Sunday, November 30, 2008

Results Polish National VtES Championship 2008

Copied from http://www.sevenoaksart.co.uk/flags.htmOn November 29th, 2008 the Polish National VtES Championship was held in Warsaw, Poland with 38 players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:
  1. Adam Talarek (POL) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 3 VP -- Carna Wall
  2. Jakub Baranski (POL) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 2 VP -- Weenie Auspex & Dominate
  3. Tomasz Izydorczyk (POL) -- 3 GW ? VP -- 0 VP -- Synesios Temptation + Bleed + Enticement
  4. Michal Pietrzak (POL) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Kindred Spirits Stealth & Bleed
  5. Miroslaw Laskowski (POL) -- 2 GW ? VP -- 0 VP -- FoS Temptation Stealth & Bleed
Congratulations to Adam for his win of the Polish Nationals. The finalists decks have been posted in the Polish VtES forum.

Results VtES League 2008 in Gelsenkirchen

Here are the final standings of the VtES League 2008 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. This year's winner is Martin S. (again!).
  1. Martin S. -- 10,69 -- 30 VP 6 GW -- 17 Games -- 0,81
  2. Dietmar -- 9,32 -- 43,5 VP 11 GW -- 34 Games -- 1,62
  3. Ralf -- 6,63 -- 24 VP 5 GW -- 25 Games -- 1,19
  4. Thomas -- 6,62 -- 29 VP 4 GW -- 28 Games -- 1,33
  5. Sebastian Z. -- 5,65 -- 29 VP 4 GW -- 39 Games -- 1,86
  6. Sebastian K. -- 5,39 -- 19,5 VP 3 GW -- 24 Games -- 1,14
  7. Michael -- 5,36 -- 21,5 VP 4 GW -- 30 Games -- 1,43
  8. Frank -- 4,13 -- 5,5 VP 1 GW -- 8 Games -- 0,38
  9. Tobias -- 3,69 -- 3,5 VP 0 GW -- 4 Games -- 0,19
  10. Martin V. -- 2,10 -- 1 VP 0 GW -- 2 Games -- 0,10
  11. Martin E. -- 1,74 -- 3,5 VP 0 GW -- 12 Games -- 0,57
The table shows the rank and name of the player, the following numbers are Total Points, VPs, GWs, Games, Game Attendance Correction. Marked bold are the players that have played the minimum number of games of 12.

The results can also be found in the german VtES forums:

Saturday, November 29, 2008

VtES on the Essen Game Fair 2008

The "Spiel 2008" is the world's biggest consumer fair for gaming which was hosted in Essen, Germany from October 23rd to 26th, 2008. White Wolf & VtES participation: Refer to Essen 2007. So sad ...

Memorable Quotes (Part 27)

(..) Psyche! (and Coordinated Attacks) are "magic" -- they are combat cards that are played at the end of combat. Not quite in combat and not quite after." -- LSJ
Reference: Usenet Newsgroup

Friday, November 28, 2008

German VtES Championships (Update 2008)

Copied from http://www.sevenoaksart.co.ukAs the German National VtES Championship 2008 are history now, here's the updated list of present and past title holders in german VtES championships. Note: prior to 2005 the German European Championship Qualifier (ECQ) and the National Championship (NC) were held during the same tournament event.
  • German ECQ 2008 -- Kristian Willenbacher (GER)
  • German NC Constructed 2008 -- Michael Heyder (GER)
  • German NC Limited 2008 -- Dietmar Range (GER)
  • German ECQ 2007 -- Olivier Perez (SUI)
  • German NC Constructed 2007 -- Ruben Feldmann (SUI)
  • German NC Limited 2007 -- Benoit Moyen (FRA)
  • German ECQ 2006 -- Erol Oenguen (GER)
  • German NC Constructed 2006 -- Robert Fängler (GER)
  • German NC Limited 2006 -- Thomas Gschwandtner (GER)
  • German ECQ 2005 -- Andreas Nusser (GER)
  • German NC Constructed 2005 -- Johannes Walch (GER)
  • German NC Limited 2005 -- Thomas Gschwandtner (GER)
  • German NC/ECQ Constructed 2004 -- Ruben Van Cauwenberghe (BEL)
  • German NC Limited 2004 -- Emile Bosman (NED)
  • German NC/ECQ Constructed 2003 -- Stéphane Lavrut (FRA)
  • German NC Limited 2003 -- Erol Oenguen (GER)
  • German NC/ECQ Constructed 2002 -- Luk de Ron (BEL)
  • German NC Limited 2002 -- Tobias Pohl (GER)
  • German NC/ECQ Constructed 2001 -- Jan Van Den Eede (NED)
  • German NC Limited 2001 -- ???
  • German NC/ECQ Constructed 2000 -- Fabian Sosna (GER)
  • German NC Limited 2000 -- ???

Thursday, November 27, 2008

BYO Storyline: "Hashashin's Creed"

(c) 2005 by White Wolf Inc.On January 18th, 2009 a new official Build-Your-Own Storyline event will take place in Tilburg, Netherlands. The BYO Storyline event is named "Hashashin's Creed" and revolves around "Janni", an Assamite contract killer.
  1. Tournament Schedule
    • Date: Sunday, 18 January, 2009
    • Registration: 10:15 - 10:55
    • First round starting time: 11:00

  2. Structure
    • Number of rounds: 3 + F
    • Time limit per round: 2 hours
    • Type of event: Unsanctioned BYO Storyline Event
    • Entry fee: 3 Euro.

  3. Address of Event
    • Theseus
      Bredaseweg 167
      Tilburg
      Netherlands
You can find more information on "Hashashin's Creed" on White Wolf's Official Storyline website. This includes the prelude/fiction of the Storyline and the special rules that are used during the tournament.

If you want to participate in the event, please register by leaving a message in the dutch VtES forum.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Vampire Characters Wanted

LSJ , lead designer of Vampire the Eternal Struggle, has posted the following request in the old World of Darkness Forum on the White Wolf website:
I'm the designer for the old World of Darkness card game Vampire: The Eternal Struggle.

I use canon characters from the RPG whereever possible, but sometimes the RPG source is rather thin. Ventrue are easy to come by, for example, but Ventrue antitribu are much rarer, and Nagaraja and Osebo rarer still.

I've used some characters from TT groups before (player characters or ST-made NPCs). And other times I just make up vampires from whole cloth, of course. But adapting "real" characters, including non-canon PC ones, seems more satisfying, both for me and for the game (I think).

So, if you have any characters that fit that description (i.e., that don't fit the mold of a legion of other characters from the source material), and you feel like taking the time to put together a source-material-like profile of your character (age, brief background, image (description, not picture), TT stats and attributes), I'd be happy to try to adapt some of them to the card game. No promises that every vampire submitted will get printed, of course.

Email submissions to me, not to this forum.

vtesrep .at. white-wolf.com

Thanks,
Scott
So, if you have peculiar, intersting vampire character, here's a chance for publication, and even as VtES card.

New Promo Card: "Imperator"

A new VtES promo card named "Imperator" has been released. The card is very likely related to/used in VtES Storyline Event "Rise of the Imperator" which is scheduled for winter 2008/2009.
Imperator [Promo-20081023]
Cardtype: Political Action
Choose a Camarilla vampire with capacity 8 or more. If this referendum is successful, put this card on the chosen vampire to represent the unique Camarilla title of Imperator (worth 3 votes). This vampire may play a Blood Hunt card from your hand or ash heap as a prince. This vampire gets 3 additional votes in blood hunt referendums.

Did you know, that ... (Part 21)

(c) 2008 By White Wolf Inc... that "Benjamin Rose" can use his special ability to call a referendum to give you +1 hand size (for the remainder of the game) multiple times in a game.

So you can get a hand size of +13 if you want to, and the hand size increase remains even if Benjamin Rose leaves play (e.g. he is burned, is removed from game or moves to the uncontrolled region).

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Deck Building Utilities (Update November 2008)

New versions of the "Anarch Revolt Deck Builder" (ARDB), "Fragments of Elder Library Deck Builder" (FELDB), "Secret Library" and the "Deck Template" have been published in November 2008. All utilities now include the cards (and images for the first two utilities) from the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion. Here's the update of the basic information:

Anarch Revolt Deck Builder ("ARDB")
Current Version: 2.8.1
Author(s): Graham Smith (current project lead) / Francois Gombault (initial creator)
Homepage: ARDB on Google Code
Description: Layered Filters, multiple export functionality and a tidy interface are the top features of this program, somewhat newer than the FELDB it had a fresh start and gained soon popularity in the VtES community.
Advantages/Disadvantages:
  • Card List & Inventory
    • complete card list with card texts
    • complete collection of pictures of actual cards.
    • great search & filter use, multiple, layered filters
    • card inventory can be kept
  • Deck Building
    • offers the basic functionality of deck builder
    • includes some statistical information about the decks as well as card drawing simulation
    • ability to store decks in XML format (*.xml), as text (*.txt), HTML file (*.html) or for use with JOL (*.jol) or for posting to internet forums (*.phbBB).
    • gives some advice on deck building based on the "Happy Families" theory
  • Other Functionality
    • can update card database from White Wolf website
    • little utility for creating proxy cards
URLs:
Cost: free software
OS Platforms: Windows, OpenSuSe, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, (Mac OS X 10.3+)
Expansion Updates: about 1 to 4 weeks after an expansion has been released.
Expansions: all VtES expansions.
Latest Posting: 25/Nov/2008
Changelog: ARDB Changelog on Google Code

Fragments of Elder Library Deck Builder ("FELDB")
Current Version: 2.5.0 (Beta)
Author(s): Balasz Kuno Kiss
Homepage: FELDB on Google Groups or Bala's FELDB website
Description: After the ELDB ("Elder Library Deck Builder") was no longer maintained, the ELDB's author David Andersion-Davila published the sources and FELDB was the result of the development with serious improvements over the old program.
Advantages/Disadvantages:
  • Card List & Inventory
    • complete card list with card texts
    • almost complete collection of pictures of actual cards.
    • basic ability to filter and sort cards, this could be better, especially when compared to the ARDB.
    • card inventory can be kept, but needs to be used carefully when updating to the next version or expansion.
  • Deck Building
    • offers the basic functionality of deck builder
    • includes some statistical information about the decks as well as card drawing simulation
    • ability to store decks in native format (*.eld), as text (*.txt), HTML file (*.html) or for use with JOL (*.jol).
  • Other Features
    • deck manager functionality
    • several import/export options for decks and inventories
    • usually the quickest update after an expansion has been released
    • can update card database from White Wolf website (indirectly)
  • URLs:
    Cost: free software
    OS Platforms: Windows
    Expansion Updates: about 1 to 2 weeks after an expansion has been released.
    Expansions: all VtES expansions.
    Latest Posting: 24/Nov/2008

    Deck Template
    Current Version: 4.1.1
    Author: Gregory Williams
    Homepage: Utilities on Storage Annex
    Description: Multilayered Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with automated card info, ability counts and ratio calculations.
    URLs:
    Cost: free software (MS Office or OpenOffice Calc required)
    OS Platforms: Windows / Linux
    Expansions: all VtES expansions.
    Latest Posting: 24/Nov/2008

    Secret Library
    Current Version: 0.8.7
    Author: Jussi Hattara
    Homepage/URL: http://www.secretlibrary.info
    Description: A finnish website with similar filter & search functionality as "V:EKN Nu" and "VtES Monger". Nice, fresh web design and the ability to keep one's inventory as well as deck building utility. Definitively the best web-based site. The only "drawback" you need a (free) account to use the deck building and inventory functionality.
    Expansions: all VtES expansions.
    Latest Posting: 21/Nov/2008
    Changelog: Secrect Library Changelog
  • Monday, November 24, 2008

    Sobriquets for a Heart

    In the past two years I have heard quite a few nicknames for one of the most powerful cards in VtES, that is the Heart of Nizchetus. Here's a short list of names for this card and those who use it.
    • Heart of Nizchetus -- by those collecting cards.
    • Heart of Cheating -- by those realists.
    • Heart of Brokenness -- by those other realists.
    • The Heart -- by those of few words.
    • Heart of Nietzsche -- by those philosophers (courtesy of Orpheus).
    • Heart of Nitsch.. Nisht .. -- by those with spelling problems.
    • Heart of Ni#@!!§§$ -- by those hating it.
    Any more suggestions by you, my dear readers and fellow players?

    Results German VtES Draft Championship 2008

    On November 23rd, 2008 the German National VtES Draft Championship was held in Ludwigshafen, Germany with 15 players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:
    1. Dietmar Range (GER) -- 2 GW 5,5 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Gangrel Combat/Intercept w/ Renegade Garou
    2. Johannes Walch (GER) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 1 VP -- Ventrue Bleed/Politics
    2. Ralf Weppner (GER) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Brujah Combat/Politics
    2. Sebastian Meurer (GER) -- 1 GW 4,5 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Gangrel/Nosferatu Combat
    2. Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnson (SWE) -- 1 GW 4,5 VP -- 0 VP -- Malkavian Stealth Bleed
    Congratulations to Didi for his win of the German Draft Nationals, and also the two swedish players for travelling this far and attending the championship. I will post some photos at the end of the week, unless I find earlier a way to bypass the need for a cable for my digital camera.

    Saturday, November 22, 2008

    Results German National VtES Championship 2008

    On November 22nd, 2008 the German National VtES Championship was held in Ludwigshafen, Germany with 35 players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:
    1. Michael Heyder (GER) -- 2 GW 10 VP -- 1 GW 2,5 VP -- Euro Brujah
    2. Erik Torstensen (SWE) -- 2 GW 7,5 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Giovanni Powerbleed feat. Guillaume
    2. Andreas Nusser (GER) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Anarch Cel Gun w/ Diversion
    2. Joshannes Walch (GER) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Follower of Set w/ Dominate & Bima
    2. Thomas Kwasnitza (GER) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Lasombra Breed & Boon
    Congratulations to Michael Heyder for his win of the German Nationals, and also the two swedish and 7 french players for traveling this far and attending the championship. Fantomette posted an extensive tournament report (in french) and a transcription of the final round (in english) in the Sabbat in France forum.

    The famous "Metagame" was governed by two angles, the first was a large number of Independent clans present at the tournament (4 Follower of Set decks, 2 Ravnos decks, at least 3 Giovanni decks and at least two 2 Assamite decks). The other direction was bleed, mostly Dominate, but also with Presence or Quietus. Although two Shambling Hords decks and the Bima deck were played, there was a notable absence of Ally decks. A few combat decks were also present, but very few Intercept/Wall decks, all which led to GW at all 22 tables (including the final table).

    I will post some photos at the end of the week, unless I find earlier a way to bypass the need for a cable for my digital camera.

    Friday, November 21, 2008

    Memorable Quotes (Part 26)

    "You're gonna make me pull out my Jackal, Oath of Loyalty, Praxis Seizure: Istanbul, and Treaty of Tyre Enforced, aren't you!
    Wait, did I just classify Revolutionary Council as "broken"? ;)
    Damn you Matt Morgan!! and Ben Peal, too!!
    -- KevinM's reaction after an "Assamite Anarch Revolutionary Council"-style deck (aka "Death Star") won another tournament.
    Reference: Usenet Newsgroup

    Thursday, November 20, 2008

    "Keepers of Tradition" Mishaps

    A few (..cough) mishaps happened during the development & production of the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" (KoT). Looks as if White Wolf had a slight quality assurance problem with this expansion. In contrast the previous three expansions from "Sword of Caine" to "Twilight Rebellion" were almost error free.
    • Imprecise announcement
      The original announcement of KoT stated that the expansion will contain 20 new rare, uncommon and common cards each. In the end the count was 16 rare, 19 uncommon and 17 common cards.

    • Missing vampires
      Although fully designed the following three vampires didn't make it to final set, since all vampires cards slots were used. You can also see a picture of "Hiram 'Hide' DeVries" card on the White Wolf website for KoT. (Or maybe showing these vampires to the public is goody from LSJ)
      Osric Vladislav
      Clan: Malkavian
      Group: 5
      Capacity: 7
      Disciplines: AUS DEM OBF cel
      Camarilla: Osric may burn a location you control to get +1 stealth for the current action.

      Gwendolyn Fleming
      Clan: Toreador
      Group: 5
      Capacity: 6
      Disciplines: AUS PRE cel pro
      Camarilla.

      Hiram "Hide" DeVries
      Clan: Ventrue
      Group: 5
      Capacity: 3
      Disciplines: cel pre
      Camarilla: While Hiram is ready, any action to burn a location you control costs an additional blood.
    • Rulebook Misprint
      Instead of a new rulebook, the rulebook of "Lords of the Night" was shipped with "Keepers of Tradition" (except for the cover of the booklet). So the three rules changes posted on the KoT webpage are missing.

    • Card exchanges on printing sheets
      Instead of "Society Hunting Ground" (as a rare) the card "Society of Leopold" was put onto the printing sheet, so effectively "Society of Leopold" now is included twice (as rare and as uncommon) in KoT. The same fate hit an new, yet unkown card, giving "Ghoul Retainer" an unwelcome duplicate card (as rare and as uncommon).

    • Exchanged Artwork
      The "new" artwork of "Arcane Library" is actually the old artwork of "Powerbase: Berlin".

    • Card Errata
      Unfortunately the "Approximation of Loyalty" version released in "Keepers of Tradition" has a printing error. The requirement for using the card is still a vampire with a capacity of seven or more. LSJ has confirmed this in this Newsgroup Thread.
    P.S.: No, I don't count the fact, that "Parity Shift", "Deflection" and "Govern the Unaligned" are not included in "Keepers of Tradition" as mishap. That was done deliberately, though I don't know the reasoning behind this decision.

    Wednesday, November 19, 2008

    "Keepers of Tradition" Official Checklist is Online

    Today is the official release date of the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition". Also the official checklist/webpage for the expansion is online now. Beside ten card previews and the complete list of cards included in the expansion, the list of rule changes and an FAQ are shown on the webpage. The most interesting news are the actual rule changes, so here they are:
    • Directed actions. An action is directed if it targets one or more other Methuselahs, even if it also targets yourself. Directed actions can be blocked by the ready minions controlled by any of the target Methuselahs (going clockwise, as usual).
    • Inner Circle titles. The title of Inner Circle is unique per clan and can only be held by a member of the clan (like Justicar titles).
    • Madness Network no longer has "after finishing all of his or her minion phase actions" phrasing. The Malkavians can act via the Madness Network in regular sequence order. This eliminates the need for an after-actions portion of the minion phase in which, for example, an empy vampire could untap with Rutor's Hand and not have to hunt.

    Tuesday, November 18, 2008

    "Keepers of Tradition" Promo Cards

    The pre-release pack for the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" contains four new promo cards. Here are the card texts of these cards:
    House of Sorrow
    Cardtype: Master
    Cost: 1 pool
    Master: unique location
    Tap to untap any card you control that is not a minion. If you do so, neither that card nor this location untap as normal on your next untap phase.

    Subdued by the Blood
    Cardtype: Master
    Master: out-of-turn. Trifle.
    Play when a vampire diablerizes a vampires of more that twice his or her capacity (before the blood hunt referendum, if any). Usable on your own turn. Move the victim from the ash heap to his or her owner's ready region, any move all blood from the diablerist to him or her. Remove the diablerist from the game.

    Two Wrongs
    Cardtype: Master
    Master: out-of-turn. Trifle.
    Play when a minion controlled by a Methuselah other than your predator is bleeding you. That minion is now bleeding his or her prey. The next card that would change the target of this bleed is canceled as it is played.

    Lay Low
    Cardtype: Action Modifier
    Cost: 1 blood
    Requires an anarch.
    Only usable when a blood hunt referendum passes and would burn this anarch. Move this anarch to the uncontrolled region (breaking any temporary control effects). Any cards and counters on this vampire remain with him or her (but are out of play as long as the vampire remains uncontrolled).

    German VtES Championship 2008 in Ludwigshafen

    The German VtES Championship 2008 will take place at the DASHaus in Ludwigshafen, Germany on the weekend of November 22nd/23rd. The location DASHaus should be familiar to most of the German players since we used the location for at least four National events in the past years.
    1. Timetable German Championship
      • Date: Saturday 22.11.2008 "German Championship"
      • Format: Standard Constructed
      • Schedule:
        10:00 - 10:45 Registration
        11:00 - 13:00 Round 1
        14:00 - 16:00 Round 2
        16:10 - 18:10 Round 3
        18:30 - 20:30 Finals*

      * Eventually we will be offering a Duffin Draft tournament during the finals

    2. Timetable "Keepers of Tradition" Launch Event
      • Date: Sunday 23.11.2008 "Keepers of Tradition" Launch Event
      • Format: Booster Draft
      • Boosters: 7x Keepers of Tradition, 2x Gehenna

      • Entry Fee for the Booster Draft: 18 EUR
      • Schedule:
        9:00 - 9:45 Registration
        10:00 - 11:00 Booster draft + deckbuilding
        11:15 - 13:15 Round 1
        14:15 - 16:15 Round 2
        16:30 - 18:30 Round 3
        18:45 - 20:45 Finals*
      * Eventually we will be offering a Duffin Draft tournament during the finals

    3. Address
      Kulturzentrum dasHaus
      ehemals Haus der Jugend

      Förderverein "das Haus" e.V.
      Bahnhofstrasse 30
      67059 Ludwigshafen, Germany

    4. Entry Fee
      There is no entry fee. Every participant gets 2 boosters from a current VtES sets. Players who play for their first time in an official VtES tournament get a VtES starter.

    5. Prizes
      • Main Price: TBA
      • Finalist: Boosters, Boosters, Boosters,....

    Sunday, November 16, 2008

    "Rise of the Imperator" Storyline Event

    On the White Wolf storyline website you can find information about the next (and last) part of this year's storyline event series called "Rise of the Imperator":
    Faced with increasing threats from an anach revolt, the deadly Sabbat, and their own internal strife, the Camarilla's Inner Circle has agreed to appoint a military commander – an Imperator. The new Imperator will have the mandate to enforce the traditions and maintain discipline among the Kindred, and be granted broad powers to fulfill this mission. Who among the clans will have to power to seize this exalted position? Who will have the strength to keep it?

    Aftermath of the "Black Miracle & Lies" Storyline

    Ben Swainbank, the VtES Storyline Coordinator, has posted information about the aftermath story of the "Black Miracles & Lies" storyline event. "Black Miracles & Lies" is the second part of this years three-part storyline event series, and was played during the NAC 2008 in Montreal, Canada earlier this year.

    Here you can find the Black Miracle & Lies Aftermath and more information about White Wolf's storyline events in general as well.

    "Keepers of Tradition": Crypt/Library/Reprinted Cards

    For the upcoming VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" I have put up in the Polish VtES forum lists of the new Crypt and Library cards, as well as those reprinted in the boosters. This information comes primarily from IRC channel #vtes, the Usenet Newsgroup as well as various VtES forums around the world:
    Also there will be four new starters in the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion:
    The starter deck lists are complete for some time now, but now also the crypt and library lists with the actual card texts are complete as well.

    Saturday, November 15, 2008

    Friday, November 14, 2008

    "Keepers of Tradition": Overview New Library Cards

    Here's the complete list/overview of new library cards of the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition". Thanks to Lasombra for the compilation!
    • New Rares -- 16 total
      • Arcane Appraiser
      • Enkil Cog
      • Ephor
      • Monastery of Shadows
      • New Carthage
      • Nocturn Theater
      • Ponticulus
      • Scourge of the Enochians
      • Soul Scan
      • Tainted Spring
      • Target Retainer
      • Touch of Clarity
      • Veles' Hunt
      • Waiting Game
      • Warsaw Station
      • White Nights Massacre

    • New Uncommons -- 19 Total
      • Becoming, The
      • Blood of Sandman
      • Charismatic Aura
      • Childling Muse
      • Coterie Tactics
      • Dark Influences
      • Dark Mirror of the Mind
      • Heroic Might
      • Kevlar Vest
      • Leech
      • Light Intensifying Goggles
      • Old Friends
      • Papillon
      • Perfect Paragon
      • Persona Non Grata
      • Repair the Undead Flesh
      • Scourge
      • Still the Mortal Flesh
      • Villein

    • New Commons -- 17 Total
      • Agate Talisman
      • Ashur Tablets
      • Deep Song
      • Eyes of Argus
      • Eyes of the Beast
      • Fleetness
      • Force of Personality
      • Horseshoes
      • Loki's Gift
      • Mouthpiece
      • Neonate Breach
      • No Trace
      • Oath, The
      • Rego Motus
      • Steadfastness
      • Torrent
      • Wrong and Crosswise
    For individual cardtexts check the links in this overview article.

    Sunday, November 9, 2008

    Results European Draft Championship 2008

    Copied from http://www.sevenoaksart.co.uk/flags.htmHere are the results from the V:tES European Draft Championship, which was played on November 8th, 2008 in Paris, France with 48 players participating. The standings of the final round were as follows:
    1. Robert Fängler (GER) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 1.5 VP
    2. Vincent "Ankha" Ripoll (FRA) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 1.5 VP
    2. Reyda "The Little Pander" Seddiki (FRA) -- 2 GW 6 VP - 0 VP
    2. Orian "TTCMaster" Gissler (FRA) -- 2 GW 5.5 VP -- 0.5 VP
    2. Florian "Blondin" Prosper (FRA) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 0 VP
    Congratulations to Robert for winning the VtES European Draft Championship 2008. You can find a tournament report (in french) on the Sabbat in France forum and the White Wolf website and some pictures of the event on Picasa.

    Official "Keepers of Tradition" Announcement

    White Wolf has finally -- just two weeks before the official release date -- managed to officially announce the release of the next VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition". Aside from the known facts that the set's theme is based on the Camarilla and there will be four starters (for "Brujah", "Malkavian", "Toreador" and "Ventrue") it was disclosed that the Pre-Release Kit will contain four new promo cards, although the actual card texts are unknown yet:
    • House of Sorrow
    • Subdued by the Blood
    • Two Wrongs
    • Lay Low

    Monday, November 3, 2008

    "Keepers of Tradition": Preconstructed Deck "Malkavian"

    Here's the deck list -- spoiled by a certain individual on the IRC channel "#vtes" -- of the "Malkavian" preconstructed deck of the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion.
    Deck Name: "Malkavian" Starter Deck (Keepers of Tradition)
    Created By: L. Scott Johnson
    Description: "Malkavian" Preconstructed Starter Deck from "Keepers of Tradition".

    Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 12, Max 42, Avg: 6,83)
    ---------------------------------------------
    2x Cassandra Langely, The Waif dem 2, Malkavian
    2x Florentina Lengauer aus OBF 4, Malkavian
    2x Morel AUS DEM OBF 6. Malkavian
    2x Aleister Crowley aus obf DEM PRE THA 7, Malkavian
    2x Tryphosa AUS DEM DOM OBF POT 10, Malkavian
    2x Lutz Von Hohenzollern pot AUS DEM OBF PRE 11, Malkavian

    Library: (77 cards)
    ---------------------------------------------
    Master (17 cards)
    1x Auspex
    1x Bleeding the Vine
    1x The Coven
    1x Dementation (new art)
    2x Effective Management
    1x Elysium, The Arboretum
    1x Giant's Blood
    1x High Museum of Art, Atlanta
    4x Life in the City
    2x Obfuscate
    2x Vessel

    Action (13 cards)
    5x Forgery
    6x Kindred Spirits
    2x Sleep of Reason

    Political Action (1 card)
    1x Praxis Seizure: Chicago

    Equipment (5 cards)
    3x Cooler
    2x Learjet

    Action Modifier (23 cards)
    3x Change of Target
    6x Eyes of Chaos
    6x Into Thin Air
    4x Spying Mission
    4x Veil The Legions

    Reaction (12 cards)
    3x On the Qui Vive
    2x Poison Pill
    2x Shattered Mirror
    3x Spirit's Touch
    2x Voice of Madness

    Combat (4 cards)
    4x Glancing Blow

    Action Modifier/Combat (2 cards)
    2x Deny
    Also "Kindred Spirits", "Dementation" and "Spirit's Touch" got new artwork. The individual Malkavian have the following stats:
    Cassandra Langely, The Waif
    Clan: Malkavian
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 2
    Disciplines: dem
    Camarilla.

    Florentina Lengauer
    Clan: Malkavian
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 4
    Disciplines: aus OBF
    Camarilla.

    Morel
    Clan: Malkavian
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 6
    Disciplines: AUS DEM OBF
    Camarilla.

    Aleister Crowley
    Clan: Malkavian
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 7
    Disciplines: aus obf DEM PRE THA
    Camarilla. Frenzy cards cannot be played on Aleister.

    Tryphosa
    Clan: Malkavian
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 10
    Disciplines: AUS DEM DOM OBF POT
    Camarilla Prince of Rome. While Tryphosa is ready, any Malkavian's bleed action costs an additional blood and gets +1 stealth.

    Lutz Von Hohenzollern
    Clan: Malkavian
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 11
    Disciplines: pot AUS DEM OBF PRE
    Camarilla Malkavian Inner Circle. While Lutz is ready, your prey burns a pool each time the referendum of a political action passes +2 bleed.

    Sunday, November 2, 2008

    Deck of the Month: October 2008: Children of the Damned

    This month's most interesting deck is not Matt Morgan's and Ben Peal's "Death Star" deck. Not since it is not a good deck, heck, it won two of the major tournaments (during the North American Championship 2008) this year, but since a very similar deck was already Deck of the Month in August 2008. The deck of the month for October 2008 is a very interesting fusion between a Nephandus and an Assamite deck built and played by Greg Williams. But see the decklist and Greg's elaborate notes for yourself.

    Deck Name: Children of the Damned
    Description/Notes: The idea here is simple. Pull out 2 or 3 Assamites and Antonio d'Erlette. Use the Assamites for Haquims Law along with Ascendance (Yes! Ascendance) to bloat. Play Powerbase: Tshwane to reduce the cost of Nephandus Mage's (this work's with Antonio's ability!!!!!!). Then pull out Nephandus mages every turn and bleed, bleed, bleed. Right now the only defense from stealing the Nephandus is intercept, so, adding in some Direct Interventions, etc. may be necessary if your Metagame calls for it. The Boston metagame has only minimal Ally stealing. If you are lucky to get the Heart of Nizchetus, cycle all the Nephadus to the bottom of the deck.

    I was lucky to win the Sherbrooke Mini Qualifier Montreal Canada Oct. 22, 2008. The finals had another Antonio/Nephandus deck. I actually chose to be his prey because his predator was a heavy blled deck. I gambled that I could bloat and survive long enough to build up some defense. My gamble paid off and was able to take the table.

    Crypt (12 Cards) Avg Cap: 5.00; Min Draw Capacity: 15; Max Draw Capacity: 25
    ------------------------------------------------------------
    5x Antonio d'Erlette 5 !Tremere Sabbat dom for pot THA
    2x Olugbenga 7 Assamite Laibon ani cel OBF QUI Magaji
    1x Hafsa, The Watcher 6 Assamite Camarilla aus cel OBF QUI
    1x Layla bint-Nadr 5 Assamite Independent qui CEL OBF
    2x Kamau Jafari 4 Assamite Laibon obf QUI
    1x Alu 2 Assamite Independent obf

    Library (90 Cards)
    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Actions (10)
    2x Web of Knives Recruit
    8x Haqim's Law: Leadership

    Action Modifier (18)
    7x Cloak the Gathering
    4x Veil the Legions
    4x Into Thin Air
    1x Elder Impersonation
    2x Forgotten Labyrinth

    Ally (14)
    12x Nephandus (Mage)
    1x Vagabond Mystic
    1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)

    Combat (11)
    8x Dodge
    3x Target Vitals

    Equipment (1)
    1x Heart of Nizchetus

    Events (1)
    1x Unmasking

    Master (18)
    1x WMRH Talk Radio
    1x KRCG News Radio
    7x Ascendance
    2x Vessel
    2x Secure Haven
    2x Powerbase: Tshwane
    3x Dreams of the Sphinx

    Reaction (17)
    3x On the Qui Vive
    2x Black Sunrise
    1x Wake
    5x Nest of Eagles
    4x Deflection
    1x Confusion of the Eye
    1x Poison Pill

    Bang Nakh's aplenty

    Bang Nakh's aplenty
    Wallpaper against the cold
    It still costs too much.
    In the Presence forum this was Azel's comment on the n-th reprint of Bang Nakh -- Tiger's Claws in a VtES starter deck, next time in the Brujah starter deck of the upcoming VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition".

    Saturday, November 1, 2008

    "Keepers of Tradition": Preconstructed Deck "Brujah"

    Here's the deck list -- copied from the Presence forum -- of the "Brujah" preconstructed deck of the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion.
    Deck Name: "Brujah" Starter Deck (Keepers of Tradition)
    Created By: L. Scott Johnson
    Description: "Brujah" Preconstructed Starter Deck from "Keepers of Tradition".

    Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 14, Max 42, Avg: 6,5)
    ---------------------------------------------
    2x Garret pot pre 3, Brujah
    2x Reginald Moore PRE 4, Brujah
    2x Herbert Westin pot OBF PRE 5, Brujah
    2x Tomaine CEL POT PRE 6, Brujah
    2x Jann Berger dem for CEL POT PRE 10, Brujah
    2x Adana de Sforza aus CEL OBF POT PRE PRO 11, Brujah

    Library: (77 cards)
    ---------------------------------------------
    Master (10 cards)
    1x Celerity
    1x KRCG News Radio
    2x Major Boon
    1x Nod
    1x Potence
    1x Presence
    1x Tension in the Ranks
    2x Vessel

    Action (14 cards)
    4x Enrage
    2x Entrenching
    5x Harass
    3x Public Trust

    Combat (32 cards)
    6x Brute Force
    3x Immortal Grapple
    3x Psyche!
    3x Relentless Pursuit
    4x Slam
    4x Stutter-Step
    3x Taste of Vitae
    3x Torn Signpost
    3x Weighted Walking Stick

    Equipment (9 cards)
    4x Bang Nakh - Tiger's Claws
    2x Bundi
    1x Drum of Xipe Totec
    1x Phased Motion Detector
    1x Sengir Dagger

    Political Action (4 cards)
    2x Finding the Path
    2x Year of Fortune

    Reaction (3 cards)
    3x On the Qui Vive

    Combo (5 cards)
    5x Resist The Earth's Grasp

    The individual Brujah have the following stats:
    Garret
    Cardtype: Vampire
    Clan: Brujah
    Group: 4
    Disciplines: pot pre
    Capacity: 3
    Camarilla.

    Reginald Moore
    Cardtype: Vampire
    Clan: Brujah
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 4
    Disciplines: PRE
    Camarilla Primogen. Reginald gets +1 strength in combat with Tremere and Tremere antitribu. He cannot block vampires of those clans or attempt actions to enter combat with them.

    Herbert Westin
    Cardtype: Vampire
    Clan: Brujah
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 5
    Disciplines: pot OBF PRE
    Camarilla. When Herbert successfully performs an equip action, you may draw an additional card (discard afterward).

    Tomaine
    Cardtype: Vampire
    Clan: Brujah
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 6
    Disciplines: CEL POT PRE
    Camarilla Primogen. If your prey controls a ready Sabbat vampire, he or she gets +1 hand size while Tomaine is ready.

    Jann Berger
    Cardtype: Vampire
    Clan: Brujah
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 10
    Disciplines: dem for CEL POT PRE
    Camarilla Prince of Monaco. Cards that require Potence cost Jann 1 less blood. +1 bleed.

    Adana de Sforza
    Cardtype: Vampire
    Clan: Brujah
    Group: 4
    Capacity: 11
    Disciplines: aus CEL OBF POT PRE PRO
    Camarilla Brujah Inner Circle Member. Combat cards cost Adana 1 less blood. +2 bleed.