Eden's Legacy Endgame

As the clock ticks down towards midnight the fate of the Royal Order of the Edenic Groundskeepers and their deadly trove remains uncertain. Which faction will prevail and what do they want? The victories of four Methuselahs have been recorded but their motivation remains shrouded in mystery (Bologna, Brisbane, Cambell, Rome). Motivated Methuselah that launch their attacks in the year's final moments could sway the outcome.

Tonight is the final night for Eden's Legacy.

Tomorrow is the last day for submitting reports for the final tally.

-- Ben Swainbank
VTES Storyline Coordinator
VtES Storyline Website

Bochum VtES League Rules 2010

For our bi-weekly VtES league games (and league) in Bochum, Germany we use the following rules :

• League games take place during the regular VtES meetings in Bochum.
  Only the first game(s) of a meeting count towards the VtES League.
  The last league game played during a season is played during the last meeting before christmas -- at this day also prizes are distributed.
  


• All participants, who want to play a league game, must decide what deck they want to use for the league match.
  Then the table assignment of the players are determined:
  
  • The players which are on top of the current ranking play on the first table. This table should consists of five players when possible.
  • For the rest of the players a random assignment to tables is done.
  • If for some reason the current ranking is not clear, all players are assigned to table randomly.
  • The table assignment during the first meeting of a year is always at random.
  The seating order on all tables is determined randomly, as well who is the starting player at any given table.


• League games are conducted following the the official VEKN tournament rules, unless stated otherwise.
  All rulebooks, rulings and cardtexts are in effect as soon as their published.
  New cards are allowed for play in the league games the day they are published.
  We reserve the possibility to use special rules/formats for league games when announced so before the regular VtES meetings.


• The timelimit for the games are two hours.
  Are the number of players attending the meeting 6, 7 or 11, then tables with 6 or 7 players are allowed, but with the following special rules:
  
  • For a 6 player table the time is extended to 2.5 hours.
  • For a 7 player table the time is extended to 3 hours.
  • If there are more than 5 players at a table, all cards that refer to the number of players at the table (e.g. Conservative Agitation, Parity Shift, Slave Auction) are regarded as if there are 5 players at the table.


• The accounting for each of the players include:
  
  • Number of games, number of games, number of victory points
  From these numbers the ranking is determined in the following way:
  
  • A Game Win (GW) is worth 8 Rating Points (RtP), and a Victory Point (VP) is worth 4 RtP)
  • The ranking for each player is determined by the average number of RtP per game (rounded to two significant digits).
  • Players who haven't participated in the league have 0 Rtp/Game, and therefore are the end of the league's ranking.
  • If two players tie for ranking place, the player with more games is ahead. If there's still a tie, the player with less Game Losses and (then Warnings) is ahead. If there's still a tie then, the leading player is determined randomly.
  • If a player has accumulated three warnings for the same offense during the current year, he receives an immediate game loss for the current game.
    
  • We are archiving the game results and the current ranking in a thread in the german VtES forum.
  • Only players who participated in at least 8 league games in a year, enter the final ranking for that year.


• During the year we collect a number of prizes for the league. At the end of the year's last league meeting the prizes are distributed in the following way:
  
  • All players present at this meeting, can choose one of the prizes in the order of the league's final ranking.
  • Is somebody missing during this meeting, and he hasn't told anybody about his favourite prize, no prize is reserved for him, but he can reclaim a prize later that haven't been choosen yet.

Memorable Quotes (Part 63)

"For me the question is not if I use Pentex, but how many of them." -- Martin (hungarian VtES Player)

Reference: VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

Dead Expansion Sketch

This is the VtES-style version of Dead Parrot Sketch by Monty Python, first seen on the telly some thirty years ago.

The cast:

MR. CORDOVERA

John Cleese

STORE OWNER

Michael Palin

The sketch:

• A customer enters a game store.
• Mr. Cordovera: 'ello, I wish to register a complaint.
• (The owner does not respond.)
• Mr. Cordovera: 'ello, Miss?
• Owner: What do you mean "miss"?
• Mr. Cordovera: I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!
• Owner: We're closin' for good.
• Mr. Cordovera: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this booster box what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
• Owner: Oh yes, uh, Nights of Reckoning...What's, uh...What's wrong with it?
• Mr. Cordovera: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. It's dead, that's what's wrong with it!
• Owner: No, no, it's uh,...it's evolin'.
• Mr. Cordovera: Look, matey, I know a dead expansion when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.
• Owner: No no it's not dead, it's, it's evolvin'! Remarkable expansion, the Imbued, isn'it, ay? Beautiful mechanics!
• Mr. Cordovera: The mechanics don't enter into it. It's stone dead.
• Owner: Nononono, no, no! It's evolvin'!
• Mr. Cordovera: All right then, if it's evolvin', I'll wake it up! (shaking the box) 'ello, Mister Hunter Imbued! I've got a lovely fresh monster to block for you if you show...
• (Owner hits the box)
• Owner: There, it moved!
• Mr. Cordovera: No, it didn't, that was you hitting the box!
• Owner: I never!!
• Mr. Cordovera: Yes, you did!
• Owner: I never, never did anything...
• Mr. Cordovera: (yelling and hitting the box repeatedly) 'ello Imbued!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your eight o'clock game start!
• (Takes booster out of the box and rips it open. Throws the cards up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor. The other customers in the store ignore the cards on the floor.)
• Mr. Cordovera: Now that's what I call a dead expansion.
• Owner: No, no.....No, it's out-of-print!
• Mr. Cordovera: Out-of-print?!?
• Owner: Yeah! You bought it, just as it was startin' through! Nights of Reckoning sold out pretty fast, major. So people don't recognize the cards anymore.
• Mr. Cordovera: Um...now look...now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this. That expansion is definitely dead, and when I purchased it not 'alf an 'our ago, you assured me that its total lack of playability was due to it bein' intellectual and shagged out following a prolonged squawk.
• Owner: Well, it's...it's, ah...probably pining for the very best players.
• Mr. Cordovera: Pinin' for the Very best players?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that? Look, why did all cards fall flat on their faces the moment I ripped open the boosters?
• Owner: The Imbued Hunter Mortal cards prefer lyin' on their faces! Remarkable minions, aren't they, champ? Lovely print quality!
• Mr. Cordovera: Look, I took the liberty of examining these booster foils when I got it home, and I discovered the only reason the cards didn't fall out, was that there closed back again with adhesive tape.
• (pause)
• Owner: Well, o'course they were glued together! If I hadn't glued them together again, fanatic players would have ripped them open without buying the booster box first, Wham, bam! No business for me, guv.
• Mr. Cordovera: "Wham"?!? Mate, these boosters wouldn't "wham" if you put four million volts through them! The expansion's bleedin' demised!
• Owner: No no! It's pinin' for the best!
• Mr. Cordovera: It's not pinin'! It's passed on! This expansion is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, It rests in peace! If you hadn't glued the boosters back together they'd be pushing up the daisies! Its tournament appearances are now 'istory! It's off the twig! It's kicked the bucket, it's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! This is an Ex-Expansion!!
• (pause)
• Owner: Well, I'd better replace it, then. (he takes a quick peek behind the counter) Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the shop, and uh, we're right out of vampire expansions.
• Mr. Cordovera: I see. I see, I get the picture.
• Owner: I got Rage.
• (pause)
• Mr. Cordovera: Pray, is it popular?
• Owner: Nnnnot really.
• Mr. Cordovera: Well it's hardly a bloody replacement, is it?!!???!!?
• Owner: N-no, I guess not. (gets ashamed, looks at his feet)
• Mr. Cordovera: Well.
• (pause)
• Owner: (quietly) D'you.... d'you want to come back to my place?
• Mr. Cordovera: (looks around) Yeah, all right, sure.
  

Also refer to Monty Python's Dead Parrot Sketch and it's cultural significance on Wikipedia.

Power Struggle: Gelsenkirchen

Preliminary VtES cards for the Gelsenkirchen Build-Your-Own-Storyline:

Left: Arena








Right: Harbor











Left: Science Park








Right: Music Theatre









Left: Town Hall








Right: Urban Forest

Week of Nightmares

Definition of "Week of Nightmares":

1: master card in VtES requiring Ravnos (see picture on the right).
2: a traditional week long event leading up to a Continental VtES Championship. Usual events include:

• constant pickup games,
• Duffin drafts,
• regular drafts,
• create-a-clan tournaments,
• constructed tournaments.

(And now go and change your vote on the poll for a "Week of Nightmares" event for the EC2010!)

Memorable Quotes (Part 62)

"I don't have cross table buddies. I have a prey I haven't gotten around to yet." -- Shockwave (english VtES Player).

Did you know, that ... (Part 39)

.. you can play "Brick Laying" against the "Secure Haven" on an opposing vampire, but only at inferior Potence. When you're playing "Brick Laying" at superior Potence, you're targeting also the vampire with the "Secure Haven", which is not allowed to "Secure Haven's" card text.

Another "Secure Haven" shenanigan is, that you can play "Edged Illusion" at superior Chimerstry against another player, even if one of his vampires has a "Secure Haven". The action is allowed (and doesn't fizzle) the vampire with the "Secure Haven" is just not affected.

References:

• VtES Usenet Newsgroup on Brick Laying vs. Secure Haven.
  
• VtES Usenet Newsgroup on Edged Illusion vs. Secure Haven.

VEKN Tournament Rules 2010

The new VEKN Tournament Rules for the year 2010 have been published on the White Wolf website. The actual changes (compared to the rules of 2009), which are effective for each official VtES tournament from January 1st, 2010, look like this:

• 7.2.6 Late arrivals to a draft can be added, but will construct decks by the sealed deck rules.

The complete tournament rules for 2010 can be found on the White Wolf website.

Poll Results: "What should happen with bounce cards in the future?"

Here are the results of the latest poll what readers of this blog think about the future of bleed bounce cards in VtES? 178 votes have been cast in the poll:

• Add more AUS/DOM-bounce. -- 7 (3%)
• Add non-AUS/DOM-bounce. -- 51 (28%)
• Add more discipline-less bounce. -- 8 (4%)
• Add more anti-bounce cards. -- 60 (33%)
• Don't add bounce cards anymore. -- 27 (15%)
• Ban bounce cards. -- 6 (3%)
• I don't care. -- 19 (10%)

As you can see there are two major antipodes, 33% of the readers want to add more anti-bounce cards, whereas 28% want more bounce cards, but for non-Auspex/-Dominate disciplines. A sizable miniority of 15% don't want any bounce cards added.

Results VtES League 2009 in Bochum

Here are the final standings of the VtES League 2009 in Bochum, Germany. This year's winner after 19 league games is Ralf. Congratulations to him. The final standings were:

1. Ralf -- 8.13 RtP/game -- 15 games -- 5 GW 20.5 VP
2. Didi -- 5.06 RtP/game -- 17 games -- 3 GW 15.5 VP
3. Sascha -- 4.63 RtP/game -- 16 games -- 2 GW 14.5 VP
4. Hardy -- 3.87 RtP/game -- 15 games -- 2 GW 10.5 VP
5. Michael -- 2.71 RtP/game -- 14 games -- 1 GW 7.5 VP

Participants without sufficient number of games (8):

1. Martin S. -- 8.57 RtP/game -- 7 games -- 2 GW 11.0 VP
2. Frank -- 2.00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW 0.5 VP
2. Thomas -- 2.00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW 0.5 VP
4. Markus -- 0.67 RtP/game -- 3 games -- 0 GW 0.5 VP
5. Martin E. -- 0.00 RtP/game -- 5 games -- 0 GW 0.0 VP
5. Oliver -- 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). Unfortunately the playgroup in Bochum has shrunk a bit (again), and now we're at a point where league days got canceled due to an insufficient number of players (four is the minimum).

Bochum VtES League 2009: December 18th

Here are the decks of the Bochum VtES League 2009 from the meeting on December 18th, 2009 (prey is from left to right, from top to bottom):

Left: Didi played an interesting blend of a wall deck featuring Maris Streck and War Ghouls.


Right: Ralf's deck was Dominate Weenies with targeting WWS & Zip Guns.

Left: Hardy's Giovanni Khazar's Diary deck was having a hard time sitting between two decks with intercept.
Right: After having some initial problems with Brujah violence, Martin's Tzimisce Wall deck stood like a rock.

Left: Sascha's Brujah Royalty deck lost a minion early on due to being diablerized, but with playing "Ancient Influence" and "Political Strangehold", he could stabilize.
Right: The Bochum League prize pool player's could choose from.

Memorable Quotes (Part 61)

"To break deals with someone you're in a relationship with is like running through a forest full of werewolves only armed with a knife during a full moon." -- Karo (VtES Player)

Reference: My girlfriend is playing VTES

Bloodlines Crypt Card Distribution

After seeing the distribution of the Bloodlines clans of the next VtES expansion "Heirs to the Blood" on White Wolf's preview page for the expansion, I was curious if and how it changed along the three different Bloodlines-related expansions "Bloodlines", "Legacies of Blood" and "Heirs to the Blood". I was a little bit surprised to see how relatively even the distribution of crypt cards is. There a few hiccups like the Blood Brothers and Gargoyles initial boost, but they got toned a bit in the next expansion. The real change with "Heirs to the Blood" is that the three scarce clans get an extra crypt card in the expansion.

Bloodlines BL LoB HttB Sum Ahrimanes 5 5 5 15 Baali 5 (5) 5 15 Blood Brother 10 2 5 17 Daughters of Cacophony 5 5 5 15 Gargoyle 8 3 5 16 Harbingers of Skulls 5 5 5 15 Kiasyd 5 5 5 15 Nagaraja 3 3 4 10 Salubri 3 3 4 10 Salubri Antitribu 5 5 5 15 Samedi 6 5 6 17 True Brujah 3 3 4 10

The five Baali vampire attributed to the "Legacies of Blood" expansion, were actually part of the "Kindred Most Wanted" expansion. I also omitted from the tables any vampires that were only available as promo card.

Complete Preview for "Heirs to the Blood"

White Wolf has put the preview page for the next VtES expansion "Heirs to the Blood" online. The preview page contains:

• complete crypt card checklist (58 cards)
• complete library card checklist (110 cards)
• preview of 5 crypt and 5 library cards
• explanation of new rule mechanism and new disciplines

The most interesting part are, of course, the new rules and disciplines:

• Research Area: Some cards may move cards to a special staging area called the research area. The cards in your research area are face down and out of play; they can be affected only by cards and effects that say so explicitly.
• Maleficia and Striga: Two new disciplines that are only available to infernal vampires. The same way that Caitiff is not a clan, these are not true disciplines, however (so just like "Caitiff" cannot be chosen for Consanguineous Boon, Ian Forestal couldn't use his ability to meet a Striga requirement, for example, nor could Maleficia be chosen as one of the Great Beast's disciplines).

Another thing to notice is the introduction of Group 6 for (bloodline) vampires, so you cannot combine the new bloodline vampires with their cousins from Group 2 ("Bloodlines") and Group 4 ("Legacies of Blood").

Poll Results: "What do you use as (blood) counters in VtES games?"

Here are the results of the latest poll what readers of this blog you use as (blood) counters in VtES games? 207 votes have been cast in the poll:

• VtES Glass Beads -- 33 (15%)
• Normal Glass Beads -- 114 (55%)
• Dice -- 10 (4%)
• Coins -- 11 (5%)
• Poker Chips -- 2 (0%)
• Gaming Tokens -- 5 (2%)
• Miniature Skulls/Roses/.. -- 5 (2%)
• Gun Cartidges -- 5 (2%)
• M&MS -- 2 (0%)
• Other -- 20 (9%)

As you can see most players use the "classic" glass beads (55%), if you count the glass beads produced by White Wolf, too, the numbers are up to 70%. The other choices are trailing far behind.

One question remains, what type of counters are those players using who vote for "Other"? Please feel free to enter a comment!

Results VtES League 2009 in Gelsenkirchen

Here are the final standings of the VtES League 2009 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. This year's winner after 48 league games is Dietmar.

1. Dietmar -- 10,88 -- 59,5 VP 15 GW -- 41 Games -- 1,71
2. Martin S. -- 9,72 -- 46 VP 8 GW -- 30 Games -- 1,25
   
3. Thomas -- 8,95 -- 47 VP 7 GW -- 34 Games -- 1,42
   
4. (Michael) -- 6,09 -- 3 VP 0 GW -- 3 Games -- 0,09
   
5. Sebastian Z. -- 5.57 -- 36 VP 3 GW -- 46 Games -- 1,92
   
6. Frank -- 4,89 -- 24 VP 2 GW -- 36 Games -- 1,42
   
7. Sebastian K. -- 4,48 -- 145 VP 1 GW -- 30 Games -- 1,28
   
8. Ralf -- 4.20 -- 14,5 VP 2 GW -- 23 Games -- 0,98
   
9. Martin E. -- 4,06 -- 18,0 VP 3 GW -- 43 Games -- 1,83

The table shows the rank and name of the player, the following numbers are Total Points, VPs, GWs, Games, Game Attendance Correction. Marked bold are the players that have played the minimum number of games of 12.

The results can also be found in the German VtES forums:

• Final Standing 2009
  
• Individual League Matches

VtES Storyline: "Eden's Legacy" Standings & Statistics

Here are some diagrams on the VtES Storyline "Eden's Legacy" that is currently still ongoing. The diagram to the right shows all clans with more than one win. The Guruhi are in the lead, but Brujah and Ventrue are not trailing far behind.

An interesting fact to note is that all four Laibon already have won at least one storyline tournament. I am not 100% sure, but I think that's a first.

On the left you can see the distribution of winning clan's sect. This may not be 100% accurate, since technically you could play a "Harbingers of Skulls" deck with mostly Laibon vampires for example. Most interesting is that the Sabbat is narrowly in the lead, although three non-Sabbat clans are in the lead. Speaking of scatteredness of this sect ...

[Statistics from the Eden's Legacy Storyline standings webpage as of December 11th, 2009]

Results UK National VtES Championship 2009

The UK National VtES Championship 2009 has been played on December 5th, 2009 in Reading, UK with 29 players attending the tournament. The standings of the final round were as follows:

1. Anthony Coleman (UK) -- 3 VP - Ventrue Neo Lawfirm
2. Sven Helmer (GER) -- 2 VP -- Lasombra Nocturn
2. Hugh Angseesing (UK) -- 0 VP -- Guruhi Wall/Rush Combat feat. Nana Buruku
2. Artur Siupik (POL) -- 0 VP -- Rachel Brandywine
2. Rafal Matysiak (POL) -- 0 VP -- Animalism Wall/Rush Combat

Congratulations to Anthony for his win of the UK Nationals 2009. You can find the tournament winning deck in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

German VtES Championships (Update 2009)

As the German National VtES Championship 2009 are history now, here's the updated list of present and past title holders in German VtES championships.

• German ECQ 2009 -- Izaak Havelaar (NED)
• German NC Constructed 2009 -- Thomas Gschwandtner (GER)
  
• German NC Limited 2009 -- Dietmar Range (GER)
  

• German ECQ 2008 -- Kristian Willenbacher (GER)
• German NC Constructed 2008 -- Michael Heyder (GER)
  
• German NC Limited 2008 -- Dietmar Range (GER)
  

• German ECQ 2007 -- Olivier Perez (SUI)
• German NC Constructed 2007 -- Ruben Feldmann (SUI)
  
• German NC Limited 2007 -- Benoit Moyen (FRA)
  

• German ECQ 2006 -- Erol Oenguen (GER)
• German NC Constructed 2006 -- Robert Fängler (GER)
• German NC Limited 2006 -- Thomas Gschwandtner (GER)

• German ECQ 2005 -- Andreas Nusser (GER)
• German NC Constructed 2005 -- Johannes Walch (GER)
• German NC Limited 2005 -- Thomas Gschwandtner (GER)

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2004 -- Ruben Van Cauwenberghe (BEL)
• German NC Limited 2004 -- Emile Bosman (NED)

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2003 -- Stéphane Lavrut (FRA)
• German NC Limited 2003 -- Erol Oenguen (GER)

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2002 -- Luk de Ron (BEL)
• German NC Limited 2002 -- Tobias Pohl (GER)

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2001 -- Jan Van Den Eede (NED)
• German NC Limited 2001 -- ???

• German NC/ECQ Constructed 2000 -- Fabian Sosna (GER)
• German NC Limited 2000 -- ???

Note: prior to 2005 the German European Championship Qualifier (ECQ) and the National Championship (NC) were held during the same tournament event.

Memorable Quotes (Part 60)

"I don't want to rush you. I just want to survive." -- Joaquim to his predator
"Welcome to the club." - Kamel (Joaquim's prey; Kamel's minions got rushed and all sent to torpor earlier by Joaquim).

Exchange during the VtES EC 2009.

VtES European Championship 2010 Confirmations

The date and location of the European VtES Championship 2010 have been confirmed by the french organization team. As already revealed earlier this year, the next EC is going to place in Paris, France. To be more precise the main tournaments will be held from October 29th to 31st, 2010 at

Résidence Internationale de Paris (RIP)
44 Rue Louis Lumière
75020 Paris, France

The calendar for the weekend looks like this:

• October 29th: Last Chance Qualifier
• October 30th: EC Day 1
• October 31st: EC Day 2 & First Chance Qualifier

It maybe still a bit too early to book accomodations and transportation, since there's a discussion in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup if and when there's a Week of Nightmares-style extension before or after the VtES EC 2010 weekend.

You can find more information in the French VtES forums, where you can also ask questions and have a discussion about all things related to the EC 2010:

• Sabbat in France forum.
• VEKN France forum.

Pictures German National VtES Championship 2009

Here are a few pictures from the German VtES National Championship 2009, that took place on December 6th, 2009 in Ludwigshafen, Germany with 34 players from 5 countries attending the tournament:

Left: After some resting during the previous day's draft tournament attending the constructed tournament was not a problem.

Right: The German NC has just started in its first round.

Left: The final table with Orian, Thomas, Marius and Martin. I was sitting at the chair in the front of the table.

Right: The final table in a closeup with all five players still in the game.

Pictures German VtES Draft Championship 2009

Here are some pictures from the German VtES Draft Championship 2009, that took place on December 5th, 2009 in Ludwigshafen, Germany with 16 players from 4 countries attending the tournament:

Left: The playarea with 4 tables and 16 players participating.





Right: Round 1 Table 1.

Left: Round 1 Table 2.






Right: Round 1 Table 3.

Left: Round 1 Table 4.






Right: Round 2 Table 1.

Left: Round 2 Table 2.






Right: Round 2 Table 4.

Left: Final Table with Sebastian, Thomas, Peter, Didi and Johannes.


Right: Didi's winning deck .. like a constructed deck -- only with 40 library and 9 crypt cards.

Results German National VtES Championship 2009

On December 6th, 2009 the German National VtES Championship was held in Ludwigshafen, Germany with 38 players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:

1.Thomas Gschwandtner (GER) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Weenie/MidCap G2/3 Ani/Aus w/ War Ghouls
2. Ralf Lammert (GER) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Imbued Chainsaw Massacre
2. Martin Weinmayer (AUT) -- 1 GW 7 VP -- 0,5 VP -- G2/3 Midcap Toreador Grandball
2. Marius Iscru (FRA) -- 2 GW 6.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Weenie G2/3 Potence Rush Combat
2. Orian Gissler (FRA) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Ventrue antitribu/Tremere G4/5 feat. Gerald Windham Bleed

Congratulations to Thomas for his win of the German National Championship 2009.

Results German VtES Draft Championship 2009

On December 5th, 2009 the German National VtES Draft Championship was held in Ludwigshafen, Germany with 16 players from 4 nations attending the tournament. The final standings were as follows:

1. Dietmar Range (GER) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 4 VP -- Tremere Bleed/Block feat. Ponticulus
2. Thomas Gschwandtner (GER) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 1 VP -- Gangrel/Malkavian Bleed/Block feat. Randall
2. Johannes Walch (GER) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Malkavian/Ventrue HighCap Bleed/Politics
2. Sebastian Meurer (GER) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Ventrue/Brujah Midcap Bleed/Politics
2. Peter Botos (HUN) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 0 VP -- Ventrue Bleed/Politics

Congratulations to Didi for his win of the German Draft National Championship 2009. This is the second win in row for him, a feat only Thomas Gschwandtner was able to pull off.

Poll Results: "How many copies of Pentex Subversion do you put into your decks?"

Here are the results of the latest poll on how many copies of "Pentex Subversion" VtES players include into their decks. 204 votes have been cast in the poll:

• Every deck, several copies! -- 15 (7%)
• Usually one per deck. -- 40 (19%)
• A copy or two in the right deck. -- 113 (55%)
• I never use Pentex Subversion. -- 18 (8%)
• Pentex? Grrr... -- 18 (8%)

As you can see the majority of the readers make moderate use of the card (55%). A rather small minority doesn't like "Pentex Subversion" at all (16%), and a larger minority (27%) is really a fan of the card putting it in each and every deck.

Did you know, that ... (Part 38)

.. when you're playing "Static Virtue" after a Laibon has been moved to the ready region in your last influence, you need to move one Aye and one Orun each to the Laibon. That is you need to move these cards in pairs to the Laibon; it's not possible to move a number of Aye/Orun to the Laibon, where the numbers of these cards do not match.

References:

• VtES Usenet Newsgroup.
• VtES Rulings.

NAC 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Kevin Mergen (Prince of Las Vegas) sent in a proposal for the North American Championship 2010 to be in Las Vegas, Nevada to White Wolf/CCP last month, and he received an official letter from White Wolf/CCP today thanking him for his proposal and to let him know that the NAC 2010 will be happening as part of a larger White Wolf Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana in Fall 2010.

This also fits in with the news from this year's International Camarilla Convention (ICC) which took place in Atlanta, Georgia took in November 2009.

"The Gathering in New Orleans. We announced that we’ll be holding a massive convention/meetup for all the fans of our products, whether that’s Mind’s Eye Theatre, oWoD or nWoD, VTES or anything World of Darkness inspired."

You can watch the announcement for the general vampire convention on the White Wolf's YouTube Channel as part of the wrap-up session of the ICC.

Memorable Quotes (Part 59)

"The best is no deal. Because it cannot be broken." -- Kamel (french VtES Player) during the VtES EC 2009.

Deck of the Month: November 2009: Undead Army

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Undead Army" played by Joerg Alten.

As you can see in the previous "Deck of the Month" posts often the chosen deck is a new variation of a well-known deck concept. This month is a no exception, since the "Undead Army" deck is a variation of the well-known Giovanni Shambling Hordes deck archetype, but this time not based on the Giovanni clan, but on the Harbingers of Skull clan and other vampires with the Necromancy and Obfuscate disciplines. The deck also has some nifty unique features, like protecting the "Shambling Hordes" with "Kevlar Vests" or gaining pool with "Insurance Scams" on "Storage Annexes", preferably with an "Shambling Horde" underneath the "Storage Annex" to put into the ash heap.

Short Term Investment
Cologne, Germany
November 8, 2009
10 players
2r+final

Joerg Alten's Tournament Winning Deck

Deck Name : Undead Army
Author : Joerg Alten
Description : Shambling Hordes with obfuscate and some dirty tricks

Crypt (12 vampires) Capacity min: 1 max: 7 average: 5.25
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2x Carlotta Giovanni 7 NEC POT dom obf Giovanni:2
2x Rafaele Giovanni 6 NEC cel obf Giovanni:2
2x Egothha 7 AUS FOR NEC obf Harbinger:2
2x Mina Grotius 6 FOR NEC cel Harbinger:3
1x Roger Farnsworth 4 OBF aus !Malkavian:3
1x Tansu Bekir 4 OBF cel Assamite:2
1x Krid 2 obf Nosferatu:3
1x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:0

Library (65 cards)
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Action (1)
1x Arson

Action Modifier (11)
4x Call of the Hungry Dead
2x Cloak the Gathering
1x Lost in Crowds
2x Spying Mission
2x Veil the Legions

Action Modifier/Combat (1)
1x Swallowed by the Night

Action Modifier/Reaction (2)
2x Spectral Divination

Ally (16)
1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
1x Ossian
14x Shambling Hordes

Combat (3)
3x Dead-End Alley

Equipment (4)
4x Kevlar Vest

Event (4)
1x Narrow Minds
3x Unmasking, The

Master (19)
1x Channel 10
1x Charisma
1x Direct Intervention
2x Filchware's Pawn Shop
1x Giant's Blood
2x Insurance Scam
3x Jake Washington (Hunter)
3x Liquidation
4x Storage Annex
1x Wall Street Night, Financial Newspaper

Reaction (4)
2x Delaying Tactics
2x On the Qui Vive

VtES Clan Newsletters in November 2009

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

• Tremere antitribu Newsletter November 2009.

You can find the complete VtES Clan Newsletter Archive on Lasombra's website.

What Not To Do ..

This is the summary of the thread "Tips on What Not To Do" from the VtES Usenet Newsgroup in 2004. The thread (or at least part of it when it took a detour on discussing the playability of "Form of Corruption") revolved around what player's shouldn't do in the first few turns in order to avoid scaring the whole table and/or drawing unwanted attention to one's deck.

• Play Parthenon and Anarch Revolt. Unless your deck is an Anarch Revolt deck (so people will get pissed eventually), doing this during your first turn means you'll spend the rest of the game telling people you aren't playing an Anarch Revolt deck. [Halcyan 2]


• Discard either Baltimore Purge or Protect Thine Own. Doing so makes people cringe. They might assume you're playing a Baltimore Purge deck or might do pre-emptive rushes to make sure you can't Protect Thine Own them. If you're really handjammed I guess you can discard one of these, but it's still not recommended early on. [Halcyan 2]


• Influence out Arika or Leandro first. Lots of decks do it (and I often do it for strategic reasons) but Arika/Leandro comes out with a giant target on the forehead, so don't be surprised if the reaction is very hostile. [Halcyan 2]


• Play/discard Smiling Jack. Not as serious but some people might assume you're playing a wall deck and act accordingly. [Halcyan 2]


• Play multiple Slaughterhouses early game. Even though it's totally counter-productive, I've seen people do everything in their power to foil someone that plays a milling deck. Something about it not being "fun"... Not like you need to play multiple Slaughterhouses anyways until the end of the game where they are useful to push ahead a Brinksmanship oust. [Aramis]


• Play Le Dihn Tho casually. Like Arika, influencing this vampire up is painting a big bullseye on your forehead. This is mainly because it means you're playing Giovanni S&B and you deserve the hate anyways, but still it's one of those abilities that screams "come kill me now". [Aramis]


• Play Coroner's Contact choosing The Baron, unless you are playing a combo-baron deck. Even then, good luck. [mgreen02]


• Start with Info Highway and throw up 4 panders, discarding a Legacy of Pander. [Frederik]


• Put a low cap vampire into play and bleed for 7 (with Govern the Unaligned + Command of the Beast + Conditioning) on your second or third turn (depending on starting influence). [Frederik]


• Say "shit I forgot to add wakes and/or intercept to this deck". [Frederik]


• Bringing out an Inner Circle followed by the words "I'm not to afraid of my prey's Beast I'll PTO him next turn". [Emile]


• Or saying to you're grand predator that he shouldn't bleed his S&B prey since you have no bounce left. [Emile]

(In brackets are the names of the original contributors).

German National VtES Championship 2009 (Update)

As in the previous years the German National VtES Championship tournament takes place in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany on weekend December 5th to 6th, 2009. The two day event consists of two tournaments, the German Draft Championship (played on December 5th, 2009) and the German (Constructed) Championship (played on December 6th, 2009)

The Tournaments

• A draft event will take place on Saturday. Winner will be awarded with the German Draft Champion title of 2009.


• Sunday will be devoted to the German Championship -- please note that you will not have to qualify for this event. The Top 5 players will automatically be qualified for participation in any Continental Championship in 2010.

The Location

• The event will take place on the 5th and 6th of December in DasHaus in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Amongst European players this location is well-known due to the numerous events such as Qualifiers and Nationals which took place there in the past. It offers more than enough room for about 100 players in two different rooms. Drinks will be available on location.

Format

• German Draft Championship: Draft from 9 Boosters
• German Championship: Standard Constructed, detailed rules can be found at VEKN Rules website.

Time-Table

• Saturday (Dec, 5th) - German Draft Championship
  
  • Registration 10:00 - 11:00
  • Draft & Decklists 11:15 - 12:15
  • 1st Round 12:30 - 14:30
  • 2nd Round 15:30 - 17:30
  • 3rd Round 17:45 - 19:45
  • Finals 20:00 -- 22:00
  
  
• Sunday (Dec, 6th) -- German Championship
  
  • Registration 10:00 - 10:45
  • 1st Round 11:00 - 13:00
  • 2nd Round 14:00 - 16:00
  • 3rd Round 16:15 - 18:15
  • Finals 18:30 - 20:30

Costs

• 5 EUR admission fee for both days + cost of cards for the draft (about 20 EUR)

Prizes

• tba

Notes

• Traditionally, numerous Christmas fairs take place in neighboring cities like Mannheim or Heidelberg during December. These not only feature traditional German treats, but also souvenirs and the famous "Glühwein" (mulled wine).

More Details and Registration

• German VtES Forum (requires registration)

Address of the location

Kulturzentrum dasHaus
Bahnhofstrasse 30
67059 Ludwigshafen

Results & Decklists VtES EC 2009 Tournaments

In the VtES Usenet Newsgroup you can now find the complete standings and finalists decklists of the VtES European Championship 2009, that took place in Palma de Mallorca, Spain on November 13th-15th, 2009.

• EC Last Chance Qualifier 2009
• EC First Chance Qualifier 2009
  
• EC Day 1 Tournament
• EC Day 2 Tournament

Thanks to Damnans for putting up all the information!

Did you know, that ... (Part 37)

.. you cannot use Telepathic Counter to reduce the damage inflicted by Spying Mission. This because since the bleed is already (being) resolved, thus preventing (reaction) cards being played. For the same reason you cannot play Archon Investigation against a vampire when the bleed is boosted to 4 or more with the help of Spying Mission.

Reference: VtES Rulings under Spying Mission.

Memorable Quotes (Part 58)

"Deck randomization is too important to be left to chance." -- Unknown VtES player.

Actually this is a modification of the original quote by Robert R. Coveyou, who said "The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance."

Everyone Should Play VtES

The Gothsicles have recorded a VtES song named "Everyone Should Play V:TES ('Cause Somebody's Gotta Be Worse Than Me) - feat. Ben Peal". The song is about how darkNES, one of the band members, sucks thrives at playing VtES. In addition, Ben Peal, three time NAC winner, has some guest vocals on it. Way to go, Gothsicles!!

You can download "Everyone Should Play V:TES" from the Gothsicles's website. These are the lyrics of the song:

It's our designated weeknight
Or weekend if you roll that way
I brought a couple a' beers
But save like six for me, okay?
'Cause like an adult swim
I'm always out of the pool
I got an academic hunting ground
'Cause I'm always getting schooled

I've got a history
Of playing inadmissibly
To any tournament I see
'Cause I get killed by Chimerstry
You're thinking moves ahead
I'm struggling with card text
And trying to determine
The effects of Rötschreck

It's got great group dynamics
And that keeps me coming back
Even though all I'm good at
Is the pre-game talking smack
I'll threaten you
With my brand new
Inner Circle Toreador
Then watch you pound me into the ground
With cards from '94

I've got a history
Of playing inadmissibly
To any tournament I see
'Cause I get killed by progeny
You're thinking moves ahead
I'm struggling with card text
And trying to determine
Rötschreck's effects

I've got a history
Of playing inadmissibly
At every tournament I see
'Cause I get killed by Thaumaturgy
You're thinking moves ahead
I'm struggling with card text
And wondering what horrid combo
You'll throw at me next

You can find additional information on The Gothsicles on their own website or their MySpace page.

A Kingdom for an Oracle

There are several things that currently tick me off with regards to VtES, not the game itself, but the proper support by White Wolf/CCP in general:

• Lack of Information by White Wolf
• Missing Comprehensive Information on Rulings
• Erroneous Rating Website

Lack of Information by White Wolf

The lack of information on VtES on the White Wolf website is appalling. The official VtES website is updated very infrequently, and information on a number of topics is scarce. There is little to no information about new expansions, whether it is the actual release date or contents of the expansion. And I doubt that there will be a preview page before the release date of "Heirs to the Blood". Information on major VtES events on continental championships is also fragmentary at best. Sometimes there are announcements of these tournaments, sometimes there's no information, and the same applies to the results of these major tournaments.

On the other hand, I don't mind the delay of "Heirs to the Blood". Problems with a card manufacturer can happen (and by Murphy's Law will happen at the worst possible moment), and I like a delay more than a lack of quality, as happened with the 3rd Edition expansion. Only White Wolf then needs to inform both the customers and resellers earlier about these kind of delays.

Missing Comprehensive Information on Rulings

The next thing that is really annoying me is the lack of comprehensive on rulings (whether card related or not). Currently LSJ (as current VtES designer and Net*Rep) answers all of the relevant questions in the Usenet Newsgroup "rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad" which are then archived in Google Groups. From time to time (yearly at best) a selected number of rulings is then compiled into the official rulings webpage, which only contains a rather small selection of all rulings. So in the end Google Groups/Search is the current means to find relevant rulings.

But depending on the actual Google search behavior (I call it "Google's search mood") you may find the actual information or not. What makes matters worse is that you may not find the latest ruling. And if you switch the sort order in Google search from "By Relevance" to "By Date" the number of search results may change. So I am always wondering when using the Google search, did I find all relevant rulings, did I find the latest ones? Not a really state of mind.

There is a reason the french players have compiled a huge list of rulings on all VtES cards. Unfortunately they have translated the rulings to french, so it's not commonly usable for the VtES community.

So what's an alternative? Magic the Gathering has a card database called "The Gatherer" (formerly "The Oracle") which not only contains the relevant information for a given card, but also the rulings for this card. I don't need the fancy graphics or an attached discussion thread, but the combination of card information and rulings is more than desirable. The only problem with this is, that for VtES you would need to start such a card database with rulings from scratch for 1300+ crypt and 2000+ library cards. That's would be a huge amount of work, most likely not doable by White Wolf itself, and even a fan-based project would really have a tough job pulling this off.

Erroneous Rating Website

The last major annoyance is the rating system website. Since the change to the new website a couple of years ago, the website and the underlying software/database is in shambles. So deeply flawed that the country and city rankings had to be disabled this year. And the list of additional complaints is long:

• Large tournaments cannot be entered properly
• Entering new players is cumbersome.
• Entering tournaments can easily end in mishaps.
• Players attributed to wrong countries.
• ..

As Johannes proposed today in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup, a joint fan-effort for creating a new database and piece of software would really help here. Entering (by the Princes) and managing the ratings (by Robyn) is already 99% based on fan efforts, so taking over the rating system/database itself is not huge step itself anymore.

Results "Eden's Legacy" Storyline Tournament in Bochum

Here are the results of the VtES Storyline Event "Eden's Legacy" in Bochum, Germany after 2 rounds and a final. The tournament was played on November 22nd, 2009 with only 4 players participating. Here are the standings after the final round:

1. Ralf -- 0 GW 1.5 VP -- 1 GW 3 VP -- Guruhi G4 feat. Eze Brutal Influence/Exile
2. Martin -- 0 GW 0,5 VP -- 1 VP -- G4/5 Brujah Royalty Obf Vote
2. Hardy -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 0 VP -- G3/4 Istarri Vote/Bleed
2. Michael -- 0 GW 0,5 VP -- 0 VP -- G2/3 Toreador Bleed/Bloat feat. Melene

Congratulations to Ralf for his victory in the storyline tournament. So the Guruhi was the winning clan with "Eze, The Demon Prince" as the key minion. For your education entertainment here's the TWD deck:

Deck Name: Brutal Exile
Created By: extrala
Description: Deck for Eden's Legacy. Search for Static Virtue when influencing a Laibon out, then add up to three Orun when playing "Static Virtue" during your next master phase. The deck can then bloat (Brutal Influence) or defend using Exile or Banishment.

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 27, Max: 44, Avg: 8,91)
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1 Lumumba ani PRE 4 Guruhi
1 Aren ani obf POT PRE 7 Guruhi
3 Nana Buruku ANI POT PRE 8 Guruhi
2 Umdava vic ABO ANI FOR PRE 9 Akunanse
1 Ugadja dom for ABO ANI POT PRE 10 Guruhi
4 Eze aus ANI NEC POT PRE THA 11 Guruhi

Library: (89 cards)
-------------------
Master (35 cards)
2 Abombwe
4 Ashur Tablets
1 Creepshow Casino
2 Information Highway
2 Metro Underground
1 Monastery of Shadows
12 Orun
2 Perfectionist
2 Static Virtue
5 Villein
2 Wash

Action (12 cards)
6 Brutal Influence
6 Exile

Action Modifier (16 cards)
2 Bewitching Oration
2 Enkil Cog
5 Perfect Paragon
7 Voter Captivation

Political Action (9 cards)
1 Ancient Influence
2 Banishment
2 Kine Resources Contested
1 Political Stranglehold
1 Reins of Power
2 Secret Must Be Kept, The

Combat (9 cards)
9 Majesty

Ally (2 cards)
1 Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
1 Mylan Horseed (Goblin)

Equipment (1 cards)
1 Nkishi

Event (1 cards)
1 Scourge of the Enochians

Combo (4 cards)
2 Guruhi Kholo
2 Unholy Radiance