Approximately 2 years ago the number of v:tes players in Hungary reached a worrisome point. After having some wonderful years with a regular tournament attendance of 50+ players, we now dropped down to an average of 25 players. It was at this point that we decided to take actions to recruit new players. Our efforts resulted in what we call a Progeny tournament. So what is a Progeny Tournament?
1. It is an unofficial tournament where only new players are allowed to play. "New players" doesn't mean, that it's their first game. At this point they already did play a couple of times with friends.
2. Players are kindly asked to build decks from their own cards and not borrowing decks or a bunch of expensive cards from other players.
3. There is no real price support, so players have no interest in violating point 2.
4. Every attendant is given a bunch of useful common and uncommon cards as a gift (the cards are granted by the "old" players).
5. There is no, or only a very small entrance-fee.
6. There are multiple judges, normally one for every table. Time limit can be extended to 2,5 hours, so the judges can take their time to explain the rules or answer questions.
7. Finalists of a progeny tournament may not participate in such an event again.
This kind of tournament helps players to learn the rules, get some experience and have fun. Earlier I noticed that many newbies get frustrated when participating in a regular tournament, since they often get ousted real fast, or get stuck between 2 good players playing some kind of fun killing auspex wall deck.
Last year we held 2 progeny tournaments and we received really positive feedback. Some of the progenies are already playing in regular tournaments with noticeable results!
This year we held our progeny tournament on February 27. This time it differed from the earlier ones, since the majority of the players where participating in earlier progeny tournaments or had enough casual game experience, so we could returned to the normal 2 hour time limit. Also there were some players who used to play years ago and now started to play again. This time 27 progenies attended the event. We decided to fill up the remaining "3 spots" with old players: every round 3 different old players where seated to the 3 four player tables. They were allowed only to play a pre-constructed deck with the addition of 2 blood dolls and 2 wake with the evening's freshness.
This time the meta game was very combat heavy. One Jaroslav Pascek and two potence rush combat decks made their way to the finals. The other two finalists played a Tremere wall deck and an obfuscate weenie (spying mission, night moves, marked path) deck. The final was won by Juhász Gergő with the following deck:
Szergej Bell's winning deck
Created By: Juhász Gergő
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 17, Max: 28, Avg: 5,83)
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2 Victor Tolliver CEL pot 4 Brujah Antitribu
1 Richter CEL for POT pre7 Brujah Antitribu
1 Jimmy Dunn CEL for POT 4 Pander
2 Amelia CEL POT PRE 7 Brujah Antitribu
1 Sela cel obt POT PRE6 Brujah Antitribu
2 Theo Bell (ADV) aus dom CEL POT PRE7 Brujah
1 Volker CEL pot 5 Brujah
2 Anvil dom CEL POT pre tha6 Brujah
Library: (89 cards)
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Master (16 cards)
1 Haven Uncovered
2 Fame
2 Potence
2 Vessel
1 Tension in the Ranks
1 Gang Territory
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Blood Doll
1 Fragment of the Book of Nod
1 Amusement Park Hunting Ground
1 Archon Investigation
1 Two Wrongs
1 Frontal Assault
Action (13 cards)
1 Public Trust
3 Legal Manipulations
3 Ambush
6 Bum`s Rush
Reaction (7 cards)
5 Wake with Evening`s Freshness
2 On the Qui Vive
Combat (53 cards)
6 Taste of Vitae
8 Increased Strength
1 Fractured Armament
2 Blur
1 Fast Hands
5 Psyche!
8 Pursuit
8 Thrown Gate
8 Thrown Sewer Lid
3 Side Strike
1 Stunt Cycle
2 Sideslip
Congratulations to Juhász "Szergej" Gergő!
After a while it will be hard to get new people involved. Currently we will try to use this event to unify small playgroups and try to get people to tournaments who prefer to play casual games only. Also players who play for a year or more, but feel uncomfortable at a regular tournament could find such an event interesting. We'll see what the future brings...
by: Mephistopheles
Very clever move the progeny tournaments.
ReplyDeleteI think is really beneficial to give newbies all common/uncommon and some rares they need.
The core group of "old methuselahs" in a city/area have generally around 15-30 decks each (if not more) and a gruesome amount of "stacked" unused cards, because maybe there´s a chance they make X or Y deck in a future.
To have a 31th deck doesn´t make the game more fun for a player, to have more player to play against does.