Results "Then there'll be a light" VtES Tournament in Gelsenkirchen

Here are the results of the "Then there'll be a light" VtES Constructed tournament in Gelsenkirchen, Germany after 3 rounds and the final. The tournament was played on February 21st, 2010 with 12 players participating. Here are the standings after the final round:

1. Martin S. -- 2 GW 5 VP -- 1 GW 3 VP -- Guruhi Rush Combat w/ Ashur Tablet tech
2. Sebastian K. -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 2 VP -- Toreador Antitribu Anarch Presence Bleed
2. Jeroen van O. -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Obfuscate/Dominate Stealth Bleed w/ Inceptor tech
2. Paul W. -- 2 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Ventrue/Ventrue antitribu Bruise & Bleed
2. Markus H. -- 0 GW 2.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Malkavian/Nosferatu G1/2 Vote

Congratulations to Martin for his victory in the tournament. You can find a short tournament report and the TWD in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

Here are some pictures taking during the event. The decks shown are those of the final table (prey is to the right, then down):
Left: The Ambiente in Gelsenkirchen was the place of the tournament.



Right: Sebastian played an Anarch Presence Bleed deck based (mostly) on Toreador antitribu.

Left: Another stealth bleed was played Jeroen, who relied on Obf/Dom minions, and a surprise Inceptor w/ Spirit Marionette.

Right: Markus played an old school Malkavian/Nosferatu deck, but got squashed between S&B and rush combat.

Left: Martin played an extreme version of an ANI/POT rush deck deck with lots of Liquidations and Ashur Tablets.


Right: Paul fielded a rather conventional, yet effective DOM/for Bruise & Bleed deck.

Deck Building Utilities (Update February 2010)

New versions of the "Secret Library", "Anarch Revolt Deck Builder" (ARDB) and "Fragments of Elder Library Deck Builder" (FELDB) have been published in February 2010. All three utilities now have the card texts (and pictures, where applicable) from the new VtES expansion "Heirs to the Blood". Here's the update of the basic information:

Secret Library
Current Version: 0.9.3
Author: Jussi Hattara
Homepage/URL: http://www.secretlibrary.info
Description: A finnish website with similar filter & search functionality as "V:EKN Nu" and "VtES Monger". Nice, fresh web design and the ability to keep one's inventory as well as deck building utility. Definitively the best web-based site. The only "drawback" you need a (free) account to use the deck building and inventory functionality.
Advantages/Disadvantages:

• Card List & Inventory
• complete card list with card texts
• lacks pictures of actual cards (due to copyright issues)
• search & filter use, but not as sophisticated as in the ARDB
• card inventory can be kept
• Deck Building
• offers the basic functionality of deck builder
• includes card drawing simulation, but offers no statistical information on the deck.
• ability to export decks as text (*.txt), HTML file (*.html), FELDB (*.eld) or for use in JOL (*.jol), Lackey or WebTES or for posting to internet forums (*.phbBB) and local forums.
• gives some advice on deck building based on the "Happy Families" theory
• Other Features
• since it's web-based application, you don't need a local installation.
• ability to make deck lists public or keep them private.

Expansions: all VtES expansions (now including Heirs to the Blood).
Latest Posting: 21/Feb/2010
Changelog: Secrect Library Changelog

Anarch Revolt Deck Builder ("ARDB")
Current Version: 3.1.0
Author(s): Graham Smith (current project lead) / Francois Gombault (initial creator)
Homepage: ARDB on Google Code
Description: Layered Filters, multiple export functionality and a tidy interface are the top features of this program, somewhat newer than the FELDB it had a fresh start and gained soon popularity in the VtES community.
Advantages/Disadvantages:

• Card List & Inventory
• complete card list with card texts
• complete collection of pictures of actual cards.
• great search & filter use, multiple, layered filters
• card inventory can be kept
• supports a number of non-Windows operating systems
• Deck Building
• offers the basic functionality of deck builder
• includes some statistical information about the decks as well as card drawing simulation
• ability to store decks in XML format (*.xml), as text (*.txt), HTML file (*.html) or for use with JOL (*.jol) or for posting to internet forums (*.phbBB).
• gives some advice on deck building based on the "Happy Families" theory
• Other Functionality
• automatic update of the card database from White Wolf website -- New!
• download of the card pictures from the client -- New!
• little utility for creating proxy cards

URLs:

• ARDB v3.1.0 for Windows
• ARDB v3.0.0.1 for Mac OS X 10.5
• ARDB v3.0.1b for openSUSE 11.1
• ARDB v2.8.0 (Beta) for Debian
• VtES Card Images
• VtES Card Images (HttB Only)

Cost: free software
OS Platforms: Windows, OpenSuSE, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, (Mac OS X 10.5)
Expansion Updates: about 1 to 4 weeks after an expansion has been released.
Expansions: all VtES expansions.
Latest Posting: 20/Feb/2010
Changelog: ARDB Changelog on Google Code

Fragments of Elder Library Deck Builder ("FELDB")
Current Version: 2.6.0 Beta
Author(s): Balasz Kuno Kiss
Homepage: Bala's FELDB website or FELDB on Google Groups
Description: After the ELDB ("Elder Library Deck Builder") was no longer maintained, the ELDB's author David Andersion-Davila published the sources and FELDB was the result of the development with serious improvements over the old program.
Advantages/Disadvantages:

• Card List & Inventory
• complete card list with card texts
• complete collection of pictures of actual cards.
• basic ability to filter and sort cards, this could be better, especially when compared to the ARDB.
• card inventory can be kept, but needs to be used carefully when updating to the next version or expansion.
• Deck Building
• offers the basic functionality of deck builder
• includes some statistical information about the decks as well as card drawing simulation
• ability to store decks in native format (*.eld), as text (*.txt), HTML file (*.html) or for use with JOL (*.jol).
• Other Features
• deck manager functionality (now with legality check)
• VEKN Number, Event's Date, Event's Name on the DeckInfo tab (for organizers and princes) -- New!
  
• several import/export options for decks and inventories
• usually the quickest update after an expansion has been released
• can update card database from White Wolf website

URLs:

FELDB v2.5.2

VtES Card Images

VtES Card Images (HttB Only)

Cost: free software
OS Platforms: Windows
Expansion Updates: about 1 to 2 weeks after an expansion has been released.
Expansions: all VtES expansions.
Latest Posting: 14/Feb/2010

New VtES Card Database File Available

The long awaited card database long-awaited (CSV) for VtES (including the latest expansion "Heirs to the Blood") is now available. The file is needed for updating some card utilities like Anarch Revolt Deck Builder (ARDB).

The VtES CSV file should be downloaded directly from this link: http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/downloads/vtescsv.zip. The link on the White Wolf download area for VtES is pointing to an old version of the file (pre-"Heirs to the Blood").

"Heirs to the Blood" Post-Pre-Release in Budapest, Hungary

Due to the delayed shipment, from White Wolf we had to held the pre-release last Saturday (February 13th, 2010 in Budapest, Hungary). Surprisingly 28 players gathered to play one of the best sealed deck tournaments I have ever participated in. Besides the Heirs to the Blood starter decks we were given one 3rd Edition, one Keepers of Tradition and two Heirs to the Blood boosters. Players were allowed to trade cards before building there decks. This resulted in an unexpected variety of decks.

Before the tournament I was afraid a heavy Kiasyd dominance, but my concerns turned out to be wrong. Two players decided to enhance the Samedi's ousting power by adding several copies of "Virtuosa" to their deck, giving "Agent of Power" an unexpected use. Ever heard of using a Samedi Melpominee before? Both players scored one game win during the tournament. I was dealt a Tremere/Gargoyle starter which I really wasn't happy with, since it totally lacks blood and pool gain and is loaded with cards that cost 2 pool. Fortuanately I managed to trade the following cards: 2x Malgorzata, 2x Antonio d'Erlette, 1x Nikolai the Survivor, 1x Nephandus, 3x Chaundice and 2x Fustuk. So I played a Tremere antitribu"/Gargoyle deck. I removed all the "Razor Bats" and all the other cards, that cost pool from the deck, with the exception of "Depravity" and "Guardian Angel". This resulted in a pretty solid deck. I managed to make 1 GW and 3 VPs, which wasn't enough for the final.

The biggest surprise however was Zsolt Cziraki's deck. He was dealt a Samedi starter. Instead of trying to make it work somehow he decided to ask everybody at the tournament for their Baali cards. The result: a complete Baali Deck! He scored 2 GW 10 VPs and was first seat in the final! I couldn't stay to watch the final, but was told later the he won the final with 1.5 VPs. Congratulations to Zsolt "Colos" Cziraki for this achievement!

Here is his decklist:

Deck Name: Baali Bleed
Created By: Zsolt "Colos" Cziraki
Description:

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 12, Max: 36, Avg: 5,5)
---------------------------------------------
6 Horde dai obf pre 3 Baali
2 Arishat DAI OBF PRE 6 Baali
1 Xeper ani dai pro OBF PRE 7 Baali
1 Annazir DAI OBF POT PRE 9 Baali
2 The unnamed CEL DAI OBF PRE PRO 10 Baali

Library: (82 cards)
-------------------
Master (20 cards)
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Dummy Corporation
7 Maleficia
8 Tend the Flock
1 Vessel
2 Villein

Action (12 cards)
4 Computer Hacking
4 Greater Curse
3 Night Moves
1 Unleash Hell's Fury

Action Modifier (24 cards)
1 Approximation of Loyalty
4 Cloak the Gathering
1 I Am Legion
4 Lost in Crowds
1 Marked Path
2 Mask of a Thousand Faces
4 Psalm of the Damned
2 Under My Skin
5 Veil the Legions

Reaction (8 cards)
3 Diabolic Lure
1 Eluding the Arms of Morpheus
4 On the Qui Vive

Combat (6 cards)
3 Flames of the Netherworld
1 Majesty
2 Outside the Hourglass

Ally (2 cards)
2 Infernal Servitor

Equipment (3 cards)
3 Camera Phone

Combo (7 cards)
6 Evil Eye
1 Force of Personality

Author: Martin "Mephistopheles" Major

Deck of the Month: January 2010: The Rats in Sheep's Clothing

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "The Rats in Sheep's Clothing" played by Roger Carhult. The deck is an Animalism bleed deck based on the new card from Ebony Kingdom "Tunnel Runner", but instead of diversifying the crypt with a number of different Akunanse it uses "Aisata Swanou" as its star vampire and introduces Vicissitude as support discipline.

I have long pondered what the deck of the month should be for this month, because in January the decks I have seen were mostly incarnations of decks well known like Weenie Animalism combat or Malkavian '94 bleed. And when looking at this deck I always thought, that while is deck is quite interesting, it lacks any proper defense or bloat to be real competitive. But in the end .. it won a tournament, doesn't it.

Nordlicht
Göteborg, Sweden
January 9, 2010
12 players

Deck: The Rats in Sheep's Clothing
Author: Roger Carhult

Comments from the author:

I only own 6 Deep Song, that's why Taunt the Caged Beast. Although it's not too bad when a Tunnel Runner can use it as well, or for multirush purposes. I think another Ossian would make the deck more effective, I only had him in one game but then he totally owned the table for me. I should also probably take out the Channel 10 and possibly have Giant's Blood instead or another Jake (whom I never saw during any of my rounds). Possibly I should take out another Aisata and add one more copy of Stick or Walker Grimes. A Well-Marked should have been included too but I forgot to. I'd out a Malleable Visage in exchange for one.
The deck doesn't have any pool gain at all, so the idea is to take the edge and hold it for a bit, and reduce all ally costs with Tshwane and Charisma.
You only need 2 Tunnelers and an Impundulu and Ossian plus 2 vampires. Card cycling is handled through Aisata's special ability which works pretty well. Rush backwards in the beginning to ease the early pressure and possibly use Pentex too. Inconnu Tutelage is great since you always have some uncontrolled vampires for spare.

Crypt (12 vampires) Capacity min: 1 max: 7 average: 5.33333
------------------------------------------------------------
8x Aisata Swanou 7 ANI FOR VIC abo Akunanse:5
2x Stick 3 ANI !Nosferatu:4
2x Walker Grimes 1 ani Caitiff:5

Library (90 cards)
------------------------------------
Action (9)
1x Army of Rats
6x Deep Song
1x Taunt the Caged Beast
1x Wise Spider

Action Modifier (12)
4x Changeling
6x Freak Drive
2x Malleable Visage

Ally (8)
1x Impundulu
1x Ossian
6x Tunnel Runner

Combat (30)
11x Aid from Bats
5x Carrion Crows
2x Chiropteran Marauder
1x Target Hand
6x Target Vitals
5x Taste of Vitae

Event (5)
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
1x Inconnu Tutelage
1x Narrow Minds
2x Unmasking, The

Master (13)
1x Channel 10
3x Charisma
2x Direct Intervention
1x Jake Washington (Hunter)
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Mapatano Utando
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Powerbase: Tshwane
1x WMRH Talk Radio

Reaction (13)
3x Cats' Guidance
4x Guard Dogs
3x Instinctive Reaction
3x On the Qui Vive

VtES Rules: "Tinglestripe" Q&A

Quite a number of questions regarding the equipment "Tinglestripe" have appeared after the card has been published in "Heirs to the Blood", so here's a "Questions and Answers" summary for the card. Most of the information is taken from the Usenet newsgroup "rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad":

Question: Is the Mytherceria needed only for playing "Tinglestripe"?
Answer: Mytherceria is only needed for playing "Tinglestripe", it is not required when using or striking with the weapon.

Q: Does it make a difference if the minion plays "Tinglestripe" by other means (e.g. Concealed Weapon, etc.)?
A: No. Regardless of the means ("Concealed Weapon", "Disguised Weapon", "Magic of the Smith", "Filchware's Pawnshop", etc.) the minion playing "Tinglestripe" needs to have Mytherceria. This is consistent with other requirements for playing equipment, e.g. being a member of a clan or sect.

Q: What happens later in the game, when the wielder of "Tinglestripe" changes?
A: When the card changes the wielder, e.g. by Diablerie, "Fast Hands" or "Heidelburg Castle", the new wielder does not need Mytherceria to get the weapon nor does he need Mytherceria to use the weapon later.

Q: When a minion plays "Tinglestripe" using superior Mytherceria, can the weapon be used for either effect or is it restricted to one (chosen when equiping with the weapon)?
A: When "Tinglestripe" was played using superior Mytherceria, the minion wielding it can always choose which effect to use (2R without maneuver, or 1R with an optional maneuver). This is not dependent if and what level of Mytherceria a minion has.
For example, a vampire with inferior Mytherceria learns superior Mytherceria with the help of "Agent of Power" for a round, and the vampire plays "Tinglestripe" at superior Mytherceria during that round, he can use both effects of the card even after the effect of "Agent of Power" has worn off. Another example would be "Samuel Haight" stealing "Tinglestripe" with "Fast Hands", he can use also both effects of "Tinglestripe" if it was played earlier using superior Mytherceria, even though he doesn't have Mytherceria and is not even a vampire.

References:

• Usenet Newsgroup Thread 1
• Usenet Newsgroup Thread 2

VtES Storyline: "Eden's Legacy" Aftermath

Ben Swainbank, the VtES storyline coordinator, has published the aftermath story of the VtES storyline event "Eden's Legacy", that took place from October to December 2009.

The top four of winning clans are these:

1. Brujah -- 6 events won
1. Guruhi -- 6
2. Ishtarri -- 4
2. Malkavian -- 4

The Laibon clans have a very strong result, due in no small part to the special rule helping the Laibon searching their library for a card when a Laibon is moved to the ready region.

The winning clans used the following motivations

1. Secrecy -- used by 18 winning clans
2. Gehenna -- 17
3. Knowledge -- 14
4. Jyhad -- 8

You can find more information on VtES storylines on the official storyline website.

Announcement Portuguese EC Qualifier 2010

The Portuguese VtES EC Qualifier 2010 will take place in Lisbon, Portugal on March 13th, 2010. Here are the details for this constructed tournament:

Rules/Format:

• Portuguese EC Qualifier: Standard Constructed. Detailed rules can be found on the VEKN Tournament Rules web page.
• Deck lists are required, either on paper, in electronic form (USB stick), or by email to the email address below.
  
• No player may enter the tournament after the first round.
  

Time:

• Saturday, March 13th, 2010
  
• Doors open/registration 10:00 am
• First round start: 10:30 am
  

Location:

• IST University (How to get there.) -- Lisbon
  

Round system:

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

Entrance Fee:

• 15 Euro

Price Support:

• For non-finalists: 1 Heirs to the Blood starter and 1 booster of the same expansion
• For finalists: 1 Heirs to the Blood booster display for the winner and 1/2 Heirs to the Blood booster display for the other finalists.
  

Accommodation: There are a few hotels and hostels nearby:

• Holiday Inn Hotel
  
• Turim Hotel
  
• AS Lisboa Hotel
  
• Pensão Fonte Luminosa-Residencial (Hostel)
  
• Residencia Ideal (Hostel)

Contact:

• You can contact the organizers via domain (dot) lisboa (at) gmail (dot) com or you can leave a comment on the Domain Lisboa blog.

"Heirs to the Blood": Even Stronger Sales

As reported last week ("Strong Sales") the next VtES expansion "Heirs to the Blood" is selling very well. Whereas Potomac Distribution reported last week that their share of HttB booster displays are sold out, yesterday White Wolf reported that their share of HttB starter displays are sold out as well. In the German VEKN forum the European distributor Walch & Nusser also reported that their lot of starter displays are sold out, but claimed to have approximately 100 starter displays on back order. In addition The Lasombra posted in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup that he also has no longer any starter displays to sell.

Results Northeast NAC Qualifier 2010

On February 6th, 2010 the VtES Northeast NAC Qualifier was held in Providence, Rhode Island (USA) with 20 players attending the qualifier tournament (during TempleCon 2010). The final standings were as follows:

1. John Eno (USA) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 4 VP -- Ventrue G4/5 Bruise&Bleed
2. Ben Peal (USA) -- 2 GW 6.5 VP -- 1 VP -- Brujah Breed&Boon
2. Scott Gomes (USA) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Ventrue antitribu G4&5 Dom/For
2. Jesse Cross-Nickerson (USA) -- 1 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Antonio D'Erlette Nephandus
2. Tony Luneau (USA) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Lutz Vote

Congratulations to John for his win of the NERQ 2010. You can find the final standings and the tournament winning deck in the Usenet Newsgroup.

VtES Tournament "Then there'll be a light" in Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Vampire: The Eternal Struggle -- Mini-Qualifier Tournament
Then there´ll be a light... -- Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Time:

Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Doors open 10:00 AM
Start first round 10:30 AM

Location:

Lokal Ambiente
Flöz Sonnenschein Str. 31
45886 Gelsenkirchen
Germany

Round system:

3 preliminary rounds + final (time limit: 2h each)

Format:

VEKN Constructed: Mini Qualifier
The winner gets a qualifying spot for the 2010 Continental Championships.

Entrance fee:

3 Euro

Please note:

Please pre-register via the german VtES forum (not required for attendance).
The location is a pub, so you may not bring your own food and drinks.

Contact:

Sebastian "Zille" Zielinski
Prince of Gelsenkirchen
http://forum.vekn.de

Results "Heirs to the Blood" Launch Event in Bochum

These are the results of our local Launch Event on February 7th, 2010 for the new VtES expansion "Heirs to the Blood" in Bochum, Germany after 3 rounds (no final round played):

1. Didi R. -- 3 GW 9 VP -- Kiasyd/Lasombra
2. Sebastian K. -- 2.5 VP -- Kiasyd/Lasombra
3. Ralf L. -- 1.5 VP -- Salubri antitribu/Ventrue antitribu
4. Rik G. -- 1.5 VP -- Salubri antitribu/Ventrue antitribu
5. Martin E. -- 1.5 VP -- Tremere/Gargoyle
6. Frank C. -- 1 VP -- Salubri antitribu/Ventrue antitribu
7. Hardy R. -- 1 VP -- Samedi/Nosferatu
8. Eric R. -- 1 VP -- Tremere/Gargoyle
9. Michael B. -- 0 VP -- Samedi/Nosferatu

With 9 players we choose to use rather small draft pods with 3 players each. The draft pool consisted of the starter (fixed for each player), and additionally 4 boosters of "Heirs to the Blood" as well as one booster each of "3rd Edition" and "Keepers of Tradition".

As you can see the Kiasyd/Lasombra dominated the tournament with all GW and more VPs than the rest combined. The Salubri antitribu and the Gargoyle decks had a decent defense, but lacked ousting power in this metagame. Hardest to play was the Samedi starter with six different disciplines, and a little bit lack of focus (either more block capability (via permanents or Necromancy/Animalism) or more bloat (via Little Mountain Cemetery).

Here are the pictures from the three rounds (one for each table played):

From left to right: Round 1 Table 1 -- Round 1 Table 2 -- Round 2 Table 1

From left to right: Round 2 Table 3 -- Round 3 Table 1 -- Round 3 Table 2