Tournament Report: HNC Veszprém

Hi folks!

I played my Toreador deck again to test it for the EC. I made some minor modifications in it. We were only 10 players this time so we decided to make it 2R + F only. Here is how it went:

On the first table Robi was my prey who played a Dmitra bloat deck. I made him loose 20+ pool and we timed out with him having 4 vampires and 20+ pool. There was also a Khazar deck at the table with an endless amount of ever returning Delaying Tactics. Everybody had good defense in his decks, so even though there were many actions on the table nobody got ousted. The funny thing is that the other table timed out also with only one player being ousted. 

2 tables x 2 rounds = 4 Game Wins altogether, but both tables timed out. So we knew that getting just one vp in the second round might be worth a final. Yay! 

The second table was a little bit faster though we were pretty close (5-10 minutes) to the time out. My prey was a Renegade Garou deck, who had a terrible start. I had a good crypt and hand so I could set myself up for the oust. My predator was a new Salubri deck with the well known Heidelberg + Spirit Marionette tech, but the button line says it was a stealth bleed. My deck has plenty of reaction cards, so I was safe for a while. I offered my grand predator, who also was a vote deck to cooperate with me. I would have helped him to make his vp. This would have most likely meant that I take the Game Win, so he said no. I had gathered enough Aire of Elations meanwhile so I made my vp with bleed actions. Meanwhile my new prey the Khazar deck was out of control and ousted the guy cross table and a few turns later he made the sweep.

Finals 

1. Khazar deck

1. Dmitra bloat

3. Me

3. Renegade Garou

3. Trujah Bleed

1-1 had same 1GW 4,5 VP

3-3 had same 1,5 VP

The dice lead to the order above. Seating went like this:

Me - Dmitra bloat - Trujah - Garou - Khazar

I was very unhappy with this seating since the "endless Delaying Tactics deck" was my predator and the bloat deck my prey. The game developed only very slowly. The Garou deck was the only one who never during the game had any chance to do anything, since once a Garou hit the board it got removed with a Chair of Hades. I knew I can't really achieve anything by votes. I drew 2 Entrancement so I got myself and Ambrosius and Carlton. With this and all my reaction cards I could slow down the Khazar deck a little. There was a situation when the Trujah could have made a vp but a Direct on his bleed modifier prevented him from doing so. A little later I had a window open to make my vp with bleeds, but the Khazar deck realized this also and Pentexed me. I still could bleed my prey down to 2 pool, but he started his turns with 2 Villeins and some pool gaining votes so my chance was gone. Then he ousted his prey. A few more minutes and the Khazar deck would have ousted me, but we timed out again and so the Dmitra deck won the tournament.

I am back to were I was. Playing with a non combat deck again I reached the finals 3 out of 3 tournaments, but just can't win them. Why is it impossible for me to win a tourney with a non-combat deck? Damn, this really annoys me...

Congratulations to Róbert László for his tournament win. He really needed this, since he will come to the EC and wasn't qualified yet. So I am actually happy for him! Well done!

by: Mephistopheles

HNC Ranking Updated

Hi folks!

The HNC ranking page has been updated after the HNC Round Veszprém.

by: Mephistopheles

After the EC...

Hi folks!

A part of me really wants to be past the EC. I have so many ideas I want to test and play! But not before the EC since I want to practice with the decks I will be playing there. I hope there will be some tourneys around here after Warsaw so I don't have to wait until 2012. I hope I will find the courage to play all the non-Tier1 ideas I have...

by: Mephistopheles

Open Dossier: Ferenc "Frankie" Vasadi

Hi folks!

Here is the third interview translation from shilmulotarot.blogspot.com:

Player Profile:

Name: Ferenc Vasadi

Nickname: Frankie

Year of Birth: 1978

Occupation: IT security specialist

City: Budapest

Questions and answers:

1. When did you start to play v:tes and where did you met it? 

I started to play at the end of the year 2000 when Sabbat War was released. A friend of mine (Talmi) has shown me the game. I was looking for a new board/card game since my other hobby (dancing) was overshadowed a little and so I had more free time after work. At that time there was a regular game night on Wednesday at Kumi's place. Kumi, Talmi, Tibó, Bank Tomi, sipi, Daneel and Balázs Gábor were all showing up there. The first time Sipi gave me a bruise and vote Nosferatu deck to play. I didn't really understand much at that time, but during that game Sipi said something that I will always remember and I think that is something very important to become a good player: "Don't help him, let him figure it out himself". So I learned the game as an autodidact.  

2. What was your biggest success as a tournament player? 

Winning an EC and being 2nd place at two NAC events. The NAC's annoy me a little bit since I lost them both in a face 2 face situation. My favorite memory is the NAC 2009 since besides making 9 GW's out of the possible 12 and playing the finals every day I made many good friendships. 

3. What is your favorite deck, favorite deck type and why?

I am a big cap vampire fetishist. I don't even remember how to play with vampires below 10 capacity. I have always a different favorite deck, currently it is my Shatter the Gate deck. Many people try to play with it, but I haven't seen any other viable version. I love big cap vampire Enkil Cog decks, no matter who the vampire is. :) I see more opportunities and fantasy in big cap decks and they are less predictable.

4. What motivates you during play? Why do you think it is worth to play this game?

This is still the best multi player card game ever and I don't think that this will change in the future. After all these years there is still something new to discover in it. A motivation for me is to achieve good results with an own idea.

5. How do you prepare for tournaments?

Recently I don't. Otherwise we test a deck an infinite amount of times. A good tournament decks has 20-40 games played before I say that is sort of the final version. Of course it is very important to have fun with that deck.

6. What is the "perfect" v:tes player like?

Patient and can think in the long term. Reputation is also an important factor. You have to be polite and sportsmanlike especially in international tournaments. In the end this is still a game!

7. What is your favorite crypt card?

Currently the big cap baali vampires like Annazir, but also Lucian the Perfect.

8. What is your favorite library card?

Enkil Cog, Monastery of Shadows.

9. What is your favorite set?

Bloodlines, HttB.

10. What is your favorite illustration?

I am Legion.

11. What other games do you play?

Board Games (Chaos in the Old World, 7 Wonders, Game of Thrones, Smallworld, etc.)

12. What is your message to new players?

Patience, patience and patience. In this game you will loose more often than you will win. Look at the tables and try to figure out what will happen and how the decks have an impact on each other. 

13. What do you think about the future of v:tes?

As long as there are players there will be nothing to take its place.

Thanks a lot to Ferenc Vasadi for answering the questions and for shilmulotarot for the interview! 

by: Mephistopheles

Opend Dossier: Csaba ""Mr_Toreador" Greguss

Hi folks!

Here is the second interview translation from shilmulotarot.blogspot.com:

Player Profile:

Name: Csaba Greguss

Nickname: Mr_Toreador

Year of Birth: 1982

Occupation: Recruitment Consultant

City: Budapest

Questions and answers:

1. When did you start to play v:tes and where did you met it? 

It all started in 2004. I have played other card games before (Mythos, Magus) and stumbled into a shop near the Kodály Körönd. Even though they had these games I naively asked if they have some other card game as well. I left as the happy owner of 3 Toreador starter decks, since I was looking for something versatile to play and something that can influence the entire game as well. This is were my nickname is from. That week on Wednesday I played my first game at a club in Budapest (Fanyűvő) where I made my first 2 victory points.    

2. What was your biggest success as a tournament player? 

Last year at the EC in Paris. I won the tournament with the largest attendance ever, the 172 player Last Chance Qualifier with 4 Game Wins. I finished 9th place at the Day 2.  

3. What is your favorite deck, favorite deck type and why?

I always like to play with Toreador decks, but I love the Cybeletron and everything that bleeds. I leave combat decks to the other players. I like to play bleed/vote/combo decks mainly. I am testing some turbo decks currently, but I also like to build alternative decks for tournament play, like a Choir based deck. My play style favors aggressive decks, but I have learned to play them patiently.

4. What motivates you during play? Why do you think it is worth to play this game?

Friends, Tournaments, Game Wins. And the feeling when you can solve a very though situation, especially in a final. I still remember when I won a final sitting between two tupdog decks with only minimal combat in my deck.

5. How do you prepare for tournaments?

I have 3 main points: play well rested, with tested decks after a few days without playing if possible. So you feel the "hunger" to play a good game. Otherwise I think there are 3 factors to achieve good results:

1) Play very strong and well tested decks.
2) You have to play that deck very good.
3) Good seating and a bit of luck.

If you 2 of these than you can achieve 1-2 Game Wins.

6. What is the "perfect" v:tes player like?

He has to know his own strength and weaknesses in the first place. He understands the dynamics of the game and the given table. He can manipulate his environment. He plays technically flawlessly. 

7. What is your favorite crypt card?

Currently Thucimia.

8. What is your favorite library card?

Life Boon, it made me some Game Wins. It is unexpected and unforeseeable. Also fitting to my play style: Antediluvian Awakening and Curse of Nitocris.

9. What is your favorite set?

I don't have one.

10. What is your favorite illustration?

I don't have one.

11. What other games do you play?

Board Games (7 Wonders, Chaos in the Old World), Total War games on PC.

12. What is your message to new players?

Play a lot and analyse your mistakes and moves after the game. Think of what you should have done differently. Don't try to play for the vp's but for the gw's. And the more the old players try to convince you to do something else the better choice you have made.

13. What do you think about the future of v:tes?

As long as there are regular games and the players stick to the game there will be no problem. I think it will last for many years. It won't fail on me!

Thanks a lot to Csaba Greguss for answering the questions and for shilmulotarot for the interview! 

by: Mephistopheles

Open Dossier: Péter "Superlame" Botos

Hi folks!

Recently shilmulotarot.blogspot.com has posted some interviews with Hungarian v:tes players. I have asked for the permission to translate them into English and received it, so here you go:

Player Profile:

Name: Péter Botos

Nickname: Superlame on the forums or Boti

Year of Birth: 1981

Occupation: Business Intelligence Analyst

City: Budapest

Questions and answers:

1. When did you start to play v:tes and where did you met it? 

I have played other card games before (Magic, Guardians, Star Wars, Middle Earth) so I tried to resist v:tes for a long time even though my friends desperately tried to convince me. My experience was that such games consume a lot of money and since I was a University Student at that time I had not enough of that resource. Then my friends decided to buy me my first deck and I fell for the trick. I started to play with a Camarilla Brujah starter deck around 2003. 

2. What was your biggest success as a tournament player? 

The tournament win at the 2010 National Championship (HNC). This win is really next my heart because I won with deck that I designed alone. It is a True Brujah deck which never counted as a Tier1 deck type before. Also it was my first tournament win (I had achieved good results with this deck before) and I won it with 4 Game Wins total. 

3. What is your favorite deck, favorite deck type and why?

I have no favorite deck. I like decks that have an unusual twist in them. Of course I have played "regular" decks before but those are never so funny to play and I often discard them pretty fast.

4. What motivates you during play? Why do you think it is worth to play this game?

Naturally winning is a main motivation., but there are other things as well: pulling of a good combo, proving a decks viability, etc.

5. How do you prepare for tournaments?

I don't really prepare for tournaments. I don't actually take them any more serious than casual games. Preparation is more a by-product. I like to play a lot and visit friends to join play test games.

6. What is the "perfect" v:tes player like?

He oversees the game, knows who is in what kind of a situation. He can predict other players moves. It is of course important that he knows all cards and rules. He has to be able to manipulate others if necessary, but can also stall around. He has to be patient and be able to wait for the right moment, even if this means to pass his turns for awhile. He loves the game.

7. What is your favorite crypt card?

Nakhthorheb.

8. What is your favorite library card?

Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers.

9. What is your favorite set?

LoB and HttB.

10. What is your favorite illustration?

Gem Ghastly.

11. What other games do you play?

Chess, Warcraft III, Civ. V.

12. What is your message to new players?

Test many different deck types, if possible build them yourself, or at least tweak the TWD deck yourself.

13. What do you think about the future of v:tes?

I think people will be playing the game for several years, but if no company shows up to support it and print new cards than I think it has chance in the long term. Even printable fan sets can't change this. Let's hope I am wrong!

Thanks a lot to Péter Botos for answering the questions and for shilmulotarot for the interview! 

by: Mephistopheles

Made in Hungary: Trujah Bleed

Hi folks!

This column is about decks that were made in Hungary and achieved international attention. I am not claiming that we alone invented it, neither do I want other players to give us credit. It's simply about showing what our v:tes community came up with. 

This time I want to introduce a deck built by Peter Botos. He achieved several game wins with this deck before he won the Hungarian National Championship with it in 2010 and got chosen Deck of the Month on extrala. The basic idea of this deck is to slowly build up for a "Big Turn" when you try to oust your opponent using two permanent bleed equipment. This needs a good set-up. Like almost all new Trujah decks this one also focuses on the Domain of Evernight + Outside the Hourglass combination to avoid block attempts. It also uses 7 copies of Tangle Atropo's Hand which will drive everybody insane and also leads to responsible bleeding. 

Another strength of this deck is the powerhouse Vaticination. Maybe the strongest card from the set. It is very useful to discard nasty cards from your preys hand, like Archon Investigation or wake/bounce cards, but also makes adds survive ability to the deck since you can stop your predator from playing nasty cards like Parity Shift. 

Also many people didn't really know what the deck was about. If you influence on a Malkvian! or Gilbert Duane people will cry stealth-bleed. Lydia was not that threatening. She is now. All in all this is a very smart and technically challenging deck. Peter made it to the finals with it at ECQ Belgrade, too.

Here are the 2 similar decks from the TWDA:

Karl Cheng Chua's version 

Dave Pennington's version

And here is the original deck:

Hungarian National Championship
Nagymaros, Hungary
November 27, 2010
40 Players
3R + F

Peter Botos' Tournament Winning Deck

Deck Name: True Power
Created By: Botos Peter

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 13, Max: 36, Avg: 6,75)
------------------------------------------------------
1 Tyler McGill   AUS pre    4 Toreador
1 Andre LeRoux   aus     3 Toreador
2 Veejay Vinod   AUS     3 Nagaraja
4 Lydia   AUS FOR POT TEM dom pre 9 True Brujah
4 Al-Muntathir   AUS FOR PRE TEM obf qui 8 True Brujah

Library: (90 cards)
-------------------------
Master (16 cards)
1 Tabriz Assembly
3 Perfectionist
3 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Anarch Troublemaker
4 Villein
1 Wider View
1 Pentex Subversion
1 Giant`s Blood
1 Remover

Action (12 cards)
7 Vaticination
3 Summon History
2 Mind Numb

Action Modifier (24 cards)
11 Domain of Evernight
2 Crocodile`s Tongue
2 Recurring Contemplation
7 Tangle Atropos` Hand
2 Freak Drive

Reaction (18 cards)
3 My Enemy`s Enemy
3 On the Qui Vive
6 Eyes of Argus
6 Telepathic Misdirection

Combat (10 cards)
10 Outside the Hourglass

Ally (1 cards)
1 Veneficti (Mage)

Equipment (3 cards)
1 Guarded Rubrics
1 Heart of Nizchetus
1 Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers

Combo (6 cards)
6 Quicksilver Contemplation

by: Mephistopheles

Legendary Hungarians

Hi folks!

I am proud to announce that 3 Hungarian players have made it into the top 20 of the Legendary Tournament list! Csaba Greguss, Martin Major and Péter Botos will be attending the struggle for becoming LEGEN - wait for it - DARY!!! 

by: Mephistopheles

Talking Pictures: Frankie is building a new deck

Netdecking ain't no good...

Hi folks!

It's not the first time that I realize that re-building other players decks just won't work out for me. No matter how successful that deck archetype is otherwise when I copy paste one I just suck with it. My most successful decks are those I don't think much about but build them following a sudden impulse. It seems to work vica versa since whenever I borrow somebody a deck of mine they just suck with it, too. 

So I reached the point when I say to myself: no more scrolling through the TWDA! I think the reason for all this is the difference in players play style. The same deck concept built with almost the same cards (more or less) will still differ very much. One player might put the focus on reaction cards and play the deck more slowly and defensively while the other player will put the emphasize on combat cards and play it more aggressively. When they switch decks they won't automatically switch playstyle so both will "screw up". 

In the case I see something interesting on the net I will just look at the basic idea and then open a deck builder and start building the deck myself instead of looking at the original deck list. Have you guys made similar experience with this? Comment!

 by: Mephistopheles

Tournament Report: ECQ Belgrade

Hi folks!

I am writing this from the venue in Belgrade. Currently "the 5 five guys" are playing the final. As I wrote earlier I played my Ariadne toolbox deck, which was a terrible choice. Here is the very brief report since there is almost nothing to analyse.

1st table:

My predator was Peter Botos with his Trujah bleed deck. My prey played a Kiev circle Blood Brother deck. I blocked his first action an Unwholesome Bond and he aggravated his hand strike so I went right down to torpor. I counted on that might happen and took the risk. I did not count on him diablerizing me sacrificing his vampire since his prey had the vote lock. With my only vampire gone Peter made a fast vp and swept the table in like 25-30 minutes.

2nd table:

My predator was a Lucian the Perfect deck. He Brainwashed me, Pentexed me and when I rushed him he played Obedience. Oh and he bled me for 1000000000000000 pool. Played 5 minutes.

3rd table:

Another disappointing table. Yay! My prey is an imbued, so I can not rush him with Deep Song. My predator is a Nakthorheb deck. So I rushed backwards, but never saw an Aid from Bats. He caused me quite a lot of damage. His predator was an obf-pre stealth bleed who caused him a lot of damage but got Archoned (Adana di Sforza got burned ^^). The  imbued was fast enough to oust both of them. With all that pool loss I could not recover to deal with the imbueds who escaped from torpor by burning two convictions. 

So I finished with 0 VP total. Ariadne was just a bad choice. Shit happens. On the other side I met many nice guys, had great conversations and felt really good. Belgrade is a cool place to play v:tes, thank you guys for your hospitality! 

by: Mephistopheles 

Ariadne Toolbox it is!

Hi folks!

I will leave for the ECQ Belgrade tonight. Cipo, Gyula and myself will drive down to Szeged and spent the night at Colos' place. We will pick up Csaba at the train station Saturday morning and drive to Belgrade. Why am I writing this? I have no idea.

What I actually wanted to share is this: I didn't want to play any of my TWD decks again. Neither did I want to play with my new Toreador deck again. So I spent the entire week trying to figure out what to play until yesterday evening when it struck me like a lightning: Ariadne toolbox it is! I played all kinds of versions before and always ended up 6th or 7th place win 1 Game Win and a few VP's. Maybe this time I can make it to the final. I never build this deck twice the same, let's see what will come out this time. All I know is that such toolbox decks are the most fun to play. Since I am already qualified what else could be more important than having fun?

by: Mephistopheles

Many Tournaments coming up!

Hi folks!

The EC date is closing in and the urge to test our decks results in organizing tournaments:

22, October: Grand Ball Hatvan

29, October: HNC Veszprém

30, October: Crusade Budapest

Hungarian players can find all the information on our forum. For players who want to visit from abroad please just write me an e-mail: major.martin.tibor@gmail.com and I will provide you with all the information you need. I can help to get you a place to stay for the night or organize somebody to pick you up at a train or bus station. 

by: Mephistopheles

Made in Hungary: Ashur Anson rush

Hi folks!

This new column is about decks that were made in Hungary and achieved international attention. I am not claiming that we alone invented it, neither do I want other players to give us credit. It's simply about showing what our v:tes community came up with.

I won't introduce these decks following a chronological order. The first one I want to introduce is the well known Anson Ashur rush deck, which was first built by Péter Korsós. 

The deck is basically an enhanced weenie celerity rush deck. It sacrifices being all weenie, but has access to two master phase actions and titled vampires so it can add Second Tradition: Domain. The key to success is the Liquidation / Ashur combo, which generates pool to pay for the .44 magnum and recycles the needed combat, rush or reaction cards depending on what you need. It is another one of those decks that can be played very defensively if needed and still be able to eliminate it's prey in one turn with a Fame + Frontal Assault + Dragonbound combo. 

The first real success was when Gyula Erdős won the Hungarian ECQ on May 16th, 2009 with it. I was watching the final and had a great time doing so. In that final Gyula's predator was a Tzimisce Wall and there was another Wall deck, a Tremere weenie cross table (grand-prey). With 2 walls in the final the game was progressing only slowly. Gyula's prey was an Animalism based Ravnos deck. Sitting between Canine Hordes and aggravated range damage Gyula had to play very carefully. He waited for the time out to be close enough and than launched a sudden attack which scored him 1 VP and won him the Final.

A few weeks later on June 13th, 2009 Marcin Watras won a mini qualifier with this deck and was chosen as Deck of the Month on extrala. Marcin gave credit to Péter Korsós for which we are very thankful! After this success this new Deck Archetype has seen two more tournament wins:

Carlos Martín's version

Marcin Watras' another version

Besides winning tournaments I often met this deck archetype at tournaments were it achieved more or less success. I remember seeing it at least twice in a final. 

So here is the original decklist as it was played by Gyula Erdős:

Hungarian ECQ
Budapest, Hungary
May 16, 2009
47 players

Gyula Erdos' Tournament Winning Deck

Deck Name:   Ashur CEL
Created By:  Péter Korsós
Played By: Gyula Erdos

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 13, Max: 32, Avg: 5,33)
----------------------------------------------
  4 Anson             aus dom CEL PRE  8  Toreador
  3 Volker            pot CEL          5  Brujah
  1 Carter            cel              2  Toreador Antitribu
  1 Jimmy Dunn        for CEL POT      4  Pander
  1 Parmenides        qui CEL          4  Assamite
  1 Sarah Brando      CEL              3  Brujah Antitribu
  1 Victor Tolliver   pot CEL          4  Brujah Antitribu

Library: (77 cards)
-------------------
Master (18 cards)
  6 Ashur Tablets
  3 Dreams of the Sphinx
  2 Fame
  2 Haven Uncovered
  3 Liquidation
  1 Tension in the Ranks
  1 Powerbase: Montreal

Action (9 cards)
  9 Bum`s Rush

Reaction (8 cards)
  8 Second Tradition: Domain, The

Combat (34 cards)
  4 Blur
  7 Concealed Weapon
  9 Psyche!
  6 Pursuit
  3 Sideslip
  4 Taste of Vitae
  1 Fast Hands

Equipment (7 cards)
  7 .44 Magnum

Event (1 cards)
  1 Dragonbound

by: Mephistopheles