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)
----------------------------------------------
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

Release Date Change for "Heirs to the Blood" Confirmed

Earlier today White Wolf/CCP has officially confirmed in a news article on the White Wolf website, that the release date of the next VtES expansion "Heirs to the Blood" has been moved to February 3rd, 2010.

Oscar Garza, the organized play coordinator for VtES, adds the following note to the changed release date information in the above mentioned article:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I understand the pains this particular release has put on the community as a whole. The problems we have run into were unforeseen and regrettable but solvable. This set will be released to the standards of quality we try to enforce or every set we release. You will not be disappointed.

Thank you for understanding.

- Oscar Garza, Organized Play Coordinator.

Release Date for "Heirs to the Blood" moved again

According to Johannes Walch (from Walch & Nusser game distributors) the release date for the next VtES expansion "Heirs to the Blood" needed to be moved again. The new designated release date for "Heirs to the Blood" is now February 3th, 2010.

This is consistent with the information that Oscar Garza gave during the VtES EC 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, where he said that there were problems with the printing company. There seem to be mishap with exchange of pictures and card texts, which required a whole new print run for the "Heirs to the Blood" expansion.

On the bright side, Oscar also reported that the expansion after "Heirs to the Blood" is already in the pipeline.

VtES Tournament Vocabulary 101

During this year's European Championship I was able to compile the quintessential VtES tournament vocabulary, that you need to win a tournament, or at least to get to the finals. By extensive field research in Spain the essence of VtES speak can be brought down to this nine sentences:

• "Wait, wait, wait, .."
• "You really want to .. (bleed/vote/rush/block)?"
  
• "Let's talk about this!"
• "We need to talk about this!"
• "What's in it for me?"
• "What can I offer you?"
• "I'm just defending."
  
• "Just help me ousting my prey, then I transfer out."
• "I didn't break the deal, the situation just changed."

Results EC 2009: European Championship (Day 2)

Here are the results from the European Championship (Day 2) tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2009 on November 15th, 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. 40 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings in the finals were:

1. Martin Weinmayer (AUT) -- 1 GW 7 VP -- 3 VP -- Weenie Midcap Toreador antitribu Bleed&Bounce
2. Joaquim Miquel Cuesta (ESP) -- 1 GW 6,5 VP -- 1 VP -- Beast/Theo Bell Anarch Rush Combat
2. Kamel Senni (FRA) -- 1 VP 5 GW -- 1 VP -- Toreador Grandball Anneke/Anson
2. Erol Öngün (GER) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Stanislava & Friends Vote/Bleed
2. Christophe Baltazar (FRA) -- 1 GW 5,5 VP -- 0 VP -- EuroBrujah

The seating order in the finals was Martin --> Christophe --> Joaquim --> Kamel --> Erol. Congratulations to Martin for winning the European VtES Championship 2009. Martin is the first player that one the European Championship twice. The first time was in 1999, so like ten years ago.

Results EC 2009: First Chance Qualifier

Here are the results from the First Chance Qualifier tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2009 on November 15th, 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The tournament gives the players the first opportunity to qualify for the Continental Championship tournaments in 2010. 78 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings in the finals were:

1. Peter Ducaiv (SVK) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 1.5 VP -- Omaya Wall
2. Denis "Richter" Gerard (FRA) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Theo Beast Rust Combat w/ Graverobbing
2. David Quiñonero (ESP) -- 2 GW 5,5 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Ahrimanes Wall w/ Murder of Crows
2. Erik Torstensson (SWE) -- 1 GW 7 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Akysina Dachlau/Cybele Master Card Madness
2. Albert Zorrilla Agut (ESP) -- 2 GW 6,5 VP -- 0 VP -- Ventrue antribu Bruise & Bleed

The seating order in the final was: Peter --> Albert --> Denis --> Erik --> David. Congratulations to Peter for winning the FCQ. The first 20 players qualified for next year's continental championship, the cut-off was at 1 GW 4 VP (+TPs).

Results EC 2009: European Championship (Day 1)

Here are the results from the European Championship (Day 1) tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2009 on November 14th, 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The tournament is played as a qualifier for the actual EC tournament on the next day. The top 40 players qualify for the next day's tournament. 111 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings in the finals were:

1. Vincent Ripoll (FRA) -- 2 GW 5,5 VP -- 4 VP -- Ventrue Weenie/MidCap Bruise/Bleed w/ Zip Guns
2. Hugh Angseesing (GBR) -- 2 GW 5 VP -- 1 VP -- Ventrue antitribu Bruise/Bleed/Block w/ WWS
2. Erol Öngün (GER) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Salubri & Friends Spirit Marionette
2. Cesar Ruiperez (ESP) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Giovanni Powerbleed
2. Iñaki Jimenez (ESP) -- 2 GW 7,5 -- 0 VP -- Giovanni Powerbleed w/ Shamblers

The seating order in the finals was: Erol --> Vincent --> Iñaki --> Hugh --> Cesar. Congratulations to Vincent for winning the Day 1 tournament of the EC. So this is the 2nd french tournament win during the VtES EC 2009.

Results EC 2009: Last Chance Qualifier

Here are the results from the Last Chance Qualifier tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2009 on November 13th, 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The tournament gives the players the last opportunity to qualify for the European Championship tournaments on the followings days. 114 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings in the finals were:

1. Pascal "Floppy" Bertrand (FRA) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 4 VP -- Malkavian G1/2 Weenie Auspex Wall
2. Michael Holmström (SWE) -- 2 GW 8,5 VP -- 1 VP -- Lasombra Nocturn Bleed
2. Marcin Watras (POL) -- 3 GW 11 VP -- 0 VP -- Anson Cel Gun Ashur Tablets
2. Cesar Ruiperez (ESP) -- 3 GW 10 VP -- 0 VP -- Weenie Auspex (G2/3)
2. Caroline Hyll (SWE) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Toreador antitribu G2/3 Vote

Congratulations to Pascal for winning the LCQ of the EC 2009.

Memorable Quotes (Part 57)

"I have never understood the CCG player's ability to not read the card, and instead replace those concrete effects with their own personal journey from birth until now." -- KevinM on #vtes.

"Friday 13th" Storyline Bounty

A most interesting thing has happened for the unique storyline tournament "Friday 13th" that will be played during the VtES European Championship 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain next weekend (November 13th to 15th, 2009.

echiang has offered a bounty for the storyline tournament winner if he's helping clan Tremere and Claudio Severino, and an even greater bounty if the winner is playing a deck based on the Tremere antitribu.

Read the whole story in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup or the VtES EC 2009 blog.

Pictures "Short Term Investment" VtES Tournament in Cologne

Here are a few (in fact the only ones I took) pictures from the VtES Constructed Tournament "Short Term Investment" that took place on November 8th, 2009 in Cologne, Germany.

Left: Final Table still somewhat early in the game.


Right: Michael's Kyasid never got into the game, because of the high pressure (read: bleed) by his predator.

Left: Jörg could build up quite nicely, and had already a small minion horde in the early/mid-game.
Right: The Tzmisce Frederick played, could bleed quite heavily early on, before Jörg applied pressure with his Shamblers.

Left: Ralf sorely missed one of the Nosferatu Royalty, and got under pressure from the Tzimisce early on.
Right: Ben had quite a bunch of Ventrue/!Ventrue out, but lacked the punch to oust Michael early on.

One of the fun things of the tournament final was seeing Egothha milling away more than one Visit of the Capuchin from Frederick's library.

Results "Short Term Investment" VtES Tournament in Cologne

Here are the results of the "Short Term Investment" VtES Constructed tournament in Cologne, Germany after 2 rounds and the final. The tournament was played on November 8th, 2009 with 10 players participating. Here are the standings after the final round:

1. Jörg A. 2 GW 7 VP -- 3 VP -- Giovanni/Harbinger G2/3 Shambling Hordes
2. Frederick E. -- 0 GW 2 VP -- 1 VP-- Tzimice G2/3 Bruise&Bleed
2. Ben H. -- 0 GW 1 VP -- 1 VP -- Ventrue/!Ventrue G4/5 Bruise & Bleed
2. Michael H. -- 1 VP 4 VP -- 0 VP -- Kyasid G3/4 Nocturn & other allies
2. Ralf L. -- 1 GW 3 VP -- 0 VP -- Nosferatu G4/5 Royalty w/Dom

Congratulations to Jörg for his victory in the tournament. You can find the tournament winning deck in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

Memorable Quotes (Part 56)

"He plays evil cards, (and) I am not retarded." -- Kathie (her answer to the question why she wasn't playing Kindred Spirits on superior when bleeding with Lutz).

Wolving Resemblance

This is the winning picture by José Luis Rodríguez (Spain) of the Veolia Environment Wildlife 2009 competition.

And of which VtES card reminds you this picture? Right, Wolf Companion, of course. Ok, the wolf is jumping a wall, not a gate, and the color of the wolves are different, but still ... Thanks to http://www.vekn.cl for the hint.

Merging Vampires

Lately I was looking at some the advanced vampires in VtES, I was astonished when I remembered that there actually only three ways to merging an advanced vampires with the base version:

• cardless mechanism as stated in section 1.5 of the rulebook
• Gift of Experience
• Epiphany

On the other hand with the lastest expansion "Ebony Kingdom" the number of advanced vampires has grown to 41.

• Ramona -- Gangrel -- Capacity 4
  
• Reverend Adams -- Ventrue -- 4
• Dr. Julius Sutphen -- Lasombra -- 5
  
• Maria Stone -- Ahrimane -- 5
• Alan Sovereign -- Ventrue -- 6
  
• Batsheva -- Guruhi -- 6
• Dylan -- Ventrue antitribu -- 6
• Tusk, The Talebearer -- Nosferatu -- 6
• Alfred Benezri -- Pander -- 7
  
• Dominique -- Ventrue antitribu -- 7
• Ferox, The Rock Lord -- Gargoyle -- 7
• Jan Pieterzoon -- Ventrue -- 7
• Quentin King III -- Malkavian -- 7
  
• Sela -- Brujah antitribu -- 7
• Tariq, The Silent -- Assamite -- 7
• Theo Bell -- Brujah -- 7
• Valerius Maior, Hell's Fool -- Tremere antitribu -- 8
  
• Beckett -- Gangrel -- 8
• Count Germaine -- Brujah -- 8
• Jack Dawson -- Samedi -- 8
• Jeremy MacNeil -- Brujah -- 8
• Jessica -- Toreador antitribu -- 8
• Lucita -- Lasombra -- 8
• Sascha Vykos, The Angel of Caine -- Tzimisce -- 8
• Sébastian Goulet -- Gangrel antitribu -- 8
• Ambrogino Giovanni -- Giovanni -- 9
  
• Jibade el-Bahrawi -- Ishtarri -- 9
• Lazarus -- Tremere -- 9
• Petaniqua -- Baali -- 9
• Tegyrius, Vizier -- Assamite -- 9
  
• Cesewayo -- Osebo -- 10
  
• Goratrix -- Tremere -- 10
• Hannibal -- Malkavian antitribu -- 10
• Helena -- Toreador -- 10
• Kamiri wa Itherero -- Akunanse
• Kemintiri -- Follower of Set -- 10
• Lambach -- Tzimisce -- 10
• Marcus Vitel -- Lasombra -- 10
• Melinda Galbraith -- Toreador antitribu -- 10
• Nergal -- Baali -- 10
• Yong-Sun, Harmonist -- Nosferatu antitribu -- 10

Missing are the two latest storyline promos for Melene and Yazid Tamari, which would raise the count to 43.

So my question/issue is, why are not other cards supporting the merging of vampires, or having a merged vampire in play? For making vampires Black Hand or Anarch there are way more card in the game, and while I understand that the advancement mechanism is a bit different from the aforementioned I would like to see some more support for it.

Deck of the Month: October 2009: Laibon Rule the World

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Laibon Rule the World" played by Michael Heyder.

This deck won the North American Championship 2009, and I wanted to honor the effort to win such a tournament by playing a deck that does not features political actions to regain pool and does not use Auspex or Dominate to bounce bleeds.

North American Continental Championship Day 2
Atlanta, Georgia
October 4, 2009
25 players
3R + F

Michael Heyder's Tournament Winning Deck

Deck Name: Laibon Rule the World
Created By: Michael Heyder
Description:

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 23, Max: 36, Avg: 7,58)
----------------------------------------------
3 Batsheva obt pot ANI PRE 6 Guruhi
1 Fish pre ANI POT 5 Guruhi
4 Nana Buruku ANI POT PRE 8 Guruhi
4 Nangila Were obf ser ANI POT PRE 9 Guruhi

Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (24 cards)
8 Ashur Tablets
1 Channel 10
2 Fame
1 Giant`s Blood
4 Grooming the Protege
1 KRCG News Radio
1 London Evening Star, Tabloid Newspaper
2 Monster
1 Palace Hunting Ground
1 Powerbase: Tshwane
1 Therbold Realty
1 Wall Street Night, Financial Newspaper

Action (14 cards)
6 Enchant Kindred
3 Founders of the Ebony Kingdom
1 Heroic Might
2 Preternatural Strength
2 Well-Marked

Action Modifier (8 cards)
8 Guruhi Are the Land, The

Reaction (13 cards)
2 Cats` Guidance
4 Guard Dogs
2 Instinctive Reaction
1 Lost in Translation
4 Sense the Savage Way

Combat (22 cards)
6 Carrion Crows
7 Immortal Grapple
2 Pack Alpha
3 Taste of Vitae
4 Thrown Sewer Lid

Retainer (4 cards)
4 Raven Spy

Equipment (5 cards)
2 Flak Jacket
1 IR Goggles
2 Leather Jacket

Archon 1.3 Help

Last Saturday we had a local VtES tournament, and I had the pleasure of assisting the organization with the Archon spreadsheet (version 1.3) for keeping track of the tournament information.

We had some problems with the Archon 1.3, when trying to enter the tournament rounds (2R+F). If we had entered 3 as number of rounds (on the "Tournament" worksheet) the automatic seating order was not entered for the individual rounds (on "Round 1" and "Round 2" worksheets). Also there were a number of cells which showed an error ("Err205") (e.g. the "Number of Event matches" cell) and the "Standings" worksheet was also messed up.

What helped in the end was entering the tournament as 3R+F tournament, but then deleting the seating entries on the "Round 3". Thanks to KevinM for the hint.

I am not 100% sure if this is a general problem, or if we didn't enter the information in the order the Archon expects, but we had the problem on Windows XP both with OpenOffice and with MS Excel 2007.

Pictures SalinenCon 2009 VtES Tournament

Here are some of the pictures from the SalinenCon 2009 VtES Tournament that took place in Bad Nauheim, Germany on October 31st, 2009.

Left: Round 2 Table 1: Kathie, Merjin, Felix and Tobias (not in the picture) fighting for the game win.

Right: Round 2 Table 2: Nico, Kai, Ralf and Ralf (taking the picture)in the midst of the game.

Left: Final Table in Bad Nauheim with Kai, Merjin, Kathie, Felix and Ralf.



Right: Kai was playing an old, old school Malkavian Vote/Bleed deck

Left: Unmada was the only vampire Kathie had in play for a long time, and only after ousting Felix' deck, Lutz joined his company.

Right: The perceived table threat was Felix' Weenie Presence deck.

Left: Ralf's Followers of Set Bruise & Bleed deck did only go backwards due to lack of bleed bounce.
Right: This gave Merjin's Assamite Bleed deck a free ride, and he could built up easily while everyone pointed at Felix being the table threat.