Trades!

Unlike in Magic, which makes a premium on selling rare cards, the major means of trading in V:TES is bartering, which is just fine for me. Instead of shelling out money for single cards, I can trade my rares for a bunch of common/uncommon cards that I need. And as any V:TES player will tell you, more often than not, the common/uncommon cards are what you'll need to build good decks. Although there are some rares which are must-haves, most really just round out the deck and help strengthen any possible weaknesses.

I was able to make two major trades over this month, one with Peter Bakija, my overseas contact, and with the Cheng-Chuas/Ong.

My trade with Peter (this one, however, includes a combined trade with Tonichi):

To Peter:
1x Life in the City
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Weighted Walking Stick
1x Unliscenced Taxicab
2x Deflection1x The Coven
1x Elysium, The Arboretum
1x Defender of the Haven
1x Revelations
1x Vox Senis
1x Jayne Jonestown

To us:
1x Mitru the Hunter
1x Enkidu
1x Potchli
2x Anima Gathering
2x Dead Hand
2x Earth Shock
1x Decapitate
1x Elemental Stoicism
1x Pack Alpha
1x Anarch Succession
1x Kingston Penetentiary
1x Tom
1x Jerry
1x Barry

To the Cheng-Chuas/Ong:
1x Blissful Agony
1x Blessing of the Name
1x Engling Fury
1x Art's Traumatic Essence

To me:
1x Pochtli
2x Zillah's Valley
4x Majesty (VtES version)
4x Speak with Spirits
6x Nose of the Hound
2x Revelations
2x Animal Magnetism
1x Iron Glare

These should help shore up my various decks, and give me ideas for building new ones.

Infernal Plague

I'm looking forward to the new storyline event coming up, the Infernal Plague: the Return of Nergal. As usual, I'll probably be using my Gangrels to attempt to be the one to take out the damned Baali. However, I may decide to use either my Brujah antitribu, or the Samedi. Ah, well. We'll see, as the tournament is still a month away. Plenty of time to get ready.

Saturday Gaming

I know posting on the blog has been sporadic, but I'd like to try for a post every week from here on.

Last Saturday was a fun session of gaming, as I got to road-test two decks.

I found my newly-built Presence deck a tad clunky, as it couldn't do much because of the heavy voting on the table. I couldn't vote effectively, and the only reason why I got so far was that Haig, who was my prey, kept on taunting Charlie, my predator, about beating up on her vamps. As a result, she helped me vote him off the table. I then bled out Tatel, whose Mata Hari deck was having some problems, prompting him to scream, "Your deck sucks!!!" at Paul every so often. I think this was a matter of Charlie choosing who would get the VPs, as Vitel and Lucinde pretty much controlled the table.

Paul was using a !Nossie deck built around Black Annis and Aeron, and was pretty effective in pummelling Charlie's voters, but it didn't have enough bleed to get through her pool wall. Also, by the time it was just Paul, Charlie and me, Paul didn't have any library left, which limited his combat options. In effect, we conceded the first game to Charlie, because it looked certain that she would get the table win.

The Auspex deck fared a little better, although I had to leave early. Placing a Blood Doll and a Cooler on Tauber facilitated playing Smiling Jack; I probably would've gotten to 5-6 counters without draining my pool. My favorite point: Remilliard blocked Ruth McGinley's Purge, even after +4 stealth, and then maneuvered away and shot her.

I got the Smiling Jack to three counters before I left.

I'm looking forward to two upcoming things: one, is the Infernal Plague storyline, and the release of the Legacy of Blood. I don't really care about the new clans, but I do care about the Samedi and Blood Brother cards. I wonder what Genina will be like? Definitely superior Obfuscate and maybe Thanatosis, but beyond that, I've a blank.

I only wish that we could find some retailer to stock the cards on a regular basis.