Tuesday, September 30, 2008

"State the Obvious" Newsletter

This fascinating newsletter was posted by Emmit Svenson two years ago. Since it offers such astounding insight to the world of VtES, I thought it would be worth a repost.

Introduction

Welcome, everyone, to the first official State the Obvious newsletter. Previous newsletters have stated the obvious, but this is the first newsletter dedicated to this vital service for the online V:tES community. This month's issue is an extremely superficial look at that most simple of disciplines, Obfuscate.

Fiction


The two werewolves stared at the pile of ash steaming in the noonday sun.

"Gosh, Speaks-with-Sarcasm!" said Holly States-the-Obvious, "That guy who tried to suck my blood disintegrated in the sunlight! He must have been a vampire!"

"Your powers of observation amaze me," growled Speaks-with-Sarcasm.

Library Card of the Month: Lost in Crowd
s

Lost in Crowds
Type: Action Modifier
Requires: Obfuscate
[obf] +1 stealth
[OBF] +2 stealth


Lost in Crowds is an Obfuscate card that gives an acting minion extra stealth if someone with enough intercept is trying to block them. It isn't the only obfuscate card that gives stealth, but it can be played along with other stealth cards if you need more stealth. So can the other stealth cards.

At the basic level, Lost in Crowds gives you +1 stealth. This may not be enough stealth. So it's good to be able to play it at the advanced level, which gives you +2 stealth.

Lost in Crowds is handy because if someone tries to block you when you take a zero stealth action, you might be able to avoid their block by increasing your stealth. The same if someone tries to block you with +1 intercept when you are taking a +1 stealth action. Assuming you don't want to be blocked.

Now to answer a few of your questions:

Q: If I play Lost in Crowds at the inferior, does that increase my stealth?
A: Yes, by +1.

Q: If I play Lost in Crowds at the superior, does that increase my stealth?
A: Yes, by +2.

Q: My playgroup is too small to be really considered a crowd. Can I still play Lost in Crowds?
A: Yes, unless your group is really, really small. If you are too small to lift the card, you cannot play it.

Q: I have an older printing of Lost in Crowds, and it doesn't have [obf] and [OBF]. It has a little black square and triangle by mistake. Is it legal to play with this old card in tournaments?
A: No, because that card is clearly a fake. White Wolf's online text for Lost in Crowds has always read [obf] and [OBF]. If anyone tries to play with counterfeit cards in a tournament, you should demand that the judge confiscate and destroy them as a service to the company that brought us the game.

Crypt Card of the Month: Agrippina


Agrippina
Assamite, G2, 4 cap
OBF cel
Independent. {Blood Cursed: Agrippina may not commit diablerie.}


Agrippina is a 4-cap vampire with superior obfuscate. This means she can play obfuscate cards (like Lost in Crowds) at the superior level. It also means she can play obfuscate cards (like Lost in Crowds) at the inferior level. There aren't many situations where you'd want to play Lost in Crowds at the inferior, but there are some that aren't obvious enough to discuss in this newsletter.

Agrippina also has inferior Celerity. This does not allow her to play Obfuscate cards, but since she has superior obfuscate, that's all right. It does allow her to play Celerity cards, but only at the inferior level. As a result, Agrippina can play both Obfuscate and Celerity cards.

One problem with Agrippina is that she is Blood Cursed, meaning she can't commit diablerie. If you want to commit diablerie, you'll have to use a different vampire. She can, however, bleed, hunt, equip, recruit, employ, rescue from torpor, and take card-based actions that don't have requirements she doesn't meet. Also, if you have Agrippina in your ready region, you will get an additional pool from Consanguineous Boon votes that name Assamites.

Q: How much blood must be on Agrippina at the end of the influence phase to move her to the ready region?
A: Four or more.

Q: Can Agrippina play Lost in Crowds at the superior?
A: Yes, for +2 stealth.

Q: Is Agrippina the only 4-cap with superior Obfuscate?
A: No. She's the only 4-cap with superior Obfuscate and Celerity, however.

Q: Can Agrippina diablerize Dr. Jest?
A: No. Not ever. Not even if he begs her to. Assamites got screwed.

State the Obvious Deck Concept of the Month

This deck is called a "weenie stealth-bleed" deck, because it uses weenies that bleed and play stealth if blocked. You could also call it a "stealth-hunt" deck, because when you don't have a bleed card handy you can gain pool by hunting at stealth. Or bleed anyway. It's crazy, but it just might work.

Crypt
1 x Agrippina
12 x a bunch of other small vampires with obfuscate

Master:
6 x Blood Doll (for blood gain)
6 x Effective Management (for weenies)
4 x Misdirection (to tap vampires)
1 x Anachronism (so you can say "I built an Anachronism deck!" No one will worry about your Anachronism deck until it is too late.)

Minion:
30 x Computer Hacking (for bleed)
59 x Lost in Crowds (for stealth)
1 x The Deadliest Sin (so you can say, "My Anachronism deck uses The Deadliest Sin!")

Poll

What topics would you like to see future State the Obvious newsletters focus on?
  1. Counting to four: How many transfers to I get on my first turn, again?
  2. Protecting your pool is important because when you're out, you're out of the game.
  3. Dominate: You can use it to bleed!
  4. Gaining pool from the edge during your untap phase.

Thanks for reading. This is the end of the State the Obvious newsletter.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Poll Results: "Should "Direct Intervention" be banned?"

Here are the results of the latest poll on your opinions if "Direct Intervention" should be banned. 129 VtES players have voted in this poll:
  • The card is fine as it is. -- 68 (52%)
  • Restrict it to once per game/per player. -- 38 (29%)
  • Needs clearly a complete ban. -- 10 (7%)
  • I don't care about "Direct Intervention". -- 13 (10%)
There's a clear majority that the card is not a problem at all, although there's a significant minority that has the opinion that "Direct Intervention" should be changed or even banned completly.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

VtES T-Shirt Logos during the EC 2008

Here are some of the t-shirt slogans I saw during the VtES EC 2008 in Prague:
  1. Finnish Politics -- Potence symbol
  2. I'll finnish you off. -- Dominate symbol
  3. +2 Bleed
  4. We came for the beer .. but we'll take some VPs too. -- Team Hungary.
  5. Ano De La Hiena -- Animalism symbol
  6. Play.The.Game.

Friday, September 26, 2008

VtES European Draft Championship 2008

The very first European Draft Championship is taking place in Paris, France on November 8th, 2008. The championship is a two day event. On the first day the actual VtES draft championship is played, which is a regular booster draft with 9 3rd Edition boosters as basis. On the second day a more informal approach is taking; while touring some of the main tourist attractions in Paris, several rounds of Duffin Draft are played.

Check out more details on the Euro Draft 2008 website.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Memorable Quotes (Part 23)

"I hate DI. I have always hated DI. I would love to see it vaporize instantly." -- Peter D. Bakija
Reference: Newsgroup thread on "Banning Direct Intervention"

Monday, September 22, 2008

Results EC2008: European Championship

Copied from http://www.sevenoaksart.co.uk/flags.htmMore results from the V:tES European Championship, which was played on September 19th-21th, 2008 in Prague, Czech Republic. The final EC tournament has been played on Sunday with 40 players participating. The standings of the final round were as follows:
1. Ján Harčarufka (SVK) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 3 VP -- Malkavian antitribu S&B /w new tech
2. Pierre "Stone" Tran-Van (FRA) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 1 VP -- Toreador antitribu Anarch Palla Grande
2. Robin Prochazka (CZE) -- 1 GW 7 VP -- 1 VP -- Malkavian antitribu S&B Kindred Spirits /w old tech
2. Jakub Hrbacek (CZE) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Una Freak Drive Truck
2. Eric Torstensen (SWE) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Arika /w Mind Rape & Baltimore Purge
Congratulations to Jan for winning the VtES European Championship 2008. The final standings as well as the finalist's decklist can be found in the Usenet newsgroup.

EC 2008 Final Day Impressions

Left: Pictures from the 3. round of the EC Day 2 tournament.


Right: Another table of intense playing of the 3. round.



Left: The final round of the EC2008, after Stone has given his speech why the Una deck is the threat.
Right: The heads-up of final round of the EC, Jan's !Malkavian Bleed deck is battling Stone's !Toreador Anarch Palla Grande deck.

Left: The new EC champion, Jan Harcarfuka (Slovakia), who really enjoyed his win (later even with champagne).

Right:LSJ and Oscar contemplating, waiting to answer silly rules questions.

Left: The final table of the First Chance Qualifier tournament.

Right: Team France has obviously been enjoying the EC tournament. Even so much, that they accept Johannes in their ranks. He's actually from Germany.

Results EC 2008: First Chance Qualifier

Copied from http://www.sevenoaksart.co.uk/flags.htmMore results from the V:tES European Championship, which is played on September 19th-21st, 2008 in Prague, Czech Republic. The First Chance Qualifier tournament has been finished on Sunday, with approx. 120 players playing in this tournament. The standings of the final round were as follows:
1. Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (SWE) -- 2 GW 8,5 VP -- 3 VP -- Giovanni Shambling Hordes
2. Adam Esbjörnsson (SWE) -- 2 GW 7,5 VP -- 1 VP -- Ahrimanes Wall
2. Tomasz Pietkiewicz (POL) -- 2 GW 7,5 VP -- 1 VP -- Ravnos Eldest are Kholo
2. Jakub Baranski (POL) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Pander Boon
2. Taya Sainomaa (FIN) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Gangrel Protean Dominate Bleed
Congratulations to Isak for winning the First Chance Qualifier for the EC 2009. Funny thing is that the first and second player are two brothers from Sweden. The final standings as well as the finalist's decklist can be found in the Usenet newsgroup.

Results EC 2008: Day 1

Copied from http://www.sevenoaksart.co.uk/flags.htmMore results from the V:tES European Championship, which is played on September 19th-21st, 2008 in Prague, Czech Republic. The qualifier for the EC finals have been finished on Saturday, with 144 players played in this tournament of which 40 qualified for the finals. The standings of the final round were as follows:
1. Balázs Sebestyén (HUN) -- 2 GW 10 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Weenie Auspex
2. Teemu Sainoma (FIN) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Nergal feat. Aksinya Daclau Tech
2. David Wittmann (HUN) -- 3 GW 9 VP -- 1 VP -- Brujah antitribu Unexpected Coalition
2. Patricio Zippone (ITA) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Lasombra Nocturne Bleed
2. Peter Vadasz (HUN) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Giovanni Powerbleed
Congratulations to Balázs for winning the first day tournament of the EC 2008. The final standings as well as the finalist's decklists can be found in the Usenet newsgroup. There are also a whole bunch of pictures on this Czech website.

EC 2008 Day 1 Impressions

Left: The main room during round 3 of the EC Day 2 tournament. As you can see it was a little crowded.

Right: The final table of the EC Day 2 tournament. Winner was Balázs Sebestyén with his Weenie Auspex deck.

Left: The 1. round of the Silence of Death tournament in full motion.

Right: The finalists of the Silence Death tournament with Martin Varga (middle) winning the finals with his Akunanse Trophy deck.

Results EC2008: Silence of Death

Copied from http://www.sevenoaksart.co.uk/flags.htmMore results from the V:tES European Championship, which is played on September 19th-21th, 2008 in Prague, Czech Republic. The Silence of Death tournament has been finished on Saturday, with 32 players playing in this tournament. The standings of the final round were as follows:
1. Martin Varga (SVK) -- 1 GW 5,5 VP -- Akunanse Magaji want trophies, too
2. Ruben Marquez (ESP) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 2 VP -- Council of Doom
2. Tamás Csepregi (HUN) -- 2 GW 6,5 VP -- 0 VP -- Nosferatu Royalty Vote w/ Progenies
2. Pasi Karjalainen (FIN) -- 2 GW 5,5 VP -- 0 VP -- Weenie Presence Bleed
2. Martin Bartko (CZE) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Enkidu Anarch Combat feat. Beatrice
Congratulations to Martin for winning the Silence of Death format (especially with this deck). He was not going to be the last Slovak winning a tournament during the EC. The final standings as well as the finalist's decks can be found in the Usenet newsgroup.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Results EC 2008: Last Chance Qualifier

Copied from http://www.sevenoaksart.co.uk/flags.htmThe first results of the V:tES European Championship 2008, which is played on September 19th-21st, 2008 in Prague, Czech Republic, have been announced. The first major tournament was the Last Chance qualifier on Friday, which gives non-qualified players a chance to qualify for the actual EC tournament. 159 players participated in the EC tournament, the standings in the finals were:
1. Orian "TTC" Gissler (FRA) -- 3 GW 9 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Giovanni Khazzar's Diary
2. Otto Kukkasniemi (FIN) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 1 VP -- Malkavian Antitribu Stealth Bleed
2. Erol Öngün (GER) -- 2 GW 9,5 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Stanislawa & Becket w/ Event Tech
2. Florian Prosper (FRA) -- 2 GW 8,5 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Weenie Auspex
2. Michael Holmström (SWE) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Dominate Weenie w/Combat
Congratulutions to Orian for winning the LCQ. The final standings and the finalist's decks can be found in the Usenet newsgroup. You can also find a whole bunch of pictures on this Czech websites.

EC 2008 Last Chance Qualifier Impressions

Here are some pictures from the Last Chance Qualifier 2008 which was played during the VtES European Championship on September 20, 2008 in Prague (Czech Republic):

Left: The location the EC 2008 takes place, Hotel Dum in Prague.

Right: The first side event was a six pack booster draft with about 15 players participating. Winner of the tournament was Jasper Boje.


Left: The play area of the LCQ during Round 2.

Right: Matt Morgan's Blood Brother deck trying to make a stand against Michael Holmström's Dominate Weenies. Michael later played in the LCQ final.

Left: Orian Gissler's Khazaar's Diary deck in full motion during Round 2 of the LCQ.

Right: The final table during midgame. Oscar Garza and LSJ are overseeing the final round.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Top Ranking Obtenebration, Protean & Vicissitude Cards

Here's the list of "Obtenebration", "Protean", "Vicissitude" cards in VtES that are most frequently used in tournament winning decks. The number shows the number of decks where these cards appeared (at least once) on Lasombra's TWDA (as of 13/June/2008).

When comparing the data on these disciplines with other disciplines like "Fortitude" or "Obfuscate", you can easily see that "Obtenebration", "Protean" and "Vicissitude" are one-clan-clan only.
  • Obtenebration
    1. Shadow Play -- 49x
    2. Shroud Of Night -- 38x
    3. Shadow Body -- 28x
    4. Shroud Of Absence -- 23x
    5. Arms Of The Abyss -- 23x

    When you look at this list, it seems that "Obtenebration" is the little (yet costly) brother of "Obfuscate". The first four cards of the list are basically stealth (or stealth-like cards). Only "Arms Of The Abyss" as combat card stands against the trend. (I known "Shadow Body" is a combat card as well, but the "continue action" is the more sought after effect here (otherwise you would see "Oubliette" here as well.)

  • Protean
    1. Form Of Mist -- 56x
    2. Earth Meld -- 53x
    3. Earth Control -- 47x
    4. Flesh Of Marble -- 37x
    5. Claws Of The Dead -- 34x

    The cards featuring "Combat Ends" dominate the top five list, closely followed by "Earth Control" which provides the necessary stealth in most "Protean"-based decks. The combat cards occupy the remaining two places.

  • Vicissitude
    1. Changeling -- 31x
    2. Breath Of The Dragon -- 29x
    3. Chiropteran Marauder -- 27x
    4. Plasmic Form -- 26x
    5. Inner Essence -- 09x

    This is clearly the best of "Vicissitude" and shows its versatility as well. "Changeling" offers stealth and bleed, "Chiropteran Marauder" a maneuver and aggravated hand damage and "Plasmic Form" both stealth and a dodge. Although one must say said there are really only four cards worth mentioning, since between the fourth and fifth card there's a huge gap in decks where these cards are included.

I'm off to see the Wizard

Amazing Sights To See ! The Tornado . . . Munchkinland . . . Horse
Of A Different Color . . . Startling Balloon Ascent . . . Flying Monkeys . . .
Trees That Talk And Throw Apples
I'm off to see the Wizard, err, .. off to go Prague later today and participate in the VtES European Championship Tournament 2008 during the next weekend. I'll try to post the results of the tournaments (along with some pictures) as soon as possible, and keep you informed about the upcoming event.

I'm being still not qualified for the main event, but ... what the heck, the "Silence of Death" tournament on Saturday will be enjoyable too.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Memorable Quotes (Part 22)

"And also you're European, so add 10x Direct Intervention and 15x Delaying Tactics." -- Matt Morgan

"European deck building: 5 DI, 2 Pentex Subversion." -- Oscar Garza

Monday, September 15, 2008

Plans for the NAC 2009 announced

The plans for the next North American Continental VtES Championship (NAC) have been announced. The NAC 2009 takes places in Atlanta, Georgia from October 2nd to 4th, 2009. As usual as prelude to the NAC the "Week of Nightmares" starts on September 28th. The "Week of Nightmares" is a series of VtES related events and tournaments like draft tournaments or mini-qualifiers.

Checkout more details on Lasombra's website, which hosts the organizational webpages on the NAC 2009. As Lasombra has put it: "We look forward to ousting you (or being ousted by you) in 2009!"

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Results Italian National VtES Championship 2008

On September 7th, 2008 the Italian National VtES Championship was held in Genova, Italy with xx players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:
1. Fabrizio "Scar" Scaglione (ITA) -- Ventrue Vote Arika&Co
2. Danilo "Son of Malkav" Torrisi (ITA) -- Turbo Ivan Krenyenko
2. Alessandro "Nekròs" Donati (ITA) -- Pander Vote
2. Emanuele "Spirito" Sinagra (ITA) -- Eze, The Demon Prince Vote
2. Giuseppe "Beppe" Marchetti (ITA) -- Anarch Wall !Gangrel ANI PRO FOR
Congratulations to Fabrizio for his win of the Italian National Championship 2008. You can find a tournament reports (in Italian) in the Italian VtES forum.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Poll Results: "What card needs to be reprinted soon?"

(c) by White Wolf Inc.Here are the results of the latest poll on your opinions what "long lost" card needs to be reprinted soon. 120 VtES players have voted in the poll:
  1. The Embrace -- 26 (21%)
  2. Jake Washington -- 24 (20%)
  3. Charisma -- 18 (15%)
  4. Mind Rape -- 13 (10%)
  5. Shroud of Absence -- 12 (10%)
  6. Sensory Deprivation -- 8 (6%)
  7. Baltimore Purge -- 8 (6%)
  8. Alamut -- 5 (4%)
  9. Parity Shift -- 4 (3%)
  10. Path of Typhoon -- 2 (1%)
The top three cards are those that can be used in large variety of decks, so it's not real surprise that they are at the top. They are followed by "Mind Rape" and "Shroud of Absence", which both require a discipline, but since they haven't been reprinted for a long time, they rank in the middle of the list. The rest of the cards seem to be specific (e.g. clan requirements), so that they finished in the bottom half of the list.

Friday, September 12, 2008

VtES European Championship Qualifiers 2008 (Update)

Here's a list of the past ECQ tournaments for VtES in 2008, mostly taken from the WW event calendar:
  • 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)
  • 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: Albert Muñoz (ESP)
  • 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)
  • Scottish ECQ -- Edinburgh, Scotland -- July 19th, 2008 -- Winner: Edd Phipps (UK)
  • Norwegian ECQ & NC -- Flekkefjord, Norway -- July 26th, 2008 -- Winner: Mats Ingdal (NOR)
  • Finnish ECQ -- Espoo, Finland -- August 8th, 2008 --Winner: Lasse Pöyry (FIN)
  • Swedish ECQ II -- Örebro, Sweden -- August 9th, 2008 -- Winner: ???
  • Denmark ECQ -- Aarhus, Denmark -- August 3oth, 2008 -- Winner: Nikolaj Wendt (DEN)
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):

Results Danish EC Qualifier 2008

On August 30th, 2008 the VtES Danish EC Qualifier was held in Aarhus (Denmark) with 13 players attending the qualifier tournament. The final standings were as follows:
1. Nikolaj Wendt (DEN) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 4 VP -- Prince Potence Parity
2. Martin Randers (DEN) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 1 VP --
2. Jens Thorup (DEN) -- 3 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP --
2. Sven Strandbygaard (DEN) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP --
2. August Hansen (DEN) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 0 VP --
Congratulations to Nikolaj for his win of the Danish ECQ 2008. You can find the final standings and the winner's deck list in the Usenet newsgroup.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Top Ranking Obfuscate, Potence & Presence Cards

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

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Results of "The Last Beat of My Heart" VtES Tournament in Bochum

Here are the results of the "The Last Beat of My Heart" VtES Constructed tournament in Bochum, Germany after 3 rounds and final. The tournament was played on September 7th, 2008 with 10 players participating. Since the number of players was below 12, the multi-deck rules were used. Here are the standings after the final round:
1. Hardy R. -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Potence Weenie Thrown Gate/Computer Hacking
2. Didi R. -- 0 GW 1,5 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Nosferatu Royalty Old School
2. Michael H. -- 1 GW 3,5 VP -- 1 VP -- Ignatio Giovanni Rush
2. Jörg A. -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Samedi Shambling Hordes
2. Sebastian K. -- 0 GW 1,5 VP -- 0 VP -- Toreador Obf/Pre Bleed
Congratulations to Hardy for his victory in the tournament. You can find the final standings and a tournament report in the German VtES Forum. Take note that the decks shown above are those played in the final round, not necessarily during the whole tournament.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Memorable Quotes (Part 21)

"I think in a decent size tourney, the importance of factors [to win the tournament] goes something like this :
Luck/seating > Play ability > Negotiation skills > Deck
" -- Rob Treasure
Reference: VTES UK.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Winner by Algorithm

As a computer geek I always appreciate efforts to bring computational efforts into VtES. Kico supplied his tournament winning deck ("Kholó y GOOOOOL"; a Ravnos Laibon Breed & Boon deck) with the following pseudo code:

while not ( Library is empty )

case have

"Mozambique Allure"

Play "Mozambique Allure"

"Embrace"

Play "Embrace"

"Consanguineous Boon"

Play "Consanguineous Boon" + "Eldest are Kholo"

if during your master phase you have "Week of Nightmare" AND more than 14 Ravnos

then

Play "Week of Nightmares" and win.

end if

end case

end while

Sunday, September 7, 2008

VtES Rules: "Piper" Q&A

Lately a number of questions came up regarding Piper, so here's a short "Questions and Answers" summary for the card. Most of the information is taken from the Usenet newsgroup "rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad":

Q: Can the ally an Anarch recruited by using "Piper" in the Master phase, act during the same turn?
A: No. He is recruited (and not "put into play" as it is stated on Khazaar's Diary"). As indicated in the rules (section 6.1.5) the new ally is moved to the uncontrolled region to indicate, that he act during that turn, and is moved to the ready region at the end of the turn.

Q: If I have a "Charisma" on an Anarch, is the cost reduced for recruiting an ally when playing "Piper".
A: Yes. "Piper" states "cost applies as normal", so the reduction of "Charisma" is used for calculation of the cost of the ally.
A: Recruiting via "Piper" is not an action, and therefore the cost reduction of "Charisma" does not count. [LSJ-2009-01-15].

Q: If "Mata Hari" is an Anarch, can I use to "Piper" to tap her and recruit an ally requiring a clan, e.g. a "War Ghoul" or "Renegade Garou"?
A: "Piper" requires that the Anarch tapped for the "Piper" fulfill the requirements for recruiting the ally, and "Mata Hari clearly can recruit all those allies requiring a clan.

Q: If I have multiple Master phase actions at my disposal, can I play multiple "Pipers" to recruit a corresponding number of allies?
A: Yes, you can do this, as long as you have always have an untapped Anarchs for each "Piper" played.

Q: If I managed to untap an Anarchs in my Master phase (e.g. "Path of Evil Revelations" or "Alexandra's" special ability), can I play a second "Piper" to tap the same Anarch a second time (provided I have two Master phase actions)?
A: Yes. There's nothing to prevent you from doing this. You're not taking an action (or playing an action card).

Friday, September 5, 2008

Results French National VtES Championship 2008

On August 24th, 2008 the French National VtES Championship 2008 was held in Carcassonne, France with 50 players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:
1. Noël Gimenez (ESP) -- 1 GW 4.5 VP -- 1.5 VP -- Malkavian Antitribu Stealth Bleed
2. Florian Prosper (FRA) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 0.5 VP --
2. Yannick Gibert (FRA) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 0.5 VP --
2. Thomas Hucol (FRA) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 0.5 VP --
2. Rodolphe Danac (FRA) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 0 VP --
Congratulations to Noël for his win of the French National Championship 2008. You can find the full standings in the VEKN France forum and the winner's deck list in the Usenet newsgroup.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Top Ranking Dementation, Dominate & Fortitude Cards

Here's the list of Dementation, Dominate, Fortitude cards in VtES that are most frequently used in tournament winning decks. The number shows the number of decks where the Events appeared (at least once) on Lasombra's TWDA (as of 13/June/2008).
  • Dementation

    1. Kindred Spirits -- 53x
    2. Eyes Of Chaos -- 45x
    3. Confusion -- 45x
    4. Deny -- 19x
    5. Restructure -- 16x

    The overall number of decks with "Dementation" is relatively small, since it's related to "Malkavian"/"Malkavian antitribu" only, and the old school "Malkavians" (Group 1/Group 2) usually have "Dominate", but never "Dementation". The top three cards are related to the well-known "Malkavian antitribu" Stealth Bleed decks, the rest follows with considerably gap inbetween.
  • Dominate

    1. Deflection -- 362x
    2. Govern The Unaligned -- 263x
    3. Conditioning -- 227x
    4. Bonding -- 99x
    5. Seduction -- 96x

    "Dominate" the Discipline (with capital "D") of all disciplines. The total number of decks containing "Dominate" cards is huge, since it's both a widespread discipline and the top three cards are among the best in their class; "Deflection" in the category bleed bounce, "Govern the Unaligned" in the category pool gain/bleed, and "Conditioning" in the category bleed modifiers.

"Keepers of Tradition": Vampire Genealogy

Our local VEKN Prince, Hardy, made a comprehensive list of the vampires that are currently known to be released with the next VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" (by name and preview picture) along with their clan and genealogy:
  • Karen Suadela
  • Clan: Brujah

  • Tara
  • Clan: Brujah
    Source: Tara 9 Los Angeles by Night 70
    Source: Tara - Prince of San Diego 9 Children of the Night
    Lineage: Tara <9> (1794:1822) Progeny of Justin Davies. Prince of San Diego. [LAbN] [CotN] [GttS] [NoP]

  • Bela
  • Clan: Malkavian
    Source: Bela 11 Los Angeles by Night
    Lineage: Bela <11> (1882:1956) Progeny of Count Rigatoni. [LAbN]

  • Unmada
  • Clan: Malkavian
    Source: Unmada 5 Transylvania Chronicles II: Son of the Dragon
    Lineage: Unmada <5> (:369) Progeny of Brahina. Sire of Vasantasena (~1000). This Indian Brahmin brought the Malkavians into the Camarilla. He gathered with five other Methuselahs and removed Dementation from the Camarilla Malkavians. [CotI,p29] [Cb-M,p18] [TC2,p93] [CbR-M]

  • Lynn Thompson
  • Clan: Brujah

  • Portia
  • Clan: Ventrue
    Source: Portia - The Cult of Personality 12 Nights of Prophecy
    Lineage: Portia <12> (:1998) Progeny of Cass. An aspect of Helena's self. [NoP]

  • McGill

  • Price

  • Veles

  • Zaroff
  • Clan: Caitiff
    Source: Zaroff, Count 10 A World of Darkness
    Lineage: Count Zaroff <10> (:1941) Caitiff [WoD1]

  • Mistress Fanchon
  • Clan: Tremere
    Source: Fanchon, Mistress 6 Giovanni Chronicles I: The Last Supper 60
    Source: Fanchon, Mistress 6 Giovanni Chronicles II: Blood & Fire 20
    Source: Fanchon, Mistress 6 Transylvania Chronicles II: Son of the Dragon
    Lineage: Mistress Fanchon <6> (1186:1223 or 1357) Progeny of Shavrael. Inner Circle. One of the founders of the Camarilla and first Tremere Justicar. [GC1,p60] [GC2,p20] [GC3,p15] [GttC] [TC2,p97]

  • Marshall
  • Clan: Tremere
    Source: Marshall, Garwood 8 Chicago by Night
    Lineage: Garwood Marshall <8> (:1937+1993) Progeny of DuSable. [CbN2]

  • Delutrius
  • Clan: Toreador
    Source: De Lutrius, Thomas - The Painter in Pain 10 Berlin by Night
    Lineage: Thomas de Lutrius <10> (:1947) Progeny of Johann. [BbN] [BC]

  • Asher

  • Hasek

Sources:

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Deck of the Month: August 2008: Assamite Council

This time the deck of the month is a clever copycat of Matt Morgan's original deck concept, built and piloted by Robyn Tatu to a tournament win. The deck is a variation of older Assamite Breed & Boon. It adds an Anarch component with the Feestakes and "CrimethInc., but most importantly it uses two of the more nasty political actions with "Revolutionary Council" and "Reckless Agitation". Vote majority is based on "Alamut" and the Baron titles.

Malkavian Dementia: Atlanta
DragonCon 2008
August 29, 2008
12 players
2R + F

Deck Name: Assamite Council
Created By: Robyn Tatu After Matt Morgan
Description: I played with Matt playing his version, but I have no idea what he's actually packing in the deck. This is what seemed like it would work.

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 4, Max: 22, Avg: 3.16)
---------------------------------------------
4 Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff
1 Alu obf 2 Assamite
1 Layla bint-Nadr qui CEL OBF 5 Assamite
1 Hafsa aus cel OBF QUI 6 Assamite
1 Michael diCarlo obf qui CEL 5 Assamite
1 Janni cel for obf qui 5 Assamite
1 Vardar Vardarian cel pre OBF QUI 6 Assamite
1 Basir qui 1 Assamite
1 Kamau Jafari obf QUI 4 Assamite

Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (14 cards)
1 Blood Doll
4 Alamut
1 Yoruba Shrine
2 Black Throne, The
1 Powerbase: Rome
1 Obfuscate
2 Galaric`s Legacy
2 Vessel

Action (23 cards)
3 Skullduggery
3 Undue Influence
3 Khabar: Loyalty
2 Fee Stake: Boston
2 Fee Stake: Corte
2 Fee Stake: Los Angeles
1 Fee Stake: New York
2 Fee Stake: Perth
1 Fee Stake: Seattle
4 Web of Knives Recruit

Action Modifier (28 cards)
3 Elder Impersonation
4 Forgotten Labyrinth
4 Lost in Crowds
3 Faceless Night
4 Spying Mission
5 Cloak the Gathering
5 CrimethInc.

Political Action (18 cards)
1 Patsy
2 Anarch Salon
2 Revolutionary Council
1 Exclusion Principle
7 Consanguineous Boon
3 Reckless Agitation
2 Kine Resources Contested

Reaction (2 cards)
1 Nest of Eagles
1 Power of All

Retainer (1 cards)
1 Crypt's Sons

Combo (4 cards)
4 Swallowed by the Night

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

"Keepers of Tradition" Launch Kit

For the next VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" the contents of the launch kit have been disclosed. The kit contains
  • 2 Booster displays of VTES: Keepers of Tradition,
  • 2 Starter displays of VTES: Keepers of Tradition,
  • 16 TBA promos
The pricing of the package is similar to the previous ones, e.g. from "Lord of the Nights", that is approx. 200 Euro or Dollars.

Results of "Mutually Assured Destruction" VtES Tournament in Hanau

These are the results of the "Mutually Assured Destruction" VtES Constructed tournament in Hanau, Germany after 3 rounds and final. The tournament was played on August 30th, 2008 with 19 players participating. Here are the standings after the final round:
1. Rudolf G. -- 1 GW 5,5 VP -- 2,5 VP -- (!)Gangrel Dominate Protean Bleed
2. Joscha D. -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Nosferatu Prince Block/Vote
2. Michael H. -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Ahrimanes Bleed & Block
2. Chris F. -- 1 GW 5,5 VP -- 0 VP -- Cybele/Nergal Soul Gem Nastiness
2. Ralf W. -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Stanislava & Friends Dominate Protean Bleed
Congratulations to Rudolf for his victory in the final round and the tournament. You can find a tournament report, the final standings and the finalist's decklist in the Usenet newsgroups.

Left: You can see table 1 (background) and 2 (foreground) during round 2, both tables in full motion.

Right: Round 2 Table 3: The moment where Rudolf's Gangrel are about to oust Lukas' Nosferatu Royalties.

Left: Round 2 Table 4: Martin's Warghoul is overrunning Chris' Cybele deck. Michael is already preparing for the impact.

Right: Round 3 Table 1: Chris's Cybele deck dominates the table and is about to finish off Bernd's Gangrel Toolbox deck.

Left: The final round with Michael, Joscha, Rudolf, Ralf, and Chris is about to start.

Right: Details of the decks at the final table. Michael has just lost "Howler" to Rudolf by "Graverobbing".