Tournament Report: Syrius Day Constructed

Hi folks!

I am back from the beach and just opened a beer. Finally I feel that the time has come to write the next tournament report. The event was held on last Sunday and 10 (!) players attended the tournament. I've decided to play my (currently) favorite deck: Hardestadt eats the world.

1st round: Me - Kyasid sb (István) - Valerius Maior (Ben Peal) - Lucian the Perfect (Frankie) - Samedi toolbox (Rudi)

The game started with me having the perfect library draw: Villein + Giants Blood. Too bad this combo was played by Rudi just before it was my turn. Well shit happens I said and villeined Hardestadt for 5 and discarded the Giants Blood. An early Ancient Influence was delayed by Ben, I don't want to have him as a cross table buddy again. :)

Otherwise the table was great for me. Frankie ousted the Samedi with two bleeds which was great for me, since the Samedi was the only opponent in combat on the table. My first turn when I took any forward actions ended with the Kyasid having 0 vampires left. Shorty later I killed all of Ben's vampires. Oh! Frankie's Lucian got burned by Rudi. Rudi was ousted by a top-decked Blind Spot + Govern + Seduction + Conditioning by Catherine du Bois. After I killed my first two Preys Frankie stood up to shake hands. 1GW 4Vp's

2nd round: Me - Samedi (Rudi) - Assamite sb (Alma) - Kyasid (István) - Guruhi vote/bleed (Fefe)

In the early rounds I got two Sudden's played on my first two Villeins. I had a bad draw and couldn't kill my predators first vampire right away. This left me in a weak position. Since the Samedi and the Assamite deck bloated like hell I had close to 0 chance for the game win. In first 30 minutes on the game I had to focus on surviving. Most of the time I was below 6 pool with two vampires in my ass that could multi act and had superior presence. I had to back oust in order to survive. After the back ousting I made my vp with a Reins of Power. After the vp I had to back oust again, I've seen no other way to survive a Kyasid stealth bleed. Unfortunately a Fae Contortion + Arms of the Abyss + Entombment killed Hardestadt. Shortly later I got ousted. 1 Vp

Final: Me - (Lucian) Frankie - Ariadne (Feri) - Tremere Wall (Milan) - Assamite sb (Alma)

The Ariadne deck had a very strong start. This wouldn't have been a problem for me if he hadn't played Carlton my arch-enemy no.1. Here I made the mistake that cost me the final. I let Lucian get loose and make his vp. The problem with this was that Ariadne stopped all forward pressure and focused on surviving. Lucian did oust Ariadne. After this I killed Lucian so I had a vp as well. I was the top seat in the final so currently I was winning the tournament. The big mistake I made is this: in v:tes always the guy wins who has no predator. By this time Milan was fully equipped and had 6 vampires. Even worse, Alma decided to be "The Kingmaker" and asked Milan not go forward. In exchange he will try to oust me with all he has. Milan agreed of course. Alma ousted me (fxxking Yoruba Shrine!!!) and of course Milan ousted Alma. Game ended with 2,1,1,1,0 vp. The bottom line: Milan had no predator = he won. MEA CULPA!