(Semi unofficial) Tournament Report for "Rebekka's Masquerade Ball" Munich, 26.1. 2002 11 people were present to play in this tournament - the dreaded number, so Rui Videira volunteered as the judge for the day. Kudos to him not only for abstaining from play, but also for judging the whole event with remarkable ease and friendliness. I was really surprised how smooth the whole day went by - no nasty animosities, no fucked-up table splitting deals etc. The final standings going into the final were: 1 - Markus Muerth 1GW, 6.5VP (Malkavian Stealth/Bleed) 2- Robert "Skaffen" Müller (me) 1GW, 5.5VP (Ventrue Toolbox) 3- Mónica Martins 1GW, 5VP (Weenie Animalism bleed and bruise) 4- Ralf Abendt 1GW, 4VP (Lazverinus' Babes, !Ventrue toolbox) 5- Miguel Freitas 0GW, 2VP (Intercept, rotschreck, equipment and disguised weapon) 6- Michael Eichler, 0GW, 1.5VP (Tzimisce intercept combat) 7- Thomas Gschwandtner 0GW, 1.5VP (Toreador political) 8- Falko Hampel 0GW, 0.5VP (Toreador intercept and bleed) 9- Eva Karl-Rückert 0GW, 0VP (Bitches' deck, with Quira leading the gang; Obfucaste, Auspex, Celerity, equipment) 9 (tied)- Martin Weinmayer 0GW, 0VP (Gangrel torpor loop and Talbot's Chainsaw deck) (Note that Game Wins had no influence on this outcome) Here is a brief description of my three preliminary rounds: Round 1 saw me preying on Ralf preying on Michael preying on Miguel preying on Falco. A very tactical game by everyone because there was so much intercept on the table. Very bad for my votes, and only two memorable events. The first one was when I threatened Falco to put Fear Of Mekhet on his almost empty Anneke, thus "convincing" him not to block a Praxis Seizure and to actually vote in favour - followed by a damaging vote and the threat to put her into torpor with Kiss Of Ra if she dared to block. Gotta love those agitating Ventrue! I managed to oust Ralf with a Hostile Takeover on Lazverinus that cost him 5 pool, followed by Emerson Briges Daring The Dawn with Legal Manipulation. Bridges got diablerized the next turn, so my offensive died down to a mere trickle of deflected bleeds and the occasional attempt to vote or bleed when I had a Majesty in hand to save me against Dagos' kin. I might or might not have ousted Michael after he had lost Meshenka to an Improvised Flamethrower hit, but the game went to time right at the moment when Migual finally ousted Falco (whom I had tried to keep in the game with a Parity Shift before). So me and Miguel got 1,5 VPs, Michael had 0,5. Meanwhile Monica had swept the other table. Round 2 I preyed on Thomas preying on Falco preying on Miguel preying on Markus. Again too much intercept on both sides for my taste, but I managed to make some progress into Thomas' pool by splitting KRCs etc. with Falco who had Alexandra on the table. Markus was under Miguel's heel for quite some time, with superior Revelations and evil weaponry on the table. But he had a Madness Network in play and was ready to block any attempt from me to remove it. I had one Daring The Dawn in hand but foolishly hoped to use it for the killing blow against Thomas. When Markus started to go forward (with no bleed cards on the table and only Ozmo for the extra oomph) at the end of one of Miguel's minion phases, I felt as confident as on earlier occasions with 13 pool and two Deflections, a Majesty and a Second Tradition in hand. After the end of his regular turn he had redrawn a couple of Conditionings and Governs, I was tapped out and ousted. After that the game stalled again and went to time. Markus had 1,5, the rest 0,5 VPs. The other table saw Ralf gaining 4 VPs with Michael Eichler taking the remaining one. In round 3 I preyed in Martin preying on Thomas preying on Eva preying on Michael. Although Martin didn't gain a single VP the whole tournament, his deck was very impressive to behold. It worked like a clockwork, vampires bouncing in and out of torpor, meanwhile doing nice pool damage to Thomas with unblockable Force Of Wills. With the smell of Majesty left and right he decided not to bring any Chainsaws though. I had a reasonable start with getting the Ventrue Headquarter, Parity Shift and Hostile Takeover early. I could hammer one vote through every turn, depending on Michael not blocking. I negotiated some through, than hit Martin with a Takeover on his Ricky Van Dempsi, which I took for 5 pool. Michaels persistent bleeds brought me down to 3 pool, when I played the Creepshow Casino so I could bypass his intercept for a crucial (and Voter Captivated) Parity Shift on Martin. I bled his remaining pool away the same turn. Next started a nasty back-and-forth politcal battle against Thomas, who defended valiantly by negotiating Michael's support (Lambach made a showing) for ugly votes against me and Eva. The game-deciding play was Timothy Crowley bleeding him. Anneke used the Second Tradtion to block, got Kiss Of Ra'd, Timothy Freak Drived and diablerized her, thus giving me vote lock at last. Still Thomas managed to oust Eva with Jost Werner before he fell. I was able to ward off Michaels repeated bleed attempts with Obediences, Majestys etc. and finally ousted him with an unblockable KRC. Final result: Me 4 VPs, Thomas 1. The other table was swept by Markus' stealthy bleeders. For the final we relocated to the Bella Italia restaurant, got some food and refreshments into our system and proceeded to the last battle. I decided to have Monica as my prey, she was bleeding Miguel who preyed on Markus preying on Ralf. A very good strategic position for me, even though my crypt draw was abysmal with only Emerson as a prince. Still I made good progress against Monica who regularily tapped all here minions and put a lot of pressure on Miguel. Many combats on her side of the table ended with mutual annihilation between bird-monging weenies and Ivory Bow-wielding blockers. With Lazverinus and Sylvester Simms also on the table I had to rely on the Edge to pass my votes, which slowed me down, but when the time was right I was ready to move. With Monica down to 2 and Miguel on 1 pool Emerson did the dirt dive again by Legal Manipulating at Dawn, ousting Monica. Miguel's final defender got tapped by Gideon with a Majesty, and Violette finished his pool. 2 VPs in one turn, but Emerson had to pay the price as he was diablerized by Ralf's Guilino Vincenzi (who got killed in the Blood Hunt). While I was fishing for fresh vampires, bringing out Jan Pieterzoon and later Timothy Crowley, Markus wore down Ralf's defenses. With my casual bleeds for 2 with Pieterzoon I sometimes felt like the Pinball Wizard: Shoot, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, and it still landed where I wanted it to be. Anyway, Markus finally ousted Ralf, afterwards he lost Didi Meyers to an Archon Investigation and Zoe to Kiss Of Ra. He bravely brought out Zebulon, ending at 4 pool. Pieterzoon did a Legal with Daring The Dawn that got Telepathic Countered, then Timothy, Gideon and Violette started the old tap, vote and bleed routine with Freak Drives and Majestys until Markus ran out of blockers. So that gave me 4 VPs and the tournament, Markus came in second, Monica third. All in all it was a splendid day of V:tES, with many great games and good fun for all. Many thanks to Rui for judging and Michael, Martin, Eva and Miguel who all made long journeys to participate. Finally, here is my tournament winning deck: Burning Bridges (in honour to Emerson Bridges, who guaranteed me 3 VPs throughout the tournament and died on both occasions) Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 17, Max: 33, Avg: 6,50) ---------------------------------------------- 2 Emerson Bridges DOM FOR pot PRE 8, Ventrue, Prince 1 Gideon Fontaine PRE 3, Ventrue 1 Jan Pieterzoon DOM FOR pot pre 7, Ventrue 1 Jazz Wentworth dom for PRE 5, Ventrue 1 Queen Anne aus DOM FOR obf PRE 10, Ventrue, Prince 1 Ranjan Rishi DOM for PRE 5, Ventrue 2 Sir Walter Nash DOM FOR PRE 7, Ventrue, Prince 2 Timothy Crowley ani dom FOR PRE 7, Ventrue, Prince 1 Violette Prentiss dom PRE 4, Ventrue Library: (90 cards) ------------------- Master (16 cards) 1 Archon Investigation 5 Blood Doll 1 Creepshow Casino 1 Fear of Mekhet 3 Hostile Takeover 1 Information Highway 2 Sudden Reversal 1 Ventrue Headquarters 1 Zillah's Valley Action (7 cards) 2 Fifth Tradition: Hospitality, The 5 Legal Manipulations Action Modifier (17 cards) 4 Bewitching Oration 2 Daring the Dawn 4 Freak Drive 2 Kiss of Ra, The 5 Voter Captivation Political Action (21 cards) 2 Banishment 4 Conservative Agitation 1 Disputed Territory 1 Dramatic Upheaval 1 Kindred Restructure 6 Kine Resources Contested 4 Parity Shift 1 Praxis Seizure: Berlin 1 Ventrue Justicar Reaction (18 cards) 7 Deflection 3 Obedience 6 Second Tradition: Domain, The 2 Wake with Evening's Freshness Combat (11 cards) 8 Majesty 3 Unflinching Persistence Thanks for reading Skaffen Chantry Elder Of Munich, Archon Of The Cold Dawn "Burn no bridges to stay warm" skaffen_amtiskaw@mail.ru