
Joel- maybe

San Francisco:
Alex O.- No
Ira Fay- Yes to Saturday
Henri- ?
Brad- yes to Saturday AM

East Bay/Berkeley:
Alex Con Hon- No
Eric S.- ?
Oliver- No
Ian Thompson- Yes
Jeff Kuta- maybe
Ky- ?
Kenneth- ?
Richard- ?

South Bay:
Me- Yes!
Andy Haas- Yes
Eric Haas- Yes
Ian Lee- Yes
Jeff Yin- No

Palo Alto:
Gerentt- Yes to Saturday night and Sunday
Michael- No

L.A./SoCal Area:
James Lin- yes
Andy AKA Torrence Circle- no
Jeff Poole- No
Chris Shorb- no
Robert Goudie- ?
Robert Scythe- yes
Matt Wedge- yes
Mike Courtois- no

Pleasanton:
Richard- No

Las Vegas, NV:
Kevin Mergen- No

Reno, NV:
Shawn Polka- No

Phoenix, AZ:
Mike Zajac- yes

Here's the current tally:
Will Attend: 15
Will Not Attend: 11
Maybe: 2
No Response So Far/Don't Know: 8

Fee Stake: San Jose Continental Qualifier Weekend 12/18-19

2010-11-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

San Jose is ready for the bigtime. We're holding a weekend of tournaments at Andy Haas' house in San Jose; a central location, with easy parking and plenty of space. We will be holding three tournaments over two days. Here's the schedule(this may be edited somewhat over time):

Saturday, December 18th
Haas House
1644 Fallbrook Avenue
San Jose, CA 95130

10:00-10:50 AM Set up tables, grab a snack, mingle, pre-tournament stuff(i.e. register)
10:50-10:55 Pick your deck, determine seating, shuffle and get yourself ready
10:55-11:00 Once all tables are ready, start An Anarch Manifesto(2r+final standard constructed)
11:00-1:00 PM Round 1
1:00-3:00 Round 2
3:00-5:00 Final

5:00-6:00 **Break for dinner**

~5:55-6:00 Determine seating, get ready
6:00-8:00 Fee Stake: San Jose Continental Qualifier Round 1
8:00-10:00 Round 2
10:00-Midnight Finals
After Midnight possibly trades and casual play

Sunday, December 19th
Haas House
1644 Fallbrook Avenue
San Jose, CA 95130

Anarch Secession draft
6 booster draft with recursion from KMW, 3rd Edition and Twilight Rebellion

10:00-Noon
Noon-2:00pm
2:00-4pm

*Revised Agenda* 12/8/10

-The format for our qualifier will be 2 rounds + final.
-Saturday's first tournament will be 2 rounds + final standard constructed and shall be known as "An Anarch Manifesto" to keep with the theme.
-The most popular sets to use for a limited event/prize support are 3rd edition, KWM and Twilight Rebellion according to the poll. I'll order these from thelasombra.com as soon as the events show up on the calendar(I submitted the main one Friday 11/12, the others 11/15).*Acquired boosters*

The tournament fee will be relatively low since we're not playing at a store and we're getting a good price on the boosters/promos. We were thinking about getting a bunch of food from Costco to eat, possibly BBQ. Food could be some sort of buy in system, like $5 gets you dinner and snacks for Saturday or something. Outside food and drink will be welcome, especially beer ;)

Lodging and Flights:
Priceline.com is usually a great resource for hotels and flights, especially if you can be flexible with the exact location you end up flying into/staying at.
Southwest airlines has fairly good flights. I just priced out a round-trip flight from Reno to San Jose for $184 after taxes and from LA for $160, both at good times(arrive Friday night, back Sunday night).

If you are flying, San Jose International is the best location for us to pick you up from, but arrangements can be made from Oakland or San Francisco International.

www.fodors.com is a great site to get more information about the San Jose area, including hotels, places to see and eateries. Check their forums for more information.

I just pricelined hotels near Andy's address and found a nice place for $69/night called Towneplace Suites. If you go a little further, you can pay as little as $34 at Pacific Inn of Sunnyvale. If you bid, you can get a better price than just browsing, just offer less money for hotels in that area.

To get to Andy's house:
From 880/17 Southbound
Take the Hamilton Avenue exit
Right onto Hamilton Ave
Left onto Latimer Ave(immediately after San Thomas Aquio road, not to be confused with the Expressway called San Thomas)
Right on Duvall Drive
Left on Fallbrook
His house is on the left hand side

From 101 South
Either take 85 South to 280 South and follow the directions from 280, or take 880 South and follow those directions

From 280 South
Take the Lawrence Expressway Exit
Right on Lawrence Expressway
Left onto Prospect Road
After Saratoga Ave, continue right onto Campbell Ave
Left onto Fallbrook Ave
His house is on the right after Parkwest Drive

Please RSVP to me at Brandonsantacruz@yahoo.com or leave a comment here. If you email my other email address, that's OK too. Let there be no doubt, the streets of San Jose will run red with the blood of so-called Immortals. There can be only one(or something)!

"O noes!"

103: Blood Magic x2(deck/concept)

2010-11-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

How does this deck look, at least in concept?

Use Protean and Thaumaturgy to play really silly cards, maybe even oust someone.

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 10 average: 7.41667
------------------------------------------------------------

3x William Thorbecke 10 AUS DOM PRE PRO THA primogen Tremere:5
2x Eric Kressida 8 AUS DOM PRO THA cel bishop !Tremere:4
2x Rutor 7 AUS DOM THA pro vic Tremere:5
1x Lernean 10 AUS CEL DOM THA for pro cardinal !Tremere:4
1x Carmen 5 THA aus dom !Tremere:5
1x Claus Wegener 5 DOM aus for tha Tremere:5
1x Zane 5 THA aus dom primogen Tremere:5
1x Tarrence Moore 4 aus dom tha Tremere:5

Library [90 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------

Action [18]
1x Abbot
6x Govern the Unaligned
1x Graverobbing
2x Magic of the Smith
4x Nose of the Hound
2x Rutor's Hand
2x Shadow of the Beast

Action Modifier/Reaction [2]
2x Murmur of the False Will

Combat [33]
2x Apportation
2x Aura Reading
1x Blood to Water
2x Claws of the Dead
6x Flesh of Marble
4x Shadow of the Wolf
4x Telepathic Tracking
8x Theft of Vitae
4x Walk of Flame

Equipment [2]
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Ivory Bow

Master [15]
1x Arcane Library
1x Barrens, The
4x Blood Doll
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Fame
1x Giant's Blood
2x Information Highway
1x Mob Connections
1x Perfectionist

Reaction [20]
4x Deflection
3x Eagle's Sight
4x Eyes of Argus
4x On the Qui Vive
1x Precognition
1x Redirection
2x Spirit's Touch
1x Wake with Evening's Freshness

Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Sun Nov 07 15:37:14 2010]

You can pull some neat tricks with Shadow of the Wolf. Sure, it costs two blood and won't pay off a lot of the time, but how about a long range hand strike followed by theft, press for round two and burn(or theft + bow, whatever). Flesh of Marble is great, except against agg poke. For that, tool up with Shadow of the Beast, or use Apportation or Claws if the Dead. Aura Reading is a good way to cheat and see what you need to do. Of course, you do have agg poke yourself.... Maybe 2 less Walk of Flame for 1x more each of Claws of the Dead and Apportation?

102: Ladykiller

2010-11-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

After Erik Torstensson's latest win with his "Girls will find inner peace" deck at the European Continental Championship, there has been discussion of how to counter it. Lonkka apparently played a Guillaume Giovanni deck featuring Slaughterhouses and lots of Trochomancy. He said that there were a couple opportunities to mess with Erik and that Trochomancy seemed like a strong play against the deck in that situation. Unfortunately, he was not Erik's predator, so he did not really get to unleash his deck's hosing potential.

Lonkka, a couple others and myself have been brainstorming ideas about how to deal with Erik's deck on the newsgroup. Basically, strategies broke down into a few categories.

-Screw with his minions(i.e. rush, pentex, Fear of Mekhet, Justicar Retribution, blood control, lockdown)
-Bleed(have to be careful to avoid his 1+ bounce per turn and also do enough damage to out-pace his bloat)
-Screw with his master cards(Sudden, Wash, Bleeding the vine, steal locations, contest cards, kill Anthelios)
-Destroy his recursion(mainly Trochomancy to get rid of cards you don't want to see again, best if you can kill Anthelios, too)
-Limit the amount of bloat(this may be a combination of canceling masters, destroying Anthelios, knocking blood off of guys who would otherwise be villeined(look out for Golconda!), or even playing cards like Fourth Cycle or The Rising)

Ian Lee, aka ICL, is a local player who also has a blog. In his latest post, he tackles the issue of how to deal with Erik's deck. His ideas?
-Weenie, aka "Winnie," decks would put a lot of pressure on it
-Master canceling cards are weak because they either don't work well enough or don't show up when they are critical
-Messing with the infrastructure may have some effect(i.e. steal Parthenon, burn Anthelios, which can't be played again)
-Kaymakli Nightmares could have some effect, or none at all
-Most importantly, getting really techy may just make your deck worse overall

After thinking about it some and discussing it on the newsgroup, here's a deck that might help deal with the "Girls will find inner peace" problem, maybe I'll put a dent into the !Ventrue grinder while I'm at it

The goal is to have a deck that is versatile enough to handle your average competition, but punishing enough on Cybelle and Company(and the !Ventrue) to make certain people consider retiring those decks. Things that didn't quite make the cut:
Abbott
More Rego Motus
The Name Forgotten
Mylan(prone to stealing vs Cybelle)
Gregory Winther(also prone to stealing)
More first round strikes

My hope is that the permanents can help carry the deck in an non-Carna totally locks down her predator way, enabling the unpreventable(by fortitude) cards, blood to water and the finisher do their trick. Dark Influences is to stop DIs from ruining your day, but it, Fear of Mekhet, and Spirit Summoning Chamber may be a little expensive. Hopefully the pool gain the deck provides will be enough to counteract that.

Ladykiller

4x Uta Kovacs 8 AUS DOM THA ser rush, pays 1 less for Thaum cards
2x Ladislas Toth 7 AUS DOM THA for archbishop
1x Selena 6 AUS DOM THA black hand, damage against her by a werewolf is agg
1x Yasmin the Black 6 AUS THA dom pre black hand
1x Frondator 5 AUS dom tha bishop, costs 1 less for her to rescue other vamps
1x Mosfair 4 cel dom tha black hand
1x Janine 4 aus dom tha
1x Saiz 3 aus dom

No deck is complete without a proper chain for governing.

Library: 90 cards

Master: 16
Fear of Mekhet
2x Info Highway
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Fame
Perfectionist
3x Blood Doll
3x Wider View(Fuel that Govern chain, find a Black Hand vampire and gain some pool)
Spirit Summoning Chamber
Dark Influences

Actions: 16
7x Govern the Unaligned
4x Magic of the Smith
2x Rutor's Hand
2x Black Hand Ritual(Anthelios, Unmasking, etc)
Dominate Kine(Hey there Parthenon, I'm looking at you!)

Action Modifiers: 9
5x Mirror Walk
4x Conditioning

Equipment: 4
1x Ivory Bow
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Helicopter
1x Ruins of Ceoris

Reactions: 20
4x Eyes of Argus
4x On the Qui Vive
2x Wake with the Evening's Freshness
6x Deflection
4x Telepathic Misdirection

Combat 25
5x Telepathic Tracking
5x Apportation
3x Soul Burn
2x Blood Rage
4x Walk of Flame
3x Blood to Water
3x Rego Motus

101: San Francisco Storyline Part 1 Aftermath

2010-10-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

We played part one of Ian Thompson's storyline in Berkeley this Sunday and I'm pleased to announce that I won! Ten players came and there was a LOT of bleeding. Good thing I packed 10 deflections ;). I had this deck I was tinkering with and now that I had the chance to start with any 0 or 1 cost master card in play, it gave me a good chance to make it work. The idea is to play all these expensive cards and then Lilith's Blessing to give you a skill card and three blood. Third Traditions work great in this deck because you can put them into play with zero blood and a skill card, great for making little Gideon Fontaines. Tap and swarm bleed where you can. Bounce bleeds to force your prey to block, bounce or take it. The titles on my guys helped me influence the game without playing any actual votes, not to mention the traditions.

I included a lot of anti ally and anti No Secrets tech and never encountered either. If I had time in game one, I would have set up an Entrancement +Force of Personality/Command combo to steal Carlton.

Crypt:
Dirk 1 pre
Tara 6 POT PRE cel prince
Vasily 6 CEL aus pre ser Prince
Victor Donaldson 6 DOM for pre Prince
Lodin (Olaf Holte) 8 DOM FOR PRE aus pro Prince
Epikasta Rigatos 8 AUS DOM PRE cel Prince
Graham Gottesman 7 DOM FOR obf pre tha Prince
Mustafa, The Heir 6 FOR PRE cel dom Prince]
Dr. Solomaon Grey 2 dom pre
Reginald Moore 4 PRE primogen
2x Emily Carson 5 DOM for pre primigen

Library: 90
Master: 19
Lilith's Blessing(was my faction card all three rounds)
The Coven
2x Pentex Subversion
2x Anarch Troublemaker
6x Life in the City
7x Presence

Actions: 27
Dream World
2x Propaganda
3x Enchant Kindred
3x Entrancement
10x Public Trust
Fifth Tradition: Hospitality
5x Third Tradition: Progeny
2x Mind Numb

Action Modifiers: 11
6x Aire of Elation
Daring the Dawn
The Sleeping Mind
2x Seduction
Command

Combo: 2
2x Force of Personality

Combat: 10
10x Majesty

Reactions: 21
10x Deflection
6x Second Tradition
5x On the Qui Vive

Game 1:
Me> Alex O.(!Vetrue Old Guard)> Dave(Trem/!Trem Old Guard)> ? > Gerentt(malk old guard bleed)

This game is pretty fuzzy for me. Some things that might have happened:
Alex O started with Demonstration, played House of Sorrow and took Turf War, dealing 4 damage to his prey immediately. Lazverinus came out and punched my guys really good when I couldn't get by him. Quinten came out, so I had to push hard to oust and eventually did. Dave ousted one or two people and then the game timed out.

Game 2:
Jeff Yin(Underbridge Stray + equipment?)> me> ?> ?> Dave?

Jeff only brought out 2 minions, but they were 8-caps. Then he brought out a bunch of expensive equipment. Then he was ousted. I ousted like three people, bringing me to 1gw 4.5vps and top seed in the finals(the actual top seed couldn't stay).

Finals:
Before I chose my seat:
Gerentt(malks w/dem bleed old guard)>Alex Con Hon(Kiasyd sabbat aligned)> Alex O.(!Ventrue old guard)> Dave(Trem/!Trem old guard)

Everyone on the table had bounce, so there was no obvious bleed sink to prey on. After seeing Dave's combat and bleed situation, I knew I could(usually) survive and that he was bouncing some but not all bleeds directed at him. His bleed was fairly heavy, but it wasn't weenie dom or anything. Gerentt was playing AUS bounce, which everyone knows to be inferior to DOM bounce because it requires tapping. Gerentt was preying on me in game 1, so I was expecting him to try and Coma me again. I didn't want to sit next to the Kiasyd or !Ventrue because their combat would be annoying. I decided to be Dave's prey because he was playing a solid, but not overpowering deck.

Right off the bat, Alex O calls a Con Ag to hurt Dave(4) and himself(1). I make it fail in exchange for three turns of no bleeding. My static votes were really handy, at least until Alex cross-table Ancient Grudged Lodin. Dave started the game with Smiling Jack in play, a bold move that I'm not sure did anything to help him since he couldn't defend it. I ended up losing three pool because of the stupid thing, but Gerentt got rid of it. I bled Gerentt a few times, landing a bleed of two, at which point he said he couldn't win. I thought this was premature, but he seemed certain. As a result, Con Hon was virtually unmolested. I did a lot of majestying, some breeding and then bleeding, finally putting Gerentt under as the first oust at the table.

Votes were spread over the table, so Turf War remained unclaimed until right before Alex O. was ousted. I think that Dave helped Con Hon take the Turf War and right before he died, Alex O. gave me his support to deprive his predator of it, burning his last blood from Quentin in the process.

When it got down to three, Con Hon and Dave teamed up against me. I still didn't have vote lock, so Dave took Turf War. I managed to bleed out Con Hon after tapping his one untapped vampire. I used my discard phase actions to get rid of deflections that started to pile up, aided by Powerbase Berkeley. Dave had a fat pile of pool, so I knew it would be a long hard slog to chew through it. He had out Muaziz, who bled me for three at one stealth. His other actions were to take his Powerbase Montreal back and some other junk, tapping out.

On my turn, I figured I'd take Turf War with one of my five minions and maybe bleed or hang out and block. No such luck. Dave played four straight wakes and blocked my attempt to call the vote, sending one guy to torpor with a nifty precognition + burst of sunlight at inferior combo. My final action finally got me Turf War, but Dave spent the next turn bleeding the crap out of me. Lucky for me, time ran out. Even though I would have won because of seeding, it felt better to not be ousted.

Other than Eric S' unintentional cross-table contest of Graham Gottesman in game one that killed him and may have cost me a VP, I was very pleased with the level of play. People were interested in exploiting the environment, something I saw Alex O. do quite a bit.

The next round should be a bit different with faction leaders changing players a lot.
There were a lot of Old Guard, 6 out of 10 players at least. I'd rate that as partly a factor of how complicated the abilities were for other factions and how restrictive it was trying to play them(100% of one sect for Cam or Sabbat, Laibon and Indies could mix, but only 25% could be something other than your chosen clan for all non-Old Guard). I think that the Old Guard could stand to lose the master-choosing ability next round, we could lose Turf War, simplify the other powerbases(one ability each, please). Other factions could keep their cards, they weren't that impactful.

Not sure what I'll play next round, but it will probably include Dirk. Till next time....

100: So Much Blogging!

2010-10-21T15:58:00.001-07:00

I've been putting off this post for a while because I've been busy and had a hard time deciding what it should be about. In deciding what to wright, I went back and looked at what I wrote in "Fun or Not?" There's a lot of good content already here, so I think an overview is in order.

Starting at the beginning, I did a profile of what brought me to VTES and to blogging. One theme that came up in that post and has come up again several times is coming close to, but not quite achieving victory. I believe that learning from mistakes is crucial to enjoying and becoming better at VTES and life in general.

My fascination with anarchs started early, even before VTES.

I've attended storylines regularly:
Rise of the Imperator
Eden's Legacy
Eden's Legacy 2
Eden's Legacy 3
Battle Lines

Battle Lines 2

I've had the occasional tangent:
1

2

Expressed my artistic side

Talked about strategy(quite a bit)

And tried to recruit new players.

Important things have happened in my life

I've traveled
Vegas

Seattle

It's been a lot of fun and I hope to do a hundred more. Thanks for reading and your ideas, see you on the interwebs.

99: VTES ain't dead yet

2010-09-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

Two days after hearing that VTES was being discontinued by the now infamous destroyer of games, CCP, five methuselah's defiantly gathered at a Round Table Pizza in the Saratoga/San Jose area for some pizza and life's blood.

Game 1:
Me(Torries Torrent)> Gerentt(new Kiasyd bleed)> Ian(!Trem and gargoyles)> Michael(Nos Toolbox)

My deck functioned quite well this game and, had it not been for one or two mistakes on my part, I might have won. The game started out with Ian getting Ian Forestal, Michael getting duck and some mid-cap nos/!nos, me getting Montecalme, and Gerentt getting some bleeder. I pulled a first turn Info Highway to get the fatties rollin' in. Montecalme was followed by Malabranca(who I think looks like Brad from South San Francisco), and there was a healthy villeinage between them. I Parity Shifted early, but it was blocked by Michael. I did it the next turn and made it land with a Torrent, despite Michael's enmity. Gerentt was hard at work bleeding at stealth, making me not bleed because he was surely toting some bounce.

In a moment of weakness, I listened to Ian say that without Ian Foresal, he wouldn't see a point in playing and didn't Golconda him. Ian was ousted before his next turn and I saved my Golconda for later. Michael tried to balance defense against offense, a bad idea against a stealth bleed deck when playing without bounce. He too fell to Gerentt, so we went to the heads-up game. In a drawn-out battle, I ran out of blood before Gerentt did. Even though I had a Giant's Blood for an empty Montecalme(after I Golconda'd the first one), I couldn't block and survive combat enough and get the combination of vote + voter cap together.

Funny note: Gerentt had to try to stay out of both Parity Shift and Malabranca range. I also played Political Stranglehold for 12.

Gerentt sweeps

Game 2:
Me(Masika Madness Network)> Ian(Gangrel body flare)> Gerentt(Salubri)> Michael(godawful Forestall deck)> Jeff(!nos courier deck)

I've played this deck before and won, but not under this particular deck list. It took me a LONG time and a lot of zip guns to get my combo together, but it eventually happened. I got Masika out with Victoria and Brasil and clan impersonated Masika on the second try. Gerentt was eager to borrow my +1 bleeder, but I don't like sharing that much. I blocked an attempt of his and zipped him up good, but eventually had to decline untapping him before Gerentt's turn. The threat of sleazy Spirit Marionette + Heidelberg was enough to keep me on my toes and wish I was playing Unnatural Disaster. Four of the five decks had Heidelberg. I hate Heidelberg.

I was surrounded by intercept early, so I had to dig for Resist the Earth's Grasp to get the additional stealth I needed to sneak my tool-up actions through. The game was so tedious that I don't really feel like writing about it. I ousted Ian and did stuff to gain pool, but Gerentt eventually ousted Jeff and me(because he was sitting on a Salubri Pile of Pool(TM)). Powerbase: Zurich was a good addition to this deck, but PB: Montreal was not.

Funny Fact: Serena the White had a base bleed of 6 after getting Pulse, Robert Carter and some other bleed retainer(and I discarded my AI early when I saw Jeff wasn't doing big bleeds....*sigh*).

Gerentt 4, gw, me 1

Game 3:
Me(DOM POT thrown gate)> Ian(Sixteen Daggers)> Michael(Night Moved Deflection)> Gerentt(new Ventrue)> Jeff(Trujah)

Intercept on only my right? I know what I'm doing this game....

I bled Ian for three early rather than Govern down and basically did what I could to avoid interacting with Jeff. After surviving some combat with Ian, I went all bleed happy and ousted him(realizing he didn't have wakes made a big difference in my game plan). Michael had a fair amount of pool and, to my chagrin, a bucket of deflections. I bled him for little bits, but eventually got a little reckless(the third bleed of the turn, for example) and bled with govern and was deflected again! Gerentt saw me as a big threat, rather than a great opportunity to play bounce, and voted like 7 KRC damage against me during the game.

Jeff did little bleeds consistently and kept me guessing when to play my deflections. My intercept locations were good bait to get my opponents fighting, I just wish I was situated next to Gerentt sooner to stop his bloating and KRCing me. Jeff eventually got me, but not before I ousted Michael and knocked out Mylan(God bless Mighty Grapple for it's annoying ally killing abilities). I missed the very endgame, but Jeff was in the better position.

Jeff 3vps, gw? Me 2vps

That's it for now, it's late and I have work in the morning. One last note I guess. I'm sad to see VTES discontinued(for now) and I hope that this great game will live on for at least another generation(cuz I'm not playing fucking Pokemon). Anyone who travels to the SF Bay Area please contact us through the Yahoo group so that we can hook you up with some VTES. http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/BAvtes/

98: Stealth + Vote/Bleed

2010-09-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

As far as defined deck archetypes go, I think that I prefer Stealth + Vote/Bleed. Why call it a Stealth deck first and a vote/bleed deck second? There are so many sources of intercept in VTES that without stealth, you are bound to get caught next to some jerk with +1 intercept and a hatred of your KRCs/Governs and be sunk. Stealth gets the action through. At worst, you can successfully bleed for one every turn and discard your vote cards, but it damages your prey no matter what. Votes don't necessarily hurt your prey. I recently played a game where I gave pool to my predator intentionally and another where I helped oust my predator. Cards like Ancilla Empowerment can damage the whole table, setting you up for a sweep or at least earning votes that a typical 3-1 KRC wouldn't.

Stealth + vote/bleed allows for some cunning without making a deck overly complicated. OBF PRE with a touch of dominate? Play deflection, votes, vote push, Enchant Kindred, Slaughtering the Herd, Majesty, Faceless Night and Forgotten Labyrinth. Want some flavor? Show them some lesbians(True Love's Face).

One last issue I'll bring up: you aren't stuck with only one path to victory. If you are out-voted, focus on bleed. If your prey can block or bounce most/all of your bleeds, vote them out. I don't know how many times I've come go a table only to find my deck hosed by either massive table votes(24 table votes at one tournament table) or blocky/deflectiony decks(i.e. tap and bleed vs No Secrets). Not relying entirely on one strategy means not automatically losing when that strategy turns out to be impossible at a table.

Some strong examples of this type of deck:
-obf ventrue(Arika, Queen Anne, Marcus Vitel and friends)
-Malk/!Malk Vote(Lutz, Bloody Mary, Stavros, Lazarus James, Alicia Barrows, Gem Ghastly, Sean Rycek)
-Lasombra(don't even need presence with Power Structure)
-!Ventrue with obt(old or new crypt)

Here's a deck I'm thinking about making, any advice?

2 Melinda Galbraith basic 10 AUS DOM obt cardinal
1 Melinda adv 10 AUS DOM obt Regent +2 bleed, tap sabbat vampire
1 Luca Italicus 10 AUS DOM FOR OBT Archbishop
3 Bruce de Guy 10 AUS DOM FOR OBT cardinal, cancel camarilla votes special
1 Omme Enberbenight 7 OBT dom priscus
1 Onaedo 6 DOM OBT aus
1 Virginie, Prodigy 6 DOM obt bishop pay 1 blood for +1 bleed
1 Andrew Emory 5 OBT dom bishop
1 Kestrelle Hayes 5 AUS dom for obt +1 stealth vs those without sabbat vamps

Actions: 9
2x Abbott
7x Govern the Unaligned

Votes: 6
3x KRC
1x Ancient Influence
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power

Equipment: 1
1x Agate Talisman

Allies: 5
1x Mylan Horseed, Goblin
4x Nocturn

Action Modifiers: 18
2x Foreshadowing Destruction
2x Bonding
4x Shadow Play
2x Shroud of Night
2x Shroud of Absence
2x Tenebrous Form
4x Freak Drive

Combat: 6
6x Shadow Body

Master: 17
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda
5x Villein
3x Wider View
1x Information Highway
1x Bleeding the Vine
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x House of Sorrow
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Demonstration

Reactions: 18
7x Deflection
4x Eyes of Argus
4x On the Qui Vive
3x Obedience

97: Baali Don't Need Stealth(or Pool)

2010-09-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

I'll have to try and make this quick, time is short these days. We had three games at D&J's and the nearby Roundtable Pizza.

Game 1:
Me(DOM POT thrown gate w/ani)> Gerentt(New Salubri)> Jeff(?)> Michael(Nos/!Nos toolbox)> Ian(Baali Don't Need Stealth(or Pool))

My memory of this table arrangement is pretty fuzzy. I don't remember what Jeff was playing this game. I was locked down early by Ian's intercept. He blocked all of my early governs down, which was very important because of my lack of any pool management other than governing down. He tooled up with a Guardian Angel, Striga, and made his Baali Anarch, so I knew I was in for trouble! Due to Giotto's special, he got the cards he needed to supply that annoying 1 intercept. I managed to block a Contagion with Cat's Guidance and beat up Gerentt's Serena the White some, but couldn't stabilize my pool enough to go forward too much. Ian dueled with Michael's Nos some and won with his prevent + agg damage. I don't remember exactly how it ended other than Gerentt had trouble ousting Jeff and Spirit Marionnetted my untapped Gustaphe, sealing my fate against Ian. I hate that card, especially when it's played poorly(to oust their predator(me)). Ian ended up winning, maybe sweeping. I was so traumatized by the striga-toting, intercept-y, prevent-y Baali that I lost track. I might have had a chance if I used my KRCG/Cat's Guidance/OtQV better in my last turn, but I was pretty much shut down. I do remember that Ian sat on like 5 or less pool for several turns until he ousted me, intimidating Michael into submission. This and his tricky use of Failsafe + infernalism made the deck "not need pool."

Here's Ian's Decklist, for posterity(from http://iclee.wordpress.com/):

Deck Name: 100829 Baali Don’t Stealth
Created By: Dylan

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 4, Max: 27, Avg: 3.83)
———————————————
5 Anarch Convert none 1 Caitiff
2 Dylan (ADV) aus cel dai dom pro FOR6 Ventrue Antitribu
2 Giotto Verducci DAI for OBF pot pre7 Baali
1 Mary the Black cel DAI obf pot PRE7 Baali
1 Midget obf pre DEM 3 Malkavian Antitribu
1 Sargon cel dai obf pre5 Baali

Library: (90 cards)
——————-
Master (27 cards)
1 Anarch Free Press, The
3 Failsafe
1 Fortitude
1 Giant`s Blood
3 Guardian Angel
4 Path of Evil Revelations
1 Lilith’s Blessing
1 Rack, The
8 Striga
4 Tend the Flock

Action (4 cards)
1 Constant Revolution
1 Contagion
2 Unleash Hell’s Fury

Reaction (24 cards)
2 Car Bomb
2 Diabolic Lure
1 Final Loosening
3 Forced Awakening
4 On the Qui Vive
4 Scobax
4 Strix
4 Wake with Evening`s Freshness

Combat (24 cards)
4 Diversion
2 Flames of the Netherworld
1 Fractura
4 Hexe
3 Ignore the Searing Flames
4 Soak
4 Taste of Vitae
2 Weighted Walking Stick

Ally (3 cards)
1 Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
1 Infernal Servitor
1 Veneficti (Mage)

Retainer (2 cards)
1 Crypt’s Sons
1 Mr. Winthrop

Equipment (2 cards)
1 .44 Magnum
1 Ivory Bow

Combo (4 cards)
4 Sense the Sin

Game 2:
Me(New Torries Torrent)> Jeff(Dem/dom coma+graverobbing)> Ian(Sixteen Daggers)> Michael(Weenie hax)> Gerentt(old school Torries)

Any time Michael's weenie hax deck hits the table he is the target of much hate. Sunday was no exception. Ian threw down Haven Uncovereds against the dorks and started rushing/daggering them a bunch. On turn 1 he played Specialization, key to his deck. I told Gerentt early that I would be handing him a bunch of pool after I had played Montecalme on turn 2 with Zillah's Valley + 2nd seed. Who came into my pred's ready region the next turn? Anneke. Naturally, I resented this as much as a sharp stick in the eye, especially since he said that he wouldn't relent her title. I contested the Toreador Justicar title and Golconda'd Anneke, giving him that pool he desperately needed >:)

I took the opportunity to block my prey's goofy something or other action and was coma'd by Uncle George. Wonderful. I brought out Epikasta, who helped me get Montecalme out of torpor(I think he got blocked trying to dig himself out after I told Jeff I was 'appealing to his rational self-interest.' Jeff didn't diablarize and Epikasta finally rescued him.)

I played a Political Stranglehold for six pool(I had told Gerentt to invest in a big minion earlier) and had been holding onto it and a Parity Shift, which I discarded when I was chock full of pool. Unfortunately for Gerentt, the biggest minion he could summon while he was on the brink of self-ousting was Tatiana Romanov, despite his Info Highway. Jeff blocked my Reins of Power that would have given Gerentt five pool and cost him five.

Due to the constant harassment that he was taking, Michael went down and Gerentt shortly after due to Ian's computer hacking + conditioning(how about a govern or at least scouting mission?). I wasted a Majesty bouncing off of Jeff's Ivory Bow w/+1 intercept Anatole, then realized I couldn't get my bleeds through anyway. With a double-KRC combo and a Pentex on Anatole, I ousted him the next turn and got Monastery of Shadows into play. With my extra card and Dreams, I managed to dig for two more votes, an Enchant Kindred, and I already had an Aire of Elation. Vasily and Epikasta called votes(I think she capped) and Montecalme went in with a bleed for five at one stealth, just barely ousting Ian. I tried to jam Ian on anything other than bleed the turn before and he was at like 6 or 7 master cards when I ousted him.

Game 3:
Me(Ariadne Abactor w/Garous)> Ian(!Trem with Obt)> Gerentt(Salubri)> Jeff(Gangrel Body Flare and never die)> Michael(Nos/!Nos deck above)

Michael and I talked for a while about his deck earlier, so I had a good idea of what was in it. My Garou were at risk from guys with ANI because of Crows + Bats and he was going to block me with some intercept and bleed for 1-2 at a time. Not that scary, but persistent.

I started with less than four transfers, so I brought out Gunnar and put some extra counters on someone else before getting Ariadne. Most importantly, I needed some dorks to block little bleeds. Gunnar bought me a Garou to help block and torporize little dudes sent over by Michael, but he seemed to almost always have the stealth to get by(good card cycling?). Ian brought out two tupdogs, which also influenced my decision to wait on Ariadne and go for a Garou early, plus Kij. Kij got a Jar of the Skin Eaters and a tupdog added the necessary counter to make it go BOOM. Now I had the unspoken threat from Ian to blow up a Garou with three agg damage out of combat(or in combat). Time to look weak....

I spent a fair amount of pool on stuff, leaving me with around nine and a stealthy pred. I think I hung around with the Garou to block and did some Villein/Abactor/Vessel stuff. Unlicensed Taxicab and Form of Mist kept Ariadne away from Michael's intercept(raven, intercept location) while she was hunting, allowing me to gain pool to stay alive and buy Garou. When I had the necessary cards and baited Ian to block a bleed with Ian Forestal, my Garou rushed Kij and smacked her with a punch + Target: Vitals + Punch combo. Kij blew up the Jar of Skin Eaters, but I used two Glancing Blows to keep my Garou alive(two just to be safe). Threat averted... for the moment.

Ian did a Blood of the Sandman action to burn my Garou, making me sad. I bought another to assuage my grief, as dog owners tend to do. Gerentt and Jeff had been duking it out with Jeff blocking/Body Flaring and Gerentt doing some bounce/bleed stuff. Jeff and Michael were also fighting, leading Michael to have minions drop into torpor, only to be rescued shortly afterwords. Jeff's minions got really low on blood, but he played Restoration a couple times to prop them up. In the hope that Michael would either have to be extra defensive or run out of blood on his minions, I played Dragonbound. Now dorks couldn't sit in torpor without costing Michael. The trap was set.

Things were plotting along for quite a while with everyone at low pool and time was short. Gerentt was determined to oust Jeff, but didn't have much in the way of bleed actions or stealth. Jeff blocked all attempts and went down to two pool on a .44. I was down to maybe three or five, but started back pedaling by blowing up my Wider View and I bought a KRCG for some blocky-goodness. My Garou blocked some action done by a guy with basic animalism and was out-maneuvered by a Swallowed by the Night + something and I DI'd the SbtN to land 4 damage on him. I was stuck defending and taking the occasional swipe at Ian, but time ran out. Even in overtime, Gerentt couldn't get past Jeff's two guys with three blood between them.

What I feel like I learned from this last game was that the Ariadne + Abactor w/Garou deck doesn't go forward enough. Buying werewolves is nice, but it doesn't oust people. I need to re-think this deck design to make it more ousty. The Abactor + Villein trick is worth including in any deck featuring her, just like Giant's Blood + Villein is in any mid-high cap deck. The Toreador deck really never got to do it's Torrent trick because I didn't draw enough and was too busy propping up my predator. It seems strong enough to keep, maybe with a couple tweaks. The DOM/POT gate deck could still work without Blood Dolls. It's not often you have a predator who can block all of your governs and survive to tell about it.

96: (DECK)Weenie sabbat dom DBR

2010-08-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

I was demoing VTES in Santa Cruz for the first time in a long time and was impressed with how effective my !Trem wall did against the other S&B dom/obt deck I set up. I don't use a ton of permacept usually, but I had a Guardian Angel and an Abbott in the deck to have a couple solid defensive permanents. Both did very well without crushing my opponent. This made me think about how good the card Abbott is. The only requirement is that the vampire be Sabbat in order to get +1 intercept vs D actions, usually the stealthiest kind in a stealth deck around here. I tried to think of a deck that could take advantage of the card pretty well(with weenies) and came up with this:

4x Ingrid Russo 4 DOM for
Sister Evelyn 3 aus dom
saiz 3 aus dom
ember wright 3 aus dom
cameron 3 dom pot
brooke 3 dom tha
sampson 2 dom
christine boscacci 2 dom vic(her flaw sucks for this, she could maybe be a 1 cap dork)
royce 1 dom

90 Cards

Master: 11
KRCG
WMRH
Rumor Mill
wall street night
2xWider View
2x Dreams
2x Rotschreck
Barrens

Actions: 26
5x Govern(Ingrid gets you a free minion while you dig for another)
10x Generic rush
5x Abbott
3x Graverobbing
2x Embrace
Gregory Winther

Action Modifiers: 2
2x Foreshadowing Destruction

Reactions: 9
8x Deflection(add your stealth, then get bounced!)
Delaying Tactics

Combat: 30
12x Concealed Weapon
12x Dragon's Breath Rounds
4x Fake-Out
2x Autonomic Mastery

Equipment: 12
12x Saturday Night Special

This doesn't seem like enough DBRs or Concealed Weapons, nor enough rush. Maybe -2 Embrace for +2 Haven Uncovered? What do you all think?

95: Fortitude?

2010-08-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

I really want fortitude to be good for something other than Freak Drive, but it just doesn't come close to other common disciplines. What does Fortitude do(other than Freak Drive)?

1) Prevent Damage(a hundred different ways, it seems)

Other disciplines can do this now(i.e. Rego Motus, Sideslip, Skin of the Adder, etc). While Fortitude does this better than other disciplines, how often is it really needed? If someone plays S:CE or dodge against you, you often can't even cycle the card. If you are at range and wave, the card is often useless, too. When someone does hit you, you might have a prevent card that isn't the right fit(i.e. soak vs agg poke, skin of steel vs environmental damage) or is too expensive(i.e. armor of vitality vs multiple strikes, hands for 1). You may not have enough prevent in hand at one time to make a serious difference(i.e. indomitibility vs hands for 3).

2) Make you unblockable

DOM/for powerbleed depends on Daring the Dawn at least some of the time to get actions through. If you really like to play Vignes and your friends will tolerate it, good for you. I find it boring and a little shameful to bleed people unblockably repeatedly every outing.

3) Misc. often ignored abilities

-Make your damage aggravated via Dawn Operation
-Gain 2-3 blood with Restoration
-Treat Agg as normal with Skin of Night
-Bleed while tapped for +1 or +2 and to go torpor/burn with Force of Will
-Even lesser known abilities to reduce bleeds, leave torpor(wait, you're playing damage prevention..), not go to torpor(yet) when you normally would(again, you're playing fortitude, right?), cause an ally's action to fail, etc. Nothing world ending.

Other than Freak Drive, fortitude is mostly a combat discipline. Card economy is something to consider for your combat cards. How many Majesties do you need in a deck just to protect your minions? Usually one per combat and at the cost of one blood, plus it only requires basic pre to use. With damage prevention, it depends on how much damage you are taking, from how many sources, and over how many rounds. If it's unpreventable or if it's blood stealing, prevention is worthless. For these reasons, damage prevention is fairly inefficient as a combat strategy, when it is usable at all.

In what ways does fortitude have an edge in combat?

-It hoses Taste of Vitae when you prevent all the damage
-You can't play Pulled Fangs or Disarm if your damage is prevented
-Aggravated damage is much less effective with it also has to be in the 2+ range to send vampires to torpor
-Indomitability, Unflinching Persistence, and Hidden Strength give some combat prowess, in addition to protecting your minion.
-Damage prevention is(usually) played later in combat, so you may get to save the card or at least not tip your hand before your opponent does.
-You often don't need to prevent damage to survive a combat, so it may be OK to use fewer prevention cards than you think you'll have combats.

What does that really leave us with?

I think that damage prevention can function best in intercept combat in moderate quantities. If you block someone and they S:CE, just save it for the next action you block. Prevention *can* work in various other deck archetypes(i.e. rush/disarm, lawfirm(as backup against IG), toolbox), I just see it as either the archetypes have problems, or the use of prevent does. I have a lot of fortitude cards(that are not Freak Drive) sitting in boxes that I'll find a use for someday; when, I don't know.

94: Game Report for 8/15

2010-08-19T15:17:00.001-07:00

Game 1:
Me(Stanislava powerbleed)> Gerentt(New Salubri spirit marionette)> Eric(Imbued)> Ian(!Tremere)

This was not a great game for me, or anyone except Eric, really. I brought out Stanislava, who was Heidelberged for about half her blood(why half, I'm not sure). Thus began my camping out. I goverened out Caitlin who was, of course, Heidelberged immediately. Eric did his imbued dance, but we had to remind him to grab conviction and he kept taking the initial conviction from his hand or ash heap, which was not the best idea. Ian bled me for like 9, I bled myself(!) with Stanislava being Marionetted and bounced from Eric to Ian to Me(where the hell were my deflections?).

I did my best to not leave my guys untapped or bleed Gerentt when he left guys untapped, seeing as HE should be the one to oust his prey. Eric played Maria Fletcher, C.D.C., so I had to ask him of Caitlin's hunting was acceptable. Stanislava didn't care, allies can't block her. Ian was eventually overrun and, just when there was a glimmer of hope for me to break through Gerentt's Salubri wall and pool monster, I died. I'm satisfied that I achieved my maximum number of VPS given the circumstances.

Imbued sweep

Game 2:
Me(weenie ani bleed)> Eric(New Lawfirm)> Ian(aus/pot intercept combat)> Gerentt(group4-5 gangrel rush/Garou)

My first time playing old school weenie animalism. I drew a lot of Life in the City and Animalism master cards, making my guys real suave with animals. In a little while, I had +1 intercept on a couple dudes. Eric basically caved under the weight of lots of little bleeders. It was his first time playing a lawfirm deck, which isn't great against weenies anyway, so no matter. Gerentt made the fatal mistake of not using his Backways when trying to buy a werewolf, which he realized only when influencing. It happens, hopefully you remember next time. Dealing with this now means hopefully not dealing with it at a tournament(like my forgetting I had Elysium: Arboretum against Alex Con Hon's Euro Brujah).

Gerentt threw his minions at me after he had fame on someone. They eventually went to torpor, but it was a suicide attack with Tension. Somewhat crippled and now harassed by Ian's "I block you and show you Carnage," I made the mistake of not leaving enough guys untapped to keep me alive and deliver the killing blow. Ian had his eye on Navar for much of the game and kept saying he was gonna get him with some dude that has +1 intercept against tiny, weakling vampires. Navar won the battle by delivering a bleed for three, but that lost me the war.

Me 1vp Ian 3vp GW

Game 3:
Me(Malk/!Malk vote/bleed)> Gerentt(Salubri above)> Ian(Trujah wall)> Eric(old school Kiasyd)

I must be cursed to always get too few transfers to influence Lutz or not get him in the starting crypt when I play this deck because I was first seed. I knew from the card sleeves that Gerentt was playing his Salubri deck again, which told me that this game would be much more about voting than bleeding. Ian trotted out his !trujah deck, determined to see how much pool he could spend on a minion(the answer was 15). Eric played Kiasyd, which I've only rarely seen him play before. Based on this, I knew I'd get bled a lot. Not a big deal, right? My deck is defensive.

To my chagrin, it took me until I was about 1/3 of the way through the deck to draw any significant bounce or reduce. Had Eric learned to avoid undirected actions next to Ian's deck earlier, he would have had me. As it turned out, the Kiasyd couldn't get the stealth to get their Governs through, which was good for me. The Kiasyd took a light beating and Ian had to spend some resources, which helped me a bit later. Gerentt was having a hell of a time drawing cards, so I had relatively free reign until Eric decided to start seriously bleeding. I ousted Gerentt with the announcement, "gentlemen, the time for games is over." I played an ancilla empowerment, netting me three pool from the oust, courtesy of Forgotten Labyrinth. I was still low on pool and had to work really hard to both survive against Eric and find the stealth to get by Ian's Bowl of Convergence.

I thought my salvation was a Conceal(it was somewhat hard to decide between Ian's Heart of Cheating and the Bowl, but getting actions through was more important) with a Lost in Crowds + Elder Impersonation. Unfortunately for me, Ian had an Eyes of Argus for his 2nd minion to block at 2 intercept. What a great card. I tried to make a deal with Eric where he'd help me take out Ian, who looked unstoppable with his bowl/cheating setup, and then duke it out, but Eric wouldn't bite. I warned him that he couldn't hurt me and was just giving the game to Ian, but to no avail.

Eric lauched a Gremlins bleed at me, which I declined to block, he boosted to 5, and I bounced to Ian. Ian bounced it back to me and then Sudden Reversaled my Archon Investigation. Eric bled me again, but I woke again and reduced it, leaving me very low on pool. I tried to play Dreams, but Ian pointed out that I played AI, which had been Suddened. No card cycling mojo for me, but it left me at a whopping ~3 pool.In defending against me(and Eric) previously, Ian was very low on blood. He had Heidelberg out, which meant he could move his bowl around between his three trujah with aus/AUS. In defending against Eric, I drew into a Conservative Agitation and a KRC, plus I had a Majesty to bounce off Ian if I had to. Lutz and Alicia both had only one blood, meaning I had to either vote or bleed, but I couldn't to both. My earlier experience showed me that Ian packed a good amount of Eyes of Argus in his deck(great with aus), so I went the vote route.

I led with a Con Ag(Ian had to block, KRC was better to actually get through), which Ian blocked and we both majestied out of and left us empty. He declined to block her hunt, which meant pain for Eric if I ousted Ian. Ian moved the bowl over to untapped dude #2 with one blood, who failed to block my KRC + Lost in Crowds, securing me 2vps. Eric ran out of bleed and conceded to me the next turn. Whew!

Malk sweep!

What did I learn? I really don't like minions being borrowed/stolen and having their blood drained. Do I need anti-Heidelberg tech? Diamond Thunderbolt? Unnatural Disaster? Sudden Reversal x4? Ubercept? Damn crafty Germans and their castle, I'll have to find a way out of the "haha, your minion sucks because you influenced them out/left them untapped" trap. I really need to be stealing/burning more locations in general. Also, resist the temptation to let Navar pwn the table. He's a gloryhound.

Gerentt was having trouble with his Salubri deck and Ian and I offered some suggestions on how to make it less defensive. Salubri don't have to wall up, especially now that Serena the White is around.

93: Titles- they're not just for vote decks!

2010-08-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

First off, the next two months or so will be pretty busy for me, so I won't be able to post with much regularity. Thank you to those who responded to the latest poll. Strategy articles seem to be the most interesting thing for people, though every category(including deck lists, game re-caps and featured cards) had some level of interest. With that in mind, I'll write a little bit about the usefulness of titled vampires in VTES.

In my time playing VTES, I've noticed that the extra point here or there for a vampire with a title is not too much to spend and generally worth it. Without even having to play cards, your titled vampires can help you gain the edge, so to speak, at a table.

Often times, a vote deck will come along and try to pass votes by a small margin. Take weenie presence, for example. Even if they get a title before your prince hits the table, now they have to worry about the edge, whether other players have titled vampires, and if someone will toss a vote card for or against them. What has this cost you? Maybe one or two more transfers to give someone a really hard time. Even if you don't stop a vote deck for the whole game, you at least make them slow down and play around your votes, taking up their in-game and mental resources.

In a situation where your votes can help make a vote succeed or fail, you can use that as leverage to bargain for damage on your prey, some pool, or other effects/promises. The favor of lending your votes can be critical, even better when you can withdraw it at a crucial time.

Blood hunts are, for better or worse, a part of VTES. If you are playing a combat deck, you may want votes to occasionally survive a blood hunt(or threaten to). DOM/POT decks of the Nos/Lasombra/Giovanni variety in group 4/5 have a lot of titled that could be used for this. Conversely, you may want some level of insurance that people won't survive a blood hunt. With votes on the table, the threat is there.

Even if you can't count on it coming up very often, there are some situations where there is a table vote or something that only effects titled vampires that can benefit you. To name a few:
-Anarch Revolt is burnable by a vote, as is Elysium: Arboretum.
-Public Enemy can't target titled vampires.
-Blood Hunt can't target a prince, justicar, or IC member
-Volker can't block Primogen.

I've been using this strategy of having votes in many of my decks, including my group 4/5 DOM/for powerbleed deck(Emily Garson, Victor Donaldson, Jefferson Foster, Graham Gottesman all have titles). At the Las Vegas Qualifier, my powerbleed deck slowed down a vote/combat deck cross-table and made it hard for people to diablarize my torpored vapires(thanks, Lucita!) while chewing through my prey's pool at no cost to me.

Next time you are constructing a crypt, give that guy who costs one more a second look; you might be surprised what that one pool gets you!

92: Featured Card- Political Struggle

2010-07-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

Political Struggle
Action that requires Lasombra
+1 stealth action.
(D) Put this card on a ready vampire controlled by another Methuselah. The acting vampire may enter combat with the vampire with this card as a +1 stealth (D) action. If the vampire with this card is burned or sent into torpor, this card is burned and the acting vampire gains X votes, where X is the number of non-contested votes the vampire with this card has.

Artist(s): Patrick Kochakji

Set(s): Sabbat:R, SW:R/PL, Third:R

Ian played this card in a game this last Sunday and I immediately wrote it off as a bad card. After some further thought, it seems to have some use. A few notable features it has:

-Free to play
-One of the few actions to give you votes(and can gain you as many as four votes)
-Inherent 1 stealth
-Disciplineless
-Doesn't require any sect
-Is permanent
-Votes are not contestable

In a Lasombra deck that would like some votes, this could be combined with other cards to help you gain titles. For example:

-Shadow Twin(obt: +1 stealth d action to do one unpreventable damage on a minion or retainer, at superior it gives them -1 stealth until your next untap)
-Horseshoes(pot: d action to do one unpreventable damage, two damage at POT)
-Touch of Pain(reaction card requiring potence that does 1-2 damage if you are bled or a vote succeeds)
-Combat beat-downs

I could see a fairly strong Lasombra vote deck featuring Political Struggle and some combination of the above techniques. Maybe the card isn't so bad after all.

91: Imbued get their comeuppance, seek revenge

2010-07-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

We played some games at Andy's again this weekend and I trotted out a few decks that I've been busy tweaking.

Game 1:
Me(Malk/!Malk w/pres s&b/v)> Noreen(osebo)> Ian(Fatty Lasombra wall)> Andy(Samedi off kilter/enticement)> Eric(Malk 94)

I used my one transfer to start bringing out Alicia Borrows, who Ian cross-table Political Struggled when he was able. It payed off later, which I guess was the point. Once I saw what Eric was playing, I decided that I was safest with only Alicia and Sean Rycek for a while. I called a Con agg(my first ever for 5) and gave my prey a good ping. Ian governed down a lot while Andy bled for one with the occasional off kilter. Abdelsobek was late showing up for the party. I was bled for three a lot by Eric, much of which I bounced or reduced. Bleed reduction was actually a big player at our table with Noreen playing telepathic counter and me combining that with Wrong and Crosswise.

When I was within range of either ousting Noreen or being ousted by Eric, I decided I'd have to lunge. I survived Eric's bleeds with three or so pool to spare and had two KRC's in hand, an Old Friends and Bloody Mary(a two-bleeder). I KRC'd, sending the last pool damage upstream, which Noreen didn't try to block. Next, I bled and Noreen helped me cycle a bunch of stealth by trying to block, I boosted it to three(which would have left her at three), but she reduced it back down to one. With an oust just out of my reach, I threw down a KRC with Sean(with an emergency Cloak in hand) and hit Eric for three, leaving him at two to face Andy's three or so minions. Andy did his job, then I did mine, and we suddenly had three players.

Ian had spent a good amount of time tooling up with an intercept location and Elysian Fields, plus bleeding the crap out of Andy; he even brass knuckle nut-punched Alicia to get the two votes from Political Struggle and Andy promptly stole her with Josette's special. Stavros and Bloody Mary helped support Sean, but they weren't enough to overcome Ian's bloat and intercept locations. As it turned out, Conceal was the very last card in the deck :(

Andy got a stylish 2nd VP(and game win) with Abdelsobek enticing for 2, backed up by an army of stealth.

Game 2:
me(Ariadne Abactor w/Garu)> Eric(Imbued)> Ian(Trujah)> Andy(Baali)

We knew even before the game started what we had to do. Once again, I had one transfer, but this time no Ariadne in the uncontrolled region(with 5/12 crypt cards being Ariadne, that's pretty unfortunate). As soon as Jacob Fermor came into play, I gave him a Vessel, a Perfectionist, bled and discarded until I hit a Garou. With the help of an Earth Control, Eric's doom landed on the table at the bargain cost of five pool. My Garou rushed Eric again and again and was joined by two more eventually. I was able to keep ahead of Andy's bleeds by Vesselling Jacob and Villein/Abactoring Ariadne.

Andy made the fateful statement that if you have out two Baali and then do the Soul Gem trick, you can get screwed by self-contesting. As it turned out, he faced just that problem. Cybelle became the beast and another Nergel adv, who perished at the thought of being a doppelganger. I rushed Andy's Mylan and rushed/ate his one good Nergel, which helped slow him down. Ian brought out another Mylan and schooled some Imbued on the way of life Outside the Hourglass, but at the cost of some pool due to bleeds. It was Eric's first time playing Imbued, so he could have played a lot better and we all gave him a hard time.

I eventually ousted Eric with a bit of trickery by bleeding with Ariadne to catch his attention, then playing Form of Mist to continue the action and sending the bleed of two and the werewolf bleeds in for the kill. Ian blew up two of my werewolves with an Outside the Hourglass and some temporis card, making my game grind to a halt. He seemed to never run out of that damned card! Time ran out with three of the four of us left at the table.

As a side-note, I felt pretty proud of myself for including Unlicensed Taxi Cab in my Ariadne deck that morning. The extra stealth really carried the deck.

Game 3:
Me(Presence breed/bleed)> Ian(!Trem)> Andy(Malk S&B)> Eric(Salout Spirit Marionette)

One transfer, yay! Andy had a strong start with Bela, bleeding Eric for 6+ before he had a minion. I eventually brought out Epikasta, who did some nice bleeding and was soon joined by Reginald Moore and Victor Donaldson. Ian blocked me some, but Majesty carried me to victory. Eric continued to get bled for a crapload and Andy was pretty free to bleed. Ian caught Andy with a couple Conditioned bleeds once he tapped out, but then he ousted Eric. I finally had some deflections, but I was about to oust Ian! With little blood left on my guys(Majesty does get expensive after 5+, plus presence bleeds), I was in trouble. I made two progeny, but didn't have enough blood to avoid hunting with my guys the next turn. I failed to use Barrens before my master phase, leading me to not draw and play my Lilith's Blessing, the whole trick to the deck! I played another Progeny, but was barely ousted by Andy before my vampires could start their bleed assault.

I'm working on some plans for other nasty decks, we'll see how they work out. There may be a tournament on the weekend of August 7-8th because Eric will be leaving town for school again. Hopefully I can get something nasty together by then >:)

90: VTES LCG: Brujah

2010-07-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a rush deck with light bleed featuring KoT Brujah.

2x Dmitra Ilyanova 9 CEL FOR POT PRE obf Justicar blood giving vote
2x Themistocles 8 AUS CEL FOR POT pre can burn locations as a D action
2x Karen Suadela 7 CEL POT obf pre prince gehenna doesn't effect her
2x Tara 6 POT PRE cel prince
1x Tomaine 6 CEL POT PRE primogen if prey controls sabbat, they get +1 hand size
1x Paul Calderone 4 cel pot pre
1x Lynn Thompson 3 cel pot no havens
1x Garret 3 pot pre

Master: 8
1x Fame
1x Tension in the Ranks
3x Vessel
1x Giant's Blood
1x Archon Investigation
1x New Carthage

Actions: 11
3x Fourth Tradition
2x Bum's Rush
2x Harass
2x Fleetness
2x Public Trust
1x Heroic Might

Action Modifiers: 3
3x Forced March

Political Actions: 3
1x Archon
1x Kine Resources Contested
1X Parity Shift

Combo: 4
2x Resist the Earth's Grasp
2x Scalpel Tongue

Events: 1
1x Dragonbound

Combat: 18
2x Torn Signpost
3x Undead Strength
2x Immortal Grapple
2x Psyche
2x Slam
2x Pursuit
2x Nimble Feet
3x Taste of Vitae

89: VTES LCG Challenge: Toreador

2010-07-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

Again, blocky, bleedy with some votes. So far we have three flavors of toolbox. It's a shame that the actual KOT torry starter was such junk, the Torries could have used more like 5x concealed weapon and 5x .44s to go with their Aura Reading, but oh well.

2x Montecalme 10 AUS CEL DOM PRE obt justicar can vote to burn a location
2x Eugene 8 AUS CEL FOR PRE primogen can dodge as a strike
2x Epikasta Rigatos 8 AUS DOM PRE cel prince card recycling tech
2x Kateline Nadasdy 7 AUS CEL PRE vote cancelling special
1x Vasily 6 CEL aus pre ser prince
1x Lindsay Yates 5 CEL aus for pre
1x Tyler McGill 4 AUS pre vote special, can't block nos
1x Thomas De Lutrius 4 aus cel pre primogen burn 1 pool if he goes to torpor

Master: 8
2x Villein
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x The Rack
2x Vessel
1x Art Museum
1x Vast Wealth

Actions: 6
2x Flurry of Action
2x Public Trust
2x Fleetness

Action Modifiers: 4
2x Crocodile's Tongue
2x Approximation of Loyalty

Reactions: 10
2x Eyes of Argus
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Telepathic Misdirection
2x Spirit's Touch
2x Eagle's Sight

Combat: 8
3x Pursuit
2x Stutter-Step
2x Psyche
1x Charismatic Aura

Equipment: 4
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Ivory Bow
2x Assault Rifle

Political Actions: 3
1x Alastor
1x National Guard Support
1x Toreador Justicar

Combo: 5
2x Scalpel Tongue
3x Resist the Earth's Grasp

88: VTES LCG Challenge: Ventrue

2010-07-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

Here's a Ventrue Bleed and Block deck featuring a mix of some dominate, presence and a little fortitude.

2x Mary Ann Blaire 10 AUS DOM FOR PRE ani pot Justicar scouting mission action
1x Gustav Breidenstein 10 DOM FOR PRE aus cel pot prince +1 bleed vote special
1x Johannes Castelein 9 DEM DOM FOR PRE Prince vote canceling special
1x Lodin 8 DOM FOR PRE aus pro prince prevent 1 damage
2x Graham Gottesman 7 DOM FOR obf pre tha prince
1x Beth Malcom FOR PRE ani +1 bleed
1x Victor Donaldson 6 DOM for pre prince golconda special
2x Emily Carson 5 DOM for pre primogen untap special
1x Bernard, the Scourge ani for pre pro

Master 8
1x Ephor
1x Elysium: Arboretum
3x Villein
1x KRCG
1x Ventrue Headquarters
1x The Rack

Action: 8
1x Army of Rats
2x Govern the Unaligned
2x Fifth Tradition: Hospitality
1x Dominate Kine
2x Enchant Kindred

Action Modifiers: 6
2x Freak Drive
2x Conditioning
2x Seduction

Combo: 2
2x Murmur of the False Will

Reactions: 10
2x Deflection
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Steadfastness
2x Second Tradition
2x Obedience

Combat: 8
2x Weighted Walking Stick
2x Majesty
2x Unholy Penance
2x Soak

Votes: 4
1x Parity Shift
1x Ventrue Justicar
1x Ancient Influence
1x Anarchist Uprising

Retainers 1
1x Mr. Winthrop

Equipment: 1
1x Sport Bike

87: VTES LCG Challenge-Nosferatu

2010-07-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

On the newsgroup, some people are talking about how VTES would do as a "living card game," where many expansions come out and multiple players can take pre-made decks right out of the box and play them. This is a step towards something more marketable than the current booster/starter model imo.

Here's what YY said his basic sets would look like:

- Core set with 240 cards supporting 4 clans (Nosferatu, Ventrue,
Toreador, Brujah)
- 2 copies of each library card (give or take 1 copy each) plus 1 copy
of each 48 crypt cards (9 per clan plus 12 others)
- One expansion release every 2-3 months (as per current FFG LCG
format) until the next core set 9-12 months down the line (hmm... I
might update the test to follow the time line)
Going by which:  240 - 48 = 192 library cards per core set  192 x 2 = 384 library cards for 2 core sets

Nosferatu, Ventrue, Toreador and Brujah share a total of 8 disciplines  (ani, aus, cel, dom, for, obf, pot, pre), which means -including cards  that have no discipline or clan requirements, and those that have clan  requirements- there should be an approximate total of 8 distinct cards  for each discipline, plus 4 distinct cards with clan requirements and  16 distinct cards that have neither clan nor discipline requirements  (with 4 copies of each)

With this in mind, plus what you say above, the nos deck will have to be different and all decks will be smaller than the regular legal minimum. That’s ok, we’re doing something hypothetical where they could play with a recursion or something. I’ll try to use some disciplineless cards with some or no requirements. I’m not completely sure what proportion you want, I’ll emphasize the disciplines on the actual vampires.

With this as the guideline, decks break down like this:

192 library cards/4 decks= 48 library cards per deck. 48 crypt cards/4 decks= 12 crypt cards per deck, 9 of which will be of that clan, 3 of another clan(or caitiff).

Here's my first deck, a stealth/vote Nos deck:

Crypt (12 cards):  
2x Alonso Petrodon  10 ANI DOM OBF POT for tha Justicar +1 bld
2x Baron Dieudonne 9 ANI OBF POT PRO prince untap special
1x Zelios 8 ANI OBF POT pro primogen +1 str cost reduction special
1x Gustaphe Brunnelle  8 ANI DOM POT obf primogen rush special
2x Benjamin Rose  7 AUS OBF ani pot prince hand increasing vote
1x Harold Tanner 6 POT ani dom obf opponent has open hand
1x Jeremy Wix W. 5 ani obf pot bleed at +1 bleed as D action
1x Beetleman  4 ANI obf
1x Count Zaroff 4 obf cel blood hunt special

Library (48 cards):
Masters:  8
2x Warsaw Station  
3x Villein
1x Giant’s Blood
1x Perfectionist
1x Obfuscate

Action:  7
2x Horseshoes
2x Fourth Tradition: Accounting
1x Third Tradition
2x Govern the Unaligned

Action Modifier:  10
2x Lost in Crowds  
1x Veil the Legions
1x Faceless Night
1x Forgotten Labyrinth
2x Cloak the Gathering
3x Old Friends

Reaction:  8
2x Second Tradition: Domain  
2x Cat’s Guidence
1x Sense the Savage Way
1x Guard Dogs
2x On the Qui Vive

Combat:  8
2x Aid from Bats  
2x Carrion Crows
1x Pushing the Limit
1x Taste of Vitae  
2x Flesh Bond

Retainer:  1
1x Raven Spy

Equipment: 1
1x Camera Phone

Votes 5
1x Consanguineous boon
1x Parity Shift
2x Kine Resources Contested
1x Neonate Breech

I wouldn’t water the deck down with any more non-nos or clanless/disciplineless cards. There simply isn’t space, leave that for the expansions.

It will be hard for me to get the numbers down exactly as YY states, especially 9 cards per discipline, 16 no-requirement cards, etc, so we'll see how it turns out.

86: The one(of many) where Maris Streck ruins the game

2010-07-12T14:54:00.000-07:00

We got together at Andy and Eric's house to play some games yesterday, sans Andy, Gerentt, or Michael. We did have Evan, one of Eric's friends, there to learn the game. I tried to make a fairly straight-forward deck for him to play, which I think worked out.

Game 1:
Me(Ariadne Renegade Garou)> Ian(Malks with dem/dom)> Evan(FoS bleed)> Eric(Malk94)

Once I saw what Eric was playing, my plan was simple: Stomp his minions and don't spend too much pool. Having two stealth bleed decks behind me made my game plan pretty shaky from the beginning. I got out Ariadne and took bleeds for 3 from each of Eric's minions. As soon as I could, I brought out a Renegade Garou and Villein/Vessel/Abactored Ariadne. Spinkles, the Underbridge Stray, was my side-kick through the early game.

Throughout the game, Ian and I were instructing Evan on the ways of stealth-bleed in terms of responsible bleeding, tapping people out, etc. Thankfully, Eric didn't get much help from Evan this game(the tables would turn in game 2). After Eric No Traced against a Garou rushing his Mariel, Lady Thunder, things looked bleak. Thankfully, I had out two Garou, Ariadne, and Sprinkles when Ian's Maris Streck hit the table. Maris unleashed Sprinkes, who bit Laurent de Valois. Next, Sprinkles exploded, alerting one of my Garou, who sprunk to action. Two swipes of the claws later, one of Eric's vampires was in torpor.

The next turn, I dunked one of Eric's minions and crippled one of Evan's. Ian didn't see it important to lend my Garou intercept, so I took a bleed from Eric and had a Garou turned into a snake courtesy of Set's Curse. My game was over, so I rushed Carlton(killing him) and diablarized a freshly minted and torpored Ogwon(courtesy of Ian's Ivory Bow). Renenet bled me for 4, and I Archon Investigated her to drive the point home. No minions for you! We called the game due to inanity and started another one now that we had Jeff.

The player with no predator wins.

Game 2:
Me(Weenie CEL/gun)> Evan(FoS Bleed)> Ian(Fattie group 4/5 Lasombra)> Eric(Salubri bloat machine)> Jeff(Salubri bounce/reduce machine)

Early in the game, Evan was not playing nice with Ian, so I put one of his minions to sleep with a rush/bang bag psyche special. Jeff emptied my Parmenides with his Heidelberg before I could even use him, so I put a bunch of bullets into one of his guys. A torpored, Famed Renenet was enough to finish Ian with the help of some Serpentis/Presence bleeds. I had planned on letting Ian get weakened and then killing them both, but Ian just plain collapsed after spending 2 pool on a hunting ground and discarding a blood doll. I ousted Evan with Fame/Dragonbound and then got stuck between to bloat decks. Jeff bounced what must have been 4 bleeds for 2-3 into me. I couldn't kill Eric fast enough to bolster my limited supply of pool, nor could I destroy Jeff's ready region because he didn't have enough pool to survive.

In an untenable position, I rushed Jeff's AK-47 and Bowl toting Salubri(he only had to pay 6 extra for this one!). First, Volker had his .44 blown up by some goofy Salubri combat card(this is after Parm's earlier attempt to snatch Jeff's .44 that was spoiled by Anesthetic Touch). Parm rushes this dude and reduces his first AK shot with a Sideslip, taking 3 damage and dishing out 4(which is reduced to 1 by an Armor of Vitality and a Hidden Strength at the cost of 2 blood). Combat's over- Psyche! I shot Jeff's dude again and reduced his strike by one with another Sideslip. Finally, Sarah Brando eats the dude and takes his stuff.

Before time runs out, I started rushing Eric's guys and I Arson Salot's Secure Haven, but he's sitting on at least 15 pool.

Fun fact: 3/5 decks in game 2 featured Lilith's Blessing. Can you guess which ones?

More gaming in another 2 weeks!

85: Would this deck work?

2010-07-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

5x Basilia 10 ANI FOR PRO obf pot primogen agg hands
Gitane St Clair 7 ANI FOR PRO primogen
Chandler Hungerford 3 PRO
Ricki Van Demsi 3 for pro
Raven 5 FOR PRO ani
Panagos Levidis 3 ani obf
Ramona adv 4 for pro
Anastasia Grey 3 ani pro

Master: 11
Gangrel Revel
Guardian Angel
The Rack
Perfectionist
3x Fame
Giant's Blood
Vessel
Archon Investigation
Barrens

Actions: 18
2x Ritual Challenge
4x Restoration
3x Deep Song
3x Bum's Rush
2x Harass
Taunt the Caged Beast
Big Game
2x Shadow of the Beast

Equipment: 4
Aaron's Feeding Razor
Kevlar Vest
Flak Jacket
Learjet

Allies/Retainers: 13
4x Murder of Crows
5x Raven Spy
Owl Companion
Dog Pack
2x Underbridge Stray

Action Modifiers: 19
19x Freak Drive

Combat: 16
3x Resilience
3x Unflinching Persistence
6x Pack Alpha
2x Call the Wild Hunt
2x Form of Mist

Reactions: 9
On the Qui Vive
3x Sense the Savage Way
5x Cat's Guidence

The idea is simple- Basilia Multi-Rush. The implementation may be a but difficult. Any obvious things I'm missing? There's a lot I'd like to fit but have no room(i.e. wider view, immortal grapple, tension, etc). I switched last minute to weenies because I need to have a couple guys to break Pentex/swarm bleed.

84: Everthing is Better When it's Free!

2010-07-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

Lilith's Blessing is such a powerful card that I find myself slipping it into many of my decks, even ones not particularly designed for it. I recently got two more copies, bringing me up to three, which should be enough to really exploit it's ability.
Here's the card:

One idea that came to me when I was sorting through some cards was Ravnos with dominate. Ravnos don't typically have a bounce discipline, but the group 2 Ravnos actually have 5 with inferior dominate. Of those 5 with dominate, 4 are untitled(and therefore good for anarch mischief). Here's a rough draft of the deck I might like to make:

3x Kostantin, Baro of the Caravan 9 ANI CHI FOR cel dom can steal equipment as a +1 stealth D action
2x Gabrin 8 ANI CHI dom for Chi costs 1 less, can tap ally/younger vamp as +1 stealth D action
2x Natalia 6 ANI chi dom for +1 bleed
2x Sarisha Veliku 6 ANI FOR chi dom
3x Anarch Convert

Master: 26 (9 trifles)
1x Fortitude
3x Lilith's Blessing
6x Villein
2x Twilight Camp(makes anarchs, gives them blood)
1x Giant's Blood
3x Wider View
1x Seattle Committee
1x Anarch Free Press
1x Week of Nightmares
1x Kumpania
2x Perfectionist
3x Parthenon
1x Barrens

Actions: 9
3x Sensory Deprivation
2x Edged Illusion
3x Restoration
1x Aranthebes

Combo: 12
4x Steely Tenacity(key bleed card in the deck, a decent combat combo with crows)
6x Occlusion
2x Mirror's Image

Equipment: 3
1x Karavalanisha Vrana(normally a crap card, but worth a shot with free minions)
1x Treasured Samadji
1x Heart of Cheating

Action Modifiers: 15
4x Fata Morgana
3x Smoke and Mirrors
8x Freak Drive

Combat: 8
5x Carrion Crows
1x Canine Hordes
2x Resilience

Reactions: 17
8x Deflection
2x Rat's Warning
3x On the Qui Vive
2x Cat's Guidence
2x Draba

The deck is sort of a toolboxy bleed deck. Bring out Ravnos and don't pay for them(use Villein + Lilith's Blessing), then tool up and bring out more Ravnos. It could still be low on blood since Chimeristry is notoriously expensive. The deck could use some tuning, first I'll have to get 2 more sense deps and a couple copies of Gabrin.

83: Storyline Results/Self-Ousting

2010-06-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

In the storyline on Sunday, a couple of basic expectations of mine were confirmed and I was still surprised with how things played out. Out of 6 decks, there were 2 Salubri(Alex Con Hon and Eric Haas), 1 Baali(Andy Haas), 1 Kiasyd(Gerentt Chan), 1 Abomination(Ian of course) and 1 Samedi(me). Except for me, everyone was Bahari. I normally find Salubri to be between boring and rather irritating; Sunday was no exception. Game one I sat as predator to Eric's Salubri bloat deck and was constantly a couple steps behind his massive pool gain. Andy overspent with a Kiasyd deck on his tail and was ousted only a handful of turns into the game. That about did it for the game since the pool gain was so ridiculous. Gerentt got a 2nd vp and then we timed out. In game two, Gerentt got more vps than anyone else and possibly the game win.

Towards the end of the 2nd game, I saw that I couldn't really win and when Andy Archon Investigated the Baron, I transferred down to one pool and kept my Bleeding the Vine ready just to hose him. After an irritating two games of bloat decks, I just wanted to get it over with. Also, the amount of Sudden Reversals, Washes and DIs was out of control.

In a pick-up game after the tournament I played the most aggressive deck I have, ANI dom PRO tap and bleed, in the hopes of taking at least 1 vp for the day and speeding things up. I ended up getting bled for 5 before I brought up Stanislava and another 8 or more before I lucked into a Villein + Giant's Blood turn. Stanislava helped bring out Ingrid Rossler, but then my prey thought it important to torporize both of my minions with two malkavian bleed decks to my right. I felt that I had been basically served up for dinner to whoever had the most aggressive deck(and played it competently), so I flailed(read: lunge with no real hope of ousting) into my prey to deprive him of resources.

Thinking about it now, Gerentt, my grand prey, might have teamed up with me to do rescues and pass votes to hose Con Hon, our Tzimisce antagonist. We should not have give up in despair so quickly. I've said this before and I'll say it again, table talk is something I need to work on. Somehow, I became the bad guy as the prey of two malkavian decks. Instead of defiance, a little patience and creativity could have possibly helped me win the day.

All this has me thinking, is self-ousting just an indicator that you are playing poorly? I wouldn't say that this covers all cases, but it seems entirely unproductive in that it wastes a crucial opportunity to learn to dig yourself out of a hole. Maybe part if the problem is your deck. With some deck modifications, how would you handle whatever just crushed you? Clearly, flailing doesn't accomplish anything immediate other than some hard feelings on the part of other people at the table who may be enjoying the game. I'll consider that next time I think about daring someone to AI my key minion.

Side-note, I'm really enjoying John Eno's write-up of the Origins tournaments. Check it out!

82: Expect some bleeding

2010-06-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

I think I'll borrow a page from Stefan's book and make some predictions for our last VTES storyline event for Battle Lines this Sunday. A few things to factor in:

1) I'll have a barbecue the night before and getting an early start to have some extra time at Andy's house before the event. If it's a late night with a lot of beer involved, that could affect me ;)

2) There have already been two storyline events in the area, so there is some serious metagaming to consider. Voting might be considered the outside track to victory since there should be little competition. The Kiasyd have a couple titled vampires and dominate, making them the strong choice for a vote deck. Villein is strong as ever, even stronger, really, because of Lilith's Blessing. I'm expecting to see a lot of free vampires. The only allies I've seen are Shambling Hordes and Reanimated Corpses, so I'm not sure if they need to be dealt with too seriously.

3) The results so far are such that the Bahari *will* win as I predicted from the beginning. Guide and Mentor is interesting, but just not a match for Lilith's Blessing. Baali are leading by a good amount, but their victory isn't guaranteed. Having the infernal penalty not apply to *only* Bahari decks seems like a ploy to cinch the storyline. Kiasyd are not too far behind, but are divided. I really want to see Nagaraja get some more wins so that they can hopefully get a good clan card or an extra crypt card.

I won't post a decklist before the event for a couple reasons. The main one is that I don't want to spoil it. A second is that I don't have the cards and don't know for sure which of two decks I'll play. I'll let you all know how it goes next week!

81: The Saddest Game of VTES Ever

2010-06-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

We met up at Andy and Eric's place for some VTES on Sunday. Somehow 3 games is not enough and 4 is slightly too much.

Game one I played an ANI DOM PRO tap and bleed deck and swept the table. Andy, my first prey, was playing an ANI PRE Guruhi tap and bleed using the same mechanic(Deep Song rush + S:CE and untap), but mine was better ;). I bled him for 14 between Stanislava and Ingrid Rossler, taking his last 3 pool with a Conditioning on a dominate skill-carded Rossler.

Game two I played dom pre princes with Lilith's Blessing and Third Tradition to use some Presence skill cards. My biggest mistake was bleeding for 4 with Epikasta when I thought Andy probably had an Archon Investigation. I guess I figured I'd bleed for more than 3 multiple times, but it didn't work out that way and I ousted him that turn anyway. In the endgame, Jeff Yin was able to stop me and hold the edge with his dom for pro !Gangrel, Ventrue and !Ventrue for the tie.

Game three, The Saddest Game of VTES Ever, started as inauspiciously as the first.
Me(Malk/!Malk bleed/vote)> Ian(Salubri fuck people (not their prey))> Jeff (Dragos Illusions of the Kindred)> Andy (Baali of the bloat)> Eric(Salout bleed)

In game one, my first turn Info Highway was Suddened. In game three, my Legendary Vampire was suddened. I think it was around this point that Andy put on some instrumental music from a war movie and I coined the phrase, "Saddest game of VTES ever." Anything I tried to do was thwarted and injustice reined. Some (mostly) low points:

-Ian's Anarch Convert bleeds successfully at least three times.
-My Heart of the City gets blocked because there is no stealth to be found.
-Salout costs Eric 3 extra pool because Ian is sporting a Salubri. Eric somehow forgets about this and influences out another Salubri for an additional 6 pool of scarce penalty silliness.
-Andy blocks with Cybelle and has to pay the infernal penalty(oh no!)
-Everyone is helpless to do anything about Andy getting the Great Beast(DAI OBF THA)
-Eric's Salout Unburdens the Beastial Soul, influences out his 2nd(the table's 3rd) Salubri and gets himself ousted the next turn
-Alicia(my only minion) gets blocked by Ian Calling someone with Dementation.
-Ian steals Alicia with Ailing Spirit and steals her 2 blood with Heidelberg
-Eric washes Andy's Kaymakli Nighmares while I have 12 pool in my uncontrolled region(bad transfers) and I thank him right before Andy ousts him.
-Andy Tends down twice and uses Kaymakli Fragment to get an almost entirely free Cybele after the first became a Great Beast and a Nergel.
-Ian steals my untapped Lutz, tries(and fails) to bleed Jeff, and drains Lutz of his last 5 blood.
-Andy, at 22 pool and 29 pool worth of vampires plus Parthenon, Mylan, Unleash Hell's Fury and Info Highway, plays Coven, Cavalier, and his third Asher Tablet(Suddened) only to play another and gain 3 more pool plus I Am Legion in hand.
-I am defenseless, even with 3 bleed reduction cards in hand, thanks to having my minion tapped/drained.
-Next turn, Andy Asher Tablets x3, the turn after he Tends the Flock x3.
-Once Andy ousts me, Ian and Jeff concede.

Game 4
Me(aus anarch wall)> Eric(Salubri)> Jeff(weenie disciplineless rush feat madness network)> Ian(!Nos)> Andy(Guruhi from game one)

I learned that if you see a Muddled Vampire Hunter equip with Light Intensifying Goggles, you must Eagle's Sight block him. I'm not crazy about playing wall decks, but had fun with the combat side of my intercept deck. WWS + Target Vitals + Pulled Fangs + Taste ftw! Jeff 4vp me 1 vp

I have never seen so many suddens/washes in a day. I must have had 4 masters canceled at least, something I find a bit frustrating. At least my first two decks made a strong showing. Now I know Dream World sucks unless you have a way of not getting blocked in *any* of your subsequent bleeds.

On a side-note, I'll have a post for Stephen's Beer and Jyhad blog soon. I was concerned that my beer wasn't going to turn out, but a little over a week in it seems to have mellowed out. More on that later!

80: OBF PRE bleed

2010-06-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Things are going to get busy for me for a while, but I'll post up a deck that is stealth bleed with some block fails and interesting tech. I mentioned it in the previous thread, so why not?

1x Ogwon 7 OBF PRE burns a blood from younger vamp if they fail to block
1x Isouda de Blaise 7 OBF PRE can burn the edge to untap during discard
2x Renenet 5 OBF PRE
2x Herbert Westin 5 OBF PRE
2x Raphael Catarari 5 OBF PRE +1 bleed, tricky to untap
1x Sisocharis 4 obf pre
1x Axel von Anders 5 PRE obf
2x Anarch Convert 1 (crypt thinner)

Library: 62
Master: 11
3x Blood Doll
Two Wrongs
barrens
coven
Archon Investigation
Direct Intervention
Fragment of the Book of Nod
misdirection
dummy corporation

Actions: 16
2x Propaganda
7x Public Trust
5x Enchant Kindred
Entrancement
Conceal

Action Modifiers: 24
6x Lost in Crowds
4x Faceless Night
3x Spying Mission
4x Elder Impersonation
6x True Love's Face
4x Aire of Elation

Combo: 3
Hide the Mind
2x Swallowed by the Night

Combat: 4
2x Staredown
2x Unholy Penance

Reactions: 3
On the Qui Vive
Delaying Tactics
Confusion of the Eye

Events: 1
Narrow Minds

This is a pretty bare-bones stealth bleed deck with a healthy dose of block fails and the most potent/useful stealth cards. 5-caps + Public Trust = Fun!

79: DOM NEC Powerbleed

2010-05-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

Dominate + Necromancy powerbleed proved to be the favorite in my latest poll with 8/22 votes. There were several who selected "other" and I wonder what they would have picked.

A giovanni powerbleed deck I made recently was something like this:

2x Giovanni del Georgio 8 DOM NEC POT PRO hunt special
2x Diego Giovanni 8 CHI DOM NEC POT ani can burn a location as a D action for 2 blood
1x Gualtiero Ghiberti 7 DOM NEC cel pot tha
2x Don Michael Antonio Giovanni 7 DOM NEC POT 2 votes, can't press to end or S:CE. +1 str after first round
2x Raphaela Giovanni 6 DOM NEC pot
1x Accorri Giovanni 6 DOM POT ani nec
1x Gianmaria Giovanni 5 POT dom nec obt
1x Primo Giovanni 4 dom nec pot

Library: 65 cards

Master: 10
2x Anarch Troublemaker
3x Blood Doll
1x Barrens
2x Pentex Subversion
1x Contingency Planning
1x Misdirection

Actions: 12
8x Govern the Unaligned
2x Slaughtering the Herd
2x Sudario Refraction

Action Modifiers: 22
6x Conditioning
2x Bonding
2x Command of the Beast
6x Call of the Hungry Dead
6x Seduction

Combo: 6
2x Murmur of the False Will
4x Spectral Divination

Reactions: 10
4x On the Qui Vive
5x Deflection
1x Delaying Tactics

Combat: 5
2x Immortal Grapple
2x Torn Signpost
1x Autonomic Mastery

Spiritual Intervention hasn't been printed since Tenth Edition, not in a significant quantity since Dark Sovereigns. As a result, group 4/5 necro powerbleed is bruise/bleedy for newish(by VTES standards) players. There is a certain amount of surprise that goes with being punched for 3 twice with a powerbleed deck between TS and IG or 3/4 with Don Michael. Autonomic Mastery works like an inferior Spiritual Intervention, but gives the option to burn an ally(which can be pesky for a deck like this). There are a couple of good specials to note. First, Giovanni Del Georgio can use his special to gain three blood and refuel even when empty. In the process, he can burn cards that your prey may want to recycle. Second, Diego can burn a location. Finally, Don Michael has that 2nd round +1 strength and 2 votes.

As for chaining down the Governs, everyone 6 cap and above has DOM. there are 4 8-caps, 3 7-caps and 3 6-caps. Below them, there are two smaller Giovanni to rescue, bounce, or bleed opportunistically. This iteration is somewhat likely to jam on masters. The first one to go would be Contingency Planning, even though it's kind of fun, because it is a card you have to be in a specific situation to make use of. It could be made into a Wider View to chain down properly if need be. I've had the blood dolls keep either me or my Giovanni going plenty of times, so they stay in.

On a more general note, it seems like there is something of a fine line between tap&bleed and powerbleed. Both typically employ Anarch Troublemaker, Misdirection and/or Pentex Subversion and often use Presence and/or Dominate. It seems like there are more cross-over abilities between disciplines, so it may be more an issue of emphasis. If there is one thing that separates tap&bleed and powerbleed for me it is "block fails." Tap&bleed decks use more things like Mind Numb, Change of Target, etc to draw out wakes or lower defenses in general. Robert Scythe used a PRE tap & bleed deck to win the first tournament at our qualifier weekend in Berkeley. His deck can be found here:

http://www.thelasombra.com/decks/twd.htm#2010mtidbc1

It focuses on only one discipline, so the vampire capacities are low(5 and under). Pure dominate decks are limited in combat options, but can boast a similarly low average capacity. If you add fortitude, you can use Daring the Dawn for the coup de gras. DOM PRO powerbleed decks are the ones I find most alluring because of their superior combat. Form of Mist, Earth Meld, and Rapid Change are some of the best combat cards in the game and they all belong to Protean. "Slippery bleeds," bleeds continued through Form of Mist after being blocked, are tactically very strong because they often tap the blocker and then continue the bleed at stealth(requiring more resources to defend). I'm eager to make some of the new "block fails" and block denial tech work, like Virtuosa, Heart's Desire and Blood Awakening. I also have yet to really use Approximation of Loyalty. Every time I think about including it in a deck, I think hard about the restrictions and put it back in the box. Maybe one day....

78: Toreador Control Deck

2010-05-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

Anneke is the classic toreador to play for a control deck. For group 4/5, I think that Montecalme could be it. Let's see....

4x Montecalme 10 AUS CEL DOM PRE obt Justicar can call a vote to burn a location
3x Epikasta 8 AUS DOM PRE cel Prince can recycle action cards back into the deck
1x Kateline Nadasty 7 AUS CEL PRE can burn a blood to force a non-acting vamp to abstain
1x Vasiliy 6 CEL aus pre ser Prince
1x Bethany Ray 4 PRE aus Tor/!Tor get +1 bleed vs you
1x Thomas De Lutrius 4 aus cel pre primogen, burn a pool if he goes to torpor
1x Tyler McGill 4 AUS pre vote special, can't block Nos

Master: 14
5x Blood Doll
2x Wider View
2x Information Highway
1x Art Museum
1x Fame
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Metro Underground

Actions: 4
4x Govern the Unaligned

Political Actions: 3
1x Consanguineous Boon
2x Parity Shift

Equipment: 8
1x Bowl of Convergence
6x .44 Magnum
1x Ivory Bow

Action Modifiers: 3
1x Awe
2x Aire of Elation

Combo: 4
2x Scalpel Tongue
2x Resist the Earth's Grasp

Reactions: 28
2x Obedience
5x Eyes of Argus
4x On the Qui Vive
2x Forced Awakening
2x Second Tradition Domain
4x Eagle's Sight
2x Enhanced Senses
3x Quicken Sight
1x Precognition
3x Telepathic Misdirection
1x My Enemy's Enemy

Combat: 25
2x Aura Reading
6x Concealed Weapon
4x Pursuit
4x Psyche
2x Torrent
2x Sideslip
5x Taste of Vitae

Montecalm as a built in ability to burn locations as a vote. He's a Justicar, so he has a fair chance of being able to pull that off. Both he and Epikasta had DOM and everyone else is younger than them. Get where I'm going with this? Epikasta can get two uses out of every Govern(at least potentially because it goes back to your library), so the two of them make a good team.

Wider View and Torrent are some new tech to help get a big enough variety of minions in your uncontrolled region and to get key actions through. As usual, this type of deck relies on big minions and could fall to a very aggressive predator(read: Vignes, DOM NEC, weenie bleed, etc). It's better in concept than in reality, but it could be fun.

My weenie AUS deck is better for controlling vampires and much cheaper. The combination of precognition, zip guns, weighted walking stick, target vitals and pulled fangs is fun and shouldn't be underestimated.

77: Stanislava gets responsible

2010-05-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

What if Stanislava could bleed more responsibly? Sure, she can keep stealth low with Form of Mist, but you still end up bleeding at stealth. How about this:

4x Stanislava 11 ANI CEL DOM FOR PRO IC member allies can't block her +2 bleed
2x Ingrid Rossler 9 ANI FOR PRO dom Prince +2 transfers
1x Faruq 8 ANI PRO dom for pot
2x Iliana 7 DOM FOR PRO
1x Caitlin 6 ANI PRO aus dom bishop
1x Daliyah 4 PRO obf
1x Chandler Hungerford 3 PRO

Library: 90 cards

Master: 17(6 trifles)
2x Dominate
3x Pentex Subversion
2x Anarch Troublemaker
3x Information Highway
4x Villein
2x Wash
1x Direct Intervention

Actions: 16
10x Govern the Unaligned
6x Deep Song

Action Modifiers: 26
12x Conditioning
7x Earth Control
1x Freak Drive
6x Seduction

Combat: 12
12x Earth Meld

Combo: 4
4x Rapid Change

Reactions: 14
7x Deflection
4x On the Qui Vive
2x WWEF
1x Obedience

Events: 1
1x Scourge of the Enochians

This is, of course, a rip-off of Singing in the Ground, a deck by Randal Rudstam. Check it out on Extrala. I took it up a notch with dominate because everything is better with dominate. Bleed at little or no stealth with the help of Pentex Subversion, Anarch Troublemaker, Seduction, and tapping vampires out the Deep Song + Earth Meld combo. If your prey has wake and bounce,get blocked and Earth Meld. Three vampires have no dominate. Only influence them out if you have a dominate skill card in hand or need a chump.

76: Exploding Settites

2010-05-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

I played a version of this deck a while ago and now that I have some new cards, it seems worth another try.

3x Neferu 9 OBF PRE SER THA dom nec 2 votes, vote special
1x Pentweret 9 OBF PRE SER aus for obe steal ally/weenie strike
1x Porphyrion 9 CHI OBF PRE SER for +1 stealth
1x Shemti 9 OBF POT PRE SER vic 1 vote, hurts bleeders when untapped
1x Amenophobis 7 OBF SER dom pre primogen, serpentis action special
1x Halim Bey 6 DOM SER obf tha mummy special
1x Ankh-sen-Sutekh 6 PRE SER obf +1 bleed
1x Zhenga 5 SER obf pre
1x Sahira Siraj 4 obf ser tha
1x Ahmrose Chambers 3 obf ser

Library: 80 cards

Master: 19(6 trifles)
2x Khobar Towers, Al-Khubar
1x Opium Den
6x Villein
5x Eternals of Sirius, The
1x Giant's Blood
1x Lilith's Blessing
1x Dominate
2x Dreams of the Sphinx

Actions: 15
10x Eternal Mask
2x Mesu Bedshet
2x Revelation of Ecstacy
1x Enticement

Political Actions: 1
1x Ancient Influence

Action Modifiers: 27
8x Truth of a Thousand Lies ("snake drive")
8x Revelation of Desire
7x Lost in Crowds
2x Spying Mission
2x Faceless Night
2x Elder Impersonation

Combo: 4
4x Swallowed by the Night

Combat: 4
4x Tongue of the Serpent

Reactions: 8
4x On the Qui Vive
4x Redirection
1x Poison Pill

This deck tries to get vampires for cheap taking advantage of Eternals of Sirius, then cash them in via Villein and Khobar Towers. If you burn due to Archon Investigation, someone with SER can bring you back.

The deck can be stripped down to 70 cards or less if you take out reactions, combat the Lilith's Blessing Module(blessing plus a useful skill card) and dreams, which is how I ran it before. Another thing I did with the other version was to use Porpherion and Pentweret's fortitude to burn them, then bring them back to bleed again with some SER weenie. Is there any big advantage to that? Maybe not, but it's fun. You bring them back, bleed, khobar tower the youngin, then khobar the big vampire. Buy fresh new vampires with your reclaimed pool.

Both versions of the deck can run short on transfers, so Mesu Bedshet can be a good way to bring out a supporting cast. The tricky part about playing with Mesu Bedshet is that you will often draw it at the wrong time. Planning to oust this turn? I bet you wish that Bedshet was a bleed modifier! I may just have to turn them into some Public Trust or something.

75: Game Report for 5/16

2010-05-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

We met at Andy's place again yesterday for a few games of VTES. Michael and Gerentt were not able to make it, but we had 4-5 player games anyway.

Game 1:
Me(KS trick deck)> Eric(dom obf bleed)> Ian(Dragos illusions of the kindred)> Andy(Samedi enticement)

I was playing a !malk/malk deck that uses a good amount of cycling, Curse of Nitocris, Vessel/Villein and Lilith's Blessing. It's a concept deck where I try to take blood off my guys, blow up blood dolls, and gain blood/pool back via KS and Lilith's Blessing. Curse of Nitocris helps by causing additional pool damage. This would have worked like a charm if I didn't screw it all up with a simple mistake: I forgot to move Curse of Nitocris on my first bleed when I was set to oust!

Eric bled Ian a lot and usually didn't get into combat(never?). Ian blocked/was blocked and got into combat with Andy and myself, knocking some blood off of us(especially Andy). I very much resented having three blood taking off of my guy, especially that Ian was "cycling" and played Drawing out the Beast at ANI instead of ani, plus Crows at inferior. The next time he tried to block my bounced bleed, I just stealthed by and Spying Missioned.

Andy got the Book of Going Forth by Night on the three cap with THN, followed by a solid Samedi, then he started doing the bleed, Entice, Off Kilter dance. This did more pool damage than I was expecting, but I was able to reduce some of his bleeds with Wrong and Crosswise. I even bounced bleed with Drucilla when she made an appearance, but it was just because the minion doing it had a Spying Mission. On my turn I placed Curse of Nitocris on myself, dug for Lilith's Blessing with Sibyl's Tongue, then bled and was bounced to Ian. I stealthed through and let the Spying mission go off, figuring I would get him next. I bled again. At that point, I realized my mistake of not moving the Curse and leaving Eric AT ONE POOL! Gah! The next turn, Eric ousted Ian and swept the table shortly.

Andy and I played some interesting decks that could probably use some tweeking, but both at least decent. I'd expect to see both again.

Game 2:
Me(Spell of life)> Eric(Salubri original)> Ian(Kiasyd)> Jeff(Horde)> AJ(Vote)

My deck was slow as usual. I brought out a Sahira right away because I had a Spell of Life in hand. It took Eric a while to bring anyone out, so I bled him for one when I ran out of Spells temporarily. Jeff and Ian fought some, leaving someone in torpor and some empty. Once Eric had out Salout, he started doing Spirit Marionnette at basic to bleed/tap Ian. He locked down one of Ian's guys with some annoying card, leaving Ian basically to defend and take blood from his guys. I had to bring out Ossian to block AJ's Conservative Agitations, along with the Unmasking via Fortschritt Library. Of course I forgot to play Unmasking that turn, like an idiot.

By the time my Spell went off, AJ and Ian had died to bleeds. I had out Nephren-Ka, Qetu, Ossian, Sahira and Black Lotus and was down to five pool. Ossian + Nephren had already knocked out a famed Eurayle, which was eaten by a Horde. I played Dragonbound the turn I famed Eurayle, turning the heat up at the table a bit. Mummies aplenty rushed Salout and Hordes, then bled Eric out. Had he survived somehow, I had a Redirection and On the Qui Vive in hand for the one remaining ready Horde to oust Eric. Mummies spelled the end for this game. Muahahah!

Game 3:
Me(Trem dial a deck)> AJ(Vote)> Ian(aus cel dem obf pre permanents)> Eric(dom obf bleed)> Jeff(Guardians of Rush)

I got an annoyingly slow start because I got info highway on turn 2 after splitting my 4 transfers between Gabrielle and a 6-cap. Jeff monkey wrench bled be for 3 before I had a minion. AJ accomplished virtually nothing this game. Ian or I blocked all of his Conservative Agitations. Ian had an Assault Rifle and a .44 on a couple of his minions, so hit blocks hurt. Eric bled Jeff steadily, so he only brought out Pariah and Ox. Ox got 2x Guardian Angel and started trying to block bleeds(but mostly failing. Eric had made the mistake of not playing Elder Impersonation at superior in game 1 and did it again in this game. I scolded him thoroughly. He did bleed responsibly in game one by using Spying Missions on Andy when he was bounced at stealth, but he had no such obstacles against the Guardians of Rush.

I the play of the day, Jeff Famed one of Eric's guys, used Villein to not tap Pariah(?!), then rushed using Pariah's ability only to go to long with a gate at basic. He would have done 1 damage, but Eric decided to end combat.

Eric ousted Jeff, I used the wakes, Cat's Guidence, and Obedience I had stocked up to shut Eric down(partly due to my successfully contesting the Bowl with Ian). AJ fell shortly. Ian tried to use Eric to bleed me, but Eric was effectively locked down. There were some tense exchanges, especially once Ian put a Soul Painting on Gabrielle, but I managed to Alastor a Helicopter(would have gone for the AK, but it was in my hand) and then equip someone else with an AK. Ian disrupted my Villein/Giant's Blood combo by washing my Giant's blood, but I expected such shenanigans and left a blood on Gabrielle for that very reason. Gabielle stole two blood from Ozmo, gaining a total of three because she was Perfect and putting her out of assault rifle death range.

I drew into my 1x Canine Hordes and Gabrielle blew up a .44. I had intended to blow up the Assault Rifle, but Ian blocked with the wrong guy. There was some AK/Assault Rifle battling until I out-actioned Ian when he was at 3 pool. I tested to see if he had any Wakes left by diablarizing a 5-cap, then bled for three with Govern for the win.

What did I learn?
Pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION when you are playing Curse of Nitocris. Also, I'm thinking I should call out my phases to make sure I mentally check for anything I can do. I could have really screwed myself by not playing the Unmasking earlier with the Spell of Life deck, but I lucked out. Obedience and Cat's Guidance are both tricky cards that require close attention. I missed one Cat's Guidance opportunity and was bled for 3-5 because of it. My Tremere deck is painfully slow sometimes, I'll have to see about tweaking it. Fortunately, all of the cards in it are good, so I don't feel the need to discard every turn. The Kindred Spirits trick deck needs some crypt adjustments, too. Having DEM is more important than being able to bounce.

74: Scourge of the Enochians

2010-05-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

Out of 29 people who responded to the poll question "How many of your decks feature Scourge of the Enochians," 8 people don't own a copy vs 21 who do. Of those who do own a copy of Scourge, more than half(13) don't use it at all. Some use it in a few decks(6), where very few use it about half of the time or more. This isn't what I expected at all, really. Here's the card text:

Scourge of the Enochians
Event
During your discard phase, you may burn a vampire of capacity 2 or less, and your predator takes control of this card (even if you do not burn a vampire).

If you are playing a weenie deck, it is like being gutshot to have this card floating around. Gradually, your vampires disappear and there is nothing you can do about it but beg other players to not use it on their turn. If you're playing a star deck that needs weenies for support, you would have to spend 1 or 2 more pool or risk having them burn.

In the tournaments at Berkeley, Scourge showed up about three times in seven tournament games. Those are bad odds for weenies!

Is Scourge a game ender? Not always. If people don't play it in your area, take advantage of that either by playing weenies or starting to play Scourge yourself ;) For me, add Scourge of the Enochians to the list of those key deck building concerns with No Secrets, Pentex Subversion, and hardcore S&B. Like it or not, it's out there. That and the Nictuku. Beware....

73: Hey look, an anarch deck

2010-05-10T10:03:00.001-07:00

I've had a lot of deck building ideas lately. Many of these die in the cradle, we'll see how this latest one does.

Concept: Ariadne Abactor/Singing in the Dirt fusion with bonus cards.

Orian Gissler aka "TCC Master" created the Ariadne Abactor deck with Renegade Garou on his blog as part of explaining how he explores a deck concept. I followed his blog while it was still active because he had a lot of useful advice for other VTES players, plus a winning record so that(hopefully) people listened. He was writing in 2009 before Villein was printed in fixed rarity and he included a lot of Vessel to take the blood back. Even when you have to pay 2 or 3 pool to drain the blood to your pool, I think Villein has some advantages. As we proclaimed in Berkeley, Minion Tap is dead, so that's out.

Randal Rudstam played a deck at the Swedish ECQ this year and it was posted on Extrala called "Singing in the Dirt," where ANI PRO vampires rush(and tap) vampires controlled by your prey, then Earth Meld and bleed. I think that the deck is very creative, so I've been trying to find a way to use that strategy.

Ian Lee plays in our local play group and has talked a little bit about card advantage. He's said that it is a big deal in MtG, but not as much in VTES. One thing that I think he mentioned lately is how Lilith's Blessing gives a big, permanent advantage to the Bahari in the storyline. I was very impressed with how effective the Villein/Lilith's Blessing combo worked, so maybe I can fit it in here, too. Nothing like a challenging deck, right?

4x Ariadne 8 ANI FOR PRO chi not burned by blood hunt, +1 blood when hunting
1x Talbot 7 ANI NEC PRO for built in rush
1x Ryder 7 FOR PRO ani pot peak at opponent's hand, +1 intercept vs D actions
1x Jacob Fermor 5 PRO ani tha your garou get +1 bleed, optional press
1x Gunnar 4 PRO for
1x Lillian 3 ani pro
3x Anarch Convert

Library: 81 cards

Master 18(7 trifles)
7x Villein
Lilith's Blessing
Anarch Free Press
Seattle Committee
Backways
Anarch Railroad
Club Illusion
Perfectionist
Archon Investigation
Direct Intervention
Dreams of the Sphinx
Animalism

Actions: 15
8x Abactor
6x Deep Song
1x Shattering

Allies/Retainers: 4
2x Renegade Garou(All I own, unfortunately. This deck is less about them, but they are useful.)
2x Raven Spy

Equipment: 2
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers

Action Modifiers: 11
6x Earth Control
5x Freak Drive

Combo: 1
Rapid Change

Combat: 16
12x Earth Meld
4x Form of Mist
2x Claws of the Dead

Reactions: 12
2x Delaying Tactics
4x On the Qui Vive
2x Wake with the Evening's Freshness
4x Cat's Guidance

Events: 2
Narrow Minds
Scourge of the Enochians

What's advantageous to this more toolboxy version? Higher defense in the form of permacept, delaying tactics. Bleed power from Deep Song, Codex and, most importantly, Club Illusion. Plop that sucker on the table and watch your prey freak out. Lilith's Blessing gives an interesting angle to the deck, offering you the opportunity to Villein even the small caps to zero, then use an MPA to give them 3 blood. I'll call it maybe Tier 2 for now, we'll see how it actually does.

72: Old Dogs Learn New Tricks

2010-05-07T16:21:00.001-07:00

I really like the old school Ventrue. The new midcaps and many larger vampires are missing PRE, which makes it quite a bit more difficult to multi-act. This deck is a version of the one I played in Vegas, updated a bit because I have some new cards. It's obviously master heavy and may need more wakes/deflections to stay alive against an aggressive predator. Most of the high caps are +1 bleeders, so you can consistently bleed and vote. Against DOM defenders, vote first, then bleed to get them to tap out blocking if you can. Against AUS, wear them out of wakes by bleeding at no stealth with your minions and playing Majesty(or Freak Drive at FOR), then bleed.

Previous versions had the 2x Force of Personality as Majesty, this change is to get around allies. In my local meta, I'd leave it as Majesty, in a big tournaments I'd change it. If I relied less on my master cards, I'd play Lilith's Blessing for if/when my guys run out of blood. I ran Procurer in the version I played in Vegas, which I'm not completely sure about.

4x Democritus 10 DOM PRE aus cel for Justicar +1 bleed, hurts more to contest
2x Helena Casimir 9 DOM POT PRE cel for Primogen +1 bleed
2x Natasha Volfcheck 9 FOR PRE cel dom pot Primogen +1 bleed, +1 stealth on political actions
1x Wilhelm Waldburg 9 DOM FOR PRE aus cel Prince
1x Emerson Bridges 8 DOM FOR PRE pot Prince
1x Sir Walter Nash 7 DOM FOR PRE
1x Melissa Barton 5 cel dom for pre gains a blood when the edge is burned for vote

75 card version

Master: 18(8 trifles)
6x Villein
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda
1x Ventrue Headquarters
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Monastery of Shadows(expensive, but the stealth could be awesome)
2x Perfectionist
1x Barrens
1x House of Sorrow
2x Wash

Actions: 8
5x Enchant Kindred
2x Scouting Mission
1x Entrancement

Political Actions: 7
3x Kine Resources Contested
1x Banishment
1x Parity Shift
1x Ancient Influence
1x Political Stranglehold

Action Modifiers 15
6x Forced March
4x Freak Drive
4x Seduction
1x Perfect Paragon

Combo: 4
4x Scalpel Tongue

Reactions: 13
7x Deflection
4x On the Qui Vive
2x 2nd Tradition

Combat: 10
8x Majesty
2x Force of Personality

71: Tremere

2010-05-07T09:19:00.001-07:00

I just had a poll asking people what their favorite Camarilla clan was. Tremere won by a couple votes, so this is a good opportunity to write about them.

I'm warming up to the combat card Theft of Vitae.

Theft of Vitae
Combat
[tha] Strike: ranged. Steal 1 blood.
[THA] Strike: ranged. Steal 2 blood.

This card has a few positive features.
-First, it is free. Many combat cards are not free, so this automatically has an advantage in that your minion can be empty when using it.
-Second, it can be used to protect your minion from damage in a way. If your minions don't start at full blood, you have a buffer of up to two blood before you start having to worry about how much damage you are taking.
-Third, it depletes the opposing minion's blood at no real cost to you. In order for a potence hand strike to effect someone at long range, for example, they have to play Slam at POT at the cost of one blood. Theft is good at either close or long.
-Fourth, as I mentioned, it's usable at either range.
-Fifth, it can actually steal life, despite what it says.
-Sixth, it isn't damage, so it's not preventable.
-Finally, the blood gain can be used not only to protect your minion, but also to give you more pool via blood doll, vessel, villein, etc.

As I see it, it has a couple of draw-backs
-It doesn't inflict damage, so even if you "win" the rest of combat, they can pull your fangs or Disarm you
-It won't help you against aggravated damage
-Immortal Grapple is hardly worth mentioning, but it trumps Theft of Vitae(like many strikes)

Not only do Tremere have this awesome strike, they have Mirror Walk, Rutor's Hand, and Magic of the Smith. Their in-clan dominate and auspex are really good, too.

Here's one concept deck that's Tremere, and why not take advantage of Lilith's Blessing?:

4-6 capacity vampires with THA, possibly include some with tha and Chantry, the Codex of the Damned and Veneficorum Artum Sanguis(to get THA). Vessel helps regulate your blood and limit MPAs. Weenie bleed/block stuff. Cryptic Mission to suck up any extra bood(pool to you, soon enough).

Damned Witches

2x Sarah Cobbler 4 THA dom
2x Aisling 5 AUS THA dom
2x Hannigan 5 AUS THA dom
2x Merill Molitor 5 THA aus dom
1x Richard Tauber 4 AUS tha
1x Ignatius 4 aus dom tha
1x Thelonius 4 aus dom tha
1x Blythe 3 THA aus(She's such a good deal, I can't resist)

86 cards
Master: 16
7x Vessel
2x Wider View
1x KRCG
1x WMRH
2x Lilith's Blessing
1x Auspex
1x Arcane Library
1x Chantry

Actions 14
8x Rutor's Hand
6x Cryptic Mission

Action Modifiers 14
8x Mirror Walk
6x Conditoning

Equipment 3
Codex of the Damned
Veneficorum Artum Sanguis
Bowl of Convergence

Reactions 21
1x Eagle's Sight
2x Enhanced Senses
2x Spirit's Touch
4x Eyes of Argus
2x Precognition
4x On the Qui Vive
2x My Enemy's Enemy
4x Telepathic Misdirection

Combat 18
10x Theft of Vitae
6x Apportation
2x Weather Control(great against Carlton, retainers, or to finish some dude off)

There's a lot Tremere can do, no need to be stuck in the Carna rutt.

70: San Francisco Bay Area Qualifier Tournament Report

2010-05-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was one giant VTES blur for me. Saturday was the day of the Qualifier and another tournament, then there was the storyline Sunday. I didn't make it into the finals for the Qualifier, but I did for the other two tournaments. Eight rounds of tournament play plus two pick-up games takes it's toll. That and hardly eating anything. Let's see what I can remember/pull from the ether of my two-day romp through dream time.

Tournament 1
Me(DOM/for bleed)> Michael Perry(weenie hax feat Psychic Veil)> Mike from LA(Daughters Shatter u good)> Robert Scythe(Mid/Low cap PRE tap and bleed)> Andy Haas(Bamba are the land)

As soon as Michael brought out Igo and some other dork, I knew what he was playing. He was the obvious table threat to begin with, but there were two other hardcore bleed decks that had yet to get started. Michael started bleeding Mike's daughters for 2-3 per minion with hacking + leverage and spent his 2nd or 3rd turn's transfers on paying one to see one after tapping out. Robert had not yet shown how powerful his deck was, but continued to bring guys out and do some bleeding/mind numbing. Mike was already on the ropes(doesn't take long against weenie hacking predator) and I asked Andy to help me oust Michael with a bleed for three that I would bounce. He did and defended some, sensing that Robert was getting ready to unleash the bleedzilla. Michael failed to block and hadn't influenced anybody out, so I followed with 2-3 hefty bleeds for a LOT.

Michael bled Mike for maybe 8 more and then Mike did a Shattering Crescendo to knock two of the weenie haxors in torpor. He may have even done it again that turn, I'm not sure. From this point I don't remember the exact sequence of turns, but Robert ousted Andy, I got Michael and Mike, then Robert out-bled me by like a turn for the Game-Win.

Our game ended at about the one hour point, so there was plenty of time for scouting and other things.

Round 2
Me> Jeff Poole?(nos/!nos with dom)> Robert Scythe> Oliver(anarch intercept combat)> Eric Schultheis(Black Cat Kpist)

I got out some dude to govern down with, then Jeff(I'm assuming it was him because I don't remember) brought out some big DOM !Nos with +1 strength and maybe intercept, too. Not wanting to bleed and only have it bounced, I asked Jeff if he would mind me governing down. He said he'd block it, so I Dominate Kine + seduction stole Eric's intercept location instead. The rest of the game, I offered intercept to people to block actions I didn't like.

I paid to bring out guys while Eric was tooling up and Robert was causing problems for Oliver. I had to play a careful balance of helping Oliver stay alive and making sure he couldn't beat me if I made it to him. I lent him intercept against something, then gave Eric intercept against Oliver's grabbing an ivory bow. When one of my bleeders went to torpor courtesy of +1 strength dude crows/batting me, Robert rescued him for me to keep his pred from bleeding him(and defending instead).

I managed to barely punch through Jeff when he brought out a third minion, then I took the rest of the table in order(unless maybe Robert got Oliver, I can't remember for sure).

Finals
Me(top seed)> Oliver> Robert> ?> Ian Lee(!Gangrel bleed and block)

I don't remember who was Ian's predator for some reason. I was top seed, so I got to choose where I wanted to sit. This was new for me. I usually get into the finals 3rd seed or lower and have to take what I can get. I chose to be Oliver's predator because I saw how much he struggled against Robert in the previous game. I figured that I'd just bleed him strongly in the beginning and then easily be able to tap/pentex/Seduce his remaining 1-2 minions. Oliver ended up putting up more of a fight than I had expected and so, out of ways to get my bleed through, I did a Daring the Dawn against a Woken minion. I was afraid of being bounced with a giant bleed, so I only bled for three with Jephta. Another mistake. Jephta went to torpor un-bounced. The next bleed was successful(I think) and was for a lot. I knew Jephta was going to be eaten, so I had to bring someone out(Ian was going to block rescue attempts from me with his !Gangrel). Did I mention that both Ian and Oliver had out +1 intercept guys as their first minion? Yeah, no fun.

I had Oliver on the ropes after the next turn(thought I might oust him), but was out of wakes(woo drawing into three deflections and no wakes or Daring the Dawn). I don't know if I was in a position to transfer to another guy, but I was close to dying from Ian's plinking away. Ian barely managed to oust me, making me the first to go. Robert probably denied me a vp by Mind Numbing one of my guys who would have bounced(and then he didn't untap either). My deck really needs DI. Robert won, probably with 4vps but I didn't watch the whole final.

Play of the tournament- Andy is on the last turn of the game where he bleeds a couple times, then has a Bamba equip with the Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers from one of his guys in torpor, Guruhi are the Land to untap, then bleeds for 4 or 5 for the oust. **Edge of the World for 4 extra pool** There was much rejoicing.

Tournament 2

Round 1:
Me(aus anarch wall)> Andy(Malk DEM S&B)> Jeff Poole(Great Beast w/Spiritus)> James Lin(Samat and FoS combat)

I started off the game with Anarch Revolt and a bleed for one to get the edge. I quickly had out a bunch of AUS/aus guys and started making them anarchs with Anarch Convert and Seattle Committee. Andy was taking a steady pinging, but bleeding Jeff regularly. James managed to equip with an Ivory bow, so when I couldn't block with precognition or a Leather Jacket, I just left that guy alone. I did block some 4 stealth tool up action, don't remember what.

Jeff got the Beast into play after getting a first turn Carver's, then proceeded to beat Andy to a pulp. He and I made a deal where Beast wouldn't cross-table me until I killed Andy, so at least I got 1vp. My dorks managed to survive alright with Zip Guns, Spirit's Touch, and a Fake Out, but Spiritus does have some maneuvers/presses so they went down and stayed down thanks to Carver's and Beast's seemingly unending stream of wakes/intercept. My kingdom for a Pentex!

James went down because he clearly had no bounce and I failed to draw a pentex, so I conceded with all my minions in torpor.

Round 2:
Me> Matt Wedge(Soul Scan for the Clan That Matches the Title in my Hand)> Andy> Robert Scythe(Ahrimanes bleed and block)> Ian(Hordes of Hordes)

With three weenie decks on the table, this game got silly fast. I blocked any attempt by Matt to gain pool and sent a fair amount of guys to torpor. He responded in kind, blocking by Ivory Bow or something. Ian bled me for one a lot and got free Hordes from Tend the Flock. I blocked most of the bleeds, but he was determined to grind me down. My superior combat of Zip Guns, Weighted Walking Sticks, Precognition, Taste, and Fake-Out helped me keep at least one blood on my guys.

Andy bled Robert steadily and Santalous used his special to cancel a KRCG that would have helped Robert get the crucial intercept he needed. Andy ousted Robert and then bled Ian a little, but decided to have him wear me down before going forward. At this point, I should have made a deal for a 1/4 split with Andy, but I didn't think of it until later. Towards the end of the game, it was clear that I wouldn't oust in time, so I stopped blocking Matt's Diversities. Ian went down and Andy got the game win, then time went out.

What an unfortunate match-up for Matt(because I blocked everything) and for me(because Matt didn't do anything to get within ousting range).

Finals
I didn't really watch the finals for the qualifier. I played a couple casual games and went home. Robert won the tournament for the 2nd win in one day. Good job, man!

Sunday

Storyline
Round 1:
Me(Samedi Bleed/Off Kilter)> Henri Flose(Salubri Spirit Marionette/bloat)> James Lin(Harbingers)> Brad Nozik(Baali bruise/bleed)

This game was one of the most interesting one I played all weekend. Brad brought out Barbaro first and proceeded to make the two minions I brought out infernal. This wouldn't have mattered, except that I was playing Guide and Mentor. I paid so much pool to keep untapping my guy, I felt truly sorry for regular Baali decks(except Cybele, she must die). Henri was having a hard time blocking my Samedi, so my trick was going off well. Then he brought out the one who can take an action to untap you and played villein/renewed vigor. I was lucky I had Heidelberg in play or he would have stolen all of my blood when he successfully Spirit Marionetted me.

James did some tooling up with a Serpentis skill card, Divine Sign, Lazarine Inquisitor, etc. He was going to put some funky card on one of Brad's guys that makes D actions cost one more, but I convinced him to put it on Henri's guy because it also prevented the minion from blocking undirected actions(i.e. Off Kilter). Henri was low on pool when James brought out a 3rd minion, so I did what I could to oust Henri and quickly ousted James the next turn. I couldn't play my reanimated corpses because Brad would steal them, so I just discarded them and bled for the sweep.

I was within lunge range for 2-3 turns, off and on, because of Brad's constant bleeding and the infernal penalty. Had it not been for James' Form of Corruption, I think Brad would have ousted me. Things being what they were, Brad slammed on the breaks and looked for non-bleed things to do(tool up, break the inquisitor). He was anticipating going up against Kiasyd, so he was sporting some cold iron. I never blocked him, so the only player he got into combat with was James.

Round 2:
Me> Ian Thompson(Samedi feat Harbingers allies)> Ira(Jack Dawson Dabbler + Keystone Kine)> Ian(Trujah control)

I heard when I sat down that Ian T. and Ira were both playing Samedi- three on one table! I quickly called "dibbs" on The Baron, despite the fact that he wasn't in my uncontrolled region. We all agreed to coordinate who influenced out who so that Samedi wouldn't get screwed. I influenced onto one of my other +1 bleeders in a way that made it look like I was going for a nine-cap. Ira and Ian were very surprized when I didn't bring out the Baron, but it was OK because the next turn I finally got and played a Coroner's Contact for him(re-claiming my "dibbs" ;P ).

It was really important for me to have my two +1 bleeders, plus I screwed over my prey, which is rarely a bad thing. I lied, not in a way that hands down won me the game and people's eternal hatred, but it was a smart tactical move from my perspective. Once my deck got started, it really didn't much matter what the other players did, so my deceit was rewarded by not leaving my opponents much of a way to retaliate in kind. Sorry, Ian.

Ian T. put up a really strong fight with his +1 intercept guy and never seemed to run out of bounce. I ended up bleeding Ira, sometimes at stealth, sometimes not, for 3-4 on multiple occasions. Ira was doing what he usually does, bloating a lot and tooling up to win in the last few minutes, so I didn't mind being his predator by proxy some of the time.

Ira was bleeding Ian for two and gaining a blood almost every turn, using the blood to untap via Dabbler, then playing Little Mountain Cemetary. At one point he must have had around 15 counters on his uncontrolled region, plus a bunch of pool he got from blood dolls. Ian T. wasn't doing much significant to Ira, so he had a free hand to attack Ian.

Ian did what he could with his Trujah, which became harder when Shalmath was Mistrusted by Ira. He brought out some other Trujah and Huitzilopochtli and spent his time playing outlandish cards to stay alive/bleed me(rewind time, anyone?).

I eventually wore the +1 intercept AUS guy out of blood from bouncing(plus he was tapped) and finished off Ian T. My timing was good because he just brought out a Shambling Hordes, who he surely would have rushed me with. Ira had a ton of pool, maybe 10-12 less thanks to my earlier bleeds, and a lot on his uncontrolled region. I bled him down to only a handful and then time ran out. I really wanted those other VPs, especially the next one ;).

Finals
Me(tied for 1st seed, lost coin flip)> Steve(Hordes)> Ira> Ian> Oliver(Kiasyd bleed/vote first seed)

First of all, Oliver did the best job I've seen of abusing the storyline rules. His deck had some titled Kiasyd, plus a bunch of others. He'd villein all of the blood off, do Lilith's Blessing to give them three blood, plus give them a skill card for whatever in-clan discipline they didn't have at superior. His pool gain was obscene, same with the number of minions he brought out.

I brought out the Baron, but not before Oliver had his Kiasyd Bishop become a cardinal. That vote sealed vote lock for the game, except where Ian could do Free States Rant. I next brought out a 5-cap because he was cheap, then bled/off kiltered a lot. I kept it at two minions so that I could have a game, which turned out to be a good idea. My AIs were totally wasted because Oliver never bled for more than 3, but he bled/voted/governed down a LOT.

Steve did some small bleeds into Ira, Ira bled Ian with Jack Dawson, Ian mostly just voted, but did the occasional bleed of one to get the edge for Free States Rant. At one point, Steve, Ira and I were all low on pool. If I got another turn, I would have ousted Steve, especially with Leverage in hand. I declined to do an off kilter for 1 pool, trying to save it for later when I'd get 2. There was no later ;(. Ian accidentally bled me for 3 at stealth either that turn or the turn before, then Oliver bled/voted me out, topping it off with a My Kin Against the World to have each minion do both. The rest of the players fell in order to Oliver's bleed/vote machine. ** I stand corrected. Oliver may have only ousted Steve and stopped at Ira before the game went to time **

One mistake I made that could have given me a VP was doing a second Spying Mission against Steve. I had an Off Kilter and a Freak Drive in hand. If I had let the bleed go through for three, I may or may not have been able to oust Steve the next turn, but I would have increased my chance of survival by doing the Off Kilter for two pool. Instead, I freak drived and stayed up, hoping to dig for a Delaying Tactics. I was uncertain about whether or not Oliver could oust me with the amount of pool I had. I did what I could to buffer it by buying a cheap second minion and Off Kiltering like a fiend, but it may have been one of those make or break moments.

Funniest deck this tournament is a tie between Brad's Barbaro deck and Ian's Trujah stay alive beyond all reason deck. I don't know how many silly cards Ian had in his deck, but he played a lot of them.

Another funny(maybe not so funny?) side note: The tournaments Saturday and Sunday were called "Minion Tap is Dead #1, 2 and 3." I didn't see a minion tap all weekend.

More on the tournament here:

http://iclee.wordpress.com/

Update

2010-05-03T16:03:00.001-07:00

I've got a lot to write about! The poll closed out and Tremere are the favorite, followed by Malks and Brujah. Tremere are a very interesting clan and their combat is a great asset. I'll have to write about my plans with Tremere soon, after I write up the tournaments from Saturday and Sunday. The tournament report will come out tomorrow or maybe Wednesday, depending. Stay tuned!

69: Wild Card Players

2010-04-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

There has been more than one occasion where I've found myself in the finals of a tournament when I maybe shouldn't have been. My first time, I was predator to Ian, then Ruben, then Russ, then Ira. I was playing a Ventrue vote/bleed deck with some cards I hadn't played before(i.e. Legendary Vampire and Political Flux) and I was very nervous to be at the same table with some of the best VTES players world-wide as a newb. As a result, I made plays that didn't make sense(i.e. play a flux for 12 with bleeding Vignes on the table) and made several mis-plays(i.e. timing on Legendary Vampire and forgetting Violette doesn't have fortitude).

The way I played in the finals had a serious impact on the game, more than just ensuring my defeat. Ruben was in a great spot with Russ as his prey playing a Daughters deck, then Ira was playing a superstar deck after that. The political flux should have been for 1, but I wanted to speed the game up in a way it really couldn't. Ruben picked up 12 pool really easily while Ira and I were arguing and then swept the rest of the table without much trouble.

What people do playing VTES, whether they mean to or not, has a big impact on the game. In the above example, I was too unfamiliar with the game and nervous to play well. Sometimes by being a big enough threat, people can have a similarly disruptive effect. The "wild card," through incompetence and/or aggressiveness, can shape the game.

Why do people play like this? For those who don't play well, it may be as simple as having never played their deck before. Pressures inside the game, such as a weenie or hardcore S&B predator, can push people to play too quickly, discard the wrong thing, forget things they want to play, etc. For the aggressive player, they may simply take the attitude, "this is what my deck does." Is that a metagame problem, a deck building problem, a lack of strategy? It's sometimes hard(or uncomfortable) to say. There may come situations where someone's best(or only) strategy is to push forward aggressively. In a recent tournament, I got an early oust and nearly got a second in the finals because I saw the threat my predator presented, realized I couldn't get undirected actions through, and pushed forward(plus he had bled be for 5 on turn 2).

If you make someone desperate, you may get them to behave rashly. Even playing certain kinds of decks may drive people to spite you. Imbued is the best example of this. In my experience, once imbued show up people start to attack/block them immediately. I can't say that I blame them, but it takes them away from enacting strategies that will make them win the game.

What can you do to limit or exploit the wild card factor in your games?
1) Play with bounce. So many people bleed badly that you should take their aggression(assuming it is your predator) and turn it to your advantage.
2) Table talk. Either turn a table against this great big threat or use them to accomplish what you want. You could even get people to prop up an player that won't last long because you know you can oust them later(and waste others' resources in the process).
3) Be careful how you interact with them. Hopefully they have sense enough to not spite those who don't deserve it when they find themselves in a lost position. Did you Sudden their key Villein? Did you diablarize their superstar? If so, look out!

There will be a few tournaments this weekend, so I'll have to see how big the wild card factor is in Berkeley these days.

68: Anniversary

2010-04-23T14:01:00.000-07:00

The 20th marked one year of blog postings for me. I'm feeling pretty good about how things are going for a few reasons:

1) I've pretty reliably written tournament reports, or at least the last few I've done. These reports have been referenced on the newsgroup, so they at least meet some basic threshold of quality.

2) There are now 14 followers on the blog, which reassures me that it's interesting.

3) The blog has evolved from being a bunch of wacky anarch decks to a mix of various things. I try to do tournament reports, casual game reports, some deck-building, strategy, reports on the vtes/game store scene, and some more artsy stuff like haiku.

There is room to grow on the blog. There are tools I'm not using, such as polls, that I could try out. I could do more detailed formatting and labeling for entries, like making a series of decks, strategy, etc. I really enjoy Extra's deck archetype section and would like to learn more about how to do things like that.

What do I want to do in the next year with VTES and this blog? I'd like to learn more about this rich, complex game and report on it here for one. I've come pretty far in understanding what will/won't work in VTES and how to play against certain adversaries(decks and players). I'd like to find some good comparisons between VTES and writings, movies and tv like I did with The Prince. I think that there is more room for conversation about VTES here and at in-person meetings. I'll try to incorporate these things and more into this blog over the next year.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Brandon

67: Imbued

2010-04-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

Weeks preparation
Go Information Highway
Stop at the Imbued

66: Carlton Van Wyk

2010-04-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Carlton has eyes on you
Prepare for his mighty "dodge"
He does not like crows

65: Games report 4/18

2010-04-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

Game One:
Me(aus anarchs)> Andy(Guruhi are the Land)> Ian(Baali)> Jeff(Samedi freak/kilter)

I locked down Andy really early with a turn 1 Anarch Revolt followed by 2 more and blocked all his attempts to go anarch. On top of that, Ian played Contagion to hose everyone. Jeff contested my Anarch Convert by bringing him out on turn one. I brought out Aleph and then converted him when I got the chance, but it cost me about 3 pool in the process. My Zip Gun/maneuver combat and blocking Andy's attempt at getting a Kerrie kept my from getting Brute Forced/Pushing the Limited. Any was ousted without me bleeding him once.

Ian proved a tougher prey, especially with his two anarchs(Sargon and Mary the Black). He spent some time contesting an Anarch Convert with Jeff, reduced his stealth with Condemnation: Doomed, Anarch Free Press, and some transient intercept. The Samedi proved hard to block, even for me. I fought with Ian some, pulled Sargon's fangs, and avoided being burned by Conflagrations. Ian contested my Constant Revolution(there was a lot of contesting this game), which I gave up after a couple turns. I drew another one, but never got the chance to play it. Jeff bled me down to one and Contagion finished me off. Jeff won the heads-up, even though he was down to no deck due to Constant Revolution.

Game Two:
Me(Trem dial o' deck)> Jeff(Guruhi feat Urraca)> Ian(!Trem)> Andy(Big Baali)

I got a good start with two transfers on Gabrielle and a Villein in hand. I brought out Gabrielle, who I took too much blood from, then Scouted down to Troius. Jeff brought out Urraca and I didn't have the intercept to catch her getting a raven spy, which created a lot of problems for me later. Come to think of it, I should have just stolen life from the stupid retainer. Andy blocked a Parity Shift and sent Gabrielle to torpor. She left torpor with several blood and a Forgotten Labyrinth in hand, which I got to save for later. The Great Beast was a thorn in my side until I drew into maneuvers and got an Alastor. No sooner did I get the Alastored AK-47 than Jeff blew it up with Canine Hordes.

Earlier, Andy was bounced to Ian via My Enemy's Enemy and he bled him for 5(intentionally). It slowed Ian down a lot, but he got out two Eternal Vigilances anyway and a Spirit Summoning Chamber. Andy was in a really good position until Annezir was punched into torpor by Troius and eaten by Nergel. Andy seemed to think that the Soul Gem would be set off, but Nergel was older and couldn't retrieve a skill card. Down two fatty Baali, Andy was hosed. He had out Unleash Hell's Fury and I didn't have enough spare actions to screw with him, so he was pretty much untouchable and crippled.

The game took a very long time to get to that point and I was finally in a decent position after putting Charnas on Urraca, plus I had out 4 minions and an Arcane Library. Andy's deck seemed to involve a lot of decision making, so his turns took 2-4x what anyone else's did. Everyone was playing big minions, so it took a while for things to get going, anyway.

The game was timing out and since I was one bleed short, I just played Political Stranglehold and we called it a game.

Game 3:
Me(OBF PRE bleed)> Ian(Lasombra nocturns & defense)> Andy(Malk bleed monster)> Jeff(AUS OBF pre/PRE soul painting)

Ian bled Andy a couple times for 1 and hit him with a Summon the Abyss. I brought out two OBF PRE minions and started bleeding. My defense was really low, relying mainly on Blood Doll, Dummy Corp, Confusion of the Eye, Delaying Tactics, DI and Vox Domini. There were no voters, so my ani-vote tech was wasted. I didn't draw more than one master card until I was nearly dead, then I got three in a row.

I bled out Ian and brought out Renenet (Sisocharis came earlier), plus I had Andy cycle through a bounce and another wake. Andy bled for five at stealth, which was bounced to me and I had to take. Andy bled again, this time for three, and was bounced at stealth. I reduced it by one, so I took two more. I chided him for bleeding irresponsibly as Jeff bled me out. Andy took the last two VPS for the game win.

What did I learn?
-Play fewer masters in my aus deck, but it's combat is solid, as are it's ousting mechanisms. Bleeding is not important to that deck.

-The Tremere deck could use some permanent bleed. Defense is really solid, if I can survive combat(usually I can). It could maybe use another Spirit's Touch or two because the Thefts would work better gaining two blood than one. Movement of the Mind stays in, as do Mirror Walk and the one Forgotten Labyrinth. Chantry might not be a terrible addition, but it also might.

-The OBF PRE bleed deck should play Two Wrongs since it's a total bleed sink. The stealth seemed reasonable, as did the amount of bleeding. I bled for 2-5, depending. Taking out two Unholy Penance was a good idea, I don't need to get into combat much, especially since I made them into more Faceless Night and Aire of Elation.

-It's always good to have a way to force the action. If I had some kind of table screw(or prey screw) card going in the Tremere deck, I could have sped things up enough. Maybe I should consider cards like Curse of Nitocris and Army of Rats. Smiling Jack creates such a table threat that I don't usually like it- people will cross-table me. Better to have something only mildly obnoxious and difficult to get rid of, then stick them with an ousting bleed when they're on the ropes.

64: How much do I hate No Secrets?

2010-04-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

Any time I think about making a deck that doesn't involve block denial, massive stealth, or reliable combat, I just think, "what if my prey plays No Secrets," and have to stop. 1-2 stealth just doesn't cut it against No Secrets.
Here are a few non-combat ways to get past it:
Pentex Subversion(accompanied by a "fuck you for making me play this sleaze")
Seduction
Elder Impersonation
Call of the Hungry Dead(you get the idea, "block fails")
Virtuosa
Kiss of Ra
Day Operation
Daring the Dawn
Horrific Countenance

The disciplines we mainly see represented here are dominate, obfuscate, necromancy and fortitude. The two cards left, other than Pentex, cost a lot of blood and are therefore somewhat unrealistic.

It's for this reason that I played the dom/for bleed deck I played in Vegas. I was lucky enough to not have the Imbued as my prey with that deck, which would result in more griping from me. I find it very frustrating to run into a deck where your delivery mechanisms(i.e. low stealth, multi-acting, lots of minions, tap and bleed) suddenly die.

63: Games from 4/4 and some conclusions

2010-04-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

We met up in Stanford this time and were able to get 4-5 player games. I'm not sure what's up with Jeff, he hasn't been to any games in a while.

Game 1:
Me(Trem dial o deck)> Gerentt(High cap Toreador)> Michael(AUS/CEL/THA)> Ian(Samedi bleed/off kilter)> Andy(Baali bleed/breed)

I was mildly concerned when Andy brought out Cybele and started tooling her up to turbo. I influenced Gabrielle and Magic of the Smithed her an AK-47 after using dreams to draw into Villein/Giant's Blood. The AK proved to be a somewhat effective deterrent against Andy when he wasn't confident in his stealth. He blew up Cybele to get a Beast and Nergel into play.

Ian got out the Baron and tooled up with a Camera Phone and Tasha Morgan, then did a combination of bleeding, moving equipment around, and playing Off Kilter, interspersed with Freak Drive. This put constant pressure on Andy, even getting him down to about 5 pool and limiting his ability to untap his infernal minions.

Gerentt brought out Alexandra who bled/voted some and basically survived by Majesty. He eventually got out Anneke and even a prince. I caught Anneke hunting and beat her into torpor towards the end game. Michael was doing a good job of throwing massive amounts of intercept at Ian, who I think managed to not get blocked once between Under my Skin, Lost in Crowds, Faceless Night, etc.

Gerentt got within ousting range of Michael, but had no way to deliver either a vote or a bleed without being blocked. I nearly ousted Gerentt, but he was saved by a Second Tradition after I was blocked once or twice before. Andy would have blown up his Ashur Tablets and ousted me just as time was running out, but I saw it coming and saved a Wash for when he tried.

We all got 1/2 vp, tied for first losers.

Game 2:
Me(CEL/pre Flurry)> Ian(aus obf pre soul painting)> Andy(Malk Bleed)> Michael(Daughters)> Gerentt(New Brujah)

Ian scared the crap out of me and Andy by equipping with an ak-47 early on, but he never really got to use it. He started giving Andy's minions Soul Paintings and I did a fair amount of bleed for 1 and untap. I was crippled early on by Gerentt's Parity Shift, given that my deck was pretty weak to begin with. I spent much of the rest of the game equipping with baseball bats and other junk, blocking Gerentt and sending in the occasional flurry bleed. Marguerite Foccart administered an unarmed beat down to a freshly minted Karen Suadela in round after round if fisticuffs.

This was easily the silliest game of the day, and that's saying something. There's something in the water in Stanford that makes people want to back-oust. After Andy bled Michael for 5, Michael called a Lily Prelude backwards that I unknowingly supported. Andy and I made a deal to oust Ian, who had done nothing but buy an AK and throw around Soul Paintings that that point. Andy bled backwards 2-3 times with Kindred Spirits, only to have one of his bleeds for about 5 bounced to Michael by Ian. Eventually, Andy was down to a handful of pool and was like "oh yeah, I'd better attack to the left," and swept the table.

Andy GW 5vp

Game 3:
Me(Trem again)> Michael(weenie hax)> Ian(!Nos guardians of rush)> Gerentt(Rachel Brandywine)

This game was very unstable to begin with. Michael laid down the weenie hacks at turn 2, but Ian brought out an Anarch Convert to get in the way, who soon got a Guardian Angel. As soon as I saw Rachel Brandywine I was like "oh crap." Basically, Ian and I were working frantically backwards against our predators. I didn't expect Ian to survive against the 1-2 cap haxorz, but he put them down quite well with Thrown Gates and Mighty Grapples. By the end of the game, Michael had brought out all of his crypt but 1 vampire, most of whom sat in torpor. My kingdom for a Dragonbound!

I played a Scourge of the Enochians towards the end of the game after trying to squeeze a deal out of Michael and failing. Gerentt landed a lot of bleeds against me and once he got a Perfectionist on Rachel and Madness Network out in addition to a Humonculus, there was no stopping him. At the end of the game, Ian was in a really bad spot. He could rush Gilbert Duane to leave Rachel alone and Pentexed, or he could sit back and defend his last couple pool against the weenie horde. Either way, he would not win. Gerentt ended up sweeping.

Things I learned:
-Play more Archon Investigation. It will discourage cheese bleed.
-Bring 3+ stealth or intercept and/or a healthy dose of "block fails"
-Murmur of the False Will sucks in this play group. Every predator I had was playing with 10-caps. Obedience barely worked, so it's on the watch list.

62: Making a deck from a limited card pool

2010-04-08T08:59:00.001-07:00

One thing that often comes up with new players or those who are many sets behind is that they only have a limited amount of cards to build decks with. Short of buying someone's collection, boxes of missed sets, or a whole lot of singles, they only have so much to work with. One example that came up recently on the newsgroup is a guy who played some with older sets, but most of his crypt cards were destroyed. Now the challenge: How do you build a votey-fighty deck from (almost) exclusively the following starters?

3rd edition
Tzimisce
!Brujah
!Malkavian

Lords of the Night
Assamite

Keepers of Tradition
Brujah
Malkavian
Ventrue
Toreador

Sabbat War
Tzimisce
Lasombra

Anarch
Gangrel

The most natural combination seems to be between the 3rd edition !Brujah and the KoT Brujah starters. The KoT Torry starter may have some good crypt/library cards, too.

Crypt:
Group 3-4 would be my suggestion, since all of the KoT starter vampires are group 4.

If we go with cel/pre, preferably with some votes, here's a sample crypt:

1x Reginald Moore 4 PRE primogen
2x Tomaine 6 CEL POT PRE primogen
1x Thomas de Lutrius 4 aus cel pre primogen
1x Sean Andrews 2 cel
1x Shawnda Dorrit CEL obt pot pre Priscus
1x Marcel de Breau 9 CEL POT PRE ani pro Archbishop +1 bleed
2x Armin Brenner 10 CEL FOR POT PRE ani obf Archbishop gain a pool if he successfully calls a referendum
2x Hektor 9 CEL POT PRE QUI for Priscus agg hands

Library: 77 cards

Master: 14(4 trifles)
There are no minion taps of villeins, so lots of blood dolls will have to do. You could go more rush, but that would choke out your vote cards.
6x Blood Doll
1x Dummy Corporation
1x Fame
1x Tension in the Ranks
1x Giant's Blood
4x Life in the City

Actions: 9
There are a lot of presence bleed actions in the Brujah starters, so lets throw those in there to damage your prey(or get into combat) and get minions for cheap.

9x Public Trust

Votes: 12
It would be better to have some Neonate Breach or maybe Conservative Agitation instead of Finding the Path, but this is what you've got.
8x Kine Resources Contested
1x Reins of Power
1x Disputed Territory
2x Finding the Path

Action Modifiers: 12
4x Bewitching Oration
3x Iron Glare
3x Bribes
2x Voter Captivation

Combo: 7
5x Resist the Earth's Grasp
2x Scalpel Tongue

Equipment: 2
1x Sengir Dagger
1x Bang Nak

Combat: 21
3x Acrobatics
4x Brute Force
4x Flash
2x Stunt Cycle
3x Weighted Walking Stick
3x Taste of Vitae
2x Majesty

Is the deck that great? Not really. It has low bleed defense and basically relies on doing more damage to your prey while gaining pool from blood doll, voter cap, bribes and finding the path. It's a good start and worth playing to see if you like it. If you want to flavor it with rush, that could give you a better way of dealing with your predator. The combat is versatile enough to have you survive and beat down blockers. It would be better to have some card cycling tech like Barrens or Dreams in here to toss unneeded combat cards, so just be aggressive enough that they feel they have to block and get stunt cycled or brute forced.

Another option would be to include obfuscate and use Kashan for a vote and OBF CEL pre.

61: Overwhelming an opponent

2010-03-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

An important part of succeeding in VTES is getting your actions through. Whether you are bleeding, voting, or doing some other important, game changing action, you have an objective you're trying to achieve. If your prey is hapless or has a bad deck for the match-up, you may not need to put much thought into ousting them. If this is not the case, I have some advice:

1) Have a lot of minions. The more dudes you can throw at your opponent, the more likely you are to succeed by pressuring them.

2) Multi-act. Freak Drive, Majesty, Earth Meld, Change of Target, Forced March, and other cards let you keep coming after your opponent even after you've bled, voted, or whatever. Some minions have built-in untaps like Nahkthorheb, Shalmath, Vasiley Vasilevich, Luke Fellows, even Enkidu. This strategy is best used with a combined attack, such as Ventrue Bleed/Vote, Bleed/Entice, Tap/Bleed, etc. You can also stay untapped to block or bounce.

3) Be wise with using stealth. If your first action is to send a Govern bleed at your prey, be careful to exhaust their defenses before throwing a bunch of stealth at them if they can bounce you. It's often better to let an opponent block to tap them out, then start bleeding more heavily. If a player uses 1-2 wakes, that is often a victory because it means they have that many less next turn for your big assault. If you use Faceless Night at OBF, your opponents will tap even if they fail to block, so again you succeed. Exhausting people's supply of wakes and untapped minions means that all the bounce and intercept in their hand will do them no good. Form of Mist at PRO is great for reducing blockers *at the same time* that you send your minion forward.

4) Block denial. Seduction, Pentex Subversion, playing Daring the Dawn, and even Blind Spot can make your actions more successful. If you can get your opponent down to 1 untapped minion, they'll have to burn through wakes(or possibly bounce) to stop you.

5) Make your payload count. While you're using the above strategies, save your damaging +bleed, KRCs, etc for actions you are reasonably sure will go through.

Some things change the math quite a bit. To name a few, Cat's Guidance, No Secrets from the Magaji, or brutal combat. The ability to block again and again means having to take down or evade the blocker. If your opponent can regularly send your guys to torpor in combat, you'll have to think carefully about who you can afford to lose and when.

It takes a while to get used to not burning through your Govern + Lost in Crowds on your first action, but things become more intuitive over time.

60: Fresh Blood

2010-03-22T16:57:00.001-07:00

We managed to get 6 players to come to Andy's Sunday and fit in 4 games. Three of the players(Michael, A.J., and Marcos) I only played with at the draft tournament before meeting at Andy's.

Game 1:
Me(g1 Gangrel toolbox)> Marcos(Lotn Ravnos)> Andy(Black Hand Obf)> Ian(Pariah and friends)> Michael(Night Moves + Deflection)

I got out 4 mid-cap to small Gangrel and bled into Marcos, getting blocked much of the time and causing him the occasional pool loss. Michael consistently bled me with Night Moves to the point where I could never block him, even with a sport bike and some protean intercept. Andy bled Ian early, then struggled against Pariah's rushes. When I was down to about 8 pool, Ian tried rushing Gilbert Duane(Michael also had Mariel and 3 or so weenie obf guys), but Mariel ended the combat. I was ousted by a foreshadowing destruction at about 3 stealth. The rest of the table flailed about while Michael bled through them in order.

Michael GW 5vps

Game 2:
Me(Lutz and friends)> Michael(weenie hax)> A.J.(Ventrue vote)> Marcos(!Nos)> Andy(Baali sux)> Ian(Kiasyd-"what, me dominate?")

Michael started the game out with three one-caps and bled A.J. for 6 before he had a minion. Ian brought out Quincy, the Trapper and maybe bled me for 1. I eventually brought out Stavros who got a Heart of the City and a Blood Doll. Andy complained that he forgot some crucial cards, but said he'd explain later. A.J. had time to bring out ~two minions before Marcos was ousted and I got Lutz. Ian did very little to me, preferring to hunt with The Hungry Coyote or cross-table against Michael.

I started bleeding Michael for 6 a turn between Lutz and Stavros, then threw in some votes once I got out Sean R. and Gem Ghastly. Michael did a surprise Psychic Veil against Marcos that sent his 1-caps over the finish line, bleeding him out. After Andy was ousted, I had Michael down to 5 pool. I bled him for three and called a KRC, which Ian DI'd(it would have hit him for 3). I drew into an Ancilla Empowerment and slammed Michael for 14+ pool loss, Ian and myself for about 4 each.

In the end game, I finally drew into my bleed reduction and wakes, so I was able to keep the edge some of the time.

Michael 3vps
Me 3vps

Game 3:
Me(Gangrel from above)> Ian(CHI Mass Reality Zip Guns)> Andy(Baali suck less w/stealth)> Michael(Turbo Shamblers)> Marcos(!Nos above)> A.J. (vote above)

I played the Gangrel again, but was able to contain my predator enough to tool up. Ian put out Constant Revolution, which got two counters, maybe 3 before it was destroyed. Ian shot my J.S. Simmons with a Zip Gun, but I got my revenge with slippery 2-bleeds via computer hacking, Laptop Computer, and Leverage. A.J. couldn't get his votes past my two Sport Bikes(on different minions, of course), so he resorted to cross-table Con. Aggs for 4-5 against Michael, maybe Ian, too. With Michael weakened by cross-table voting for 10 and Marcos on the ropes after a successful fame-dunking via Shamblers, Andy took 2 vps. I got Ian earlier and bled Andy some. Nergel went to torpor for some reason and I ate him, surviving the blood hunt because of A.J.'s blessing(stole his Helicopter!). I ousted Andy and then A.J. by grinding them down.

Me GW 4vps
Andy 2vps

Game 4:
Me(Giovanni Powerbleed)> Marcos(Malks)> Ian(Borrowed Spell of Life)> A.J.(Vote)> Andy(Malks)

I was hopeful that Marcos and Andy might contest, but no luck there. Anarch Troublemaker was in my opening hand, so big advantage there. I got out Giovanni Del Georgio and Governed out Raphaela, then Kay Polerno. Ian brought out Ossian and Amam, the Devourer and cross-table rushed Andy to keep him from blasting through me(this may have been after I ousted Marcos).

Andy kept bleeding me and I help bouncing to Marcos at stealth. I knew I was close to ousting Marcos and he rushed me with a Muddled Vampire Hunter, trying to take down Kay or Raphaela. I blocked with Giovanni del Georgio, who had enough blood to survive the hit for 4. The next turn, I bled out Marcos using the Anarch Troublemaker and standard powerbleed stuff. Andy bled me for 4 and I bounced it to Ian, who bounced it to A.J., who bounced it back to Ian. On my turn, I bled using Slaughtering the Herd to sneak past his ally, plus Seduction on Ian's untapped guy. He woke and tried to block, but I played stealth to land a bleed for 6. Raphaela bled with Bonding for another oust. Ian was just about to get the 5th Spell of Life in play and Andy was on my heels, so I picked up the 6 pool just in time.

Thanks to Andy's turn 1 Bitter Sweet Story, I had a hand size of 11. I had no trouble landing big bleeds on A.J., ousting him and giving me a hand size of 13. I managed to choke on stealth while scraping the bottom of the deck for cards and Andy bled me for 16+ for the final 2 vps.

Highlight of the game: Andy played Giant's Blood right before I would have played it on a nearly empty Giovanni del Georgio.
Moral of the game: Pay attention to your minion's specials even when you are winning! I could have used Giovanni del Georgio's special to save myself some pool that I had to blood doll onto him.

Me GW 3vps
Andy 2vps

It's been a while since we had new players join us. Gerentt was the last player and what he didn't already know, he picked up fast. Michael plays some really strong decks and is probably only behind on card knowledge. Marcos and A.J. are new to a competitive environment and will probably need some time to adjust. Decks Marcos has played for a long time show their weak points, like bounce/intercept on the !Nos and stealth/multi-acting/vote diversity on the vote deck. The vote deck had primarily Con Ags, the weakest of the more common vote cards I've seen. The metagame was immediately shifted when Michael played decks that are so strong out-the-gate. We'll see what kinds of defenses, and offenses, crop up in response.