Ashur´s Gothcon experience 2016: The Draft

Hello folks, just got back from Gothcon in Gothenburg again and I feel I have to write something. 

The first day was the traditional draft. Nowadays the draft is played not with normal booster pack, but with “booster packs” randomized from a “draft cube” of cards created by tournament organizer and former EC champion Isak. The vampires of the cube is somewhat odd: Assamites, Followers of Set, Giovanni, Ravnos, Gangrel, Samedi and Abominations. The library cards are the following:

Acquired Ventrue Assets x6

Antedeluvian awakening x3

Approximation of Loyalty x6

Archon Investigation x3

Argent baton x3

Army of Rats x6

Ascendance x6

Ashes to Ashes x6

Assualt rifle x3

Backways x6

Barrens x3

Baseball bat x6

Bewitching Oration x6

Blessed resiliance x3

Blind spot x3

Blithe Accepted x3

Blood awakening x6

Bloodtears of Kephran x6

Brigitte Gebauer x3

Camera phone x6

can't take it with you x6

Cavalier x3

Cave of Apples x6

Chair of Hades x3

Change of target x6

Charisma x3

Clandestine Contract x6

Codex of the Edenic groundskeeper x3

Community Justice x3

Conceal x6

Condemn the sins of the father x6

Conditioning x6

Consanguinis boon x6

Daring the Dawn x3

Dark Influence x3

Deal with the devil x6

Delaying Tactics x6

Depravity x3

Desert Eagle x6

Disarm x6

Disguied Weapon x6

Disputed territory x6

Domain challange x6

Dragon breath rounds x6

Dragonbound x3

Dreams of the Sphinx x3

Dual form x6

Effective management x6

Elder Intervention x6

Ennonia's Theater x3

Entracement x3

Fail safe x3

Fame x3

Fantasy World x6

Far Mastery x3

Felix 'fix' Hessian x3

Ferraile x3

Flamethrower x3

Fleecing the Gaje x6

Fleetness x6

Focus the Blood x6

Foreshadowing Destruction x6

Fractured armament x3

Freak Drive x6

Free States Rant x6

Frontal assualt x3

Funeral wake x6

Gangrel Revel x6

Gather x3

Gianna di Canneto x3

Gift of Proteus x6

Giulia Giovanni Abruzzina x3

Golconda: Inner peace x3

Graverobbing x3

Grooming the protoge x6

Gypsies x3

Haqim's Law: Judgement x3

Hawg x6

Helicopter x3

Homunculus x3

Houngan x3

Impundulu x3

In Memory of the Two Lands x6

Instinctive reaction x6

Into thin air x6

IR googles x6

J.S. Simmons x3

Jackie Therman x3

Kerebutu x3

Kevlar vest x6

King's rising x3

Kiss of Ra x3

Kpist x6

Kumpania x3

Leather Jacket x6

Leonardo, mortician x3

Lure of the Serpent x3

Major Boon x3

Malajit Chandramouli x3

Mark V x6

Marrakesh codex x3

Mausoleum Venice x3

Meat cleaver x6

Mental Maze x3

Metro Underground x3

Mirror image x6

Misdirection x6

Moloké Blood x3

Momentary delay x6

Mr. Winthrop x3

My kin against the world x6

Mylan x3

Nephen-Ka x3

New management x3

Nocturn Theater x3

NRA PAC x3

Off kilter x6

Ossian x3

Powerbase: Chicago x3

Pressing flesh x3

Priority Contract x6

Protected resources x3

Provision of the Silsila x3

Proxy Kissed x6

Pseudo-Blindness x6

Psyche! x6

Pupetter x6

Rapid Healing x6

Raven spy x3

Ravnos Carnival x3

Reanimated Corpse x6

Reckless agitation x6

Regenerative Blood x3

Reins of Power x3

Relentless Pursuit x6

Renegade Garou x3

Retaint the quick blood x3

Retribution x6

Ritual Challange x6

Rolling with the Punches x6

Rumor mill x3

Saatet-ta (Bane mummy) x3

Scourge of the Enchoians x3

Scrouing x6

Seal of Vedartha x3

Secret Passage x3

Secure haven x3

Shadow of the beast x6

Short tem investment x6

Shoulder drop x6

Skaald x3

Smiling Jack x3

Special Report x6

Spectral Divination x6

Spiritual Intervention x6

Sport bike x6

Stiff Contempt x6

Sudden reversal x3

Suspension of Disbelief x6

Tajdid x3

Talith x6

Taste of vitae x6

Taunt the Caged beast x6

Temptaion x6

Tension in the ranks x3

The Rack x3

The stranger among us x6

Threestar cab company x6

Thruth of a thousand lies x6

Torrent x6

Tower of London x3

Trap x6

Treasured Samadji x3

Tribute to the master x3

Tuminos x6

Tutu, the doubly evil one x3

Uncoiling x3

Urban jungle x3

Warrant x6

Vast wealth x6

Vele's Hunt x3

Whispers of the dead x6

Wider view x6

Violation of trust x3

Visit from the capuchin x3

Vox Domini x3

Zillah Valley x6

Zip line x6

Fun right?! 12 players turned up. 8 boosters were drafted in one large draft pod. 8 crypt cards, 40 library cards, no recursion. No group restrictions.

I got a Conditioning in the first of the eight packs we drafted, so I stuck to that plan and drafted a horrible pile of Giovanni crapness. Basically just some bleed cards, some stealth and the rest just random stuff to fill out.

The deck. Sorry about the poor photo quality!

I won´t bother you with details about the two preliminary rounds. I got zero in the first but managed to win the second one with a bleed with my last cards. So final table:

I got a nice start with Enzo Giovanni Adv and The Mausoleum, Venice, two cards that made voting difficult for my predator. Then came Lupo Giovanni to fuel Enzo. I landed a 6-bleed into Hugh early which crippled him, but he still got 3 vamps and stabelized at about 5 pool. I was pretty sure I was not going to oust him, but after Mathias was ousted, Randy asked my permission to oust both Hugh and Isak with two political actions. Little did Randy know that my hand was something like “Computer Hacking – Computer Hacking – Foreshadowing Destruction – Conditioning – Call of the Hungry Dead – Call of the Hungry Dead –  Seduction”. So I said “Sure, go ahead!”. Randy ousted Hugh and Isak, and I ousted Randy. Thanks!

When I checked my deck someone noticed I only had 7 vampires in my crypt. I had not noticed the size 8 rule, and I think all previous drafts I´ve played had a 7-crypt rule. But judge Isak let this slip, it wasn´t much to do if he didn´t want to eject me. I hope this unintentional cheating didn´t make a big difference - I know I drafted a second Vittorio which I should have played if I knew the rule.

Anyhow: I love limited play. The game gets really tense and some really surprising cards turn up. I have a draft cube myself, we have to find time to use it more often. Thanks to all those who turned up to play. Good luck next year!