For Want Of A Nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Sometimes little things lead to greater things, and paying attention to these little things and just really concentrating on the game sometimes makes the difference between losing and winning a game of VtES.

During one of the VtES games last Friday I played a "Wash" in a previous player's turn, and had a "Life in the City" and "KRCG Newsradio" in hand. What to play next? I didn't need any of those two immediately (even though the "KRCG Newsradio" should be more useful in the long run). Now you can say it doesn't really matter, but on the contrary. In this turn playing one of these cards would use up the current turn Master Phase Action (MPA), but playing the "KRCG Newsradio" right now, would allow me to play the "Life in the City" in the next turn (MPA) as a trifle and (possibly) a second master card as well.

Other little things that can lead to greater mishaps include:

• Not taking pool if you control the Edge.
• Not taking blood provided by Hunting Grounds.
• Not using four transfers to buy a new vampire for the crypt (e.g. when you want to play "Arcane Library" next turn).
• Not using "Blood Doll"/"Vessel" (in either direction).
• Not using your discard phase action.
• Not reading the special abilities of your own and your opponent's minions.
• Not noticing the outferior ability on a multi-discipline card.
  

All these things may mean nothing at the moment you forget about them, but later in the game, the one pool your missed to take for Edge or the one blood from a hunting ground you didn't put on a vampire, might prove fatal.