Memorable Quotes (Part 30)

After losing a Poker hand where his opponent overplayed his hand (at least for Phil's taste), but still won:

"For you it's Poker, for me it's my life. -- melodramatic Phil Helmuth (professional poker player).

You can see the full story during the WSOP 2008 on YouTube.

Did you know, that ... (Part 23)

.. a (D) action that requires a tapped minion as target fizzles, if the target minion manages to untap before the action resolves, e.g. when the minion untaps in reaction by using cards like Special Report or Black Sunrise.

Example: Great Kircher uses Nose of the Hound to rush a prince. The prince then uses a Second Tradition: Domain to untap. The action fizzles, since the prince is no longer a valid target for the Nose of the Hound action, but combat still occurs since the action was blocked.
The prince is (of course) still untapped after playing Second Tradition: Domain, but is tapped then for successfully blocking, even though the actual action has fizzled due to a missing target.

Similar examples apply to cards like Ambush or Blood of the Sandman.

• References: Post in Usenet Newsgroup 2008
• References: Post in Usenet Newsgroup 2002

Poll Results: "Who is the strongest new IC member?"

Here are the results of the latest poll on what the readers of this blog think is the strongest new Inner Circle (IC) member (from the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion). 95 readers of this blog have voted in this poll.

• Adana de Sforza -- 2 (2%)
  
• Lutz von Hohenzollern -- 42 (44%)
  
• Josef von Bauren -- 0 (0%)
  
• Rafael de Corazon -- 3 (3%)
  
• Mistress Fanchon -- 30 (31%)
  
• Hardestadt -- 15 (15%)
  
• There are more less equally strong.. 1 (1%)
  
• They are all quite weak. -- 2 (2%)

The Malkavian Inner Circle member "Lutz von Hohenzollern" wins by a sizable margin, followed by "Mistress Fanchon" and "Hardestadt". The other three ICs only receive the breadcrumbs, and "Josef von Bauren", the poor lad, not even a single vote. I found it a little surprising that "Hardestadt" only came in third, since of the three he's the only one with "Fortitude" of the first three. On the other hand when you look at his special ability or compare him with "Arika" it's maybe not so surprising anymore.

Card Distribution in "Keepers of Tradition"

After finally receiving the booster boxes of the VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition" I eagerly opened them, but then always had the distinct feeling, that I see the same boosters (in some variation) over and over again. So instead of just ripping the boosters open and sorting the cards immediately, I started writing down what cards appeared in which section (common/vampires/uncommon/rares). And soon I could see some distinct patterns in the distribution.

I must admit the sample size of 2 booster boxes is quite small, but the fact that just I received such a peculiar distribution would be too much of a coincidence.

Common Cards
The common cards are coming in "sets" of 5 cards each, which fits into 20 sets for the 100 common cards. The good thing is each booster display with 36 boosters contains 1-2 of the sets. So you're guaranteed to get 1-2 common cards in each booster display.

• Aid from Bats -- Sleep Unseen -- Dive into Madness -- Aproximation of Loyality -- Sleep of Reason
• Brick Laying -- Leverage -- Backstep -- Haunting -- Perfectionist
• Camera Phone -- Pursuit -- Meat Hook -- Bundi -- Deep Song
• Can't take it with you -- Special Report -- Stunt Cycle -- Chain of Command -- Serenading the Kami
• Conditioning -- Slam -- Rego Motus -- Seduction -- Wrong and Crosswise
• Crododiles Tongue -- Brute Force -- Horseshoe -- Spirit's Touch -- Neonate Breach
• Diversity -- Glancing Blow -- Carrion Crows -- Reins of Power -- Forgery
• Eluding the Arms of Morpheus -- Ashur Tablets -- Walk of Flame -- Cooler -- Minor Irritation
• Empowering the Puppet King -- Armor Of Vitality - Eyes of Argus -- Form of Mist -- Kine Resource Contested
• Enrage -- Indomability -- Harass -- Undying Tenacity -- Mouthpiece
• Eyes of the Beast -- On the Qui Vive -- Forced Vigilance -- Aura of Invincibility -- Honor the Elders
• Fleetness -- Telepathic Misdirection -- Finding the Path -- Sense the Savage Way -- Claws of the Dead
• Flurry of Action -- Bang Nakh -- Earth Shock -- Force of Personality -- Mirror Walk
• High Ground -- Sonar -- Taunt the Caged Beast -- The Oath -- Resist the Earth's Grasp
• Into Thin Air -- Soak -- Agate Talisman -- The Summoning -- Torrent
• Loki's Gift -- Cloak the Gathering -- Desert Eagle -- Zillah's Valley -- Murmur of the False Will
• No Trace -- Year of Fortune -- Eyes of Chaos -- Keep it Simple -- Kindred Spirits
• Public Trust -- Instinctive Reaction -- Theft of Vitae -- Life in the City -- Stutter Step
• Steadfastness -- King's Rising -- Beretta 9mm --Quick Meld -- Read Intentions
• Veil the Legion -- Scattershot -- Concealed Weapon -- Anima Gathering -- Majesty

Uncommon Cards
The uncommon cards come in ~50 sets of two each, but these sets seem to be more irregular than the sets of common cards, e.g. "Change of Target", "Society of Leopold" and "Flesh of Marble" appear twice in the sets below.

• Academic Hunting Ground -- Ventrue Headquarters
• Aching Beauty -- Dawn Operation
• Arms Dealer -- The Becoming
• Asylum Hunting Ground -- Persona Non Grata
• Behind You -- Sniper Rifle
• Blood Hunt -- Papillion
• Blood of the Sandman -- Vulnerability
• Bomb -- Raven Spy
• Burst of Sunlight -- Minor Boon
• Caseless Rounds -- Psyche
• Change of Target -- Society of Leopold
• Charming Lobby -- Toreador Grandball
• Dark Influences -- Eagle Sight
• Dark Mirror of the Mind -- Wash
• Delaying Tactics -- Coterie Tactics
• Dragon Breath Rounds -- Elysium
• Effective Management -- Childling Muse
• Elysium Versailles -- Powerbase: Chicago
• Fame -- Assault Rifle
• Fifth Tradition -- Flesh of Marble
• Flesh of Marble -- Protected Resources
• Frontal Assault -- Graverobbing
• Ghoul Retainer -- Zoo Hunting Ground
• Helicoper -- Taste Of Vitae
• Heroic Might -- Weighted Walking Stick
• Immortal Grapple -- Scourge
• Improvised Flamethrower -- The Labyrinth
• IR Googles -- Archon Investigation
• Kevlar Vest -- 3rd Tradition: Progeny
• Kindred Intelligence -- Perfect Paragon
• KRCG Newradio -- Instability
• Leech -- Ankara Citadel
• Light Intensifying Googles -- Rumors of Gehenna
• Loyal Street Gang -- Voice of Madness
• Major Boon -- Pier 13, Baltimore
• Mask of 1K Faces -- Amaranth
• Metro Underground -- Elder Kindred Network
• Muddled Vampire Hunter -- Change of Target
• Old Friends -- Movement of the Slow Body
• Owl Companion -- Scorn of Adonis
• Repair the Mortal Flesh -- Weather Control
• Scrounging -- Justicar Retribution
• Second Tradition Domain -- Shatter
• Society of Leopold -- Vast Wealth
• Spying Mission -- Backways
• Still the Mortal Flesh -- The Rack
• Torn Signpost -- Charismatic Aura
• Uptown Hunting Ground -- Aura Reading
• Villein -- Slum Hunting Ground
• Warzone Hunting -- Fast Hands
• Will of the Council -- Fourth Tradition: The Accounting
• Wooden Stake -- Bounty

Vampire Cards
The vampires do not appear in sets since the remainder of total cards (100) divided by cards in that slot (3) is not zero, but one. So you get kind of "rolling set", and with that type of distribution you can always predict the next two cards after seeing the first in a set of three. For example, if your first vampire is "Baron Dieudonne", the next two are guaranteed to be "Jeremy Wix Wyzchovsky" and "Iris Bennett", or if the first vampire is "Iris Bennett", the next two are guaranteed to be "Kalila" and "Rutor". The order of vampires are:

• Baron Dieudonne -- Jeremy Wix Wyzchovsky -- Iris Bennett -- Kalila -- Rutor -- Aidan Lyle -- Gerald Windham -- Robert Price -- Santaleous -- Zelios --Karen Suadela -- Philippe de Marseilles -- Montecalme -- Troius -- Talbot -- Lord Ephraim Wainwright -- Gwyedd -- Fergus Alexander -- Allanyan Serata -- César Holfield -- Victor Donaldson -- Slag -- Bloody Mary -- Dmitra Ilyanova -- Count Zaroff -- Gustaphe Brunnelle -- Tarrence Moore -- Claus Wegener -- Gracetius -- Ruxandra -- Tara -- Portia -- Ariadne -- Donald Cargill -- Frank Weisshadel -- MacAlister Marshall -- Fakir al Sidi -- Gunnar -- Lynn Thompson -- Dr. Solomon Grey -- Vasily -- The Ankou -- Beth Malcolm -- Johan Wrede -- Mistress Fanchion -- Tyler McGill -- Bernard, the Scourge -- Don Caravelli -- Bulscu -- Andrew Stuart -- Reiner Stoschka -- Carlak -- Harold Tanner -- Lisé -- Miguel Cordovera -- William Thorbecke -- Andre LeRoux -- Graham Gottesman -- Lillian -- Ezra Hawthorne -- Shiloh Marie, Vengeance -- Arthur Denholm -- Nichodemus -- Josef von Bauren -- Lindsay Yates -- Bethany Ray -- Vidal Jarbeaux -- Walker Grimes -- Gabrielle di Righetti -- Unmada -- Foureyes -- Sheva Carr -- Themistocles -- Bela -- Keller Thiel -- Alex Wilkins -- Sergei Voshkov, The Eye -- Jack Tredegar -- Dr. John Dee -- Freddy Gage -- Masdela -- Gem Ghastly -- Honest Abe -- Mictlantecuhtli -- Rathmere -- Paul Calderone -- Don Cerro -- Lord Fianna -- Viktor, The Night General -- Federico di Padua -- Emily Carson -- Mary Anne Blaire -- Randall -- Alonso Petrodon -- Zane -- Beetleman -- Pedrag Hasek -- Lodin (Olaf Holte) -- Joseph DiGiaccomo -- Benjamin Rose -- Baron Dieudonne -- Jeremy Wix Wyzchovsky -- Iris Bennett -- Baron Dieudonne

Rare Cards
Here the sample I have is too small for an exact analysis. But from what I learned during conversations with other players, there seem to be a similar pattern for the rare cards as for the vampire cards. In this case the slot for the rares is not a single booster but a single booster display. So again the remainder when dividing the total number of rare cards (100) by the slot size (36) is non-zero, so you can see often the same rares when comparing two booster display contents. But again for a complete analysis, the sample size I had is just to small. On the other hand when opening the first booster display during the german Limited championship and my own first booster display, we had two times all the three pool gaining cards ("Arcane Library", "Eco Terrorists" and "Art Museum").

Summary
The distribution in the "Keepers of Tradition" boosters is only pseudo-random at best. You can predict for the non-rare cards what you are going to get in a given booster in each rarity slot when seeing the first card in that slot. The randomness of booster content comes more from the composition of different common, uncommon & vampire "sets" as shown above.

I am not sure if this is a good thing or not. On one hand you can have a very flat distribution of cards in the area of common/uncommon/vampire cards, so you'll always have one or two "Mirror Walks" or "On the Qui Vive" in your booster display. On the other hand you'll never have the chance of getting more than two common cards in a given display. The worst thing is the seemingly non-random distribution of rare cards, where the same pattern/order of rare cards are encountered. So if you're buying two booster boxes, you maybe unlucky and get almost the same set of rare cards twice.

Plans for the EC 2009 revealed

According to the Spanish VtES Forum next year's VtES European Championship is held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain from November 13th to 15th, 2009. The three-day schedule is the usual one, starting with the Last Chance Qualifier on Friday, and the actual EC tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

More details to follow. Please remember, this is inofficial news, so don't book your flight to Mallorca right now.

Memorable Quotes (Part 29)

On the discussion which vampires are actually wallpaper:

"There are no bad vampires, only bad players." -- XZealot in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

Results "Anarch & Alastors" Storyline Tournament in Bochum

Here are the results of the "Anarch & Alastors" VtES Storyline tournament in Bochum, Germany after 4 rounds and final. The tournament was played on December 13th & 19th, 2008 with only 5 players participating. Here are the standings after the final round:

1. Martin -- 0 GW 3.5 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Pro/Obf/Ani Bruise & Bleed
2. Ralf -- 0 GW 4 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Anarchs feat. Neighbour John
2. Didi -- 0 GW 3 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Lucinde, Alastor & Black Hand/Anarchs
2. Michael -- 1 GW 4.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Stavros/Melinda Galbraith Sabbat Stealth Vote/Bleed
2. Hardy -- 0 GW 0 VP -- 0 VP -- Jaroslav Pascek & friends - Cel/Pot/Pre Rush w/ Red List/Trophies Module

Congratulations to Martin for his victory in the storyline tournament. You can find the tournament history in the German VtES Forum (requires registration).

The low number of game wins can be attributed to the defensive playstyle of our playgroup as well as the high number of bleed reducing and generic defensive combat cards played. Here's also the list of what the individual players got during the card auction. The prices varied from 0 pool to 4 pool (for the Anarch Railroad). Here's the list of what the players got during the individual auction rounds:

• Didi: Lucinde, Alastor (1), Galaric's Legacy (2), Galaric's Legacy (3), Blood Hunt (4), Go Anarch (5).
  
• Hardy: Trophy: Hunting Ground (1), Jaroslav Pascek (2), Anathema (3), Trophy: Diablerie (4), Alastor (5).
  
• Martin: Molotov Cocktail (1), Yazid Tamari (2), Vessel (3), Anarch Revolt (4), Hawg (5).
  
• Michael: Count Germaine (1), Count Germaine (Adv) (2) and won Tatiana Stepanova, Trophy: Domain (3), Trumped-Up Charges (4), Trophy: Revered (5).
  
• Ralf: Seattle Committee (1), Anarch Free Press (2), Anarch Railroad (3), The Mole (4), Urban Jungle (5).

Left: Didi's Lucinde & her Anarch/Black Hand friends deck.

Right: Ralf's All Anarch feat. Neighbour John deck.




Left: Martin's Gangrel/Nosferatu Bruise & Bleed deck.

Right: Hardy's Brujah/!Brujah deck feat. Jaroslav Pachek. In the end he had 2 Immortal Grapples & a Bundi in his deck.


Left: Michael Melinda Gailbrath/Stavros Vote deck.

Results VtES League 2008 in Bochum

Here are the final standings of the VtES League 2008 in Bochum, Germany. This year's winner is Martin (again). Congratulations to him.

The final standings were:

1. Martin S. -- 102 8,50 RtP/game -- 12 games -- 4 GW, 17,5 VP
   
2. Didi -- 110 7,33 RtP/game -- 15 games -- 4 GW, 19,5 VP
   
3. Markus -- 38 4,22 RtP/game -- 9 games -- 1 GW, 7,5 VP
   
4. Ralf -- 82 3,73 RtP/game -- 22 games -- 2 GW, 16,5 VP
   
5. Hardy -- 60 3,16 RtP/game -- 19 games -- 1 GW, 13,0 VP
   
6. Sascha -- 40 3,08 RtP/game -- 13 games -- 1 GW, 8,0 VP
   
7. Michael -- 30 1,50 RtP/game -- 20 games -- 0 GW, 7,5 VP
   

Participants without sufficent number of games (8):

1. Sebastian K. -- 0 18,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 1 GW, 2,5 VP
   
2. Katja -- 0 5,00 RtP/game -- 2 games -- 0 GW, 2,5 VP
   
3. Jörg -- 12 3,00 RtP/game -- 4 games -- 0 GW, 3,0 VP
   
4. Oliver -- 0 2,00 RtP/game -- 6 games -- 0 GW, 3,0 VP
   
5. Thomas -- 12 2,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW, 0,5 VP
   
6. Thosten -- 0 1,00 RtP/game -- 2 games -- 0 GW, 0,5 VP
   
7. Sebastian Z. -- 0 0,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW, 0,0 VP
   

The results can also be found in the german VEKN forum (incl. the individual matchday results & decks). This years ranking shows an improved number of GWs, but still much less than compared the number of GWs that where scored in the Gelsenkirchen VtES League in 2008 (see below).

VtES Signature Cards

When thinking of vampiric disciplines VtES players often associate a particular card with that discipline even though most disciplines offer 30+ different cards. And that's not even counting the multi-discipline cards. The cards I would call signature cards since they reflect the essence of that discipline, whether it is bleed, combat or voting.

• Animalism: Carrion Crows
• Auspex: Eagle Sight
• Celerity: Psyche!
• Dementation: Kindred Spirits
• Dominate: Govern the Unaligned
• Fortitude: Freak Drive
• Obfuscate: Lost in Crowds
• Potence: Immortal Grapple
• Presence: Majesty


• Obtenebration: Shadow Play
• Protean: Earth Meld
• Thaumathurgy: Magic of the Smith
• Vicissitude: Chiropetean Marauder


• Chimersty: Sensory Deprivation
• Necromancy: Shambling Hordes
• Quietus: Taste of Death
• Serpentis: Temptation

Did you know, that ... (Part 22)

.. you can play "Eternals of Sirius" to gain 5 pool if you're at exactly 4 pool?

References: rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad

Results UK National VtES Championship 2008

The UK National VtES Championship 2008 has been played on December 6th, 2008 in Reading, UK with 28 players attending. The standings of the final round were as follows:

1. Matt Green (UK) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 1 GW 3 VP -- Followers of Set w/ Dominate and w/ Mind Rape Bolt On
2. Hugh Angseesing (UK) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 1 VP -- Ventrue Antitribu Bruise-Bleed Toolbox
2. Jon Shonk (UK) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 1 VP -- Lasombra Old School Bleed & Vote
2. Aaron Gunstone (UK) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Ventrue Obfuscate Vote
2. Christian Nislev (UK) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 0 VP -- Cailean & Dominate Friends Bleed & Vote

Congratulations to Matt Green for his win of the UK Nationals 2008. The winner's deck has the been posted in the Usenet newsgroup and a tournament report can be found in the UK VtES forum.

Saulot -- MtG-Style

If VtES was like "Magic the Gathering, Saulot could look like this:

Saulot (advanced)
Group: 4b?
Basic: Daimonion
Superior: Thaumaturgy
Super Superior: Auspex, Fortitude, Valeren
Awesome, soul crusher level: Obeah
Special: 2 Votes, Soul Crusher, Domineering Presence, Extra Good Breeder, Blood Thief, Wandering, Methuselah, Kuei-jin Student, Discipline Master, Extra Body (Tremere).
Saulot may take an action to move a vampire from your uncontrolled region to the ready region. If Saulot ousts a Methuselah, gain an extra victory point.

As reported by "Salubrious Vampire" in the Presence Forum.

Deck of the Month: November 2008: Nosfe-Rat-Tools

The choice the deck of the month in November 2008 is a good old acquaintance, a variant of the Nosferatu Royalty deck archetype. The deck named "Nosfe-Rat-Tools" was played by Iñaki Jimenez during the Spanish Championship, and eventually won the tournament. What I admire in this deck is the radicial downsizing to 60 cards. All cards have the goals of the deck in mind, move additional vampires from the uncontrolled to the ready region, and damaging it's prey by political actions. Also the defense package with a considerable number of "Second Tradition: Domain" and a handful of Animalism combat cards is solid. The only two cards I find questionable in the deck are the "Tempation of Greater Power" and the "Archon Investigation", which could be replaced by a "Direct Intervention" and/or an additional "Kine Resource Contested".

TWD - Spanish National Championship Day 2 30-11-2008
Madrid, Speain
November 30, 2008
40 players
3R+F

Deck Name: Nosfe-Rat-Tools
Created By: Iñaki Jimenez

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 26, Max: 40, Avg: 8,5)
---------------------------------------------
1 Calebros obf pot ANI 5 Nosferatu
1 Murat ser OBF POT 7 Nosferatu
2 Nikolaus Vermeulen ani for obf POT 7 Nosferatu
3 Casino Reeds cel dem ANI OBF POT 9 Nosferatu
1 Ellison Humboldt pro ANI OBF POT PRE 9 Nosferatu
4 Cock Robin aus for ANI OBF POT 10 Nosferatu

Library: (60 cards)
-------------------
Master (10 cards)
1 Giant`s Blood
1 Labyrinth, The
1 Temptation of Greater Power
1 Archon Investigation
6 Grooming the Protege

Action (6 cards)
6 Fourth Tradition: The Accounting, The

Action Modifier (8 cards)
1 Elder Impersonation
3 Forgotten Labyrinth
4 Lost in Crowds

Political Action (14 cards)
1 Ancient Influence
1 Political Stranglehold
1 Reins of Power
1 Ancilla Empowerment
1 Anarchist Uprising
1 Domain Challenge
2 Kine Resources Contested
6 Parity Shift

Reaction (8 cards)
8 Second Tradition: Domain, The

Combat (12 cards)
7 Aid from Bats
5 Carrion Crows

Combo (2 cards)
2 Swallowed by the Night

Poll Results: "What's your favourite KoT Starter"

Here are the results of the latest poll on what the favourite starter decks from the "Keepers of Tradition" expansion are. 132 readers of this blog have voted in this poll.

• Brujah FTW! -- 20 (15%)
  
• I like MalKviANs. -- 10 (7%)
  
• The beautiful Toreador. -- 16 (12%)
  
• The Ventrue rule! -- 66 (50%)
  
• I don't like any of them. -- 11 (8%)
  
• Don't care or haven't seen all. -- 9 (6%)
  

The Ventrue starter deck wins by a huge margin, obviously the strong reprinted cards like 3 "Freak Drive", a "Golconda", a "Powerbase Montreal" are well appreciated. At the bottom end of the list is the Malkavian starter which lacks any much desired card.

Much ado about "Enkil Cog"

There's been much thinking about how to (ab)use "Enkil Cog" from the new VtES expansion "Keepers of Tradition". Here are the collected (and sorted) suggestions (mostly by XZealot and Dasein. in the Usenet Usegroup.

• Sect/Trait
  
  • 10-cap Anarch who uses "Enkil Cog" to turn his freshly recruited "Cry Wolf" into an "Abomination".
    
  • 10-cap Anarch who uses the "Powerbase Los Angeles" to untap to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap Sabbat who uses "Enkil Cog" to bleed after being untapped from the appropriate Crusade.
    
  • 10-cap Sabbat vampire (such as "Lazvernius" or "Cailean") gets "Eternal Vigilance", then in my prey's turn untaps and either fails to block or plays "Forced Vigilance / "Minor Irritation / Majesty etc. "Cailean" would be awesome actually as he can block, set range to long, "Majesty", then bleed during my predator's minion phase for lots (he has superior Presence + inferior Dominate), grab the edge and tap "Using the Advantage" to gain 2 pool.
    


• Clan
  
  • 10-cap Baali who uses "Concordance" to untap to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap Assamite who gets an extended use out of "Khabar:Glory" by bleeding with "Enkil Cog" and untapping with "Black Sunrise".
    
  • 10-cap Ahrimane who uses "Muricia's Call" to untap at the end of their turn to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap Tzimice who uses "Fiendish Tongue" and then burns a blood during your discard to untap and take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    


• Generic / Equipment / Master
  
  • 10-cap vampire who uses "Metro Underground" to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap vampire with "Pier 13" who equips a "Leather Jacket"/"Baseball Bat" bearer who untaps to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap vampire uses "Eluding the Arms of Morpheus" (or any other untap reaction) to untap and fail to block to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap "Trophy: Retainer" bearer who keeps cycling "Ghoul Escorts" to tap and bleed your prey out by taking advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    


• Specific Vampires
  
  • 10-cap Toreador "Masika" who uses his special to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 11-cap Guruhi "Eze" who uses his special to take advantage of "Enkil Cog".
    
  • 10-cap Nosferatu "Cock Robin" gets "Enkil Cog", bleeds for 3 with "Deep Song", untaps, bleeds again with "Deep Song" (or something else) in my prey's turn. Season to taste with "Tier of Souls" for sh1ts and/or giggles.
    
  • 10-cap Setite "Nakhthorheb" gets "Enkil Cog", bleeds under the "Archon Investigation" radar for 2 on my turn, use his built in untap ability, then on my prey's turn bleeds for 5 with "Legal Manipulations" / "Public Trust" (plus possibly more from an action mod). Prey can't AI since it's his turn. And I can Direct Intervention his Deflection.
    


• Disciplines
  
  • 10-cap vampire with Obtenebration who uses superior "Descent into Darkness" to come back into play untapped.
    
  • 10-cap vampire with Celerity gets "Enkil Cog", bleeds with superior "Flurry of Action". Untaps. Bleeds again in another turn.
    


• Non-competitive
  
  • 10-cap Cheeseball who puts two "Return to Innocence" on himself to guarantee that his prey is ousted during his next untap phase.

Memorable Quotes (Part 28)

On the playing etiquette when you control a vampire with Enkil Cog:

"When you play the Cog, stab a large dagger into the table. Then inform everyone that it is a reminder that you can act whenever you feel like it, so if they would be so kind as to ask you before ending their minion phase, as you might feel like doing something. Then um and ah every, single, time, allowing you to time out all games you play in. -- Blooded Sand in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup

The Good, the Bad and the Broken

More useless statistics: This time I checked the number (d) and point values (p) of vampires with different capacities. I am not counting any special abilities (or disabilities) or Imbued for that matter.

• Capacity 1:
• Least discipline pts: Anarch Convert, Smudge, Sandra White (0d, 0p)
• Most discipline pts: Tup Dog (2d, 4p)
• Most superior: Tup Dog (2d)
• Most disciplines: Antoinette DuChamp, Eddie Gaines, Igo, The Hungry, Julius, Nedal, The Careless, Tup Dog, Uriah Winter (2d)
  
• Capacity 2:
  
  • Least discipline pts: (too many)
  • Most discipline pts: 11 vampires with two inferior disciplines (2d, 2p), and 4 vampires with one superior discipline (1d, 2p).
  • Most superior: Rico Loco, Jayne Jamestown, Jacob the Glitch, Magdalena Schäfer (1)
  • Most disciplines: 11 vampires with two inferior disciplines.
    
• Capacity 3:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Andre LeRoux, Lázár Dobrescu, Watenda (1d, 1p)
  • Most discipline pts: Bela (4d, 5p)
  • Most superior: (too many)
  • Most disciplines: Bela (4d)
    
• Capacity 4:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Count Zaroff, Hadrian Garrick, Jeremy Talbot, Keller Thiel, Ramona, Ramona (Adv), Sean Rycek (2d, 2p), Reginald Moore, Sajid al Misbah (1d, 2p)
  • Most discipline pts: Jane Simms (4d, 5p), Jimmy Dunn (3d, 5p)
  • Most superior: Chas Giovanni Tello, Jimmy Dunn (2d)
  • Most disciplines: Jane Simms, Lin Jun (4d)
    
• Capacity 5:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Langa, Muriel Foucade, Volker, The Puppet Prince (2d, 3p), Cicatriz, Toby (3d, 3p)
  • Most discipline pts: Sonja Blue (5d, 8p)
  • Most superior: Andrew Stuart, Sonja Blue (3d)
  • Most disciplines: Maria Stone (Adv) (6d)
    
• Capacity 6:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Nakova, Advocate of Golconda (2d, 3p)
  • Most discipline pts: Miguel Cordovera (4d, 8p)
  • Most superior: Miguel Cordovera (4d)
  • Most disciplines: Vassily Taltos, Nickolai, The Survivor, Dylan (Adv) (6d)
    
• Capacity 7:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Tatiana Romanov (3d, 4p)
  • Most discipline pts: Valerius Maior, Valerius Maior (Adv) (6d, 10p)
  • Most superior: Valerius Maior, Valerius Maior (Adv), Jessica, Lord Vauxhall, Maskini, Tariq, Tariq (Adv) (4d)
  • Most disciplines: Don Cerro (7d)
    
• Capacity 8:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Marcellus (3d, 5p), Kephamos, Quinton McDonnell (4d, 5p)
  • Most discipline pts: 4 vampires (6d, 9p), 8 vampire (4d, 9p)
  • Most superior: 15 vampires (4d)
  • Most disciplines: Antara, Genina, the Red Poet, Hrothulf, Jack Dawson, Jack Dawson (Adv), Monty Coven, Sobayifa (6d)
    
• Capacity 9:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Alvaro, Black Annis, Dnatien, Katarina, Spiridonas, Suhailah (4d, 6p)
  • Most discipline pts: Petaniqua, Petaniqua (Adv) (6d, 11p)
  • Most superior: Alicia Barrows, Maxwell, Petaniqua, Petaniqua (Adv), Tegyrius, Vizier (Adv) (5d)
    
  • Most disciplines: Durga Syn (7d)
    
• Capacity 10:
  
  • Least discipline pts: Ankou, Masika, Nakhthorheb (3d, 6p)
  • Most discipline pts: Cybele, Huitzilopochtli, Markus Vitel (Adv), Nergal, Nergal (Adv) (all 6d, 12p)
  • Most superior: Cybele, Huitzilopochtli, Markus Vitel (Adv), Nergal, Nergal (Adv) (6d)
  • Most disciplines: Helena (7d)
    
• Capacity 11:
• Least discipline pts: Leandro (5d, 8p)
• Most discipline pts: Mistress Fanchon
  (6d, 12p)
• Most superior: Mistress Fanchon (6d)
• Most disciplines: 17 vampires (6d)

Interesting Factoids:

• Being Baali/Infernal is worth something ...
• The best 7 cap vampire is better than the best 8 cap vampire.
• There are only three vampires with no disciplines and three with seven disciplines (Don Cerro, Helena, Durga Syn),
• Bad vampires are often from older expansions (VTES, Dark Sovereigns, Ancient Hearts), while the good ones are often from newer expansions (3rd Edition, Keepers of Tradition).
  

VtES Clan Newsletters in November 2008

One clan newsletter has been posted in the "rec.trading-cards.jyhad" usenet newsgroup this month. Beside using a newgroup reader, you can also access the newsgroup by Google Groups.

• Samedi Newsletter November 2008 a.k.a. Top Hat Times #3.