Results EC 2011: Silence Of Death

Here are the results from the Silence of Death tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2011 on November 12th, 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. The format is somewhat different from the regular constructed VtES tournament insofar that table talk is not allowed at all. The only talking allowed is with regards to announcing actions, blocks, combat, etc. 30 players participated in this EC side-event tournament, the standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Jesus Herruzo Luque (ESP) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 2 VP --
2. Maciej Frankowiak (POL) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 2 VP -- Tzimisce Piper Warghoul
2. Djordje Sutic (SER) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 1 VP --
2. Tomasz Kloczko (POL) -- 2 GW 8.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Nephandus Swarm
2. Niina Stenberg (FIN) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP --

Congratulations to Jesus Herruzo for winning the Silence of Death tournament this year. You can find the full standings on VEKN.net.

Quotes from the EC (Part 4)

"It's not so easy. You know it's the (EC) final, people breaks deals." -- Marcin (Polish VtES player) when asked about making deals.

"I have to play, not to talk." -- Marcin (Polish VtES player) when asked about talking more ..

"They kill you, they kill me, and then the guy with the most poolgain wins!" -- Izaak (from the Netherlands) to Milan (from Hungary) in EC final predicting the outcome of the game. He was wrong, only he was ousted.

"I didn't break deals today. OK, I did yesterday." -- Izaak (from the Netherlands) when asked by Enrico about his attitude towards a deal.

"Beast is getting bored" -- Stone (from France) announcing his crosstable rush of Lambach, which resulted in torporized Beast minutes before the end of the FCQ final (and the outcome already being decided).

Things to See

• A capacity 9 Gargoyle (formely know as Alicia Barrows). As a personal note I managed to do the exact feat also about a half year ago.
• Playing a Pentex Subversion contested for the better game of a game. This may have happened actually more than once. ;)
• Playing a Pentex Subversion played on your prey's vampires which is Wash'ed. And then during your predators master phase the same happens in the reverse order (Quote: "You know the drill")
  
• A table with approx. 20+ Ravnos vampires ...
• Three Delaying Tactics in a single turn, when I was trying to call Kine Resouces Contested, Consanguineous Boon and Neonate Breach.
• A Dodge combat card played by Carlton van Wyk.
• A wall deck who's motto it was to say "No" to most of his prey's action, but always with smile.
• .. and seventeen different nations participating in the EC:
  
  • Belorussia
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Hungary
    
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Russia
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • UK
  • USA

VtES EC Nations Cup 2011 (Final Standings)

For each participant in the finals of the 5 big tournaments (LCQ; FCQ; Legendary Vampire; Day 1, Day 2) of the EC 2011 each nation will gain points. The winner's nation will get 3 points, every one else in the finals gets 1 points.

After 5 of the 5 tournaments of the EC 2011 the Nations Cup standings are the following:

1. Hungary -- 10 points
2. Poland -- 9 points
2. Finland -- 4 points
2. Serbia -- 3 points
2. Italy -- 2 points
3. France, Germany, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, USA -- 1 point each

Congratulations to Team Hungary for the most successful nation (in terms of winning and final attendance), although Poland was really close behind.

EC Metagame Observations

Unfortunately I don't have any decent (i.e. statisitical distribution) information on what decks have played in the overall EC environment. So the following just was I observed during the EC during my own games and from talks with fellow players. Some quick remarks:

• Combat-wise the metagame is clearly in the Animalism corner with sticks/Fortitude combat being second. Very little Potence/Immortal Grapple Combat or Cel Gun combat what I have seen. As consequence I would expect the anti-combat metagame shift into the Presence (Majesty) and/or Dominate (Obdience) direction. The later would (of course) imply that you play higher capacity vampires than the usual suspects (i.e. Nanglia Were, Nana Buruki, Howler, ..).
• Bloating is crazy. Villeins is a staple card in a lot of decks. Which also often means that the average capacity of the decks has been gone up as well. The bloating is often supplemented with either Lilith's Blessing (another card-de-jour). This has two (rather) fortunate consequences:
• You have to remove significantly more pool than about 1 or 2 years ago.
  
• Games tend to last longer and tend to time out more because of 1.)
  
• There were actually quite few ally decks, with one significant exceptions, and that is the whole Tup Dog & Rockcat (often with Nephandus) ally deck. Although the number was in truth not that high, but they had some success where they went, the most notable was the EC Day 2 finals deck by Enrico di Stefano.
  
• There was slight Renaissance of the breed decks, again with Enrico di Stefano as the main proponent with his EC Day 1 finals deck (Ravnos Eldest are Kholo (with 29(!!!) Embraces). Beside Ravnos there were a few Giovanni Khazaar's Diary deck who also used Embraces quite extensively.
• Beside the whole Animalism combat decks (either Rush or Wall), the other two main deck types from my point of view were the Ventrue Lawfirm decks (mostly G1/2/3 or G4/5) (and to a lesser degree) the whole Stickmen-like deck archetype (either Ventrue or Ventrue antitribu).
• There were less "Girls will find.." type deck than I would have expected, but there were many, many decks who packed the whole Liquidation/Ashur Tablets. You spot them in Nephandi decks, Khazar's Diary decks, Animalism Rush decks (see Otso's EC winning deck), etc., etc., etc. Which also led to quite an inflation
• Most contested cards (personal experience only) during the EC (in about that order):
• Pentex Subversion
• Dreams of the Sphinx
• Parthenon
• Information Highway
• Fame
  

Post Scriptum: Lilith's Blessing & Villein is not borderline broken. It is broken. Getting vampires for free isn't right. Yes, I know there are some ways to counter it, but most of the time, the combo is unchecked, and then it gets out of hand.

Results EC 2011: European Championship (Day 2)

Here are the results from the European Championship (Day 2) tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2011 on November 11th, 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. 40 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Otso Saariluoma (FIN) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 1.5 VP -- Nana/Nanglia Were Animalism Rush Combat
2. Enrico Di Stefano (ITA) -- 2 GW 5.5 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Tremere Antitribu Rockcats/Embraces
2. Milan Horvath (HUN) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Malkavian antritribu(?) Obf/Pre Vote
2. Marcin Watras (POL) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Anson Cel Gun w/ Ashur Tablets
2. Izaak Havelaar (NED) -- 2 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Malkavian feat. Tryphosa Bleed/Vote.

Congratulations to Otso for winning the European VtES Championship 2011. More information to follow. The seating order of the finalists was: Otso --> Izaak --> Enrico --> Milan --> Marcin. A complete transcript from the Day 1 final round is available on VEKN.net. Thanks to Malex from Sweden for this task.

Results EC 2011: First Chance Qualifier

Here are the results from the First Chance Qualifier tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2011 on November 13th, 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. The tournament gives players the first opportunity to qualify for the European Championship tournaments for the next year. 118 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Djordje Bjelajac (SER) -- 2 GW 8.5 VP -- 1.5 VP -- Unmada/Scout Youngwod Shattering Crescendo Parity Shift
2. Pierre Tran-Vanh (FRA) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0.5 VP -- EuroBrujah feat. Theo Bell & Beast
2. Guyla Erdos (HUN) -- 2 GW 7.5 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Tzimisce G2 Wall
2. Tomasz Kloczko (POL) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Antonio D'Erlette Nephandus
2. Maciej Trenda (POL) -- 3 GW 9.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Giovanni Khazaar's Diary

Congratulations to Djordje for winning the FCQ of the EC 2011. For qualifying for next year's Continental Championships 1 GW 3 VP were necessary.

Quotes from the EC (Part 3)

"Sorry, Ralf. I am not playing for the VP. I am playing for the Game Win". -- Martin (Hungarian VtES player) during the Legendary Vampire tournament.

Quotes from the EC (Part 2)

"Like a stone .." -- Balasz (Hungarian VtES player) when asked if he thinks that his Smiling Jack can be removed during the EC 2011 Day 1 tournament finals.

VtES EC Nations Cup 2011

For each participant in the finals of the 5 big tournaments (LCQ; FCQ; Legendary Vampire; Day 1, Day 2) of the EC 2011 each nation will gain points. The winner's nation will get 3 points, every one else in the finals gets 1 points.

After 3 of the 5 tournaments of the EC 2010 the Nations Cup standings are the following:

1. Hungary -- 8 points
2. Poland -- 6 points
3. Finland, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, USA -- 1 point each

The eastern European VtES players are currently clearly dominating this EC with both Hungary and Poland firmly in the lead.

Results EC 2011: European Championship (Day 1)

Here are the results from the European Championship (Day 1) tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2011 on November 12th, 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. The tournament is played as a qualifier for the actual EC tournament on the next day. The top 40 players qualify for the next day's tournament. 133 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Balazs Sebestyen (HUN) -- 2 GW 8.5 VP -- 1.5 VP -- Weenie Auspex Wall
2. Erol Hammer (GER) -- 3 GW 11 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Stanislawa & Friends Pro/Dom Bleed/Vote
2. Greguss Csaba (HUN) -- 3 GW 10 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Neo Ventrue Lawfirm
2. Isak Esbjörnsson Bjärmark (SWE) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Girls will find ..
2. Enrico di Stefano (ITA) -- 3 GW 9 VP -- 0 VP -- Ravnos Laibon Eldest are Kholo Breed/Boon

Congratulations to Balasz for winning the Day 1 tournament of the EC 2011. To be in the top 40 of the Day 1 tournament you needed exactly 1 GW 4 VP.

Day 1 Impressions

The Day 1 Tournament has ended about 1.5 hours ago, and I wanted to give you a quick impression what decks I faced during my own games. I choose to play a Pander Vote deck with significant Malkavian antitribu support (Korah and Marie Faucigny). My result has lots of space for improvement .. only 2 VP in total. Not even close enough to be qualified for Day 2. But hey, then tomorrow it's the First Chance Qualifer.

Round 1:

• Maros (POL) -- Ventrue Lawfirm -- 3 VP GW
• Stefan (AUT) -- Weenie Dementation Bleed -- 1 VP
• Robert (POL) -- Neo-Ventrue Lawfirm
• Ralf (GER) -- Weenie Pander/!Malkavian Vote -- 1 VP
• Jussi (FIN) -- Toreador Vote/Bleed
  

Round 2:

• Ralf (GER) -- Weenie Pander/!Malkavian Vote
• Johannes (GER) -- Tremere/Tremere antitribu Bloat/Bleed -- 2 VP
• Michael (SWE) -- Kiasyd (Stealth) Bleed -- 3 VP
• Arkadiusz (POL) -- Mono-Presence Weenie/Midcap Bleed
• Rudolf (GER) -- Pro/Dom Bleed

Round 3:

• Martin (HUN) -- Toreador Vote/Bounce
  
• Nikica (SER) -- Blood Brothers Bloat/Bleed (Kiev Circle) -- 4 VP GW
  
• Peter (CZE) -- Stanislawa Bleed/Vote
  
• Ralf (GER) -- Weenie Pander/!Malkavian Vote -- 1 VP
  
• Tomasz (POL) -- Mistress Fanchion & Friends Vote/Bleed
  

I am little bit too tired right now to give a proper report for each round. Maybe I'll do that later.
In general, there was tendency towards three different decktypes (in my opinion):

• Ventrue Lawfirm decks
• Ventrue or Ventrue antitribu Grinder decks (Stickmen)
• Animalism Combat decks

and, of course, you had your fair share of bleed decks, wall decks, big cap Vote decks (Inner Circle and such) and a few trick and ally decks. In contrast to the Last Chance Qualifier on Friday there rather few (rush) combat decks present (excluding the various Animalism combat decks, of course).
What was also quite interesting to notice that there was a number of breed decks present which were absent from the EC tournaments after Scourge of Enochians had been published in Keepers of Tradition. Ally decks were rather sparsely present which I personally attribute to the dominance of Animalism combat at the moment.

Unfortunately I cannot deliver any photos to you this time since I forgot to bring a Micro-USB cable with me to Warsaw.

Results EC 2011: Last Chance Qualifier

Here are the results from the Last Chance Qualifier tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2011 on November 11th, 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. The tournament gives the players a last opportunity to qualify for the European Championship tournaments on the followings days. 144(?) players participated in this EC tournament, the standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Gyula Erdos (HUN) -- 3 GW 10 VP -- 1.5 VP -- Nana Buruki & Friends Animalism Combat
2. Martin Varga (SVK) -- 2 GW 8.5 VP -- 1.5 VP -- Lutz & Friends Obf/Pre Vote --
2. Tomasz Zygowski (POL) -- 3 GW 12 VP -- 1 VP -- Lasombra Moncada Bleed/Vote
2. Aleksander Idziak (POL) -- 2 GW 11 VP --0 VP -- Malkavian '94 Obedience(?)
2. Tadziu Dawidowski (POL) -- 2 GW 10 VP -- 0 VP -- Malkavian/Malkavian antitribu Stealth Bleed

Congratulations to Gyula for winning the LCQ of the EC 2011. 48 players were qualified for the Day 1 tournament and you needed 1 GW 3.5 VP to actually qualify.

Results EC 2011: Legendary Vampire Invitational

Here are the results from the Legendary Vampire tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2011 on November 11th, 2011 in Warsaw, Poland. This was an invitational tournament, where 25 of the best VtES players in the world, fight for the victory. The standings after 3 rounds and the final were:

1. Tomasz Izydorczyk (POL) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 3 VP -- Ahrimanes Wall
2. Peter Botos (HUN) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 2 VP -- Tremere Rockcat
2. Otso Saariluoma (FIN) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Mistress Fanchon & the Funky Bunch Mind Rape
2. César Ruipérez (ESP) -- 2 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Nana Buruki & Friends Animalism
2. Brian Moritz (USA) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 0 VP -- Tremere/Tremere antitribu G2/3 Toolbox

Congratulations to Tomasz for winning the Legendary Vampire tournament of the EC 2011.

Quick Impressions inbetween Rounds

I was ousted quite quickly during the 2nd round of the Legendary Vampire tournament, so I have a little time to report. (Let's say I have been "tup dogged" for lack of better word). The metagame in the Last Chance Qualifier with 144 players (I think) participating seems to be relatively normal with your fair share of bleed, vote, wall, combat and ally decks (although I think quite a number of rush combat decks, actually). I couldn't really see a tendendancy there.

The metagame of the Legendary Vampire tournament (with 25 players) is completely a different matter. From a quick glance it can be roughly divided into three thirds. The first third are the wall/wallish decks (mostly Auspex (some with Fortitude as well), of course, with at least 4 decks with Carna in it as star vampire. Then you have your share of Animalism combat decks (in some variations with Weenie Animalism and Ahrimanes as well as one in the Nana Buruki style). And the last third is a random assortment of decks with two Tup Dog/Nephandi/Rockcat decks, a Brujah antittribu vote/combat deck, as well a few bleed decks. By far the two most played clans are Tremere and Tremere antitribu in the Legendary Vampire tournament.

Quotes from the EC

"Is there any chance of you not bleeding me next turn?" -- Csaba (on one pool and playing an Assamite deck with no(?) bounce.
"You think so?" -- Erol (playing a Malkavian antitribu Black Hand Stealth Bleed deck).

VtES EC 2011 about to start

It's November 11th, 2011 in Warsaw, Poland and today is a Polish national holiday (Independence Day). And the European VtES Championship 2011 is going to start in less than hour with the Legendary Vampire and Last Chance Qualifier tournaments. I am guessing that we have about 180 players registered for both events, maybe even more.

Yesterday during the Welcome Party the VEKN chairman, Johannes Walch made a couple of interesting announcements. There are currently two top priorities for the VEKN. The first is to make the VEKN rating system finally work (again). Due to lack of resources, the development of the rating system was not finished and therefore could not be put online.

The second (even more interesting) priority is the development of new VtES expansion, which will be released in the first half of 2012. The expansion will be print-to-PDF expansion consisting of 20-30 new cards. Supposedly the expansion will be made available for free. Currently the VEKN is sorting out some complex legal/licensing issues, but they are confident to sort these out in the next couple of months.

Strategic Advice

GAME OBJECTIVE:

• Win the game.
• If you can not win, is required to maximize their victory points.

STRATEGIC ADVICE:

• The Methuselah who has no predator (or pressure) will win the game.
• Do not try to prevent the death of the first Methuselah, as with 4 players, the game will go faster and the risk that time will end up much lower.
• When you go to make a deck for a tournament, think about how you win games with him in two hours or less.

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!

European VtES Champions: 1999 to 2010

Here's the list of the European VtES Champions of the past eleven years. You can find more information on the winners of Continental Championships in the VtES Hall of Fame (as put together by The Lasombra):

• EC 2010 in Paris, France -- Brian Moritz (USA)
  
• EC 2009 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain -- Martin Weinmayer (AUT)
• EC 2008 in Prague, Czech Republic -- Jan Haracufka (SVK)
• EC 2007 in Gothenburg, Sweden -- Ferenc Vasadi (HUN)
• EC 2006 in Torino, Italy -- Anthony Coleman (UK)
• EC 2005 in Budapest, Hungary -- Richard Glasner (HUN)
• EC 2004 in Heidelberg, Germany -- Ruben Vidana Ramos (ESP)
• EC 2003 in Barcelona, Spain -- Stefan Ferenci (AUT)
• EC 2002 in Vienna, Austria -- Dave Bastijn (BEL)
• EC 2001 in Paris, France -- Joscha Duell (GER)
• EC 2000 in Vienna, Austria -- Thomas Vick (SVK)
• EC 1999 in Vienna, Austria -- Martin Weinmayer (AUT)

So there are three wins by Austrian players, followed by two wins of Hungarian and Slovak players each. Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Spain , the UK and the USA all have one win each. Some of the countries with large VtES communities are still missing entries in the list of winning players, most notably France.