Mr. Rackham's Disruptions

Many players still underestimate, how disruptive a Smiling Jack really is to their game and to the whole table. If you look at the cumulative blood/pool, you see how much more the player who doesn't control the Smiling Jack actually pays.

• Turn 1 - 0 pool -- 0 blood or pool
  
• Turn 2 - 1 pool -- 1 blood or pool
• Turn 3 - 2 pool -- 3 blood or pool
• Turn 4 - 3 pool -- 6 blood or pool
• Turn 5 - 4 pool -- 10 blood or pool
• Turn 6 - 5 pool -- 15 blood or pool
• Turn 7 - 6 pool -- 21 blood or pool
• Turn 8 - 7 pool -- 28 blood or pool
• Turn 9 - 8 pool -- 36 blood or pool

As you can see the difference is quite enormous. Outracing the Smiling Jack, might be looking good sometimes .. but if one (or more) player is ousted, then the chances of removing the Smiling Jack just sank drastically. And that's because by ousting the player the number of minions have been reduced who can remove the Smiling Jack.

As conclusion, I can only advise any player, that the whole tale should make a joint remove to the Smiling Jack. And please, start not just after the first player has been ousted, start rightaway. The player with the Smiling Jack is more likely to let go off the Smiling Jack, if there a no or very few counters on it, but he will try to defend it with his life when 4+ counters are on it.

Cause & Effect: Episode 2.3

The third episode (of the second season) of the VTES webshow Cause and Effect has been broadcasted live last Sunday (January 29th, 2012). The main topic of the discussion was a Lasombra Baltimore Purge deck, and how to improve it.

Did you know, that ... (Part 86)

.. that once three Shatter the Gates are on a Baali, and the Shatter counters are distributed to the other players, these counters stay in the game (and making these players loose three pool each turn), even if the player played the Shatter the Gates is ousted? Unlike master cards (or any other card controlled by the ousted players), token or counters stay in the game, since they are controlled by the players who has them, not by the players who brought them into play.

Reference: [LSJ-20100206].

Sins of our Ancestors

Some cards in VtES have an interesting past, where their cardtext was changed significantly or sometimes cardtext changed multiple times. For example:

• Immortal Grapple (up to the Sabbat version) restricted strikes to hand strikes for the remainder of the combat, not only for the current round.
• Majesty didn't cost blood during prior (to Camarilla Edition).
• Pulled Fangs inflicted aggravated damage (until Sabbat War).
  
• Golconda initially only burned the vampire, and did not remove it from the game.

These are only a few examples, but it shows how important it is to know (or at least to check) the latest cardtext if you build a deck/strategy upon a specific card.

VtES Storyline 2012 Progress Update

In an effort to improve communications, Eric Chiang (VEKN Storyline coordinator) has created a webpage to update the VtES community regarding a lot of the work he has been doing in preparation for the upcoming 2012 Storyline events and what still needs to be done. You can read about it on this newly created VtES Storyline 2012 page.

Questions and/or concerns regarding storyline contents can be addressed to Eric directly on vekn.net.

VtES Rules: "Spying Mission" Q&A

Some time ago we had (again) a question in our playgroup regarding Spying Mission, and therefore I checked the Usenet newsgroup for some answers and finally came up with the short "Questions and Answers" summary for the card. Most of the information is taken from the VtES Usenet Newsgroup "rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad".

Question: Do I gain the Edge after playing Spying Mission at superior?
Answer: While the action was successful, the actual amount of bleed was reduced to zero. So the bleed was not successful, and you do not gain the Edge.

Question: Can I play Freak Drive at inferior after playing Spying Mission (at superior)?
Answer: Yes, as stated above, the action itself was successful, even though the bleed was unsuccessful. And only the fact, that the action was successful allows you to play Freak Drive at inferior.

Question: Can I play second Spying Mission (at superior) when the vampire currently bleeding already has one (targeted at the same Methuselah)?
Answer: Yes, you can. After blocks, etc. have been declined, but before the bleed would actually inflict the pool damage, you can reduce the amount of bleed to zero by playing the second Spying Mission (at superior). And because then the bleed is not successful, the first Spying Mission (on the vampire) does not trigger.

Question: Can my opponent play Archon Investigation when burning a Spying Mission would increase the bleed to more than three?
Answer: No, you can't. As per card text of Archon Investigation you need to play it when a minion is attempting to bleed you, whereas Spying Mission is triggered later when the bleed is resolved.

Question: Can I bounce a bleed to another player when Spying Mission's effect triggers (e.g. by using Telepathic Misdirection or Deflection)?
Answer: No, you can't because reaction cards (including cards to redirect a bleed) need to be played before the resolution of the bleed.

Question: Can you reduce the bleed inflicted to you when Spying Mission's effect triggers by Telepathic Counter?
Answer: No, you can't. The same explanation as above holds, because reaction cards (including bleed reducers) need to be played before the resolution of the bleed.

References:

• [LSJ-20090716] on multiple Spying Missions.
• [LSJ-20091123] Spying Mission vs. Telepathic Counter / Archon Investigation.
• [LSJ-19980105] Spying Mission vs. Deflection.
  

Cause & Effect: Episode 2.2

The VTES webshow Cause and Effect is now in its 2nd season and the second episode has been broadcasted live last Sunday (January 22nd, 2012). Team Sweden discussed the advantages and disadvantages of Toreador antitribu decks. Among the deck discussed were Resurrection (by Alex Ek), Stolen Truth (by Jay Kristoff) and The Muppet Crusade (by John Bell). The Count Germaine challenge was dropped due to an insufficient number of entries.
Part 1:

Backousting

Results "Freezing Moon" VtES Tournament in Utrecht, Netherlands

Here are the results of the "Freezing Moon" VtES constructed tournament in Utrecht, Netherlands on January 21st, 2012. With 16 players participating, these are the standings after 3 rounds and the finals:

1. Jelmer W. -- 1 GW 4.5 VP -- 3 VP -- Ira Rivers & Friends Cel/Aus Wall
2. Pieter H. -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 1 VP -- Followers of Set Bima feat. Anu
2. Bart B. -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 1 VP -- Brujah G1/2 Midcap Presence Vote/Bleed
2. Izaak H. -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Saulot & Tremere antitribu
2. Bart L. -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Kiasyd/Lasombra Bleed?

Congratulations to Jelmer for his victory in the tournament.

Memorable Quotes (Part 134)

"At gambling, the deadly sin is to mistake bad play for bad luck." -- Casino Royale (1953) by Ian Fleming.

Sufficiently Randomized

Lately I was looking at card drawing probabilities (more on that sometime later), I was stumbling across a closely related topic, that is deck randomization. Looking at it more closely, it occurred to me how different deck randomization techniques (a.k.a. shuffling) are and the theory behind is not trivial (there are quite a number of articles on the topic available on the internet about it).

This is the relevant rule from the VEKN tournament rules regarding sufficiently randomizing one's deck, commonly achieved by shuffling:

3.2. Pre-Game Procedure

The following steps must be performed in order before each game begins.

• Players shuffle their decks.
• Players present their decks to their predators for additional shuffling and cutting, if desired.
• Each player draws seven cards from his or her library and four cards from his or her crypt.

All shuffling must be done so that the faces of the cards cannot be seen. Regardless of the method used to shuffle, players' decks must be sufficiently randomized. ..

Announcement German EC Qualifier 2012 (Flyer)

See also the full announcement of the German VtES ECQ 2012.

Did you know, that ... (Part 85)

.. the press to continue combat provided by Talbot's Chainsaw (in the first round) is a mandatory press. The cardtext omits "optional" as seen on most combat cards relating to maneuvers or presses, making the Talbot's Chainsaw's press a must.

Reference: LSJ19990823

Information Highway: Binomial Coefficient

Last time I was trying to explain hypergeometric distribution (describing probability of k successes in n draws from a finite population without replacement). Maybe that was bit too steep to start this series of mathematical topics, so I will take one step back and talk about combinations, and the binomial coefficient.

In mathematics a combination is a way of selecting several things out of a larger group where (unlike permutations) order does not matter. Combinations can refer to the combination of n things taken k at a time with or without repetitions. In this article we are only looking at combinations without repetitions. For any set S containing n elements, the number of distinct k-element subsets of it that can be formed (the so-called k-combinations of its elements) is given by the binomial coefficient.

In smaller cases it is possible to count the number of combinations. For example, take a look at a set of the first for integer number (1,2,3,4) and subsets consisting of two (different) members of this set. You can make 6 subsets of 2 numbers: (1;2), (1;3), (1;4), (2;3), (2;4), (3;4). For larger sets this explicit enumeration can become very tedious.

The formula for the binomial coefficient (or short binom) is given (for 0 ≤ k ≤ n) as:

Announcement "Dork Side of the Boon III" in Mayence, Germany

The VtES constructed tournament named "Dork Side of the Boon III" will be held in Mayence, Germany on February 11th, 2012. Details are as following:

• Date: February 11th, 2012
• Place:

  Orcish Outpost
  Zanggasse 7
  55116 Mayence

• Format: VtES Constructed Tournament
  
• Rounds: 2 rounds + final (2h each)
• Timetable:
  

  Registration: 10:30 -- 11:00
  Round 1: 11:00 - 13:00
  Round 2: 13:45 - 15:45
  Final: 16:00 to 18:00

• Entry Fee: 3 EUR

You can pre-register (much appreciated) in the German VEKN forum.

V:EKN Design Team announces the first draft of the new set

Greetings from the V:EKN Design Team,

The V:EKN Design Team is pleased to announce that the first draft of the new V:TES card set has been finalized.

The set has been sent to the V:EKN Playtest Team for the first round of playtesting. Playtest groups from a wide cross-section of countries will participate. As was the case with White Wolf and CCP developed sets, the V:EKN anticipates at least three rounds of playtest, each having a duration of about a month. These timelines are just guidelines - quality is our top priority, not haste.

Art direction is currently underway and is proceeding in parallel with playtest. As we receive feedback from the Playtest Team, the Design Team will continue to make adjustments to card strength, fine-tuning where possible, and eliminating or adding cards as deemed necessary.

As a result, we are now comfortable releasing a bit more information about the contents of the set. We anticipate roughly 20 new vampires for Group 5: two from each of the major Sabbat clans including Pander, and a possible third vampire for the bifurcated Gangrel antitribu. In addition there will be over a dozen library cards.

We are very fortunate to have a strong, global volunteer community to help make this new V:TES set become reality.

Regards,
The V:EKN Design Team

V:TES Artwork Database Moves to V:EKN

The V:EKN is pleased to announce that the V:TES Artwork Database has now officially moved to the www.vekn.net website. It can be found under the "Resources" menu or at this link: http://vekn.net/index.php/vtes-artwork-database.

The V:TES Artwork Database celebrates the professional artwork of V:TES cards, which have contributed to the rich world and unique identity of V:TES over the past 18 years. The database tracks the location and ownership of original pieces of V:TES artwork (and sketches). It was first started 8 years ago by Eric Chiang, where it quickly found a home at the V:TES in L.A. website with the help of Robert Goudie. Over the past couple of years, updates have become less frequent but with the new momentum of the V:EKN website, it is past time to update the database and give it a more permanent home.

During the past week, Ginés Quinoñero has been instrumental in helping to set up the new webpage for the database. Eric Chiang has been porting over the data, and updating it to verify that the previously listed information is still correct. We are now about half way through updating the older entries and at this point, we are mainly just waiting to hear back from various artwork owners.

If you own any original V:TES artwork and would like to be included in the V:TES Artwork Database, please contact Eric Chiang ( vtesart /at/ yahoo /dot/ com). Similarly, if you know the whereabouts or have any leads on the location of V:TES originals, please let us know and we can follow up on them.

Finally, I would like to encourage players (both elders and neonates alike) to consider acquiring V:TES artwork. You would be supporting professional artists who have contributed to the game, helping to preserve the history of V:TES, and sprucing up your living environment with some fashionable, conversation-starting art. Alternatively, event organizers can consider using original artwork (or prints) as unique prizes for their local tournaments, as Jeff Thompson (The Lasombra) has done on numerous occasions.

The V:TES Artwork Database will continue to grow, develop, and improve over the upcoming year. Please feel free to share any feedback or suggestions you might have, as well as point out any errors you detect. Thank you for your interest and participation.

Eric Chiang (V:EKN Inner Circle)

Memorable Quotes (Part 133)

"After all, it doesn't matter how many cards you've drawn if you are dead." -- Steve Sadin in Card Advantage: A Brief Overview

Also true in VtES.

Poll Results: "Deck of the Year 2011"

After having presented twelve decks of the month in the past year, I have asked you to pick the Deck of the Year 2011. 124 votes have been cast in this poll.

So the winner for the Deck of Year 2011 is Izaak Havelaar (NED) with his "Pancake Mix" deck. Congratulations to Izaak for building and winning with this original, yet efficient deck. Unfortunately for the winner, there is no actual prize support for this "award" other than your five minutes of fame. Here are decks that made it the top three of the list (with a shared second place):

1. April 2011: Pancake Mix by Izaak Havelaar (NED) -- an Assamite Stealth Bleed deck with a strong Black Hand angle for bloating and untapping. -- 20 (16%)
2. October 2011: Unexpected Coalition by Soufiane Bouzouf (ESP)-- a Brujah antitribu vote deck based on the Unexpected Coalition vote modifier/reaction -- 15 (12%)
3. September 2011: Assamite Dementia by Simone Langobardi (ITA) -- an Assamite Dementation Bleed deck -- 15 (12%)

The complete results of the poll look like this:

1. April 2011: Pancake Mix by Izaak Havelaar (NED) -- 20 (16%)
2. September 2011: Assamite Dementia by Simone Langobardi (ITA) -- 15 (12%)
3. October 2011: Unexpected Coalition by Soufiane Bouzouf (ESP)-- 15 (12%)
4. May 2011: Turbo Nergal by Tomàs López Jiménez (ESP). -- 14 (11%)
5. November 2011: Toreador Powerbleed by Aleski Nuora (FIN) -- 14 (11%)
6. December 2011: Shattering test Villein Perfectionist by Vincent Ripoll (FRA) -- 12 (9%)
7. January 2011: Samedi eat your brain played by Dmitriy Konstantinov (BLR) -- 8 (6%)
8. March 2011: Para Bailar la Bamba by Riccardo Fabiani (ITA) -- 8 (6%)
9. June 2011: Victory in Anarchy by Norman S. Brown (USA) -- 7 (5%)
10. August 2011: Marcus, Marc and the Funky Bunch by Robert Sycthe (USA) -- 6 (4%)
11. July 2011: Govern is weak sauce by Darby Keeney (USA) -- 3 (2%)
12. February 2011: Tremere/Tremere antitribu vote played by Marc Lussier (USA) -- 2 (1%)

Next year we'll see hopefully an even more interesting list presented on HunFragment blog.

Cause & Effect: Episode 2.1

The VTES webshow Cause and Effect is now in its 2nd season and the first episode has been broadcasted live this Tuesday (January 10th, 2012). The three Swedish players discussed Temporis (and some of its stronger cards) and two decks in particular, a True Brujah Temporis bleed deck and an Ian Forrestal Summon History deck. The count Germaine challenge that was issued in December is now due to January 15th.

VtES Rules: "Inceptor" Q&A

Some time ago I received from one of my co-players a questions regarding Inceptor, and therefore I checked the Usenet newsgroup for some answers and finally came up with the short "Questions and Answers" summary for the card. Most of the information is taken from the VtES Usenet Newsgroup "rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad".

Question: Can a vampire with Inceptor (and three cards on him) play cards using only the inferior level of the cards on this cards, or he can only use the superior level of them?
Answer: Yes, a vampire can play also the inferior level of the cards, since in general vampires with a superior Discipline can play also play a given card at the inferior Discipline level.

Question: Can the vampire with this card use dual discipline cards as if he had all the disciplines required by the card, at whatever level?
Answer: No, he can't. The vampire can only pretend to have (a.k.a. "fake) one discipline for a given card. Only if the vampire actually has one of the two disciplines, he can fake the other one via Inceptor.

Question: Can a vampire with Inceptor use a particular minion card if the card has another requirement beside a discipline, i.e. Anarch, Sect or Title, etc.?
Answer: The vampire can only play the cards on Inceptor, if he meets all the requirements. For example, he has to be Anarch in order to to play Hell-For-Leather or Laibon for playing Ancestor's Insight.

Question: If the card requires an Anarch ("anarch-three-way" cards), can the vampire with Inceptor use all three different effects?
Answer: Yes, he can. Inceptor does not restrict this in any way.

Question: Can a vampire with Inceptor play Keystone Kine using all three Disciplines (cel/nec/obf) at once?
Answer: No, he can't. As stated above, a vampire can only fake one discipline when playing a card granted by Inceptor.

Question: When I play Inceptor , can I use the card I have just replaced for Inceptor?
Answer: Yes, you can.

References:

• VtES Usenet Newsgroup [LSJ-20090508]
• VtES Usenet Newsgroup [LSJ-20100610]

RTFC

Inspired by a similar custom card for MtG. No, this will not be a part of the upcoming PDF edition for VtES.

Bochum VtES League Rules 2012

For our bi-weekly VtES league games (and league) in Bochum, Germany we use almost the same rules in 2012 as in 2011. The only significant change is the reduction of games required for the final ranking to six games (instead of eight).

• Bochum VtES League Rules

Proxy Cards

On vekn.net there was a discussion (as part of a thread regarding the fan-made set for VtES in 2012), what a proxy card in a collectible card game actually is. Wikipedia has the following definition for proxy cards:

A proxy card is an easily acquired or home-made substitute for a collectible card. A proxy is used when a collectible card game player does not own a card, and it would be impractical for such purposes to acquire the card. This usually occurs when a player desires a card that is cost-prohibitive, or is "playtesting" with many possible cards. When doing intensive training for a competitive tournament, it often makes more sense to use proxy cards while figuring out which cards will be brought to the tournament. Another card is substituted and serves the same function during gameplay as the actual card would.
A proxy can also be used in cases where a player owns a very valuable card, but does not wish to damage it by using it in actual play.

Common use of proxies
Proxy cards can be used in various situations. The rules and restrictions are object of common agreement, or a given policy, and may differ from the above mentioned "fair play requirements".

• In casual games, the players may agree on a common policy of how to deal with proxy cards. This allows to play a higher variation of card combinations and strategies, while keeping a limit on the expenses.
• In tournaments, the organizer may permit a limited number of proxy cards, and define rules about how these cards must look. This policy has become especially popular in games or formats where some vital cards are far too expensive, such as the vintage format in Magic: The Gathering.
• For playtesting. Proxy cards allow a player to test new cards, before he or she decides to actually buy or trade for them.
• In card prototyping. Card developers in companies like Wizards of the Coast use proxies to playtest their ideas for new cards before they are printed.
• Some players create cards based on their own ideas for card themes and mechanics. In this case, however, the term "proxy" may no longer be applicable, as these cannot be considered substitutes for existing objects.
• An extreme form of copying original cards is forgery of expensive cards, which is again outside the "proxy" category.

Did you know, that ... (Part 91)

... that Lucian the Perfect (bleeding for 4) can still be burned by an Archon Investigation if the bleeds using Night Moves? Although the amount of pool burned due to the bleed action can't be higher than one (during the resolution of the bleed), Lucian still (attempts to) bleeds for 4, and therefore is within the range where Archon Investigation. The same applies to the situation when a Metuselah has a Protected Resources in play, and vampire is trying to bleed him for more than 3.

References: [LSJ 20010502]

Information Highway: Hypergeometric Distribution

From a theoretical point of view one of the most interesting question in VtES is about card drawing probabilities. That is, how probable is it (for example) to draw one of our 2 Information Highways in our opening hand of 7 cards (and deck of 75 cards). The thing you need to answer this type of question is called a hypergeometric distribution (function).

In probability theory and statistics, the hypergeometric distribution is a discrete probability distribution that describes the probability of (exactly) k successes in n draws from a finite population (of size N) without replacement.⁽¹⁾

Above you see the mathematical formula for the hypergeometric distribution (i.e. the probability mass function), where

• N is the population size
• m is the number of potential successes in the population
• n is the number of draws
• k is the number of successes

You can see that this generalization is easily adapted to an (trading) card game:

• N is the size of deck
  
• m is number of cards I want to draw
  
• n is the number of draws (the number of cards of our opening hand)
  
• k is the number of cards I want to draw
  

If we continue the example from above, then N=75 (the decksize), m=2 (the number of Information Highways in our deck), n=7 (the number of draws = our initial handsize), and k=1 ( the number of cards we want to draw initially).

Memorable Quotes (Part 132)

'Brian Moritz is such a good player. He even makes VPs when he's no longer at the table.' -- paraphrased statement from a Dutch VtES player commenting on Brian's awesomeness during the VtES EC 2011.

Post Scriptum: In one of the tournaments the judges proclaimed a deal made at one of the deals illegal retroactively, awarding Brian a VP (after he was ousted) that way.

Announcement German EC Qualifier 2012

This year the German VtES European Championship Qualifier will take place on April 14th 2012 in Darmstadt, Germany as the "The Grand Ball of Gwendolyn". Even though Darmstadt lies more or less in the middle of Germany (in fact, about 30 km south of Frankfurt) the organizers are looking forward to welcome some players from our European neighbors!

• The Location:
  "The Grand Ball of Gwendolyn" will take place in the seminar rooms of the
  

  Schirner Verlag (publishing company),
  Elisabethenstraße 20-22
  64283 Darmstadt
  

  It offers enough room for about 40 players in one room. Drinks will be available on location, but there are also a lot of shops (and restaurants) near by.
• Format
  Standard Constructed; 3R+F; detailed tournament rules can be found on the VEKN tournament rules webpage;
  Please note: You will not have to qualify for this event. The top 25% players (at minimum the 5 finalists) will automatically be qualified for participation in any Continental Championship in 2012.
• Time Table
  Registration -- 10:00 - 10:45
  Round 1 -- 11:00 - 13:00
  Round 2 -- 14:00 - 16:00
  Round 3 -- 16:15 - 18:15
  Finals -- 18:30 - 20:30
• Entry Fee: 5 EUR
• Pre-Registration:
  Pre-registration in German VEKN forum is not required, but highly appreciated. Alternatively you can use the announcement thread on vekn.net.
• Special Prize:
  A signed art print of "Gwendolyn Fleming", the missing Toreador of the Keepers of Tradition release!
• More Prizes & Notes:
  TBA.
• Travel:
  Though Darmstadt lies more or less in the middle of Germany, it is quite close to Frankfurt airport (about 30 minutes with the shuttle)!

Reasonably Priced Decks: Lasombra

The following deck based on the Lasombra clan is the third deck in the Reasonably Priced Decks series, which I have outlined in a previous blog post.

The deck is in its essence a stealth bleed deck based on the Dominate and Obtenebration clan disciplines supported by a number by allies, i.e. a couple of Nocturns.

Poll: Deck of the Year 2011

After having presented twelve VtES decks of the month in the past year here's the poll for you to pick the Deck of the Year 2011 (see sidebar on the right). Please observe, that the initial choice of these decks were driven not by any wanna-be-objective-here motivation, but by my (likely flawed) preferences for originality of design.

There is no actual prize support for this "award" other than your five minutes of fame.

• December 2011: Shattering test Villein Perfectionist by Vincent Ripoll (FRA) -- a Daughters of Cacophony using Shattering Crescendo massively.
• November 2011: Toreador Powerbleed by Aleski Nuora (FIN) -- an Enkidu multi-rush deck based on Earth Meld/Psyche!
• October 2011: Unexpected Coalition by Soufiane Bouzouf (ESP)-- a Brujah antitribu vote deck based on the Unexpected Coalition vote modifier/reaction.
• September 2011: Assamite Dementia by Simone Langobardi (ITA) -- an Assamite Dementation Bleed deck.
• August 2011: Marcus, Marc and the Funky Bunch by Robert Sycthe (USA) -- a Lasombra Presence Vote deck with Faerie Wards as defense.
• July 2011: Govern is weak sauce by Darby Keeney (USA) -- a Guruhi Brutal Influence deck.
• June 2011: Victory in Anarchy by Norman S. Brown (USA) -- a Prince/Baron Vote deck with a combat angle.
• May 2011: Turbo Nergal by Tomàs López Jiménez (ESP) -- is a Turbo deck based on Call the Great Beast and Eternal Mask.
  
• April 2011: Pancake Mix by Izaak Havelaar (NED) -- an Assamite Stealth Bleed deck with a strong Black Hand angle for bloating and untapping.
• March 2011: Para Bailar la Bamba by Riccardo Fabiani (ITA) -- an Assamite Laibon Vote deck with Olugbenga and Bambas.
• February 2011: Tremere/Tremere antitribu vote played by Marc Lussier (USA) -- a Tremere/Tremere antitribu G4/5 vote deck 5 vampires with Orlando Oriundus as star.
• January 2011: Samedi eat your brain played by Dmitriy Konstantinov (BLR) -- a Samedi bleed & bloat deck based on Reanimated Corpse and Little Mountain Cemetery

This year, that is 2012, (at least) Mephistopheles will take over the Deck of the Month feature on his blog HunFragment.

"White Wolf/CCP North America no longer owns any cards, sealed product or promo cards for V:TES"

White Wolf/CCP North America no longer owns any cards, sealed product of promo cards for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle.

Stone Mountain, GA – January 2, 2012 – Johannes Walch, Chairman of Vampire: Elder Kindred Network, has confirmed that White Wolf/CCP North America has no more Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Cards, sealed Displays or Promo cards in stock. The last remaining product was purchased by Walch & Nusser Game Distributors.

"State of the V:EKN" 2012

As posted on VEKN.net on January 1st, 2012:

Fellow Methusalehs,

First of all a happy new year 2012 to all of you. May you and your families be healthy and happy. I have decided to write this letter to close the information gap that has been correctly pointed out by members of the community. I will give you a summary of what has happened in the past year, an outlook on the year to come and I will make it a priority in the future to keep the player base better informed. In return I ask you, if you have not done so already, to come to the www.vekn.net website, register and voice your opinion through the forums. A community only lives through the participation of its members.

What is the V:EKN? The Vampire: Elder Kindred Network is the player organization of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. The purpose of the organization is to be the sanctioning body for official tournament (rules) and to ensure the continued health of V:TES. It consists of a small Inner Circle with dedicated positions and the national coordinators, but more importantly it is based on the work of hundreds of princes and players out there. Let us always keep in mind that we are a great community of wonderful people and in the end we will hopefully all push in the same direction: continue to play this game, that is not only about strategy and winning but at least as much about friendship and socializing.

Back from the Grave: Minion Tap

After the rule changes in the Rules Team Rulings from December 2nd, 2011, Minion Tap is actually playable again in VEKN sanctioned tournaments from now on.
Hurray, Minion Tap is back ... oh, wait .. you're not talking about us?