Results Texas Qualifier NAC 2008

On July 12th, 2008 the VtES Texas NAC Qualifier was held in Austin, Texas with 17 players attending the qualifier tournament. The final standings were as follows:

1. Preston Poulter (USA) -- 4 VP -- Cesewayo No Secrets
2. Eric Leal (USA)-- 1 VP -- Tremere/!Tremere Weenie Wall/Bleed
2. Taylor Lane (USA) -- 0 VP Obfuscate Weenie Bleed
2. Alex Gifford (USA)-- 0 VP -- Anarch Daughters Vote
2. Jason Tretter (USA) -- 0 VP -- !Brujah Hektor War Party Thrown Junk

Congratulations to Preston for his win of the Texas NACQ 2008. You can find the winner's decklist and a tournament report in the Usenet newsgroup.

Go Anarch or "How to make an Anarch"

With the release of the "Twilight Rebellion" expansion three new ways of making vampires Anarch (and Independent) have been introduced (five if you also count the draft effects). Time to review the different approaches in terms of effectiveness and playability.

• Cardless action -- although this a way to make an Anarch that doesn't require any card, it's definitely the worst one. It costs an action and two blood, if you do not control any ready Anarch (one blood, if you have at least one ready Anarch). Furthermore the action is only at +1 stealth and can therefore easily be blocked if not backed up with additional stealth. In short, it's costly, it's unreliable, so only if your others cards for making your vampires Anarch are showing up you should consider this option. The only good thing is that you can use "CrimethInc." to untap the vampire after the action if your vampires have "Protean" or "Quietus".


• "Go Anarch" -- "Anarch" common -- this one is on the middle ground. It's an action and it's only at +1 stealth, but at least it doesn't cost and untaps after the action. Still it has the problem that without additional stealth this can be easily blocked. So basing an entire Anarch deck on this card (as means of making vampires Anarch) is too often unreliable, especially against more experienced players who will try to block this action to prevent your deck from functioning.


• "Anarch Secession" -- "Kindred Most Wanted" rare -- while the above two actions can only be taken by non-titled vampires, this is the card for titled vampires to use. Although the newly converted anarch does not untap (as with "Go Anarch"), princes and archbishops have their titles converted into baron titles of the same city. Since this is the only way of making titled vampires Anarch (beside "Jack Drake"), it is the first choice if you want to base your Anarch deck on vampires with inherent votes (titles).


• "Galaric's Legacy" -- "Anarch" Common -- before "Twilight Rebellion" "Galaric's Legacy" was usually the first choice in an Anarch-based deck, since it wasn't action (that can be blocked), and this master card is a trifle. Packing 6 to 10 cards (in a 80-90 cards) deck is enough to have Anarchs vampires early on. One of the drawbacks of this card is that the master can be canceled (by "Wash" or "Sudden Reversal"), but this does not happen often, since it is regarded as not too important (better save the SR/Wash for the "Fame" or "Pentex Subversion". The real disadvantage is that you waste a lot of card slots for making your vampires Anarch. Card slots that should better be used to make actually use of your Anarch vampires and their abilities.


• "Seattle Committee" -- "Anarch" rare -- while clearly having a better effect than "Galaric's Legacy", since a single copy of "Seattle Committee" can be used multiple times to make a vampire an Anarch, the card has other drawbacks. First of all, it's not a good idea to include too many copies, since the card stays in play you only need one copy in play. On the other hand you want to draw the card earlier than later in the game, so this contradicts the fact that too many copies of the card are not good for the later card flow. Secondly, it's not a trifle and it's unique, so if there's another Anarch player at the table (which usually does not happen that often) there might be contest of the card.


• "Twilight Camp" -- "Twilight Rebellion" rare -- is an interesting alternative to "Seattle Comittee". It offers slighty different mechanism on making Anarchs, because you can only make vampires Anarch when they entered play from the uncontrolled region. This inferior to "Seattle Committee", on the upside you can spent a master phase action to move one (of up to four) counters as blood to an Anarch. If you have used one or more "Seattle Committee" in your Anarch decks you should consider replacing some of them with "Twilight Camp".


• "Anarch Convert" -- "Twilight Rebellion" uncommon -- this new mechanism was introduced with the "Twilight Rebellion" expansion. It allows you to make another vampire you control an Anarch by burning the "Anarch Convert" that has just entered the ready region.When using this effect, you can then decide which of the two optiosn you choose:
  1. get a pool; in this case you often used a crypt slot and a transfer point for the go-anarch effect.
  2. move a card from your crypt from your controlled region; in this case you have paid a pool and a transfer for the go-anarch effect.
  In the end you gain a versatile tool for making vampires Anarch, but at the same time you do not have to dilute your library with too many cards for achieving the same effect. Putting 4 "Anarch Converts" into your crypt, you have 83% chance of getting "Anarch Convert" in your starting crypt, thus giving you - with a slight delay (of one transfer point) - an Anarch very early in the game.


• "Jack Drake" -- his special is that he can make vampires Anarch when they move from the uncontrolled to the ready region (similar to those of "Twilight Camp") and they burn a blood. The obvious drawback is that Jack must be moved first to the ready, then the younger vampires. In addition Jack as a vampire with his disciplines must fit into your overall deck strategy. On the other hand Jack's special also also (similar to "Anarch Secession") to become titled vampires Anarchs, but in contrast to "Anarch Secession", they all lose their title.(1) As an alternative you can move the younger vampires to the ready region first, and after Jack has done this as well, the first vampire can save a blood when going anarch (cardless), since Jack is already an Anarch. So Jack is not a bad choice for going anarch, but he doesn't fit into every Anarch deck due his capacity and discipline selection.

Draft Effect Cards

• "Anarch Manifesto" -- "Twilight Rebellion" common -- is great way of becoming Anarch in draft, since not only you can become Anarch for free, any subsequent actions that require an Anarch, e.g. "Steely Tenacity" or "Keystone Kine" are at an additional +1 stealth. When combined with "Anonymous Freight" you can also increase the stealth on the equip action to +3 without having to think about any discipline or clan requirements.


• "Garibaldi-Meucci Museum" -- "Twilight Rebellion" rare -- another great choice in draft, since along with two other useful effects (retrieving Anarch-requiring cards from the ashheap & ending combat between Anarchs), you have the effect of "Seattle Committee" for free.

Summary
While in the past "Galaric's Legacy" combined with copy of "Seattle Committee" was most often the best choice when you tried to play an Anarch deck, the question for the right card is now more complex to answer. "Twilight Camp" can replace or combined with "Seattle Committee". The two go-anarch actions (cardless and "Go Anarch") are still not the first choice, but in deck with "CrimethInc" it's at least worth a thought. The card that excels in making Anarchs is (in my humble opinion) the "Anarch Convert", because he offers a reliable way of doing so, with a reasonable cost/drawback.

(1) Technically they don't loose their title, the title is just dormant until their sect affinity switches back to their original sect.

One Year of Blogging

So this blog has a kind of birthday ... One year ago I started the blog since I was fed up with the White Wolf policy of releasing (or not) VtES related information. A good example is the current status of news shown in the VtES section. The top two messages are "Fall eQuarterly Fan Submissions Contest" and "White Wolf Warehouse Closed", all the while the anouncement of the VtES Storyline Events 2008 is "hidden" in the VtES forum. The third post is actually VtES related (about change of dates for the 2008 VTES European Championship), but it's several months old now.

Including this post there have been 290 posts on this blog in the last 365 days. Usually in 5 days there are 4 posts on VtES related topics, which is good turnaround in my humble opinion. My favourite posts are usually those related to deck archetypes or strategy, but I am especially fond of those that highlight the more humorous aspects of VtES, like this:

• Murphy is a VtES player
• Real Men Don't Play Bleed Bounce
• Chuck, VtES Player (originally from "Presence Forum")
• How To Prepare For A Qualifier (by XZealot)

Enough of the self-praise. Let's play a round of VtES (or two) ...

V:tES Storyline 2008 Announcement

In the rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad newsgroup and the White Wolf forum there's announcement regarding the V:tES Storyline events for 2008.

Here's the full text of Ben Swainbank's (White Wolf's Storyline coordinator) announcement:

The Vampire: the Eternal Struggle Storyline Series will return this summer.

An outlaw gang of anarchs, led by notorious Count Germain, has been traveling from city to city. At each stop along the way, they have flaunted the local authorities, violated the masquerade, and drawn more recruits to their cause.

Following the gang are rumors - rumors that Germain and his followers are chasing something, preparing for the Final Nights. The Camarilla are determined to stop the gang and silence the rumors. Rich rewards have been offered to those who can bring the gang down. Starting in August, Anarchs and Alastors clash in this limited format Storyline League.


The story continues in October at a special Storyline Event at the 2008 North American Championships.

The Noddist scholars of Montreal are the keepers of many relics and many secrets. None are guarded more closely than the Kaymakli Fragment. Some say its ancient text foretells the end of the Kindred. Some say it holds the key to their survival. Some seek to control it. Some seek to keep it hidden. Some seek to destroy it. The fate of the Fragment, and the city itself, will be determined when Kindred travel to Montreal and find themselves in the city of Black Miracles and Lies.


Then, next winter...

Faced with increasing threats from an anarch revolt, the deadly Sabbat, and their own internal strife, the Camarilla's Inner Circle have agreed to appoint a military commander. The new commander will have the mandate to enforce the traditions and maintain discipline, and will be granted broad powers to fulfill this mission. Who among the clans will have the power to seize this exalted position? Who will have the strength to keep it?

In the corridors of power, maneuvering begins. Who will have the honor, the responsibility, and the power to lead the armies of the Camarilla? Prepare for the Rise of the Imperator.

-Ben Swainbank
V:tes Storyline Coordinator
vtesstory@white-wolf.com

Looks like we are getting a series of three events later this year. Sadly it seems that the second one will only take place at the North American Championship 2008, which will be held in Montreal, Canada.

Memorable Quotes (Part 16)

"Great players play their opponents and not their opponents' decks." -- Robyn Tatu

Did you know, that .. (Part 18)

.. you can use "Gramle" to search your crypt for an basic/advanced version of a vampire if the other version is already in play?

Reference: rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad

Poll Results: "What's your favourite Thaumaturgy card?"

Here are the results of the latest poll on your opinions what the readers of this blog name as their favourite Thaumaturgy card in VtES. 55 VtES players voted in the poll:

1. Magic of the Smith -- 18 (32%)
   
2. Machine Blitz -- 7 (13%)
   
3. Mirror Walk -- 4 (7%)
   
4. Rutor's Hand -- 4 (7%)
   
5. Walk of Flame -- 4 (7%)
   
6. I loathe Thaumaturgy -- 3 (6%)
   
7. Blood To Water -- 3 (6%)
   
8. Blood Rage/Blood Fury -- 2 (4%)
   
9. Theft of Vitae -- 2 (4%)
   
10. Wind Dance -- 2 (4%)
    
11. Biothaumaturgic Experiment -- 1 (2%)
    
12. Burst of Sunlight -- 1 (2%)
    
13. Cryptic Mission -- 1 (2%)
    
14. Serenading the Kami -- 1 (2%)
    
15. Shotgun Ritual -- 1 (2%)
    
16. Weather Control -- 1 (2%)
    
17. Eldritch Glimmer -- 0 (0%)
    
18. Perfect Clarity -- 0 (0%)
    
19. Soul Burn -- 0 (0%)
    
20. Another Thaumaturgy card ... -- 0 (0%)

"Magic of the Smith" is very well liked (and for good reasons I presume), with "Machine Blitz" as second. I must admit I am little bit wary of the "Machine Blitz" result, and suspect foul play, since the polling engine is not really foolproof. So I guess "Mirror Walk", "Rutor's Hand" and "Walk of Flame" deserve the place of the runner-up(s) rightly.

Results South East Queensland AC Qualifier 2008

On July 5th, 2008 the VtES South East Queensland Qualifier for the Australian Championship was held in Brisbane (Australia) with 13 players attending the qualifier tournament. The final standings were as follows:

1. Steve McCroy (NZL) -- 3 VP -- Turbo Arika
2. Evor ??? (AUS) -- 2 VP -- Setite & Anson Stealth/Bleed
2. Julian Gatt (AUS) -- 0 VP -- Cailean Wall
2. Rolf Hiessleitner (AUS) -- 0 VP -- Malkvian Stealth Bleed
2. Andrew Daley (AUS) -- 0 VP -- Weenie Obfuscate Computer Hacking

Congratulations to Steve for his win of the SE Queensland ACQ 2008. You can find the final standings and the winner's decklist in the Usenet newsgroup.

Top Ranking Retainers

Here's the list of retainers in VtES that are most frequently used in tournament winning decks. The number shows the number of decks where the retainer appeared (at least once) on Lasombra's TWDA (as of 13/June/2008).

1. Mr. Winthrop -- 123x
2. Raven Spy -- 107x
3. J.S. Simmons, Esq. -- 107x
4. Tasha Morgan -- 102x
5. Owl Companion -- 40x
6. Murder of Crows -- 38x
7. Revenant -- 25x
8. Homunculus -- 18x
9. Marijava Ghoul -- 11x
10. Shaman -- 10x

In the Top Ten the intercept- and bleed-providing retainers are obviously the most popular. And since "Animalism" provides the most retainers of all disciplines and is widespread among the vampire clans the "Animalism" retainers are also very well represented.

Origin of Words (Twilight Rebellion Edition)

As a non-American, non-native English speaker I usually have to look up what the cultural background of VtES cards are. I have compiled a more or less short list of cards from the "Twilight Rebellion" expansion which background is not self-explanatory (at least from my point of view). The information below is my best guess what's the explanation behind these cards, but since I have not asked LSJ himself about the cards' background, I am not 100% sure.

Anarch Manifesto

Anarchist Manifesto is a work by Anselme Bellegarrigue, notable for being the first manifesto of anarchism. It was written in 1850, ten years after Pierre-Joseph Proudhon became history's first self-proclaimed anarchist with the publication of his seminal "What Is Property?".

More information:

• Anarch Manifesto on Wikipedia.
• Another Anarch Manifesto on "flag.blackend.net".
• Another Anarch Manifesto on "anarchy.net".

CrimethInc.

"CrimethInc." is a decentralized anarchist collective composed of autonomous cells which act independently in pursuit of a freer and more joyous world. On of their mottos is "The Future is unwritten".
"CrimethInc." cells have variously published books, released records and organized large-scale national campaigns against globalization and representative democracy in favor of radical community organizing.
They say about themselves: "Crimethought is not any ideology or value system or lifestyle, but rather a way of challenging all ideologies and value systems and lifestyles - and, for the advanced agent, a way of making all ideologies, value systems, and lifestyles challenging." -- Crimethinc.com

More information: CrimethInc. website

Constant Revolution

A revolution (from the Latin word revolutio, "a turnaround") is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time. Some Marxists ideologists, especially Maoists, believe that it is not sufficient just to overturn capitalism and establish a new government, but that a further constant revolution is required: a continual process of self-criticism is needed to correct mistakes.


Garibaldi-Meucci Museum

The "Garibaldi-Meucci Museum" is the historic home of the pioneer inventor, Antonio Meucci, and legendary hero, Giuseppe Garibaldi. The museum is located on Staten Island (New York). Antonio Meucci was an Italian-born inventor who developed a form of voice communication apparatus in 1857. Many people, especially the Italians, credit him with the invention of the telephone before Alexander Graham Bell. Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political leader. Garibaldi contributed much to the independence of Uruguay and the political unification of Italy in the 19th century. He is considered an Italian national hero.

More information: Garibaldi-Meucci Museum website


Hell-for-Leather

Adjective
1. with all of one's energy, will, etc.; with wholehearted or reckless determination
2. at full speed or with great speed a hell-for-leather chase

Robert L. Chapman's "New Dictionary of American Slang" (Harper & Row, 1987, ISBN 0-06-181157-2) says: "hell-for-leather or hell-bent-for-leather" adv "from late 1800s British" Rapidly and energetically; all out, flat out. "You're heading hell-for-leather to a crack-up" [origin unknown; perhaps related to British dialect phrases "go hell for ladder, hell falladerly, hell faleero", and remaining mysterious even if so, although the "leather" would then be a very probable case of folk etymology with a vague sense of the "leather" involved in horse trappings.]"

The World's a Canvas

"The World is my Canvas" is a promotion campaign initated by Nokia to promote the smartphone N82 in 2007. The concept of "The World is my Canvas" is to use GPS tracking devices to create positional art, i.e GPS drawings which are then made visible on maps or satellite photos. Stavros, self-proclaimed "Position Art Genius", is the advertising character of the campaign.
For another/the correct explanation see the comment below.

More information: The World is my Canvas website





Monky Wrench

The monkey wrench is an adjustable wrench, which is rarely used today. Its use has generally been replaced by the adjustable-end wrench, which has a compact head and so is more easily used in confined places.

Again, for another/the correct explanation see the comment below.

More information: Monky Wrench on Wikipedia.

Memorable Quotes (Part 15)

"It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings" -- Proverb

This proverb is especially true for VtES games. I have seen players getting VPs with no minions or pool damaging cards on the table, since someone played "Kine Resource Contested" and ousted the helpless player's prey to stabilize the table.

VtES European Championship Qualifiers 2008 (Update)

Here's a list of the past and upcoming ECQ tournaments for VtES, mostly taken from the WW event calendar:

• Scottish ECQ -- Edinburgh, Scotland -- July 19th, 2008
• Norwegian ECQ & NC -- Flekkefjord, Norway -- July 26th, 2008
• Finnish ECQ -- Espoo, Finland -- August 8th, 2008 -- during RopeCon (near Helsinki)
• Swedish ECQ II -- Örebro, Sweden -- August 9th, 2008 -- during NarCon.
• Denmark ECQ -- Aarhus, Denmark -- August 3oth, 2008
  

Past VtES EC Qualifiers 2008:

• Special French ECQ -- Cannes, France -- February 16th, 2008 -- Winner: Pierre-Denis Brouillet (FRA)
  
• Polish ECQ -- Gdansk, Poland -- March 1st, 2008 -- Winner: Jakub Baranski (POL)
  
• Swiss ECQ -- Geneva, Switzerland -- March 22nd, 2008 -- Winner: Kamel Senni (FRA)
  
• Swedish ECQ -- Gothenburg, Sweden -- March 22nd, 2008 -- Winner: Johannes Walch (GER)
  
• Slovak ECQ -- Bratislava, Slovakia -- April 12th, 2008 -- Winner: David Wittmann (HUN)
  
• German ECQ -- Frankfurt a.M., Germany -- April 19th, 2008 -- Winner: Kristian Willenbacher (GER)
  
• Iceland ECQ -- Reykjavík, Iceland -- April 20th, 2008 -- Winner: Óskar Hinriksson (ICE)
  
• French ECQ (North) -- Paris, France -- April 26th, 2008 -- Winner: Rodolphe Danac (FRA)
  
• Belgian ECQ -- Bruxelles, Belgium -- May 4th, 2008 -- Winner: Jörg Alten (GER)
  
• Irish ECQ -- Dublin, Ireland -- May 4th, 2008 -- Winner: Hugh Angseesing (ENG)
  
• English ECQ -- Burton-on-Trent, England -- May 17th, 2008 -- Winner: Jovan Pavlovic (HUN)
  
• French ECQ (South) -- Grenoble, France -- May 17th, 2008 -- Winner: Pierre Benoit Lagoyete (FRA)
  
• Hungarian ECQ -- Budapest, Hungary -- May 24th, 2008 -- Winner: ??
  
• Portugese ECQ -- Lisabon, Portugal -- May 31st/June 1st 2008 -- Winner: Eduardo Mateus (POR)
  
• Spanish ECQ (North) -- Zaragoza, Spain -- June 7th, 2008 -- Winner: ???
  
• Spanish ECQ (South) -- Cordoba, Spain -- June 14th, 2008 -- Winner: Pau Vilar (ESP)
  
• Welsh ECQ -- Swansea, Wales -- June 14th, 2008 -- Hugh Angseesing (ENG)
  
• Dutch ECQ -- Utrecht, Netherlands -- June 15th, 2008 -- Winner: Peter Bouwman (NED)
  

All this culiminating in the European VtES Championship 2008 (please take note that this date has been moved a week backward from the original schedule):

• 2008 European Championship -- Prague, Czech Republic -- September 18th-21th, 2008