Hi folks!
Really just a brief report now. After a very long time not playing v:tes I finally played again. I joined the event for one reason only: getting back into the game. It turned out this was really necessary! Let's start with this funny thing: I forgot to bring counters with me. Not because I was careless, but because it didn't occur to me that this game needs counters! Wow!!!
I played with my Dmitra Alastor deck, because I will play this deck at the EC for sure (don't know on which day yet). There is not much to report, but here are a few thoughts:
1. table
My predator was Tzimisce wall deck, which is my archenemy number one (with this Dmitra deck). Obviously my only chance was to make sure the wall dies. However there was a secondary problem: after the Tzimisce is gone I'll be stuck between 2 other vote decks! My prey ousted his prey and the 3 voter decks were left on the table with both of them being afraid of my Alastor combat. I had a small window open to win this one, but didn't draw the necessary cards.
2. table
This was a 4 players table. Peter Botos was my predator with his Rock Cat deck. By the time I could bring out 2 vampires the same time (with my cross table buddy bringing out 2 vamps the same time, too) Peter had already 4 Rock Cats. He knew my deck and he was afraid of the Alastor, too, so he rushed my right away. I made a serious technical mistake here by playing a Resist Earth' Grasp with Carlak instead of saving it for Dmitra. I still somehow managed to get back into the game with the help of a Forced March and called the Alastor. Unfortunately I ran out of second trads. I had a Fame in my hand, but just before my turn Peter played the Fame on Carlak. Since Dmitra was tapped out he could torporize Carlak and I died. If I hadn't made that mistake with the Resist, I would have had the Alastor 1 turn earlier and quite certainly either won the game or made a 2/2 vp split. I think it is amazing such small mistakes can have a strong effect on the entire table! I can't afford to make such mistakes at the EC!
3. table
Great opening crypt and hand! I had a strong predator with Chaundice (kind of a wall/combat deck), but maaged to set up well and make a fast vp thanks to New Carthage. This was also a 4 players table. As always with Dmitra I was the table threat once more. I am used to play against 2-3 players the same time with this deck, but sometimes it a little annoying. In this very balanced situation I made tons of technical mistakes. Too many to list them all. Most of my decisions very bad. This would have been a table which I could have won easily and a few month ago I would have won it. With all these mistakes I made I got ousted backwards by Milan who than made a Game Win with 2 vp's.
Conclusion
Generally spoken I can distinguish two types of v:tes decks: the rock-paper-scissor deck and the versatile deck. Rock-paper-scissor decks are one-trick decks like Giovanni Powerbleed, Obf-Dom stealth-bleed, Embrace swarm toreador antitribu, weenie potence, etc.
When the Archon randomizes the seating each of these decks show rock, paper, or scissor and supposed the players are roughly on the same level the outcome of the game is mostly determined by the seating. I think this is the reason why many of the pro players play the other deck type.
The versatile deck is per definition a deck that can answer almost every game situation. However this comes at a price: you must play technically flawless. You will have to make many decisions on how to intervene in the game. There is no script you can just run. In order to win almost every decision you make has to be the right one. I believe my Dmitra deck is such a deck. Other decks for this category are the Girls will find decks, or the Arika decks I have seen from Erik Torstensson. Of course there are many more.
If played right my deck would have made a 1 game win with 6 vp's, which maybe would have been enough for the final. Well it didn't because I screw up. I would say that my mission was accomplished, since this was why I joined the event: re-learning the game. I did re-learn many things.
Next week I will play a HNC tournament on Saturday in Hatvan and maybe join the ECQ on Sunday in Vienna. Preparations for the EC continue!
by: Mephistopheles
I'm glad that other players encounter the same problems. I think your analysis above is correct: the more focused a deck, the easier to play, the more prone to antidecks. The more variable a deck, the harder to play and harder to make the right decisions, but the more fun and more possibilities to win. I like the latter, even if I most often make some crucial mistakes. But how sweet it is if you manage to make the GW with such a deck and played it right. Compare that to a GW with a dumb bleeder.
ReplyDeleteI totally get your point Joscha! Check out my tournament report on the ECQ Vienna I'll write soon. I played a game there I will always remember!
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