The Stockholm League - September 26 2012

 Untap and Disguised Weapon in one card. Balanced?

Four tables were played in the ninth round of ten in our August-October league. Standard tournament rules apply + printed proxy is allowed.

Table 1:
1. Caroline (Ani-For-Aus wall w Mordecai) 3 vp, 1 gw
2. Tomas W (!Toreador vote w animalism)
3. Kim (Ahrimanes toolbox) 1 vp
4. Henrik K (!Ventrue w Mathias and Spirit Marionette)

Table 2:
1. Jens (Shambling Hordes w Dragon Breath Rounds)
2. Ivan (Imbued ???) 5 vp, 1 gw
3. Donk (Enkidu rush)
4. Johnny (Turbo-Cybele)
5. Jonas H (Dom-weenies)

Table 3:
1. Alex (Ventrue lawfirm)
2. Masso (The Unnamed Enkil-Homonoculus-sb)
3. Kim (!Nosferatu rush/wall) 3 vp, 1 gw
4. Henrik K (!Ventrue w Mathias and Spirit Marionette)
5. Tomas W (G4-5 presence-princes w Parity Shifts) 2 vp

Table 4:
1. Caroline (!Ventrue anarchs) 1 vp
2. Donk (Enkidu rush)
3. Jan Erik (PRE-AUS Jost & Rebekka) 3 vp, 1 gw
4. Jonas H (Dom-weenies) 1 vp
5. Johnny (Daughters breed-boon)

League standings:
Jens 86 rtp
Jonas H 80 rtp
Randy 64 rtp
Robert D 56 rtp
Ivan 52 rtp
Jan Erik 48
Tomas W 44 rtp
Henrik K, Caroline 36 rtp
Masso 32 rtp
Kristofer 30 rtp
Marcus 28 rtp
Ober 24 rtp
Kim, Donk 20 rtp
Erik M 16 rtp
(1 gw = 8 ratingpoints, 1 vp = 4 ratingpoints. Note: Players can play more than one game each round if their participation are needed to complete a table where at least one player has not yet played a league game this round, but only the best result each round counts for rating. No league game starts after 20.00.)

The next round of the league is played at Dragon´s Lair, Kungsholmstorg 8 next Wednesday about 1800-ish. Be there!

The Stockholm League - September 19 2012

Jens won with zombies with guns and grabbed the lead.

Three tables were played in the eight round of ten in our August-October league. Standard tournament rules apply + printed proxy is allowed.

Table 1:
1. Henrik K (!Ventrue w Mathias and Spirit Marionette)
2. Kristofer (Spirit Marionette + Temptation) 1,5 vp
3. Erik M (Setite sb w Giotto Verbucci)
4. Tomas W (!Toreador vote w animalism) 2.5 vp, 1 gw
5. Jonas H (Dominate-weenies)

Table 2:
1. Randy (Ani-Aus-wall)
2. Ivan (Baron Samedi w Reanimated Corpse) 3 vp, 1 gw
3. Donk (Failed to report deck type)
4. Jan Erik (Setites?) 2 vp
5. Jens (Shambling Hordes w Dragon Breath Rounds)

Table 3:
1. Jens (Shambling Hordes w Dragon Breath Rounds) 3 vp, 1 gw
2. Donk (Hermanas w Liliths Blessing)
3. Erik M (Setite sb w Giotto Verbucci) 2 vp
4. Robert D (Aus-cel wall w guns)
5. Masso (Trujah bruise-bleed w Shalmath)

League standings:
Jens 86 rtp
Jonas H 80 rtp
Randy 64 rtp
Robert D 56 rtp
Tomas W, Henrik K 36 rtp
Masso 32 rtp
Kristofer 30 rtp
Jan Erik, Marcus 28 rtp
Ivan, Ober 24 rtp
Donk 20 rtp
Erik M, Caroline 16 rtp
(1 gw = 8 ratingpoints, 1 vp = 4 ratingpoints. Note: Players can play more than one game each round if their participation are needed to complete a table where at least one player has not yet played a league game this round, but only the best result each round counts for rating. No league game starts after 20.00.)

The next round of the league is played at Dragon´s Lair, Kungsholmstorg 8 next Wednesday about 1800-ish. Be there!

Brewers Corner: Swedish Champion

Less than a week left to the Swedish Nationals held in Örebro, bleedcapitol of, dare I say, the world.

So many thoughts rush through my head.

What deck to play?

What will the meta be?

Whats a realistic goal. To win? To get to the final? To avoid becomming Apache Jones again?

Can you choose decks based on your what you want to achieve? When you look at some decks I can think "this might win a table or two, but can it win a final table?"

A perfect example of this is a weenie presence deck. Out of three tables it will likely sweep one and get you a couple of more vp:s since your first prey will almost always have a really tough start, but I have very seldom, if ever, seen one win a final table. Is this deck type a good choice for an ECQ? If your primary goal is to qualify and everything beyond that is a bonus then I would say yes, but if it is to win the whole thing, then I would not see this deck type as an option. This doesn´t feel promising for the Nationals.

Should I go with the staple deck?

I mean the standard formula where turn 2 you get your first guy at cap 7-8. Turn 3 govern down and get your next guy. Turn 4 both your minions govern down and turn 5 you should bleed for 24 and get your first vp. The strategy is naturally supported by eurostealth and Dreams in the master package and multi act (Ven/!ven) or stealth (Gio/Las/Mal g 1-2). The deck is hardly innovating, but it does get vp:s and gw:s.

I can go over the top with a glass canon like al-Muntahir bleeds for 16, Una or some turbo Baron or Nergal Soulgem brew. These kinds of decks are, in my mind, decks that very seldom win a final table since usually all the other finalists know what you are playing and if you get to do your thing(tm) they wont win. Pentex from your grand prey is not an option you should discard when sitting down on a final table with a deck like that.

The Ashurs-Liquidation trick is still strong, but it doesn´t have the same put through as it used to have, since most players have understood it´s strength and it´s weaknesses. And as Myrdin have already written about the master hate is running rampant in Stockholm, and it´s spreading. I expect to see alot of that in Örebro as well and that presents a big problem for this kind of deck.

Last year I played a royalty kind of deck with Malgorzata and crypt acc. In my first game there was 28 votes on the table after the first IC was Golconda:d. Is there soemthing as bad in V:tes when you sit down at a table with a deck that is really focused on one thing and the table and your position on it more or less prohibits you from doing just that thing? Maybe I should try to avoid that trap this year.

The first time that I played the Swedish Nationals I had a toolboxy bleed deck with one Demonstration, two Fear of Mekhet and three Framing an Ancient Grudge and needed either card in all three of my games and didn´t draw them fast enough. What was the lesson I can learn from that?

The second year I played a Helena wall deck that lacked enough forward motion to make an impact in the meta that year.

So after these experiences playing toolbox or wall are usually options I discard in larger tournaments. Even if you get the table you usually doesn´t get more than 3 vp:s which means you almost need vp:s in all games, and not counting that you will be dead by seating(tm) at at least one table is a bit too optimistic. Oh well, I have two more days to brew.

One thing is sure though: It´s going to be a blast!

Hope to see you there.

Tomas

Denial is not a river in Egypt

As I have written earlier cardflow is an integral and important part of the game, denying cardflow slows down decks and makes them unwieldly or even unplayable.

Denial in deckbuilding is about denying the opportunity for the opposing players to cycle cards during normal play. This is done by playing cards such as Seduction, Mirror Walk, Obedience, Mental Maze and the master package commonly known as Eurostealth (Pentex Subversion, Misdirection and Anarch Troublemaker), among others.

Denial as a tactic is different, it also affects opponents cardflow but is not dependent on your deck. A common example is the tactic vs. stealthbleeders; not blocking so they stack on stealth. Tactics are difficult to pin down since they vary from table to table, but the main thing to keep in mind is minimizing cardflow.

Denial in deck archetypes fall into different categories: active denial, passive denial and reactive denial.

Active denial is commonly combat decks, the idea is to remove the active components in play (vampires and allies) so that cardflow is reduced to as close to 0 as you can manage.

Passive denial is by introducing elements into the game that will stop certain decks from working properly by simply existing, such as lots of votes in a deck not centered around voting (ex. Girls will Find Inner Peace), an active element that is incompatible with other decks (ex. Imbueds since they are not affected by a plethora of cards) or a vampire/ally special that is a silver bullet to certain decks (ex. Santaleous, Aksinya Daclau, Xeper, Sultan of Lepers etc).

Reactive denial is seen both as action modifiers and reactions, either by stopping cycling from happening at all by ending actions before any combat cards or action modifiers can be played, or by forcing cycling to a pace the deck cannot handle and making it run out of support cards (walls that make decks run out of stealth, or repeated actions with untaps/Tangle Atropos Hand that make a decks run out of reactions etc.)

The easiest way to introduce denial into a deck is by adding the Eurostealth package. This denies the ability to play reactive cards unless the opponent has a wake, since most decks don't pack excessive amounts of wakes defending while being tapped out repeatedly denies alot of the other reactive cards you could play. The Eurostealth package does not combine overly well with other support disciplines, it could easily jam your hand on support cards used to aid throughput cards, it does combine well with multiact as a denial ability, so packing eurostealth into a Ventrue lawfirm or Presence weenie is very beneficial.

Using this analysis we could try combining several forms of denial, Active denial with Reactive denial could be used in a Tzimisce prey punisher by playing Read the Winds and Mind of the Wilds/Deep Song. Passive denial with Reactive denial in a DOM-THA bigcap bleed deck. Active/Reactive denial in the form of bigcaps playing Banishment and multiacting to bleed could be a possibility.

Based on the analysis above of denial in deck archetypes you could also formulate a strategic denial. By thinking in forms of Active, Passive and Reactive you can analyze a table to minimize opponents cardflow. Not bringing up vampires early to stop Active denial decks, not blocking or doing blockable actions to stop or create Reactive denial. There are as many possibilities as there are tables. Passive denial on the other hand is the hardest to handle or emulate since it's situational, but you need to be able to identify it when it appears. The main thing to keep in mind is of course to hamper and minimize the cardflow of opponents, hopefully this analysis clears things up and creates some structures for in-game analysis.

The Stockholm League - September 12 2012

Tutte (censored version)

Four tables were played in the seventh round of ten in our August-October league. Standard tournament rules apply + printed proxy is allowed.

Table 1:
1. Randy (Bicap Tremere w obf) 4 vp, 1 gw
2. Henrik K (Giovanni w Mathias and Spirit marionette)
3. Caroline (!Ventrue toolbox) 1 vp
4. Jonas H (Setite vote)
5. Tomas W (Lutz & Unmada)

Table 2:
1. Caroline (!Tremere w Uta Kovacs and Temptation) 2 vp, 1 gw
2. Randy (Nana & ani-weenies w Anarch Revolts) 1 vp
3. Jonas H (Torvus wall) 1 vp
4. Robert D (Imbueds ???)

Table 3:
1. Masso (The Unnamed w Anima Gathering)
2. Jens (Toreador AAA w guns and Infernal Pursuit) 2 vp, 1 gw
3. Donk (Enkidu rush) 1 vp
4. Marcus (G4-5 Ventrue Lawfirm) 1 vp

Table 4:
1. Jens (Malkavian sb) 3 vp, 1 gw
2. Kristofer (Guillaume rush)
3. Masso (Dabbler network ???) 2 vp
4. Donk (Enkidu rush)
5. Ivan (Baron Samedi w Reanimated Corpse)

League standings:
Jonas H 80 rtp
Jens 66 rtp
Randy 64 rtp
Robert D 56 rtp
Henrik K 36 rtp
Masso 32 rtp
Marcus 28 rtp
Kristofer, Ober 24 rtp
Donk, Jan Erik, Tomas W 20 rtp
Caroline 16 rtp
Erik M 8 rtp
Ivan 4 rtp
(1 gw = 8 ratingpoints, 1 vp = 4 ratingpoints. Note: Players can play more than one game each round if their participation are needed to complete a table where at least one player has not yet played a league game this round, but only the best result each round counts for rating. No league game starts after 20.00.)

The next round of the league is played at Dragon´s Lair, Kungsholmstorg 8 next Wednesday about 1800-ish. Be there!

Report, TWD and interview: Pulled Fangs Stockholm 2012

Place: Stockholm Sweden
Date: 9 September 2012
2 rounds + final
10 players
Winner: Ivan Marin-Rivas

Round 1:
Table 1:
1: Ivan M-R (Ventrue lawfirm) (2 vp)
2: Andreas T (Stanislava Purge-Rape)
3: Michael H (Kiasyd sb w tablets)
4: Henrik K (G4/5 Ventrue lawfirm w guns and sticks) (2 vp)
(Pentex + Mind Numb prevented Andreas from taking a single action in this game.)

Table 2:
1: Magnus K (CEL guns w Coyote bloat)
2: Tomas W (Small pre-princes w Parity Shifts) (3 vp, 1 gw)
3: Randal R (Girls)
4: Marcus B (G1-2 princes w obf) (1 vp)


* * * * *

Round 2:
Table 1:
1: Johannes B (BH !Ventrue) (Late arrival)
2: Ivan M-R (Ventrue lawfirm) (3 vp, 1 gw)
3: Olof H (Aus-Obf-Cel Sabbat toolbox) (Late arrival)
4: Marcus B (G1-2 princes w obf) (2 vp)
5: Andreas T (Stanislava Purge-Rape)
(More bad luck for Andreas here: Stanislava got Tempted by a Greater Power after one turn of actions. And this time it was Olofs turn to not take any actions because of Ivans Pentex.)

Table 2:
1: Magnus K (CEL guns w Coyote bloat)
2: Henrik K (G4/5 Ventrue lawfirm w guns and sticks) (3 vp, 1 gw)
3: Tomas W (2 vp) (Small pre-princes w Parity Shifts)
4: Michael H (Kiasyd sb w tablets)
5: Randal R (Girls)

* * * * *

Final standings:
1. Ivan M-R (1 gw-5 vp)
2. Henrik K (1-5)
3. Tomas W (1-5)
4. Marcus B (0-3)
5. Michael H (0-0)

Final table:
1. Michael H (Kiasyd sb w tablets)
2. Marcus B (G1-2 princes w obf) (2 vp)
3. Tomas W (Small pre-princes w Parity Shifts)
4. Henrik K (G4/5 Ventrue lawfirm w guns and sticks)
5. Ivan M-R (Ventrue lawfirm) (3 vp, 1gw, tournament victory)

First vampires:
Michael H: Some Kiasyd midcap
Marcus B: Queen Anne
Tomas W: Victor Donaldson
Henrik K: Graham Gottesman
Ivan M-R: Democritus


All decks in the final played Dominate. Henrik did not take any actions the first 10 rounds or so because of 2x Pentex and Mind Numbs. It made it possible for Ivan to Govern/Scout/influence out 4 minions, making him very hard to stop.

Congrats Ivan for the tournament victory!

* * * * *

Tournament winning deck
Deck Name: Vita Kränkta Män ("White violated men")
Created By: Ivan Marin-Rivas
Description: I made this deck for Sofia as a newbie deck to show how votes work. The deck is a normal Govern chain with Democritus at the top, vote if you can, otherwise discard vote cards during referendums to draw more bleed.

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 24, Max: 36, Avg: 7,41)
----------------------------------------------
2 Sir Walter Nash DOM FOR PRE 7 Ventrue
2 Emerson Bridges DOM FOR pot PRE8 Ventrue
1 Ranjan Rishi DOM for PRE 5 Ventrue
1 Democritus aus cel DOM for PRE10 Ventrue
1 Heather Florent dom FOR PRE 6 Ventrue
2 Timothy Crowley ani dom FOR PRE7 Ventrue
2 Wilhelm Waldburg aus cel DOM FOR PRE9 Ventrue
1 Luccia Paciola DOM for pre 6 Ventrue

Library: (83 cards)
-------------------
Master (11 cards)
2 Anarch Troublemaker
2 Misdirection
2 Pentex Subversion
1 Legendary Vampire
1 Direct Intervention
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Giant`s Blood
1 Ventrue Headquarters

Action (17 cards)
2 Entrancement
2 Mind Numb
4 Scouting Mission
9 Govern the Unaligned

Action Modifier (26 cards)
3 Daring the Dawn
2 Bewitching Oration
3 Voter Captivation
9 Freak Drive
2 Seduction
3 Bonding
4 Conditioning

Political Action (13 cards)
6 Kine Resources Contested
1 Conservative Agitation
1 Anarchist Uprising
3 Parity Shift
2 Neonate Breach

Reaction (7 cards)
5 Deflection
2 Second Tradition: Domain, The

Combat (8 cards)
8 Majesty

Equipment (1 cards)
1 Heart of Nizchetus

* * * * *

Interview with Ivan Marin-Rivas, the winner:

1. What did you play? Why?
"I chose my Ventrue Lawfirm because at the last tournament the meta was shifted when an anti-cryptspeed deck won and many of the powervote decks did poorly, I felt that this would leave my Lawfirm deck an edge in the meta since it votes while having no cryptspeed instead relying more heavily on dominate."

2. What are your thoughts about your preformance?
"I'm very happy, both during the inital rounds and the finals, I felt I had a good grasp on the decks played and I didn't do alot of mistakes (no big ones at least), also I had slept fairly well and was in a good mood which helps alot. For the finals I was nervous about chosing seating since I usually don't get very high seed (I prefer less aggressive decks generally speaking). Looking back I think I made the right seating choice though."

3. What did you learn from the tournament?
"The power of sudden/wash and bleeding the vine against crypt acceleration is immense, many aggressive decks rely heavily on early masters being played, stopping this hurts the decks alot, slowing them down and choking their actions and hands. It is a meta-shift that is worth exploring further."

Pub Talks mid september

This week we had the usual beer and talk after the weekly games. While I don't post every discussion I'll try to bring you all the highlights of the weekly banter.

This week we've had some discussion on inspiration for deckbuilding. Everyone is looking for a new deck at the moment, the talks so far have ranged from Thomas (weird concepts), Jens (permanents for endgame), Kristofer (something with Anarchs and Assamites) and Randy (something aggressive).

While the deck ideas pitched have been interesting the ones I would pick up would probably just be the ones that fall into my taste, so instead I've decided to ask why everyone wants new decks at this particular moment.

I believe it's the will to surprise the meta with something new. Stockholm has seen some stagnation in the meta in it's current form, going for more and more accelerated and aggresive decks streamlined to one concept, hard counters for hard counters to use RTS terms. The interesting thing though is the tournament held on the 8th of august which really shifted the thinking of the current meta (thank you Donk!) this idea of an aggressive deck with massive cryptacceleration denial has been in the works for a while, although the idea has never been denial of cryptacceleration just the denial of masters in general. While the difference of this isn't great it is a vast difference in the thinking and strategy when designing and playing these decks. This has made our current playgroup ripe for change, seeing a new meta shift I believe is making the creative deckbuilding juices flow in our pond.

I'm looking forward to seeing where this will lead us, a change is coming and I hope it brings new things =D.

The Stockholm League - September 5 2012

This guy, also known as "Torpor Duane", is a regular at our league games.

Four tables were played in the sixth round of ten in our August-October league. Standard tournament rules apply + printed proxy is allowed.

Table 1:
1. Henrik K (Tremere bigcaps w Cavalier)
2. Ober (Malk cel-aus wall w BH tech) 2 vp
3. Tomas W (PRE-princes  tap n bleed w Parity Shift) 3 vp, 1 gw
4. Erik M (!Brujah w guns)
5. Randy (Nana + ani-weenies w Anarch Revolt)
(Randy got insanely table-hated in this game – but that´s what you get when you are a threat!)

Table 2:
1. Erik M (Theo & Beast) 1 vp
2. Jonas H (Setite vote) 1 vp
3. Randy (Nana + ani-weenies w Anarch Revolt)
4. Robert D (Dela Eden wall) 3 vp, 1 gw
5. Masso ("Setites" ???)
(More table-hate on Randyman - I wonder what he will conclude of this?)

Table 3:
1. Ober (G1/2 Toreador vote w Scorn of Adonis) 3 vp, 1 gw
2. Donk (Enkidu rush)
3. Henrik K (Tremere bigcaps w Cavalier) 2 vp
4. Tomas W (Setite-Baali turbo-Great Beast sb)
5. Jens (Beast & Theo has Street Cred)

Table 4:
1. Randal ("Imbueds" ????)
2. Jonas (!Toreador breed-boon) 1 vp
3. Masso (Kiasyd Faerie Ward wall)
4. Marcus (G1/2 dom-obf princes & justicars) 4 vp, 1 gw
5. Robert D (Baali Angra Mainyu hand denial sb)

League standings:
Jonas H 76 rtp
Robert D 56 rtp
Jens 46 rtp
Randy 40 rtp
Henrik K 36 rtp
Marcus, Kristofer, Masso, Ober 24 rtp
Donk, Jan Erik, Tomas W 20 rtp
Erik M 8 rtp
Ivan 4 rtp
 (1 gw = 8 ratingpoints, 1 vp = 4 ratingpoints. Note: Players can play more than one game each round if their participation are needed to complete a table where at least one player has not yet played a league game this round, but only the best result each round counts for rating. No league game starts after 20.00.)

The next round of the league is played at Dragon´s Lair, Kungsholmstorg 8 next Wednesday about 1800-ish. Be there!

The Stockholm League - August 29 2012

Is this man really a part of the Network?

Three tables were played in the fifth round of ten in our August-October league. Standard tournament rules apply + printed proxy is allowed.

Table 1:
1. Masso (Unnamed w Shatter the Gates)
2. Ober (Samedi w Reanimated Corpses)
3. Erik M (Ahrimanes wall) 0,5 vp
4. Jens (Aus-Pre bleed w Jost & Rebekka) 0,5 vp
5. Henrik K (Tremere bigcap w Gabrielle & Cavalier) 2.5 vp, 1 gw
(This was a odd game. Henrik K ousted Masso and Ober quick with a couple of big, very reckless bleeds, and then managed to stay alive in spite of banging his head bloody against the Ahrimanes wall and having a very aggressive predator.)

Table 2:
1. Robert D (Aus+cel guns)
2. Masso (Malkavian Madness Network sb) 4 vp, 1 gw
3. Christofer L (Ishtari bleed)
4. Randy (Tremere Carna is Vignes sb) 1 vp
5. Donk (Enkidu rush)

Table 3:
1. Randy (IC Flurry sb) 2 vp
2. Jonas H (Setite vote)
3. Christofer L (Gangrel torpor diving sb)
4. Robert D (Ahrimanes sb) 3 vp, 1 gw
5. Masso (Trujah w trophies)

League standings:
Jonas H 72 rtp
Jens 46 rtp
Randy 40 rtp
Robert D 36 rtp
Henrik K 28 rtp
Kristofer, Masso 24 rtp
Donk, Jan Erik 20 rtp
Ivan, Ober 4 rtp
Erik M 4 rtp
(1 gw = 8 ratingpoints, 1 vp = 4 ratingpoints. Note: Players can play more than one game each round if their participation are needed to complete a table where at least one player has not yet played a league game this round, but only the best result each round counts for rating. No league game starts after 20.00.)

The next round of the league is played at Dragon´s Lair, Kungsholmstorg 8 next Wednesday about 1800-ish. Be there!