The annual Ropecon VTES tournament on August 8th was also an EC qualifier this year. We had a grand total of 83 players, which is a step down from last year's 88 but still a hell of a lot of people.
Things went very smoothly this year. We were back in the main hall area, so there was (more or less) enough oxygen for everyone though it was crowded, as always. Due to the high number of pre-registrations there was extremely little hassle at startup time, and I mananged to get all the tables going at around 6:15pm, nicely on schedule. A big thanks to all the players, once again, for making this a very pleasant tournament to run. There was the usual bunch of rules questions, but nothing came up that totally stumped me – of course, having the complete rulings set and list of current card texts available on the laptop helps more than a bit.
As usual, the variety in decks was huge, and I can't claim to have any sort of overview on what people played this year; I saw all kinds of decks while observing the table play. I don't remember seeing too many Anarch decks with the new cards, I guess that tech is still so new that people aren't familiar enough with it to try it out in a big tournament. Most of the decks in the finals were very fast decks, for what it's worth.
The tournament win this year went to Lasse Pöyry, playing a fairly traditional (but very efficient) Lasombra bleed machine. Unlike last year's Great Lasombra Fest, Lasse's deck was the only Lasombra one in the finals. The finals were fun to watch, with the first six rounds going very fast and people dropping left and right… and then Kari and Lasse settling down for a Nephandi vs Lasombra war of attrition. The final round ended in a draw, Lasse took tournament win due to higher preliminary scoring.
21 players received EC qualifications and also a spiffy ECQ t-shirt (thanks to White Wolf), and also thanks to WW we had a nice pile of boosters and some other stuff for the finalists (Fantasiapelit also donated some gift certificates, thanks in that direction also). Everyone in the tournament got a nice pile of promo cards, and in general I got the feeling people were pretty happy with everything.
We had quite a few “oldtimers” returning to the game, and Juho Linna made it to the finals even though he hasn't played much at all for 3-4 years (as far as I know). We also had one of our first international visitors, with Hugh Angseesing trying to lay down the U.K. smackdown on the Finns (with little success). He did get his revenge during the next day's draft tournament, though. :)
See below for full results, finalist deck lists, a transcript of the final round, and some more pictures.
– Petri ”Orava” Wessman
The first 21 players (shown in bold type below) got EC qualifications.
| Rank | Name | Prelim GWs | Prelim VPs | Final VPs | Deck/comment |
| 1 | Lasse Pöyry | 2 | 8.5 | 2 | Lasombra Capitalists |
| 2 | Kari Vieno | 2 | 7 | 2 | Nephandi Rules! |
| 3 | Juho Linna | 2 | 8 | 1 | Obfuscate + Dominate |
| 4 | Juhani Puska | 3 | 12 | 0 | Kill Fast or Die Fast |
| 5 | Antti Tirilä | 2 | 8 | 0 | Loss Bleed |
| 6 | Miika Karmitsa | 2 | 6 | | “Let the Beast Man win” |
| 7 | Heikki Palomäki | 1 | 8 | | “Madness of Authority” |
| 8 | Henri Ketonen | 1 | 6.5 | | “Domppa” |
| 9 | Tuukka Kallas | 1 | 6 | | “Violently Mad” |
| 10 | Timo Rekola | 1 | 6 | | “Ventrue (something) and S/B” |
| 11 | Touko Kästämä | 1 | 6 | | “Ninja School” |
| 12 | Kari Mäkinen | 1 | 6 | | |
| 13 | Peter Kaario | 1 | 5.5 | | “same as last year” |
| 14 | Tomi Parkkonen | 1 | 5.5 | | |
| 15 | Juha Ivanoff | 1 | 5 | | |
| 16 | Niko Heinonen | 1 | 5 | | |
| 17 | Tommi Hakomaa | 1 | 4.5 | | |
| 18 | Seppo Lipponen | 1 | 4.5 | | |
| 19 | Tuomas Nyberg | 1 | 4.5 | | “Malkavian FTW” |
| 20 | Arsi Järvinen | 1 | 4 | | |
| 21 | Jaakko Penttinen | 1 | 4 | | |
| 22 | Tuomas Vuokko | 1 | 4 | | |
| 22 | Are Vaskela | 1 | 4 | | |
| 24 | Juho Vuorikoski | 1 | 4 | | “Suicide Kings v2.0” |
| 24 | Janne Kilpi | 1 | 4 | | “Nosferatu vote” |
| 26 | Joni Huumonen | 1 | 4 | | |
| 27 | Ville Saaristo | 1 | 3.5 | | “Pala leipää maksaa 5mk” |
| 27 | Lauri Salmi | 1 | 3.5 | | |
| 29 | Marko Lindroos | 1 | 3.5 | | |
| 30 | Otto Kukkasniemi | 1 | 3 | | “Nephilim on paska bändi” |
| 31 | Yann Irissou | 1 | 2.5 | | |
| 32 | Janne Lönnqvist | 1 | 2.5 | | |
| 33 | Teemu Sainomaa | 0 | 4 | | |
| 34 | Taija Sainomaa | 0 | 4 | | |
| 35 | Jarkko Suvela | 0 | 3.5 | | “Paskat Ishtrarrit ry” |
| 36 | Ari Lensu | 0 | 3.5 | | “As We Die” |
| 37 | Jari Mäkikyrö | 0 | 2.5 | | |
| 38 | Toni Karjalainen | 0 | 2.5 | | |
| 39 | Pasi Karjalainen | 0 | 2.5 | | |
| 40 | Otso Turunen | 0 | 2 | | |
| 41 | Kirmo Lassheikki | 0 | 2 | | |
| 42 | Johan Wahlström | 0 | 2 | | |
| 43 | Antti Horelli | 0 | 2 | | |
| 43 | Jaakko Liemola | 0 | 2 | | “No Secrets from the Assamites” |
| 45 | Marko Saari | 0 | 2 | | |
| 46 | Sami Dadu | 0 | 1.5 | | “Cripple Force” |
| 46 | Heikki Parviainen | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 46 | Petteri Moisio | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 46 | Kimmo Pekkola | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 46 | Aleksi Nuora | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 46 | Eemil Lagerspetz | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 46 | Ville Kaijasaari | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 53 | Harri Hakkarainen | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 54 | Jouko Loijas | 0 | 1 | | |
| 55 | Petteri Teerikangas | 0 | 1 | | |
| 56 | Jussi Hattara | 0 | 1 | | "Power of Jacko's Leathers" |
| 56 | Johannes Leppä | 0 | 1 | | |
| 58 | Mikko Moisander | 0 | 1 | | “Aggravated Assamites” |
| 59 | Jussi Ranta | 0 | 1 | | |
| 60 | Mikko Hyvärinen | 0 | 0.5 | | |
| 60 | Lasse Gustafsson | 0 | 0.5 | | |
| 62 | Matti Palomäki | 0 | 0.5 | | “Akvaarion lasi vääristää perspektiivin” |
| 62 | Henri Halonen | 0 | 0.5 | | “The Vittupäät” |
| 62 | Mika Nurmikolu | 0 | 0.5 | | |
| 62 | Antero Hakala | 0 | 0.5 | | “No! Is Elimelech!” |
| 62 | Mikko Inkinen | 0 | 0.5 | | “Tai sit nolla” |
| 62 | Akseli Jalava | 0 | 0.5 | | |
| 68 | Jukka Lindström | 0 | 0.5 | | “Tällä ei voiteta” |
| 69 | Otso Saariluoma | 0 | 0.5 | | |
| 70 | Oskari Rautiainen | 0 | 0 | | |
| 71 | Antti Iivari | 0 | 0 | | |
| 72 | Jari Vulli | 0 | 0 | | |
| 73 | Hugh Angseesing | 0 | 0 | | |
| 73 | Markus Inkeri | 0 | 0 | | |
| 75 | Raymond Mäkeläinen | 0 | 0 | | “Vintage” |
| 75 | Arto Heinonen | 0 | 0 | | “The 0 VP deck” |
| 75 | Niko Vanhatalo | 0 | 0 | | “Triple A” |
| 78 | Ari-Pekka Alestalo | 0 | 0 | | |
| 78 | Aarni Suvitie | 0 | 0 | | |
| 78 | Tom Lindberg | 0 | 0 | | |
| 78 | Jukka Karvonen | 0 | 0 | | “Hector Multifail” |
| 82 | Kalle Cederström | 0 | 0 | | |
| DQ | Elias Maliniemi | 0 | 1 | | “Kiasyd - TB” |
(Elias Maliniemi has a “disqualified” flag because he left for the pub and didn't attend the last round of the game)
Below are deck lists for all the finalists.
Lasombra Capitalists
Prologue
My last big tournament was EC07 in which I played Lucretia &
Spider-Killer DoC Concert Tour deck with Tariq and Spiridonas as
sidekicks. I was the last. I realised that Life Boon as the main
method of getting VP's is not solid enough to win titles (I also
find out that there is a card called Blood Trade in this
game). So, this time I decided to go with dominate.
Deck Name: Lasombra capitalists
Created By: Lasse Pöyry
Description: Trying to bleed without spending all the blood from
my vampires. It is good to be blocked every now and then so you
are not seen as a table threat.
/* I made this deck in 30 minutes and there are some second best
solutions just because of my unfortunate but self-inflicted time
constraint */
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 20, Max: 31, Avg: 6,33)
----------------------------------------------
1 Anton de Concepcion aus ANI DOM OBT POT9 Lasombra
1 Conrad Adoula ani cel DOM OBT POT8 Lasombra
1 Henri Lavenant pot qui DOM OBT 7 Lasombra
1 Tobias Smith pot DOM OBT PRE 7 Lasombra
1 Lord Vauxhall DOM OBT POT THA 7 Lasombra
1 Black Wallace obt tha DOM POT 6 Lasombra
1 Virginie obt DOM POT 6 Lasombra
1 Onaedo aus pot DOM OBT 6 Lasombra
1 Andrew Emory aus dom pot OBT 5 Lasombra
1 Ermenegildo pot DOM OBT 5 Lasombra
1 Banjoko obt pot DOM 5 Lasombra
1 Dame Hollerton myt DOM OBT 5 Kiasyd
/* Bottom heavy line of capacities. I'm quite happy with my
choices here */
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (13 cards)
4 Vessel
4 Capitalist /* I didn't get this vessel-capitalist thing to
work as well as I thought, but I still think the idea is sound */
1 Grooming the Protege
1 Slave Auction
1 Political Hunting Ground
1 Path of Night, The
1 Elysian Fields
/* Could do without all the Lasombra-masters */
Action (15 cards)
8 Scouting Mission
6 Govern the Unaligned
1 Graverobbing
/* I was suprised to not be able to actually use the
Graverobbing. I was expecting much more violent behavior. */
Action Modifier (24 cards)
3 Seduction
6 Threats
3 Bonding
2 Conditioning
3 Shroud of Night /* Should definitely be Shroud of Absence. I
think I only have one and that wasn't in my obtenebrations cards
pile */
5 Shadow Play
1 Tenebrous Form
1 Tangle Atropos` Hand /* Didn't use this one, I had to include
it because I have just this one copy and I had never played it
before */
Reaction (16 cards)
3 On the Qui Vive /* Should have had more. All my other OtQV's
were in different decks and I didn't have time to go through
them (or I just was lazy and figured that wakes will do) */
4 Wake with Evening`s Freshness
5 Redirection
4 Deflection
Combat (16 cards)
10 Arms of the Abyss
4 Entombment
2 Disarm
/* Free dodge with additional strike is so strong. Actually I was
planning to get blocked every once in a while and thats why I
have more combat cards than stealth. */
Ally (6 cards)
6 Nocturn
/* These were supposed to be cannon fodder but I dealt
differently with rush decks (in round 1 I gave Beast one hour to
go forward and get an oust before trying to oust its
controller. A deal that was worth it for both of us I think). But
they actually served as offence and in the final table Nocturns
finished both of my ousts in a single turn. */
/* Card flow was decent and I was quite happy with the balance
between modifiers and combat cards. The deck in itself isn't very
clever or anything, but 38 dominate cards seems to get the work
done. */
Nephandi Rules
Deck Name : Nephandi rules
Author : Kari Vieno
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 5 average: 4
------------------------------------------------------------
5x Antonio d'Erlette 5 THA dom for pot !Tremere:4
2x Keith Moody 3 DOM !Tremere:4
1x Janine 4 aus dom tha !Tremere:4
1x Mosfair 4 cel dom tha !Tremere:4
1x Ehrich Weiss 3 dom tha Tremere:3
1x Ember Wright 3 aus dom !Tremere:3
1x Saiz 3 aus dom !Tremere:3
Library [82 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action [8]
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
6x Computer Hacking
1x New Management
Action Modifier [9]
1x Conditioning
6x Empowering the Puppet King
2x Leverage
Ally [9]
7x Nephandus (Mage)
1x Ossian
1x Vagabond Mystic
Combat [12]
8x Concealed Weapon
2x Dodge
1x Molotov Cocktail
1x Target Hand
Equipment [8]
8x Flash Grenade
Event [2]
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
1x Unmasking, The
Master [16]
4x Blood Doll
2x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Jake Washington (Hunter)
3x Life in the City
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x University Hunting Ground
2x Wash
Reaction [18]
8x Deflection
4x Delaying Tactics
5x On the Qui Vive
1x Wake with Evening's Freshness
Obf + Dom
creator: Juho Linna
Same deck as I played 4 years ago in Ropecon. The non-master cards all say
either "+stealth", "+bleed" or a combination. I left out all
bounce because I felt it had too much opportunity cost, and have
been happy with that decision. From the new cards, I'd add a few
copies of "Murmur of the False Will" and "Leverage".
crypt(12):
1 Mustafa 2 dom
1 Ohanna 2 dom
1 Samson 2 dom
1 Christine 2 dom
1 Ingrid 4 DOM
1 Gloria 4 DOM
1 Count Ormonde 5 dom,OBF
1 Badr al-Budur 5 dom,OBF
1 Zebulon 5 dom,OBF
1 Didi Meyers 5 DOM,obf
1 Gilbert 7 DOM,OBF
1 Mariel 7 DOM,OBF
deck(90):
master(11):
6 Dominate
3 Misdirection
2 Anarch Troublemaker
action(19):
12 GtU
7 Scouting Mission
action modifier(60):
9 Command of the Beast
8 Seduction
8 Conditioning
7 Bonding
3 Foreshadowing Destr.
3 Threats
9 Cloak the Gathering
5 Faceless Night
5 Mask of 1k Faces
3 Lost in Crowds
Kill Fast or Die Fast
Deck Name : kill fast or die fast - at least I get my lunch break
Author : Juhani Puska
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 5 average: 1.91667
------------------------------------------------------------
1x Calebros, The Mart 5 ANI obf pot prince Nosferatu:2
1x Volker, The Puppet 5 CEL pot prince Brujah:2
1x KoKo 2 pot Nosferatu:1
1x Lupo 2 pot Brujah:1
1x Vasilis, The Trait 2 pre Brujah:2
1x Antoinette DuChamp 1 cel pre Caitiff:2
1x Franciscus 1 aus Caitiff:2
1x Hasina Kesi 1 pot Caitiff:1
1x Julius 1 qui ser Caitiff:2
1x Navar McClaren 1 ani Caitiff:1
1x Nik 1 cel Caitiff:1
1x Smudge the Ignored 1 Caitiff:1
Library [60 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action Modifier [8]
3x Change of Target
3x Closed Session
2x Cryptic Rider
Ally [2]
2x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
Combat [4]
4x Dodge
Master [12]
1x Archon Investigation
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fear of Mekhet
3x Information Highway
3x Life in the City
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Powerbase: Rome
Political Action [34]
2x Disputed Territory
1x Justicar Retribution
23x Kine Resources Contested
1x Praxis Seizure: Amsterdam
1x Praxis Seizure: Barcelona
1x Praxis Seizure: Brussels
1x Praxis Seizure: Chicago
1x Praxis Seizure: Cleveland
1x Praxis Seizure: Miami
1x Praxis Seizure: Rome
1x Praxis Seizure: Stockholm
Loss Bleed
creator: Antti Tirilä
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 7 average: 5
------------------------------------------------------------
2x Olugbenga 7 OBF QUI ani cel magaji Assamite:4
2x Hafsa, The Watcher 6 OBF QUI aus cel Assamite:5
2x Vardar Vardarian 6 OBF QUI cel pre Assamite:4
2x Kamau Jafari 4 QUI obf Assamite:4
1x Reza Fatir, The Da 6 CEL QUI obf pro Assamite:4
1x Layla bint-Nadr 5 CEL OBF qui Assamite:4
1x Alu 2 obf Assamite:5
1x Basir 1 qui Assamite:4
Library [90 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action [28]
2x Embrace, The
9x Haqim's Law: Leadership
3x Khabar: Glory
13x Loss
1x Web of Knives Recruit
Action Modifier [27]
4x Cloak the Gathering
6x Elder Impersonation
5x Faceless Night
5x Lost in Crowds
1x Marked Path
5x Spying Mission
1x Veil the Legions
Action Modifier/Combat [6]
6x Swallowed by the Night
Event [1]
1x Narrow Minds
Master [18]
5x Alamut
1x Black Throne, The
1x Direct Intervention
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Powerbase: Zurich
1x Underworld Hunting Ground
3x Vessel
2x Yoruba Shrine
Political Action [10]
5x Consanguineous Boon
5x Kine Resources Contested
This is a record of the final round, it does not include every little thing but should contain all the relevant bits.
The final round started at 1am. We agreed on the standard 2h time limit, since everyone felt that it should be enough to resolve things.
The players were (in seating order):
Juhani Puska
Antti Tirilä
Kari Vieno
Lasse Pöyry
Juho Linna
Juhani
play Info Highway
bring out Julius, Smudge
Antti
Kari:
Lasse
Juho
Juhani
Life in the City on Smudge
Smudge calls KRC for 3:1, passes
bring out Vasilis the Traitor of Don Cruez, Calebros the Martyr
Antti
Kari
Lasse
Juho
Juhani
Vasilis calls KRC 3:1, passes, adds Cryptic Rider
Smudge calls Praxis Amsterdam, passes automatically
Julius calls KRC 3:1, passes
Calebros bleeds for 1
pay 1 for new vampire
Antti
Kari
Lasse
Vessel on Henri, burn Kari's Doll
Henri Governs down
bring out Virginie, Prodigy
Juho
Juhani
Vasilis bleeds for 1
Smudge calls KRC 3 to Antti, 1 to Kari, vote fails
Julius calls KRC, DI from Antti
Julius bleeds for 1
Calebros calls Disputerd Territory to steal Alamut, passes
bring out Volker, Puppet Prince
Antti
Hafsa plays Khabar: Glory
Hafsa bleeds for 2, blocked, stealth, gets bounced to Lasse, gets bounced onwards to Juho, bleed ok
Kari
Blood Doll on Antonio
Nephandus plays Aranthebes
Nephandus Computer Hacks for 2, Virginie wakes and blocks, burns Nephandus with Entombment
Nephandus bleeds, gets +1 from Empowering the Puppet King, bleed of 2 ok
Keith bleeds, Henri blocks
Antonio hunts
bring out Nephandus (Antonio's special)
Lasse
Juho
Juhani
Life in the City on Vasilis
Julius bleeds for 1
Volker calls KRC with Closed Session, 3:1, gets Delaying Tactics from Kari
Volker bleeds for 1
Smudge bleeds for 1
Calebros bleeds for 1
Antti
Kari
Lasse
Banjoko bleeds with Threats, bleed of 3
Virginie bleeds with Bonding, bleed of 3
Henri hunts
Juho
Christina bleeds with Scouting Mission + Conditioning, bleed of 4
Didi bleeds, gets Mask of 1000 Faces from Mariel who continues the bleed with Conditioning and Command of the Beast. Total bleed is 5, which gets Archon Investigation from Juhani, Mariel burns.
Didi bleeds with Govern + Threats, bleed of 5. Juhani is ousted
bring out Gloria Giovanni
Antti
Kari
Nephandus bleeds for 1
Nephandus bleeds with Leverage + Empowering the Puppet King, bleed of 3 is bounced to Juho, Gloria blocks
Nephandus bleeds for 1
Nephandus bleeds for 1, Banjoko wakes and blocks
Antonio hunts
Keith hunts
bring out Nephandus (Antonio's special)
Lasse
Banjoko plays Nocturn
Andrew plays Nocturn
Henri bleeds with Conditioning, bleed of 4
Banjoko bleeds with Govern + Threats, bleed of 5
Nocturn bleeds for 1, Juho is ousted
Andrew bleeds with Govern + Conditioning, bleed of 5
Nocturn bleeds for 1, Antti is ousted
Virginie plays Nocturn
Virginie hunts
pay 1 for new vampire
Kari
Pentex on Henri
Nephandus bleeds, Nocturn blocks
Nephandus bleeds for 1
Nephandus bleeds with Puppet King, bleed of 2
Nephandus bleeds for 1
Antonio bleeds with Conditioning, bleed of 3
bring out Nephandus (Antonio's special)
Lasse
Andrew removes Pentex (using stealth)
Banjoko plays Nocturn
Henri Scounting Missions down
Virginie Scounting Missions down
bring out Dame Hollerton
Kari
Lasse
Capitalist on Henri, gets Washed
(empty) Andrew hunts, Nephandus blocks (Aranthebes), dodge + dodge, Andrew still ready
Dame bleeds, Jake blocks and burns
Henri bleeds with Govern, Keith wakes and blocks, stealth, bleed of 3
Virginie hunts
Banjoko hunts
Kari
Blood Doll on Keith
Nephandus gets Flash Grenade
Nephandus gets Flash Grenade
Nephandus gets Flash Grenade
Antonio hunts
Keith hunts
Lasse
play Elysian Fields
Andrew hunts, Nephandus blocks (Aranthebes), stealth, hunt ok
Dame bleeds, Nephandus blocks, concealed Flash Grenade, Dame dodges, Nephandus uses FG
Virginie bleeds, Nephandus blocks, concealed Flash Grenade, Virginie dodges
Banjoko bleeds for 1
Henri bleeds for 2 with Scouting Mission
Kari
play Dreams
Nephandus bleeds with Puppet King for 2
Keith hunts
Nephandus bleeds for 1
Nephandus bleeds, Dame wakes and burns Nephandus with Entombment
Lasse
Vessel on Dame, gets Washed
Capitalist on Henri
Henri bleeds, gets stealth, Nephandus blocks (Aranthebes), Henri plays Entombment, Nephandus uses FG
Virginie bleeds, gets stealth, bleed for 2
Banjoko bleeds for 2 with Bonding
Andrew hunts
Kari
Life in the City on Antonio
play University Hunting Ground
Keith hunts
Nephandus bleeds, Henri wakes and blocks, Henri goes to torpor
Nephandus burns Henri
Nephandus bleeds, Virginie wakes and blocks, Virginie goes to torpor
Nephandus bleeds for 1
Antonio bleeds, Dame blocks, concealed Flash Grenade, Antonio strikes with it
play Unmasking
Lasse
play Political Hunting Ground
Banjoko bleeds, Nephandus blocks, stealth, Aranthebes, blocked. Banjoko dodges, Nephandus uses FG.
Andrew plays Nocturn
Andrew bleeds with Govern, Nephandus wakes (On the QV) and blocks
Kari
Lasse
play Path of Night
Dame plays Nocturn, Nephandus blocks and plays concealed FG
Banjoko bleeds with Bonding and uses Elysian Fields, Nephandus blocks (Aranthebes)
Andrew bleeds, Nephandus wakes and blocks, Andrew goes to torpor
Kari
Game ends at 2:29am, having taken 1:29 of game time. The final result is a draw between Lasse and Kari, but Lasse goes on to win the tournament due to higher preliminary round results.
