"Crusade: New Jersey!", which took place this past Saturday, 10/30/99,
in West Windsor, NJ, was a resounding success! Thirteen Methuselahs,
who were influencing their minions from as far away as San Diego, CA and
Washington, DC, vied for control of New Jersey...
... and in the end, the Sabbat threat from this Crusade was thwarted!
Clan Ventrue of New Jersey, manipulated magnificently by Methuselah Eric
Nawrotzki, *voted* themselves into power!
Here are the official "Crusade: New Jersey!" Tournament Results:
1. Eric Nawrotzki, South Bound Brook, NJ: 9 VPs (including 4 in the
final round)
2. Chris Kemp, Kinnelon, NJ: 7 VPs (including 1 in the final round)
3. Keith Bobash, East Brunswick, NJ: 9 VPs (highest qualifier for the
final round)
4. John Whelan, Flushing, NY: 8 VPs
5. Nick Watkins, New York, NY: 7 VPs
6. Peter Kapsalis, Brooklyn, NY: 4 VPs
7. Jon Evers, Baltimore, MD: 1 VP
8. Michael Ahern, East Windsor, NJ: 0 VPs (80 TPs)
8. Christian Alipounarian, East Windsor, NJ: 0 VPs (80 TPs)
8. Charles Brock, San Diego, CA: 0 VPs (80 TPs)
8. David Foss, Belle Mead, NJ: 0 VPs (80 TPs)
12.Joshua Duffin, Washington, DC: 0 VPs (76 TPs)
13.Keith McCormick, North Brunswick, NJ: 0 VPs (70 TPs)
A *big* congratulations to Methuselah Eric Nawrotzki! This is Eric's
second consecutive tournament victory in New Jersey, as he also won
"Praxis Seizure: New Jersey" in early September. Eric retains his title
as the "V:TES New Jersey State Champion". Of course, I am once again
particularly proud that Eric has claimed the title, since he is one of
the founding members of our V:TES gaming group, known as "The Jersey
Jyhad"... :)
I would like to thank each of the participating Methuselahs, one of whom
was from as far away as California! In total, 4 states plus the
District of Columbia were represented at the tournament. Based on the
feedback that was given to me, it seems that everyone had a very good
time. I know that I had a great time judging the event.
I would also like to thank Rob Placer, owner of The Gamer's Realm, the
premiere game store in central NJ. Rob's "Halloween Midnight Madness"
event, at which "Crusade: New Jersey!" was held, was simply wonderful!
The free pizza, free candy, door prize raffles, and
all-day-and-all-night gaming were just great! Thanks, Rob!
The tournament decks were of a very interesting mix. Most notably,
there were *no* Weenie Tap and Bleed decks at this tournament, which is
in contrast to 3 such variant decks at the previous tournament. So much
for these decks dominating at all tournaments... :)
Here are brief descriptions of some of the decks:
1st place: Ventrue Presence Vote deck
2nd place: Protean Bleed/Combat deck
3rd place: Dominate/Obfuscate Sneak & Bleed deck
4th place: Obfuscate Night Moves/Spying Mission deck (very well
constructed!).
5th place: Dominate Bleed deck (specifics unknown)
Among the other decks were a Brujah Celerity/Potence Rush Combat deck
and a Tzimisce Intercept Combat deck.
Here is Eric Nawrotzki's "Crusade: New Jersey!" tournament winning deck:
Name: "OK, What the Hell, a Ventrue Vote Deck"
By: Eric Nawrotzki
This Ventrue Vote Deck shares a fair degree of similarity to my Toreador
vote deck, which won "Praxis Seizure: New Jersey". Once again defense
was a prime consideration. It has Domain Challenges, Forced Awakenings,
and Sudden Reversals to slow down the weenie tap decks (which for some
strange reason there were none). The Archon Investigations and
Protected Resources and the Deflections to deal with the big bleeders
(of which there were many). Since there are more Ventrue Princes the
Toreadors, I went with more 5th Traditions and Minion Taps. The weakest
part is still probably combat defense, but I was able to add Obedience
to the Elysium and Majestys (and I did not encounter any combat rush
decks).
Crypt - 12
Gideon Fontaine - Ven 3 PRE
Violette Prentiss - Ven 4 dom PRE
Jazz Wentworth -Ven 5 dom for PRE
Ranjan Rishi - Ven 5 for DOM PRE
Heather Florent - Ven 6 dom PRE FOR
Timothy Crowley - VEN 7 ani dom PRE FOR - Prince
2x Sir Walter Nash - Ven 7 DOM PRE FOR - Prince
Emerson Bridges - Ven 8 pot DOM PRE FOR - Prince
Wilhelm Waldburg - Ven 9 cel aus PRE FOR DOM - Prince
Natasha Volfchek - cel pot dom PRE FOR - Primogen
Democritus - cel aus for DOM PRE - Justicar
Master - 21
Blood Doll
Minion Tap x 6
Information Highway
Uptown Hunting Ground
Ventrue Directorate Assembly
Ventrue Headquarters x 2
Elysium: the Arboretum
Sudden Reversal x 3
Protected Resources
Archon Investigation x 3
Tomb of Ramses III
Reactions - 18
Deflection x 10
Forced Awakenings x 2
Obediance x 4
Second Tradition x 2
Combat - 9
Majesty x 9
Political Actions - 22
Banishment x 2
Kindred Restructure
Ancient Influence
Praxis Seizure: Cairo
Praxis Seizure: Geneva
Praxis Seizure: Seattle
Disputed Territory
Consanguineous Boon x 2
Domain Challenge x 2
Kine Resources Contested x 10
Action Modifiers - 9
Bewitching Oration x 4
Voter Captivation x 5
Actions -11
Fifth Tradition - 6
Govern the Unaligned - 5
Comments on the winning deck design are welcome, as per the author.
Final comments:
This was another great experience. The participants were great sports,
the environment was great, and the tournament ran very smoothly (helped
by my "V:TES Tournament Tracking System", an Excel-based program that I
wrote for this purpose). There was a lot of camaraderie, and not a lot
of cutthroat competitiveness. Participants came from far and wide to
play in this tournament, which made me feel great, while adding another
level of play to this "Crusade"...
Next week, I can *finally* play in a tournament. I'll be road-tripping
to see Pat Derr, Prince of Philadelphia, for "Crusade: Philadelphia!"
Watch out Pat! Here come the Methuselahs of "The Jersey Jyhad"!
Any comments may be posted or sent to me privately
(sbuo...@lehman.com).
--
Stephen "The Evil One"
V:EKN Prince of New Jersey
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.