German VtES Championships (Update 2010)

As the German National VtES Championship 2010 are history now, here's the updated list of present and past title holders in German VtES championships.

• German NC Constructed 2010 -- Emiliano Imeroni (ITA)
  
• German NC Limited 2010 -- no draft tournament in 2010
• German ECQ 2010 -- Alf Behrends (GER)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results German National VtES Championship 2010

On January 29th, 2011 the German National VtES Championship 2010 was held in Bochum, Germany with 28 players attending the final tournament. The final standings were as follows:

1. Emiliano Imeroni (ITA) -- 2 GW 8.5 VP -- 1.5 VP -- Lutz & Maris Nastiness
2. Alexander Tüschen (GER) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Tremere G3/4 Toolbox
2. Martin Schumacher (GER) -- 2 GW 6.5 VP -- 0,5 VP -- G2/3 Tzimisce Big Cap Wall
2. Ralf Weppner (GER) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Malkavian G1/2 Protean Bleed/Block
2. Johan van der Meer (NED) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Nosferatu G2/3 Royalty feat. Cock Robin Vote

Congratulations to Emiliano for his win of the German National Championship 2010. You can find the tournament winning deck along with complete results in the German VEKN forum.

pres·ence

Pres·ence [ˈprɛzəns] -- noun

1. the state of being present.


2. the immediate proximity of a person or thing.


3. dignified manner or conduct.


4. personal appearance or bearing, especially of a dignified nature.

From Latin praesentia, "being at hand" (from the verb praeesse).

In Mourning

Poll Results: "Deck of the Year 2010"

After having presented twelve decks of the month in the past year, I have asked you to pick the Deck of the Year 2010. 242 votes have been cast in this poll.

So the winner for the Deck of Year 2010 is Francesco d'Alessio (ITA) with his "Il Fakiro d'Alessio" deck. Congratulations to Francesco for building and winning with this deck. Unfortunately for Francesco, there is no actual prize support for this "award" other than your five minutes of fame. Here are decks that made it the top three of the list:

1. May 2010: Il Fakiro d'Alessio -- a powerbleed deck based on Fakir al Sidi played by Francesco D'Alessio (ITA) -- 68 (28%)
2. November 2010: True Power -- a True Brujah equipment Bleed deck played by Péter Botos (HUN) -- 42 (17%)
3. October 2010: Snakes on the Plane -- a Followers of Set Set's Curse/Ilomba deck by Ivan Marin-Rivas (SWE) -- 21 (8%)

The complete results of the poll look like this:

1. May 2010: Il Fakiro d'Alessio by Francesco D'Alessio (ITA) -- 68 (28%)
2. November 2010: True Power by Péter Botos (HUN) -- 42 (17%)
3. October 2010: Snakes on the Plane by Ivan Marin-Rivas (SWE) -- 21 (8%)
4. August 2010: Tryphosa Bleed/Defense by Erol Öngün (GER) -- 18 (7%)
5. September 2010: Eze like the Sunday by Matt Wedge (USA) -- 18 (7%)
6. February 2010: Wax On, Wax Off by Martin Schumacher (GER) -- 16 (6%)
7. June 2010: The World's Biggest Multirushers by Darby Keeney (USA) -- 15 (6%)
8. April 2010: Singing in the Ground by Randal Rudstam (SWE) -- 12 (4%)
9. January 2010: The Rats in Sheep's Clothing by Roger Carhult (SWE) -- 11 (4%)
10. March 2010: Paella au d'Erlette by Jordi Tomás (ESP) -- 10 (4%)
11. December 2010: Obey Redux by Mike Zajac (USA) -- 7 (2%)
12. July 2010: Laibon Vote feat. Lutz by Kelly Schultz (USA) -- 4 (1%)

Poll Results: "Should Pentex Subversion be banned from VtES tournament play?"

Here are the results of the latest poll if the readers of this blog would like to see Pentex Subversion banned from VtES tournament play. 241 readers of this blog have voted in this poll:

• Yes, the sooner, the better. -- 24 (9%)
• No, but change the card text. -- 14 (5%)
• No, the card is fine. -- 187 (77%)
• I don't really care. -- 16 (6%)

Although there's a very vocal group of players in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup promoting the ban of this card , you can see from results of this poll, that the vast majority (77%) doesn't feel that a change a necessary. And only 9% of the blog readers actually want the card to be banned, while 5% would be content with card text change.

aus·pex

Aus·pex [ˈɔːspɪˌsiːz] -- noun (plural aus·pi·ces)

1. an augur of ancient Rome, that is "one who observes flights of birds for the purpose of taking omens". From Latin: observer of birds, from avis ("bird") and specere ("to look").

Memorable Quotes (Part 98)

"Cats don't play Magic. They consider it beneath their dignity." -- Beth Moursund in Playing Your Pet: Rough-Testing A Magic Deck (Duelist #7)

VtES History: VtES Scheduled For Fall Release

Renton, Wash. (October 9, 1995) -- Wizards of the Coast, Inc. announced today that the release of its trading card game Vampire: The Eternal Struggle(TM) (V:TES) and the game's first expansion set, Dark Sovereigns(TM), are due for release in November.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (formerly known as Jyhad(TM)) and Dark Sovereigns are being printed by The United States Playing Card Corporation (USPC). This is the first time Wizards of the Coast(R) has printed cards in the United States. To date, all of Magic: The Gathering has been printed by Carta Mundi in Antwerp, Belgium.

"We are excited to use a new printing technology for this production run," said Jim Stanton, Vice President of Product Group One. "Wizards of the Coast is proud of its reputation for producing top quality games," said Stanton. "We are confident this new release of V:TES will further demonstrate our commitment to leading the industry."

Earlier this year, Wizards of the Coast announced that along with renaming the game, the rules had been adjusted. "We rewrote and reformatted the rules for easier reading and to shorten the game time," said Matt Burke, Product Manager for V:TES. "We have not changed the game mechanics -- we have only rewritten them to make them easier to understand." The new version of the rules appears in instructions that accompany each V:TES starter deck and the separate player's guide, Darkness Unveiled (TM), which will be released in December.

The release of the new Vampire cards will not affect the playability of the Jyhad cards currently on the market. Jyhad cards will still remain legal for all tournaments and are completely compatible with Vampire cards. This eliminates the need for players to exchange their Jyhad cards for Vampire cards.

Dark Sovereigns, the first expansion set, contains more than 100 cards which explore the rich myths and folklore of vampires in Europe, and introduces both new vampires and new categories of vampires.

Wizards of the Coast signed a contract with White Wolf, Inc. to change Jyhad's name to Vampire: The Eternal Struggle after recognizing that the game's title was not always distinguishable as vampiric. The card game involves the players as vampires fighting an ancient war, based on White Wolf's storytelling game Vampire: The Masquerade(TM).

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Wizards of the Coast is a game publisher based in the Seattle, WA area. The company created a worldwide sensation when it released the hit trading card game Magic: The Gathering(TM) in August 1993. Since then, more than half a billion cards have sold around the globe and an entire market has grown up around the game. In April 1994, the company expanded into a second branch in Glasgow, Scotland, followed by a third office in Antwerp, Belgium three months later. To date, more than 200 people work for Wizards of the Coast in its three offices.

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Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and Jyhad are joint trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and White Wolf, Inc. Magic: The Gathering, Deckmaster and Wizards of the Coast, Inc. are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Reminder: German National VtES Championship 2010

Since pre-registration is a bit low compared (around 15 players) compared to the 35ish players attending the German National VtES Championship in the past years, here's a friendly reminder on the upcoming German National VtES Championship tournament. The championship is somewhat late, actually so late it will take place in 2011. The championship tournament will be played on January 29th, 2011 in Bochum, Germany.

Tournament

• Saturday, January 29th, 2011 will be devoted to the German VtES 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 2011.

Location

• Community Hall of the Evangelisch-Lutherische Kreuzgemeinde
  Gahlensche Str. 146-150
  44809 Bochum, Germany

Format

• German Championship: Standard Constructed, detailed rules can be found on the VEKN Tournament Rules webpage.

Time-Table

• Saturday (January 29th) -- German Championship 2010
  
• Registration 10:00 am - 10:45 am
  
• 1st Round starts at 11:00 am
  

More Details and Registration

• Pre-Registration is not required, but is very much appreciated, for example in the German VtES Forum or by contacting the organizer, Hardy Range via email (prinz (/dot/) bochum (/at/) vekn (/dot/) de).

Origins, the NAC, and the VEKN as a "club"

To all Origins convention attendees:

Beginning in 2011, VTES players will now be able to purchase your Origins convention badge for the "club" price of $35 by May 31, and for $40 in June (which includes on-site registration). This price will be available -- hopefully -- starting on Monday, January 17th.

For all those who have already registered: you will receive a credit in your Origins account which can be used to purchase event tickets or be directly refunded to you. Please email me if you are one of these people so I can facilitate your credit.

I will be maintaining the "club list", and it currently includes the following players:

• everyone who has played VTES at Origins in the past 11 years
  
• everyone who I believe will play VTES at Origins, e.g. people who are on my Facebook page(s) for Origins or the NAC

I will be able to update the list at any time, and anyone who is a VTES player and wishes to attend VTES at Origins will be able to get onto the "club list" by contacting me:

• via message from my Facebook Origins page
  
• by emailing me directly at originsvtes /(at)/ gmail (/at/) com and asking to be put on the list

It will not include children, spouses, friends or relatives, unless they are playing in at least one VTES tournament.

Please sign up for my Facebook Origins page page and then select "Attending" on the "VTES North American Championship" event! Let's make this the largest NAC in history!

-- Kevin M., Prince of Las Vegas, Origins VTES Events Organizer

Poll: Deck of the Year 2010

After having presented twelve VtES decks of the month in the past year here's the poll for you to pick the Deck of the Year 2010 (see sidebar on the right). Please observe, that the initial choice of these decks were driven not by any wanna-be-objective-here motivation, but by my (likely flawed) preferences for originality of deck design, for audacity to play such a deck in a tournament environment or for the skill to pilot such a crappy deck to the tournament win (or final).

There is no actual prize support for this "award" other than your five minutes of fame.

• December 2010: Obey Redux by Mike Zajac (USA) -- an Old School Malkavian Bleed & Vote deck.
• November 2010: True Power by Péter Botos (HUN) -- a True Brujah equipment Bleed deck.
• Oktober 2010: Snakes on the Plane by Ivan Marin-Rivas (SWE) -- a Followers of Set Set's Curse/Ilomba deck.
• September 2010: Eze like Sunday Morning by Matt Wedge (USA) -- a Guruhi vote deck using Aye.
• August 2010: Tryphosa Bleed/Defense by Erol Öngün (GER) -- a Kindred Spirits bleed deck with a strong defense with Second Tradition: Domain and Obedience.
• July 2010: Laibon Vote feat. Lutz by Kelly Schultz (USA) -- a vote deck focused on the Laibon Kholo titles and Lutz.
• June 2010: The World's Biggest Small Multirushers by Darby Keeney (USA) -- a rush combat deck based on the Tup Dog.
• May 2010: Il Fakiro d'Alessio by Francesco D'Alessio (ITA) -- a powerbleed deck based on Fakir al Sidi.
• April 2010: Singing in the Ground by Randal Rudstam (SWE) -- a Gangrel/Gangrel antitribu tap&bleed deck based on the Deep Song rush/bleed action and Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers.
• March 2010: Paella au d'Erlette by Jordi Tomás (ESP) -- a hybrid deck of the Tremere Nephandus and Toreador Antitribu Palla Grande deck.
• February 2010: Wax On, Wax Off by Martin Schumacher (GER) -- a Guruhi bruise & bleed deck running on the Ashur Tablets & Liquidation engine.
• January 2010: The Rats in Sheep's Clothing played by Roger Carhult (SWE) -- an Akunanse deck using Tunnel Runners as bleeders and blockers.

Deck of the Month: December 2010: Obey Redux

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Obey Redux" played by Mike Zajac. This month it was rather hard to decide for a deck of the month, since December is usually a month with rather few tournaments. I decided for the Malkavian Old School Bleed & Vote deck as shown below, not because it's an innovate or overly clever design, but because it shows that you can still use your old card collection (pre-1996) to win a VtES tournament. With the exception of Gran Madre di Dio, Italy all cards are from the Sabbat or earlier expansion.

Deck Name: Obey Redux
Author:
Description:
An Anarch Manifesto
San Jose, California
December 20, 2010
14 players
2R + F

Vote and bleed down prey, and reassign pool via Parity Shifts to keep others from being ousted; bounce with Deflections and reduce combat with Obedience and Read Intentions; slow to start up and weak against Grapples and heavy combat, but tends to keep things interesting, as passing votes is rarely a problem.

Crypt (Capacity min=7 max=11 avg=8.75; 12 cards)
===================================================
3x Gilbert Duane 7 AUS DOM OBF Malkavian:1
3x Greger Anderssen 7 dom pro AUS OBF Malkavian:2
3x Leandro 11 cel dom AUS OBF PRE Malkavian:2
3x Lucian 10 cel tha AUS DOM OBF Malkavian:1

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (11 cards)
2x Golconda: Inner Peace
2x Madness Network
3x Malkavian Prank
4x Minion Tap

Action (5 cards)
5x Slaughtering the Herd

Political Action (15 cards)
2x First Tradition: The Masquerade
6x Kine Resources Contested
1x Lextalionis
6x Parity Shift

Equipment (1 cards)
1x Gran Madre di Dio, Italy

Action Modifier (26 cards)
5x Bonding
5x Bribes
2x Cryptic Rider
4x Elder Impersonation
2x Forgotten Labyrinth
6x Lost in Crowds
2x Telepathic Vote Counting

Reaction (28 cards)
8x Deflection
2x Malkavian Rider Clause
8x Obedience
5x Second Tradition: Domain
5x Wake with Evening's Freshness

Combat (4 cards)
4x Read Intentions

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Jan 11, 2011 10:04:22)

dom·i·nate

Dom·i·nate [ˈdɒmɪˌneɪt] -- verb

1. to control, rule, or govern (someone or something)


2. to overlook from a height


3. to have or exert strong authority or mastery.

Dominate derives from Latin dominari meaning "to be lord over", from dominus "lord".

Gelsenkirchen VtES League 2011: January 5th

Here are the decks of the Gelsenkirchen VtES League 2011 from the meeting on January 5th (prey is from left to right, from top to bottom):

Left: A Obf/Pre Midcap Bleed deck was used by Martin, who managed to oust his prey with only two vampires in play, one of which was put to torpor in the middle of the game.
Right: Thomas played a 419 Operation Osebo deck, that never got really into the game because of the high powered bleed behind him.

Left: Zille's Kiasyd Stealth Bleed deck had a rough start when his Anarch Convert got Fame'd & torporized very early, and the Arcadian was dunked to torpor early on, too.
Right: The most original deck at the table as usual was (as usual) Michael deck with Byzar and and his friends .. let me just state the deck needs Clan Impersonation for functioning fully.

Left: Ralf played a Pander vote deck (with Malkavian antitribu) which looked good initially, but lost to his prey in a close heads-up game.
Right: The Toreador antitribu Anarch Palla Grande deck Kinner played is well-known in Gelsenkirchen and surroundings, but still surprisingly hard to beat ..

Result: Kinner 1 GW VP, Martin 1 VP, Zille 1 VP.

Memorable Quotes (Part 97)

"Interesting.. So two anarchs can get together and stop the end of the world, but can't possibly stop someone from getting punched hard in the face!" -- Jozxyqk after reading about LSJs ruling that Power of All can be played to cancel Event or Master cards, but cannot to cancel combat cards.

Reference: VtES Usenet Newsgroup

Bochum VtES League Rules 2011

For our bi-weekly VtES league games (and league) in Bochum, Germany we use the following rules in 2011:

• 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 card texts 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 chosen yet.

The league rules same the same as in 2009 (and 2008), they have proven to be robust and fair framework for the VtES league in Bochum.

Results VtES League 2010 in Bochum

Here are the final standings of the VtES League 2010 in Bochum, Germany. This year's winner after 14 league games is Didi. Congratulations to him. The final standings were:

1. Didi -- 6,83 RtP/game -- 12 games -- 3 GW 14,5 VP
2. Ralf -- 6,62 RtP/game -- 13 games -- 3 GW 15,5 VP
3. Hardy -- 5,00 RtP/game -- 14 games -- 2 GW 13,5 VP
4. Michael -- 1,00 RtP/game -- 10 games -- 0 GW 2,5

Participants without a sufficient number of games (8):

5. Robert -- 12,00 RtP/game -- 2 games -- 1 GW 4,0 VP
6. Sebastian -- 4,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW 1,0 VP
7. Markus -- 2,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW 0,5 VP
7. Oliver -- 2,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW 0,5 VP
9. Sascha -- 0,00 RtP/game -- 6 games -- 0 GW 0,0 VP
9. Martin E. -- 0,00 RtP/game -- 1 games -- 0 GW 0,0 VP
9. Martin S. -- 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 now to extent, that about half the matchdays planned (every other week) had to be canceled, due to an insufficient number of players (four is the minimum).

Results VtES League 2010 in Gelsenkirchen

Here are the final standings of the VtES League 2010 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. This year's winner after 31 league games is Didi (as in Bochum this year).

1. Didi -- 10,70 RtP -- 9 GW 35 VP -- 23 games -- 1,48 CP
2. Sebastian Z. -- 7,88 RtP -- 6 GW 30,5 VP -- 28 games -- 1,81 CP
3. Sebastian K. -- 7,29 RtP -- 4 GW 28,5 VP -- 26 games -- 1,68 CP
4. Ralf -- 6,85 RtP -- 2 GW 11,5 VP -- 10 games -- 0,65 CP
5. Thomas -- 5,74 RtP -- 2 GW 19 VP -- 21 games -- 1,35 CP
6. Frank -- 4,78 RtP -- 2 GW 11 VP -- 16 games -- 1,03 CP
7. Martin -- 3,60 RtP -- 1 GW 10,5 -- 29 games -- 1,87 CP
8. Michael -- 0,06 RtP -- 0 GW 0 VP -- 1 game -- 0,06 CP

(RtP = rating points; CP = correction points (for game attendance)).

The number of games have been reduced this year from 48 to 31, since instead of a regular league game, the last week of a month was dedicated for the Struggle for Gelsenkirchen BYOS storyline, where the different sects battled for control of the city. In the end, the Anarchs claimed victory and Gelsenkirchen remains a Barony for at least another year. (In addition the football world championship this year took its toll, too).

VtES Special Sale: The End of an Era

I am usually not making VtES advertisements, Lasombra's Fee Stake promotion being the notable exception) yet, but the following is a really good offer for (European) VtES players made by Walch & Nusser Game Distributors:

Most of you have probably already heard the sad news: On December 31st 2010, White Wolf has ceased production of V:TES. While death – and even the death of a gameline – is a tricky concept when it comes to the undead and while us V:TES supporters have survived the occasional phase of torpor, it’s probably best to face facts: There will be no new V:TES material for the foreseeable future.

And yet, there is absolutely no reason to hang our heads in frustration and shame. We should rather hope for the best - that V:TES will find a new cozy haven someplace else, and up till then, we better keep on playing – and close the gaps in our collections before the good old WW cards vanish into Golconda.

Therefore, there will be a special V:TES sale this year:

While stock lasts, we are going to offer

• all booster displays for the price of 60 euros
• and all starter displays for the price of 45 euros!

And remember: The more we all buy now, the better the chance that some publisher or other will decide that it is probably a very good idea to support the most enthusiastic of all TCG fan communities with some awesome new material!

Did you know, that ... (Part 54)

.. that you can cancel a Master or Event card when it is played by using Power of All, but you cannot use Power of All to cancel a Combat card. The reason is that, while Power of All explicitly says it can be played when there's no action (allowing to cancel Events and Masters), it does not explicitly says it can be played during combat. And the VtES rules (section "6.4. Combat") explicitly state that non-Combat minion cards cannot be played during combat.

Two other things to note:

• It requires two untapped Anarchs to play Power of All in the master card phase or discard phase, since you cannot play (allmost all) other reaction cards like On the Qui Vive in these phases.


• In contrast to other cards that cancel cards like Direct Intervention, Power of All makes the other player pay for the card he played, even though it was canceled.

References:

• VtES Usenet Newsgroup on being able to cancel combat cards.
• VtES Usenet Newsgroup on cost being paid for the card played.

VEKN Announces New Website and Championship Qualifier Changes

Official V:TES Players' Organization Begins New Year With Launch of www.vekn.net Website and Continental Qualifier Changes

Los Angeles, California - January 2nd, 2011 -- Vampire: Elder Kindred Network has launched a new website which will become the organization's chief online presence. The new V:EKN website is a gathering place for players, local volunteers and National Coordinators and a destination for news and discussion about V:TES and the V:EKN. Already announced on the new site are the changes to the 2011 Continental Championships qualification rules which will provide players with additional qualification opportunities throughout the tournament season.

The new V:EKN website features discussion forums and information about the V:EKN organization and will soon be expanded to support event submissions, the reporting of event results, and worldwide player ratings. Established local volunteers, sometimes called "Princes", are encouraged to register for an account at www.vekn.net and to join the community there.

The 2010 Official V:TES Tournament Rules were not changed for 2011, but the Continental Championships qualification system has been revised to encourage greater participation in sanctioned tournaments throughout the year. The new qualification rules do away with the "Mini Qualifier" and now reward the winner of any sanctioned, rated, standard constructed tournament of 10 or more players with an invitation to play in the Continental Championship. The full qualification rules can be found on the V:EKN website at this location.

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About Vampire: Elder Kindred Network
Founded in 1997, the Vampire: Elder Kindred Network is the official Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Players' Organization dedicated to the continued health of V:TES. The V:EKN endeavors to help the game grow in popularity through the embracing of new players as well as through the support of the existing fans. The Official V:EKN website is www.vekn.net

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About Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is a Deckmaster™ trading card game set in White Wolf’s popular World of Darkness. Created in 1994 by Richard Garfield as the follow-up to his groundbreaking Magic: The Gathering trading card game, V:TES is one of the most enduring games in the genre with fans and organized play events in countries across the globe.

© Vampire: Elder Kindred Network 2011. All rights reserved.

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Contact:
Robert Goudie
Director of Marketing
Vampire: Elder Kindred Network
Marketing (/at/) VampireTheEternalStruggle (/dot/) com

Darker Days (WoD Podcast)

This I "found" (more or less coincidentally) posted by Lost Heretic when browsing through the new VEKN forum:

Darker Days is a World of Darkness podcast that began in 2009 by hosts Vince and Mark. I've since inherited it.

We do discuss VtES on occasion, so I figured I'd keep folks up to date on our episodes. This most recent episode has a shout out for Matt Hirsch and the NAC.

Listen to Darker Days Radio Episode #21

Mike is joined by Adrian of the Mirage Arcana Podcast for the last Darker Days of 2010. The two discuss a lot of what going on with the Wild Games Productions Radio Network and shed some light on the new White Wolf print and digital products. They discuss the North American Championship for VtES and the Grand Masquerade in general.

Original World of Darkness:
Adrian talks about his favorite Vampire supplement, The Last Supper. The hosts discuss the story's strengths and give tips on how to run it.

New World of Darkness:
Mike leads the discussion of how to use themes and concepts from The Last Supper for Promethean, Changeling, Hunter, and Geist - giving some love to the limited lines. Adrian also comes up with the idea of World of Darkness: Die Hard Edition.

2011 Rules for Continental Championships

The VEKN has published the 2011 Rules for VtES Continental Championships:

January 1, 2011

Each year, the V:EKN organizes invitational Continental Championship tournaments. Players receive invitations by doing well in any of a series of qualifying events held around the world.

The V:EKN is coordinating five invitational V:TES Continental Championship tournaments: in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

How to Qualify

To play in a championship tournament, players will first have to qualify.

• Anyone who played in the finals of a Continental Championship in 2010 is automatically qualified in 2011.
• The top 25% of players in constructed Continental Qualifying events qualify. The threshold for “Last Chance Qualifiers” on the weekends of the Championships is 33%.
• For the Australian and Asian Championships: 50% of the players (round up) up to a maximum of 10 players, qualify.
  If multiple players tie for a qualifier spot, then all the tied players qualify.
• To reward the organizers who put so much time and effort into organizing these events, the organizers for Regional continental qualifiers automatically qualify.
• Finalists of constructed National Championship events qualify for the Continental Championships.
• The winner of a sanctioned, rated, standard constructed tournament of 10 or more players will be qualified for all Continental Championships for the calendar year of the upcoming championship in that tournament's continent.
• For example, if you win a 10+ player tournament in North America before the 2011 NAC at Origins, then you are qualified for all Continental Championships in 2011. If you win a 10+ player tournament in North America after the 2011 NAC at Origins, then you are qualified for all Continental Championships in 2012. (Note: this is exactly how qualification works for First Chance Qualifiers!)
• Only the winner will be qualified. If a previously-qualified player wins a tournament, the qualification does not pass down to the 2nd-place player.
• Event organizers may play in regular tournaments and qualify if they win the tournament. The multi-judge system may be used as per VEKN tournament rules.
• In addition, the results of the tournament MUST BE SUBMITTED.
• This new qualification system will start on January 1, 2011. Tournaments prior to this date will not count.

All qualifier tournaments are handled equally regardless of order. Players who qualify in one qualifier are not handled any differently in other qualifiers. They can continue to qualify in each qualifier in which they play.

Championship Format

There are two formats for the championship tournaments. Each Championship will be run in one of these formats.

• Standard Championship Format
  The standard format is a normal 3-round tournament with a final round, following the standard V:EKN rules for constructed deck tournaments (but in which only qualified players are allowed to play, of course).
• Tiered Championship Format
  The tiered format is basically two tournaments. The top forty players from the first tournament continue on to the second. Players may change cards or whole decks before the second tournament. Each tournament is three rounds. The final, if any, of the first tournament has no bearing on the second.

So, the most significant change is that the mini-qualifier tournaments have dropped, and instead any winner of a 10+ player tournament is now qualified.