Kindred Lore: Order of Saint Blaise

Originally the Order of St. Blaise was founded in Armenia in the 12th century and takes its name from Saint Blaise, patron of the kingdom. St. Blaise was a christian martyr (he died in 316 AD), and has been venerated as the patron of those who suffer from throat diseases (beginning in the 8th century). The order was divided into a religious branch, who were charged with the holy offices and missionary work among the unbelievers, and a military branch, who defended the country against the attacks of the Muslims. Following the teachings of St. Basil, the order rendered great services for the christian cause for about a century. The order disappeared when Armenia was conquered by the Turks.

In the 14th century, during the time of the Black Death, the Church established a group of 14 saints known as Fourteen Holy Helpers, one of them St. Blaise, in order to provide consolation for the general population. Blessing of the throat by using a pair of crossed candles for protection from throat diseases was introduced during this time, and it became common pratice to being blessed that way on St. Blaise's feast day, February 3rd.

A group of Sabbat vampires active in the Church at that time, found it rather ironic to use feed from those blessed by St. Blaise. These Kindred re-formed the Order of St. Blaise in order to gain influence in the Roman Catholic Church. They did this not only by manipulating Church officials and resources, but also by "good works" on community level. This was (and is) rather unusual, since the Sabbat is not known for providing support for Kine in general. So the Order of St. Blaise is opening soup kitchens and other charity organizations, which are well received by the general population. Especially in the cities which are prone to high crime rates and an ailing economy under Sabbat rule.

Announcement Asian Continental VtES Championship 2012

Details for the Asian Continental VtES Championship 2012 have been disclosed. The event will take place in Tokyo, Japan on September 22nd, 2012. Details for the tournament are as follows:

• Location:
  

  Itabashi Greenhall
  板橋区役所 グリーンホール
  36-1 Sakaecho,
  Itabashi, Tokyo (map)

• Format:
  
  • VtES Constructed tournament


• Rounds:
  
  • 3 rounds (2 hours) + final (2.5 hours)


• Time Table (tentative):
  

  9:00 -- Start Registration
  10:00 -- Start 1st Round
  01:00 -- Start 2nd Round
  03:30 -- Start 3rd Round
  06:00 -- Start Final

  All times are based on local time in Tokyo, Japan (UTC+9)

You can find the original announcement on Blood & Power Inc. (a VtES blog from Singapore).

North American VtES Championship 2012 about to start

While the traditional Week of Nightmare is going on since this Monday, the actual North American VtES Continental Championship 2012 starts tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio. The championship tournaments take place as part of the Origins convention, which began today and has it end on June 3rd.
The schedule for the NAC 2012 looks like this:

• Thursday, May 31st
  
  • Last Chance Qualifier
  • Storyline Event "March of the Ghouls"
• Friday, June 1st
  
  • NAC Day 1 (qualification)
  • Shadow Twin (for non-qualified players)
• Saturday, June 2nd
  
  • NAC Day 2 (championship)
  • Shadow Twin (for non-qualified players)
• Sunday, June 3rd
  
  • First Chance Qualifier

You can find the full calendar (with the detailed time table & round information) on Lasombra's NAC 2012 webpages

Results Russian National VtES Championship 2012

On May 26th, 2012 the Russian National VtES Championship 2012 was held in Moscow, Russia with 15 players attending the final tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Grigory Cherbakov (RUS) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- Lutz Vote
2. Sergey Lapshin (RUS) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- Kiasyd Stealth Bleed
2. Alexey Fomin (RUS) -- 1 GW 8 VP -- Weenie Dominate
2. Eugene Bushmakin (RUS) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- Kiasyd Stealth Bleed
2. Armen Khachikyan (RUS) -- 1 GW 4,5 VP -- Euro-Brujah

Congratulations to Grigory for his win of the Russian Nationals 2012. A short tournament report and the tournament winning deck have been posted on the VEKN website.

Cause & Effect: Episode 3.5

The fifth episode (of the third season) of the VTES webshow Cause and Effect has been broadcasted live this Sunday (May 27th, 2012). Anders, Adam and Isak discuss a wide variety of decks using Maris Streck as its star vampire.

Did you know, that ... (Part 93)

... that Constanza Vinti is burned after a successful Justicar Retribution only if her prey controls a ready Ventrue? The general ruling for Justicar Retribution is, that a successful referendum burns vampires who would bleed for 3 or more if they declared a default bleed action at this moment.
During a lengthy discussion on VEKN.net, the VEKN rules director gave the following examples which vampires are affected (i.e. are burned) when a successful referendum of Justicar Retribution has been called.

• Lucian the Perfect would burn.
• Leandro would burn.
• François Villon with a Laptop Computer would burn, since using equipment is mandatory.
• Nikolaus Vermeulen with a Legendary Vampire would burn.
• Smudge with Robert Carter would burn, since using retainers is mandatory.
• Alexis Sorokin with a Week of Nightmares in play would burn only if her prey controls a ready Toreador.
• Queen Anne would burn only if the prey controls a ready Tremere.
• Constanza Vinti would burn only if her prey controls a ready Ventrue.

One the other hand the following vampires wouldn't be burned:

• Little Taylor of Prague with a Camera Phone would not burn, since he's not obliged to use the Camera Phone as bleed action.
• Stick with a Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers and all his prey's minions tapped, doesn't burn, since he's not obliged to use the equipment as bleed action.
• Esau won't burn, since there's always the chance that the second +1 bleed modifier wouldn't trigger.

One of the more obscure examples include vampires which can't actually bleed at a given moment.

• Arika with a Pentex Subversion will burn (see [LSJ 20100527]).
• Rabbat with a Legendary Vampire will burn (see [LSJ 20100527]).

Reference:

• VEKN.net

Memorable Quotes (Part 143)

"VTES really is a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock." -- KevinM (American VtES Player).

Results Dutch National VtES Championship 2012

On May 26th, 2012 the VtES Dutch National Championship 2012 was held in Utrecht, Netherlands with 24 players from 4 countries attending the tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the finals were as follows:

1. Izaak Havelaar (NED) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 4 VP -- Followers of Set Spell of Life
2. Paul Wiggers (NED) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 1 VP -- Ventrue Antitribu Grinder
2. Emiliano Imeroni (ITA) -- 2 GW 7.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Tremere antitribu Nephandus
2. Martin Schumacher (GER) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Black Hand Reunion Kamut
2. Peter Bouwman (NED) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Kiasyd Stealth Bleed

Congratulations to Izaak for his win of the Dutch Nationals 2012. You can also find the winner's decklist and his tournament report in the Dutch VtES forum.

Kindred Lore: Island of Yiaros

During the second half of the 20th century, the Ventrue Anushin-Rawan bought the Greek island Nisos Yiaros, which is located in the Aegean Sea. At first intended as personal safe haven, she eventually made it into an Elysium for her fellow Kindred, particularly her Camarilla brethren. The island can only be visited by invitation safely, otherwise one risks destruction by mortal and undead guardsmen.

The estate Anushin-Rawan created, consists not only a giant manor, but also a Greek temple, Roman thermal baths and a nymphaeum. All of this and the peace of the Elysium allow Kindred to rest and shake off prolonged weariness. It is rumored, that not long ago Anushin-Rawan has offered the Camarilla Inner Circle members to hold the gatherings on Yiaros, but apparently the Inner Circle have not (yet) made up their minds upon the invitation. If they followed her invitation one day, this would greatly boost Anushin-Rawan's already impressive reputation.

Reference: The Anarch State.

Game Shift

Game Shift
Political Action
Worth one vote.
Requires a titled Sabbat vampire.
Name two library cards in any player's ashheap. Successful referendum means that the first card costs one less blood or pool (but never less than 0) and that the second card costs one more blood (minion card) or pool (master card) to play.
Only one Game Shift can be played during a game.

"The Metagame always shifts" -- vtesocrates (American VtES Player).

Retaining and Regaining Life for Allies

One important aspect when playing an ally deck in VtES is, how can you keep them alive, either by preventing damage or by gaining life. For a vampire that's quite an easy task. First of all there's hunting, but there also a large of number of cards that provide blood directly (e.g. Hunting Grounds, Taste of Vitae, Theft of Vitae, etc.) or indirectly (e.g. Blood Doll, Vessel, ..) Furthermore a large number of vampires have access to damage prevention cards (Fortitude, Thaumaturgy, etc.). The options for allies on the other hand are rather limited in comparison, and a lot them is build on their special abilities.

• Active Life Regeneration by Allies
• Ossian gains life in combat for each damage successfully inflicted.
• Amam the Devourer gains a life if he burns a vampire in combat or by diablerie.
• Gregory Winter, Impundulu and Succubus can steal life/blood from other minions. Unfortunately for him, Gregory Winter also looses one life in his controller's untap phase.
• A Nephandus gains one life when diablerizing a vampire, Gregory Winter even two life.
• The Ananasi Vampirephile can take an action to regain a life.

Results English EC Qualifier 2012

On May 12th, 2012 the English VtES EC Qualifier 2011 was held in Burton-on-Trent, England with 23 players attending the qualifier tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Hugh Angseesing (UK) -- 2 GW 6.5 VP -- 5 VP -- Anson/Anneke/Pander Cel Gun
2. Norbert Flasko (HUN) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Nergal Turbo
2. John Best (UK) -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Tryphosa/Maris Streck Bleed
2. Matthew Baker (UK) -- 2 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Giovanni Shambling Hordes
2. Arthur de Lustrac (FRA) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Lasombra Nocturns

Congratulations to Hugh for his win of the English ECQ 2012. The full standings and the tournament winning deck can be found in the English VtES Forum.

Cause & Effect: Episode 3.4

The fourth episode (of the third season) of the VTES webshow Cause and Effect has been broadcasted live this Sunday (May 20th, 2012). Anders, Adam and Isak discuss categorizing different deck types as well methods to analyze the meta game of a VtES tournament.

Announcement Belgian EC Qualifier 2012

The Belgian VtES EC Qualifier 2012 will take place in Brussels, Belgium on June 16th, 2012. Here are the details for this constructed tournament:

• Date: Saturday, June 16th, 2012
• Time Schedule:
  
  • Registration: 11:30
    
  • First round starting time: 12:00
    
  • Expected finishing time: 20:45
• Type of Event: National Qualifier
• Format:
  
  • Standard Constructed, detailed rules can be found on the VEKN Tournament Rules webpage.
  • Number of rounds: 3 rounds + final
  • Time limit per round: 2 hours
• Address of Event:
  

  The Outpost
  Rue de la Tribune 8
  1000 Bruxelles
  Belgium

  (Note that it is not allowed to bring your own drinks into the shop, these are available at moderate prices)
• Entry fee: 6 EUR (or less)
  

---

• Pre-registration:
  Pre-registration is very useful to ensure appropriate prize support and a timely start of the tournament. If you intend to participate, please sign up as soon as possible by mailing to: dennis (/underscore/) devriendt (/at/) hotmail (/dot/) com

---

• Travel:
  
  • By train: The Outpost is situated less than 10 minutes walking from Brussels Central Station (Gare Centrale).
    Take a look at the map (the Central Station is in the lower left corner).
    If you arrive from Paris/London, you will end up at Brussels South Station (Gare du Midi). From there, take the metro line 2 or line 6, direction "Simonis (Elisabeth)", get off after about 8 minutes at the stop "Madou", then walk 5 minutes to the Outpost. The metro stop Madou is shown in the upper right part of the map (zoom in once to see it more clearly).
  • By car: there is usually plenty of free parking space around Rue de la Tribune.

Did you know, that ... (Part 91) (Update)

.. you can play Disarm after inflicting damage with Outside of the Hourglass and then playing Strike: Combat Ends (proving the damage inflicted is higher than that of your opponent)? There are two rather peculiar things about this:

1. The damage by Outside of the Hourglass is inflicted by the vampire using the card, which is a rare thing for card played before range is determined. Carrion Crows, Weather Control and the like all so-called environmental damage.


2. After playing after Outside of the Hourglass, it doesn't matter if you played Strike: Combat Ends in the strike phase and don't inflict damage with that. Disarm does not require the vampire to inflict damage with a strike, only that the vampire inflicts damage himself (and not environmental damage).

On VEKN.net there was a lengthy discussion about, whether disarm can be played when the range was set to long after Outside of the Hourglass, has been played. But it was eventually clarified by the VEKN rules director, that Disarm (or Pulling Fangs) for that matter can only be played at close range.

The combination is strong, but far from unbeatable. The easiest defense against this, is just to maneuver to long range or to play damage prevention (requiring cards that are not limited to prevent damage from an opposing minion's strike).

References:

• Disarm vs. Strike: Combat Ends on VEKN.net
• Outside the Hourglass & Disarm on VEKN.net
  

Did you know, that ... (Part 92)

.. a vampire who has played Skin of Night (at superior) and then is hit by aggravated damage, cannot play Soak to prevent it? The reason for this is, that the vampire only treats aggravated damage as normal (thanks to Skin of Night), but it is actually still aggravated damage for which Soak cannot be used to prevent it. The same principle applies to a number of other card combinations as well, e.g. Armor of Terra and Chaundice's ability to prevent damage, etc.

• Reference: [LSJ-2004-05-17]

Memorable Quotes (Part 142)

After having quoted polish chess grandmaster Savielly Tartakower last week, I found some more of his chess aphorisms:

• "Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do, strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.”
• "The winner of the game is the player who makes the second-to-last mistake."
• "It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's men."
• "It is not enough to be a good player; you must also play well."

Cause & Effect: Episode 3.3

The third episode (of the third season) of the VTES webshow Cause and Effect has been broadcasted live this Tuesday (May 15th, 2012). Anders, Adam and Isak talk about cards that enhance card flow directly (e.g. Barrens, Dreams of the Sphinx, ..) and indirectly because either they're offering versatility (e.g. Force of Personality) or can be played almost unconditionally (e.g. Seduction). The goal when including these cards is to prevent hand-jams, which is one of the worst things that can happen in a game of VtES.

VtES EC 2012 Polls

In order to help the VtES EC 2012 organizers prepare a better event, please go to VEKN.net (in the "Polling Forum") and answer the following polls/question. The EC is taking place in Budapest, Hungary from October 26th to 28th, 2012.

• Welcome party
• Friday Side Event
• Saturday Side Event
• EC Welcome Gift (T-shirt or mug)

The deadline for the polls is Sunday, May 20th, 2012.

Did you know, that ... (Part 91)

.. you can play Disarm after inflicting damage with Outside of the Hourglass and then going to long range or playing Strike: Combat Ends (proving the damage inflicted is higher than that of your opponent)?
There are several rather peculiar things about this:

1. The damage by Outside of the Hourglass is inflicted by the vampire using the card, which is a rare thing for card played before range is determined. Carrion Crows, Weather Control and the like all so-called environmental damage.


2. The other remarkable fact is that Disarm can only be played when damage is inflicted. But since you maneuvered to long, how is it possible to play Disarm in the situation as described above. The reason is that the default range in combat in close, and Outside of the Hourglass is played before range is determined, therefore the damage was inflicted of close range. [This statement is not true (most likely never was). See also Ankha's comment below & the update of the "Did you know" post.]
   


3. It doesn't matter (playing after Outside of the Hourglass) you played Strike: Combat Ends in the strike phase and don't inflict damage with that. Disarm does not require the vampire to inflict damage with a strike, only that the vampire inflicts damage (and not environmental damage).

The combination is strong, but far from unbeatable. The easiest defense against this, is to play damage prevention (requiring cards that are not limited to prevent damage from an opposing minion's strike).

References:

• Disarm vs. Strike: Combat Ends on VEKN.net
• [LSJ-20100630] on rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad.
  

Memorable Quotes (Part 141)

"A chess game is divided into three stages: the first, when you hope you have the advantage, the second when you believe you have an advantage, and the third... when you know you're going to lose!" – Savielly Tartakower (Polish chess player)

Hmm, I think VtES has three very similar phases.

Kindred Lore: Purchase Pact

In 1803, a treaty, known as Purchase Pact, was signed which ended the First Sabbat Civil War. The Purchase Pact was largely composed by Radu Bistri and negotiated between the different factions of the Sabbat Civil War. The goal of treaty was to end hostilities between the main factions, namely the Tzimisce and the Lasombra, as well as between these elders and their progeny.

A violation of the treaty by an individual vampire was punishable by final death. The ranking Bishop of Archbishop of the area where the offense was committed would call for a blood hunt then. Not surprisingly for the Sabbat, the Treaty was violated not very long after the Treaty had been signed ...

The Purchase Pact of 1803:

"Let it be known that forthwith, the Sabbat exists as a free entity, though the price of that freedom comes in the form of the sacrifice of certain rights.

On this, the 19th of September, 1803, all Sabbat in good faith and conscience do hereby suspend all grievances with other Sabbat.

Any Sabbat found in open violation of this agreement – e.g: any Sabbat making open war on another for the purposes of his own betterment at the expenses of the sect – is hereby declared forsaken, and maybe hunted for the blood in his veins. A duly recognized Bishop, Archbishop or other elder member of the sect, must pronounce such abandonment.

In this we are united. In this we are Sabbat."

Reasonably Priced Decks: Toreador antitribu

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

The deck is a basic bleed and vote deck based on the Toreador antitribu clan. Contrary to the previously posted decks this deck contains some vampires with a higher capacity, mostly to gain access to some permanent titles. The Toreador antitribu profits from a number of very strong clan cards, mostly notably Palla Grande, Foundation Exhibit and Art Scam. Unfortunately all of the aforementioned cards are rare cards .. but nonetheless the resulting deck (with only one of those rares) is still rather reliable and sturdy.

Announcement "Final Friday Nights" in Mayence, Germany

A VtES constructed tournament named "Final Friday Nights -- On the Road to Budapest" will be held in Mayence, Germany on May 11th, 2012. Details are as following:

• Date: May 11th, 2012
• Place:

  Orcish Outpost
  Zanggasse 7
  55116 Mayence

• Format: VtES Constructed Tournament
  
• Rounds: 2 rounds + final (2h each)
• Timetable:
  

  Registration: 18:45
  Round 1: 19:00 - 21:00
  Round 2: 21:45 - 23:00
  Final: 23:00 to 01:00

• Entry Fee: 1 EUR or 3 EUR, depending on the size of the prize pool (boosters) the players agree upon before the tournament starts.
  

You can pre-register (much appreciated) in the German VEKN forum, since the tournament is only taking if 10 or more players are present.

Poll Results: "How many VtES decks do you have ready for play?"

Here are the results of the latest poll how many VtES decks players have ready for play. 123 readers of this blog have voted in this poll:

• 21+ -- 16 (13%)
• 16-20 -- 9 (7%)
• 11-15 -- 11 (8%)
• 9-10 -- 9 (7%)
• 7-8 -- 14 (11%)
• 5-6 -- 22 (17%)
• 3-4 -- 26 (21%)
• 1-2 -- 14 (11%)
• 0 -- 2 (1%)

Interesting to see that more than a quarter of the players (28%) have more than 10 decks ready, but the majority is in the range of 3-6 (below 10).

Memorable Quotes (Part 140)

"The major reason you lose games is because of things you do. If you blame luck for your loses, you’ll never get better. Figure out what you did, and thus can learn not to do, that caused you to lose." -- Mark Rosewater on the question how to become better at Magic.

Reference: Mark Rosewater on Tumblr.

Kindred Lore: Code of Milan

The Code of Milan is kind of a constitution for the Sabbat sect. It establishes the basic principles under which the sect operates, e.g. the authority of the Regent and the role of the Black Hand as well as the observation of the sect's rituals (called ritae). The code was established early in the sect's existence in Milan, Italy. A revised version (with some additions to the original code) was drafted and signed in 1933 at the end of the Second Sabbat Civil War.

State of the V:EKN: May 2012

As posted on VEKN.net on May 1st, 2012:

Fellow Methuselahs,

Let me apologize for being late on this State of the V:EKN. It was due 01. April but I couldn't get it done until today. Nevertheless this gives the opportunity to fully cover the recent events.

As most of you know in the fall of last year there has been a decision by the V:EKN to produce a fan made set. A design team with a handful of people was assembled and they set off to build that set. Unfortunately at the end of December, right around the start of R1 of playtesting, a conflict broke out in the team. My goal was to solve this conflict and to bring all the parties involved back together again. From all my experience in dealing with V:TES and the V:EKN, and I never thought this wouldn't be possible or even it would be a hard task. Turns out it was. The differences couldn't be reconciled and first one guy split from the team and then two others followed, you may have seen the topics in the forum. This was a really sad experience for me as a Chairman and a hard time. I did not want this to happen but in trying to solve that conflict I realized an important problem: there are people who see the ability to make decisions as a right they have earned and that volunteering results in entitlement. From where I stand this is fundamentally wrong. The ability to make decisions is a responsibility, not a right, and there is no reward for volunteering except the happy faces and respect of your fellow players. I quote Robyn Tatu: "It’s really simple. Volunteers simply go to work. If they’re not happy with their current assignment they quit or find other areas where they can contribute". The good news is this only slightly impacted the development process and we are still on track for Round 3 of playtesting. Ben Peal will speak to more details in an upcoming Designers' Diary.

NAC 2012 Storyline Event "March of the War Ghouls"

The VEKN storyline coordinator, Eric Chiang, has announced details about the Storyline event, that will take place during the Week of Nightmare before the NAC 2012 tournaments.

The background of the storyline originates from the aftermath Fall of Atlanta, when a large contingent of war ghouls disappeared mysteriously. Apparently they weren't completely destroyed because now they have returned though they're not quite the same. While other clans vie for leadership and influence within Atlanta, one clan will brave the legion of war ghouls and discover a useful secret or artifact, thought lost when Atlanta fell.

More information on the Storyline event can be found on VEKN.net.

Results Polish EC Qualifier 2012

On April 28th, 2012 the Polish VtES EC Qualifier 2012 was held in Warsaw, Poland with 28 players attending the qualifier tournament. The final standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Aleksander Idziak (POL) -- 1.5 VP -- Gerald Windham Bleedish Freakshow
2. Tomasz Kowalewski (POL) -- 0.5 VP -- Goratrix Wall
2. Michal Kaszubsk (POL) -- 0.5 VP -- Tremere G4/5 THA/DOM/ANI
2. Maciej Kozłowski (POL) -- 0.5 VP -- Shambling Hordes
2. Tomasz Izydorczyk (POL) -- 0 VP -- Toreador Cel Gun

Congratulations to Aleks for his win of the Polish ECQ 2012. You can also find the tournament winner's deck in the Polish VtES forum.