tournament report Cunctator Motion: Madison
Jay Kristoff
information to this thread, please do. My knowledge is limited to my own
experience, and even that is hazy.
Kevin Mergen, V:EKN Prince of Madison, WI hosted, head judged, and
played in this nice event named after a banned card. I drove from Columbus
to Madison on Saturday morning. That night Kevin hosted some informal pick
up games in his living room and dinning room. By ten PM there were three
tables, each with four players, wedged into the front half of Kevin's house.
There were six players from Madison, four from Minneapolis, Aaron Steele
from Detroit (where the week are killed an eaten), and me from Columbus,
Ohio (where we eat food). Games were played, food was eaten, Cailean
kept setting range, and good times were had. That session broke up around
1:00am (Central time). Kevin shuttled me back to my hotel where I put the
finishing touches on my deck for the next day. It was a meaner version of
the weenie Presence bleed deck that I used in the final qualifier at GenCon
this Summer.
Fifteen people played in Cunctator Motion: Madison. We played in a room
in the University of Wisconsin's student union. The room was painted with
murals telling the tail of Paul Bunyan. It was also really hot in the
entire union.
In round one I got my prey close to death and then ran into a hand full
of master cards. Soon my predator, Mark Woodhouse, V:EKN Prince of
Minneapolis, decided that I had too many minions and followed a Parity Shift
with an Anarchist Uprising. 0 VP.
In round two I was being bled by a Madison player (BJ?) playing a very
good Protean bleed deck that used smallish vamps. I was trying to oust Matt
Heslin who was playing a "look Normal is the Malk Justicar...now lets have
fun" deck. Matt got a lot of attention when he made his prey pay 14 pool to
keep Thetmes, Caliph of Alamut. Matt had played a Major Boon on me hoping
to keep my bleeds low, and he started to look really strong when he dropped
a
Madness Network. The Protean deck had me down to four pool. On my
untap phase I used Anarch Troublemaker to tap Matt's two untapped Malks.
Then I started to bleed. First for two with Enchant Kindred. Matt kept
saying that he didn't want to have to use the Boon because he didn't want to
kill me; I encouraged him to use it. He did when I bled with the next vamp
for three with Media Influence. That took me to one pool; by the end of the
turn I had six more and Matt was gone. The B.J. made sure that I
didn't see another turn. 1 VP.
In round three I had Kevin's Tzimisce Smiling Jack, The Anarch deck to
my right and Aaron Steele to my left. On turn one Kevin dropped a Jack, on
turn two one of my weenies burnt it before Kevin got a vamp up. Aaron took
some pool loss from my early bleeds before he brought up Dominique of the
Ventrue! Dominique couldn't block my superior Mind Numb and that was
basically it for Aaron.
All day long I would never bleed before I had tapped all of my prey's
vampires who had the chance to bounce bleeds. I did get bounced once or
twice after a WwEF but that was rare. After Aaron was gone Kevin was
talking deal. I had been able to steel one of his War Ghouls with a luckily
timed Entrancement. He and his War Ghoul were going to pave my way to 3 VPs
if
he and I would withdraw at the end for one more VP a piece. Sounded good to
me. 4 VP.
I had played against everyone who made it to the finals except for the
guy who entered the round with the most VPs. His name escapes me, but he
was from Madison and he was playing Inner Circle members bloat/vote. I knew
what he was playing and I had lost to it the night before at Kevin's house.
I prayed that he would sit to the left of me and he did. In the final round
we sat like this:
1)David Lee Edwards (of MN) playing Malk stealth/bleed with a Muddled or two
2)B.J. (of Madison) playing small vamps PRO bleed/bum's rush/wolf
claws/garou
3)Kevin Mergen (host) playing his Tzimisce deck that had won two weeks
earlier
4)Jay Kristoff (me from Ohio) playing sleazy weenie Presence bleed
5)? (of Madison) playing HUGE vamps bloat/vote
Kevin again dropped a Jack on turn one; B.J. burned it on turn two. David
slammed B.J. with some big DOM bleeds. B.J. returned the favor by torpin' a
Malk and then attempting to eat it. Kevin decided to block the action to
diablerize with Eagle Sight. That same process happened in the next turn
without Kevin's Block. I hit the Inner Circle guy with some big bleeds
before he got Arika up. When the Ventrue IC member did show up I was quick
to try to Mind Numb her. Kevin and his Eagle Sight blocked the first
attempt but could not stop the second one. Minion Tap and eventually
Golconda on Arika made my job a long one but I eventually was able to oust
my prey. Even though he was very hampered by the bum's rush/wolf claws
thing, David was able to oust B.J. with a Foreshadowing Destruction. Kevin
had been sending his War Ghouls after my guys without much luck (see 20
S:CE). When David wouldn't promise not to bleed Kevin, the Malks met a
nasty War Ghoul death. I waltzed through what was left of David for my
second VP (and the tournament win as I had finished the early rounds ahead
of Kevin). I began the next turn by tapping Kevin's one untapped vamp with
the Troublemaker and he conceded. No wakes I guess. Almost everything went
perfectly for me in the final round. I was quite lucky.
I had a great time in Wisconsin (even when I was loosing). Many thanks
to Kevin for hosting. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Here is my deck:
I had seen on Lasombra's tournament winning decks page Johnny Tullner's
deck that won Fleecing the Gaje, held in Washington, D.C. I really like his
use of four Anarch Troublemaker. In Johnny's comments on the deck he wrote
"* Using an Anarch Troublemaker and then playing one is an excellent
tactic." Yes Johnny, it is. I decided to try to make room for my four
A.T.s. I was only able to fit three in, and in doing so I ended up with too
many master cards in the deck. Well, I wouldn't be writing this if I
didn't win, so I guess it couldn't have been that bad.
Frederick is NOT Weak!
Crypt (14):
Igo the Hungry
Antoinette DuChamp
Angela Decker
Frederick the (not) Weak
Vasilis, The Traitor of Don Cruez
Delilah Easton
Roland Loussarian
Gideon Fontaine
Itzahk Levine
Mariana Gilbert
Violette Prentiss
Ramiel DuPre
Ranjan Rishi, Camarilla Scholar
Jazz Wentworth
Library (90):
4x Presence
3x Anarch Troublemaker
2x Effective management
2x Information Highway
The Barrens
The Coven
Hostile Takeover
Archon Investigation
14x Catatonic Fear
14x Enchant Kindred
10x Mind Numb
8x Aire of Elation
6x Media Influence
6x Majesty
4x Intimidation
4x Change of Target
3x Entrancement
2x Arson
2x Delaying Tactics
The Summoning
Political Ally
Matt Latham
Why this instead of Social Charm?
Matt
Denizen of the Sewers of Detroit
Dave Brereton
Matt Latham <mla...@diamondtoolmfg.com> wrote in message
news:9tgs1r$7jr$1...@nntp2-cm.news.eni.net...
Can use the enchant kindred to get out more vamps for cheap or even free.
flexability.
Matt Latham
"Dave Brereton" <Brer...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:KBTK7.106058$Gh2.34...@news2.rdc1.bc.home.com...
I understand this I suppose but all his vampies are so cheep that I figured
the one pool gain may be just as valuable as getting two blood on a YOUNGER
uncontrolled while not doing any damage to your prey.
I'm sure theres a mathematical formula to determine which is better.
Matt
Jay Kristoff
I really do love paying half price or no cost at all for vamps.
When Superior Enchant Kindred got the +1 stealth I got excited.
Whenever I pull off a 4th trad/govern/enchant action I like to
pronounce "I'm not going to pay a lot for that muffler". With
intercept to my right in round three and the final I quickly ruled out
superior E.K. as an option. In round two I was able to put four free
blood on an uncontrolled Gideon, pull one off, and get a free
vamp...all of which allowed me to eak out one VP. I'm not too good
with mathematical formulas, but I do love the versatility and value of
E.K. If I were to change a card in the deck I definately would swap
every Media Influence for a Legal Manipulation. I had no intention of
using M.I. in the superior. Of course this only dawned on me as I was
posting the deck.
Jay
James Coupe
<mla...@diamondtoolmfg.com> writes:
>I understand this I suppose but all his vampies are so cheep that I figured
>the one pool gain may be just as valuable as getting two blood on a YOUNGER
>uncontrolled while not doing any damage to your prey.
>
>I'm sure theres a mathematical formula to determine which is better.
Enchant Kindred (superior) has the added benefit of being at +1 stealth.
--
James Coupe Everybody knows that "No" means "Yes"
PGP Key: 0x5D623D5D Just like glasses come free on the NHS
EBD690ECD7A1FB457CA2 But the more I look through them the more I see
13D7E668C3695D623D5D I'm becoming more like Alfie
Matthew Heslin
Jay Kristoff wrote:
> If anyone who was at this fine event would like to add useful
> information to this thread, please do. My knowledge is limited to my own
> experience, and even that is hazy.
You've got to cut down on the drugs and hookers between
rounds, Jay. That's all I'm saying.
> Kevin Mergen, V:EKN Prince of Madison, WI hosted, head judged, and
> played in this nice event named after a banned card
Props to Kevin for putting on the event. I had a blast despite
my poor performance. And thanks to Jay for being "Player Who
Traveled The Farthest Distance." You got that prize in Dallas, too,
that time in 2000, didn't you? : ) I think I'm obliged to travel to
Columbus soon to make up for all the far-flung places you've been
to while I've been living there. (Oh, and PS: www.wmse.org --
it changes formats every three hours or so.)
> By ten PM there were three
> tables, each with four players, wedged into the front half of Kevin's
house
<BITCH="moan"> Oh, and of COURSE I had to work.
That's just swell. Damn the Man. </BITCH>
> In round one I got my prey close to death and then ran into a hand
full
> of master cards. Soon my predator, Mark Woodhouse, V:EKN Prince of
> Minneapolis, decided that I had too many minions and followed a Parity
Shift
> with an Anarchist Uprising. 0 VP.
Mark's deck looked like it was solid -- I never found out
because he played Greger in the third round and I told him
his Malk voters and mine should cooperate. When he didn't
immediately agree, I decided to screw him by contesting his
title. I really need to learn to make friends better. (Hi Mark!)
> In round two I was being bled by a Madison player (BJ?) playing a very
> good Protean bleed deck that used smallish vamps. I was trying to oust
Matt
> Heslin who was playing a "look Normal is the Malk Justicar...now lets have
> fun" deck. Matt got a lot of attention when he made his prey pay 14 pool
to
> keep Thetmes, Caliph of Alamut.
It was indeed BJ (the Young Turk of Madison) who was coming
at you with the weenie Protean.
In re: Tempting Thetmes with my Greater Power, see above
"I really need to learn to make friends better." (Hi Dave!)
> All day long I would never bleed before I had tapped all of my prey's
> vampires who had the chance to bounce bleeds
Is it just me, or would bounce have been *really* strong on
Sunday? Cameron bounced a few at me, but it seemed mostly
like a dash of pepper in the recipe.
> I had played against everyone who made it to the finals except for the
> guy who entered the round with the most VPs. His name escapes me, but he
> was from Madison and he was playing Inner Circle members bloat/vote
Cameron Domer, with his Arika and the Southern Baptists'
Convention PTO deck. Well done in the prelims, Cameron.
<BRAG>
I'd just like to take this chance to say that my little Malkavians,
harmless little Obfuscate guys, no threat to anyone, really, managed
to force Arika, Etrius, Cardano and Thetmes to vote as a single bloc
out of fear of them. Go Team Nutball!
</BRAG>
Wes
"Jay Kristoff" <jlkri...@columbus.cbs.com> wrote
>
> In round two I was able to put four free
> blood on an uncontrolled Gideon, pull one off, and get a free
> vamp...
Wouldn't the fourth blood go to the 'blood bank' instead of *your* pool in
this case? Gideon is a 3-cap...
(You may have actually meant that by 'pull one off' but I'll ask regardless)
Cheers,
WES
Sorrow
> > blood on an uncontrolled Gideon, pull one off, and get a free
> > vamp...
> Wouldn't the fourth blood go to the 'blood bank' instead of *your* pool in
> this case? Gideon is a 3-cap...
> (You may have actually meant that by 'pull one off' but I'll ask regardless)
No, the blood only drains off to the blood bank of the vamp is brought into
the controlled region with blood in excess of their capacity. If there is more
blood on a vamp than capacity and you still have transfers available, then you
can pull the blood back into your pool before you move the vamp to the
controlled region.
Sorrow
---
Through the screams of falling steel. By the light of flares and wisdom.
All the doubts I could not face. All this time I wanted more.
With a line I'll mark the past as a symbol of beginning.
To the gods whose names we've lost and the names who gave in vain.
Xian
> You've got to cut down on the drugs and hookers between
> rounds, Jay. That's all I'm saying.
I didn't see any *drugs*. Ten hookers was a little excessive, though.
:)
> Props to Kevin for putting on the event. I had a blast despite
> my poor performance. And thanks to Jay for being "Player Who
Ditto. Also, I want more player's-eye view stuff here. So I'm going
to post my own.
[night before at Kevin's place]
> <BITCH="moan"> Oh, and of COURSE I had to work.
> That's just swell. Damn the Man. </BITCH>
Heh. Had a good time. I even swept a 4-player with my Shadow Twin
deck. Yum.
> Mark's deck looked like it was solid -- I never found out
> because he played Greger in the third round and I told him
> his Malk voters and mine should cooperate. When he didn't
> immediately agree, I decided to screw him by contesting his
> title. I really need to learn to make friends better. (Hi Mark!)
Yeah, you're not so good at that. I didn't mind though, as ousting
Mark was my only VP of the day...in the third round.
> It was indeed BJ (the Young Turk of Madison) who was coming
> at you with the weenie Protean.
First round, BJ wrecked me with that darned Garou. I was playing a
slightly tweaked version of my "Rededication" deck, with which I won
the GenCon Shadow Twin tournament (aka "the Loser's tournament"), a
little more auspex this time around. Anyway, when I saw BJ bringing
out weenies, I transferred out my weenies. My crypt draw was Reverend
Blackwood, Jing Wei, Kurt Strauss, and Brooke. Of the 3 minions
without THA, all of them were in my draw. Sigh. This proved a huge
handicap when the Garou came over my way and I couldn't Apportation to
long *or* steal 2 blood. I should have transferred out the Rev and
used Govern to bring out the little guys. That being said, my prey
was Dax...who only got out Arika, and I had him down to 4 pool at one
point, within easy ousting distance for my deck. And then along came
Mr. Garou. Ah well. 0 VP...but very good play by BJ in that round.
My round two included Aaron Steele as my predator, Dave Edwards as my
prey, umm...shoot...someone from Madison with Ventrue stuff, and then
Cameron as my grand predator. Again, I was incredibly close to an
oust, as Dave had 1 pool, but Aaron's incredible !Ventrue Daring the
Dawn/Force of Will managed to blow up his last vampire to oust me.
Then Cameron took out Aaron. Anyway, I was impressed with how strong
Aaron's deck was. Good stuff.
Third round was me -> Mark Shanewood -> Dave (Mr. Assamite) -> Cameron
-> Matt Heslin. Tough round. I got 1 VP, but I got assloads of
cross-table rush from Dave. Yeah, Cameron was playing his evil
Arika/Protect Thine Own deck, but with Thetmes and Jalal Sayaad out,
you'd think that the Assamites could push through the Obedience and
nail Arika before he got a Protect Thine Own off in retaliation. I
was, well...disappointed in the lack of forward pressure on Cameron.
:) Moral victory: Thetmes Clandestine Contract-ed Cardano, Cardano
was able to go long (it was an Assamite Potence deck), Theft for two
down to 1 blood, *press* (against the Assamites! woo!) and maneuver
to long and Walk of Flame. Torpor town for Thetmes. Too bad he
didn't have 1 less blood on him for the burn.
> Is it just me, or would bounce have been *really* strong on
> Sunday? Cameron bounced a few at me, but it seemed mostly
> like a dash of pepper in the recipe.
Possibly. I definitely wasn't drawing into my bounce, but upon
reflection, I didn't have quite as much as I thought I did in the
deck. Bounce would have helped some against me, but not every time,
obviously. Would have been nice to draw it against Aaron, though. :)
> <BRAG>
> I'd just like to take this chance to say that my little Malkavians,
> harmless little Obfuscate guys, no threat to anyone, really, managed
> to force Arika, Etrius, Cardano and Thetmes to vote as a single bloc
> out of fear of them. Go Team Nutball!
> </BRAG>
Heh. Yeah, Cardano was definitely against that one, what with you
being my predator. Nice deck, by the way...not that I'm upset I
didn't get to see it really rolling, but yeah...funny.
All in all a fun day...had a good time, am re-tweaking the deck due to
the failures I encountered, and am eagerly anticipating the next
Madison/Minneapolis get-together. :)
*mumble* stupid inner circle, i'll show them AND THROW IN LOTS OF FEAR
OF MEKHET!
Whoops...just said the loud part quiet and the quiet part loud. :P
Xian
never again bringing his *whole* collection at Kevin's request
Kevin M.
"Xian" <xb...@qwest.net> wrote in message
news:dbc1153.01112...@posting.google.com...
>
> Xian
>
> never again bringing his *whole* collection at Kevin's request
Come on, dude! It was completely worth it! It was like Xmas for you , doing so
much trading! =)
Wait until AFTER Bloodlines, THEN bring your whole collection again.
Kevin M., Prince of Madison, WI (USA)
"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
Cameron
weenie malk justicar -> Xian's Tremere -> Malk Princes? -> Dave's POT
Assamites -> my IC/PTO deck.
I got out an Arika before Matt called a Justicar Vote, or Dave got out
Thetmes. I had two PTO's two obediance and a freak drive in my
opening hand. Dave seeing me didn't bring out a vampire (funny seeing
the combat deck doing that!) and Matt needing me to pass votes oftered
me a 2-3 split. I said sure, meanwhile keeping dave going backwards
in fear of losing his minions. Christian got a kill, and then Matt
tried to ToGP Arika. I kept her, paying 13 pool, I had 12 (I hadn't
seen a minion tap all game). I imediatly told Dave I'd guarentee him
2 VP's if I could punish Matt. He agreed. Matt tried to get the
table back on his side but no one was buying it, and under a wave of
attacks he sucumbed to votes, bleeds and rushes. I then got
Christian, gave Dave all my pool and killed myself giving him 2 VP's.
Had I been thinking striaght I'd have let Matt pass non-Justicar Votes
with the same deal, and kept him under my thumb, but with the crypics
that's still an unseemly proposition.
Note to Matt: you've been moved up to slightly higher than BJ in the
will I make deals with this person rankings, but we're watching
you....
> I had played against everyone who made it to the finals except for the
> guy who entered the round with the most VPs. His name escapes me, but he
> was from Madison and he was playing Inner Circle members bloat/vote. I knew
> what he was playing and I had lost to it the night before at Kevin's house.
> I prayed that he would sit to the left of me and he did. In the final round
> we sat like this:
> 1)David Lee Edwards (of MN) playing Malk stealth/bleed with a Muddled or two
> 2)B.J. (of Madison) playing small vamps PRO bleed/bum's rush/wolf
> claws/garou
> 3)Kevin Mergen (host) playing his Tzimisce deck that had won two weeks
> earlier
> 4)Jay Kristoff (me from Ohio) playing sleazy weenie Presence bleed
> 5)? (of Madison) playing HUGE vamps bloat/vote
Cameron, playing Arika's Parent Teacher Organization (and the stealthy
southern baptists) I knew every deck but Jay's, and honestly thought
he was playing a !Tor vote deck. Had I know what he was playing, I'd
have sat anywhere else on that damn table. Thinking thought that he
was playing a PTOable vote deck I saw no problem putting him between
me and the intercept deck. D'oh! In retrospect I should have put
myself in front of the PRO deck, preying on Kevin, who'd have most
likely let me bloat to infinity.
> Kevin again dropped a Jack on turn one; B.J. burned it on turn two. David
> slammed B.J. with some big DOM bleeds. B.J. returned the favor by torpin' a
> Malk and then attempting to eat it. Kevin decided to block the action to
> diablerize with Eagle Sight. That same process happened in the next turn
> without Kevin's Block. I hit the Inner Circle guy with some big bleeds
> before he got Arika up. When the Ventrue IC member did show up I was quick
> to try to Mind Numb her. Kevin and his Eagle Sight blocked the first
> attempt but could not stop the second one.
He didn't even get the first one, as he blew all his wakes blocking
the diablarie attempts, and then had to rescue his only vampire. Thus
ended my ability to get VP's. Had the mind numb not come in I could
have governed out Gilbert Duane, freaked and bled for 6 before the end
of the turn. sigh. I kept just ahead of the curve with Minion Tap
and Golconda, trying to help my predator sweep to come in second, but
the Malk's killed BJ with a forshadowing destruction out of left
field. My only significant contribution was burning one of Kevin's
vampires who diablarized in an attempt to weaken him. he almost got
Jay into a VP deal once Jay was obviously in a position to get his
two, but table talk got Jay to go for the gutso and 4VP's, thus
getting me third place. I died later that turn and discovered my
Anarchist Uprising on the bottom of my deck. A good day overall.
Cameron
Laurent De Vulva
WHEN YOU OUSTED HIM? GLAD TO SEE OTHERS GET SUCH AN OVERALL KICK FROM
THIS GAME AS I DO. KEEP ON WRITING