Tournament Report - The Stranger Among Us - Columbus, OH 1/11/02

The Stranger Among Us - Columbus, OH 1/11/02 Great turnout with 27 total players, lot of craziness throughout the tournament from what I understand. Two Balimore Purge decks, each with 2 Table Wins, both making the finals; lot of stealth bleed decks from what I saw/heard - at least one Setite S&B and 4 Malk decks (1 old school and 3 dementation based). Round 1 ------- 4 player table for me, I was fortunate with my weenie potence deck, I had an Assamite prey and a Salubri/!Ventrue deck as my predator. Each time that my prey was able to get to range on me, I had a Thrown Sewer-Lid to greet them. I actually got bled more by my grandpredator than by my predator, fortunately for me, his Setites had no way to deal with Immortal Grapple and Fame+Humanitas came in real handy. When it was down to me and my predator, it wound up being 3 or 4 more turns, when he finally ran out of Fortitude combat defense, it was over - I think the round lasted about 40 minutes for our game. 4 VPs: table sweep. Round 2 ------- 5 player table, not nearly the spectacular results for me, sneak & bleed predator and grand-predator - so time was very limited for me from the whistle. Only notable things for me this round were hitting poor Lucinde for 9 of her 10, Disarming her, then getting the blessing from the other Ventrue at the table to let KoKo partake of some fine dining...even the solitary VP I "earned" was going after a Fame'd Mustafa Rahman, it took 4 rush actions, a) because my prey kept waking and blocking b) because I had no combat in hand - I finally got him with an unblocked Harass when he was at 1 blood and so was I, hands for 1, press from Harass, hands for 1. Result 1 VP and ousted next turn. Round 3 ------- 5 player table and another time when it was obvious (to me anyway) that I had removed some of the combat teeth in the deck. Largish !Brujah prey and Dominate/Potence/Fortitude predator, built around Lazverinus, made my combat machine look somewhat anemic. I never had more than 3 ready minions, I was forced to block each of Lazverinus' Governs and if I somehow did influence out a 4th minion, I was rushed by my prey. Not often that I'm used to this deck being rushed - it was certainly a new experience for me ;) Oh highlight of the round was my predator believing he was ousted (didn't think he could generate +1 intercept to stop a bleed) when I pointed out he had 2 untapped minions and one with a Starshell Grenade Launcher. He tapped his SGL minion, blocked with Lazverinus and proceeded to grab the table win. I thought it was pretty smooth, he sat at 1 pool for probably 6 - 8 turns, before going on to take 4 of the 5 VPs. My results 0 VP. Finals ------ Once again I managed to skate into the finals somehow, and as per usual, no one wanted to sit near me. 2 decks featuring Balimore Purge made the finals, interestingly enough. 3 of the 5 finalists were from Cincinnati (including myself) and one of those decks was a Ventrue deck that had 3 Table Wins and almost swept each of his tables (I could be wrong, but I think he missed 1 VP at 1 table). The Finalists were Doug Brindley of Columbus going first and playing dementation Malks/!Malks, myself second playing weenie Potence, Matt Flint of Cincinnati playing a Vitel/Lasombra Balimore Purge deck, Dave Setty of Cincinnati playing a Freak Drive-million-actions-a-turn Ventrue deck, and Nate Williams of Newark playing a vicious Balimore Purge/Protect Thine Own/Graverobbing deck - a true work of art. Unfortunately for my prey he never really got into the game, I had too many minions, way too fast and he only drew 2 Obedience. Everyone seemed intent on stopping Nate's Purge deck, aside from me. The largest minion I had for most of the finals was Lupo/KoKo/Paul DiCarlo, so losing one of them to a Purge was not a huge deal for me. Probably the two biggest key moments in the finals were the 2 Sudden Reversals I played: the first was to blow up a Fame my prey played cross-table on Nate's Etrius (I'm not down with contesting my ONLY Fame in the deck and it went a long way for goodwill on later deals). The next Sudden Reversal was against my prey's Auspex card played on my grandprey's Arika...would have put her out of Purge reach. I finally set the terms that Nate had to burn her on his turn, I didn't want to see any Graverobbing/cross-table rescuing, etc - he carried out his end and it was one less minion I had to worry about when I got to Dave. When I got through my first prey, Dave's Ventrue gave me much more difficulty with a solid mix of Fortitude and Majesty to keep me at bay. By this time I played a Haven Uncovered on Etrius, and things were looking very good. Nate did oust Doug and looked to have a dangerous amount of Dominate, but it either didn't come up, or it wasn't a focus other than to Graverobbing. An Ancient Influence by my prey looked to buy himself enough time and put Nate out of reach, but then some of my Computer Hackings came up and I still had 6 minions. When it was down to Nate and myself, he waited for me to put Etrius in the dirt, then conceeded; I had enough minions to bleed him for 2 a turn and block all of his actions. Result was 4 VP and the table, Nate with 1 VP. Deck Name: Break Stuff - 1st place Columbus, OH 1-11-02 Created By: John Bell Description: Switched out a bit of the combat and some of the reactions for more Computer Hackings. It gave the deck more teeth as far as pool reduction, however there were too many combats where I had to exchange "hands for 1" with my opponent. Crypt: (14 cards, Min: 4, Max: 17, Avg: 2.64) --------------------------------------------- 1 Hugo POT pre vic 4, Brujah Antitribu 2 Uriah Winter for pot 1, Caitiff 1 Hasina Kesi pot 1, Caitiff 1 Lupo pot 2, Brujah 1 Hector Sosa pre POT 4, Brujah 1 Mitchell obt pot 2, Pander 2 Jimmy Dunn CEL for POT 4, Pander 1 KoKo pot 2, Nosferatu 1 Paul DiCarlo pot 2, Giovanni 1 Smudge the Ignored none 1, Caitiff 1 Olivia OBF POT vic 5, Nosferatu Antitribu, Bishop 1 Agatha obf POT 4, Nosferatu Antitribu Library: (90 cards) ------------------- Master (13 cards) 2 Effective Management 1 Fame 2 Haven Uncovered 1 Humanitas 1 Information Highway 1 Mob Connections 2 Potence 1 Special Report 2 Sudden Reversal Action (21 cards) 2 Bum's Rush 11 Computer Hacking 8 Harass Reaction (2 cards) 2 Wake with Evening's Freshness Combat (54 cards) 5 Disarm 10 Immortal Grapple 8 Increased Strength 5 Pushing the Limit 4 Taste of Vitae 8 Thrown Sewer Lid 10 Torn Signpost 4 Undead Strength John Bell Prince of Cincinnati

On 16 Jan 2003 09:56:02 -0800, webm...@spectrumdesigns.cc (John Bell) wrote: >The Stranger Among Us - Columbus, OH 1/11/02 > >Great turnout with 27 total players, lot of craziness throughout the >tournament from what I understand. Two Balimore Purge decks, each >with 2 Table Wins, both making the finals; lot of stealth bleed decks >from what I saw/heard - at least one Setite S&B and 4 Malk decks (1 >old school and 3 dementation based). Glad you had a great turnout! Was planning on roadtripping down to the event. Alas, the starter in my car is dying so had to forego the pleasure. Congrats to John Bell for winning the big enchilada.. BernieTime

On 16 Jan 2003 09:56:02 -0800, webm...@spectrumdesigns.cc (John Bell) wrote: >The Stranger Among Us - Columbus, OH 1/11/02 > >Cincinnati (including myself) and one of those decks was a Ventrue >deck that had 3 Table Wins and almost swept each of his tables (I >could be wrong, but I think he missed 1 VP at 1 table). Nearly - only one sweep here. First table was me, a !Brujah cel/pot combat deck as my prey, an obf/dem stealth-bleed with some combat (Coma, disguised Rowan Ring and such) as his prey, and a Giovanni bruise/bleed as his prey (my predator). My predator and prey either didn't have or didn't draw enough grapples to keep me from getting away (didn't help that my prey was having to use them on the Malkavians) and they couldn't prevent me from bloating. The Giovanni were ousted first, but the Malkavians couldn't stop me before I ousted the Brujah and I won after 2 of the 3 Malks were burned (one by an Archon Investigation, one by diablerie after a Kiss of Ra.) Second round my prey was a pot/for/dom bruise-bleed deck, his prey was a set-1 Nosferatu combat deck, and his prey (my predator) was a set-3 Nos deck (with some combat, some stealth-bleed, and some intercept). This table could have given me trouble, as the bruise-bleed deck might have been able to beat up my minions while ousting the 2 Nos decks (both players seemed not to be very experienced). Unfortunately for him, I went third, and started to influence out Democritus, he went fourth and brought up Emerson Bridges, and then Democritus proceeded to Govern out my copy of Emerson. He was not able contest Emerson against Democritus's special ability, and was fairly quickly ousted, and I proceeded to sweep. Third table, my prey was a Samedi combat deck, his prey was Doug Brindley's obf/dem stealth-bleed deck, his prey was another obf/dem stealth-bleed deck, and my predator was an AUS weenie/Salubri bleed deck. My predator was kept busy with bleeds against him, and the Samedi didn't draw enough combat cards (which was good, because I wasn't drawing enough Majesty). I finally eliminated the Samedi, Doug eliminated the other Malkavians, and then I eliminated Doug, by which time I had an enormous amount of pool and outlasted the Salubri. > The Finalists >were Doug Brindley of Columbus going first and playing dementation >Malks/!Malks, myself second playing weenie Potence, Matt Flint of >Cincinnati playing a Vitel/Lasombra Balimore Purge deck, Dave Setty of >Cincinnati playing a Freak Drive-million-actions-a-turn Ventrue deck, >and Nate Williams of Newark playing a vicious Balimore Purge/Protect >Thine Own/Graverobbing deck - a true work of art. > >Unfortunately for my prey he never really got into the game, I had too >many minions, way too fast and he only drew 2 Obedience. If I recall correctly, Marcus Vitel was dropped by the Purge and diablerized, and Matt didn't last long after that (he brought out Gratiano, who was killed, and then was ousted). I wasn't too happy, as it put the Potence hordes on me much sooner than I had hoped, and I never got the chance to make Vitel the Ventrue Justicar. >Everyone seemed intent on stopping Nate's Purge deck, aside from me. Imagine that. >Probably the two biggest key moments in the finals were the 2 Sudden >Reversals I played: the first was to blow up a Fame my prey played >cross-table on Nate's Etrius That was huge - he might not have played a Purge with a famous Etrius, and if he had done it anyway the pool loss might have let me oust him. >The next Sudden Reversal was against my prey's Auspex card played on >my grandprey's Arika...would have put her out of Purge reach. I would have lost a minion anyway, but the loss of +2 bleed and difficulty passing votes over Etrius kept me from ousting Nate. >Result was 4 VP and the table, Nate with 1 VP. And again, congratulations on your victory. Deck Name: Hyperactive - Columbus 20030111 Created By: Dave Setty Description: I start by bringing out one of the larger minions, who uses Govern the Unaligned, Enchant Kindred and Scouting Mission in the superior to bring out the smaller ones. All my minions can then take multiple actions per turn (bleeding, calling votes, bloating with GtU/EK/SM at superior) using Freak Drive and superior Majesty to untap. Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 24, Max: 42, Avg: 8.17) ---------------------------------------------- 2 Arika aus cel DOM FOR OBF PRE 11, Ventrue, Inner Circle 1 Democritus aus cel DOM for PRE 10, Ventrue, Justicar 2 Emerson Bridges DOM FOR pot PRE 8, Ventrue, Prince 1 Queen Anne aus DOM FOR obf PRE 10, Ventrue, Prince 2 Ranjan Rishi DOM for PRE 5, Ventrue 2 Sir Walter Nash DOM FOR PRE 7, Ventrue, Prince 1 Timothy Crowley ani dom FOR PRE 7, Ventrue, Prince 1 Wilhelm Waldburg aus cel DOM FOR PRE 9, Ventrue, Prince Library: (90 cards) ------------------- Master (14 cards) 1 Archon Investigation 1 Barrens, The 4 Blood Doll 1 Dreams of the Sphinx 2 Information Highway 2 Sudden Reversal 1 Uptown Hunting Ground 2 Ventrue Headquarters Action (20 cards) 6 Enchant Kindred 6 Govern the Unaligned 5 Restoration 3 Scouting Mission Action Modifier (30 cards) 3 Bewitching Oration 3 Foreshadowing Destruction 12 Freak Drive 2 Kiss of Ra, The 7 Seduction 3 Voter Captivation Political Action (9 cards) 1 Ancient Influence 3 Conservative Agitation 4 Kine Resources Contested 1 Ventrue Justicar Reaction (3 cards) 3 Redirection Combat (14 cards) 9 Majesty 5 Skin of Steel This deck was last saved at 2:05:18 PM on 1/19/2003

webm...@spectrumdesigns.cc (John Bell) wrote in message news:<a757ead4.03011...@posting.google.com>... > The Stranger Among Us - Columbus, OH 1/11/02 > > Great turnout with 27 total players, lot of craziness throughout the > tournament from what I understand. Two Balimore Purge decks, each > with 2 Table Wins, both making the finals; lot of stealth bleed decks > from what I saw/heard - at least one Setite S&B and 4 Malk decks (1 > old school and 3 dementation based). > can we see the deck lists for the two purge decks? (this is about the only instance that i've heard of a purge deck making the finals) johann

I see this in my email from the established prince of Columbus (Jay Kristoff) Nate, > I know that you are usually rather secretive about your decks, but I >thought I'd let you know that there has been a request (on the newsgroup:) Johann says this can we see the deck lists for the two purge decks? (this is about the only instance that i've heard of a purge deck making the finals)> johann And by the way. Bernie, sorry you had car troubles. Maybe see you at the next tournament in Columbus. Make sure if anyone else in the surrounding states is reading this bs, you are more than welcome to join the festivities at any time you wish. Show up to as many tournamens as humanly possible. I always enjoy the slim competition chumps. And plus the prince of Newark (Mark Loughman), Columbus (Jay Kristoff), and Cininnatti (John Bell) are more than hospitable. They are well practiced in the ways of the 5th Tadition. Anyway... In response to Johan's suggestion... can we see the deck lists for the two purge decks? (this is about the only instance that i've heard of a purge deck making the finals) Normally I wouldn't even think about listing my stuff. However, after reading Mr John Bell's illustrious comments about my (QOUTE) "Nate Williams of Newark playing a vicious Balimore Purge/ProtectThine Own/Graverobbing deck - a true work of art." (end quote)...Don't forget stealth bleed, and extra cheese on that order (With a side of fries). I have decided to list it anyway. So, for the first and last time ever, I will age my smelly cheese before your very eyes. But this deck does still go down in flames to weenie potence, so you could substitute in or out a few votes to make people burn pool equal to # of minions they control. That will stomp the weenie potence in the nuts. Anyway... For another variant, take out 8 to 10 cards and replace them with 4-5 Blood Fury, and 4-5 Bone Spur, and watch fortitude/Immortal Grapple decks go to the dirt. Crypt is this see... 4 Etrius, 3 Cameron, 3 Aaron Dugan, 2 Mustafa Rahmon Masters (16)-Just the basics-... 4 Blood Doll, 1 Political H.G., 1 Academic H.G., 3 Vulnerability, 4 Chantry, 2 Secure Haven ( for the Cameron or his toady), and 1 Arcane Library Actions (15)-The cheese ages- 7 Baltimore Purge, 4 Graverobbing, 4 Protect Thine Own Modifiers (24)-overkill is a must- 6 Forgotten Labyrinth, 8 Lost in Crowds, 6 Cloak the Gatherings, and 4 elder impersonation. Reactions (21)-What's that smell?- 8 Wakes w/eve freshnes, 8 Deflections, and 5 Telepathic Misdirections Combat (14)-The usual crap- 8 Flesh of Marble, and 6 earth meld. Tremere Chantry is the best stuff around with the purge. Just see the looks on peoples faces when I put Etrius in the dirt from my own Purge on untap phase, and then he pops out like stay fresh muffins on my maser phase. Then ideally you Vulnerability someone, Protect Thine Own another non-cam that is ready (just one more casualty), Graverob someone with a Mustafa or Cameron, and Diablerize anyone else left. It is really easy to control the votes when the only voter left is Etrius, take it from me. And he is already an 11 cap, and can Purge anyone he damn well plaeases right away. Previous to the Columbus Tournament, I had the deck together for 2 and a half months, and had only played it 2 times. But it usually makes for a 20-30 minute 4 player game. And a 25-40 minute 5 player. In a 5 player, it is always nice to help your grand-predator as much as possible. 5 people on 1 is never good, but 2 on 3 os great. That way your predator is shut down, you smoke 2 people to your left, and then destroy your original grand-preator for the win, after you play him like a puppet on a string. You know, the usual. Make sure you excersize this deck with extreme prejudice against everyone at the table. Don't make deals, just smoke vamps. Talk is cheap. Just be the only guy at the table with vamps, and bleed everyone to death. Oh, and by the way, this deck is not a one trick pony. It can just plain bleed and send bleeds to your prey at will. I purposely didn't play some (5-6) Purge in the last 2 tables, just to make it game. I like to bleed people out nice and slow. Sometimes I can be so old fashioned. Me and John Bell just ran the last table. Big ups to Bell for the assist in taking out Brindley and cinching me 2nd place And one last item I have to discuss...about this "Matt Flint of >Cincinnati playing a Vitel/Lasombra" (so-called) "Balimore Purge deck" I smoked this deck 2 times 2 times, and must say it is a pale imitation. Matt is my man, but to be the man, you got to beat the man. And Mark Loughman is the man. So get to beating him fellas. He was talking about you guys. All nice, but he was talking nonetheless. I hear Matt has all but stripped the contents of my deck to play for himself now. How incredibly weak. But oh well. That is why I posted this first, and last crappy deck. (Because every deck I play is BS. Everybody knows it.) I don't need some dude claiming my stuff as his own. So now you know. I hope your Jyhad experience has been enhanced by the great knowledge I spew forth. So speaks the polish...@hotmail.com. Feel free to reply (with fan mail, or hate mail) I don't care which. Just don't send me your deck ideas, as I'm sure they are stale as a year old cracker. Thanks for running a tournament in Anderson IN this weekend, that was fun. Thanks to Jay, Mark, and Bell. I will be running a tournament soon at Newark, OH. Come one and all, and bear witness to a small comic shop in the middle of nowhere that will host a 25-30 man tournament. And get your butts handed to you. I will be running the tournament, and the smack-talk. So my prince can play this time. Plus I need to take a break, and come up with something original. I will post details soon, and I hope Bernie can make it this time. Thanks for listening. Nate/Archon of Newark P.S. I am soon listing my trades on the Communal Haven, since the Succubus Club is gone. Under the name polishgenius. Later

I see this in my email from the established prince of Columbus (Jay Kristoff) Nate, > I know that you are usually rather secretive about your decks, but I >thought I'd let you know that there has been a request (on the newsgroup:) Johann says this can we see the deck lists for the two purge decks? (this is about the only instance that i've heard of a purge deck making the finals)> johann And by the way. Bernie, sorry you had car troubles. Maybe see you at the next tournament in Columbus. Make sure if anyone else in the surrounding states is reading this bs, you are more than welcome to join the festivities at any time you wish. Show up to as many tournamens as humanly possible. I always enjoy the slim competition chumps. And plus the prince of Newark (Mark Loughman), Columbus (Jay Kristoff), and Cininnatti (John Bell) are more than hospitable. They are well practiced in the ways of the 5th Tadition. Anyway... In response to Johan's suggestion... can we see the deck lists for the two purge decks? (this is about the only instance that i've heard of a purge deck making the finals) Normally I wouldn't even think about listing my stuff. However, after reading Mr John Bell's illustrious comments about my (QOUTE) "Nate Williams of Newark playing a vicious Balimore Purge/ProtectThine [ quoted text not captured ]

polish...@hotmail.com (Nate / Archon of Newark) wrote in message news:<865bfd9f.03012...@posting.google.com>... *snippetysnip* "(Because every deck I play is BS." "So speaks the polish...@hotmail.com. " "I will be running a tournament soon at Newark, OH. Come one and all, and bear witness to a small comic shop in the middle of nowhere that will host a 25-30 man tournament. And get your butts handed to you. I will be running the tournament, and the smack-talk. So my prince can play this time. Plus I need to take a break, and come up with something original." Nate, much as I disagre with your ways at times, you *are* one of the best deckbuilders I know of, and you play them and the table vicious like few can. Of course, I'll have to think of something that's nasty and not too political if I'm to play at your tournament, but it's good to hear you'll take care of the talk. I wouldn't wish it on someone to try and beat you in that regard, after all. Thanks for being around. It makes the game definitely... enervating. :) Patrick Columbus, OH

Thanks Patrick. I appreciate the comments. You as well seem to always have some new stuff on the table. I have been playing for 8 years, and have only played the same deck at 2 different tournaments one time. That would be my Flying Frenchman Francois Villon. But I changed it up somewhat each of the 2 times. Why play the same stuff over and over, when you can prove to people that it is possible to make the final table with some fresh ideas? And I have had a guy (Nick Watkins) from NY asking for details for my Francois deck for a while (2years). I never gave it out though. If you are reading this (anybody), I will post Fancois this week. Then if Nick Watkins is lucky he will be able to roll a few of his buddies from NYC. Hey, if anyone is reading this (LSJ), please let me know one thing. If my minion has a Crimson sentinel, and a Ghoul Retainer at the same time. Say I get immortal grappled, and want my Ghoul Reainer to swing with the Sentinel, does the Sentinel lose all of its counters when the Ghoul swings with it? Or does it keep its counters since the retainer is only "employed by that minion", and is not considered switching the sentinel between 2 minions? And therefore losing its counters. I am trying to work out some smelly bs, and would like to know. Thanks. Nate/Archon of Newark

On 21 Jan 2003 18:03:33 -0800, polish...@hotmail.com (Nate / Archon of Newark) wrote: >Hey, if anyone is reading this (LSJ), please let me know one thing. If >my minion has a Crimson sentinel, and a Ghoul Retainer at the same >time. Say I get immortal grappled, and want my Ghoul Reainer to swing >with the Sentinel, does the Sentinel lose all of its counters when the >Ghoul swings with it? No. >Or does it keep its counters since the retainer is only "employed by >that minion", and is not considered switching the sentinel between 2 >minions? A retainer is not a minion. The minion still has the Sentinel, the Retainer is simply "using" it. > And therefore losing its counters. I am trying to work out >some smelly bs, and would like to know. Thanks. > Nate/Archon of Newark You've got a good one there. Have at it. You might try a Flamethrower instead, but the Sentinel works great and will gain a counter if the damage isn't prevented. Carpe noctem. Lasombra http://www.TheLasombra.com

The Lasombra wrote: > On 21 Jan 2003 18:03:33 -0800, polish...@hotmail.com (Nate / Archon > of Newark) wrote: > > >Hey, if anyone is reading this (LSJ), please let me know one thing. If > >my minion has a Crimson sentinel, and a Ghoul Retainer at the same > >time. Say I get immortal grappled, and want my Ghoul Reainer to swing > >with the Sentinel, does the Sentinel lose all of its counters when the > >Ghoul swings with it? > > No. > > >Or does it keep its counters since the retainer is only "employed by > >that minion", and is not considered switching the sentinel between 2 > >minions? > > A retainer is not a minion. > The minion still has the Sentinel, the Retainer is simply "using" it. Correct. Note that the Sentinel gains a counter if the Ghoul Retainer successfully inflicts damage with it. -- LSJ (vte...@white-wolf.com) V:TES Net.Rep for White Wolf, Inc. Links to V:TES news, rules, cards, utilities, and tournament calendar: http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/