V:TES Thoughts

I'm Baaa-aack! (I Hope)

2008-10-23T14:07:00.002+08:00

I was told by a friend that this blog was noted by The Lasombra, even though I haven't updated it in quite a while. So, here's to trying to restart this blog.

In the past two years, I've managed to tinker and create several decks which have been enjoyable to use.

1. The Ewoks

This is a simple, straightforward deck made up of disciplineless weenies, armed to the teeth with guns and wooden stakes. With the introduction of the Twilight Rebellion set, I may add the baseball bats as well.

2. Auspex weenies

Yeah, I'm partial to the smaller caps in a big way. Several of my decks revolve around one discipline. As a result, they tend to dominate if key cards come out early, and sputter when they don't.

With the Auspex weenies, the main ousting element is the Smiling Jack, with Revolts and Awakenings to support it. The powering element is a Cooler/Blood Doll combination that helps me keep my pool a little while longer. I might add Constant Revolution to this deck, but it may make it too much of a target.

3. Setites

With Lords of the Night, I've managed to cobble together a Setite deck, although it's still in the experimental stage. I think it would be better for me to add more stealth to it; a number of times, I've been blocked without any stealth in hand. It's still a basic stealth-bleed, with the Temptations increasing the number of my bleeders.

And, so far, that's what I've been up to in the game. I'll try to post my deck lists here, or else post them in the newsgroups for better exposure.

Until then.

Rising from Torpor

2006-08-21T13:56:00.000+08:00

Yeah, it's been a while. Been too busy to play or write up something for the blog.

V:TES 3rd Edition is coming out in a few weeks, and, already, I'm wondering how I'm going to be able to order it. I'll have to order it in the U.S., and wait for somebody to bring the boxes over here.

There's a lot of goodies in the set, more so than the Legacies of Blood, whose collation is a little scattered between the Laibon and the bloodlines, or Nights of Reckoning, which I didn't even bother to get (too much tech to get used to). There are new vampires to mix in with my current crypts, and some new cards, like Helicopter, and Forger's Hammer, which figure to make some impact on my decks.

It's been a while, but I'm back in business (I hope).

Trading Galore

2006-01-03T14:47:00.000+08:00

With the advent of the new year, I've engaged in various trades, both here and abroad.

Pending with David:

To me:
Tatiana Stepanova Alastor
Don Michael Antonio Giovanni
Tumnimos
Dead Hand
3 Computer Hacking
2 Change of Target
2 Projectile
Fish
Troglodytia

To David:
Aranthebes the Immortal
Brunhilde
Smiling Jack, the Anarch (Jyhad edition)

Pending with Jerome Vauxel from France:

To me:
Free Fight

Adaptability x2

Abomination
Claiming the Body x2

Redistribution x2

Shell Game
Hermana Hambrienta Mayor (LoB)

To Jerome:

Direct Intervention

The Eldest Are Kholo

Foundation Exhibit

Cristos Mantigo

Kahina the Sorceress

Tegyrius, Vizier (Adv)

Typhonic Beast x2

Bima x2

To Giuseppi Marchetti from Italy:

To Giuseppi:
1x nephandus mage

1x soul gem of etrius

1x virolax facility

1x brinksmanship

1x bleeding the wine

To me:

2x body flare

1x j.s simmons esq

2x mask of thousand faces

2x change of target

6x animal magnetism

4x beretta 9mm

4x walk of caine

1x lucita

1x anarch secession

This just in from Tomek Kowalewski, from Poland:

To me:
path of death and the soul

brujah justicar

fee stake: Perth

jimmy dunn

To Tomek:

Brinksmanship

lazarene inquizitor

toreador grand ball

zhenga

And, finally, one from Chris Shorb, from the U.S.:

To Chris:
Earl (CE) [Vampire]
Edith Blount (CE) [Vampire]
Ellison Humboldt (CE) [Vampire]
Ilyana Ravidovich (CE) [Vampire]
Lana Butcher (CE) [Vampire]
Madame Guil (CE) [Vampire]
Virstania, The Great Mother (CE) [Vampire]
Antonio Veradas
Kurt Densch
Evan Klein
Petra Resonance

To me:
Jan Pieterzoon
Max Lowell
Kendrick
Celine Chevalier
Jalal Sayad
Aisha
Dedefra
Khalil Anvari
Kalinda
Lalitha
Mario Giovanni
Mitchell, the Headhunter
Aisling Sturbridge
Ghivran Dalaal, the Dead God
Gillespi Giovanni
Paul DiCarlo, the Alpha
Sarrasine
Samat Ramal-Ra
Sir Marriot D'Urban
Vedel Esbreno
Victoria Ash
Zahir, Hand of the Silsila
Yong-Sun, Harmonist (basic)
Larry
Ezekiel

Apparently, people were just waiting for the end of the Christmas season to trade. Almost as soon as December was over, the offers came in. I'm going to have to put all of the cards together, and send them out.

Postponed

2005-12-16T18:44:00.000+08:00

The second leg of Merry Christmas, Methuselahs was postponed to next year, making it the first Happy New Year, Methuselahs.

It's a good thing for me, because I do have to catch up on my Christmas baking. Since this is the final weekend before Christmas, I will have some work to do.

Till next year, then. :D

Merry Christmas, Methuselahs

2005-12-10T18:25:00.000+08:00

Louie and Bart prepared their year-end tournament, Merry Christmas, Methuselahs, and it was a blast. While I didn't win any games, or get any victory points for that matter, the point was to have as much fun as possible. And I did.

In the first game, it was me -> Aurelio (Lasombra) -> Troy (Malkavian bleeder) -> Razi (Harbinger Hordes) -> Louie (EuroBrujahs), with me having the first influence. That wasn't a problem, because I brought my weenie Animalism horde. And first to come out was Lisa Noble. However, Aurelio was able to hold on (he had about 8 pool when I left the table), while Louie's EuroBrujahs battered me into submission. On the other side of the table, Troy and Razi were having their own little battle, with Troy's Malkavian bleeders keeping Razi busy. I got ousted by Louie, who won the table when it timed out, having ousted me and Aurelio.

In the second game it was Louie -> Tatel (some weird Nergal deck; as he said, it was a Paul deck) -> Carding (City Gangrel) -> me -> Johann (Stanislava Purge-Rob). This table was Johann's all the way, using Stanislava to Purge unblocked through Beast Meld, and then Cameron to Graverob the torpored vampires. It didn't help that Louie's EuroBrujahs also had Dominate, which were tempting targets for Johann. Soon, Louie and Tatel were reduced to pool walls, being unable to bring out any new vampires. It was up to me and Carding to try and bleed Johann out. It didn't work. In the end, Mouse, who had Tier of Souls and superior Animalism, was facing Stanislava, Cameron, Raziya Samater (originally mine), Bobby Lemon (also originally mine), Samantha (Carding's), Theo Bell, Constanza Vinti (both Louie's), and Nergal (courtesy of Tatel). It was hopeless. I was the last one bled out, giving Johann the table sweep.

I had to leave after that, but I learned that Johann, Charlie, Karl, Louie and Mark made it to the finals, with Mark's baboy (pig) - bleeder winning the tournament.

All in all, it was fun. In addition, I also got the promo pack, which consisted of Port Authority, Barbaro Luccese, Erciyes Fragments, aaand ... Retribution and Spontaneous Power, which some of us have been searching for. Of course, the pool cost is a bit excessive, but to get whichever Discipline you need most is a tempting thought.

Next Saturday, it won't be a sanctioned tournament, but it promises to be fun, nonetheless. No crypt restriction, which means that Haig might actually try a Wynn-Enkidu deck, although since he doesn't like Enkidu because of its inferior Fortitude, we'll just have to wait and see.

Galleria Saturday

2005-11-30T07:19:00.000+08:00

Fourteen Methuselahs descended upon Robinson's Galleria last Saturday, and had a fun afternoon of games and trading.

It was a particularly good gaming day for me, as I was able to test three decks, and engage in a fair bit of trading.

My Blood Brothers deck was able to torpor two of David's minions, but I didn't have enough time to set up against Charlie's deck.

The "Tiny Toons" disciplineless deck ("We're tiny, we're toony, we're all a little loony"...) attempted to swarm Haig's Wynn deck, but, since Haig had already tweaked his deck to allow it to block, (which was something he didn't use to do), it was hard going, although I managed to Fame Vliam Andor, and torpor him.

The Auspex deck, while fun, needs a little more tweaking. The Smiling Jack didn't come out, and it was hard going trying to get past Haig, who was my prey twice today. Roy's Malkie deck behind me got me before I took Haig out.

Okay, so I didn't win any games, but it was still a fun afternoon. I was able to discover what strengths and weaknesses my decks had, and so I can tweak them in time for the next round of bleeding.

It was also a good day for trades, as I made some nice ones with Paul, Jay, Roy and Louie. I completed my Pack Alpha needs, got more Concealed Weapons (love that card), and got some more key vampires for my Celerity deck.

I think the next tournament is Merry Christmas, Methuselahs, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to go. But, I'll continue my tweaking, and be ready for bleeds galore the next time around.

Legacies of Blood

2005-11-23T15:40:00.000+08:00

I have the feeling that White Wolf want us players to try out the new clans, as the starter decks contain so many goodies.

I'm looking forward to getting my Legacies cards, but they're still scheduled to arrive in late December. Dang.

Friday at Gloria Jean's Greenhills

2005-11-08T07:57:00.000+08:00

I was able to playtest two decks last Friday, when the Methuselahs descended on Gloria Jean's in Greenhills.

The first was the "Angry Mob" disciplineless deck. While it was fun to play, it was still a little clunky. I'll be removing the Traps (it's not like 1 or 2-caps will come out of it alive anyway), and replace them with Autarkis Persecutions and another Info Highway. One of the other problems is the ratio of Concealed Weapons to weapons, and what sort of weapons I should be using. I've tweaked it, and I think this time, it'll fly.

My prey for the first game was Haig's Wynn deck, which has been retooled to be a light interceptor, but there are only so many minions Wynn can block. He finally decided to concede, because he predicted that it was only a matter of time before he got ousted anyway.

For the second game, we decided to play against the Nergal deck. This time, I used the Presence weenie voters. Apparently, the trick of ganging up on the Nergal deck works; I'm assuming the reason why Nergal is winning in the U.S. is because either someone decides to make a deal with the Nergal player, or the table is curious to see what the Nergal deck is capable of, and don't pressure it early on, to the table's detriment.

The presence voters were helped a lot by the fact that attention was spent on ousting the Nergal deck, which gave me time to tool and set up. By the time Nergal was ousted, I had about 6-7 minions out, which were hell for Dave's Giovannis and Louie's Brujahs. Louie had sacrificed himself so that we could get Nergal out, and was no match for a weenie horde on his back. We decided to stop after I had ousted Paul, Dave and Louie, so that another game could be set up. Looking back, I kind of wish that I had tried to oust Tonichi's !Nossie wall deck, just to see if I could.

After that, I let others play on the table, as I could feel the painful tendrils of V:TES Head beginning to creep up on me. I did get a bit of a good trade, trading an Absimiliard's Army to Paul for a Ventrue Justicar and about 4 Pack Alphas, and a future possibility, because Louie is looking for Govern the Unaligneds, of which I have a crapload.

I think the next game will be when the Legacies of Blood will come out, and I'll write about that sometime during the week.

Storyline!

2005-10-17T09:28:00.000+08:00

Well, the storyline's come and gone, and the Setites reign supreme in San Juan.

My Gangrel deck went clunky on me, and I couldn't do much damage, to my dismay. Both rounds saw me ousted, without any VPs. Ah, well. C'est la vie.

Karl, who had used an interesting Pander deck to get the finals, chose to use the Nergal deck. And he proceeded to bash Tatel's Ventrue bloat deck for his first target. All this with Tatel telling him, "Karl, let me remind you that I'm not your only prey." No dice. I'm pretty certain Karl was aware of Tatel's style of play, and didn't give him any breathing room to maneuver or bloat.

However, winning the table was not to be for Karl and Nergal. The rest of the players, aware of the threat the Nergal deck was, set aside their differences, and ganged up on it. Tammy's Gangrels delivered the killing blow, and, weakened by the effort, was ousted by Danio's Setites for the clan win.

Even if I didn't get to play in the finals, it was still a good day for me. I got to make a number of trades, and swelled my collection and my needs.

Trades!

2005-09-23T07:51:00.000+08:00

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

2005-09-14T07:55:00.000+08:00

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

2005-09-05T11:15:00.000+08:00

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.

August Bloodbath

2005-08-22T18:00:00.000+08:00

In the end, Gehenna overtook us all.

Danz ruled last Saturday's tournament with his nasty, nasty Gehenna deck, garnering 4 of the final table's VPs, with Haig, using his Wynn deck, getting the other VP.

It was a fun tourney, with about 22 people participating. What I liked was the variety of deck designs that were brought to the table.

Some examples:

- Danz used a Gehenna deck, with Beckett ADV as the principal minion. During the preliminary round where he was my prey, he brought out about 7 Gehenna cards; during the finals, there were about 10. The deck pretty much crippled or shut down a good number of opponents.

- Johann brought a Mata Hari uses everything deck. Mata Hari, and the player controlling her, can play cards of any clan or sect. As a result, War Ghouls, Fix the Hessian, Thaddeus Zho, et al, were on the table. I never got to face this deck, and I'm pretty thankful I didn't.

- Tonichi brought an anarch deck, with Diversion being the key card. While it didn't garner him any VPs, he was able to play deep into each round. Probably with a little tweaking, it'll be more dangerous the next time around.

- Eric Gatus, who plays Ravnos, used the new card from KMW, Fatuus Mastery, to great effect. Fatuus Mastery gains counters each turn, which can be used to pay for Chimmerstry cards.

- Dante used a Gargoyle swarm, with the Create Gargoyle card. During the third round, about 19 of his Gargoyles had taken one for the team, and either went into torpor, or were burned.

Me? I used my Animalism swarm, which did pretty well, given the circumstances. I got one table win, and 4 VPs. I'm also pretty glad I didn't make the finals in this one; the other decks were just too nasty.

I also got some key cards in trades. Ossian and the Sword of Troile I got for collection purposes, and I increased my hoards of Crows, Majesties, KRCs and Computer Hacks.

The first round was a little weird for me. It started with Eerie (2-cap weenie voters)->Danio (Setite tempters) ->Charlie (!Ventrue wall)->me (Swarm). Since I played weenies, two things worked in my favor: one, my information highway came out in my starting hand, and Calebros, the Martyr in my starting crypt, which meant he came out immediately. This was detrimental to Eerie, who was playing a disciplineless 2-cap voting deck. Having a prince out early meant that he couldn't get his 2-caps to vote successfully, and having only 2-caps meant that I whaled on them. Charlie said that I was channelling my sire (Haig) because no less than 5-6 of Eerie's minions lay in torpor. I disposed of him easily enough, and then ran into problems with Danio and his Temptations. I was gone pretty quickly after (no wonder Charlie warned me not to get the 1st VP), and Danio took the table.

The second round saw me with the lucky hand, crypt, and seating position (Info Highway, Calebros and 4th player). Razi (Nossie Justicar vote) ->Pupay (Gangrel/!Gangrel combat) -> Louie (Brujah vote) -> me. Razi took care of Pupay, and my swarm just bled through Razi and Louie to give me the table win.

The third round was a mass of errors. I had Danz for my prey, and his Gehenna cards just screwed the entire table. My blunder? I kept on forgetting to use the New Inquisition to ping Beckett ADV and eventually send him to torpor. If I had gotten to diablerize Beckett ADV, Danz would be left with a small or no hand, as he had about 7-8 Gehenna cards on the table, with several of them carrying the "cannot replace" text. Dang. C'est la vie.

All things said, I'm kind of glad not to have made the final table; the decks that made it (Danz, Dante, Haig, Neil, and Erick) were all quite nasty, and this was without Johann's Mata Hari deck, since he had to leave before the finals. I guess I was a bit psyched out by the nastiness, and I wasn't sure if the Swarm could've gotten anything. Ah well.

It was a great tourney, and, while it'll be some time before I host another game at my house, I look forward to the next bloodbath.

Tourney!

2005-08-17T06:50:00.000+08:00

It's nice that the Cheng-Chuas timed their big VTES sale with the coming tournament this Saturday. From them I was able to aquire 10 Camarilla, 5 Gehenna, 5 Black Hand, and 8 Anarch packs, along with a Malkavian and Gangs starter, as well as 3 original VTES starter decks. As a result, I now have some of the cards I'd been looking for, as well as sufficient stock for trade bait.

My quandary with the tournament remains: what deck to use? Do I go for the tried and tested, or do I take all the new cards I've gotten, and build something experimental, something that will jolt players? Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Ravnos..feh

2005-05-25T07:44:00.000+08:00

If there's one clan or deck I truly hate to face, it's the Ravnos. Not the Ventrue, nor the stealth bleeders. The Ravnos.

Why? Two cards: Sensory Deprivation and Illusions of the Kindred.

Sensory Deprivation
Discipline: Chimerstry
Blood: 3
Card Text:
(D) Burn any retainer or put this card on an ally. The minion with this card does not untap as normal during the untap phase as long as the acting vampire remains in play.
As above, but put this card on any vampire in play

Illusions of the Kindred
Discipline: Chimerstry
Card Text:
Only usable before range is determined.Combat ends. Move a vampire from the bottom of your crypt to your ready region. He or she does not contest any other vampires or titles in play. The vampire has an amount of blood equal to half of his or her capacity (round down). Combat begins between the vampire and the opposing minion. Remove the vampire from the game at the end of combat.
As above, but the vampire has an amount of blood equal to his or her capacity.

I have not yet found a way to counter these cards effectively. Sensory Deprivation can only be removed by burning the vampire who did it, and...waitaminit, my minion cannot untap, but if I can get him untapped, then he can do something.

When I do try to take down the vampire who caused the Deprivation, he simply throws down Illusions, and he's safe.

I simply have to find a way around these annoying cards.

Acquisitions

2005-04-27T09:22:00.000+08:00

It's been a very busy April, in terms of acquiring new cards. If I wasn't trading for them, I was buying them.

Tonichi arrived mid-April, and brought home with him my 3 KMW decks (!Gangrel, Alastor, Anathema), !Malkavian, and a Brujah deck.

I did some major trading/buying with Charlie, and got a whole load of stuff. The notables: 8 Calls of the Hungry Dead, 14 Computer Hacks (love that card!), 12 Shambling Hordes, 1 Freak Drive (VTES!), Sengir Dagger, 3-4 Eagle Sights, Tansu Bekir, Watenda, Persia, and Ramona.

From Roy Caamud, I got Fatima, Tansu, and Beckett, as well as a Psyche!, and about 8 Forced Awakenings.

My last major acquisition plan for the summer (I hope) will be getting some packs/decks from Katya and Tin, and I'll be set (somewhat), having enough cards to build the decks I've been envisioning.

Now if only I can get more Freak Drives ...

April Tourney

2005-04-27T09:14:00.000+08:00

The April 2 tourney saw 10 people come over to Kensai's, 12 if you count Kensai and Dave B., who only played a round each. The other players were myself, Martin, Haig, Charlie, Jay, Danz, David Pimentel, and three of the new players (I guess Dante's brood): Eric, Eerie and Ayeen. Except for Eric, David B. and Kensai, I saw the other decks used:

Me - Animalism anarch weenies
Martin - Ravnos Embraces
Haig - Potence weenies
Charlie - Gangrel dominate-bleed/bounce
Jay - Giovanni bleed
David - !Nossies
Danz - Harbinger Slaughterhouses
Eerie - Toreador voters
Ayeen - Nossies

My first round was horrendous, as I got ousted without getting a VP. I got 3 in the second round, and my first GW in a sanctioned tourney. I got Jay in the third round for a 4th VP, and a place in the finals.

Finals table:Haig ---> Eerie --> Martin --> Ayeen --> me (four transfers, baby! Boo-yah!)

It was apparent that the weenies were just too much. Eerie, who was sandwiched by Haig and Martin, was able to fend off Haig's Mongols, but couldn't break past Martin's numerous Embraces. Ayeen had decided to bring out the biggest Nossie, Harrod, promptly had him Sensory'd by Martin, and was unable to do anything else; apparently, she had packed 3 Minion Taps in her deck, but none of them were coming out. She was reduced to pleading with the rest of us to burn Khalil Ravana, the Sensory's source. Haig wanted to help, but had to deal with Eerie and me.

With Ayeen safely walling Martin, I was free to harass Haig, who, fortunately, does not wake and block. Since he was attacking Eerie, and torporing some of my vamps, the rest of the swarm got through and bled him out. By this time, Ayeen was gone, and Martin played the Week of Nightmares, so that finished me off. He then dispatched Eerie a few minutes later for the finals win.

So, the finals ranking (as far as I can remember) was:
1st - Martin
2nd - Me
3rd - Ayeen
4th - Eerie
5th - Haig

Haig and I went over my Animalism deck and noted two things: one, the anarch component was clunky and didn't work well enough to justify its inclusion in the deck, and two, the deck had no means of controlling the predator. So we removed the anarch component, and added some rush cards to protect my back. Haven't tried it out yet, but I hope to the next time I play.

Pictures from the House Game last January

2005-03-17T07:41:00.000+08:00

The cast: (kneeling, from left) Razi, Louis and me. (standing, from left) David, Arthur, John, Bart, Pepper, Paul, Jay, Tatel, Martin, Charlie, and Haig. (missing; had to leave early) Danz and Troy

2005-03-17T07:39:00.000+08:00

A closer look at the game

2005-03-17T07:38:00.000+08:00

This was one of the last games in the evening.

Trades

2005-03-08T08:06:00.000+08:00

I did another trade with David for a good amount of stuff.

What I gave David:

1 Bond with the Mountain
1 Taste of Vitae
1 Greta Kircher
1 Demonstration
2 Kine Resources Contested
2 Restoration
1 Cardinal Benediction
1 Telepathic Vote Counting

What I got:

2 Raptors
2 Behind You!
2 Anarch Revolts
Cock Robin
Zayyat, the Sandstorm
2 Rothschreck
2 Skins of Night
among others

With the KMW tourney coming up in April, I'm going to need some extra resources.

Kindred Most Wanted goodness

2005-02-23T13:55:00.001+08:00

Yesterday, I visited the V:TES Brazil site, and found that it contained the spoiler card lists for the newest expansion, Kindred Most Wanted (KMW). I downloaded each list and copied/pasted them to Word for reformatting. As I reformatted the lists, I skimmed through them, trying to get a feel of the set.

It was breathtaking.

Several concepts will be greatly affected:

1. Anson master madness - with the nerfing of Anarch Revolt, it will become more difficult for the Master deck to work. Oh, I'm sure it'll still be dangerous, but with minions going anarch to avoid getting hit, it will be less of a threat. In fact, it might be more painful for the user than for the rest of the table.

2. Immortal Grapple - with the introduction of Disengage, a disciplineless card which cancels Grapples, the once-feared Wynn deck will have to think of other strategies to remain viable. One possibility: Earthshock, which causes ranged undodgeable damage to all without Flight. And, really, how many actually play Gargoyles?

At the same time, I don't think Methuselahs will be packing many Disengages, unless they're anticipating playing a heavy Grapple-combat environment. But Grapple players will be more cautious and selective of their use of their key card.

3. Frenzy - this will be a little more difficult to use, but not by much. The hoser card, Tranquility, requires Dominate for it to work, so I guess those using Drawing Out the Beast (myself included) need not be too concerned.

4. More power to the Assamites

5. The Giovanni now have a better Necromancy strike than Torment the Soul.

The problem with defensive strategy players (vote cancellation, hosers, etc.) is that because of their focus on one strategy, they might leave themselves wide open or unable to react to other types of decks.

The new set is awesome in its scope, as it attempts to compel players to try out alternative concepts.

I particularly like the new !Gangrel. Enkidu and Mithru rock, and with Bay and Howl, it might be easier to get 11-cap Enkidu the Noah into play.

Other cards that have gotten my attention: Pack Alpha (Retainer), Forced March (cel-for Freak Drive), Earthshock, Shared Strength, Dead Hand, Heart of the City, Sonar (Protean has intercept!), Leathery Hide (damage prevention for !Gangrel), Anarch Secession, Samuel Haight, From a Sinking Ship, Not to Be, the trophies, and Disengage.

Vampires: aside from the !Gangrel (I want 'em all) Count Germaine ADV, Tariq the Silent ADV, Benedict Giovanni, Echo, Rabbat the Sewer Goddess, and Sonja Blue.

And, except for the Baali deck, I really would like to collect the other three preconstructed decks in the set.

What a lovely, lovely set.

Continuing the concepts

2005-02-17T10:07:00.000+08:00

I have probably been struck with weenie fever. After the Auspex weenie, I am now looking into Obfuscate and Fortitude weenie decks. I can't say for sure why, but maybe I enjoy the image of swarming hordes overwhelming the opponent.

Trading Galore

2005-02-07T15:09:00.000+08:00

I just recently completed another trade overseas, with the same person I traded with the last time.

Here's what I sent:

Ali Kar
Wolf Valentine
4 Songs of the Distant Vitae
2 Free Stakes Rant
Fee Stake: Los Angeles

This is what I'm getting:

2x Dr. Streck
1x Zoe (DS)
2x Truman
3x Telepathic Misdirection (2x VTES, 1xJyhad)
3x Precognition (Sabbat)
1x Eagle's Sight (Jyhad)
4x Walks of Caine
2x Carrion Crows

With that trade completed, that should round out my Auspex weenies, and my Blood Brother needs.

Gaming weekend

2005-01-30T14:36:00.000+08:00

Not a bad day of VTES.

After talking with Haig and Charlie about using my house as a gaming place yesterday afternoon, I readily accepted, it having been too long since I’d played a good game.

About 15 players made it. And it was a fun-filled afternoon of playing and trading VTES.

My Animalism weenie worked like a charm blasting through with the help of Anarch Revolt, both mine and Danz’. In the second game I used it, it knocked out Arthur before Menele could do damage, and I had too many minions out for Haig and Charlie to take care of. What was nice about the second game was that I didn’t need the Revolt (only one came out), and I didn’t need Danz’ assistance. So, my weenie deck is heading for sleevehood.

The City Gangrel remains clunky, as Ellen Fence controlled the predator, but got Sensory Dep’d by Martin’s Ivan Kreyenko. With Tatel coming out with Gehenna cards left and right, it became difficult to maneuver.

After the three games I played, my head started to swim a little, so I rested, and made some wonderful trades.

From Paul: 3 Immortal Grapples, 6 Tastes of Vitae, and the Hungry Coyote, for Call the Great Beast, Path of Evil Revelations, and Barbaro Luchese

From Troy: 4 Telepathic Misdirections, 2 Precognitions, 1 Anarch Revolt, and Cock Robin for 2nd Tradition, 4th Tradition, and Obedience

From Arthur: Zayyat, the Sandstorm for Count Germaine

Add that to the 5 Immortal Grapples, 2 Iron Glares, 2 Arms Dealers, 1 Psyche!, Jacko, Maxwell, and 1 Hand of Conrad I bought/traded from David the other day, it’s been a very productive two days of trading.

The last of the players left at about 10 pm, tired and happy at the end of the day.

Addendum: My sister just planed in from the US today, and she was able to get me a copy of the Game Trade magazine with the Echo card ... for free! Happy days!