Memorable Quotes (Part 65)

"If there isn't a table threat, then nobody at the table is playing properly." -- Matt (american VtES Player)

Reference: VtES Usenet Newsgroup

Poll: Deck of the Year 2009

After having presented twelve decks of the month in the past year here's the inevitable poll for you to pick the Deck of the Year 2009 (see sidebar on the right). Please observe, that the initial choice of these decks were driven not by any wanna-be-objective-here motivation, but by my (likely flawed) preferences for originality of deck design, for audacity to play such a deck in a tournament environment or for the skill to pilot such a crappy deck to the tournament win (or final).

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

• January 2009: Diary of a Mad Love Song by Greg Williams (USA) -- a variant of "Khazar's Diary" deck where the "Cry Wolves" feed Khazar's Diary repeatedly.
• February 2009: Broken Brujah by Martin Major (HUN) -- a bruise & bleed deck based on the G4/5 Brujah and the "Alastor" vote.
• March 2009: Guillaume Powerbleed by Tomasz Pietkiewicz (POL) -- a powerbleed deck, building a perfect hand with "Guillaume Giovanni's" special ability.
• April 2009: Team Africa by Ira Fay (USA) -- consists of a cross section of all Laibon clans, but basically is a weenie vote deck.
• May 2009: Cogwork Brussel by Sebastian Meurer (GER) -- G3/4 Nosferatu feat. Cock Robin making good use of Enkil Cog.
• June 2009: Anson, Volker & Ashurs Tablet by Marcin Watras (POL) -- a very toolboxy Prince decks with Ashurs Tablets as recursion engine.
• July 2009: Ninja Parade" by Jesse Cross-Nickerson (USA) -- a rarely seen Black Hand Stealth Bleed deck.
• August 2009: Tyebot's Chainsaw by Johannes Walch (GER) -- an Imbued/Giovanni crossover deck with Tye Cooper and Ambrogino serving as lightning rod for Talbot's Chainsaw.
• September 2009: Mata Hari shifts you! by Pauli Kiova (FIN) -- Mata Hari let's you play Parity Shift to be able to afford those expensive allies.
• October 2009: Laibon Rule the World by Michael Heyder (GER) -- the toolboxy deck that shows you can win major tournaments with Guruhi.
• November 2009: Undead Army by Joerg Alten (GER) -- Shambling Hordes deck based on Harbinger of Skulls.
• December 2009: Girls will find inner peace by Adam Esbjörnsson (SWE) -- Inner Circle feat. Cybele bleed deck with a multitude of master cards.

Memorable Quotes (Part 64)

"(For drafting in VtES) All cards that say +1 and aren't red are good." -- Jo (belgian VtES Player).

Gelsenkirchen VtES League 2010: January 6th

Here are the decks of the Gelsenkirchen VtES League 2010 from the meeting on January 6th (prey is from left to right, from top to bottom):

Left: Kinner played his Toreador G2/3 Obf Bleed deck, but had a master card jam in the mid-game.
Right: Frank's deck was his Tzimisce Toolbox deck, which is really a Jack-of-all-trades deck, since it can bleed, fight and block rather good.

Left: The Brujah G2/3 Princes was Zille's choice for the league, but his Brujah had problems handling the Tzimisce combat.
Right: Didi and his Follower of Set deck had no pressure most the game, and could build up with Govern/Scouting Mission.

Left: Ralf played a Samedi deck with Reanimated Corpses, but couldn't apply enough pressure to oust his prey.
Right: Playing big cap vote monsters was the focus of Martin's deck. Unfortunately he ended up with his titled mid-cap vampires.

At this table Didi got the GW with 4 VPs, Kinner got the other 2 VPs.
Post Scriptum: Sorry for the very blurry picture of Didi's deck.

Results VtES Storyline Event "Friday 13th"

Here are the results from unique storyline event "Friday 13th", that was played during the VtES European Championship 2009 on November 13th, 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The standings after the final round looked like this:

1. Pedro Luis (POR) -- 1.5 VP -- Toreador Aus/Cel Wall feat. Masika & Anneke
2. Mika Nurmikolu (FIN) -- 0.5 VP -- Giovanni/Nagaraja Allies
2. Paul O'Connor (UK) -- 0.5 VP -- Nosferatu G4/5 Royalty
2. Teresa Neves (POR) -- 0.5 VP -- Followers of Set Mummies
2. Dani Padrol (ESP) -- 0 VP -- Legacy of Pander Vote

Congratulations to Pedro for winning the storyline event with his Toreador deck. You can find more information on the storyline on the "Friday 13th" storyline website, the tournament winning deck along with a tournament report was posted in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup and you can find some pictures of final in VtES EC 2009 blog.

Aftermath of the "Friday 13th" Storyline Event

The results and aftermath story of the "Friday 13th" storyline event have been posted by Brum in the Usenet Newsgroup. The tournament of this single-event storyline has been played during the VtES European Championship 2009 on November 13th, 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

The tournament (and the storyline) was won by Pedro Luis with his Toreador Auspex/Celerity deck feat. "Anneke" & "Masika" as his key minions. As Brum wrote in his post:

In the end, the Toreador chose to protect Claudio Severino, keep secret the existence of Saulot and the release of Tremere. By protecting and silencing Claudio Severino, the Toreador helped conceal a plot by Tremere himself to control both sects, unknown to them. In exchange, the Tremere dropped the secret feud they had with Anneke that caused her early removal from Justicar in the 19th century, thus making her eligible again for the future. Too bad for her Gehenna came a few months later.

You can find the complete Friday 13th aftermath story on the VtES Storyline Event website or directly on the Friday 13th Storyline website.

Storyline Event "Battle Lines" Announcement

An announcement for the next VtES Storyline Event named "Battle Lines" (in spring 2010) can be found on the VtES Storyline website. It says:

It has long been foretold that when the Antediluvians rise their descendants will be recalled to meet their founders. On that day the children of the ancients will be consumed, driven mad, or destroyed. But what of those vampires who through tricks of time or manipulations of the blood have no single Antediluvian they call their progenitor? What of the bloodlines?

Emissaries of the Bahari have approached the bloodline elders. They bring dark warnings and a message of hope. The bloodlines have a chance to survive the coming cataclysm. But they must renounce the father of their kind and swear allegiance to Lilith, the Dark Mother. They are faced with a terrible choice. Do they heed the warnings and join the servants of Lilith? Or do they remain true to all they have known and remain loyal to Caine? Faced with these choices debate, subversion, and civil war breaks out among and between the bloodline clans. They must choose which side they are on. The Battle Lines are drawn.

Remark: The Lilins (or "Bahari" as they call themselves) are dozens of small, disparate cults that worship their Dark Mother, Lilith. The book "Revelations of the Dark Mother" discusses the Bahari at length.

Deck of the Month: December 2009: Girls will find inner peace

This month's deck is the tournament winning deck "Girls will find inner peace" played by Adam Esbjörnsson.

The deck is variation (or evolution, if you will) of the "Council of Doom" deck, but with a different crypt and an emphasis more on bleed than on political actions.

Deck Name : Girls will find inner peace
Author : Adam Esbjörnsson and friends
Description : Thanks to Teemu Sainomaa, Erik Torstensson, Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson and Alex Ek for perfecting and evolving the original deck by Teemu.

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 9 max: 11 average: 10
------------------------------------------------------------
4x Cybele 10 ANI DAI OBF PRE SER THA Baali:4
4x Aksinya Daclau 9 ANI FOR PRE PRO cel tha Gangrel antitribu:4
1x Adana de Sforza 11 CEL OBF POT PRE PRO aus Brujah:4
1x Lutz von Hohenzoll 11 AUS DEM OBF PRE pot Malkavian:4
1x Mistress Fanchon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF THA VIC Tremere:4
1x Rafael de Corazon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF PRE Toreador:4

Library [77 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action [4]
2x Entrancement
2x Intimidation

Action Modifier [16]
2x Aire of Elation
2x Approximation of Loyalty
1x Cloak the Gathering
2x Elder Impersonation
1x Enkil Cog
2x Faceless Night
1x Into Thin Air
1x Lost in Crowds
2x Mirror Walk
2x Perfect Paragon

Combat [4]
4x Majesty

Event [4]
2x Anthelios, The Red Star
1x Nightmares upon Nightmares
1x Scourge of the Enochians

Master [41]
1x Anarch Troublemaker
6x Ashur Tablets
1x Blind Spot
1x Coven, The
1x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fortschritt Library
1x Giant's Blood
2x Golconda: Inner Peace
3x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington (Hunter)
4x Liquidation
1x Metro Underground
1x Misdirection
1x Monastery of Shadows
2x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
6x Villein
1x Wash
4x Zillah's Valley

Political Action [4]
1x Ancient Influence
1x Ancilla Empowerment
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power

Reaction [4]
1x Guard Dogs
2x Lost in Translation
1x Rat's Warning

"Heirs to the Blood" Artwork Preview

Quite a number of pictures/artworks from the upcoming VtES expansion "Heirs to the Blood" have surfaced on different websites. Here's the current account of them:

• Eric Lofgren
  
  • Joumlon's Axe
    
  • Nitidas -- Kyasid


• Sandra Chang-Adair
  
  • Vaticination -- True Brujah
    
  • Bliss -- Dominate & Presence


• Heather Kreiter
  
  • Blood Tempering -- Fortitude & Quietus
  • Gift of Sleep -- Obeah


• Ken Meyer Jr.
  
  • Nicomedes -- Harbinger of Skulls
  • Hillanvale -- Daughters of Cacophony
  • The Arcadian -- Kiasyd
  • Morlock -- Samedi

VtES Grass-Roots Letter Writing Campaign

The Lasombra wrote a call for VtES grass-roots letter writing campaign in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup, which I can wholeheartely support, too:

It's been 10+ years since the last V:TES letter writing campaign. At that time, we were working to get WOTC to print a new V:TES set. It didn't end up working, but it did help White Wolf decide to reverse the license and start printing new sets.

The start of 2010 is a good time to encourage White Wolf and CCP to better support the V:TES game via better web resources. Write an email to "OrgPlay (at) White-Wolf (dot) com" and let him know what you would like to see on their website. If he receives 7,000 emails (i.e. one from each registered tournament player), that would certainly be a powerful statement to the company about the benefits that any action taken would have for them.

While you're writing, please enquire about the 2010 North American Championship event that is expected to be held at the "Gathering" of White Wolf / CCP players in New Orleans on an undisclosed date.

Carpe noctem.
The Lasombra
Your best source of V:TES information.
Now also selling boxes and individual cards.

Poll Results: "Would you like to see (and attend) a 'Week of Nightmare' before the EC?"

Here are the results of the latest poll what readers of this blog think about an Week of Nightmares-style event before the VtES Europena Championship 2010. 136 votes have been cast in the poll:

• Yes, of course. -- 52 (38%)
• Yes, but not the whole week. -- 18 (13%)
• An extra event on Thursday will do. -- 8 (5%)
• No, the regular EC events are enough. -- 18 (13%)
• I will not be able to attend the EC. -- 29 (21%)
• What's the Week of Nightmare? -- 11 (8%)

So while there's a majority of votes (56%) that indicate that players would like to have extra events before the EC, only 38% would like to this for the whole week. On the other hand about 21% of players will not be able to attend the EC 2010 anyhow and 8% don't understand the term (or concept) of the "Week of Nightmares" event series.

Eden's Legacy Endgame

As the clock ticks down towards midnight the fate of the Royal Order of the Edenic Groundskeepers and their deadly trove remains uncertain. Which faction will prevail and what do they want? The victories of four Methuselahs have been recorded but their motivation remains shrouded in mystery (Bologna, Brisbane, Cambell, Rome). Motivated Methuselah that launch their attacks in the year's final moments could sway the outcome.

Tonight is the final night for Eden's Legacy.

Tomorrow is the last day for submitting reports for the final tally.

-- Ben Swainbank
VTES Storyline Coordinator
VtES Storyline Website