The End .. and VTES One

From tomorrow on I will permanently switch this blog from the blogger to the wordpress blogging platform, that is new posts will entirely . So this is the last post I will be publishing here.

Please update your bookmarks/links/rss feeds/... to

vtesone.wordpress.com

You might think, why not "extrala.wordpress.com" .. well, I was stupid. For testing reasons I had imported all of the posts to wordpress using their automatic switchover functionality to a blog with that URL. But unfortunately, only the titles of the posts were imported. So I thought, just quickly delete the blog (deleting the empty posts), re-create the blog, and then fill it up using the export/import functionality. Wrong. Dead wrong. Wordpress deletes all blogs with a given URL permanently. And I mean permanently in the sense that no person can claim the same URL ever, not even the person who had created the blog in the first place. There is (at least one) warning that the URL is gone, but hey, who reads all the error messages and warnings a software throws at you .. so extrala.wordpress.com is gone. Enter VtES One ...

One the other hand extrala.blogspot.com was initially designated as personal blog (back in 2007), so at least now the blog name reflects what the blog is actually about: VtES.

I have copied all of the blog posts to the new website (along with the comments), and will keep all of the posts on blogger at the same. I don't know for long, since apparently Google doesn't like post duplication. So I might be required to close the old blog at some point in the future.

The update from blogger to wordpress will take some time, mostly because some of the formatting is gone (especially the pictures) plus some the internal links were not transferred correctly. And since there are more than 1,500 articles I have published in the past five years, there's a lot to do ... and hopefully nothing is lost in the process.

Well that's not entirely true, the comments of those posts added in the past 10 days or so are only available on blogger, since that was the time I was moving almost all of the posts to the new platform.

There are some disadvantages of WordPress, I have already noticed while moving the blog to its new URL, some of them rather severe:

• for the customization of the interface you often have to pay (colors, fonts, etc.),
• the number of widgets (at least those available out-of-the-box) is much smaller than on Blogger,
• an dynamic blogroll is not possible (that is the latest posts of a blog are shown).

On the other hand there are some advantages as well:

• the internal editor is much nicer to use,
• beside tags there are categories, the later you can organize hierarchically,
• navigation within the editor is much improved,
• ...

And remember please update your bookmarks to ..

vtesone.wordpress.com

Memorable Quotes (Part 148)

"My deal is that you die!" -- Oortje (Dutch VtES player) when asked about a deal by a fellow player.

Deck of the Month: August 2012: James "The Knife" Angry Dragon

The month's deck for August 2012 is the tournament winning deck "James "The Knife" Angry Dragon" played by Brad Cashdollar (USA). The August was a month with very, very very tournaments (or tournaments that got reported), luckily it looks better for September, especially with the upcoming weekend which has three National Championships (France, Poland, Sweden).

The winning deck is nothing utterly spectacular, but still is a nice showcase, how a Baali Vote deck can work. Use the usual Presence/Obfuscate combination to make the political actions and add some Daimonium/Baali cards, especially Condemnation: Mute, for flavour and additional effectiveness.

Deck Name: No Secrets (DragonCon): James "The Knife" Angry Dragon
Author: Brad Cashdollar

No Secrets: DragonCon
Atlanta, Georgia
August 31, 2012
12 players
2R + F

Crypt (Capacity min=6 max=10 avg=8; 12 cards)
================================================
3x Annazir 9 DAI OBF POT PRE Baali:5
3x Arishat 6 DAI OBF PRE Baali:6
3x Xeper, Sultan of Lepers 7 ani dai pro OBF PRE Baali:6
3x unnamed, The 10 CEL DAI OBF PRE PRO Baali:6

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (18 cards)
1x Monastery of Shadows
4x Path of Evil Revelations
1x Ruins of Charizel
2x Rötschreck
1x Tend the Flock
1x Two Wrongs
2x Vessel
6x Villein

Event (1 cards)
1x Uncoiling, The

Action (10 cards)
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
4x Condemnation: Mute
1x Contagion
2x Legal Manipulations
2x Unleash Hell's Fury

Political Action (11 cards)
1x Ancient Influence
3x Kine Resources Contested
2x My Kin Against the World
1x Political Stranglehold
4x Reckless Agitation

Equipment (2 cards)
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Kaymakli Fragment

Ally (2 cards)
1x Infernal Servitor
1x Veneficti (Mage)

Action Modifier (33 cards)
5x Awe
3x Elder Impersonation
2x Faceless Night
2x Forgotten Labyrinth
4x I am Legion
3x Lost in Crowds
3x Perfect Paragon
3x Psychomachia
2x True Love's Face
6x Voter Captivation

Reaction (2 cards)
2x Confusion of the Eye

Combat (4 cards)
2x Flames of the Netherworld
2x Majesty

Combo (7 cards)
2x Force of Personality
3x Knotted Cord
2x Sense the Sin

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Sep 26, 2012 11:48:25)

Deck of the Month: July 2012: Bankia

It took me some (to say the least) time to pick a winner for the Deck of the Month July 2012, mostly because at least a first glance, there was very little exciting about the Deck of the Month July 2012. So after taking a third look at the decks I found two little gems. First, a variation (or better fusion) of two decks, between an Unexpected Coalition deck (similar to the Deck of the Month November 2011) and a Weenie Dragons Breath Rounds deck. But little more interesting is the winner for July, a rather fearsome deck named Bankia played by Txus Alutiz (Spain), using both Spirit Marionette and Temptation. In a single turn an opposing vampire could be stolen by Spirit Marionette, emptied (almost) by using Heidelberg Castle and then immediately stolen again with Temptation. The Obeah cards can also be used by most of the non-Salubri vampires, since they require either Obfuscate, Presence or Dominate.

Deck Name: Pre-Spanish EC Qualifier: Bankia
Author: Txus Alutiz

PRE-SPANISH EC QUALIFIER
Badia del Valles, Spain
July 14, 2012
19 players
3R + F

Crypt (Capacity min=1 max=6 avg=4.75; 12 cards)
==================================================
1x Ahmose Chambers 3 obf ser Follower of Set:5
1x Anarch Convert 1 -none- Caitiff:ANY
2x Black Lotus 5 aus obf ser DOM Follower of Set:4
4x Eurayle Gelasia Mylonas 6 for pre AUS OBE Salubri:4
2x Halim Bey 6 obf tha DOM SER Follower of Set:4
1x Keith Moody 3 DOM !Tremere:4
1x Sahira Siraj 4 obf ser tha Follower of Set:4

Library (80 cards)
=====================
Master (16 cards)
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
4x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Khobar Towers, Al-Khubar
1x Lilith's Blessing
2x Obfuscate
1x Opium Den
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
3x Vessel
1x Villein

Event (1 cards)
1x Fourth Cycle, The

Action (21 cards)
1x Form of Corruption
6x Govern the Unaligned
8x Spirit Marionette
6x Temptation

Equipment (2 cards)
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
1x Heart of Nizchetus

Ally (1 cards)
1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)

Action Modifier (20 cards)
2x Cloak the Gathering
7x Conditioning
1x Daring the Dawn
1x Domain of Evernight
2x Faceless Night
2x Forgotten Labyrinth
2x Lost in Crowds
1x Repulsion
2x Veil the Legions

Reaction (12 cards)
6x Deflection
3x Delaying Tactics
3x On the Qui Vive

Combo (7 cards)
6x Gift of Sleep
1x Swallowed by the Night

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Sep 26, 2012 01:36:58)

Announcement UK Nationals 2012

The UK National Championship 2012 will take place in London, England on November 24th, 2012. Here are the details for this constructed tournament:

• Date: Saturday 24th November
• Time: 12:00 for a 12:20 start
• Location:
  
  • Jugged Hare Pub
    Vauxhall Bridge Road,
    Victoria, London
• Format:
  
  • 3 Rounds & Final
  • Standard Constructed: Detailed rules can be found on the VEKN tournament rules webpage.
• Prize Support:
  
  • Boosters and promos for all
  • Special art prize for the winner

Announcement "Cat's Guidance" in Mayence, Germany (Oct. 3rd, 2012)

On the occasion of the Day of German Unity a constructed tournament named "Cat's Guidance" will hold on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012 in Mayence, Germany.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle - Constructed Tournament
Cat's Guidance: The Prince's Anniversary

• Date:
  Wednesday, 3. October 2012
• Time:
  Doors open at 11:00 h
  1st round: 11:30 h
  2nd round: 15:00 h
  Final round: 17:00 h
• Location:
  Orcish Outpost
  Zanggasse 7
  55116 Mainz
  Germany
• Round system: 2 rounds plus final (time limit: 2h each)
• Format: VEKN Constructed
  
• Entrance fee: None
• Remarks
  
  • In case there are less than 8 players, the tournament will not take place!!
• Contact:
  
  • Either check the German VEKN forum or the appropriate thread on VEKN.net.

Craze

And yes, go blame Juggernaut1981 for that ..

Dutch ECQ 2012 Report

So here's my tournament report of the Dutch ECQ 2012, which took place in Utrecht, Netherlands on September 15th, 2012. Before the tournament it turned out that only very few Dutch players were going to attend the tournament (although the VtES scene in the Netherlands is far from being dead). So the organizer announced that we were going to play the multi-deck format if the number of players were going to be less than 12. Which was good in that sense, that I didn't have to decide which deck to play in the tournament in advance. Plus it saved us some boredom (from playing the same deck in a 10 player tournament for three or four rounds). And we did saw quite a variety of decks as you can see ..

The End is near ..

The end is near .. just kidding. At the end of the last week (to be precise on September 19th), Google as provider/hoster of the Blogspot blogging platform has decided in its eternal wisdom to make the new interface (editor) mandatory to use. Unfortunately the new interface/editor is annoying as hell. Just some of its issues:

• The back button of the Internet browser is more often not working than it does.
• No filtering and searching of posts at the same time.
• The blog overview offers a "New Blog" button, whereas a "New Post" button, would have been much more useful.
• The interface has little to no contrast, it's all white with very light grey. Loss of orientation guaranteed.
• The posts overview is now multi-line, that is each post now occupies two or even three lines in the "table" of posts (depending on the browser width). (Unfortunately, this is also the case with WordPress).
• Each post has to be marked for use of the line break tag (br). Formatting with regards to line breaks/empty lines has become more cumbersome.
• Pages (not posts) created with the old editor cannot be edited directly (using the little pen symbol) anymore. You have to go via the "Pages" page.
• In general, navigation around the interface has become a nuisance.

So currently I am strongly considering moving to another blogging platform, namely WordPress, which I started looking at more seriously lately.

Results Croatian EC Qualifier 2012

On September 1st, 2012 the Croatian VtES ECQ 2012 was held in Osijek, Croatia with 10 players attending the final tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Goran Damjanic (CRO) -- 4 VP -- Giovanni Powerbleed
2. Slaven Karakas (CRO) -- 1 VP -- Kiasyd Powerbleed
2. Vlado Saulic (CRO) -- 0 VP -- Stanislava's Raptor
2. Denes Kocis (CRO) -- 0 VP -- Lasombra Vote/Bleed
2. Ivan Vucilovski (CRO) -- 0 VP -- Ahrimanes Wall

Congratulations to Goran for his win of the Croatian ECQ 2012. You can also find the tournament winning deck on VEKN.net.

Results Italian EC Qualifier 2012

On April 29th, 2012 the Italian VtES ECQ 2012 was held in Florence, Italy with 22 players attending the final tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Danilo Torrisi (ITA) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 3 VP -- Malkavian G3/4 Royalty Vote
2. Stefano Tarozzi (ITA) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Lasombra G3/4 S&B
2. Federico Neri (ITA) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Tzimisce G2/3 Warghoul
2. Simone Longobardi (ITA) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Tremere G3/4 Grinder
2. Silvano Gaggioli (ITA) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 2 VP -- Weenie G1/2 Potence Rush

Congratulations to Danilo for his win of the Italian ECQ 2012. You can find the final standings and the tournament winning deck on VEKN.net.

VtES European Championship Qualifiers 2012 (Update)

Here's a list of the upcoming Continental Championship Qualifier events for VtES taking place in Europe in 2012:

• .. all of the ECQs have been finished for this year.

... and the list of past ECQs 2012:

• Belorussian ECQ -- March 10th, 2012 -- Minsk, Belorussia -- Winner: ???
• Danish ECQ -- March 11th, 2012 -- Copenhagen, Denmark -- Winner: Nikolaj Wendt (DEN)
• French (South) ECQ -- March 30th, 2012 -- Lyon, France -- -- Mathieu Rivero (FRA)
• Swedish ECQ -- April 7th, 2012 -- Gothenburg, Sweden (during GothCon) -- Winner: Adam Esbjörnson (SWE)
• German ECQ -- April 14th, 2012 -- Darmstadt, Germany -- Winner: Martin Weinmayer (AUT)
• Polish ECQ -- April 28th, 2012 -- Warsaw, Poland -- Winner: Aleksander Idziak (POL)
• Italian ECQ -- April 29th, 2012 -- Florence, Italy -- Winner: Danilo Torrisi (ITA)
• English ECQ -- May 12th, 2012 -- Burton-on-Trent, England -- Winner: Hugh Angseesing (UK)
• Hungarian ECQ -- May 26th, 2012 -- Budapest, Hungary -- Winner: ???
• Belgian ECQ -- June 16th, 2012 -- Brussels, Belgium -- Winner: Martin Schumacher (GER)
• Swiss ECQ -- June 30th, 2012 -- Nyon, Switzerland -- Winner: Denis Mercante (FRA)
• Spanish (North) ECQ -- July 15th, 2012 -- Badia del Valles (Barcelona), Spain -- Winner: Noel Gimenez (ESP)
• Finnish ECQ -- July 27th, 2012 -- Espoo/Helsinki, Finland (during Ropecon) -- Winner: Randal Rudstam (SWE)
• French ECQ (North) -- August 25th, 2012 -- Paris, France -- Winner: Vincent Ripoll (FRA)
• Croatian ECQ -- September 1st, 2012 -- Osjiek, Croatia -- Winner: Goran Damjanic (CRO)
• Dutch ECQ -- September 15th, 2012 -- Utrecht, The Netherlands -- Winner: Jeroen van Oort (NED)

All this culminating in the European VtES Championship 2012:

• 2012 European Championship -- Budapest, Hungary -- October 26th to 28th, 2012

Cause & Effect: Episode 4.3

The third episode (of the fourth season) of the VTES webshow Cause and Effect has been broadcasted live  this Sunday (September 23rd, 2012). This time Adam, Anders and Isak discuss Flurry of Action as well other means (unusual) means of multi-acting. In addition, they give some tips about drafting and playing in a draft tournament.

Results US National VtES Championship 2012

On September 2nd, 2012 the US National VtES Championship 2012 was held in Atlanta  n Atlanta, Georgia with 15 players attending the tournament (during the DragonCon 2012). The final standings after 3 rounds and final were as follows:

1. Matt Guinn (USA) -- 1 GW 7 VP -- 1.5 VP -- New Brujah Bleed/Vote
2. Robyn Tatu (USA) -- x GW y VP -- 1.5 VP -- Nosferatu Royalty
2. Jeffrey Thompson (USA) -- x GW y VP -- 1 VP -- Lasombra Bleed
2. David Baker (USA) -- x GW y VP -- 0 VP -- Cybele & Friends Bleed ("Girls")
2. Jeff Brandon (USA) -- x GW y VP -- 0 VP -- Tzimisce S&B

Congratulations to Matt for his win of the US National VtES Championship 2012. You can find the tournament winning deck also in the VEKN forum.

Did you know, that ... (Part 95)

.. you can't play Inspire Greatness on a minion during combat? Although the card refers directly to the ability of giving extra strength (usable in a combat), the rules explicitly state you can only play combat cards during combat. So Inspire Greatness (as an Action Modifier card) has be played anytime before the combat starts.

Reference: VEKN.net

VEKN Designer's Diary: "Openness & Canon"

On VEKN.net the design team has released a new entry of the Designer's Diary This time it's about the transparency and openness in the design process and the conflict between the between canon (World of Darkness) and metagame.

Rule-Sharking

More or less by accident I read about a certain type of rule violation in trading card games (even as official terms in the online version of Yu-Gi-Oh!) which is called Rule-Sharking.

Rule-Sharking is defined as ..

"Attempting to force a non-existent rule or policy on an opponent who has made a small and repairable error."

On Dueling Network as examples for Rule-Sharking are named ...

• Not allowing an opponent to Set an accidental Normal Summon (e.g. Snowman Eater).
• Not allowing an opponent to activate/resolve a mandatory effect since they "missed the chance".
• Asking an opponent to admit defeat after they have drawn an extra card by accident without shuffling their hand.

Results Dutch EC Qualifier 2012

On September 15th, 2012 the VtES Dutch EC Qualifier was held in Utrecht, Netherlands with 10 players attending the qualifier tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Jeroen van Oort (NED) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Gangrel Wallish Toolbox feat. Torvus
2. Martin Schumacher (GER) -- 1 GW 5,5 VP -- 1,5 VP -- Tremere Bruise, Bleed, Block
2. Dietmar Range (NED) -- 1 GW 2,5 VP -- 0 VP -- Assamite Amavarti Vote/Toolbox
2. Bram Van Stappen (BEL) -- 0 GW 3 VP -- 0,5 VP -- Elimlech & Black Hand Friends
2. Luc-Olivier Lambermont (BEL) -- 1 GW 3 VP -- 0 VP -- Giovanni Pot Rush feat. Ignazio Giovanni

Congratulations to Jeroen for his win of the Dutch ECQ 2012. You can find the full standings and the tournament winning deck on VEKN.net

Did you know, that ... (Part 94)

.. that Helena can play multi-discipline cards when tapped, provided that one of the discipline requirements is Auspex (e.g. Read the Winds (if she gained Animalism) or Quicken Sight)?

Source: VtES Usenet Newsgroup

"Luck Versus Skill" by Richard Garfield

As part of the "2012 Magic Cruise", Richard Garfield, creator of VtES and MtG (among other games), gives a presentation about "Luck Versus Skill" when designing games .

The Magic Cruise is a multi-day MtG event, but not in a regular convention center or something, but on a cruise ship. This year's Magic Cruise was taking place from June 1-9, 2012 and the sea voyage was from Seattle to Alaska (and back).

Memorable Quotes (Part 147)

"A Daughter deck can't not be super-aggressive (..)" -- Xaddam, Swedish VtES player

Cause & Effect: Episode 4.2

The second episode (of the fourth season) of the VTES webshow Cause and Effect has been broadcasted live this Sunday (September 12th, 2012). This time the three Swedish are joined by the Danish VtES player Martin Randers. They talk about the NAC 2012 tournament and the performance of the Three Inches of Danish Steel deck (based on Eze the Demon Prince) that Martin played during the tournament (and won with).

Reasonably Priced Decks: Nosferatu Antitribu

The following deck based on the Nosferatu antitribu clan is the fifth deck in the Reasonably Priced Decks series, which I have outlined in a previous blog post.

The Nosferatu antitribu deck is basically a toolbox deck with an emphasis on both blocking and fighting. The deck is rather slow and requires some patience, because you need some time for the setup (that is recruiting allies and equipping) before you can eventually grinding down your prey(s).

Results French EC Qualifer 2012 (North)

On August 25th, 2012 the second VtES French EC Qualifier was held in Paris, France with 20 players attending the qualifier tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Vincent Ripoll (FRA) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 3 VP -- Enkidu Earth Meld/Psyche
2. Pierre Tran-Van (FRA) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 2 VP -- Carna Wall
2. Etienne Faust (FRA) -- 1 GW 4.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Lasombra Presence
2. Jorge Delgado (ESP) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 0 VP -- Nosferatu Royalty
2. Christophe Bolo (FRA) -- 1 GW4 VP -- 0 VP -- Toreador AAA

Congratulations to Vincent for winning the French ECQ (North) 2012. You can find the tournament winning deck and a short report from the final round on VEKN France.

Announcement Spanish National VtES Championship 2012

The Spanish National VtES Championship 2012 will be held in Mataró (near Barcelona), Spain from October 13th to 14th, 2012. The championship is a two day event, first a last chance qualifier will be held and then the actual championship tournament. The details are as follows:

• Date: Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th October 2012
• Location:

  Civic Center Cabot i Barba
  Miquel Biada Square 5
  Mataró (Barcelona, Catalunya)

• Organizers: Banshee Errante club role and the Prince of Mataró.
• Sponsors:
  
  • City Council of Mataró
  • Pla Jove per Mataró

Last Chance Qualifier (Qualifier for the National Championship)

• Date: Saturday October 13th, 2012
• Fee: 8 EUR (includes two boosters)
• Timetable
  
  • Registration at: 9:00 h
  • First round starts at: 10:20 h
• Price Support:
  
  • Pre-constructed deck for the winner of the third table.
  • Pre-constructed decks and boosters for the finalists and winners.

The First (Tournament for the non-qualified players)

• Date: Sunday, October 14th, 2012
• Fee: 10 EUR (includes promo pack + 1 booster + "National Gift" + raffle ticket)
• Timetable
  
  • Registration at: 9:00 h
  • First round starts at: 10:00 h
• Price Support:
  
  • Pre-constructed deck for the winner of the third table.
  • Pre-constructed decks and boosters for the finalists and winners.

Spanish National V:tES Championship 2012

• Date: Saturday October 13th, 2012
• Fee: 10 EUR (includes promo pack + 1 booster + "national gift" + raffle ticket)
• Time Table:
  
  • Registration: 9:00h
  • First round starts: 10:00h
  • Second round starts: 12:00h
  • Lunch break: 14:00h - 15:20h
  • Third round starts: 15:30h
  • Final starts: 17:30h
  • Awards ceremony and raffle start: 19:30h
• Awards:
  
  • Pre-constructed decks for the winner of the third table.
  • Pre-constructed decks and boosters for the finalists and winners.
  • Gift for the finalists and winner of the 2012 Spanish National.

Remember all participants on Sunday enter in the raffle for various lots and merchandising V:TES at the end of the national championship tournament.

Results South-African National VtES Championship

On August 11th, 2012 the VtES South African Nationals 2012 were held in Cape Town, South Africa with 15 players taking part in the tournament (during at Dragonfire 2012) . The final standings after 3 rounds and the finals were as follows:

1. Richard Auckland (RSA) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 2 VP -- Guillaume & Mina Shambling Hordes
2. Neil Muller (RSA) -- 1 GW 3 VP -- 2 VP -- Malkavian antitribu S&B
3. Simon Cross (RSA) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 1 VP -- Al-Muntathir BH S&B
4. Evan Gotte (RSA) -- 1 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Malkavian '94
5. James Snowball (RSA) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Nosferatu antitribu Rush/Wall

Congratulations to Richard for winning the championship (and getting his third deck in the TWDA).

VtES National Championships 2012

Similar to the list of the upcoming Continental Championship Qualifier events for VtES here's the summary of the upcoming National VtES Championships 2012:

• French Nationals 2012 -- September 28th to 30th, 2012 -- Rennes, France
• Polish Nationals 2012 -- September 29th, 2012 -- Gliwice, Poland
• Swedish Nationals 2012 -- September 29th to 30th, 2012 -- Örebro, Sweden
  
• Spanish Nationals 2012 -- October 13th to 14th, 2012 -- Mataro (near Barcelona), Spain
• Brazilian Nationals 2012 -- November 16th, 2012 -- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  

And the list of the past National VtES Championships 2012:

• Danish Nationals 2012 -- March 12th, 2012 -- Copenhagen, Denmark -- Winner: Rudolf Garski (GER)
• Dutch Nationals 2012 -- May 26th, 2012 -- Utrecht, Netherlands -- Winner: Izaak Havelaar (NED)
  
• Australian Nationals 2012 -- April, 21st, 2012 -- Sydney, Australia -- Winner: Tim Smith (AUS)
  
• Belgian Nationals 2012 -- April 22nd, 2012 -- Brussels, Belgium -- Winner: Emiliano Imeroni (ITA)
• Finnish Nationals 2012 -- May 19th, 2012 -- Joensuu, Finland -- Winner: Timo Rekola (FIN)
  
• Russian Nationals 2012 -- May 26th, 2012 -- Moscow, Russia -- Winner: ???
  
• Serbian Nationals 2012 -- June 2nd, 2012 -- Belgrade, Serbia -- Winner: Milos Krstic (SER)
• South African Nationals 2012 -- August 11th, 2012 -- Cape Town, South Africa -- Winner: Richard Auckland (RSA)
• US Nationals 2012 -- September 2nd, 2012 -- Atlanta, Georgia (during DragonCon) -- Winner: Matt Guinn (USA)
  

VEKN: End of Playtest for Danse Macabre

Playtesting for the planned next expansion Danse Macabre has ended, and now the final tuning of the upcoming set issued by the VEKN is on its way. Along with this announcement, the design team revealed some thoughts on card design as well.

The VEKN has also posted their "Guidelines for Card and Art Submissions" describing the details which cards & artwork should adhere to before submitting these to

P.S.: This article is a bit late, but nonetheless the facts are still noteworthy!

VEKN: The Future of V:TES

Fellow Methuselahs,

we have great news for the V:TES community. While nothing is guaranteed, we are pursuing some creative solutions that might allow the game to continue. The plan, of course, is to release printed V:TES cards.

onebookshelf inc. has shown serious interest in putting a deal together that allows for printed publishing of (eventually) all previous and future V:TES cards through a print-on-demand program. You can read further details on the general program on www.drivethrucards.com. The person behind onebookshelf inc. is Steve Wieck, former owner and president of White Wolf, a long time fan and benefactor of V:TES. I am also involved in the onebookshelf business which allows for close cooperation between the V:EKN and onebookshelf for having future V:EKN sanctioned cards published as well and for direct fan input to the whole process to bring you the best possible package.

However we need to be very patient, because it will take several months before everything is sorted out, eventually. It is very important for the fan base to not engage any of the licensing parties through e-mails, petitions or social media, it will not help and most likely even hurt the process. We are definitely months away from having all the signatures, the legal situation is complex. However all involved parties have shown general interest.

There is also the very real possibility that no deal can be made and the plan is going to fall through, but we are hoping for the best.

This also means that the PDF set designed by the V:EKN may not be released in PDF format, because ... it may be a printed set!

Johannes Walch
Chairman of the V:EKN

Memorable Quotes (Part 146)

"I think these test chambersdecks look even better than they did before. It was easy, really. You just have to look at things objectively, see what you don't need anymore, and trim out the fat." -- GLaDOS

I was thinking, what kind of deck GLaDOS would be playing .. Wall, perhaps?

Cause & Effect: Episode 4.1

The first episode (of the fourth season) of the VTES webshow Cause and Effect has been broadcasted live this Sunday (September 2nd, 2012). Anders, Adam and Isak are joined by Randal Rudstam, and they talk about the Ropecon 2012 tournament and the Council of Doom deck that Randal played during the tournament (and won with). On VEKN.net there's also a turn-by-turn transcript of the tournament's final round plus on Stockholm Jyhad blog you can find Randal's own report.

Results Finnish EC Qualifier 2012

On July 27th, 2012 the VtES Finnish EC Qualifier was held in Espoo, Finland with 71 players attending the qualifier tournament (during RopeCon 2012). The final standings were as follows:

1. Randal Rudstam (SWE) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 4 VP -- Council of Doom
2. Tomi Sillanpää (FIN) -- 2 GW 10 VP -- 1 VP -- Lasombra Black Hand Dominate
2. Otso Saariluoma (FIN) -- 3 GW 11 VP -- 0 VP -- Cel Princes feat. Anson & Ashurs
2. Michael Holmström (SWE) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Lutz & Unmada Vote
2. Aleksi Nuora (FIN) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Daughter's of Cacophony Vote

Congratulations to Randal for his win of the Finnish ECQ 2012. You can find a huge tournament report, the finalist's decks and the final standings on VEKN.net.

Next "Cause & Effect" Episodes

The first episode of the fourth season of the VtES webcast "Cause & Effect" are scheduled for September 2nd, 2012 (next weekend's Sunday). Currently the plan is to go live at 20:00 at www.justin.tv/causeampersandeffect. Afterwards the recorded episode is uploaded to the YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/causeampersandeffect.

VtES Tournament "Vampire Heart" in Bochum

On the occasion of the annual Essen Games Fair, the playgroup in Bochum will hold the traditional Midnight Tournament on Saturday, October 20th, 2012. The pub the tournament will be played at, is less than 20 km away from the Essen fair area.

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle - Constructed Tournament
Vampire Heart

• Time:
  Saturday, 20 October 2012
  Doors open at 19:00 h
  Start first round at 19:30 h
• Location:
  Zu den Vier Winden
  Hofsteder Str. 94
  44809 Bochum
  Germany
  
• Round system: 2 rounds plus final (time limit: 2h each)
• Format: VEKN Constructed
  (In case there are less than 12 players, the multi-deck system will be used)
  
• Entrance fee: 3 EUR
• Remarks
  
  • Please note: The location is a pub, so you may not bring your own food and drinks.
    Pre-registration is possible via email to the organizer or a post in the German VEKN web forum in this thread.
    
• Contact:
  

  Gerhard "Hardy" Range
  prinz (/dot/) bochum (/at/) gmx (/dot/) de
  German VtES Forum

P.S.: And it's one of the last tournaments before the VtES EC 2012 starts the very next week.

State of the V:EKN: August 2012

As posted on VEKN.net on August 22nd, 2012:

Fellow Methuselahs,

I am daring the bursting sunlight to get you some news of things happening within the V:EKN.

We had an announcement a couple of months back that we wanted to staff some (new) positions within the V:EKN. I am pleased to announce that we have chosen Antonio Cobo Cuenca to become the Vice Chairman. He is originally from Spain but currently residing in Paris. I would think he is an excellent choice, having a background in different playgroups and also being a long time contributor. Of course the availability of a Vice Chairman will help me and help smoothing out the situations where I am stuck with real-life situations. On top of that Mike Nudd will take up the responsibility of Storyline Coordinator. He is from the UK and currently the prince of London. With an extensive background in game development he will be working closely with the Design Team to bring you some exciting new storyline ideas. Expect something for late in the year, we will poll on some options soon.

We are still working on Marketing and Spokesperson, but very close to a decision. Expect to hear something in the next couple of days. Certainly it has been very interesting that with all the complaints of the V:EKN being a secretive organization there have been very few actual applications for the positions.

Certainly you have been reading about the new fan-based set that is currently being developed and produced by the V:EKN. Progress is good and from a personal perspective I am very excited to see everything coming together with artwork and actual cards designs. The release schedule is not yet very clear but, barring any unforeseen problems, we should make it available late in the year, certainly there will be a display of cards at the European Championship.

Our Nosferatu have been productive as well so we are currently in the alpha testing stages of the rating system event reporting/upload module. Alpha testing means it does actually look and work like it will in the end but there are still some rough edges and real bugs. We will move to an open beta testing by mid-September, so prepare your Archons and get ready to upload and give feedback. The first priority will be to get the current design and workflow online and in use, we will then do a second round of development where you all can give suggestions for improvement.

Everything is on track regarding the biggest V:TES event of the year, European Championship in Budapest. There are over a 100 people per-registered already so do not hesitate and get your trip booked (www.vtes2012.com/). For those of you who did not attend a continental championship so far I can only encourage you to take part in this certainly unique and worthwhile experience.

Johannes Walch
Chairman of the V:EKN

Announcement Polish National VtES Championship 2012

The Polish National VtES Championship 2012 will be held on September 29th, 2012 at the club 4 Art in Gliwice, Poland . The details for the tournament are as following:

• Type of Event: National Championship (qualifying for this event is not necessary, everyone is welcome to participate.)
• Location:

  4 Art (1st Floor)
  ul. Wieczorka 22
  44-100 Gliwice

• Time Table:
  • 10:15 - 10:45 -- Registration
    
  • 11:00 - 13:00 -- First Round
  • 13:15 - 15:15 -- Second Round
  • 15:15 - 16:00 -- Lunch Break
  • 16:00 - 18:00 -- Third Round
  • 17:15 - 20:15 -- Final Round
• Entry fee: 30 PLN (8 Euro)
• Format: 3R + final (2h time limit each)
• Rules: Standard Constructed. Detailed rules can be found on the VEKN Tournament Rules webpage.

In case of questions you can contact the organizer via email (izi79 (/at/) o2 (/dot/) pl) or post your questions in the Polish VtES Forum.

Playtesting for "Danse Macabre" comes to an end

On August 16th, 2012 the VEKN announced that the final round of play testing for the upcoming VtES expansion is well underway. Although no final release date has been announced (yet), some details of the expansion have been disclosed. The expansion will be named "Danse Macabre" and contains 36 new cards, 14 library cards and 22 crypt cards. It's focused on the main Sabbat clans, and the crypt cards are all in Group 5. The library cards focus on helping the weaker Sabbat clans, the Brujah antitribu, the Gangrel antitribu, and the Nosferatu antitribu. Other library cards include (but are not exclusive to) Sabbat-specific political actions and cards for the Black Hand.

Read the full post on VEKN.net.

Announcement Dutch EC Qualifier 2012

The Dutch VtES EC Qualifier 2012 will take place in Utrecht, Netherlands on September 15th, 2012. Here are the details for this constructed tournament:

Format:

• Standard Constructed. Detailed rules can be found on the VEKN tournament rules webpage.

Date & Time Table:

• Saturday, 15th September 2012
• Doors open/registration: 10:00 h
• First round starting time: 11:00 h
  
• Expected End: 20:00 h

Location:

• De Korenbeurs
  Croeselaan 91
  3521 BL Utrecht
  The Netherlands
• Since the location is a cafe/restaurant, it is not allowed to bring your own food or drinks. Parking space is available and day tickets can be bought at the bar for €6.

Round system:

• 3 rounds, plus final (time limit: 2 h each)

Entrance fee:

• 5 Euro

Pre-Registration:

• Please register in advance by replying in the relevant post on the dutch VtES forum. Any questions you might have concerning the tournament can be asked in the same way.

Announcement Swedish National VtES Championship 2012

The 4th Swedish National VtES Championship will be held on September 29th to 30th, 2012 in Orebro, Sweden. The event is a two-day featuring both a constructed and draft tournament.

• Swedish VtES Nationals 2012
  
  • Date: September 29th, 2012
  • Time: 10:30 – 21:00
  • Fee: 50 SEK
  • Format: Constructed: 3 rounds + final round
• Swedish VtES Draft Nationals 2012
  
  • Date: September 30th, 2012
  • Time: 10:30 – 21:00
  • Fee: 180 SEK
  • Format: Draft: 2 rounds + final
• Venue:

  ABF Örebro
  Drottninggatan 38
  Örebro, Sweden

• Travel: The easiest way to get to Sweden is by plane; either to Arland (ARN) or Skavsta (NYO) and then get on a bus/train to Örebro.
  

E-mail the organizer, Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (national coordinator for VtES in Sweden) at isakbe [att) gmail (dott] com, for more information or where help is necessary. You can find more information in the VEKN.net forum.

Bochum VtES League 2012: August 3rd

Here are the decks of the Bochum VtES League 2012 from the meeting on August 3rd, 2012 (the next prey is from top to bottom), with some quick remarks about the decks being played that evening.

• Hardy -- Cesawayo & Friends Aye Wall -- with one transfer Neighbour John was the obvious first vampire to show up. And right from the beginning he began to harass his prey and predator by continually blocking. And with Martin occupied with Ralf's numerous minions Hardy could build up his resources (like putting multiple Ayes and a gun on Cesawayo), but lacked enough punch to reduce Sascha's pool significantly. Ceswayo's greatest coupe was taking control of Sascha's Escaped Mental Patient and torporizing the recruiting Malkavian antitribu.

---

• Sascha -- Malkavian G2/3 antritribu Bleed /w Escaped Mental Patient -- feared Didi's back rush capabilities (w/Deep Song) and with a lack of stealth performed a number of undirected actions, which allowed in turn Hardy to block with either Cesawayo or Neighbour John. He got under great pressure (and never really recovered) after Hardy stealing his Escaped Mental Patient and Vasantasena got torporized from that same Patient. In the end he was lucky to stay in the game.

---

• Didi -- Cailean & Friends Ani/Gun Rush/Wall -- had a very slow start especially after being bled for 5 in a turn and couldn't manage to grab enough intercept for blocking the Malkavians antitribu behind him. But threatening to rush backwards kept his predator at bay during the midgame. Eventually Didi had all the necessary resources (Mark V, Nosferatu Kingdom, Tier of Souls, ..) on his minions at his disposal, but at that point the game was almost over.

---

• Ralf -- Giovanni G2/3 Shambling Hordes -- very reasonable start with a lot of minions (and no pressure from his predator for most of the game), but then having a bit of trouble to deal with the weaponary popping up left and right in the mid-/late game. But then he managed to finally oust Martin with around 10 minutes on the clock.





---

• Martin -- Assamite Black Hand Toolbox -- initially had to suffer from repeated blocks of his Reunion Kamut by Hardy. Only in the mid-endgame the Assamites could get a Gun and Sport Bike, but a Tattoo Signal (or two) were sorely missed. But with a wall to the left and a rush deck to his right, the deck had trouble showing his potential. In the end, the one gun and one intercept didn't turn out to be enough to hold the Shambling Hordes and their Giovanni master at bay.

---

Result: Ralf 1.5 VP, Hardy 1.5 VP, Sascha 0.5 VP, Didi 0.5 VP

Deck of the Month: June 2012: El traumatologo del dolor

Despite the rather low numbers of tournaments in June, there were quite a number of interesting decks present in tournaments. Two classic Presence Vote decks are among them, namely the Lasombra Presence Vote deck by James Messer and the Tzimisce Presence Vote deck by Brett Schofield. Some new aspects show the following four decks:

• Typhonic Beast by Noel Papeguay -- a Followers of Set Potence Combat deck based on Typhonic Beast.
• Anarch Diversion by Oscar Bernal -- an Anarch Combat deck using 14x Diversion and 14x The Mole!
• Dmitri Borodin & Friends Aus/Cel by Hugh Angseesing -- an Aus/Cel Wall deck with an unusual crypt choice.
• Anu/Serrenna Spirit Marionette by John Bell-- a regular Spirit Marionette deck but using synergies of Anu and Serenna

But this month's deck is the tournament winning deck El traumatologo del dolor played by Luis Fonseca (Spain). Although it looks like a typical super star deck, the deck has some potential for enhancing Mictlantecuhtli's sidekicks, most notably by using Biotaumathurgical Experiments. The basic idea is to equip Mictlantecuhtli with Talbot's Chainsaw (preferably by using Magic of the Smith) and then start (multi-)rushing other minions. Because of Mictlantecuhtli's special ability the deck doesn't have to worry about the damage that Talbot's Chainsaw deals to a minion you control in the untap phase; he's just immune to weapon damage .. Another interesting fact to note is that the half combat section consists of damage prevention cards, and the other half is Immortal Grapple & Taste of Vitae. No fancy Animalism or Protean combat cards, as one would expect when facing Mictlantecuhtli.

Deck Name: Bye, Dereck: El traumatologo del dolor
Author: Luis Fonseca
Bye, Dereck
Mataró, Barcelona
June 6th, 2012
3R+F
16 Players

Crypt (Capacity min=3 max=10 avg=6.08; 13 cards)
===================================================
3x Antonio d'Erlette 5 dom for pot THA !Tremere:4
3x Carmen 5 aus dom THA !Tremere:5
4x Mictlantecuhtli 10 pre pro ANI FOR POT THA Gangrel:5
1x Rosemarie 3 mel FOR Daughter of Cacophony:4
1x T.J. 3 cel for Gangrel:4
1x Ulrike Rothbart 3 dom for !Ventrue:4

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (16 cards)
1x Carver's Meat Packing and Storage
1x Depravity
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Fame
1x Haven Uncovered
1x Monster
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Tension in the Ranks
6x Villein

Action (26 cards)
2x Ambush
1x Army of Rats
2x Big Game
7x Biothaumaturgic Experiment
3x Bum's Rush
3x Deep Song
3x Harass
4x Magic of the Smith
1x Taunt the Caged Beast

Equipment (5 cards)
1x Ambulance
1x Book of Going Forth by Night, The
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Talbot's Chainsaw

Ally (3 cards)
3x Nephandus (Mage)

Action Modifier (16 cards)
3x Conditioning
13x Freak Drive

Combat (24 cards)
3x Hidden Strength
4x Immortal Grapple
3x Indomitability
2x Rolling with the Punches
2x Skin of Steel
2x Soak
8x Taste of Vitae

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Jul 31, 2012 15:52:13)

Results Spanish EC Qualifier 2012 (North)

On July 15th, 2012 the Spanish VtES EC Qualifier (North) was held in Badia del Vallès (Barcelona), Spain with 41 players attending the qualifier tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1.Noel Gimenez Infante (ESP) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Akunanse Toolbox
2.Tomas Lopez Jimenez (ESP) -- 2 GW 7.5 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Salubri G5/6 Wall
2.Marc Garcia Rebull (ESP) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Obf/Pre Vote
2.Soufiane Bouzouf (ESP) -- 2 GW 6.5 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Brujah Antitribu Vote
2.Francesc Ros i Ollé (ESP) -- 2 GW 5.5 VP -- 0.5 VP --Tzimisce Asambonsam Ghoul

Congratulations to Noel for winning the northern Spanish ECQ 2012. You can find the final standings as well as the tournament winning deck on the VEKN.net.

Results Swiss EC Qualifier 2012

On June 30th, 2012 the Swiss VtES EC Qualifier was held in Nyon, Switzerland with 10 players attending the qualifier tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Denis Mercante (FRA) -- 0 GW 1 VP -- 3 VP -- Lasombra Nocturn Bleed
2. Mathias Skubich (FRA) -- 1 GW 7 VP -- 2 VP -- Weenie Animalism Deck
2. Noel Papeguay (SUI) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Followers of Set Typhonic Beast Combat.
2. Oskar Grindmyr (SWE) -- 1 GW 6.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Ventrue antritribu Grinder
2. Laurent Ribeyre (FRA) -- 1 GW 3.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Nosferatu Royalty feat. Cock Robin

Congratulations to Denis for winning the Swiss ECQ 2012. A tournament report and the finalists' decks can be found on VEKN.net.

Results Finnish National VtES Championship 2012

On May 19th, 2012 the Finnish National VtES Championship 2012 was held in Joensuu, Finland with 27 players attending the tournament. The final standings were as follows:

1. Timo Rekola (FIN) -- 2 GW 5,5 -- 3 VP -- Aus/Cel Gun feat. Aguresh
2. Niina Stenberg (FIN) -- 2 GW 4,5 VP -- 2 VP -- Obf/Pre Stealth Bleed
2. Reetta Rautiainen (FIN) -- 2 GW 9,5 VP -- 0 VP --
2. Petteri Teerikangas (FIN) -- 2 GW 6 -- 0 VP --
2. Jarkko Suvela (FIN) -- 2 GW 6 -- 0 VP -- Tzimisce War Ghouls

Congratulations to Timo for his win of the Finnish Nationals 2012. A tournament report as well as the finalists' decks can be found in the VEKN forum.