Release date for first 2019 starter decks: February 16

Full announcement: www.blackchantry.com/2019/01/09/four-new-starter-deck-lists-revealed-and-we-have-a-release-date/ "My strategy? Luck is my strategy, of course."

The new vampires will be allowed in constructed tournaments 30 days after the release, as usual (so that everyone has a chance to get them), that is March 18th 4.3. New Releases New V:TES cards and rules (new expansions, new editions of the basic set, new rules released in expansions or basic sets, and promotional cards) are allowed in Constructed tournament play beginning 30 days after their retail release date. V:EKN announcements confirm the exact date that each new card set enters tournament play before the set is released. New cards or rules are allowed in Limited tournament play immediately, including before the release date (for example, at a Prerelease tournament). Prince of Paris, France Ratings Coordinator, Rules Director

Please note also the following changes: Perfectionist: Gaining blood is now optional. Trap: Is now put into play with counters to track the number of presses it can provide. Powerbase: Madrid: Adding the counter is now optional. Rack, The: Adding the blood is now optional. Embrace, The: Inherits the sire's sect. Prince of Paris, France Ratings Coordinator, Rules Director

When you say that these effects are optional, does that mean that you can choose to not be "Perfect" on action 1, but instead on action 2? Side note: are judges supposed to stop people from transferring out their full vampire if they realize their mistake after they have passed the turn? Discarded? Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one. -Friedrich Nietzsche brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/

Yes, you can choose to be "perfect" on action 2 instead of action 1. And yes, if you have begin your discard phase and you don't have put in play a full vampire (even if it is just replace your Unmasking), it is to late to do it.

> brandonsantacruz wrote: > Side note: are judges supposed to stop people from transferring out their full vampire if they realize their mistake after they have passed the turn? Discarded? > Your question is (if I'm not mistaken): can a judge prevent me from playing illegally? Answer is yes. Prince of Paris, France Ratings Coordinator, Rules Director

Close, but not quite. This series of changes in the rules adds to the tedium of things you need to remember or your game gets messed up. If judges *must* enforce the rules strictly, which I think they probably have to, then the game gets very technical and small mistakes can cost players precious turns. blood, etc in addition to the other ways that happens. If they don't have to, some guidance would be helpful regarding the new rules, maybe just a reiteration of how judges handle these kinds of issues. Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one. -Friedrich Nietzsche brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/

Actually, these changes make the game easier to judge. For example, before that, you could have someone making an unblocked action with no reaction played, the player forgeting to add a blood for the perfectionist. Unlock and then, being blocked on a second action. Both players begin playing combat cards and mid combat, the acting say "oups, I didn't gain my blood with perfectionist" it could change a lot of things like which cards the blocking chose to play according to the number of blood on his opponent and it could also have changed with which minion to block according to the number of blood on the acting vampire. With the blood gained with perfectionist being mandatory, the judge has to remember if indeed nobody played a reaction on the succesfull action and then has to decide how to handle the misplay. Just giving a blood to the acting vampire being a way to do it but rewarding the acting player with beneficial outcome for a misplay. Which is IMO a bad way to do it. But doing a rollback to before the second action begin is way too disruptive. So the Judge had to make a decision which would be a bad decision. Now, it is easy : just roll with it and next time, don't forget your blood if you want to have it...

> Timo wrote: > Actually, these changes make the game easier to judge. > I am fairly certain this was the intention. They add functionality to the cards (you are not forced to gain blood during the first action that you perform) but this is a fair trade. > brandonsantacruz wrote: > Close, but not quite. This series of changes in the rules adds to the tedium of things you need to remember or your game gets messed up. > It does exactly the opposite. You had to remember perfectionist in the first place. This removes the necessity to backtrack the game when a mistake is made. Smoking craters tell no tales. —Tex talks Battletech

Questions; is there a cardboard box included with the starters? If not, what is the 'deckbox' included as an option at drivethru cards?

I believe the deckbox available on drivethrucards is just a clear, hard plastic box, although there was something about proper cardboard tuckboxes being experimented with for the Anthology I set.

> talonz wrote: > Questions; is there a cardboard box included with the starters? If not, what is the 'deckbox' included as an option at drivethru cards? > The DTC deck box is a stupid plastic box that is too narrow to fit cards in sleeves. It has a snap on lid and holds around 100 cards as long as they aren’t in sleeves. The Anthology 1 sets come in tuck boxes (with the Gerald Fitzgerald art) from all VTES distributors worldwide. The tuck boxes are the same size as the old White Wolf Pre-con decks. The cards in them have “old” art, not the new art that many of the cards had that were in the Anthology sets released for the Berlin EC a couple years ago. The new sabbat starters from DTC just come as a stack of cards with plastic around them.

So whats on the face of the starter decks as shown in the image here" www.vekn.net/2-uncategorised/425-vampire-elder-kindred-network-newsletter-february-2019?fbclid=IwAR1dO3RPm0ucFrhXEQmvJV7ASfx3dOA7KM628R6GZgNs6Iy7bdncptTgTHc Are those just 'face' cards or a box? Seeeeee??? There are tuckboxes for them! Are they included with all orders or just certain orders somewhere? www.facebook.com/groups/128015020739575/permalink/1103595999848134/

Sabbat starters are in the tuck boxes from every official distributor besides Drive thru cards