Player Profile: Oro

This weeks interview is with Michal Orowiecki, one of the old school VTES players from Warsaw, Poland.

Name: Michal Orowiecki
Year of Birth: 1977
Occupation: Lawyer
Hometown: Born in Warsaw, raised in almost equal parts in Warsaw and Belgrade.

1. Question: Describe yourself ... What's your current occupation? Where do you live right now? ..
Answer: I'm a big kid, living in Warsaw in a flat with my girlfriend and lots of aquarium fishes, working as a public procurement specialist on one of Warsaw's universities. So, in my free time I play ... mainly basketball, but also all other kinds of games.

2. Question: When did you start VtES playing and how? For how long do you play it?
Answer: It started back in the nineties, when I was living Belgrade. At that time I used to attend a local fantasy club called "Zmaj" (Dragon), where we played Rage CCG based on the Werewolf: the Apocalypse RPG. On one occasion I learned about the existence of another card game in the World of Darkness setting, but I didn't play it much until coming back to Poland in 1997. About an year later (in a fantasy shop called "Schron" and in a pub called "Medyk") I met people, who played VTES. So then I started learning from them.

3. Question: What VtES accomplishments do you have under your belt?
Answer: This year I won one tournament in Katowice (Katowice is a lucky town for me, in 2009 on Eurobasket we managed to win there the silver medal with the Serbian Basketball National Team ;)). But back to VTES accoplishments - this year I also played in two more tournament finals. In 2010 I also made it to the Polish National Championship Final. Not too much ;)

4. Question: What do you appreciate about VtES that keeps you coming back for more?
Answer: Being a vampire and meeting lunatics like myself. I'm a huge fan of the whole "vampire" thing. At least I used to be a fan before the accursed Twilight saga turned some bloodsuckers to cocksuckers (and by this I mean no disrespect for the Nosferatu Justicar). I think that WOD, especially Vampire: the Masquerade creates a great atmosphere. VTES adds to that an exceptional playability and the best mechanics I have ever seen in any card or board game.

5. Question: What about VtES should appeal to the average gamer?
Answer: The setting, the atmosphere, the mechanics, the fact that cards don't rotate so you can use your entire card collection, and the fact that you need a lot of social skills to play successfully, and so on ...

6. Question: Tell us a bit about your local playgroup!
Answer: We're a dying race. I think that in Warsaw there may be around 100 people playing VTES in some local groups. But for my playgroup, which consists of players active on the tournament scene, this year it's a problem to find 5 people ready to play at the same time. But when we finally succeed in gathering a large enough group the fun is great (in most cases).

7. Question: Do you see any differences between players in Poland and the rest of the world? (In terms of playstyle, deck choices etc.) Why do you think there are those differences?
Answer: I didn't play VTES outside Poland, if we forget the beginnings in Belgrade, so I can only guess relying only on TWD. I think that we play and construct decks more for winning and less for flavour, which is true for Europe in general, but I think that the Polish players are more combat oriented.

8. Question: What is your favorite type of deck and why do you like to play it? (Appreciated if you could provide a decklist as well!)
Answer: When I’ve started to play, my choice was EuroBrujah, then I changed to Tremere Toolbox. After that I almost stopped playing VTES, and if I did, I tried to play Assamite contract/combat. Nowadays I'm trying many archetypes, from Kiasyd bleed to Gangrel assault (Szewski's style), but my 2 favorite decks are both Camarilla and more or less political: New Brujah Vote and Ventrue Grinder. The first one is pretty straightforward, and second is great because of it's versatility and resilience.

9. Question: Favorite strategy for winning a game. (Pacing, reading an opponent, when to play what, etc)
Answer: Be honest as much as you can, never break deals and remember that your threat must be a promise.

10. Question: What do you think makes a successful player?
Answer: A Poker face, cold analyzing and the ability to read emotions. So clearly I can't be succcesful, I'm too emotional.

11. Question: How important do you think the political aspect of the game is?. Reading / intimidating / fooling your opponents? Do you consciously practice this?
Answer: That's the most important part of the game. Except for the one you should never miss: having fun. I'm usually so much concentrated on the fun part that I simply can't practice anything too consciously.

12. Question: If they released equal amounts of cards for every clan, discipline, etc. what would you tackle first?
Answer: Some of the great and not reprinted oldies: Murder of Crows, Parity Shift, Fist of Death, Fire in the Blood, Spiritual Intervention...

13. Question: How do you organize your cards? Do you have an inventory of cards? Do you use a deckbuilding utility? Which one?
Answer: I use Excel and Secret Library.

14. Question: How do you prepare for tournaments?
Answer: I usually try to sleep at last 2 hours night before, but it's sometimes really hard to accomplish. The travel to other cities, where the tournaments take place, is sometimes more fun than the game itself, thanks to my great friends.

15. Question: What was your greatest moment in your VtES Life (not necessarily as a player)?
Answer: I hope that my greatets moments are still to come, maybe on this EC. ;)

16. Question:

• What's your favourite crypt card? From the old ones - Donal O'Connor, new - Lodin
• What's your favourite library card? Burning Wrath
• What's your favourite expansion? Sabbat
• What's your favorite card art? Warsaw Station!

17. Question: What other games do you play?
Answer: Basketball, I probably mentioned that earlier, but I've played for 26 years now and it's really a huge part of my life. Warhammer Fantasy Battle, WH 40K, I used to play Legend of the Five Rings for about 10 years, Charazay online basketball manager, Pirates!

18. Question: Last words?
Answer: Carpe Noctem! and see you in Warsaw!