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Anthony Coleman

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Sep 24, 2007, 10:25:00 AM9/24/07
to
So - way to go Ben Peal winning his second continental Champs! playing
a Daughters votey breedy thing.

Can't believe its not being discussed already :O)

Some details are on the NAC Blog...

Ant

Blooded Sand

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Sep 24, 2007, 10:30:35 AM9/24/07
to

Grats to Ben, very well done. 1 i tough, 2 is very very respectable!!!

Robert Goudie

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Sep 24, 2007, 12:00:23 PM9/24/07
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On Sep 24, 7:25 am, Anthony Coleman <Buntina...@gmail.com> wrote:
> So - way to go Ben Peal winning his second continental Champs! playing
> a Daughters votey breedy thing.
>
> Can't believe its not being discussed already :O)

Most players are travelling home this morning. I'm sure there will be
some discussion soon.

> Some details are on the NAC Blog...

Yeah, a bit. I'm sure this is not completely accurate but here's what
I got from it.

Top seeded Kevin Mergen, playing Dementation bleed, chose to sit Matt
Wedge's Prey. Matt Wedge was playing a finely tuned Una deck. Ira Fay
attempted to 2nd Tradition a key action of Una's but the 2nd Tradition
was stopped by a Direct Intervention from Ben Peal. Ben clearly was
not thrilled by the idea of having Kevin as a heavy bleeding
predator. Ira was very unhappy and agreed to layoff Matt Wedge and
split the table 3-2 (Matt taking 3).

Matt was burning or torporing vampires at will. He seemed to have a
counter for everything. He had multiple manuevers, flak jacket, Ivory
Bow, Owl Companion, Hawg, the Helicoptor (at times), Ghoul Retainer
(uses bow while minion is immortally grappled). Matt had free Skin of
Steel to prevent damage.

Even though Matt could kill at will, he said he would need about 12
turns by his estimate to obtain the 3 vps (destroy all vamps and bleed
through all of the pool) and then Ira would get his 2 vp. Ira
continued to build up and increase his swarm. Ira could have ousted
Matt but didn't. However, a couple of turns later on Matt's turn
(AFTER Matt had already used a built-in rush he had in play), Ira let
Matt know that he no longer thought that Matt had the goods to keep
their deal. Matt disagreed but Ira had essentially announced his
decision to break their earlier deal. Matt began rushing backwards.

Most of the discussion revolved around getting on Matt's good side and
working with him. Ben Peal and Ben Swainbank kept throwing barbs into
the discussions to subtlely work things in their favor. Ben Swainbank
seemed frustrated and sometimes seemed the only sane person at the
table and kept trying to get players to just focus on their own preys
rather than making deals. Ben's best point was to point out that Matt
and Ira's 3-2 split couldn't happen if another player was ousted out
of turn.

Matt ousted Kevin Mergen using Mylan's bleed of 1 to finish him off.
Kevin was hampered by a hand of jammed stealth.

Late in the game, Ben Swainbank brought out one of the Madness Network
he had in hand. Ben Swainbank seemed to be working for a bleed oust of
Ira. With all players that Matt attacked (aka Everybody!) being
forced to play with an open hand, everybody was able to play with
almost perfect information.

Ira drew a Bonding and, with only minutes remaining, made a lunge at
Matt only to find that Una's Blessing of Chaos prevented Ira from
playing the card. The spectators gasped.

Matt lunged at Ben to knock down voters. Ben Swainbank lunged at Ira
via the Madness Network but came up short due to Ira's deflections.
Ben Peal played a Parity Shift and took 4 of Swainbank's pool. With
seconds left Ben Peal played a KRC to take down Swainbank and then Ira
(IIRC, it was the same KRC that also killed Ira, though possibly it
was a simple bleed or something). The game timed out. Ben got either
1.5 or 2.5 and Wedge got 1.5 but had a lower seeding than Ben.

For players who liked lots of table talk and shifting alliances, this
was a great game. I loved it to death. Very intense and great play
when they were actually playing cards. For some there was too much
talk going on but most of the spectators were hushed and very
impressed with the level of play. In fact, the game was reminiscent
of Ben's last NAC win with 2 fighty decks as his grand predator and
great grand predator and again lots of table talk.

Congrats to Ben Peal and all of the finalists for a very memorable
game.

-Robert

Jozxyqk

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Sep 24, 2007, 12:04:46 PM9/24/07
to
Robert Goudie <RobertT...@gmail.com> wrote:
> was a simple bleed or something). The game timed out. Ben got either
> 1.5 or 2.5 and Wedge got 1.5 but had a lower seeding than Ben.

The game timed out?
I thought the NAC was going to have a 5 hour final.

...or did it?

Robert Goudie

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Sep 24, 2007, 12:17:33 PM9/24/07
to
On Sep 24, 9:04 am, Jozxyqk <jfeue...@eecs.tufts.edu> wrote:

The game had a 3 hour final and timed out. While White Wolf requested
that we have an untimed final, it wasn't practical since some people
had already purchased plane tickets, etc.

If I had to guess, the game would have ended with Ben stealth bleeding
past the Una deck.

-Robert

Aramis

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Sep 24, 2007, 12:30:58 PM9/24/07
to
Grats to Ben Peal on a well-earned 2nd Continental Championship
victory! Also kudos to my buddy Kevin Mergen for making it all the
way to the final table, even if he was playing sleezy S&B. ;) Grats
buddy! Wish I could have been there!!!

Kevin M.

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Sep 24, 2007, 12:51:18 PM9/24/07
to
Robert Goudie <RobertT...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The game timed out. Ben got either 1.5 or 2.5 and
> Wedge got 1.5 but had a lower seeding than Ben.

The game did NOT time out.

Ben Peal ousted Ben Swainbank, Ira, and Matt at 2:59:20. Yes, with 40
seconds to go.

BenP - 3vp
MattW - 1vp
KevinM - 0vp (top seed)
Ira - 0vp
BenS - 0vp


Kevin M., Prince of Las Vegas
"Know your enemy, and know yourself; in one-thousand battles
you shall never be in peril." -- Sun Tzu, *The Art of War*
"Contentment... Complacency... Catastrophe!" -- Joseph Chevalier


Robert Goudie

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Sep 24, 2007, 12:58:45 PM9/24/07
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On Sep 24, 9:51 am, "Kevin M." <youw...@imaspammer.org> wrote:

> Robert Goudie <RobertT.Gou...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > The game timed out. Ben got either 1.5 or 2.5 and
> > Wedge got 1.5 but had a lower seeding than Ben.
>
> The game did NOT time out.
>
> Ben Peal ousted Ben Swainbank, Ira, and Matt at 2:59:20. Yes, with 40
> seconds to go.
>
> BenP - 3vp
> MattW - 1vp
> KevinM - 0vp (top seed)
> Ira - 0vp
> BenS - 0vp

Yes, that's it. It all happened in a flash there at the end.

-Robert

Frederick Scott

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Sep 24, 2007, 1:05:09 PM9/24/07
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"Kevin M." <you...@imaspammer.org> wrote in message
news:lYRJi.178895$zz2....@newsfe12.phx...

> Robert Goudie <RobertT...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> The game timed out. Ben got either 1.5 or 2.5 and
>> Wedge got 1.5 but had a lower seeding than Ben.
>
> The game did NOT time out.
>
> Ben Peal ousted Ben Swainbank, Ira, and Matt at 2:59:20. Yes, with 40
> seconds to go.
>
> BenP - 3vp
> MattW - 1vp
> KevinM - 0vp (top seed)
> Ira - 0vp
> BenS - 0vp

Hmmm. I gather Ben must have gotten 4 VP, not 3. Otherwise you have
a missing victory point somewhere for a 5-player game which did not
time out.

Fred


Robert Goudie

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Sep 24, 2007, 1:56:11 PM9/24/07
to
On Sep 24, 10:05 am, "Frederick Scott" <nos...@no.spam.dot.com> wrote:
> "Kevin M." <youw...@imaspammer.org> wrote in message
>
> news:lYRJi.178895$zz2....@newsfe12.phx...

>
> > Robert Goudie <RobertT.Gou...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> The game timed out. Ben got either 1.5 or 2.5 and
> >> Wedge got 1.5 but had a lower seeding than Ben.
>
> > The game did NOT time out.
>
> > Ben Peal ousted Ben Swainbank, Ira, and Matt at 2:59:20. Yes, with 40
> > seconds to go.
>
> > BenP - 3vp
> > MattW - 1vp
> > KevinM - 0vp (top seed)
> > Ira - 0vp
> > BenS - 0vp
>
> Hmmm. I gather Ben must have gotten 4 VP, not 3. Otherwise you have
> a missing victory point somewhere for a 5-player game which did not
> time out.

Yes, that's right. Not that you should trust my "correct" at this
point. But yes, that is what happened.

-Robert

Alex Ek

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Sep 23, 2007, 10:22:11 PM9/23/07
to
Robert Goudie skrev:

>
> The game had a 3 hour final and timed out. While White Wolf requested
> that we have an untimed final, it wasn't practical since some people
> had already purchased plane tickets, etc.
>

I must ask.
How come WW requested an untimed final round?
I have really bad experience with untimed finals so I want to know why
they want it to go in that direction.
Regards
Alex Ek
Prince of Gothenburg, Sweden

atomweaver

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Sep 24, 2007, 2:35:43 PM9/24/07
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Alex Ek <a...@student.chalmers.se> wrote in news:fd8v99$r08$1
@gide.ita.chalmers.se:

> Robert Goudie skrev:
>>
>> The game had a 3 hour final and timed out. While White Wolf requested
>> that we have an untimed final, it wasn't practical since some people
>> had already purchased plane tickets, etc.
>>
>
> I must ask.
> How come WW requested an untimed final round?
> I have really bad experience with untimed finals so I want to know why
> they want it to go in that direction.

To eliminate issues of too much table talk causing timeouts, and maybe also
to start collecting data on how long a finals "really" takes to play out,
if left to its own devices...

DZ
AW

atomweaver

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Sep 24, 2007, 2:39:18 PM9/24/07
to
Robert Goudie <RobertT...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:1190656571.7...@r29g2000hsg.googlegroups.com:

Confirmed with Ben Peal via cellphone; he got 4VP. I also learned that
Swainbank lunged for the possible win, not onc,e not twice, but _three_
times, and Ira had an answer each time. Ben P. opines that this totally
helped set up his own opportunity to lunge for the win.

GawdblezzthacawmunwelthaMazzachoozetts!

DZ
AW

Robert Goudie

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Sep 24, 2007, 2:54:17 PM9/24/07
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On Sep 24, 11:39 am, atomweaver <atomwea...@hotmail.com> wrote:

True. Ben knew Ira had some bleed bounce so I'm sure he didn't think
the first lunge or two would be successful. I have this vague memory
of Ira replacing one bleed bounce with another from his library.

Swainbank had a 2nd Tradition and some intercept but no blood on his
vamp. Probably due to the lunge but I can't be sure.

-Robert

john...@hotmail.com

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Sep 24, 2007, 6:57:40 PM9/24/07
to
Congratulations Ben!!! :)

John Ivar


Pat

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Sep 24, 2007, 8:42:47 PM9/24/07
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"Kevin M." <you...@imaspammer.org> wrote in message
news:lYRJi.178895$zz2....@newsfe12.phx...

> Robert Goudie <RobertT...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> The game timed out. Ben got either 1.5 or 2.5 and
>> Wedge got 1.5 but had a lower seeding than Ben.
>
> The game did NOT time out.
>
> Ben Peal ousted Ben Swainbank, Ira, and Matt at 2:59:20. Yes, with 40
> seconds to go.
>
> BenP - 3vp
> MattW - 1vp
> KevinM - 0vp (top seed)
> Ira - 0vp
> BenS - 0vp
>
>


Way to go, Ben! Congrats on the repetition, repetition, repetition!

And to the rest of the finalists as well.

- Pat


lon...@dlc.fi

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Sep 25, 2007, 4:44:07 AM9/25/07
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Congarts on the 2nd Continental Championships Ben!

-Lönkka/Janne
www.ahmametal.com
www.myspace.com/iwearnohelmet


Johannes Walch

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Sep 25, 2007, 5:12:44 AM9/25/07
to
Anthony Coleman schrieb:

> So - way to go Ben Peal winning his second continental Champs! playing
> a Daughters votey breedy thing.

The to-be-expected result considering the absence of his personal nemesis :)

--
Johannes Walch

Raille

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Sep 25, 2007, 5:42:09 AM9/25/07
to

"Robert Goudie" <RobertT...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1190650653.6...@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

According to LSJ all finals are supposed to be timed. I find it odd that WW
itself would request an untimed final.

Raille


LSJ

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Sep 25, 2007, 6:53:33 AM9/25/07
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Raille wrote:
> According to LSJ all finals are supposed to be timed. I find it odd that WW
> itself would request an untimed final.

As before "untimed" is unfeasible. When people say untimed, they mean "long"
time limit.

Bram Vink

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Sep 25, 2007, 9:15:17 AM9/25/07
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On 25 sep, 11:42, "Raille" <rai...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> "Robert Goudie" <RobertT.Gou...@gmail.com> wrote in message

I would guess, that because of WW also giving some promotion to the
event, that it is, for promotional reasons, for them much preferrable
to have a 'clear winner' - ie. the person who won the finals. That's
just wild speculation, though.

Cheers,
B

John P.

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Sep 25, 2007, 10:48:23 AM9/25/07
to

IIRC
Swainbank was ousted by <Cannot recall if it was bleed or vote>
Peal then ousted Ira with a pair of KRC (3- Ira, 1-Matt) and then (1-
Ira, 3-Matt)
and finished Matt with a bleed or two for one. 42 seconds left.

Congrats to Ben and the other finalists. And it was nice to see
that in the in the dying seconds everybody was hurrying to resolve
actions and no one decided to stall for the time out, which would
have been very easy to do.

Congrats again to all five finalists, and to everybody else
who was in the NAC.

John P.
Winnipeg

370? days to Montreal

ben...@gmail.com

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Sep 25, 2007, 11:20:11 AM9/25/07
to
Robert Goudie wrote:
> Ira drew a Bonding and, with only minutes remaining, made a lunge at
> Matt only to find that Una's Blessing of Chaos prevented Ira from
> playing the card. The spectators gasped.

I gasped, too!

> Matt lunged at Ben to knock down voters. Ben Swainbank lunged at Ira
> via the Madness Network but came up short due to Ira's deflections.
> Ben Peal played a Parity Shift and took 4 of Swainbank's pool. With
> seconds left Ben Peal played a KRC to take down Swainbank and then Ira
> (IIRC, it was the same KRC that also killed Ira, though possibly it
> was a simple bleed or something). The game timed out. Ben got either
> 1.5 or 2.5 and Wedge got 1.5 but had a lower seeding than Ben.

Swainbank's lunge was crazier than that. At the end of my turn, he
took a shot at Ira via the Madness Network. During his own turn, he
took another shot. Before my turn started, he took a third shot. Ira
had enough On the Qui Vive, 2nd Trad, and bounce to bail it out, and
Swainbank couldn't draw the one more point of stealth he needed.

The last turn started with me at 4, Ben Swainbank at 4, Ira Fay at
2, and Matt Wedge at 4, with about 2 minutes to play. I played a
Creepshow Casino to cycle, then bled Ben Swainbank for one, followed
by a KRC for the oust and putting Ira at 1. Next was a KRC to oust
Ira, leaving Matt at 1, and then a bleed for 1 since Matt was tapped
out. 40 seconds left. Whew.

There was a Parity Shift played, but that was by Ben Swainbank's
Lucian on a previous turn to give 4 of Ira's pool to Matt.

> For players who liked lots of table talk and shifting alliances, this
> was a great game. I loved it to death. Very intense and great play
> when they were actually playing cards. For some there was too much
> talk going on but most of the spectators were hushed and very
> impressed with the level of play.

The players and decks were, in order of play:

Ben Swainbank (4) - Lucian Madness Network + Obedience
Ira Fay (3) - EuroBrujah
Matt Wedge (5) - Una multi-multi-act
Kevin Mergen (1) - Obf-Dem bleed
Ben Peal (2) - Daughters of Cacophony breed-boon

(prelim rankings in parentheses)

As coincidence would have it, Ben Swainbank, Ira Fay, and I were
staying in room 271. :)

> In fact, the game was reminiscent of Ben's last NAC win with 2 fighty
> decks as his grand predator and great grand predator and again lots
> of table talk.

Both finals were described as "agonizing to watch". :)

> Congrats to Ben Peal and all of the finalists for a very memorable
> game.

Thanks! Thanks also to Oscar, LSJ, White Wolf, Mike Courtois, and
Robert Goudie for getting this event together and making it all
possible. Thanks also to Xian Herro for lending me some key cards.
Thanks also also to Larry Snelly for taking the time to meet the
players. Thanks also also also to all of the players for a bunch of
fun, challenging, and often hysterical games.


- Ben Peal

Robert Goudie

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Sep 25, 2007, 11:20:25 AM9/25/07
to

Matt Wedge had the only motivation to stall since he would have won by
stalling. Everybody else was hustling to lunge and get the victory.
Everybody was trying for it and everybody had a shot at it too.

-Robert

Robert Goudie

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Sep 25, 2007, 12:44:04 PM9/25/07
to
On Sep 25, 8:20 am, benp...@gmail.com wrote:
> Robert Goudie wrote:
> > Ira drew a Bonding and, with only minutes remaining, made a lunge at
> > Matt only to find that Una's Blessing of Chaos prevented Ira from
> > playing the card. The spectators gasped.
>
> I gasped, too!
>
> > Matt lunged at Ben to knock down voters. Ben Swainbank lunged at Ira
> > via the Madness Network but came up short due to Ira's deflections.
> > Ben Peal played a Parity Shift and took 4 of Swainbank's pool. With
> > seconds left Ben Peal played a KRC to take down Swainbank and then Ira
> > (IIRC, it was the same KRC that also killed Ira, though possibly it
> > was a simple bleed or something). The game timed out. Ben got either
> > 1.5 or 2.5 and Wedge got 1.5 but had a lower seeding than Ben.
>
> Swainbank's lunge was crazier than that. At the end of my turn, he
> took a shot at Ira via the Madness Network. During his own turn, he
> took another shot. Before my turn started, he took a third shot. Ira
> had enough On the Qui Vive, 2nd Trad, and bounce to bail it out, and
> Swainbank couldn't draw the one more point of stealth he needed.

Interesting. So that means that Swainbank spent the remaining blood
on his vampires to make his lunge. Swanbank was ousted with a 2nd
Tradition and a Telepathic Misdirection that could have gotten him to
3 intercept if he'd had the blood on the vamp.

Again, great to see everybody gunning for each other down the stretch.

> The last turn started with me at 4, Ben Swainbank at 4, Ira Fay at
> 2, and Matt Wedge at 4, with about 2 minutes to play. I played a
> Creepshow Casino to cycle, then bled Ben Swainbank for one, followed
> by a KRC for the oust and putting Ira at 1. Next was a KRC to oust
> Ira, leaving Matt at 1, and then a bleed for 1 since Matt was tapped
> out. 40 seconds left. Whew.
>
> There was a Parity Shift played, but that was by Ben Swainbank's
> Lucian on a previous turn to give 4 of Ira's pool to Matt.

Yes, thanks.

> > For players who liked lots of table talk and shifting alliances, this
> > was a great game. I loved it to death. Very intense and great play
> > when they were actually playing cards. For some there was too much
> > talk going on but most of the spectators were hushed and very
> > impressed with the level of play.
>
> The players and decks were, in order of play:
>
> Ben Swainbank (4) - Lucian Madness Network + Obedience
> Ira Fay (3) - EuroBrujah
> Matt Wedge (5) - Una multi-multi-act
> Kevin Mergen (1) - Obf-Dem bleed
> Ben Peal (2) - Daughters of Cacophony breed-boon
>
> (prelim rankings in parentheses)
>
> As coincidence would have it, Ben Swainbank, Ira Fay, and I were
> staying in room 271. :)

Weren't Ira and Swainbank in the finals of the LCQ as well?

> > In fact, the game was reminiscent of Ben's last NAC win with 2 fighty
> > decks as his grand predator and great grand predator and again lots
> > of table talk.
>
> Both finals were described as "agonizing to watch". :)

I liked watching both of them. :-)

> > Congrats to Ben Peal and all of the finalists for a very memorable
> > game.
>
> Thanks! Thanks also to Oscar, LSJ, White Wolf, Mike Courtois, and
> Robert Goudie for getting this event together and making it all
> possible. Thanks also to Xian Herro for lending me some key cards.
> Thanks also also to Larry Snelly for taking the time to meet the
> players. Thanks also also also to all of the players for a bunch of
> fun, challenging, and often hysterical games.

Thanks for the clarifications. There was so much happening and it
happened so fast that few observers can really nail it down. :)

Ben won a signed Theo Bell at Beach print, a copy of V:TES artist Leif
Jones' new SE7EN: Envy comic, his mug on a future V:TES card, a sealed
box of The Sabbat booster cards, a $100 gift certificate to
DriveThruRPG.com, a Danse MaCabre print, an official Hollywood Walk of
Fame star and a trip to the EC next year.

-Robert

Anthony Coleman

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Sep 25, 2007, 12:49:37 PM9/25/07
to
On 25 Sep, 17:44, Robert Goudie <RobertT.Gou...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Ben won a signed Theo Bell at Beach print, a copy of V:TES artist Leif
> Jones' new SE7EN: Envy comic, his mug on a future V:TES card, a sealed
> box of The Sabbat booster cards, a $100 gift certificate to
> DriveThruRPG.com, a Danse MaCabre print, an official Hollywood Walk of
> Fame star and a trip to the EC next year.

Ben already has his face on a card.

Delilah Monroe

Surely?

Anthony


Ben Swainbank

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Sep 25, 2007, 1:14:21 PM9/25/07
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On Sep 25, 11:20 am, benp...@gmail.com wrote:

>
> Swainbank's lunge was crazier than that. At the end of my turn, he
> took a shot at Ira via the Madness Network. During his own turn, he
> took another shot. Before my turn started, he took a third shot. Ira
> had enough On the Qui Vive, 2nd Trad, and bounce to bail it out, and
> Swainbank couldn't draw the one more point of stealth he needed.
>

I drew it during my discard...

What I REALLY wanted to do was lunge during the Mad Net action and DI
the Deflection. But I had to use the DI to stop the Sire's Lure so I
could play Obedience to keep Lucian untapped.

So, then I came up short during lunges 1 and 2 where either another
point of stealth or a Conditioning would have done the job.

I was going to hold off on lunge #3 because I assumed it would a
require at least another stealth top deck unless I cleared my defense
first. But at the end of Matt's turn I realized time or getting ousted
might keep me from another turn. And Ira produced the Deflection
during lunge #3. Ira, tell me you didn't pull that Deflection during
your discard...

I went into lunge #3 thinking if it failed I was cooked. In retrospect
since Ben P. had the Siren's Lure (I think) I was cooked either way.
So, I'm glad I took the shot.

But, I must say that was a GREAT game. Congrats Ben P. on a well-
orchestrated win on a very tight, very tough table.

And BIG THANKS to the hosts and organizers for a fun, fantastic event.

-Ben Swainbank

atomweaver

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Sep 25, 2007, 1:44:25 PM9/25/07
to
Robert Goudie <RobertT...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:1190738644.6...@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com:

> On Sep 25, 8:20 am, benp...@gmail.com wrote:
>> Both finals were described as "agonizing to watch".
>

> I liked watching both of them.
>

Goudie = masochist... but then, we all already knew _that_. ;-)


> Ben won a signed Theo Bell at Beach print, a copy of V:TES artist Leif
> Jones' new SE7EN: Envy comic, his mug on a future V:TES card, a sealed
> box of The Sabbat booster cards, a $100 gift certificate to
> DriveThruRPG.com, a Danse MaCabre print, an official Hollywood Walk of
> Fame star and a trip to the EC next year.
>

Holy Monty Haul, Loot-man!!! Nice prize package, there. So Ben, when is
the Sabbat booster draft going to occur? I reckon I haven't cracked me a
Red 'n Black Double-Wide in quite a few years... :-)

DaveZ
Atom Weaver

witness1

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Sep 25, 2007, 1:53:49 PM9/25/07
to
On Sep 25, 12:44 pm, Robert Goudie <RobertT.Gou...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ben won a signed Theo Bell at Beach print, a copy of V:TES artist Leif
> Jones' new SE7EN: Envy comic, his mug on a future V:TES card, a sealed
> box of The Sabbat booster cards, a $100 gift certificate to
> DriveThruRPG.com, a Danse MaCabre print, an official Hollywood Walk of
> Fame star and a trip to the EC next year.

More like this please :)

witness1

Xian

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Sep 25, 2007, 2:29:41 PM9/25/07
to
On Sep 25, 9:14 am, Ben Swainbank <bswainb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I was going to hold off on lunge #3 because I assumed it would a
> require at least another stealth top deck unless I cleared my defense
> first. But at the end of Matt's turn I realized time or getting ousted
> might keep me from another turn. And Ira produced the Deflection
> during lunge #3. Ira, tell me you didn't pull that Deflection during
> your discard...

>From my recollection (I was standing behind Ira at that point), during
your final lunge (when he used 2nd with Volker, right?), he had an On
the Qui Vive and a Deflection in hand.

At any rate, he had at least 1 deflection and a 2nd or OtQV at all
times in his hand, at least as far as I could tell over the last few
turns.


Xian

ben...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 25, 2007, 2:31:47 PM9/25/07
to
Ben Swainbank wrote:

> Ben Peal wrote:
> > Swainbank's lunge was crazier than that. At the end of my turn, he
> > took a shot at Ira via the Madness Network. During his own turn, he
> > took another shot. Before my turn started, he took a third shot. Ira
> > had enough On the Qui Vive, 2nd Trad, and bounce to bail it out, and
> > Swainbank couldn't draw the one more point of stealth he needed.
>
> I drew it during my discard...

Yeeeeeesh...

> What I REALLY wanted to do was lunge during the Mad Net action and DI
> the Deflection. But I had to use the DI to stop the Sire's Lure so I
> could play Obedience to keep Lucian untapped.

Ooooo...yeah, you had to stop the Siren's Lure that turn or you were
toast.

> I went into lunge #3 thinking if it failed I was cooked. In retrospect
> since Ben P. had the Siren's Lure (I think) I was cooked either way.
> So, I'm glad I took the shot.

Yeah, I had the Siren's Lure.

> But, I must say that was a GREAT game. Congrats Ben P. on a well-
> orchestrated win on a very tight, very tough table.

Thanks! heheheh..."well-orchestrated" win with the Daughters... ;)

> And BIG THANKS to the hosts and organizers for a fun, fantastic event.

Hells yeah!


- Ben Peal

Xian

unread,
Sep 25, 2007, 2:32:07 PM9/25/07
to
On Sep 25, 7:20 am, benp...@gmail.com wrote:
> possible. Thanks also to Xian Herro for lending me some key cards.

Any time, man. Glad they helped.

I should thank Josh Duffin for lending me a Fame at the last minute,
but since I never drew it, it was clearly a cursed Fame, and I should
not be thanking him. Perhaps even anti-thanking him.


Xian
curse you, Duffin!

Blooded Sand

unread,
Sep 25, 2007, 3:14:37 PM9/25/07
to

Now that is GOOD prize support. Really awesome. The paid EC trip alone
is worth it, but the box of SABBAT?!?!?!? Whaaaaat? So jealous, again,
grats mr Peal! And to everyone else concerned, wow, seems you had an
awesome event.

Rhavas

unread,
Sep 25, 2007, 3:32:43 PM9/25/07
to
On Sep 24, 10:25 am, Anthony Coleman <Buntina...@gmail.com> wrote:
> So - way to go Ben Peal winning his second continental Champs! playing
> a Daughters votey breedy thing.
>
> Can't believe its not being discussed already :O)
>
> Some details are on the NAC Blog...
>
> Ant

Congrats Ben!

Oh, and everyone knows Ben is already on a card: Kassyim Malikhair.

witness1

unread,
Sep 25, 2007, 3:33:19 PM9/25/07
to
On Sep 25, 2:31 pm, benp...@gmail.com wrote:

> Ben Swainbank wrote:
> > But, I must say that was a GREAT game. Congrats Ben P. on a well-
> > orchestrated win on a very tight, very tough table.
>
> Thanks! heheheh..."well-orchestrated" win with the Daughters... ;)

Any chance of a decklist?

witness1

atomweaver

unread,
Sep 25, 2007, 4:05:14 PM9/25/07
to
Rhavas <Anthony...@gmail.com> wrote in news:1190748763.790381.97620
@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com:

The new artwork will make an even greater impression!

DaveZ
Atom Weaver

Daneel

unread,
Sep 25, 2007, 4:13:43 PM9/25/07
to
On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:25:00 -0700, Anthony Coleman <Bunti...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> So - way to go Ben Peal winning his second continental Champs! playing
> a Daughters votey breedy thing.

Way to go, Ben!

Gratulálok a második kontinentális győzelmedhez! :)

--
Regards,

Daneel

ben...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 26, 2007, 8:58:36 AM9/26/07
to
Daneel wrote:
> Way to go, Ben!
>
> Gratulálok a második kontinentális gy zelmedhez! :)

Nagyon szépen köszönöm! :)


- Ben

ben...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 26, 2007, 9:54:56 AM9/26/07
to
witness1 wrote:
> Any chance of a decklist?

Deck Name: Angellore (Live In LA)
Created By: Ben Peal
Description:
This is a modified version of the deck I used to win the 2007 Origins
qualifier.
I chose this version of breed-boon for the 2007 NAC (and EC) because
of its
anti-ally capabilities, its combat defense, its surprise lunge
capability, and
its strong vote lock/push. I dropped the 2 Enchant Kindred in favor
of more
Entrancements and another Direct Intervention. I changed a
Consanguineous Boon
into an Autarkis Persecution and 2 Kine Resources Contested into 2
Conservative
Agitations as a defense against Delaying Tactics. I dropped the 2
Change of
Target and the 1 Crusade: Philadelphia since I wasn't getting much use
out of
them. In their place, I added an event package of Absimiliard's Army,
Break the
Code, and The Uncoiling. Absimiliard's Army isn't in there for the
synergy with
Entrancement (though it's nice), but is instead intended as a defense
against
rush combat. This paid off in Round 2 of the 2007 NAC, when I had
Norm Brown's
Basilia deck as a predator. Again, Siren's Lure is a devastating
card. It can
change a run of the mill "bleed for 1 to get the edge" turn into an
ousting
lunge. To answer a frequently-asked question, I don't use Ensemble
because it's
just asking to be bounced, leaving me to spend the next turn hunting
with
everyone.

CRYPT (12)
2 Celeste, The Voice of a Secret mel pre 3 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Muse ani for mel 3 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Delilah Monroe MEL for pre 4 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Angela Preston MEL PRE for 5 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Gael Pilet FOR MEL chi pre 6 Daughters of Cacophony
2 Yseult FOR MEL PRE 6 Daughters of Cacophony

LIBRARY (90)
2 Paris Opera House
3 Conductor
1 The Barrens
1 Creepshow Casino
3 Bastille Opera House
4 Blood Doll
3 Direct Intervention

8 Consanguineous Boon
1 Autarkis Persecution
7 Kine Resources Contested
2 Conservative Agitation
9 The Embrace

10 Siren's Lure
10 The Missing Voice

8 Majesty
6 Entrancement

8 Soak
1 Daring the Dawn

1 Absimiliard's Army
1 Break the Code
1 The Uncoiling

ben...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 26, 2007, 10:08:23 AM9/26/07
to
Freakin' google groups formatting...let's try that again:

wumpus

unread,
Sep 26, 2007, 1:16:50 PM9/26/07
to
Howdy Ben,

Congratulations on the win!

> Again, Siren's
> Lure is a devastating card. It can change a run of the mill "bleed
> for
> 1 to get the edge" turn into an ousting lunge.

I guess I've never really seen it in play (probably due to its
rarity)... I was sort of expecting to see some sort of aggressive
combat to go with the Lures, but all I see is Majesty (which,
admittedly is good tech) and Soak? Could you go into a bit more
detail about the awesometasticity of this card? How does it turn a
bleed for 1 into an ousting lunge?

I'm additionally very surprised not to see any real blood gain tech,
particularly Voter Cap. Were the Blood Dolls mostly used to 'blow
through the straw', with the Boons keeping you flush with enough pool
both for defense and breeding?

Its always interesting to look at your deck lists - you consistently
make what look to my eye to be very unconventional choices, which tend
to be very well thought out/tested, and seem to work out quite well
for you.

Thanks, and again congrats,
Alex

Meej

unread,
Sep 26, 2007, 1:32:36 PM9/26/07
to
On Sep 26, 1:16 pm, wumpus <wump...@comcast.net> wrote:

> I guess I've never really seen it in play (probably due to its
> rarity)... I was sort of expecting to see some sort of aggressive
> combat to go with the Lures, but all I see is Majesty (which,
> admittedly is good tech) and Soak? Could you go into a bit more
> detail about the awesometasticity of this card? How does it turn a
> bleed for 1 into an ousting lunge?

Having been on the receiving end previously - Siren's Lure, being a
"block fails; tap the blocker" card that's backed up by running out of
the combat or preventing, means that if the bleed for 1 gets a block
attempt, you end up with a tapped minion and no block, *plus* the
action gets through to begin with. It's basically Faceless Night +
Elder Impersonation in one card, for free. With enough minions, ick.

This isn't to say that you couldn't figure out how the card works; I'm
guessing it's just not having seen it in play. It sure surprised me
when Ben started playing this in Boston... It's the combination of
minion denial and block denial, which can open the door for a swarm
bleed to get through if they were counting on a few blockers being
useful to them. Especially if, say, you left up 2 or 3 blockers,
since there's a horde of Daughters at your back, but each time you
tried to block it failed, *and* tapped someone.

- D.J.

Jeff Kuta

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 1:44:56 AM9/27/07
to

I recall you making it a goal of yours a couple years back to win a
major tournament using a deck without any bounce. I presume this
qualifies in your mind? :)

Congrats!

Jeff

ben...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 1:50:42 AM9/27/07
to
Alex wrote:
> Howdy Ben,
>
> Congratulations on the win!

Heya! Thanks!

> > Again, Siren's Lure is a devastating card. It can change a run of the mill
> > "bleed for 1 to get the edge" turn into an ousting lunge.
>
> I guess I've never really seen it in play (probably due to its
> rarity)...

Yeah, it's a pain in the neck to get enough of them.

> I was sort of expecting to see some sort of aggressive
> combat to go with the Lures, but all I see is Majesty (which,
> admittedly is good tech) and Soak? Could you go into a bit more
> detail about the awesometasticity of this card? How does it turn a
> bleed for 1 into an ousting lunge?

The combat is entirely protective, since Siren's Lure means having
to fight people. Most of the time, you're just going to take hands
for one. The point of Siren's Lure isn't to get into combat - it's to
make blocks fail and tap would-be blockers so I can get my actions to
suceed.

As for the awesometasticity, Meej (DJ Chagnon of Boston) covered it
well. Siren's Lure can get 2 actions to succeed instead of one, since
it fails the block (helping the current action) and taps the would-be
blocker (helping a future action). So, you have a few Daughters and a
few Embrace weenies out. You bleed for one, just looking to get the
edge. Your prey tries to block, but you play Siren's Lure. Now he's
got an additional minion tapped and 5 more guys looking to bleed or
KRC him, and you might Siren's Lure him again.

Basically, you're causing your prey to use extra minion resources to
stop your swarm.

> I'm additionally very surprised not to see any real blood gain tech,
> particularly Voter Cap. Were the Blood Dolls mostly used to 'blow
> through the straw', with the Boons keeping you flush with enough pool
> both for defense and breeding?

I used Voter Cap in an early version of the deck, but found that my
votes were usually only passing by one or two, making Voter Cap not
really worth it. The Blood Dolls are there for their usual multi-
functionality. In Round 3 of the NAC, I found myself farming off of
Blood Dolls for a while, since I had my Con Boons DT'ed 3 times, DI'ed
twice, and Vox Domini'ed once. There were other times when I pushed
onto the Blood Doll so I could rescue or to make an Embrace baby. The
Con Boons are mainly for defense, but I'll certainly bring out another
Daughter with 'em if I can afford it.

As for Madrigal, I found that I was mainly acting with the littlest
ones, since I want to keep the ones with MEL untapped for Siren's
Lure. A few of them might be a good call for the deck, though.
There've been a few times where I would've liked an extra blood on
someone. Generally, though, the Soaks, Majesties, and Blood Dolls
keep the girls out of trouble enough that I don't worry much about
blood management.

> Its always interesting to look at your deck lists - you consistently
> make what look to my eye to be very unconventional choices, which tend
> to be very well thought out/tested, and seem to work out quite well
> for you.

Heh, thanks, though you only get to see the successes posted here -
not the failures. ;) The 30 Mind of a Killer deck was epically
bad. :)

> Thanks, and again congrats,

Thanks again!


- Ben

tobiasopdenbr...@notsocoldmail.com

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 4:18:00 AM9/27/07
to

> Heh, thanks, though you only get to see the successes posted here -
> not the failures. ;) The 30 Mind of a Killer deck was epically
> bad. :)

That's only cause you were not sense depping your prey as well. :)

Tobias

ben...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 4:54:47 AM9/27/07
to
Jeff Kuta wrote:
> I recall you making it a goal of yours a couple years back to win a
> major tournament using a deck without any bounce. I presume this
> qualifies in your mind? :)

Heheheh...that it does. :) I did win the New Jersey qualifier a
couple years ago with a Nos+!Nos obf-ani weenie deck, as well:

http://www.thelasombra.com/decks/twd.htm#2k5ecrq

Alas, only 17 players due to a nasty snowstorm.

> Congrats!

Thanks!


- Ben

ben...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 4:55:26 AM9/27/07
to
Johannes Walch skrev:
> Anthony Coleman schrieb:

>
> > So - way to go Ben Peal winning his second continental Champs! playing
> > a Daughters votey breedy thing.
>
> The to-be-expected result considering the absence of his personal nemesis :)

One must take advantage of these opportunites as they arise. ;)


- Ben

ira...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 6:01:46 AM9/27/07
to
On Sep 25, 10:14 am, Ben Swainbank <bswainb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I was going to hold off on lunge #3 because I assumed it would a
> require at least another stealth top deck unless I cleared my defense
> first. But at the end of Matt's turn I realized time or getting ousted
> might keep me from another turn. And Ira produced the Deflection
> during lunge #3. Ira, tell me you didn't pull that Deflection during
> your discard...

I had it in my hand the whole time. Also, I had a redirection as well
as deflection, in case of a DI. :) So you weren't going to kill me
with bleeds... In fact, I had hoped that you would have started
bleeding me sooner.

What I wonder, Ben S, is if I had said, "I'll support a parity shift
against me if you take all the pool yourself," would you have still
given the pool to Matt, or would you have taken it yourself? Giving
that extra pool to Matt prevented me from ousting him. I think Matt
gained something like 10 pool from crosstable votes.

Ira

Mongrel (MDH)

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 7:03:28 AM9/27/07
to
On Sep 26, 10:08 am, benp...@gmail.com wrote:
> Deck Name: Angellore (Live In LA)
> Created By: Ben Peal

> 2 Paris Opera House
> 3 Conductor


> 1 Creepshow Casino
> 3 Bastille Opera House

> 9 The Embrace
> 10 Siren's Lure

> 6 Entrancement


> 1 Daring the Dawn
> 1 Absimiliard's Army
> 1 Break the Code
> 1 The Uncoiling

Nice, 38 rares. (plus the 3 DI's) I'm sure there are tourney decks
with a higher rare count, but 38 is impressive.

-Matt

gpett...@gmail.com

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 11:54:51 AM9/27/07
to


Creepshow, Daring the Dawn, and Entrancement have all ben printed in
Starters. 28 rares.

--
- Gregory Stuart Pettigrew

Rhavas

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 3:33:21 PM9/27/07
to
On Sep 27, 7:03 am, "Mongrel (MDH)" <mong...@hotpop.com> wrote:

These aren't hard cards to get, except for the Siren's Lure. As Ben
has said, those things are extremely hard to find. Now that Ben has
shown their awesomticity, they will be even harder.

Also, I believe it would be 30 rares; 1 Daring, 1 Creepshow, 6
Entrancement is 8, not that it matters, but let's try to get the math
right, for the sake of the children.

Ben Swainbank

unread,
Sep 27, 2007, 4:15:17 PM9/27/07
to
On Sep 27, 6:01 am, "ira...@gmail.com" <ira...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sep 25, 10:14 am, Ben Swainbank <bswainb...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> I had a redirection as well
> as deflection, in case of a DI. :) So you weren't going to kill me
> with bleeds... In fact, I had hoped that you would have started
> bleeding me sooner.

So much for my dreams of near glory...

>
> What I wonder, Ben S, is if I had said, "I'll support a parity shift
> against me if you take all the pool yourself," would you have still
> given the pool to Matt, or would you have taken it yourself?

A turn or two earlier I probably would have.

At the very end there, I think Ben P. had vote lock on both of us. And
after the Shift went off you were at 4? pool and I need to get through
it with 3-4 bleeds. It was "now or never" time. The 4 extra pool
wouldn't have helped me much and accidentially ousting your prey after
a Deflection would definately have sunk my lunge. So, probably not.


> Giving
> that extra pool to Matt prevented me from ousting him. I think Matt
> gained something like 10 pool from crosstable votes.
>

Awww... Well, you got, what 7? pool from Ben Peal's cross-table votes.
He got about 13 pool thanks to generous vote support from his
predator(?!) and grand-prey.

I got a rock.

-Ben Swainbank

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