"Sleigh bells ring, are you list'ning..."
Friday, December 24, 2004
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Scenes from Merry Christmas, Methuselahs
Louie looks like he's pleased about something. From left: new player (please identify), Bart's brother (Forgot the name, sorry), Louie and Danz
Charlie (the only one facing the camera) looks like she's preparing to block whatever's coming her way. With backs to the camera, from left: Razi and Neil. I don't recognize the person covered by Razi; one of the new players?
Took a better look at the covered guy. Sorry, Pilo, didn't recognize you at first.
Decks/Concepts I Will Never Play
One of the difficulties of playing VTES is that, due to the sheer number of clans and disciplines, it's impossible to play all concepts, unless one has a sizeable bank account. The best recourse is to decide what concepts one wants to play and focus on them.
In my case, there are concepts that I will never play, either due to the difficulty of getting the cards or the cheesiness (from my POV) of playing the concept.
1. Assamite, Ravnos, Tzimisce, Lasombra, Follower of Set - Each of these clans has a specific discipline (Quietus, Chimmerstry, etc) which makes it difficult to build around, as the necessary cards for these clans are difficult to obtain, i.e., Temptation, Skin Trap, Blood of Acid, etc. I could try getting the starter decks, but even the good cards come only 1 to a deck, and if one needs at least 6 to be effective... well, it's too much expense.
2. Immortal Grapple - I don't like this card due to the trump value that it has. Forcing a minion to use hand strikes only? I think that's a little overpowered, and a little cheesy. As a combat player, I'd rather try challenging concepts, like the Samedi's Thanatosis strikes, or my !Brujah baseball pitchers. Besides, it's a little difficult trading for this card.
3. Dominate - I've explained my dislike of this discipline. It's too versatile, and too cheesy. Stealth-Dominate bleeding is insane.
4. Pure stealth-bleed - by this I mean Obfuscate and Dominate/Dementation combination bleeders. I'd rather build my Protean stealth because it's not as cheesy.
5. Anson Master Madness - I truly hate this deck when it hits the table. It's difficult to get into combat, and the Revolts, Awakenings and Smiling Jacks handcuff the table so much I might as well just throw in the towel. Still, it's a deck which I would like to try to win against.
"Never" may be too long a time, but I'll probably stick to what I'm writing here regarding these concepts.
In my case, there are concepts that I will never play, either due to the difficulty of getting the cards or the cheesiness (from my POV) of playing the concept.
1. Assamite, Ravnos, Tzimisce, Lasombra, Follower of Set - Each of these clans has a specific discipline (Quietus, Chimmerstry, etc) which makes it difficult to build around, as the necessary cards for these clans are difficult to obtain, i.e., Temptation, Skin Trap, Blood of Acid, etc. I could try getting the starter decks, but even the good cards come only 1 to a deck, and if one needs at least 6 to be effective... well, it's too much expense.
2. Immortal Grapple - I don't like this card due to the trump value that it has. Forcing a minion to use hand strikes only? I think that's a little overpowered, and a little cheesy. As a combat player, I'd rather try challenging concepts, like the Samedi's Thanatosis strikes, or my !Brujah baseball pitchers. Besides, it's a little difficult trading for this card.
3. Dominate - I've explained my dislike of this discipline. It's too versatile, and too cheesy. Stealth-Dominate bleeding is insane.
4. Pure stealth-bleed - by this I mean Obfuscate and Dominate/Dementation combination bleeders. I'd rather build my Protean stealth because it's not as cheesy.
5. Anson Master Madness - I truly hate this deck when it hits the table. It's difficult to get into combat, and the Revolts, Awakenings and Smiling Jacks handcuff the table so much I might as well just throw in the towel. Still, it's a deck which I would like to try to win against.
"Never" may be too long a time, but I'll probably stick to what I'm writing here regarding these concepts.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
MCM Results
The last tournament of the year was one of the most fun tournaments.
I played all three rounds, and got 1.5 victory points (VPs).
The first table was insane. The seating was Danz (Anson Master)->Johann (!Nosferatu Black Hand)->Troy (!Malkavian stealth-bleed)->me (!Brujah pitch). Plus, to make things livelier, the unopened prophecies from the summer Gehenna League were opened. It should’ve been good for my deck, as the prophecies allowed any minion to rush a vampire of a different sect, and gave everyone free diablerie. However, things turned out differently. The table was soon reeling from Danz’s 3 Anarch Revolts and Antedeluvian Awakening. I was gone within the first 15 minutes of play, and, soon after, Danz did himself in with his own Revolts. By that time, Johann was too weakened to do anything, giving Troy the sweep, and the table win.
In the second table, it was Haig (Wynn rush; what else?) –>me –> Toad (Celerity weenie) –> Dante (Tremere) –> Charlie (!Ventrue wall). This time, the prophecies slowed entire tables down, as they: one, forced everyone to spend one extra blood to play disciplines, and two, allowed players to discard five cards from their hands for every point of bleed they received. Haig, whose combat-intensive deck relied on many discipline cards, was severely hamstrung, as was Toad, whose weenies couldn’t afford the extra cost. Since I was using mid-range vampires for the round, it was easier for me, because some of my combat cards, such as Taste of Vitae, didn’t require extra blood. Since Haig contented himself with bleeding for one at a time, he didn’t pressure me much, which allowed me to go after Toad. I managed to get the VP before time ran out.
In the last table, it was Pilo (Tremere) –> Charlie –> Luigi (Giovanni Dominate bleed) –> David (!Nosferatu vote) –> me. In the last round, the prophecies weren’t too restrictive; in fact, I don’t quite recall what they were. Luigi was bleeding like crazy, and there wasn’t anything David could do, and he soon fell. Pilo and I had to make a pact to try to neutralize the threat, but while Pilo held up his end of the bargain, Luigi still got me.
The last table, though, was a lot of fun. All the while, we were singing all sorts of Christmas and corny songs, all to plague Haig, who was at another table. I think this helped me escape the effects of VTES Head, which is a headache from playing VTES for six straight hours.
On the side, I was able to make some good trades, and made some reservations for future trades. From various players, I got Sela, Ilse, 2 Scorpion Stings (David), and 2 Black Spiral Buddies (Dante), and reserved several of my cards for Charlie, Aurelio, and Karl. I nearly got Zayyat, the Sandstorm (the last Gangrel I’d been looking for) from one of my students, but it turned out that he needed somebody other than Jalan-Aajav.
All in all, it was an enjoyable tournament. Well-attended, too; almost 30 players came to what will be CCHQ’s last hosting of a VTES tournament. Kudos to Louie, Bart, John, and Jay for a wonderful way to end the year, and to close an era in Philippine VTES play.
I played all three rounds, and got 1.5 victory points (VPs).
The first table was insane. The seating was Danz (Anson Master)->Johann (!Nosferatu Black Hand)->Troy (!Malkavian stealth-bleed)->me (!Brujah pitch). Plus, to make things livelier, the unopened prophecies from the summer Gehenna League were opened. It should’ve been good for my deck, as the prophecies allowed any minion to rush a vampire of a different sect, and gave everyone free diablerie. However, things turned out differently. The table was soon reeling from Danz’s 3 Anarch Revolts and Antedeluvian Awakening. I was gone within the first 15 minutes of play, and, soon after, Danz did himself in with his own Revolts. By that time, Johann was too weakened to do anything, giving Troy the sweep, and the table win.
In the second table, it was Haig (Wynn rush; what else?) –>me –> Toad (Celerity weenie) –> Dante (Tremere) –> Charlie (!Ventrue wall). This time, the prophecies slowed entire tables down, as they: one, forced everyone to spend one extra blood to play disciplines, and two, allowed players to discard five cards from their hands for every point of bleed they received. Haig, whose combat-intensive deck relied on many discipline cards, was severely hamstrung, as was Toad, whose weenies couldn’t afford the extra cost. Since I was using mid-range vampires for the round, it was easier for me, because some of my combat cards, such as Taste of Vitae, didn’t require extra blood. Since Haig contented himself with bleeding for one at a time, he didn’t pressure me much, which allowed me to go after Toad. I managed to get the VP before time ran out.
In the last table, it was Pilo (Tremere) –> Charlie –> Luigi (Giovanni Dominate bleed) –> David (!Nosferatu vote) –> me. In the last round, the prophecies weren’t too restrictive; in fact, I don’t quite recall what they were. Luigi was bleeding like crazy, and there wasn’t anything David could do, and he soon fell. Pilo and I had to make a pact to try to neutralize the threat, but while Pilo held up his end of the bargain, Luigi still got me.
The last table, though, was a lot of fun. All the while, we were singing all sorts of Christmas and corny songs, all to plague Haig, who was at another table. I think this helped me escape the effects of VTES Head, which is a headache from playing VTES for six straight hours.
On the side, I was able to make some good trades, and made some reservations for future trades. From various players, I got Sela, Ilse, 2 Scorpion Stings (David), and 2 Black Spiral Buddies (Dante), and reserved several of my cards for Charlie, Aurelio, and Karl. I nearly got Zayyat, the Sandstorm (the last Gangrel I’d been looking for) from one of my students, but it turned out that he needed somebody other than Jalan-Aajav.
All in all, it was an enjoyable tournament. Well-attended, too; almost 30 players came to what will be CCHQ’s last hosting of a VTES tournament. Kudos to Louie, Bart, John, and Jay for a wonderful way to end the year, and to close an era in Philippine VTES play.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Merry Christmas, Methuselahs!
This Saturday will be the last time a tournament will be held at FBR Arcade, with the closing of CCHQ. I'm 100% certain to attend this one. I'm still not yet sure which deck I'll bring to the table, but I'm leaning heavily towards my !Brujah Pitchers deck. I'm out to have some fun, and throwing stuff at people (if I can manage it) will be loads of fun.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Lucky
I went to CCHQ this morning, and, on a whim, decided to get a batch of boosters, 2 Bloodlines and 2 Camarilla. In one of the Camarilla packs was a card that is much sought after: Freak Drive! And in one of the Bloodlines packs: Miriam Benyona! That with a host of useful cards for my decks: Acrobatics, Sideslip, Haven Uncovered, Amaranth, Dodge, Withering, Compress and so on. Of the four packs I got, there was very little in terms of cards that I didn't plan on using, so, all in all, it was a good decision on my part.
Benyona I'll probably trade, unless I can figure out a way to fit her into my decks. I also got Telepathic Vote Counting, which is definitely trade material, since I don't use Auspex.
Ahhh...such a wonderful acquisition.
Benyona I'll probably trade, unless I can figure out a way to fit her into my decks. I also got Telepathic Vote Counting, which is definitely trade material, since I don't use Auspex.
Ahhh...such a wonderful acquisition.
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