Reporting back from the NAC (6): FCQ

Hi folks!

Since I didn't made it to the Day2 of the NAC I played the first chance qualifier. After a disappointing day my main goal was to have fun and enjoy the game, so I decided to play my new version of Broken Brujah. Turned out to be a good choice! There were 13 players only, so we made it 2 rounds + final.

1st round: Brad Cashdollar (Dmitra Alastor) -> Me (Dmitra Alastor) -> Micah Ceithanl (Kyasid SB) -> Andy Smith (Obf-Dem classic SB)

I had already 6 pool influenced on Dmitra when Brad put his own Dmitra into play. I was pretty much shocked, but after yesterdays tournament I wasn't really surprised. I had to make a very tough decision here. Either I give up on Dmitra and bring out Carlak, or I go for the contest. I figured that the only way to win this table is letting Andy oust Brad, then back oust Andy and go for the 1 on 1 with Micah. So I contested Dmitra. After this I influenced out Carlak so I could Parity Shift the Kyasid. Brad was so pissed by my decision that he contested Carlak with me just to transfer out next turn. Well I can understand that people make such emotional moves, but I really wasn't happy with this.

Andy made the big mistake that he didn't cross table bleed me with Kindred Spirits. He totally could have made the game win here if he did. After Bad transfered out I had my Dmitra and Carlak in play again. I played 2 Parity Shifts this turn, both stealing pool from my Predator, and voter cap-ed on of them, getting 8 extra pool. I offered Micah to back oust Andy for him, if he doesn't bleed so Andy can't cycle his hand. Although I had like 4 Second Traditions in my hand I declined to block and discarded the Second Traditions instead. This is a lesson I've learned at the ECQ in Burton-upon-Trent. With this strategy Andy got pretty soon hand jammed. I could generate more pool with Grooming the Protage, Parity Shift and Voter Cap and even managed to call an Alastor on Dmitra and fetch an Assault Rifle.

After I got the Assault Rifle I started to back rush. My goal was to kill the guys with superior Auspex. After this was done I told Micah that he should go for his VP now, since I can't cause those final pool damages. Of course I hoped that Micah will use up his bleed modifiers. Fortunately he did. On the 1 on 1, I could rush on of his vampires every turn and I also drew a Pentex Subversion. Micah got me down to 2 pool once, but in my turn I finished his last vampire off, so we shook hands. 1GW 2VP

2nd round: Alex Broadhead (weenie presence) -> Me (Dmitra Alastor) -> Kelly Schultz (DOC voter) -> Brad Cashdollar (Dmitra Alastor) -> Devin (Nosferoyalty trophy deck)

This was tough again. This time I decided to let Brad have Dmitra. He also had Karen Suadela which was fine with me. Since I had 2 transfers in the start I popped out Tara who was followed by Carlak. I spent my early turns building up defense against the weenie presence guy. Some Parity Shifts helped me out again. I could easily pass them since both my cross table buddies were vote deck and the table hate at this point was the weenie presence. The Nosferatu took care of the weenies so I could relax and plan my future. I carefully started to influence on Dmitra and also stared to set myself up against the Noseferatu by playing both Heroic Might and Preternatural strength on Tara. since the Nosferatu's combat engine was built around hitting for 2-3 and then Disarm + Decap I felt save with a minion that could hit for 5.

The point came when I had to go all-in. I let Kelly (my prey) oust Brad and voted in favor with him, so 2 Lily Preludes did the oust. In my turn a influenced the last 4 pool needed on Dmitra, but before that I played the New Carthage and perfected the vote lock. At this point I made a gentleman's agreement with Devin. Both of us may get our VP and we go for the heads up. Alex destroyed my Assault Rifle before he got ousted (Anarch Troublemaker), but that was nothing I couldn't recover from. My Heart of Nitzchetus helped me find both Pentex Subversions and Dmitra's special + Tara's 5 hand damage were the different. 1GW 3VP

Final: Andy Smith (classic obf-dem) -> Eric Simon (Trujah with Lydia) -> Kelly Schultz (DOC)

-> Me (Dmitra Alastor) -> Alex Broadhead (weenie pre)

I was top seated in the final with 2GW 5VP so I could choose were to sit. The Trujah was the only deck that could kill me in combat with the Domain of Evernight + Outside the Hourglass combo, so I clearly couldn't sit next to him. I also wanted to avoid Andy Smith, since I was pretty sure that if I sit behind him he will back oust me. So the only spot left was in front of Kelly.

Kelly stared really amazing. Actually I loved his deck, it is a very well built DOC deck! He started with 2 Lily Preludes, so that was -8 pool for me. But once Dmitra hit the board I could regain pool from Parity Shifts and bring out a Second titled vampire. Meanwhile my prey ousted Andy and started to put some serious pressure on the Trujah. At this point my main concern was to stop Kelly and regain some pool. I managed to get an Alastor through so I could fetch my Assault Rifle again. This was good enough to stop Kelly. Too bad, that my prey made his second VP, but now I had potential to go forward. I had to give all the pool from a Parity Shift to Kelly, so Alex can't oust him. I don't remember what the deal was that Kelly and Alex made earlier, but that included that Alex won't bleed for 2 turns. Alex kept his deal, which I find awesome and therefore I held him in the highest respect! At one point Kelly almost got me and managed to torporize Karen Suadela with Shattering Crescendo. I called Dmitra's special, voter cap-ed it and played a Forced March, so I could rescue Karen and hunt with her. Next turn I played a Fame on Alex's vampire and torporized it. Kelly almost got me again, but I drew enough Second Trads and torporized him. In my turn I bled Alex out and the 1 on 1 was pretty easy, since Kelly had almost no vampire left. 1GW 3 VP

And here is my winning deck:

Deck Name: Broken Brujah vol. II

Created By: Martin

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 25, Max: 36, Avg: 7,75)

----------------------------------------------

2 Carlak dom pot CEL PRE8 Brujah

5 Dmitra Ilyanova obf CEL FOR POT PRE.9 Brujah

2 Karen Suadela POT CEL pre obf7 Brujah

2 Tara cel POT PRE 6 Brujah

1 Tomaine CEL POT PRE 6 Brujah

Library: (78 cards)

-------------------

Master (13 cards)

1 Fame

6 Grooming the Protege

1 Monastery of Shadows

2 New Carthage

2 Pentex Subversion

1 Wider View

Action (2 cards)

1 Heroic Might

1 Preternatural Strength

Action Modifier (12 cards)

4 Forced March

4 Perfect Paragon

4 Voter Captivation

Political Action (12 cards)

5 Alastor

7 Parity Shift

Reaction (12 cards)

12 Second Tradition: Domain, The

Combat (12 cards)

6 Psyche!

4 Side Strike

2 Taste of Vitae

Equipment (6 cards)

3 Assault Rifle

1 Heart of Nizchetus

1 Helicopter

1 Ivory Bow

Event (1 cards)

1 Dragonbound

Combo (8 cards)

8 Resist Earth`s Grasp

Reporting back from the NAC (5): Day1 Final

Hi folks!

Very brief report here, since I haven't seen it.

Selen Türkay (weenie dem) -> Ira Fay (big cap voter) -> Frankie (Shatter the Gate) -> Felipe F. (Imbued) -> Ben Peal (Kyasid SB)

The game started with a very fast VP for Selen. After this she put Frankie under pressure. This basically left the Imbued alone, so he could do his stuff. Selen managed to ousts Frankie, but instead of just using the Confusions she did use up most of her denies. After having ousted Frankie, she really missed those stealth cards against the Imbued. She got stuck at this point and some turns later Ben ousted Selen. The heads up was won by Felipe. With 2 VP's but being the higher seat, Felipe and his Imbueds won the tournament.

by: Mephistopheles

/detailed report from First Chance Qualifier and NAC Day2 final will follow soon/

Reporting back from the NAC (4): Day1

Hi folks!

Yesterdays tournament was a disaster for me, so this will be a brief report since I am basically still under shock.

1st round: Micah Ceithanl (Tzimi) - Felipe Fiuza (Imbued) - Selen Türkay (weenie Dem) - Me (Ahrimane Wall) - John Flournoy (Aching Beauty + Mask of 1k Faces)

Normally this wouldn't have been bad, but since I didn't draw any single reaction card (!!!) (well 1 delaying tactics doesn't count) I had no chance here. If we replayed this game 10 more times, I will be able to stop Selen at least 9 times. 0 VP

2nd round: Kevin Mergen (Reanimated Corpse) - Mark Loughman (Tremere) - Michal Summers (Nosferoyalty) - Me (Ahrimane Wall) - Peter Oh (Toreador Grand Ball)

Well the only deck at this table I couldn't oust was my prey. I got him down to 5 pool once, then he played a Minion Tap + Golconda. I finished the game with 23 pool, 3 vampires fully equipped, but I just couldn't oust my prey. 0,5 VP

3rd round: Adam Hulse (Tremere! toolbox) - Brian Moritz (Ian Forestal does Summon History) - Kym A. (Obf + Dom) - Darby Keeney (Arika Mind Rape) - Me (Ahrimane Wall)

Well not much to say here. I spent the whole game trying to survive and almost succeeded. Almost means that the malk 94 managed to top deck against me twice passing my 6 intercept with 7 stealth. So big 0 VP here again.

Totally 1,5 VP would have been enough to qualify for day2. And I failed this. I feel humiliated and I am totally disappointed.

by: Mephistopheles

/brief report of the final will follow/

Reporting back from the NAC (3): LCQ Finals

Hi folks!

Frankie agreed to write a summary of the LCQ finals. Here you go:

Seating was:

Adam Hulse (AUS weenie/midcap block) -> Mark Loughman (Naktorheb Chameleon) -> Darby Keeney (Tupdog) -> Ferenc Vasadi (Lucian the perfect mega bleed) -> ? (PRE weenie bleed)

The presence weenies started strong as expected, but fairly early an Aranthebes by Adam slowed them down. Darby was not attacking Frankie, to let him weaken the presence weenies; after some contemplation Mark influenced out Nakhthorheb only to be torporized by Darby to prevent some minion stealing. After a bleed of nine the presence weenie went down to 6 pool and then Frankie defended Lucian with an Obedience against the Tupdog. The next turn the new Tupdog was stolen by Mark with Chameleon, which "broke the cycle", as Darby had only !Tremere in the uncontrolled region. This enabled Frankie to oust the presence weenie and get an Enkil Cog on Lucian. Adam was in a good position to win, but he failed to draw any bounce cards, so after two big bleeds, he was ousted as well.

This time Mark started to weaken Frankie by banishing and stealing the supporting weenies of Lucian. The Tupdogs took care of the rest. Lucian had bled Mark down to once twice, but a Golconda and a Voter Captivation saved him, giving time for Darby to torporize and diablerize Lucian. After this Mark ousted Darby and Frankie the same turn.

Congrats to Mark Loughman for winning the tournament!

Frankie agreed to publish his Lucian deck:

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 13, Max: 44, Avg: 6,41)

----------------------------------------------

1 Black Lotus aus obf ser DOM 5 Followers of Set

1 Catherine du Bois for obf pre DOM 5 Ventrue

1 Dr. Douglas Netchurch dem dom AUS OBF 6 Malkavian

1 Keith Moody DOM 3 Tremere Antitribu

5 Lucian ANI AUS DOM OBF POT PRE 11 Guruhi

1 Robin Withers dom obf pre 4 Ventrue

1 Saiz aus dom 3 Tremere Antitribu

1 Sister Evelyn aus dom 3 Ventrue Antitribu

Library: (90 cards)

-------------------

Master (17 cards)

1 Ancestor Spirit

6 Blind Spot

2 Dreams of the Sphinx

1 Giant`s Blood

1 Monastery of Shadows

1 Palace Hunting Ground

1 Pentex Subversion

2 Sudden Reversal

1 Villein

1 Secure Haven

Action (10 cards)

2 Entrancement

8 Govern the Unaligned

Action Modifier (35 cards)

2 Change of Target

6 Conditioning

3 Crocodile`s Tongue

1 Edge of the World

3 Elder Impersonation

3 Enkil Cog

3 Faceless Night

1 Foreshadowing Destruction

4 Guruhi Are the Land, The

3 Lost in Crowds

2 Seduction

4 Spying Mission

1 Strange Day

Reaction (20 cards)

6 Deflection

2 Delaying Tactics

5 Obedience

7 Sense the Savage Way

Equipment (4 cards)

1 Heart of Nizchetus

2 Kduva`s Mask

1 Learjet

Event (1 cards)

1 Bitter and Sweet Story, The

Combo (2 cards)

2 Hide the Mind

by: Frankie and Mephistopheles

Basic Mistakes: think it through!

Hi folks!

In this post I am going to discuss two biggies I have seen. They had a really hard impact on the game and these types of mistakes are actually pretty common.

1st: You don't have to play a card just because you can play it!

The situation was this: my grand predator had a Kyasid in play. My predator had already 3 Blood Brothers on the board. Since I started with two influences and was playing an 11 cap, I had two pool on a six cap and 8 on my main vampire. My grand predators turn comes and he plays a Kaymakli Nightmare:

WTF??? It's obvious what happened: that player was just reading the card and playing it, because he considered only the effect it will have on him. He had it in his, but no other masters, so he just played without any consideration on how this card will effect the table. What happened was: I needed 3 more turns to transfer and had not a single vampire in play (the six cap was put into play by another player, so I couldn't go for that) while my predator had 4 vamps. He bled me with Walk of Cain. All together I've lost like 12 pool and in addition couldn't back rush. Oh, and by the way, the Kyasid got ousted and the Blood Brothers won the table.

So please guys, for God's sake, try to consider the effect of cards they have on the entire table before you play them!

2nd: Basic Table Talk

This was another really strange situation. I started the game with a Smiling Jack and got Howler out. I could defend the Jack against my prey. Meanwhile my predator brings into play two a Brujah from group 4-5. He was playing a presence based Brujah vote deck without any bleed bounce. My grand predator (so the guy who wants to oust the Brujah) had a Lucian the Perfect in play. Remember, he has superior Dominate and Obfuscate and +3 bleed. The Brujahs turn comes and he plays a Pentex Subversion on Howler to burn the Smiling Jack. WTF???

I know Smiling Jack is strong and people wanna get rid of it, but here is the big mistake: he could have totally got rid of it without playing the Pentex on Howler. All he should have done was to talk a little. Something like this: "If you let me burn the Jack I will Pentex Lucian and not Howler". Of course I would have agreed. So the Brujah guy gets rid of the Jack and is save from a bleed monster.

Do I need to say, that Lucian the Perfect got the game win?

by: Mephistopheles

Reporting back from the NAC (2): LCQ

Hi folks!

I've just came back to my hotel room from the Last Chance Qualifier. As I wrote earlier, I played my Ahrimane Wall Deck. Here's what happened:

1st round: Kelly Schultz (Baali Striga) - Robyn Tatu (Sabbat OBF+AUS) - John Flourny (Nosfi! ally swarm bleed) - Jason Schneiderman (Tzimi vote deck) - Me (Ahrimane Wall)

Howler didn't show up in the starting crypt, so I had to call down a new vampire which was Howler. This delay cost me a couple of pool, but that was worth it. Basically the only deck I couldn't oust was my prey. He did play a bunch of Ashur Tablets and Tend the Flocks. Even worse, he played Hexe. All those Scobax cards were also pretty annoying. Once I got Holwer in play my predator wasn't a threat anymore so I could build up. Slowly John ousted Jason and Robyn could oust John, since I was putting pressure on the Baali deck and also Falcon's Eyed him. Then we timed out. I finished the game with 23 pool and 4 vampires. The closest I got to oust my prey was bleeding him down to 4 pool. 0,5 VP

2nd round: Alex Broadhead (Assamite bleed) - Micah C. (Tzimi Vote) - Frankie (Lucian powerbleed) - Peter Oh (Brujah 4-5 vote) - Me (Ahrimane Wall)

I had such a great start! First turn Smiling Jack, then Holwer hits the board. I could successfully block my prey attempt to burn it and torporized him. Then came the pain. I still had only Holwer and 1 pool on the Jack. Frankie just put Lucian in play. Remember he has superior OBF+DOM and +3 bleed. My predator, Peter Oh plays a Brujah deck and has no bleed bounce. Peter plays his Pentex Subversion on Howler without any table talk, just to remove the Jack for sure. Come on!!! Why for fucks sake couldn't he tell me to let him burn the Jack so he will put the Pentex on Lucian??? Of course I'd have agreed!!! After this it's no wonder that Frankie made a game win. Well before Frankie won some things happened. My grand prey totally tapped himself out without having any defensive cards and died. WTF??? A free VP and six pool for my prey. Before Frankie got me I managed to oust my prey. In the 1 on 1 situation Frankie Pentexed me and got the game win. I really should have won this table, but my cross table allies decisions not only killed themselves, it also cost me the game win. 1 VP

3rd round: Me (Ahriman Wall) - Pascal Bertrand (Khazar's peasants) - Wayne Halsey (Tzimi combat with Horrid Form) - Mark Loughman (Nakhthorheb Chameleon) - Sebastian Roullard (Blanche Hill power bleed)

My start was good. Howler pops out, gets the Rack and plays Army of Rats. I totally crushed into Pascals face. I played against the Khazar's peasants many times and knew that you have to stop that deck right in the beginning. Mark managed to steal Blanche Hill, which totally took the pressure from me. Mark of course made a fast VP here. Luckily I managed to DI his Banishment he wanted to play on Howler. I few turns later I played a Pentex Subversion on him. Wayne and me came to a gentleman's agreement to get our VP's and play the heads up. This happened pretty soon. Both of us had an Army of Rats in play and two vampires. I had Howler and the Siamese, he had Dragos and Caliban. Since I had the Rack and 3 vessels I had better pool gaining. Wayne in return had a stronger combat, but his vampires were low on blood and he started the heads up with less pool. We spent a couple of turns fighting without any significant result. After a couple of turns Wayne managed to torporize the Siamese. Since I had the edge Siamese tried to self rescue, which was blocked by Wayne. He was tapped out this point and had 3 pools only. I noticed that his deck wasn't a wall, so I tried to bleed with Howler. He didn't block and an Aire of Elation gave me the game win. 1 GW 3 VP's.

I finished the tournament with 1GW 4,5 VP's, which was enough to save the honor (I finished tied 7th place), but I am still disappointed. Let's hope I will be better tomorrow.

by: Mephistopheles

/I'll try to find out what happened in the final and report it back to you guys/

Reporting back from the NAC (1): Arrival

Hi folks!

I've arrived to New Orleans yesterday, after almost 48 hours of travelling. My flight from New York to Charlotte got canceled due to a thunderstorm. So by the time I'd arrive to the Roosevelt Hotel I was almost a Zombie. They were just about to a start a little 2R+Final tournament so I just picked my Hardestadt eats the world deck to have some fun.

The first table was really awesome! Even though I managed to make 1 Vp only, it was one of the most exciting and funniest tables I've ever played. My predator was a nasty Reanimated Corpse deck which was really a pain in the ass. My predator was a sort of Tzimisce bleed deck. The cross table buddies were: Aye+Orun tech Brutal Influence bleed and a Dominate Brujah bruise and bleed. Basically we killed each other and after an hour or so everybody was down on ~3 pool with torporized vamps. At this point I had no other chance then to back oust the Samedi deck with a Parity Shift. After this I made my own vp. The 3 of us remaining went into an all-in strategy to get our next vp and hopefully a game win. Too bad for me my Hardestadt got killed by a Burning Wrath. At this point my prey had 4 pool and I still had Lodin. I had a Parity Shift + Freak Drive in my hand which would have been enough to get the vp. Unfortunately my Shift got blocked by a Second Trad. Selen made a well deserved game win.

Second Table: I had transfered already 8 pool on Hardestadt when my cross table "buddie" played the Kaymakli Nightmare which really didn't helped him, but cost me 10 pool (Ben's Blood Bothers bled me for that) and I had to take 3 more turns without a vamp in play. Otherwise my deck would have been working well, but I could't catch up with all these turns lost. 0 Vp

Today will be the last chance qualifier. Since I am already qualified I will play my Howler deck, because I didn't play it for a long time and it's one of my favorite decks. I'll report back to you what happened!

by: Mephistopheles