On a Personal Note

I didn't realize that my last post on this blog before the previous one was five years ago.

Despite the game's going out of print in 2010, I've remained relatively active in the Manila VTES games. I competed in the local legs of the Asian Continental Championships: in 2011, in 2014 (Iloilo), and last year. Whenever I could, I would join the local games, first at Starbucks Tomas Morato, then Coco, just off T. Morato, and, then, finally, at a friend's house.

Late last year, though, I had a bit of a breakthrough, as I found two of my co-teachers who were interested in learning the games. This allowed me to introduce new players into the game, and, at the same time, form a gaming group at work (to play after hours, of course). By doing so, I rediscovered the thrill of teaching new players the game that I love.

At the same time, with new cards coming out, I started taking another look at my collection, and started getting ideas for new decks. I've also begun tweaking existing decks, by reconfiguring what they do; I'll probably be posting the deck lists in this blog.

And this blog. With the game coming back into print last year, I've been thinking of writing in the blog again, and at a more regular pace.

Not that I'm an expert at the game, not by a long shot. With the game's complexity, and having seen other players build decks that I wouldn't have imagined, I still have a long way to go in mastering this game. By writing in this blog again, I hope to make my thoughts more concrete, sort of a workbook for my ideas for decks and the game.

Rising From Torpor

When V:TES went out of print eight years ago, it was a sad day for many of us who had enjoyed the game.

However, happily, players did not take the game's apparent demise sitting down. Despite the game going out of print, players from around the globe kept the game alive, and continued to hold tournaments, such as the Asian Continental Championships (ACC) and the European Championships (EC).
 
During the game's hiatus, the Vampire Elder Kindred Network (VEKN), the game's governing body, with the help of dedicated players, came out with several PDF card sets, wherein players could download the files, print them out, and, after sleeving them with valid VTES cards, players could use them in tournament play.

Then, during the EC tournament in Berlin in 2017, a 100-card anthology set, made up of popular cards, as well as cards from the PDF sets, was distributed to participants. This was a milestone, since it marked the first time new cards were printed ever since the game went down in 2010. What was even more exciting was that there were leftover anthology sets available, and players such as myself snapped them up.

Thanks to the efforts of Hugh Angseeing and others, the game came back in a big way last year with the formation of Black Chantry Productions, which now oversees the publication of the game. To start of the game's resurrection, the company came out with several reprint sets of the most recent expansions, Keepers of Tradition and Heirs to the Blood, followed by a new set for the bloodlines, Lost Kindred.

Then, late last year, it announced that it would be coming out with preconstructed decks, focusing on four clans of the Sabbat:

• Parliament of Shadows, featuring the Lasombra;
• Den of Fiends, featuring the Tzimisce;
• Libertine Ball, featuring the Toreador antitribu (!Tor), and
• Pact with the Nephandi, featuring the Tremere antitribu (!Tre).

The release of the deck lists caused some consternation among veteran players, because of the number of previously rare and expensive cards, such as The Embrace and Nephandus (Mage), in the decks. The fact that there are 9 Embraces in the !Tor deck, and 8 Nephandi in the !Tre deck is sure to bring the individual card prices of these cards way down.

Still, the major difference between the Black Chantry decks and previous "starter" decks is that the new decks are more playable out of the box. Unlike the older starter decks, which needed several (to many) cards to be added for them to be competitive, the new decks appear to have been designed to stand up and hold their own in standard play.

With the release of the new decks this month, and with the promise of deck designs for new players in the making from Black Chantry, it's an exciting time to come back to, or get into, Vampire: the Eternal Struggle.