VtES EC 2010 Decks of Interest

During the VtES EC 2010 there was a strong tendency towards known and strong decks, which had proven to give players sure game wins (and sometimes even) tournament wins. For example regarding bleed decks, there were basically four types of decks:

• Kindred Spirits Stealth Bleed (including both weenie Dementation version and the version with larger vampires and more Obfuscate)
• Kiasyd or Lasombra Stealth Bleed (mostly with the G4/5 vampires) with or without Nocturns
  
• Giovanni Powerbleed
• Ventrue feat. Edward Vignes Bleed

In addition some, but not many Weenie Dominate, Baali Obf/Pre S&B or Gerald Windham & Friends Bleed decks showed up.

Or in other words, there were very few "rogue" decks with new and/or at least some surprising tricks. Some of the more interesting decks of the EC (not already shown as finalist's decks) include the following:

• Legendary Vampire (October 29th, 2010)
  
  
  
  • The Blood Brothers Kiev Bleed deck played by Jakub B. (POL) played, is built around the in-circle disciplines Sanguinus, Fortitude and Protean, but basically is stealth bleed deck with strong bloat component using 16 copies of Unwholesome Bond.
  
  
  • A Cybele/Lutz/Unmada deck was played by Otso S. (FIN), which basically runs the same engine as the now classic Cybele/Aksinya/Inner Circle deck, but uses Derangement to gain vote control on the table. The deck is not entirely new and already won the Finnish ECQ tournament earlier this year.
  
  
  • This is a Al-Munthahir & Friends Summon History built by The Lasombra and played by Robyn T. (USA). Key to this political deck is Summon History which is used to put several big cap titled Sabbat and Camarilla vampires on play.
  
  

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• Last Chance Qualifier (October 29th, 2010)
  
  
  
  • Christophe B. (FRA) fielded a Lasombra G4/5 feat. Appius Black Hand Nocturn deck, which was a nice of change of pace in comparison to the other Lasombra & Kiasyd Stealth Bleed decks. The deck uses a significantly different crypt consisting of Appius Claudius Corvus and his Lasombra Black Hand friends, and uses a few cards requiring the Black Hand to great effect.
  
  
  • When looking at the Midcap G2/3 Obf/Dom Ally "Stuff" deck, which was played by Otto K. (FIN), I am still wondering how this deck is gonna work. It has several minions with Dominate and/or Obfuscate, yet chooses to play Computer Hacking. The main vampire is Kyoko Shinsegawa, but the only card requiring a discipline she can play is Deflection. I mean, it looks like a bloat/swarm bleed deck, but it appears to be less effective than it could be. On the other hand it scored 1 GW 5.5 in the LCQ tournament.
  
  
  • One of the most interesting deck is the Followers of Set feat. Nakhthorheb Chameleon played by Marko S. (FIN). He uses Nakhthorheb, which becomes first Baron, then plays Chameleon to take control of vampires just moved to the ready region. The trick mainly works in the first half of the game, when Nakhthorheb is influenced quickly using Eternals of Sirius, but can be pulled off later as well with the help of Banishment.
  
  
  • Another deck based on Al-Muntahir is the Al-Muntahir Summon History Powerbleed used by Tomas W. (SWE) in the LCQ tournament. This time Summon History helps to gather a truckload of bleed equipment and bleed retainers, to finally be able to bleed for 7 without playing a card. Quite similar to an Una Freakshow deck ..
  
  
  • The Followers of Set G4/5 feat. Cybele Illomba Set's Curse deck built and played by Ivan M. (SWE) made it Deck of the Month September 2010. Read more there about this unique deck.
  
  
  • Teemu S. (FIN) played Arika/Tyler & Lasombra Friends Baltimore Purge. The deck uses Arika and especially Tyler to be able to first put down a number of opposing vampires using Baltimore Purge, and then diablerize one or more vampires with the help of Tyler's special ability to untap after she diablerize a vampire.
  
  
  • Similar to Robyn's deck (see above), the Al-Muntahir/Inner Circle Summon History as played by Martin S. (NOR) summons Inner Circle members to do their master's bidding. This deck is not as focused as voting as Robyn's, but has a stronger ally angle.
  
  
  • Frode L. (NOR) uses his Nadima/Mirembe/Nehsi Pro/Set Hatch the Viper Rush deck to setup his vampires superior Protean & Serpentis with a number of Hatch the Viper retainers, and then rushes his opponents to put them down
  
  
  • What do you do when you want to play Weenie vote deck and you're in need of some extra votes? Put 17 Orun in it, or at least that's what Benjamin B. (FRA) did with his Weenie Laibon Orun Vote. Similar to the Team Africa deck, the deck uses the different Laibon clans for gaining vote majority at the table without spending too much pool on its vampires.
  
  

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• EC 2010 Day 1 (October 30th, 2010)
  
  
  
  • The deck played by Otso S. (FIN) was Weenie G1/2 Anarch Auspex Wall. This is more or less a run-of-the-mill Weenie Auspex deck, but with Constant Revolution it has a stronger finisher than the regular deck. And the cost is for this angle is rather low, all you need is a number of Anarch Converts and two copies of Constant Revolution. Also two copies of Madness Network strengthens the bloat capability in conjunction with Victoria's special ability. And she's good spin for the deckname .
  
  
  • Peter B. (HUN) played a True Brujah G5/6 Aus/Tem Bleed deck, yet another example how the latest VtES expansion gave the bloodlines a boost. Peter uses both Lydia and Al-Muntahir (paying even the Scarce penalty) to equip with various unique bleed equipment, and then bleed hard with them. Instead of using copious amounts of stealth the deck relies on Tangle Atropos' Hand and Crocodiles Tongue to outplay the opponent. In addition the deck punishers with the simple yet efficient Domain of Evernight & Outside the Hourglass combo.
  
  
  • The fourth and last Summon History deck in this list is Ian Forrestal & Friends Summon History by Evgueny L. (FRA). He uses Ian Forrestal instead of Al-Muntahir (or any other True Brujah) to summon a number of different, most notably Tye Cooper and Ponticulus. With their help he can use Talbot's Chainsaw to turn this deck into a rush combat deck.
  
  
  • Daniele P. (ITA) plays a Mata Hari 50 Freak Drive Allies, and with that he has the deck with most copies of a single card during the tournament, even beating the Una Freakshow decks with exactly 50 Freak Drives. With 14 different allies the deck is obviously strong on allies and their individual strengths.
  
  

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• EC 2010 Day 2 (October 31st, 2010)
  
  
  
  • Tomasz I. (POL) had a Followers of Set feat. Hesha Temptation/Bloat deck at start, which uses Temptation as its key card both for tempting their own vampires (for bloating and equipping) as well as tempting key vampires of the opposing players.
  
  

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• First Chance Qualifier (October 31st, 2010)
  
  
  
  • Emiliano I. (ITA) with 2 GW 7 nearly reached the final in the FCQ. He played a Tzimisce G2/3 Maris Streck War Ghoul nicknamed "Wallghouls". The deck has strong control angle with Maris Streck's special, and it becomes even stronger when (in addition to Unmasking) the War Ghouls are granted the intercept Maris Streck provides.
  
  
  • Kristofer Å. (SWE) with his Assamite G4/5 Black Hand Contract deck in the first place looks like a standard (usually not very successful) rush combat deck, but in fact this deck has more to offer. It uses not only the Black Hand angle, specifically Black Hand Contract, but also the Anarch angle for the use of Steely Tenacity, giving the Assamites a copious amount of rushes.
  
  
  • The Mata Hari & Friends Vote/Sensory Deprivation deck played by Pierre-Denis B. (FRA) is another Mata Hari deck. The deck is rather toolboxy, but interestingly the deck has strong vote angle with various political locations, but also Sensory Deprivation as backup plan.
  
  
  • The Maureen & Friends Infernal Servitor was played by Pieter H. (NED) and built by his fellow countryman Izaak H. The deck uses the classic Dominate/Obfuscate bleed mechanism for ousting. Beyond that it has an added strong Baali angle with Unleash Hell's Fury for defense and Infernal Servitor and Greater Curse for offense
  
  
  • Let me present you the most focused deck in all of the EC 2010 tournament decks. This Brujah G1/2 Weenie Arms Dealer Flash Grenade deck was played by Christian N. (DEN). When looking at the deck you'll see that it has only 11 different library cards. For my point of view it might get a bit boring to play after a while, but it sure has focus. The basic trade of the deck is to equip the arms dealers (and/or Weenie Brujah) with Camera Phones and bleed your opponent with a horde a Weenies and Arms Dealers. If blocked play Concealed Weapon on Flash Grenade and thereby keep the opposing vampire tapped for his next turn.

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I am not saying all of these decks are truly good and well-executed, but all of them (some more, some less) were a welcome change to a lot of standard decks seen during the EC. You can find (a few) extra EC 2010 decks on Secret Library when entering "EC 2010" as title in the deck search form.

And now for something completely different ..

While looking through the decklists (a total of 539 decks) of the EC 2010, I noticed there are a lot of funny or at least interesting deck names. Here's random assortment of them:

• Last Chance Qualifier
  
  • "In the Name of Wendy " by Mikkel P. (DEN) for Malkavian/Malkavian antitribu S&B(1)
  • "Recruitment Party Sacre Bleu!" by Marko S. (FIN) for a Nakhthorheb Chameleon deck.
  • "Boys who hate Girls who love .." by Janne L. (FIN) for deck with some strong anti-recursion tech.
  • "We have a voice, you know" by Charles M. (FRA) for Weenie Presence Vote deck.
  • "With Dominate you can" by Timo S. (FRA) for Weenie/Midcap DOM deck.
  • "Gangréille with Cheese" by Tiago B. (POR) for a Stanislaw DOM deck.
  • "Plan 9 from Outer Space" by David G. (FRA) for Giovanni Powerbleed deck.
  • "The Grotesque Stuka Squad" by Petri W. (FIN) for a Tremere/Gargoyle Dive Bomb deck.
  • "Here, kitty, kitty. OMG, that's not a kitty." by Koen T. for a Renegade Garou deck.
  • "La Griffe et la Poison" -- Christophe C. (FRA) for a Gangrel Serpentis deck.
  • "Mr. Table Hate" by Arto H. (FIN) for a Ravnos Toolbox deck.
  • "By Gustave's Grace" by Johathan H. (UK) for a Ventrue Lawfirm deck.(2)
  • "Paris, Love and Potence" by Giovanni A. (ITA) for a Weenie Potence deck.
• Day 1
  
  • "Victoria's Secret" by Otso S. (FIN) for a Weenie Auspex decks featuring Victoria (of course).
  • "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" by Marko S. (FIN) for a Gargoyle Rockcat deck.
  • "Wonderful Mistress" by Francois G. (FRA) for a deck featuring Mistress Fanchion.
  • "Better Gentlemen, Same Sticks" by Tiago G. (POR) for a(nother) Ventrue Grinder deck.
  • "Embrace moi si tu peux!" by Mathias S. (CZE) for a Ravnos Embrace Boon deck.
  • "Who let's the dogs out?" by Antonio Cobo C. (ESP) for a Tup Dog deck.
  • "Vampire Girls meets Frankstein Girl" by Mika N. (FIN) for a Giovanni Shambling Hordes deck.
  • "Guillaume and Baldesar sitting in tree" by Jonathan H. (UK) for a Guillaume/Baldesar Bleed deck.
• Day 2
  
  • "Suddenly - Vampires and Faeries, oh my!" by John B. (UK) for a Kiasyd S&B deck.
  • "The Reilu Meininki" by Marko S. (FIN) for a Ventrue antitribu Grinder deck.
• First Chance Qualifier
  
  • "Una's Freaky Friday" by Jakub H. (CZE) for Una Freakshow deck.
  • "Wallghouls" by Emiliano I. (ITA) for a Maris Streck Warghoul deck.
  • "Thug-o-Matic" by Petri H. (FIN) for a Black Hand Thugee deck.
  • "Revenge of the Sectoid Baby!" by Elias M. (FRA) for a Kiasyd S&B deck.
  • "Followers of (.)(.)" by Tommi H. (FIN) for deck based on Gabrielle Righetti
  • "Big Bastards Bleed" by Timo S. (FIN) for Big Cap Toreador & Friends DOM Bleed deck.
  • "Santaleous Metagame Solution" by Pasi K. (FIN) for a Malkavian S&B featuring Santaleous
  • "Tuppey Snack" by Mathieu R. (FIN) for a Ventrue Lawfirm deck.
  • "Serving the Dark Priestress" by Pieter H. (NED) for deck with Maureen and Infernal Servitors

Also quite funny to notice:

• Francois G. had this line in his decklist: "Dreams of the Sphinx Demons that win".
• Matthieu R Deck wrote beneath his decklist: "Deck Crafted with Igloi's Loyalty".

Footnotes:

(1) actually I didn't get the reference. Can somebody please educate me?
(2) the deck description deck was "Some dull Ven Vote and Bleed, snore fest"

Pictures from the Day 2 Tournament

Here are some pictures from the Day 2 and First Chance Qualifier (FCQ) tournaments of the VtES EC 2010 in Paris, France. In addition, more (and much nicer) pictures where taken by Marko (a professional photographer from Finland) and Jénifer (from France).

Left: The Day 2 tournament just before round 3.



Right: Oscar given a short speech addressing the players who reached the Day 2 of the EC 2010 tournament.

Left: Round 3 Table 1 with Ricardo, Erol, Danilo and Peter.




Right: Round 3 Table 2 with Michael, Yannick, Zsolt, Kasper and Erik.

Left: Round 3 Table 3 with Ivan, Otto, Tomasz, Otso, and Gines.




Right: Round 3 Table 5 with Benoit, Mehdi, Christian, Ben, and Marko.

Left: The final table of the FCQ with Laurent, Johannes, Jakub, Jerome (not pictured) and Lubomir.



Right: The endgame of the FCQ finals with Jakub and Lubomir left with 2 and 1 pool left.

Left: One of the highlights of the FCQ finals: Jakub's Mylan Horseed equipping with an Ivory Bow. Scary dude!


Right: The final table of Day 2 tournament with Erol, Otto, Brian, Mehdi and Jasper.

Left: Closeup of the final table somewhat early in the game.

Right: Three players left at the final table after first Jasper, then Otto were ousted by Mehdi. For short time it looked good for Mehdi, but then his vampires were beat up by Brian's Akunanse.

Left: Some of the prize support of for the Day 2 and FCQ tournament.





Right: Brian and Martin, the new and the former VtES EC Champion.

VtES EC Nations Cup 2010 (Final Standings)

For each participant in the finals of the 5 big tournaments (LCQ; FCQ; Legendary Vampire; Day 1, Day 2) of the EC 2010 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 2010 the Nations Cup standings are the following:

1. Sweden -- 7 points
1. France -- 7 points
3. USA -- 5 points
4. Hungary -- 3 points
5. Czech Republic -- 2 points
5. Finland -- 2 points
5. Germany -- 2 points
8. Canada, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, UK -- 1 point each

Results EC 2010: European Championship (Day 2)

Here are the results from the European Championship (Day 2) tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2010 on October 30th, 2010 in Paris, France. 40 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings after 3 rounds and the final were:

1. Brian Moritz (USA) -- 2 GW 9 VP -- 3 VP -- Akunanse Bleed/Combat
2. Medhi Mazni (FRA) -- 1 GW 5.5 VP -- 2 VP -- Euro Brujah Parity Shift
2. Erol Ongun (GER) -- 3 GW 11 VP -- 0 VP -- Stanislava & Friends DOM/PRO Bleed/Vote
2. Otto Kukkasniemi (FIN) -- 1 GW 7.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Weenie Auspex/Necromancy Wall
2. Jesper Boje (DEN) -- 1 GW 6 VP -- 0 VP -- Nergal Turbo/Powerbleed

Congratulations to Brian for winning the European VtES Championship 2010. He's the first player to win both the North American and the European Championship!

The final seating was Erol --> Brian --> Medhi --> Jasper --> Otto. The game ended about 10 minutes before the time limit.

Two quotes from the finals:

• Otto (a bit angry about prolonged talks about how Parity Shifts and stuff must be done): "You're talking for more than 10 freaking minutes, and nothing is happening."
• Erol (when asked if he transfers himself out) : "No, self-ousting is gay!"

Results EC 2010: First Chance Qualifier

Here are the results from the First Chance Qualifier tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2010 on October 31st, 2010 in Paris, France. The tournament gives the players the first opportunity to qualify for the Continental Championship tournaments in 2011. 149 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings in the finals were:

1. Jerome Goyet (FRA) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 1.5 VP -- No Secrets from the Magaji Animalism Wall
2. Laurent Allonce (FRA) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 1.5 VP -- Nakhthorheb Corruption Bleed
2. Johannes Walch (GER) -- 2 GW 9.5 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Tremere G4/5 Vote/Bleed
2. Lubomir Gargulak (CZE?) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Brujah G4/5 Alastor Vote
2. Jakub Hrbacek (CZE) -- 2 GW 7 VP -- 0 VP -- Una Freakshow Rush

Congratulations to Jerome for winning the first chance qualifier at the EC 2010.

Final Seating was Johannes --> Laurent --> Jakob --> Jerome --> Lubomir.

Pictures from the Day 1 Tournament

Here are some pictures from today's Day 1 Tournament of the VtES EC 2010 in Paris, France. Most the them were taken during or after the round 3.
Left: One of few new VtES t-shirts I saw during the EC 2010. The back side of the Team Italy t-shirt.




Right: Actually nicer part of the t-shirts is the front side ..

Left: Round 3 Table 8





Right: Round 3 Table 16. Why the cat hat? Because he's playing Animalism! Or not ?!?!

Left: Round 3 Table 25. Do you know what's tragic .. if you bleed your prey for 8 (when he has 8 pool) a few minutes before the timeout, and your prey just reduces the bleed by one .. Ask Emiliano "Sans Terre" about it!

Right: Round 3 Table 26.

Left: Round 3 Table 28. A table with another Cybele deck made in Sweden!





Right: Round 3 Table 29

Left: Final seating order of the final table with (very quickly made) custom cards. Very cool ...



Right: Final Table of the Day 1 Tournament in full motion and many spectators.

VtES EC Nations Cup 2010

I just came yesterday with the idea for some sort of VtES Nations Cup (or so how I would call it). For each participant in the finals of the 5 big tournaments (LCQ; FCQ; Legendary Vampire; Day 1, Day 2) of the EC 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. Sweden -- 7 points
2. Hungary -- 3 points
3. France -- 2 points
3. USA -- 2 points
5. Canada, Finland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, UK -- 1 point each

Results EC 2010: European Championship (Day 1)

Here are the results from the European Championship (Day 1) tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2010 on October 30th, 2010 in Paris, France. 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. 155 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings after 3 rounds and the final were:

1. Erik Torstensson (SWE) -- 3 GW 11 VP -- 2.5 VP -- Cybele/Aksinya/Inner Circle Master Cards
2. Ben Peal (USA) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Kiasyd Stealth/Bleed w/ Nocturns
2. Hugh Angseesing (UK) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Ventrue Antribu Grinder
2. Ricardo Marta (POR) -- 2 GW 11 VP -- 0 VP -- OBF/DOM G3/4 Bleed
2. Danilo Torrisi (ITA) -- 2 GW 7,5 VP -- Una Freakshow

Congratulations to Erik (again!) for winning the Day 1 tournament of the EC 2010. Table seating at the final table was Erik --> Ricardo --> Danilo --> Ben --> Hugh. Decklists to follow after the Day 2 tournament. 1 GW 4 VPs (and favourable TPs) were necessary to qualify for the Day 2 tournament on Sunday.

Pictures from the Last Chance Qualifier

Here are some (more or less random pictures) from the Last Chance Qualifier and Legendary Vampire events during the VtES EC 2010 in Paris, France:

Left: Final Table of the Last Chance Qualifier.





Right: Final Table of the Legendary Vampire tournament.

Left: Each of the tables has a different VtES table cloth with a clan symbol. Most fitting, this is the Baali one, which was one of most seen (and successful) clans during this day's tournaments

Right: Part of the prize support for the finalists.

Left: A large, large heap (like in unsorted heap) of vampires in TTC's card shop ... but apparently there were some goodies to find (Isabel Giovanni for example).

Results EC 2010: Legendary Vampire Invitational

Here are the results from the Legendary Vampire tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2010 on October 29th, 2010 in Paris, France. This was an invitational tournament, where 25 of the best VtES players in the world, fight for the victory. 25 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings after 3 rounds and the final were:

1. Erik Torstensen (SWE) -- 2 GW 5 VP -- 2.5 VP -- Cybele/Aksinya/Inner Circle Master Cards
2. Orian Gissler (FRA) -- 1 GW 5 VP -- 1 VP -- Nosferatu G1/2 Royalty Vote
2. James Messer (USA) -- 1 GW 4 VP -- 0.5 VP -- Ahrimanes G4/5 Wall
2. Patrick Benoit (FRA) -- 1 GW 2.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Weenie Potence
2. Marcin Watras (POL) -- 0 GW 5.5 VP -- 0 VP -- Antonio d'Erlette Nephandus

Congratulations to Erik for winning the Legendary Vampire 2010 tournament. Even so (or because?) there were so many good players, there were only 5 game wins in the 3 preliminary rounds (out of 15 possible). On the other hand, the LCQ had 84 game wins (out of 105 possible).

Results EC 2010: Last Chance Qualifier

Here are the results from the Last Chance Qualifier tournament that was played during the VtES European Championship 2010 on October 29th, 2010 in Paris, France. The tournament gives the players the last opportunity to qualify for the European Championship tournaments on the followings days. 172 players participated in this EC tournament, the standings after 3 rounds and the final were as follows:

1. Csaba Greguss (HUN) -- 3 GW 9 VP -- 5 VP -- Malkavian antitribu Stealth/Bleed w/ Events
2. Christian Chenard (CAN) -- 2 GW 9,5 VP -- 0 VP -- Giovanni G2/3 Kazaar's Diary
2. Peter Ducai (SVK) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Malkavian G1/2 Vote/Block/Bleed
2. Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (SWE) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Cybele/Aksyna Master Cards
2. Toni Karjalainen (FIN) -- 2 GW 8 VP -- 0 VP -- Baali G5/6 Stealth Bleed

Congratulations to Csaba for winning the LCQ of the EC 2010. Of the 172 players, making this tournament one of the biggest in VtES history, actually 58 players qualified for the further championships tournaments during the EC. 1 GW 3.5 VP (plus favourable TPs) were necessary to qualify.

VtES EC 2010: First Impressions & Welcome Party

I arrived in Paris yesterday, by car, not by plane since my flight was canceled. Not bad thing considering that Team Sweden on their flight ended up in Brussels, instead of Paris .. and they had to take multi-hour bustour through Belgium and north-eastern France.

Registering for the EC was fast and nice .. and for your money you even got the nice bag pictured on the right! The number of registered players for the EC is now around 234 (if I remember correctly).

The Welcome Party was a blast .. a tombola/raffle to win some prizes, a VtES quiz and many, many VtES casual games.

Many thanks to the organizers to EC already. Specifically to Floppy, Kamel, Blackwood, Fantomette and, of course all the others who work in the background.

Stay tuned, more to come ...

Kindred Spirits #6

Winter is coming and VTES European Championship 2010, too.

Whatever you want to know about this event, can be found the latest issue of the Kindred Spirits Newsletter #6 as provided by the French Organization Team.

EC 2010 Deck Challenge

A bit late (but hopefully not too late), here's the deck challenge as given by Orian Gissler (a.k.a. TTC Master):

We are running close to the EC now. The Week of Nightmares starts on Monday at the Greeeeaaaattttt Canadian pub and I know many of you will join us during the week. So I figure you are all getting prepared ... you make your decks, you collect the cards... well, so on. I do too... but you know I am very busy ordering my cards to sell them to you. Hum right now, it feels like I am going to sell you some shoes or what?

Anyway... I don't have time to make new decks. I wanted to play a Cybele Shatter the Gates deck but I think if Ferenc has kept that secret about it, he probably will play it again. I have my usual decks also and will eventually play them but... my loss is your win here!

The challenge is the following:
Make a deck for TTC to win the EC, or the Day 1, or the Legendary Vampire, or at least get as far as possible. Open to everybody!

The modalities:

Send a maximum of 3 decklists per person before 7 days exactly (so 9 P.M Thursday Evening) to my email address o r i a n (dot) g i s s l e r (at) g m a i l (dot) com (remove the spaces in case you did not get that)
Also, please put on top of the decklist a short note on how it works. I am afraid of nothing. I have played all clans and decks along the past five years, so don't hesitate!

Winner gets all credits for the win!

Thanks ...

What?????? You want more???

Greedy one!

Ok, here is the prize pool for you guys:

If I play your deck during one of the 3 main tournaments, it is a set of 5 rares including at least one top notch rare (Direct Intervention, Jake Washington, CardNameUnmasking, Heart of Nizchetus, ...) for you. And no crap rares of course!

• For each Victory Point I make with the deck, I will give one rare card away in relation with the deck (like if you give me a DoC vote deck, you might get a conductor with the first vp).


• For each Game Win I make, I will add one set of 5 rare cards from HttB set and 2 exclusive pack of sleeves from TTC Chantry to the deal.

Thanks a lot ...

What???? YOU WANT MORE???
Okayyyyyyyyyyy

• If I reach any final with the deck, I will add one set of 5 top rare cards (including stuff like Ezmerelda, Nergal, Nephandus...).


• If I win any final with the deck? I will give you one of my displays won during the EC. If I cannot send it to you because you live too far from me, I will try to give it to somebody of your country, or I will open the display and give you all the rares in it.


• If I win the EC with the deck? In addition to everything, I will invite you with one person of your choice for one week-end in Paris at my place, free food, free alcohol, free going outs and a lot of fun time to celebrate!!!! In case the travel is too expensive, I will try to give you something nice instead.

Ok I think I cannot make more! Do your best and I will do my best too!

This is actually a repost from the VtES Usenet Newsgroup.

Places to see in Paris: Paris Opéra

The Paris Opéra (also known as Opéra Garnier) is the second big opera house in Paris. It was the primary opera house in Paris from 1875 to 1989, when it was surpassed by the Bastille Opera. Another grand landmark in Paris, it was designed by the architect Charles Garnier in 1861.

See also Paris Opera House, the well know unique location for the Daughters of Cacophony.

Places to see in Paris: Versailles

Not really in Paris, but about 20 kilometers southwest of it, the the Palace of Versailles is a royal château and center of political power between 1682 and 1789. The Palace of Versailles is not only famous as a building, but as a symbol of the Ancien Régime (the aristocratic system that ruled France from 14th to 18th century). It was Louis XIV ("le Roi Soleil") who expanded a royal hunting lodge in three building campaigns between 1664–1684, shaping it into the form it has today. By moving the royal court to Versailles on May 6th, 1682, the Palace of Versailles became the political center of France for more than a century.

VtES EC Trivia (Austrian Edition)

Amenophobis posted some VtES EC Trivia in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup, albeit with a slight emphasis on the Austrian point of view:

• Country with the highest number of EC events run: Austria (3)


• Country with the highest number of European Champions: Austria (3)


• EC Champions who won more than one EC: Martin Weinmayer, Austria, 2x

Rumors that Amenophobis himself is an Austrian are .. unverified.

Places to see in Paris: Louvre Museum

Nowadays one of the most famous museums in the world, the Louvre Museum was opened on August, 10th 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being confiscated church and royal property. During time the collection was expanded greatly, and today the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments:

• Egyptian Antiquities
• Near Eastern Antiquities
• Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities
• Islamic Art
• Sculpture
• Decorative Arts
• Paintings
• Prints and Drawings

The Louvre Museum is a central landmark of Paris and located on the right bank of the Seine river in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. Every day the museum is visited by 15,000 (on average), making the Louvre Museum the most visited museum in the world.

Parler en Français

Since the VtES European Championship 2010 is taking placing in Paris, France in a few weeks, it's time to learn some of the more important phrases commonly needed in game of VtES en français:

• "On est alliés." -- "We are allies."


• "Je ne breake pas." -- "I never break deals."


• "Ça ne sera pas contre toi." -- "This won't be against you."


• "Je te bleed pour huit, à deux stealth." -- "I bleed you for eight, with +2 stealth."


• "Ne me rush pas, s'il te plaît." -- "Please don't rush me."


• "Je deflect sur ma proie." -- "I bounce the bleed to my prey."


• "Qui a l'Edge?" -- "Where is the Edge?"


• "Je vote pour." -- "I vote in favor."


• "Je vote contre." -- "I vote against."

.. and most importantly:

• "Parlez-vous anglais?" -- "Do you speak English?"

If you know more valuable bits and pieces of VtES lingo en français, please feel free to comment. And please include the English translation!!

Country Roll Call

The number of players who have already pre-registrated for the VtES European Championship 2010 has reached 193. In words: one-hundred-ninety-three (as of October 5th, 2010. Wow, that's an incredible number ..

Break this down to the individual countries the players come from you get this:

Not surprisingly the French players are represented well with more than 40%. What is a surprise are the 10% the Finnish players account for.

Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst

Aside from preparations regarding travel & accommodation, I am currently preparing my VtES related stuff for the VtES European Championship 2010, which is now less than 3 weeks away. This includes:

• I'll decide what decks I will take with me to Paris for tournament play as well as some casual games. For the later there's always time for these, either during the Welcome Party, or in the evenings after (or during the finals), or just on Monday morning when waiting for your transportation (for leaving Paris). I remember that we played some games (at least three) with Hungarian, Swedish, French and German players on Monday morning in Palma in the bar area last year.


• I'll decide now which decks I want to play for the three major tournaments (Last Chance Qualifier, Day 1 Tournament and Day 2 Tournament (or more likely the Last Chance Qualifier). For these I will (most likely) take only decks that have been proven to make Game Wins on a regular basis. I prefer decks that I know (at least to some degree), and especially how I have to play in different game constellations and against different preys/predators. (Note to myself: No Nephandi deck this year .. I mean it)!


• I will fine tune these decks one last time by adding (and/or removing) a few selected cards. Cards always to consider are the usual suspects (Heart of Nizchetus, Direct Intervention, Carlton van Wyk, Dreams of the Sphinx), but also some hoser cards like Aranthebes, Uncoiling, Scourge of Enochians.


• At the same time it must be goal to downsize all (or at least almost all of the decks) to reasonable size, in my case the target size for tournament decks are 75 cards. There are some exceptions, and I try to do this anyhow, but there one or two decks left for which I need to cut some cards


• As in the previous European Championships, deck lists will be mandatory. So for saving me the hassle of writing the deck lists just minutes prior to the tournament, this year I want to finalize the decklists in the week before the tournament, and make printouts from the decklists at the same time.


• Lastly, I need to buy some fresh (opaque!) card sleeves. During last year's EC I had non-opaque card sleeves for my Ventrue Lawfirm deck, and one of the card sleeves (I think it was some master card) was from a different manufacturer (due to switching cards between decks). So indeed, when looking closely, you could recognize the difference when looking at the backside of the cards. Most embarrassingly this was discovered by my predator in the first game of the last chance qualifier. Not gonna happen this year!

This little piece I found a different blog when someone describes for bicycle tour through southern France. I can only agree wholeheartedly:

The execution can only be as good as the preparation, if not worst. Because one can only prepare for the known problem, and known-unknown problem. However it is the unknown-unknown problem that always get me. Thing that I don’t know exist. The best I could do is to narrow it down and dear Buddha – I always would try my best to. I know too well how bad it can get when things go wrong and worst when I am alone. To make it more challenging, the extension of my French goes as far as "Parlez-vous anglais?"

"Parlez-vous anglais?" .. hmm, I should remember that phrase, even I am not really sure if that helps in France ..

Places to see in Paris: Bastille Opera

L’Opéra de la Bastille (or short: Bastille Opera) is a modern opera house in Paris, France. The opera house built from 1984 to 1989, and it is now home of the Opéra National de Paris.

See also Bastille Opera House, the well know unique location for the Daughters of Cacophony.

European VtES Champions: 1999 to 2009

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 (put together by The Lasombra):

• 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 and the UK 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.

Places to see in Paris: Basilique du Sacré-Cœur

The Sacré-Cœur Basilica (or with its full name, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris) is a Roman Catholic church located at the summit of the Montmatre, the highest landmark in Paris. In contrast to Notre Dame de Paris, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica wasn't built in medieval times, but from 1875 to 1914. The overall style of the structure shows an interpretation of Romano-Byzantine features, which was a conscious reaction against the neo-Baroque excesses of the Opéra Garnier. Many design elements of the basilica symbolize nationalist themes: the portico, with its three arches, is adorned by two equestrian statues of French national saints Joan of Arc and King Louis IX.

Week of Nightmares (EC 2010)

The French VtES Community has planned some events for week before the actual VtES European Championship 2010 starts. Please register for these events, to make your presence known and make those events happen:

• Hanging Fermata Constructed Tournament
  
  • Date: Monday, October 25th, 2010
  • Time: 2 PM Start
  • Place: Le repaire du dragon, 44 Boulevard Magenta
    
  • Format: 2R+F (Mini-Qualifier)
  • Fee: 5 Euro
  • People: The first 15 players to register under the forum thread or by contacting the organizer


• Shattering Crescendo Constructed Tournament
  
  • Date: Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
  • Time: 2 PM Start
  • Place: Troll2Jeux, 22 rue Hector Malot
  • Format: 3 Rounds + Final
  • Fee: 5 Euro
  • People: The 25 first players to register on the forum thread or by contacting the organizer


• Casual Games
  
  • Date: Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
  • Time: 11 AM Start
  • Place: Troll2Jeux store, 22 rue hector malot
  • Format: Casual games will give points for the WoN ranking and earn prizes
  • People: Anybody who wants to come to Troll2Jeux on that day


• Lily Prelude (Draft Tournament)
  
  • Date: Thursday, October 28th, 2010
  • Time: 1 PM Start
  • Place: Résidence Internationale de Paris. This is where the EC and the Welcome Party are held on the night.
  • Format: 3 Rounds + Final
  • Fee: TBA

You should check the international section of the Sabbat in France forum for full details and registration to these events.

Places to see in Paris: Père Lachaise

The Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the (inner) city of Paris, France. Père Lachaise was established in 1804 and is now one of the most visited cemeteries in the world, because of a very high number of notable persons buried here. Just to name a few, among them are French singer Edith Piaf, Irish novelist Oscar Wilde, American singer Jim Morrison and Polish composer Frédéric Chopin.

Ahh, and there's a VtES card named after the cemetery ..

Places to see in Paris: Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris is one of things you have to see when you come to visit Paris. The catholic church located on the Île de la Cité was built from 1163 - 1354 A.D., and is one of first churches built in the medieval Gothic style.

You can find more information on Notre Dame de Paris in the Wikipedia or the church's homepage.