V:TES Thoughts

MCM 2011: Auspex Weenies

2012-01-02T09:11:00.001+08:00

Deck Name : Auspex Weenies
Author : Eric Tomas
Description : Played this deck at Merry Christmas Methuselahs 2011, and got 4 VPs in two rounds; I couldn't stay for the final rounds. The deck basically works like the Cock Robin deck, but this time, AUS weenies protect the Smiling Jack, using the guns to fend off attackers. It'll probably not stand up to a dedicated combat deck, but, then again, aside from Haig, few of us are that dedicated to combat. :D

Crypt [13 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 4 average: 2.84615
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1x Idalia, Prophet of     4 AUS dem       !Malkavian:2
1x Maldavis               4 AUS for pre   Caitiff:3
1x Michael Luther         4 aus pre       Toreador:3
1x Remilliard, Devout     4 AUS pre       !Toreador:2
1x Richard Tauber, Ay     4 AUS tha       !Tremere:2
1x Isabel de Leon         3 AUS           Toreador:2
1x Martin Franckel        3 AUS tha       Tremere:3
1x Zoe                    3 AUS cel obf   Malkavian:2
1x Almiro Suarez          2 aus           Tremere:3
1x Nicholas Chang         2 aus           !Toreador:3
1x Piotr Andreikov        2 aus           Tzimisce:3
1x Feo Ramos              1 aus           Pander:3
1x Franciscus             1 aus           Caitiff:2

Library [90 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------

Action [2]
1x Anima Gathering
1x Revelations

Combat [10]
4x Concealed Weapon
6x Read Intentions

Equipment [15]
3x .44 Magnum
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Cooler
3x Leather Jacket
5x Saturday-Night Special
2x Sport Bike

Master [18]
2x Auspex
1x Direct Intervention
1x Golconda: Inner Peace
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
1x Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper, The
3x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
1x Sudden Reversal
5x Vessel
1x WMRH Talk Radio

Reaction [44]
3x Eagle's Sight
4x Enhanced Senses
4x Eyes of Argus
12x Forced Awakening
2x My Enemy's Enemy
6x Precognition
4x Spirit's Touch
9x Telepathic Misdirection

Retainer [1]
1x Mr. Winthrop

My 2011 ACC Deck: Cock Robin Wall

2011-10-11T09:27:00.001+08:00

Here's the deck I used in the 2011 ACC. In retrospect, I should have made adjustments for more forward movement.

Deck Name : Cock Robin's Wall
Author : Eric Tomas
Description :
Finalist deck at the 2011 ACC

Crypt [13 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 10 average: 7.46154
------------------------------------------------------------

4x Cock Robin 10 ANI OBF POT aus for justicar Nosferatu:3
2x Nikolaus Vermeulen 7 POT ani for obf prince Nosferatu:2
2x Teresita, The Godm 7 ANI OBF POT for !Nosferatu:3
2x Calebros, The Mart 5 ANI obf pot prince Nosferatu:2
1x Ferox, The Rock Lo 7 FOR POT VIS ani Gargoyle:2
1x Gerard Rafin 6 OBF POT ani for Nosferatu:3
1x Sundown 6 ANI POT obf pre Nosferatu:3

Library [90 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------

Action [2]
2x Army of Rats

Ally [2]
2x Procurer

Combat [49]
6x Carrion Crows
2x Disarm
2x Drawing Out the Beast
5x Immortal Grapple
6x Rolling with the Punches
4x Skin of Rock
2x Soak
4x Street Cred
3x Superior Mettle
6x Taste of Vitae
2x Thrown Sewer Lid
7x Torn Signpost

Master [17]
3x Fortitude
1x Golconda: Inner Peace
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack, The
1x Slum Hunting Ground
3x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
1x Sudden Reversal
6x Vessel

Reaction [14]
4x Forced Awakening
2x On the Qui Vive
8x Second Tradition: Domain

Retainer [6]
6x Raven Spy

Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Mon Oct 10 09:18:42 2011]

2011 ACC

2011-10-11T09:05:00.003+08:00

I didn't realize it's been three years since I've written anything in this blog. I didn't even write anything about White Wolf ending production on the game last year.

At any rate, the game itself remains alive, as dedicated players continue to gather and play.

Last Sunday, for instance, I managed to play in the Asian Continental Championships (ACC), held at Schizo Cafe along Katipunan Ave. in Quezon City.

Since I knew that parking in that area was a premium, I decided to go early, only to find out that the cafe was still closed; it would open near 9 am.

When it opened, the players arrived in trickles, and, soon, it was time to game.

I used a version of the deck I played in the qualifier tournament, a intercepting deck with Cock Robin the Nosferatu justicar as the central vampire.

In the first round, I managed to get a game win (GW) and 3 victory points (VP), even though Cock Robin didn't come out. In that table, I managed to hold the line with Teresita, Nikolaus Vermeulen, Calebros the Martyr, and Sundown, as my Smiling Jack did the work.

In the second round, I got two more VPs, and was the last man standing, as Singaporean Le Fei took out the other three Meths using her Samedi deck.

The third round went pretty quickly, as Gee Hwan (did I get the spelling right?) brought a stealth dom bleeder, and took out the table early enough for us to rest up for the finals. I managed to bring out the Smiling Jack, but it wasn't able to put a dent into the speed of the bleeding Gee brought to the table.

My GW and 5 VPs got me onto the table, along with Karl, Troy, Gee Hwan, and defending champion Stephen. As luck would have it, the seating placed squarely in front of Gee Hwan, which basically ended any chance for me to get started. Sure enough, while I got Teresita out, Gee had gotten me down to 5 pool in 5 minutes.

Unfortunately for him, the sheer brutality of the bleed spurred the other Meths to act, as both Stephen and Troy attacked Gee's minions after what happened to me. It was enough to weaken Gee for Karl's bleeding, making Gee the first player off the table. Since I was too weakened to do anything, Gee's exit was quickly followed by mine. Stephen managed to hold off Karl in the end game in order to defend his title.

All in all, it was a good day for playing V:TES. My deck worked fairly well, and I got a whole load of prizes for making it to the finals table. I also made a number of new friends among the Singaporeans and Japanese who came over, which is, for me, one of the key reasons for playing.

The Ateneo was well-represented in the ACC finals, since all of the Filipinos in the finals (Karl, a college history professor, myself, a teacher, and Troy, an alumnus) were connected one way or the other to the school.

Even though V:TES is no longer being produced, I'm hoping that the ACC helped revitalize the game here in the Philippines, at least among those of us who do play. I'm looking forward to the next tournament.

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!

Current concepts

2005-01-27T09:16:00.000+08:00

I've been tinkering around with several concepts in my head the past few weeks.

1. Auspex weenie - Prince Toad used such a deck last year at a tourney, and it was scary. I've slowly been accumulating cards in order to build a fascimile of the deck he used, and I think I'm just a few Telepathic Misdirections away from completing it.

2. cel obf pot Combat - It occured to me that several vampire share these disciplines, and that I could use the Shadow Feint (I love this card) to great effect. One possible way to go is to Shadow Feint at superior (First Strike, undodgeable), Disguise a Flamethrower or some other painful weapon, and immediately torpor the opposing minion. Or, use the Shadow Feint to get my Potence strikes through. Key vampires for me would be Tayshawn Kearns, Antonio Veradas, Count Germaine, and Dr. Streck. And, checking the newsgroups, apparently one of the new vamps, Echo (Nosferatu), a 7-cap, has all three disciplines at superior. I'm going to be watching out for him.

2004-12-24T23:55:00.000+08:00

"Sleigh bells ring, are you list'ning..."

Scenes from Merry Christmas, Methuselahs

2004-12-23T09:08:00.000+08:00

Louie looks like he's pleased about something. From left: new player (please identify), Bart's brother (Forgot the name, sorry), Louie and Danz

2004-12-23T08:57:00.000+08:00

Point of contention? From left: Dave, Karl, Atong, Neil (hiding under the cap), some player (please identify, anyone?), and Aurelio

2004-12-23T08:55:00.000+08:00

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.

2004-12-23T08:46:00.000+08:00

Kensai (upper left), about to make his play. From top: Jay, Eyong, Johann, and Haig

2004-12-23T08:44:00.000+08:00

Karl, with two of the MCM organizers, Bart and Louie.

2004-12-23T08:43:00.000+08:00

Scenes from CCHQ. From left: Geolette, Aurelio, Johann, Tin, and Toad

2004-12-23T08:42:00.000+08:00

Waiting for their turn... (Facing the camera, from left: Jay and Paolo. In the rear, from left: Aurelio, Kensai, and Haig)

2004-12-23T07:52:00.001+08:00

A shot of the Vampire poster in CCHQ

2004-12-23T07:52:00.000+08:00

Pickup game before the tournament. In foreround, backs to the camera, from left: John and Toad. In background, from left: Karl, Mark and Neil (covered by Toad)

Decks/Concepts I Will Never Play

2004-12-23T07:15:00.000+08:00

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.

MCM Results

2004-12-19T13:45:00.000+08:00

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.

Merry Christmas, Methuselahs!

2004-12-15T07:23:00.000+08:00

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.

Lucky

2004-12-10T13:20:00.000+08:00

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.

Magic Thoughts (Insert)

2004-11-30T11:32:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, I was playing Magic once more with my student during a class night. And I was getting my ass kicked royally. Oh, once in a while, I'd get my student, but the newer decks are just too fast and too powerful for my old retreads.

One win was sweet, though.

I had 2 Crusades out for my white weenies, and I had about 5 creatures out. My student had more than 10 creatures, but he was down to 7 life. He decided to attack while all of my creatures were tapped out, and he would've gotten me, if it weren't for the fact that I had a Martyrdom in my hand, which can redirect the damage to just one creature. Sooo, I shouted, "Take one for the team!" and Martyred my Scarred Veteran. My student was tapped out, and my soldiers, pumped up to 3/3, went storming in for the win.

I only play a few times a year now, but I still enjoy the occasional Magic battle.

Three Rounds of Fun

2004-11-16T11:37:00.000+08:00

Had some of the older players over at the house yesterday, and we had three games of really exciting VTES play.

Some of the highlights:

P's Gehenna/Beckett deck was an awesome creation. I only wish I could try something like it. By the time he won (or was it C?), six (6) Gehenna events were in play, and they put a big hurt on my Animalism weenie deck.

Apparently, Big J is well-known for his bleeding tendencies, as it was with mild shock that we realized that his deck could also fight.

C and I fought to the bitter end in the third game, with her Tremere "Mosquito Coast" version holding my !Brujah pitchers at bay. But, in the final count, I had just too many minions for her to handle, and, after burning Merrill Molitor, my pitchers cleared the way for me to win. By the time we were through, both of us only had less than a fourth of our library left.

It's been a while since I've played a good game, and, yesterday, I was blessed with three such games. I was able to observe different and varied strategies at work, and got a better view of how to manage the table and set it up.

I also learned the capabilities and weaknesses of three of my decks: City Gangrel, Animalism weenie, and !Brujah pitchers. By tweaking them, I should be able to come up with improvements, to be ready for the next round of bleeding.

Trades

2004-11-04T16:02:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I've engineered a good trade. Yesterday I came through with the following cards: Tension in the Ranks (great for combat torpor), Raptor (my third one), Taste of Vitae (for my !Brujahs), Count Germaine, Absimilard's Army, Sela ADV, and Day Operation. I had to give up my Thoughts Betrayed, along with some Thaumaturgy and Auspex combat cards, but all in all, it was worth it.

Today, I got more Crows (2), and Stings (4), along with a Gestalt from grandsire C. I've also set aside an Intimidation and an Adaptability for future considerations.

I miss sitting at the table and going to battle. I hope I get another opportunity soon.

Infernal Plague Results

2004-10-26T06:57:00.000+08:00

I made it to the final table two weeks ago at the Infernal Plague storyline event, my second finals table at a storyline tourney. Now if only my luck can extend to the sanctioned tournaments...

Anyway, I used my Gangrel combat and bleed, remodified with the Dragonbound event card. In the first round, my prey, R, served me and L up to my predator, which was one of the weirder experiences I've had in tournaments.

In the second round, I was luckier. My Dragonbound came out pretty early, so I was able to torpor L's vampires, and take him out. A Fame on one of D's vamps sealed his fate, and I took the table, which was enough to get me into the finals.

I lasted approximately 3-4 minutes in the finals table, thanks in large part to J's 5 Anarch Revolts. That, and I had made a colossal blunder. Instead of Sophia Watson and Gustavo Morales, I elected to bring out Brunhilde and Omaya. The larger vampires depleted my pool too quickly, and I fell to the infernalists. The rest of the finals match found me testing my City Gangrel deck with the other players.

The Infernal Plague

2004-10-18T13:46:00.000+08:00

Well, I made it to the final table at the Infernal Plague, only to last a little more than ten minutes, as 5 Anarch Revolts did me in. I also made a tactical error by bringing out Brunhilde first. I should have brought out Gustavo Morales instead, so as to manage my pool more wisely. I made a second blunder by bringing out Omaya in the hopes that she would be able to do something. Ah, well. c'est la vie.

Strange Bedfellows

2004-10-02T13:50:00.000+08:00

As I write this, the Strange Bedfellows tourney is under way at CCHQ. I would've liked to have participated, but family comes first. Besides, there's still the Infernal Plague storyline tournament two Saturdays from now, and I was able to free up time to be able to join it.

In Strange Bedfellows, players compete in teams, which are created right there and then. In short, the players have no idea who they're going to be paired up with. I've never played this format, so I'm not able to see how it works out.

Ready for Testing

2004-09-17T01:09:00.000+08:00

Finally got the pieces of the City Gangrel deck together. It's a prototype, and rather clunky, so I'll probably give it a once over before I try it out on others.

I also refurbished my Animalism weenie deck. Let's see if my plan works. Heheheh.

Tournament Memory # 3

2004-09-15T13:58:00.000+08:00

During the Black Hand prerelease, my !Nossie deck was going after Ca's !Malkie deck. One fight involved one of my vamps (I forget which) against his Escaped Mental Patient.

I maneuver away with Behind You!

Ca: That's good. Now if you had a Thrown Gate...

I threw a Sewer Lid, killing the Patient.

Ca: (pause) That's even better.

Tournament Memory # 2

2004-09-15T06:47:00.000+08:00

During the Merry Christmas, Methuselahs tourney last December, I found myself using my !Nossie pitch deck. My prey, Cl, was using a Ventrue weenie vote deck, and his prey Ca was using !Brujah combat. Cl was screwed. I had Kendrick out, who picks out and discards prey's political cards, and Ca was beating the crap out of Cl. Poor Cl was reduced to singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from Monty Python's "Life of Brian." It must've worked, because he did better in the later rounds, and I think he won the tourney.

Go figure.

Tournament Memory # 1

2004-09-14T22:17:00.000+08:00

The very first tournament I played was the Lambach's Legions storyline tourney. In the first round, I got eliminated by my prey. Ta was playing Gangrel stealth-bleed, and tried to bleed his prey for 4. His prey Deflected it to his prey, who promptly Telepathic Misdirected it to me, and how much pool did I have left? 4, and I can't recall why, but I couldn't block the bleed, so that was it for me on that table.

Infernal Plague

2004-09-14T22:06:00.000+08:00

News about the upcoming storyline tournament has been released!

http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/index.php?line=plague

It has me wondering if I'm game enough to try playing infernalists this time around; the pool management is going to be tough.

Maybe I can try out the City Gangrel deck for the tournament.

Card Acquisitions

2004-09-10T20:43:00.000+08:00

It was a good day to buy cards. It started in CCHQ, when I picked up the cards I bought from K. At the same time, I also got a pack of Bloodlines. The key cards in the pack were Reg Driscoll, which I had been looking for, Create Gargoyle, which I can trade away, and Dirty Contract, a Samedi card.

In the evening, when I went to SM City, I passed by Comic Quest and got 2 packs of Gehenna. And, lo and behold! I finally got my copies of Beckett Advanced, as each pack had one. And Theo Bell Advanced, as well as another Desert Eagle.

I can stop buying now, until the next expansion, as I can trade for the other cards that I need.

Hoody-hoo!

Upcoming Starter Decks

2004-09-07T06:44:00.000+08:00

White Wolf has released a preview of what to expect from the upcoming Kindred Most Wanted in February. Four starter decks will be released: the Anathema, which will probably contain vampire who have angered the Camarilla one way or the other, the Alastors, which consist of the archons who make it their job to hunt down Anathema, and two clan-based decks, the Gangrel antitribu, and the Baali.

I'm really hoping to score with the Gangrel antitribu deck. Hopefully, it will be City Gangrel, which is a clan I'm planning to experiment with. What's ironic is that I probably now have all the necessary pieces to build the deck, so I'm not sure what's going to come out in the starter.

I'm puzzled at the choice of the Baali, considering how difficult being infernal is. Imagine having to spend one pool in order to untap the infernal minion. Reading the newsgroups, I'm of the school of thought that the deck will contain cards which will minimize the infernal quality of the vampires. Because of this, I've also decided to keep the Call the Great Beast for now. Who knows? Maybe I can engineer a better trade once people start playing the Baali. Or, on the other hand, if I get the Baali starter in the prerelease, I can incorporate the card into the deck.

Sorting Out One's Collection

2004-09-07T01:57:00.000+08:00

I just finished sorting out my collection a while ago. I didn't realize it would be so difficult. I also didn't realize that I had accumulated so many cards.

What I did was to divide them first according to card type (master, action, combat, etc.), and then sort them out according to the cards which I intended to use, and the cards for which I hadn't any use at the moment. The cards which I planned to use, I placed into my plastic carrying case, and the ones I didn't, into card boxes stored in an old cellphone box. This way, I don't have to be carrying around so many cards with me when I go to play. And, with the current arrangement, I can build the decks I need fairly quickly. In theory, of course. I'll try it out after this hectic month.

Why I Don't Play Dominate

2004-09-01T08:19:00.000+08:00

Of all of the disciplines available in VTES, the one discipline I disdain to use and hate to face is Dominate. While I concede that it's probably the most versatile discipline, and can be very painful for opponents, I dislike the sheer cheesiness of it. One can prevent opponents from attacking, or blocking, through cards like Seduction, The Sleeping Mind and Obedience and Dominate bleed modifiers such as Conditioning and Govern the Unaligned are so obscene. As one player puts it, Dominate is used for baboy bleeding. It's too easy to use, I think, and I prefer challenges. I'm sure other players would disagree with my opinion, but that's just me.

Building Decks

2004-08-30T01:19:00.000+08:00

What I like about clans which people don't use often is the surprise factor, as players (especially newer ones) are unprepared for the possibilities.

What I'm trying to build now is a City Gangrel deck. Nothing fancy: stealth bleeding, with aggro-poke combat.

And the Shadow Feint, which gives First Strike, undodgeable. What a lovely card. Throw in the Path of the Feral Heart, so Protean costs 1 less blood, and the City Gangrel can be a dangerous concept to use.

The other concept I'm trying to build are the Blood Brothers, Torrance Circle. I'm lagging there, mainly because, while I think I have the necessary library requirements, I don't have the necessary vampires to build the crypt. So far, I only have 2 Marks and 1 Ilse, so it's still a ways off from being built. But I'll get there soon enough, and the bleeding and combat that will ensue will be glorious.

City Gangrel!

2004-08-24T06:30:00.000+08:00

I rarely buy VTES single cards, mainly because I find it handier to trade 'em. But when I can't find the right trade, I'll settle for buying the cards if the price is right.

One such card is Shadow Feint, which I'm told, can be had if I can find the right trader. But, I haven't found that person yet. Luckily, one player is selling his cards, and Shadow Feint is one of them.

With the Shadow Feint, and the Gangrel Conspiracy, I'm inching closer to completing the City Gangrel deck I have in mind.

Trouble with Trading

2004-08-23T22:02:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, the trouble with trading a card is that a few months later, when I'm building a new deck, I find that the card I had traded was essential to building the current deck. Gah.

For example, right now, I'm intrigued by the possibility of using the Blood Brothers. Unfortunately, they're built for close Potence combat, and I wound up trading away two of the key cards for that type, Torn Signpost and Immortal Grapple. Now, what do I do? Ah, well, I guess I'll have to go searching for more of them dang cards. Lucky thing I've been stocking on trade bait. Now, all I have to do is find the right trader...

Lucky Me

2004-08-14T19:08:00.000+08:00

I've been having some luck at choosing packs for a while now. Some of the rares/uncommons in the packs I've gotten:

Call the Great Beast
Engling Fury
Immortal Grapple
Art's Traumatic Essence
Giant's Blood

The Blood and the Grapple I'll keep, and the rest is trade bait.

Why I Like VTES over Magic

2004-08-13T17:48:00.000+08:00

1. The cameraderie between players

I guess it has something to do with the fact that VTES is a multi-player game. The interaction during games can range from the serious to the hilarious. I've also found VTES players to be friendlier than Magic players, in general. For one thing, elder players take care of the youngsters in the game, unlike in Magic, where I've heard about and seen older players scam youngsters out of rare and valuable cards.

2. Trades instead of sales

There will probably never be a market for VTES cards in the Philippines, as opposed to Magic. Trading is the name of the game in VTES, and, instead of wasting money on a single card, one can get useful cards in return for a card he/she doesn't want or need.

3. Commons

Unlike Magic, where one usually needs some of the rare, powerful (not to mention, expensive) cards, one can build a VTES deck out of common and uncommon cards and go to town with it.
As another player, D, once commented, "The rare cards are normally funky effects to round out the deck."

Decks I Have Played

2004-07-31T15:09:00.000+08:00

The first deck I ever used was a deck I borrowed from C. It was a Tremere Cryptic Mission deck, a mosquito deck which would harry opponents by burning their minions' blood one by one. It was fun, although I got sandwiched between two strong opponents and got stomped pretty early.

The first deck I actually owned was a Gangrel starter deck from the Anarchs set. It was quickly retooled by my friend T in preparations for last year's storyline tournament, Lambach's Legions. It was a toolbox deck, which meant that it could do quite a number of actions, and react relatively well to either predator or prey. It was pretty good, since with it, I reached the finals table of the tournament. Not bad for a beginner.

I then decided to switch to Gangrel bruise-bleed. This way, I could oust my prey with modified bleeding, and I could control my predator by blocking and fighting his minions.

When the Black Hand expansion came out last October 2003, I was lucky to draw a
!Nosferatu starter during the prerelease tournament. With it, I would still be able to bruise and bleed, and the !Nossies would still be relatively close to my original clan, the Gangrel.

However, due to the !Nossie lack of Fortitude, my vampires would go down in a fight. I decided to go long range with them, using Thrown Gates and Sewer Lids. It worked quite well, as long as no one had a Drawing Out the Beast in his or her hand, which would automatically set the range to close.

Still, the lack of !Nossie maneuvering often frustrated me. So, I picked up a !Brujah starter deck and built my Baseball Pitchers. The nice thing about the !Brujah is that they have both Celerity, for the maneuvers, and Potence, for really damaging strikes. One more card, then was added to the mix: the Well-Aimed Car. While really difficult to play, I'd been enchanted with the card ever since I watched the Disney movie, "Lilo & Stitch." So I put it in, and, while I don't always get to throw it, when I do get to make someone "catch the buggy," that minion usually goes down.

Since then, I've experimented with a few deck types:

1. Samedi bruise-bleed: The Samedi are difficult to use, because of their lack of maneuver, and their average size. Still, I like challenges, so I tried it out. The resulting deck was clunky, and I'm still tinkering with it to see if I can actually make it tick.

2. Protean stealth-bleed: My one and only attempt at stealth-bleeding, the protean weenie deck is fun, but difficult to win with, because of the lack of bleed modifiers.

3. Animalism weenie: This is the most recent deck I've worked with, and I'm have quite a bit of fun with it. It won't always win, but when the swarm works, it's pretty painful.

My VTES Family Tree

2004-07-31T14:48:00.000+08:00

When a player convinces a person to play VTES, that player becomes what is known as a Sire, and the person he or she convinced is that player's Childe. And thus, the lineage of players begins.

My sire in the game is H, who predominantly plays Gangrel, and my grandsire is C, who commands the Ventrue antitribu. Both are dangerous players, and, while I've gotten over my dread of playing against them, I'd rather not be their prey (in H's case) or predator (in C's case).

I became a sire last December, when I influenced T, one of my co-teachers to play. I quickly became a grandsire when he convinced two high school students to take up the game.

First Post

2004-07-31T14:25:00.000+08:00

It's been more than a year now since I started playing Vampire: the Eternal Struggle (VTES), a multi-player CCG. Through this wonderful game, I have encountered many interesting individuals and have experienced many hours of enjoyable fun.

Originally, I would've liked to have posted my thoughts on the game on my original blog, but it didn't seem to fit in, so I thought I would post my thoughts on the game on this new blog. So, what can you expect from this blog in the future? I'll be posting my deck listings, with comments about how they performed. I'll probably also be posting useful links to various VTES sites, and comment on VTES activities. We'll see how well I'll be able to add to this. Wish me luck!