Progress

Memorable Quotes (Part 102)

"Rules note: The Director of the Duelists' Convocation reserves the exclusive right to add, delete, alter, transmute, switch, revise in second edition, seduce, blood bond, Dominate, Obfuscate, vote in or out with any Primogen, Prince, or Justicar that ever has been or ever will be printed, or in any other way change these or any other official Duelists' Convocation rules, in whole or in part, with or without notice, at any time that it is deemed necessary or desirable. This right is non-negotiable."

-- DCI Tournament Rules for VtES in 1995

ob·fus·cate

Ob·fus·cate [ˌɒbfʌsˈkeɪt] -- verb

1. to make so confused or opaque as to be difficult to perceive or understand.


2. to render indistinct or dim; darken: The fog obfuscated the shore.

Obfuscate derives from Latin obfuscre meaning to "darken", from fuscus "dark".


Quote:

"Sedulously eschew obfuscatory hyperverbosity and prolixity." -- Roedy Green.

Horror of Dracula (1958)

The one and only Dracula, Christopher Lee in Horror of Dracula (1958). And I have to ask LSJ, why did Bela Lugosi got a crypt card in VtES, and not Christopher Lee??!?

Also check the 10 Days of Dracula playlist by NecroVMX on a number of vampire movies based on the Dracula story by Bram Stoker.

Gelsenkirchen VtES League 2011: February 23rd

Here are the decks of the Gelsenkirchen VtES League 2011 from the meeting on February 23rd (prey is from left to right, from top to bottom):

Left: Thomas played a G3/4 Nosferatu Vote deck, but was hit hard by the Kiasyd. A Pentex Subversion sealed his fate.
Right: Shoes & Pain was the motto of Ralf's deck, who managed to hold off the Kiasyd after they overrun the Nosferatu.

Left: Evil, evil, evil. The dark empire that are the Anarch Toreador antitribu took over the game for the third time this year already. We all know who the Emperor is ...
Right: Martin played a Dom/Pot Midcap deck again, but only managed to influence out two vampires. A Faerie Ward assisted in the untimely demise of the deck.

Left: Zille sat in very good position with his Kiasyd Stealth & Bleed deck early on, but suffered from multiple Horseshoes and Touch of Pain, which only allowed him to take one VP.






Result: Kinner 1 GW 4 VP, Zille 1 VP

Announcement Brazilian National VtES Championship 2011

The Brazilian National VtES Championship 2011 will be held on from June 22nd to 26th, 2011 (taking advantage of the Corpus Christi holiday) in Niterói, Brazil. Check out the VtES Brazil website and the complete information on the event. It's a very nice, very long weekend dedicated to playing VtES. The schedule for the event looks like this:

• June 22nd (Wednesday)
  
  • Free day for arrivals, accommodations, etc.
• June 23rd (Thursday, Corpus Christi Holiday)
  
  • Last Chance Qualifier
  • Sydnelson's Birthday Barbecue
• June 24th (Friday)
  
  • Brazilian Championship (Preliminary Rounds)
  • Brazilian Cup (Preliminary Rounds)
• June 25th (Saturday)
  
  • Brazilian Championship (Finals)
  • Brazilian Cup (Finals)
  • VtES Quiz 2011
• June 26th (Sunday)
  
  • Booster Draft (2R+F)

More information (on travel, accommodation, fees, prize support, etc.) can be found on VtES Brazil (in English or Portuguese) or you can contact the organizer of the event via email ( sydnelson (/at/) live (/dot/) com ).

The list of the previous Brazilian VtES champions looks like this:

• 2010 -- Fernando Grossi
• 2009 -- Fernando "Sydnelson" Cesar
• 2008 -- Cirleno Nicácio
• 2007 -- Eduardo Kazan
• 2006 -- Danilo Fernandes
• 2005 -- Leonardo Villela

Results South Australian ACQ 2011

On February 19th, 2011 the South Australian VtES ACQ 2011 was held in Adelaide, Australia with 14 players attending the final tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Leslie Tatel (PHI) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 3 VP -- Theo/Donal/Beast POT rush
2. Belinda Brooks (AUS) -- 2 GW 5 VP -- 1 VP -- Malk Toolbox
2. Jeremy Groffen (AUS) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 1 VP -- Weenie DOM
2. Steve Harris (AUS) -- 1 GW 4.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Baali S/B with Infernal Servants
2. David Wimberley (AUS) -- 1 GW 3.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Salubri AUS Wall

Congratulations to Leslie for his win of the South Australian ACQ 2011. The final standings and a tournament report can be found on VEKN website.

VtES History: The Eternal Struggle Grows

The Eternal Struggle Grows
European Vampires Revealed In A New Expansion

Renton, Wash. (February 28, 1995) -- The rich myths and folklore of vampires in Europe will haunt the first expansion of the newly named Vampire: The Eternal Struggle(TM) Deckmaster(TM) card game. The expansion set, Dark Sovereigns(TM), will be released in August. Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (V:TES), originally named Jyhad(TM), will be released in July. "Dark Sovereigns expands the world setting of V:TES and introduces a number of factors that will add new depth to the game," says Matt Burke, V:TES Product Manager.

Wizards of the Coast, Inc. specifically chose Europe to be the setting of the game's first expansion set. "Western Europe possesses some of the most frightening and turbulent vampiric history in the World of Darkness," says Burke. "It has a dark elegance all its own." Burke says the artwork will reflect this dark beauty.

Burke expects players will enjoy including Dark Sovereigns in their V:TES decks because of the gothic Western European setting and the new cards introduced in the expansion. The set of more than 100 cards will have new categories of vampires, such as an Italian bloodline known as Clan Giovanni. The expansion will also contain new vampires, including the Queen of London and Prince of Berlin.

Last month, Wizards of the Coast signed a contract with White Wolf, Inc. to change Jyhad's name after recognizing that the game's title wasn't always identifiable as vampiric. The card game, in which players are vampires fighting an ancient war, is based on White Wolf's storytelling game Vampire: The Masquerade(TM). The rules have been rewritten and reformatted for easier reading, and new variant rules have been included to increase the pace of the game for those who want to play quick sessions. The new version of the rules will appear in instructions that accompany each starter deck and also in a new pocket players guide, Darkness Unveiled(TM). V:TES will keep the green marble look and snake "biohazard" symbol.

---

Wizards of the Coast is a young game company based in the Seattle, Washington area. The company created a worldwide sensation when it released its trading card game, Magic: The Gathering(TM), in August 1993. Since then, more than 500 million Magic cards have sold around the globe. The game has received a number of high honors, including a "Mensa Top Five Mind Games" trophygames from all categories are considered for this award. In April 1994, Wizards of the Coast opened a second branch in Glasgow, Scotland. Several months later, the company expanded into a third office in Antwerp, Belgium.

---

(Magic: The Gathering(TM), Jyhad(TM), Deckmaster(TM) and Darkness Unveiled(TM) are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Vampire: The Masquerade* is a trademark of White Wolf, Inc.(TM). Vampire: The Eternal Struggle(TM) is a joint trademark of Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf).

Did you know, that ... (Part 56)

.. that when Dark Influences is in play, you can still play Delaying Tactics to cancel the currently ongoing referendum? The reason for this is that Dark Influences only care about the cancellation of cards, while (as just said) Delaying Tactics only cancels the referendum (the other player even gets the political card (if any) back into his hand.

Announcement English EC Qualifier 2011

The English VtES EC Qualifier 2011 will take place in Burton-on-Trent, England on May 14th, 2011. The tournament is part of the 22nd Beer & Pretzels Games Weekend, which takes place from May 14th to 15th in Burton-on-Trent. Here are the details for this constructed tournament:

Format:

• 3 Rounds and Final.
  
• Standard Constructed. Detailed rules can be found on the VEKN tournament rules webpage.

Timetable:

10.00 AM -- Event Opens
10.15 AM - 11.00 am -- Registration
11.00 AM - 01.00 pm -- First round
01.00 PM - 01.45 pm -- Break
01.45 PM - 03.45 pm -- Second round
04.00 PM - 06.00 pm -- Third round
06.15 PM - 08.15 pm -- Final

Entrance Fee:

• £5/6 including entry to Beer & Pretzels (which is £4 tbc)

Prize Support

• 2 Boosters and promos for everyone.
• Original Ken Meyer artwork for winner.

Contact:

• Hugh Angseesing

Remarks:

• Duffin Draft will be available during the day using 3rd/LotN .
• Beer & limited food available at the venue

Travel:

• Nearby airports:
  
  • Manchester -- 90 mins
  • Birmingham -- 50 mins
  • East Midlands Airport -- 15 miles
  • London Stansted is approx 3 hrs train.
• Trains
  
  • Burton is approximately 2/2.5 hours by train from central London
  • Please see National Rail for more accurate public transport times.

For more details refer to the announcement on vekn.net.

Change

qui·e·tus

Qui·e·tus [kwaɪˈiːtəs] -- Noun

1. A finishing stroke; anything that effectually ends or settles.


2. A period of retirement or inactivity.


3. Removal from activity; rest; death.


4. Something that serves to suppress or quiet.

From Latin quietus "at rest".

Bochum VtES League 2011: February 18th

Here are the decks of the Bochum VtES League 2011 from the meeting on February 18th, 2011 (prey is from left to right, from top to bottom):

Left: Sascha played a run-of-the-mill Ventrue G4/5 Lawfirm deck, but was dependent on other player's votes.
Right: A Guruhi Vote/Rush deck (with Eze as its main vampire) was used by Michael, but he had problems passing votes sitting between two decks with a lot of votes, and dealing with Louhi special ability.

Left: Ralf replayed his Cybele/Lutz/Louhi Derange deck. Having a dream start, he didn't manage to put enough pressure on Martin for ousting him.
Right: Basically a Obf/Dom Stealth Bleed, the deck Martin played had a few surprises as well. Most notably a well-played Festivo dello Estinto to refill the vampires earlier emptied with Villein.

The fifth player, Hardy, played a Brujah G4/5 Toolbox deck (mainly with vote/combat). He had a strong start but spend a lot resources (read: Second Tradition: Domain) on his prey and was ousted when on ~12-15 pool.

Results: Martin 1.5 VP, Sascha 1.5 VP, Ralf 0.5 VP (timeout).

We also heard some bad news as well, though in fact it was no news. End of last year it was decided that the pub, the Grunewald (in business for 110 years), we are playing at, is being torn down in Fall 2011. Luckily we have an ace in the hole, a local gaming pub named "Four Winds", but we'll have to secure a spot there for the Friday evenings.

Memorable Quotes (Part 101)

"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee." -- Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, (1851) by Herman Melville

For no apparent reason I was immediately thinking of Tup Dogs after playing As the Crow ...

Bonus question: Which well-known SF movie quote was inspired by the quote above?

Gelsenkirchen VtES League 2011: February 16th

Here are the decks of the Gelsenkirchen VtES League 2011 from the meeting on February 16th (prey is from left to right, from top to bottom):

Left: Zille played a classic Euro-Brujah deck and was able to hold off Kinner long enough to make his oust.
Right: Thomas also played a classic, Toreador Grandball w/Anson, but pimped with newer cards like Villein. He was one round short of ousting his prey.

Left: A weenie/midcap Dom/Pot deck was played by Martin, but he had trouble with the card flow, since he couldn't get into combat properly.
Right: The Finnish variation of the Cybele deck (w/ Derange and Dementia) was the choice for the evening by Ralf, who managed to mob up the table when everybody else was low on pool.

Left: Kinner played his infamous (& dangerous) Toreador antitribu S&B deck. This time he was stopped by too many 2nd Tradition: Domain and Deflections.

Take note of both Club Illusion and Palla Grande in play!


Result: Zille 1 VP; Ralf 1 GW 4 VP

Announcement German EC Qualifier 2011

This year the German VtES European Championship Qualifier will take place on April 30th to May 1st, 2011 in Darmstadt, Germany. The German ECQ is a 2-day event with the ECQ tournament on the first day (Saturday) and a draft tournament on the second day (Sunday).

Even though Darmstadt lies more or less in the middle of Germany (in fact, about 30 km south of Frankfurt) the organizers are looking forward to welcome some players from our European neighbors!

Also refer to the announcement thread in the German VEKN forum. More details will be given the next days!

• Schedule:
  
  • Saturday, April 30th, 2011 -- German ECQ 2011
  • Sunday, May 1st, 2011 -- VtES Draft Tournament
• Location:
  

  Schirner Verlag (a publishing company)
  Elisabethenstraße 20-22
  64283 Darmstadt, Germany

• Format:
  
  • 3 Rounds + Final.
  • Standard Constructed. Detailed rules can be found on the VEKN tournament rules webpage.

Poll Results: "Should the use of proxy cards be allowed in VtES?"

Here are the results of the latest poll if the readers of this blog think that proxy cards should be allowed in VtES games. 210 readers of this blog have voted in this poll:

• Yes, both in tournaments and casual. -- 23 (10%)
• In casual games and for selected cards in tournaments. -- 18 (8%)
• Only in casual games. -- 131 (62%)
• No. -- 31 (14%)
• I don't care. -- 7 (3%)

A large majority is against allowing proxy cards in VtES tournaments (76%), although only a minority of 14% is against the use of any proxy cards. Only a small portion of the VtES players want to allow the use of any proxy cards both in tournament and casual games (10%), and a similar small group wants to allow only selected cards as proxies (8%).

VtES History: Revamping the Game

Revamping The Game
Announcing A New Title For A Vampire Game

Renton, Wash. (January 9, 1995) -- Wizards of the Coast, Inc. is pleased to announce it is renaming its Jyhad(TM) Deckmaster(TM) game. The company has signed a contract with White Wolf, Inc. to change the game's title to Vampire: The Eternal Struggle(TM). The unlimited version of the card game, in which players are vampires fighting in an ancient war, will debut under the new title in the Summer of 1995.

"A lot of people see Jyhad in stores, but they don't know what it is," says Matt Burke, Project Coordinator for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. As a result, Wizards of the Coast (and White Wolf concentrated on creating a new name for Jyhad, a game based on White Wolf's storytelling game Vampire: the Masquerade(TM). "Vampires are a hot topic in films, comics, and novels right now," says Burke, "and they have been for quite a while. Just look at the movies The Lost Boys(TM), Bram Stoker's Dracula(TM), and, most recently, Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire(TM)."

Besides changing Jyhad's name, Wizards of the Coast is also making adjustments to the game's rules. "We've rewritten and simplified the instructions, as well as adding new rules to cut down on playing time," says Burke. The rules changes will appear in instructions that accompany each starter deck and also in a new pocket players' guide, Darkness Unveiled(TM). The guide will be released in August 1995. Despite the changes, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle rules will be 100% playable with Jyhad cards. The game will also keep the green marble look and the Jyhad symbol.

Players who can't wait until Summer to see the game's new look will have a chance to see more in Spring. That's when Vampire: The Eternal Struggle retail and promotional posters arrive in stores. Renown vampire artist John Bolton will do the work featured in the poster. A Vampire: The Eternal Struggle expansion set is scheduled to be released in late Summer 1995.

---

Wizards of the Coast is a young game company based in the Seattle, Washington area. The company created a worldwide sensation when it released its trading card game, Magic: The Gathering(TM), in August 1993. Since then, more than 500 million Magic cards have sold around the globe. The game has received a number of high honors, including a "Mensa Top Five Mind Games" trophygames from all categories are considered for this award. In April 1994, Wizards of the Coast opened a second branch in Glasgow, Scotland. Several months later, the company expanded into a third office in Antwerp, Belgium.

---

(Magic: The Gathering(TM), Jyhad(TM), Deckmaster(TM) and Darkness Unveiled(TM) are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Vampire: The Masquerade(TM) is a trademark of White Wolf, Inc.(TM). Vampire: The Eternal Struggle(TM) is a joint trademark of Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf. The Lost Boys(TM) and Interview With The Vampire(TM) are trademarks of Warner Brothers. Bram Stoker's Dracula(TM) is a trademark of Zoetrope Productions).

Finnish National VtES Championship 2011

The 3rd Finnish National VtES Championship will be held on May 22th, 2011 in Turku, Finland. The details for this event are:

• Date: Sunday May 22th, 2011
• Start Time: 11:00 AM
• Venue:
  

  Turku-sali
  Rehtoripellonkatu 4 A
  Turku, Finland

• Timetable:
  

  11:00 - 13:00 -- Round 1
  13:00 - 13:30 -- Lunch Break
  13:30 - 15:30 -- Round 2
  15:30 - 15:45 -- Break
  15:45 - 17:45 -- Round 3
  17:45 - 18:00 -- Break
  18:00 - 20:00 -- Final Round (no time limit!)

• Entry: No entry fee, free coffee and tea

Hope

GovernConditioning

These days I was reading a number of articles on some Magic the Gathering websites (no I am not defecting to the Dark Side, even if they have cookies). One of them being the popular ChannelFireball. The name's derived from one of the early, very powerful combos Channel & Fireball.

So I was wondering, how a similar website for VtES would be named. First turn kills are impossible in VtES, but there are still some powerful card combinations in the game, therefore suitable for a website name:

• GovernConditioning
• GrappleDisarm
• ParityShiftVoterCap

Any suggestions? [Yes, I have already considered GiantsBloodVillein, and, no, I haven't registered the domain name.]

vi·cis·si·tude

Vi·cis·si·tude [vɪˈsɪsɪˌtjuːd] -- Noun

1. change or variation occurring in the course of something.


2. interchange or alternation, as of states or things.


3. successive, alternating, or changing phases or conditions, as of life or fortune.


4. regular change or succession of one state or thing to another.


5. change, mutation, mutability.

From Latin vicissitudo, from vicis "change, alternation".

Changes in the VtES Internet Landscape

With the new White Wolf website going live on February 10th, 2011, the phase of extensive changes for the VtES internet landscape of the past months comes to an preliminary end (I presume).

• On September 10th, 2010 White Wolf announces that the production of VtES will cease after the contract with Wizards of the Coast regarding the VtES has expired. The renegotiation of said contract proves to be unsuccessful.


• White Wolf announces on November 9th, 2010 that they will rebuild their website from scratch. Since VtES no longer in production, it is doubtful that White Wolf will promote and host information on VtES on their new website. In addition to this, the updates and support of the existing website have been infrequent and inadequate for prolonged period of time. In this situation the VtES players organization, VEKN, steps up and decides to build its own web-presence as main site for VtES on the internet.


• In December 2010 the new official VEKN website is going live. The website hosts the VtES rules, cardlists, and a discussion forum (and hopefully someday the VEKN rankings).


• On December 29th, 2010 LSJ announces, that he will no longer be reading the VtES Usenet Newsgroup (rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad), but instead will answer (rules) question regarding VtES on the Board Game Geek website.

References:

• VtES to Cease Production.
• VEKN announces new website.
• LSJ signing off from VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

Memorable Quotes (Part 100)

Talking to my prey is an out-of-game consideration. He has no minions. -- Oortje (dutch VtES player during the German National Championship 2010).

Results Northeast NAC Qualifier 2011

On February 5th, 2011 the VtES Northeast NAC Qualifier was held in Providence, Rhode Island (USA) with 27 players attending the qualifier tournament (during TempleCon 2011). The final standings after 3 rounds and final were as follows:

1. Randal Rudstam (SWE) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 4 VP -- Girls will find Inner Peace
2. Sonam Adinolf (USA) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 1 VP -- Giovanni Ranged Combat/Bleed
2. Prescott Jenner (USA) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Malkavian Obf/Aus Stealth Bleed
2. Greg Williams (USA) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Kiasyd Stealth Bleed
2. Joshua Feuerstein (USA) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Kiasyd Stealth Bleed

Congratulations to Randal for his win of the NERQ 2011. You can find the final standings and the tournament winning deck in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

Announcement Belgian National VtES Championship 2011

The Belgian National VtES Championship 2011 will take place on March 13th, 2011 in Brussels, Belgium. Here are the details regarding the tournament:

Date:

• Sunday, March 13, 2011

Timeline:

Registration: 11:30
First round starting time: 12:00
Expected finishing time: 20:45

Type of Event:

• National Championship. Qualifying for this event is not necessary, everyone is welcome to participate.

Format:

• Standard Constructed, detailed rules can be found on the VEKN Tournament Rules webpage.
• Number of rounds: 3 + final
• Time limit per round: 2 hours

Entry fee:

• 4 Euros

Location:

The Outpost
Rue de la Tribune 8
1000 Bruxelles
Belgium

Remark:

• Note that it is not allowed to bring your own drinks into the shop); bringing your own food is ok, but food is available at moderate prices

More information (e.g. on travel & pre-registration) can be found in the Belgian VtES forum.

Results "Undead Persistance" VtES Tournament in Utrecht, Netherlands

Here are the results of the "Undead Persistance" VtES constructed tournament in Utrecht, Netherlands after 3 rounds and final. The tournament was played on February 5th, 2011 with 23 players participating. Here are the standings after the final round:

1. Peter B. -- 1 GW 4,5 VP -- 5 VP -- Ishtarri Vote
2. Thomas K. -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Tha/Pre/Dom Bleed + Mages
2. Puck J. -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Weenie G2/3 DOM Bleed
2. Nikolaos T. -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- G2 Lasombra Vote/Bleed
2. Caspauw T. -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Toreador G1/2 Aus/Cel Guns

Congratulations to Peter for his victory in the tournament. You can find the tournament winning deck and the final standings in the Dutch VtES forum.

Deck of the Month: January 2011: Samedi eat your brain

This year's January has the first tournament winning deck with a full Samedi crypt since June 2009. But wait there's not only one Samedi deck in the TWDA in January 2011, but there are two TWD both in January 2011 and back in June 2009! This sure has something to mean .. so here's Dmitriy Konstantinov's deck named "Samedi eat your brain".

I chose Dmitriy's over Robyn's Samedi deck because frankly I still cannot see how she won a tournament with it, while I can see that Dimitry's deck has considerable offensive strength. Dimitry's deck is a full blown Reanimated Corpse deck with Little Mountain Cemetery for pool gain and Freak Drive for multi-action.

Interestingly Dimitry's is really quite similar to the first TWD with a pure Samedi crypt, played by Ben Swainbank in 2006.

Deck Name: Summon Kindred: Samedi eat your brain
Author: Dmitriy Konstantinov (Snap)
Description:
Summon Kindred
Minsk, Belarus
23 January 2011
10 players
3 rounds + final

Crypt (Capacity min=5 max=9 avg=6.67; 12 cards)
==================================================
2x Baron, The 9 dom FOR NEC OBF THN Samedi:2
2x George Frederick 6 nec obf FOR THN Samedi:2
2x Jorge De La Muerte, The Agent 7 cel for nec OBF THN Samedi:2
4x Lithrac 5 for thn OBF Samedi:2
2x Reg Driscoll 8 aus pre for OBF THN Samedi:2

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (16 cards)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Blood Doll
6x Coroner's Contact
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Houngan
2x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington (Hunter)
1x Kaymakli Nightmares
1x Perfectionist

Event (4 cards)
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
1x Narrow Minds
2x Unmasking, The

Action (11 cards)
10x Little Mountain Cemetery
1x Putrescent Servitude

Ally (13 cards)
1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
12x Reanimated Corpse

Action Modifier (32 cards)
6x Cloak the Gathering
3x Elder Impersonation
5x Faceless Night
10x Freak Drive
4x Lost in Crowds
2x Spying Mission
2x Veil the Legions

Reaction (5 cards)
2x Delaying Tactics
3x On the Qui Vive

Combat (6 cards)
4x Dust to Dust
2x Rolling with the Punches

Combo (3 cards)
3x Swallowed by the Night

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Feb 3, 2011 23:16:18)

po·tence

Po·tence [ˈpəʊtəns] also (potency) -- Noun

1. the state or quality of being potent


2. latent or inherent capacity for growth or development

From Latin potentia "power" (from posse "to be able")

VtES History: Double Edge

When the VtES expansion Gehenna was about to be released in May 2004, the french trading card magazine "Lotus Noir" featured an article on the expansion (along with the promotional card Anthelios, the Red Star). Beside some information on Gehenna and some spoilers, there was also a rumor about an upcoming rule change, the Double Edge.

If you keep the Edge one full turn, it transforms in a Double Edge which gives the following advantages:

• You gain one pool in your untap phase, if you have the Double Edge but it comes from your prey pool.
  
• It is worth 3 votes, if you discard it during referendums

When asked about the Double Edge in a VtES developer chat on May 15th, 2004, LSJ and Steve Wieck clarified that they found this in the eleven year old playtest notes from when Jyhad was first created. They put the rule then to test when developing the Gehenna expansion, but eventually dropped it.

Memorable Quotes (Part 99)

"In my nightmares I still see Triabelle getting raw and forsaking her twin progenitors as her skin slowly turned from flesh to that rocky carapace so common to gargoyle recruits, Oh, the Horror! the Horror! " -- TorranceCircle after play against a Tupdog deck in a tournament.

Reference: VtES Usenet Newsgroup

Did you know, that ... (Part 55)

.. that after you played Tangle Atropos' Hand to cancel an action (after another minion attempted to block), that same vampire can attempt the exact same action again, even if it's a bleed or political action. The reason for this is that the action was never resolved, that is the action was neither successful nor was it blocked successfully. Notice the difference to Change of Target or Psychomachia, where the action is canceled, but only after a successful block.

Reference: VtES Usenet Newsgroup.