Deck of the Month: August 2012: James "The Knife" Angry Dragon

The month's deck for August 2012 is the tournament winning deck "James "The Knife" Angry Dragon" played by Brad Cashdollar (USA). The August was a month with very, very very tournaments (or tournaments that got reported), luckily it looks better for September, especially with the upcoming weekend which has three National Championships (France, Poland, Sweden).

The winning deck is nothing utterly spectacular, but still is a nice showcase, how a Baali Vote deck can work. Use the usual Presence/Obfuscate combination to make the political actions and add some Daimonium/Baali cards, especially Condemnation: Mute, for flavour and additional effectiveness.

Deck Name: No Secrets (DragonCon): James "The Knife" Angry Dragon
Author: Brad Cashdollar

No Secrets: DragonCon
Atlanta, Georgia
August 31, 2012
12 players
2R + F

Crypt (Capacity min=6 max=10 avg=8; 12 cards)
================================================
3x Annazir 9 DAI OBF POT PRE Baali:5
3x Arishat 6 DAI OBF PRE Baali:6
3x Xeper, Sultan of Lepers 7 ani dai pro OBF PRE Baali:6
3x unnamed, The 10 CEL DAI OBF PRE PRO Baali:6

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (18 cards)
1x Monastery of Shadows
4x Path of Evil Revelations
1x Ruins of Charizel
2x Rötschreck
1x Tend the Flock
1x Two Wrongs
2x Vessel
6x Villein

Event (1 cards)
1x Uncoiling, The

Action (10 cards)
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
4x Condemnation: Mute
1x Contagion
2x Legal Manipulations
2x Unleash Hell's Fury

Political Action (11 cards)
1x Ancient Influence
3x Kine Resources Contested
2x My Kin Against the World
1x Political Stranglehold
4x Reckless Agitation

Equipment (2 cards)
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Kaymakli Fragment

Ally (2 cards)
1x Infernal Servitor
1x Veneficti (Mage)

Action Modifier (33 cards)
5x Awe
3x Elder Impersonation
2x Faceless Night
2x Forgotten Labyrinth
4x I am Legion
3x Lost in Crowds
3x Perfect Paragon
3x Psychomachia
2x True Love's Face
6x Voter Captivation

Reaction (2 cards)
2x Confusion of the Eye

Combat (4 cards)
2x Flames of the Netherworld
2x Majesty

Combo (7 cards)
2x Force of Personality
3x Knotted Cord
2x Sense the Sin

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Sep 26, 2012 11:48:25)

Deck of the Month: July 2012: Bankia

It took me some (to say the least) time to pick a winner for the Deck of the Month July 2012, mostly because at least a first glance, there was very little exciting about the Deck of the Month July 2012. So after taking a third look at the decks I found two little gems. First, a variation (or better fusion) of two decks, between an Unexpected Coalition deck (similar to the Deck of the Month November 2011) and a Weenie Dragons Breath Rounds deck. But little more interesting is the winner for July, a rather fearsome deck named Bankia played by Txus Alutiz (Spain), using both Spirit Marionette and Temptation. In a single turn an opposing vampire could be stolen by Spirit Marionette, emptied (almost) by using Heidelberg Castle and then immediately stolen again with Temptation. The Obeah cards can also be used by most of the non-Salubri vampires, since they require either Obfuscate, Presence or Dominate.

Deck Name: Pre-Spanish EC Qualifier: Bankia
Author: Txus Alutiz

PRE-SPANISH EC QUALIFIER
Badia del Valles, Spain
July 14, 2012
19 players
3R + F

Crypt (Capacity min=1 max=6 avg=4.75; 12 cards)
==================================================
1x Ahmose Chambers 3 obf ser Follower of Set:5
1x Anarch Convert 1 -none- Caitiff:ANY
2x Black Lotus 5 aus obf ser DOM Follower of Set:4
4x Eurayle Gelasia Mylonas 6 for pre AUS OBE Salubri:4
2x Halim Bey 6 obf tha DOM SER Follower of Set:4
1x Keith Moody 3 DOM !Tremere:4
1x Sahira Siraj 4 obf ser tha Follower of Set:4

Library (80 cards)
=====================
Master (16 cards)
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
4x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Khobar Towers, Al-Khubar
1x Lilith's Blessing
2x Obfuscate
1x Opium Den
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
3x Vessel
1x Villein

Event (1 cards)
1x Fourth Cycle, The

Action (21 cards)
1x Form of Corruption
6x Govern the Unaligned
8x Spirit Marionette
6x Temptation

Equipment (2 cards)
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
1x Heart of Nizchetus

Ally (1 cards)
1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)

Action Modifier (20 cards)
2x Cloak the Gathering
7x Conditioning
1x Daring the Dawn
1x Domain of Evernight
2x Faceless Night
2x Forgotten Labyrinth
2x Lost in Crowds
1x Repulsion
2x Veil the Legions

Reaction (12 cards)
6x Deflection
3x Delaying Tactics
3x On the Qui Vive

Combo (7 cards)
6x Gift of Sleep
1x Swallowed by the Night

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Sep 26, 2012 01:36:58)

Deck of the Month: June 2012: El traumatologo del dolor

Despite the rather low numbers of tournaments in June, there were quite a number of interesting decks present in tournaments. Two classic Presence Vote decks are among them, namely the Lasombra Presence Vote deck by James Messer and the Tzimisce Presence Vote deck by Brett Schofield. Some new aspects show the following four decks:

• Typhonic Beast by Noel Papeguay -- a Followers of Set Potence Combat deck based on Typhonic Beast.
• Anarch Diversion by Oscar Bernal -- an Anarch Combat deck using 14x Diversion and 14x The Mole!
• Dmitri Borodin & Friends Aus/Cel by Hugh Angseesing -- an Aus/Cel Wall deck with an unusual crypt choice.
• Anu/Serrenna Spirit Marionette by John Bell-- a regular Spirit Marionette deck but using synergies of Anu and Serenna

But this month's deck is the tournament winning deck El traumatologo del dolor played by Luis Fonseca (Spain). Although it looks like a typical super star deck, the deck has some potential for enhancing Mictlantecuhtli's sidekicks, most notably by using Biotaumathurgical Experiments. The basic idea is to equip Mictlantecuhtli with Talbot's Chainsaw (preferably by using Magic of the Smith) and then start (multi-)rushing other minions. Because of Mictlantecuhtli's special ability the deck doesn't have to worry about the damage that Talbot's Chainsaw deals to a minion you control in the untap phase; he's just immune to weapon damage .. Another interesting fact to note is that the half combat section consists of damage prevention cards, and the other half is Immortal Grapple & Taste of Vitae. No fancy Animalism or Protean combat cards, as one would expect when facing Mictlantecuhtli.

Deck Name: Bye, Dereck: El traumatologo del dolor
Author: Luis Fonseca
Bye, Dereck
Mataró, Barcelona
June 6th, 2012
3R+F
16 Players

Crypt (Capacity min=3 max=10 avg=6.08; 13 cards)
===================================================
3x Antonio d'Erlette 5 dom for pot THA !Tremere:4
3x Carmen 5 aus dom THA !Tremere:5
4x Mictlantecuhtli 10 pre pro ANI FOR POT THA Gangrel:5
1x Rosemarie 3 mel FOR Daughter of Cacophony:4
1x T.J. 3 cel for Gangrel:4
1x Ulrike Rothbart 3 dom for !Ventrue:4

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (16 cards)
1x Carver's Meat Packing and Storage
1x Depravity
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Fame
1x Haven Uncovered
1x Monster
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Tension in the Ranks
6x Villein

Action (26 cards)
2x Ambush
1x Army of Rats
2x Big Game
7x Biothaumaturgic Experiment
3x Bum's Rush
3x Deep Song
3x Harass
4x Magic of the Smith
1x Taunt the Caged Beast

Equipment (5 cards)
1x Ambulance
1x Book of Going Forth by Night, The
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Talbot's Chainsaw

Ally (3 cards)
3x Nephandus (Mage)

Action Modifier (16 cards)
3x Conditioning
13x Freak Drive

Combat (24 cards)
3x Hidden Strength
4x Immortal Grapple
3x Indomitability
2x Rolling with the Punches
2x Skin of Steel
2x Soak
8x Taste of Vitae

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Jul 31, 2012 15:52:13)

Deck of the Month: May 2012: African Library

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "African Library" played by James Messer (winning the NAC 2012 Last Chance Qualifier), an Osebo Toolbox/Wallish deck. There were a large number of suitable candidates to choose from this month. Among them Carlos Tomás' Hermanas Menor Rush Combat deck, Robert Fängler's Imbued Gehenna deck, Adam Hulse's Tzimisce Asanbonsam Ghoul deck, Izaak Havelaar's Followers of Set Spell of Life deck or Robert Scythe's Valley of the Shadow of Death deck.
But in the end I choose James' deck (even though it contains the card-de-jour Ashur Tablets), because

• it's a very toolboxy deck with an emphasis on blocking/fighting,
• there are 46 different cards in a 72 card deck,
• he was winning with the Osebo,
• he was winning a 45 player tournament with the Osebo,
• the deck is using 4 different discipline (Auspex, Celerity, Potence and Thaumaturgy,
• it's using cards rarely seen in tournament winning decks like Enforcer, Blood Shield or Ancestor's Insight

Deck Name: NAC 2012 LCQ: African Library
Author: James Messer
Description:
NAC 2012 LCQ
Columbus, Ohio
May 31st, 2012
45 Players
3R+F

Crypt (Capacity min=3 max=10 avg=6.58; 12 cards)
===================================================
3x Cesewayo 10 ani AUS CEL DOM POT THA Osebo:4
2x Homa 6 AUS CEL POT Osebo:4
2x Idrissa 4 aus CEL Osebo:4
1x Kamaria 3 aus pot Osebo:4
1x Mamadou Keita 7 aus pot pre vic CEL Osebo:4
1x Massassi 9 obf AUS CEL POT QUI Osebo:4
2x Titi Camara 5 pot AUS CEL Osebo:5

Library (72 cards)
=====================
Master (23 cards)
7x Ashur Tablets
1x Blood Doll
1x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fame
1x Guardian Angel
1x Mbare Market, Harare
1x Metro Underground
1x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Powerbase: Luanda
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Powerbase: Tshwane
1x Sudden Reversal
2x Vessel
1x Wider View

Event (1 cards)
1x Dragonbound

Action (11 cards)
3x Enforcer
1x Heroic Might
2x Magic of the Smith
3x No Secrets From the Magaji
2x Well-Marked

Equipment (5 cards)
1x Blood Shield
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Ivory Bow
1x Kevlar Vest

Action Modifier (3 cards)
1x Enkil Cog
2x Mirror Walk

Reaction (14 cards)
1x Delaying Tactics
1x Eagle's Sight
1x Enhanced Senses
3x Eyes of Argus
2x On the Qui Vive
1x Quicken Sight
1x Telepathic Counter
3x Telepathic Misdirection
1x Terra Incognita

Combat (10 cards)
2x Blur
2x Immortal Grapple
1x Preternatural Evasion
3x Pursuit
1x Sideslip
1x Taste of Vitae

Combo (5 cards)
3x Ancestor's Insight
2x Resist Earth's Grasp

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Jun 12, 2012 00:14:47)

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.

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.

Deck of the Month: December 2011: Shattering test Villein Perfectionist

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Shattering test Villein Perfectionist" played by Vincent Ripoll (FRA). They were several other candidates for this month's choice, for example Stefan Karlsson's Gerald Windham Multirush deck or Johannes Walch's Chain of Command deck as well. In the end I liked Vincent's deck best, possibly because I saw it in action several times. The deck is based on Shattering Crescendo and it's devastating effects, especially in the endgame. The deck first keeps a low profile and tries to build up and plays Shattering Crescendo against his predator (as defense). The real deal with the deck is find the right time to play the Shattering Crescendo as offense or and/or to control the table.

Deck Name: Warsaw Station: Shattering test Villein Perfectionist
Author: Vincent Ripoll

Warsaw Station
Paris, France
December 3, 2011
20 players
3R+F

Crypt (Capacity min=3 max=6 avg=4.67; 12 cards)
==================================================
3x Angela Preston 5 for PRE MEL Daughter of Cacophony:2
1x Céleste, The Voice of a Secret 3 pre mel Daughter of Cacophony:2
2x Delilah Monroe 4 for pre MEL Daughter of Cacophony:2
1x Diana Vick 3 dom pre Ventrue:3
1x Gaël Pilet 6 chi pre FOR MEL Daughter of Cacophony:2
1x Pieter van Dorn 4 dom pre tha Tremere:3
1x Ranjan Rishi, Camarilla Scholar 5 for DOM PRE Ventrue:2
2x Yseult 6 FOR MEL PRE Daughter of Cacophony:3

Library (86 cards)
=====================
Master (26 cards)
1x Archon Investigation
2x Blood Doll
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
2x Life in the City
1x Lilith's Blessing
3x Paris Opera House
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
3x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Montreal
7x Villein
2x Wider View

Event (4 cards)
1x Dragonbound
1x Fourth Cycle, The
1x Uncoiling, The
1x Waiting Game

Action (24 cards)
1x Entrancement
2x Legal Manipulations
3x Public Trust
16x Shattering Crescendo
2x Social Charm

Action Modifier (16 cards)
1x Daring the Dawn
8x Missing Voice, The
1x Phantom Speaker
2x Siren's Lure
4x Virtuosa

Reaction (10 cards)
6x Deflection
2x Delaying Tactics
2x On the Qui Vive

Combo (6 cards)
6x Force of Personality

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Jan 1, 2012 00:33:24)

Deck of the Month feature in 2012

As some of my dear readers may already have seen on the HunFragment blog, Mephistopheles has announced to start his own Deck of the Month feature in January 2012. Since I myself found it harder every month (in 2011) to find suitable candidates for the series, I have decided to make way for Mephistopheles and therefore I will not put up Decks of the Month (for at least next year). I just hope his own way of judging and looking at decks will give the feature a nice, little boost. Nonetheless, I will then link Mephistopheles' choices on the Deck of the Month main page, at least to give the series some sort of continuity/consistency.

Deck of the Month: November 2011: Toreador Powerbleed

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Toreador Power Bleed" played by Aleksi Nuora. The deck name is a joke with regards to Andre LeRoux's special ability, because the deck is actually an Enkidu multi-rush deck. Since Enkidu's rush is often at zero stealth the use of Freak Drive (or Forced March) is not an option you can rely on when trying to multi-rush with Enkidu. So instead of playing the aforementioned cards is to enter combat with another minion, play an Earth Meld in the first combat to untap and then play Psyche! to start a second combat a hit for real. It's still not an easy deck to play, since you have to rush the vampires in the proper order to make your VPs and finally the GW and you have to avoid the table hate that is likely to come up (up to and including a Pentex Subversion). One other feature to note is, that the deck has three options to bleed for 3 or more. First, the little Imbued module with Beatrice and Strike with Conviction. Secondly, you have the Codex of Edenic Groundskeeper, which will takes it toll once Enkidu has taken care of your prey's minions. And lastly, the namesake of the deck, the Toreador Andre LeRoux, who can boost his bleed to 3 or even more.

There's a somewhat similar deck played Benoit Olivieri (from March 25th, 2006), but Aleksi's design is more radical in its approach and that's the reason why I have chosen his deck as the Deck of the Month. And thanks to TheRedDuke making me notice the deck again by playing a modified version of the deck in the tournament in Arnhem last weekend.

Fee Stake Helsinki I
Helsinki, Finland
February 26th, 2011
3R+F
19 players

Deck Name: Fee Stake Helsinki I: Toreador Power Bleed
Author: Aleksi Nuora

Crypt (Capacity min=1 max=11 avg=6.25; 12 cards)
===================================================
1x Anarch Convert 1 -none- Caitiff:ANY
2x Andre LeRoux 3 aus Toreador:5
1x Clifton Derrik 2 cel Brujah:4
5x Enkidu, The Noah 11 for ANI CEL OBF POT PRO !Gangrel:4
1x Fairuza 4 pre CEL !Brujah:5
1x Idrissa 4 aus CEL Osebo:4
1x T.J. 3 cel for Gangrel:4

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (5 cards)
1x Monster
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Villein
1x Wash
1x Wider View

Action (11 cards)
1x Abbot
1x Ambush
1x Big Game
1x Bum's Rush
1x Deep Song
1x Harass
1x Heroic Might
1x Rumble
2x Sense Death
1x Taunt the Caged Beast

Equipment (1 cards)
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers

Retainer (1 cards)
1x Raven Spy

Action Modifier (1 cards)
1x Forced March

Combat (71 cards)
1x Armor of Vitality
3x Claws of the Dead
2x Disarm
10x Earth Meld
19x Psyche!
2x Pulled Fangs
15x Pursuit
4x Sideslip
2x Skin of Night
1x Street Cred
12x Taste of Vitae

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Dec 6, 2011 00:51:52)

Deck of the Month: Oktober 2010: Unexpected Coalition

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Unexpected Coalition" played by Soufiane Bouzouf and build by Noel Giménez Infante, both from Spain. The deck could well serve as template for a good Brujah antitribu deck which shows that this clan can be the base for viable tournament deck. This deck is a breed-and-boon deck using Creation Rites as bread-and-butter vampires and Unexpected Coaliation as a vote push card. Once the deck has like 4-5 vampires out, this card really shines, since Unexpected Coaliation is not only an action modifier, but can also be used a reaction (as vote defense).
There's a somewhat similar deck named Sometimes a coalition is necessary.." by David Wittman (HUN) which reached the finals of the EC 2008 Day 1 tournament. The deck deserves some honorable mentioning, not the least, because the deck was on the shortlist for the Deck of Month September 2008. David's deck has less stealth, but is much more combat-orientated by including .44 Magnums (and other cards) instead of Majesty.
Other candidates for the Deck of the Month this time were the decks Female Attack by Jan Kacor (a very consequential Shattering Crescendo deck) and The Terrible Walking Sticks (based Anson/Ashur Tablets with a load of Weighted Walking Sticks).

Deck Name: Before the Dawn: Unexpected Coalition
Created by: Noel Giménez Infante
Played by: Soufiane Bouzouf
Before the Dawn
Barcelona, Spain
October 15, 2011
21 players
2R + F

Crypt (Capacity min=3 max=10 avg=7.42; 12 cards)
===================================================
3x Armin Brenner 10 ani obf CEL FOR POT PRE !Brujah:4
1x Axel Von Anders 5 cel obf pot PRE !Brujah:4
2x Hektor 9 for CEL POT PRE QUI !Brujah:4
3x Miguel Santo Domingo 7 cel for POT PRE !Brujah:3
1x Ryszard 6 pre pro CEL OBF !Gangrel:4
1x Shawnda Dorrit 6 obt pot pre CEL !Brujah:4
1x Smash 3 pot pre !Brujah:4

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (16 cards)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Black Forest Base
1x Coven, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Lilith's Blessing
1x Monastery of Shadows
3x Obfuscate
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
4x Villein

Event (1 cards)
1x Uncoiling, The

Action (18 cards)
7x Creation Rites
3x Embrace, The
6x Enchant Kindred
2x Entrancement

Political Action (17 cards)
3x Banishment
6x Consanguineous Boon
2x Conservative Agitation
4x Kine Resources Contested
1x Meddling of Semsith, The
1x Reins of Power

Equipment (1 cards)
1x Heart of Nizchetus

Action Modifier (20 cards)
6x Forced March
3x Forgotten Labyrinth
2x Into Thin Air
3x Veil the Legions
6x Voter Captivation

Combat (7 cards)
7x Majesty

Combo (10 cards)
2x Resist Earth's Grasp
8x Unexpected Coalition

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Nov 1, 2011 20:39:27)

Deck of the Month: September 2011: Assamite Dementia

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Assamite Dementia" played by Simone Longobardi. Although it was "only" a ten-player-tournament he won, I quite like the fusion of the strengths of an Assamite bleed with the advantages of the Malkavian antitribu/Dementation (i.e. Kindred Spirits, Touch of Clarity), and Sybil's Tongue. Beside this deck other notable decks (e.g. candidates for the Deck of the Month) were the Assamite Bleed & Bloat deck by Jay Kristoff and the Una-style Gerald Windham Freakshow deck by Stewart MacLeod.

Deck Name: Mountain Top: Assamite Dementia
Author: Simone Longobardi (Pandemic)
Description:
Mountain Top
Bolzano, Italy
August 28, 2011
10 players
2R + F

Crypt (Capacity min=3 max=10 avg=7.5; 12 cards)
==================================================
1x Jackie 3 DEM !Malkavian:4
4x Luc 5 dem vic OBF !Malkavian:4
2x Nizzam al-Latif 9 dem ANI CEL OBF QUI Assamite:5
1x Santaleous 9 AUS CEL DEM OBF Malkavian:5
4x Thucimia 10 for pro CEL DEM OBF QUI Assamite:4

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (16 cards)
1x Alamut
2x Blind Spot
2x Dementation
1x Fortitude
2x Perfectionist
1x Secret Passage
1x Secure Haven
3x Vessel
2x Wider View
1x Yoruba Shrine

Action (28 cards)
1x Blessing of Chaos
1x Blithe Acceptance
6x Haqim's Law: Leadership
1x Khabar: Glory
12x Kindred Spirits
5x Sibyl's Tongue
2x Web of Knives Recruit

Equipment (5 cards)
1x Heart of Nizchetus
2x Helicopter
1x Sacre Cour Cathedral, France
1x Sargon Fragment, The

Ally (1 cards)
1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)

Action Modifier (23 cards)
5x Deed the Heart's Desire
5x Elder Impersonation
1x Enkil Cog
6x Eyes of Chaos
3x Faceless Night
3x Lost in Crowds

Reaction (5 cards)
5x Wrong and Crosswise

Combo (12 cards)
2x Hide the Mind
4x Swallowed by the Night
6x Touch of Clarity

Deck of the Month: August 2011: Marcus, Marc and the Funky Bunch

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Marcus, Marc and the Funky Bunch" played by Robert Scythe. Essentially the deck is Lasombra Presence Vote deck, what gives the deck it's special twist is its defense based on Faerie Wards.
With the help of Marconius special ability (paying one less for Mytherceria cards), Faerie Wards can be played in bulk (10 copies in the deck) and is a terrific defense, especially against bleed and rush combat decks. The rather large number of discipline master cards are in the deck for two reasons, for one to allow Marconius to play Faerie Wards against any vampire at the table, and secondly to profit from political actions like Ancient Influence and Reins of Power.
The deck has a rather slow setup with no Information Highway, Zillah's Valley, etc. and only 2 Govern the Unaligned. Ousting power is also not massive, with only 6 damaging political actions and only 2 bleed actions and 1 bleed modifier. So the deck has to bid its time for the right spot when and where to launch its offensive.

Deck Name: Fire In The Blood: Marcus, Marc and the Funky Bunch
Author: Robert Scythe
Description:
Fire In The Blood
San Jose, CA USA
August 13th, 2011
2r+F
20 players

This is my Faerie Guardian deck with a couple of changes. I put in a Lilith's Blessing for one of the Master Discipline cards (not Presence, of course) and replaced a Wake with an Eternal Vigilance nicking an idea from John Bell's more defensive Faerie Wards wall deck. I didn't mean to play this deck again in a tournament but I hadn't taken it apart and it felt right to play at the time. I did forget to put in the 2 Perfect Paragons that absolutely belong in it, luckily they didn't cost me the game.

Crypt (Capacity min=9 max=10 avg=9.5; 12 cards)
==================================================
3x Ambrosio Luis Monçada, Plenipotentiary 10 aus for DOM OBT POT PRE Lasombra:2
2x Francisco Domingo de Polonia 9 pro DOM OBT POT PRE Lasombra:2
4x Marconius 9 pot DOM MYT OBT Kiasyd:2
3x Marcus Vitel 10 DOM FOR OBF OBT PRE Ventrue:3

Library (74 cards)
=====================
Master (18 cards)
1x Animalism
1x Celerity
1x Fortitude
1x Giant's Blood
1x Lilith's Blessing
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Papillon
2x Presence
1x Serpentis
1x Ventrue Headquarters
5x Villein
2x Wider View

Action (5 cards)
1x Clan Impersonation
1x Eternal Vigilance
1x Far Mastery
2x Govern the Unaligned

Political Action (12 cards)
1x Ancient Influence
2x Banishment
4x Kine Resources Contested
1x Parity Shift
1x Political Stranglehold
2x Reinforcements
1x Reins of Power

Equipment (2 cards)
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Zaire River Ferry

Ally (1 cards)
1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)

Action Modifier (16 cards)
1x Blanket of Night
1x Iron Glare
3x Shadow Play
4x Shroud of Absence
2x Shroud of Night
1x Stone Travel
4x Voter Captivation

Reaction (20 cards)
2x Deflection
10x Faerie Wards
2x Obedience
2x On the Qui Vive
4x Wake with Evening's Freshness

Deck of the Month: July 2011: Govern is Weak Sauce

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Govern is Weak Sauce" played by Darby Keeney. Darby managed to win two tournaments in the past ten weeks (albeit smaller ones) with this Guruhi Brutal Influence deck. A close second for this month's best deck was the Assamite Auspex deck by Genis Prats, who won one of the Spanish ECQ tournaments with it.

Barby's deck relies mostly on Brutal Influence (for gaining pool as well as bleeding), but also on Exile and Banishment for handling opposing vampires at the table. The deck is not one for the quick oust, but requires quite some patience and an eye for the right moment to lunge for the oust. It requires quite some time to influence out Eze in the first place and putting enough Orun on him (or his buddies). It also lacks significant stealth or block denial, but that's compensates by Eze's special to untap after the first successful non-hunt action. But once up and running the deck becomes fearsome, influencing new vampires quickly and bleeding hard.

The deck also nicely complements another Deck of the Month, namely "Eze Like Sunday Morning", which also relies heavily on Eze, but uses Aye instead of Orun.

Deck Name: Blood Awakening: Govern is Weak Sauce
Author:
Description:
Tournament: Blood Awakening
Location: Denver, CO
Format: Constructed, 3R+F
Players: 10
Winner: Darby Keeney

Guruhi Brutal Influence

First run though with adjustments after the Powerbase LA Win. Eze still runs low on blood. I guess sitting next to the Beast (twice) and Una (finals) might have contributed to that situation.

Crypt (Capacity min=7 max=11 avg=9.42; 12 cards)
===================================================
1x Aren, Priest of Eshu 7 ani obf POT PRE Guruhi:4
5x Eze, The Demon Prince 11 aus ANI NEC POT PRE THA Guruhi:3
2x Iniko, The Black Lion 9 cel ANI OBT POT PRE Guruhi:4
2x Nana Buruku 8 ANI POT PRE Guruhi:4
1x Ubende 7 for obf qui CEL PRE Ishtarri:4
1x Ugadja 10 dom for ABO ANI POT PRE Guruhi:4

Library (73 cards)
=====================
Master (20 cards)
1x Ancestor Spirit
1x Giant's Blood
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Monastery of Shadows
12x Orun
3x Villein
1x Wider View

Action (19 cards)
10x Brutal Influence
1x Entrancement
3x Exile
1x Magic of the Smith
2x No Secrets From the Magaji
1x Revelations
1x Rutor's Hand

Political Action (9 cards)
1x Ancient Influence
4x Banishment
1x Disputed Territory
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power
1x Rumors of Gehenna

Equipment (3 cards)
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Kduva's Mask
1x Nkishi

Ally (1 cards)
1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)

Action Modifier (16 cards)
1x Approximation of Loyalty
2x Call of the Hungry Dead
1x Enkil Cog
2x Iron Glare
2x Mirror Walk
1x Perfect Clarity
4x Perfect Paragon
1x Strange Day
2x Voter Captivation

Combat (3 cards)
3x Majesty

Combo (2 cards)
1x Force of Personality
1x Guruhi Kholo

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Aug 3, 2011 09:36:52)

Deck of the Month: June 2011: Victory in Anarchy

This month's deck is the "Victory in Anarchy" deck played by Norman S. Brown. during the North American Championship 2011 tournament. Although the deck didn't win the NAC tournament, it proved its strength by gaining 2 GW 6 VP in the three preliminary rounds. And to quote the NAC winner: ".., Norm had to go because he is too dangerous".

The deck is a toolbox character, with an emphasis on political actions and combat. The combat part is based disciplineless cards or cards requiring Anarchs, and with Steely Tenacity as perma-rush (or -bleed) action. The vote power derives from the mid-cap princes as well as the Fee Stakes. As the political actions it uses mainly two of the most powerful votes, Parity Shift and Reckless Agitation.

Deck Name: NAC 2011 Day 2 (2nd Place): Victory in Anarchy
Author: Norman S. Brown
Description:
NAC2011 (Day 2)
Columbus, Ohio
June 25th, 2011
3R+F
25 players

Crypt (Capacity min=1 max=6 avg=3.54; 13 cards)
==================================================
5x Anarch Convert 1 -none- Caitiff:ANY
2x Janni 5 cel for obf qui Assamite:4
1x Mustafa, The Heir 6 cel dom FOR PRE Ventrue:4
2x Neighbor John 5 dom for AUS !Ventrue:4
3x Victor Pelletier 5 cel dom for PRE Ventrue:4

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (16 cards)
1x Anarch Railroad
1x Anarch Revolt
1x Demonstration
1x Dominate
1x Hostile Takeover
1x Inceptor
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
3x Perfectionist
1x Sudden Reversal
1x Ventrue Headquarters
4x Vessel

Action (5 cards)
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
1x Fee Stake: Boston
1x Fee Stake: Corte
1x Fee Stake: Los Angeles
1x Fee Stake: New York

Political Action (15 cards)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
1x Banishment
3x Kine Resources Contested
4x Parity Shift
5x Reckless Agitation

Equipment (3 cards)
1x Ivory Bow
2x Light Intensifying Goggles

Ally (3 cards)
1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)
1x Ossian

Action Modifier (12 cards)
4x Conditioning
4x Forced March
4x Freak Drive

Reaction (14 cards)
10x Deflection
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Wake with Evening's Freshness

Combat (20 cards)
9x Diversion
4x Target Head
3x Target Vitals
2x Taste of Vitae
2x Zip Gun

Combo (2 cards)
2x Steely Tenacity

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Jul 3, 2011 21:00:05)

Deck of the Month: May 2011: Turbo Nergal

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Turbo Nergal" played by Tomàs López Jiménez. The deck is rather new mutation of an Turbo deck (at least this is the first time it came to my attention), this time not based on the Soul Gem of Etrius and Daring the Dawn uses the Eternal Mask and Call the Great Beast instead (with Nergal as the key vampire). The best description how the deck actually works is given by the player of the deck himself:

Nergal Bleed, Nergal call the Great Beast, Nergal activate the Great Beast (Nergal burn), Great Beast bleed, Great Beast Eternal Mask to Nergal with all the blood and daring inferior (Great Beast burn). Repeat until game win.

The only drawback of the deck is its repetitiveness (due the small number of different cards) and complete devotion to the combo, which may led to a rather boring games (even for the players). On the other hand I appreciate the original idea and the execution of the idea which led to the tournament win.

Deck Name: Los susurros del Baali: Turbo Nergal
Author:
Description:
Los susurros del Baali
Badia del Valles, Spain
May 15th, 2011
25 players
3R + F

Nergal Bleed, Nergal call the Great Beast, Nergal activate the Great Beast (Nergal burn), Great Beast bleed, Great Beast Eternal Mask to Nergal with all the blood and daring inferior (Great Beast burn). Repeat until game win.

Crypt (Capacity min=1 max=10 avg=5.77; 13 cards)
===================================================
2x Aimee Laroux 2 for pre Daughter of Cacophony:4
2x Andy 1 for Caitiff:4
1x Neel Ramanathan 3 ani for Ravnos:4
6x Nergal 10 AUS DAI FOR OBF PRE THA Baali:5
1x Rashiel 3 for val !Salubri:4
1x Rosemarie 3 mel FOR Daughter of Cacophony:4

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Action (27 cards)
11x Call the Great Beast
11x Eternal Mask, The
5x Scrounging

Action Modifier (56 cards)
12x Daring the Dawn
3x Elder Impersonation
5x Faceless Night
33x Freak Drive
3x Psychomachia

Combo (7 cards)
7x Sense the Sin

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Jun 5, 2011 23:02:55)

Deck of the Month: April 2011: Pancake Mix

This time the choice for Deck of the Month was somewhat tough, mostly because the selection from which to choose was not that filled with new creative deck ideas this month. Eventually my choice fell on another Assamite deck (see also last month's decisions), namely on the tournament winning deck "Pancake Mix" played by Izaak Havelaar (NED).

The deck is a run-of-the-mill Assamite Stealth Bleed deck, but with a strong Black Hand angle, mostly for untapping (using Tattoo Signal & Seraph's Second) and bloating (using Reunion Kamut). This allows the deck to bloat somewhat (and mostly ignoring its predator), while being able to go steadily forward at the same time.

Deck Name: Zoning Board: Pancake Mix
Author: Izaak Havelaar
Description:
Zoning Board
Arnhem, Netherlands
March 26th, 2010
3R+F
18 players

Ever since cards like Reunion Kamut and Art of Memory were printed, I have been wanting to build a deck with all these Black Hand toys. I recently traded for enough Seraph's Seconds to build a competitive Black Hand deck and try and get the most out of them. I experimented with !Tremere and Lasombra for a bit at first, before ending up with Assamites. Of course it should have been obvious all along Assamites are the best pick for such a deck, since they are the only clan that has two Seraphs in the same grouping and get five different Black Hand crypt cards in that same grouping.

This deck is a bloat/multiact deck at its core and, but with so many actions a turn, it allows you keep pressure on your prey while still bloating enough to survive even the most aggressive bleed predators. It's especially important to build up a solid ready region with at least a Seraph with a Tattoo Signal plus two other vampires before you start throwing multiple Losses a turn at your prey. Once the Watchtower comes into play even the most dedicated wall decks will have trouble blocking every critical action and you can oust everyone at your leisure.

Crypt (Capacity min=6 max=9 avg=7.83; 12 cards)
==================================================
3x Djuhah, The Bronze Bow 7 aus cel pre OBF QUI Assamite:5
4x Izhim abd Azrael 9 pot CEL OBF QUI THA Assamite:5
1x Joe Boot Hill 7 for obf CEL QUI Assamite:4
2x Nizzam al-Latif 9 dem ANI CEL OBF QUI Assamite:5
2x Reza Fatir, The Dark Angel 6 obf pro CEL QUI Assamite:4

Library (78 cards)
=====================
Master (21 cards)
3x Ashur Tablets
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
4x Information Highway
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
5x Villein
2x Watchtower: The Wolves Feed
1x Wider View
1x Yoruba Shrine

Event (4 cards)
1x Blood Trade
1x Break the Code
1x Fourth Cycle, The
1x Thirst

Action (28 cards)
4x Haqim's Law: Leadership
2x Khabar: Glory
9x Loss
9x Reunion Kamut
4x Tattoo Signal

Equipment (1 cards)
1x Sargon Fragment, The

Action Modifier (20 cards)
4x Art of Memory, The
2x Deed the Heart's Desire
2x Elder Impersonation
3x Faceless Night
3x Lost in Crowds
6x Seraph's Second

Combo (4 cards)
2x Blood Awakening
2x Swallowed by the Night

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (May 5, 2011 00:33:37)