Memorable Quotes (Part 121)

"There are many combos in the card game that don't make strict sense from a 'real world' point of view. But it is better to have a solid foundation for game play (card text/rules text) than a soft one ('real world justification')." -- LSJ

Reference: VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

Stock Market Crash hits VtES

As a follow-up to the Global Financial Crisis we need this card being introduced to VtES sooner or later:

Stock Market Crash
Event. Transient.
If any player's pool is even during his untap phase, he loses half it to the blood bank. If it is uneven, he adds one pool from the blood bank. Remove this event during this player's next discard phase.

"For the love of money is the root of all evil, .."

Did you know, that ... (Part 72)

.. if one of your minions use a Grenade against an opposing minion in combat and the opposing minion plays a Strike: Combat Ends, the damage is not applied and the Grenade is not burned (i.e. your minion still has the Grenade)? The reason for not burning the Grenade is, that the Grenade would be burned in the Strike Resolution phase, but since the Strike: Combat Ends ends the combat, the damage of the Grenade is not resolved and therefore it is not burned.

A similar situation arises with Burst of Sunlight. When one of combatants is using Burst of Sunlight and the other is using Strike: Combat Ends, neither minion is receiving the damage from Burst of Sunlight for the same reason as above.

Reference: VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

More Madness

In contrast to the latest post on EBay madness about a month ago, this auction for Summon History has 13 bids.

On Wednesday during our weekly VtES gathering I mentioned briefly how peculiar it is how much players are willing to spend on cards of a "dead" trading card game .. apparently I need to continue thinking about this phenomenon.

In contrast to the price of $449.90 for the Enkil Cog offer a month ago, the $61.00 for the current auction (see right), is a real bargain ...

VtES EC 2011 Blog Started

Today I launched a new blog for the upcoming VtES European Championship 2011, which takes places from November 11th to 13th , 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. The blog is there to promote the event a little in the first place, but even more importantly to report from the EC events as soon as the EC has started. As in the past few years there will be tournament results, pictures, and more when I am on site.

So without any further ado, here's the link to the VtES EC 2011 blog. Links to previous blogs of continental championships:

• EC 2010 in Paris, France
• EC 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain
• NAC 2009 in Atlanta (Georgia), USA

More information on the EC 2011 in general can be found on the official VtES EC 2011 website and the respective site on Facebook.

VtES History: White Wolf Announces Sword of Caine

On December 1st, 2006 the now defunct website Gaming Report reported on White Wolf's plans for the next VtES expansion Sword of Caine (after the Third Edition which was released about three months earlier):

White Wolf Publishing has announced that the next expansion for the Vampire: The Eternal Stuggle collectible card game will be Sword of Caine, a booster-only set scheduled for February release.

Sword of Caine holds close to the Third Edition base set. The 60-card expansion focuses on the same Sabbat clans found in Third Edition, but this time with a special eye on the Black Hand. It introduces more Black Hand vampires, including new Seraphs and an Abomination, to V:TES, as well as new toys for Black Hand vampires and new ways to become Black Hand.

The set also includes cards for other vampires to use (Sabbat or otherwise), including new Discipline-based cards, clan cards, sect cards, and general-use cards. Even Joseph Pander, the "founder" of the Pander clan, puts in an appearance.

Sword of Caine contains no reprints. As with Third Edition boosters, Sword of Caine will feature cards with special draft effects to aid deck construction in draft and sealed play.

In early January 2006 it then become known that the actual release date was moved to March 19th, 2007 by White Wolf.

Sidekicks

According to Wikipedia a "sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies". In VtES you often have sidekicks, too, especially in decks where a star vampire is accompanied by several smaller vampires. They do the dirty work, the bloating & hunting, rescuing their masters from torpor or just throwing themselves before any threat.

But a different detail caught my attention lately. From time to time you see minions in the deck lists (usually the crypt), who don't seem to fit into the deck in terms of clan or disciplines. But their special ability is so good, that the lack of non-conformity is far outweighed.

Examples for these generic sidekicks are:

• Beatrice 'Oracle171' Tremblay -- the built-in +1 bleed for only 3 pool and 1 to 3 Convictions make Beatrice a cheap, effective bleed module.
  
• Andre LeRoux -- the latest sidekick worth of note, he's especially good in beat-down deck with lots of vampires, allowing Andre to bleed for large amounts once the opposing vampires have been subdued. So he's quite comparable to Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers.
• Michael Luther -- one of the first generic sidekick vampires; most often seen in vote decks he alone is able to swing a vote around. For some time now, Arishat and Kateline Nadasdy offer similar abilities, but Michael Luther is still the best of the lot.
  
• Aksinya Daclau -- the only minion with a built-in bleed bounce ability; her capacity makes the sidekick status nearly ludicrous and some players claim that Aksinya is actually the real star in the "Girls will find ..." decks.
  
• Mylan Horseed (Goblin) -- a cheap, yet robust ally who can successfully bleed. Therefore sometimes even seen in Camarilla decks or decks with no vampires with capacity of more than seven.

My question to you, dear readers, is what generic "sidekick" characters do you use or do you see in decks?
Post Scriptum: Wikipedia also has the following information in the same article on Sidekicks:

"One of the earliest recorded sidekicks may be Enkidu, .."

Memorable Quotes (Part 120)

"The most overwhelming strategic problem of the Rush deck is that killing vampires does not directly work towards your goal of ousting your prey. -- Peter Bakija (notorious combat deck player)

Reference: The Rush Combat Deck (ca. 1995)

A Dubious Distinction

As seen on Paizo Publishing website, without any further comment:

Did you know, that ... (Part 71)

.. when you're playing Shattering Crescendo (using Melpominee), you already need the second Shattering Crescendo in your hand? Although the second Shattering Crescendo is the cost of the first card and the cost is only paid for action if (and when) the action successfully resolves, you're only allowed to attempt an action if you're actually able to pay the cost (in whatever form) for it.

For the same reason a vampire with one blood cannot attempt to put an Embrace into play (which costs two blood). For example, if The Coven is play, you need to tap The Coven before the action is announced to give the vampire the blood needed to pay the cost later.

Swedish National VtES Championship 2011

The 3rd Swedish National VtES Championship will be held on October 1st to 2nd, 2011 in Orebro, Sweden. The event is a two-day featuring both a constructed and draft tournament.

• Swedish VtES Nationals 2011
  
  • Location: ABF Örebro, Drottninggatan 38, 702 22 Örebro
  • Date: October 1st, 2011
  • Time: 11:00 – 21:00
  • Fee: 50 SEK
  • Format: Constructed: 3 rounds + final round
  • Organizers: Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson
• Swedish VtES Draft Nationals 2011
  
  • Location: ABF Örebro, Drottninggatan 38, 702 22 ÖREBRO
  • Date: October 2nd, 2011
  • Time: 11:00 – 21:00
  • Fee: 220 SEK
  • Format: Draft: 2 rounds + final
  • Organizer: Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson


• Travel: The easiest way to get to Sweden is by plane; either to Arland (ARN) or Skavsta (NYO) and then get on a bus/train to Örebro. If you want anymore help with the getting here, send the organizers an email.

E-mail the organizer, Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (national coordinator for VtES in Sweden) at isakbe [att) gmail (dott] com, for more information or where help is necessary. You can find more information in the VEKN.net forum.

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)