Even though I've been running annual VTES tournaments at the Ropecon games convention for… lots of years, this year was special, since we actually had LSJ as a Guest of Honor at the con. Since Janne and I had met LSJ before (at the ECs), we volunteered to help the GoH team out and help show LSJ the sights. And the pubs. Let's not forget those.
Wednesday saw a somewhat jetlagged LSJ blinking in the bright nordic sun, being herded via car to first see a few city sights, and then to Zetor to eat & have a few drinks. After that, some more drinks at Kappeli, and we finally split ways sometime a bit before midnight, with Juki taking LSJ to the hotel and also dropping us home (nice).
Thursday… the guys did something, not 100% sure what, but it probably involved food, sun, and some drinks. I joined them for a while later in the evening at Kaisla, where out normal weekly VTES pub game was going strong – had to miss out the day's events due to being at work. Jobs, those boring things that get in the way of VTES and pubs. Anyway, many of the locals did the “oh, that's LSJ” routine, and much beer was consumed.
Friday, again a working day, after which I packed up my stuff and headed for Dipoli, the home of Ropecon, with backpack full of tournament tracking stuff and my trusty (& pink!) netbook. Real men use pink laptops.
About the con and LSJ: since he has to do a lot of tournament judging in his work, we decided to not ask for anything even remotely like that from him here. This time, LSJ got to play the game he designs… and play he did, quite a bit over the whole weekend. I think everyone appreciated that format. Playing with the designer of the game was a nice perk for local players, too.
After the normal initial hassle, things got off to a smooth start… and actually, it wasn't even much of a hassle. Everyone who had pre-registered showed up (a few latecomers kept me well-informed via phone), and people helped out nicely in organizing the tables etc. The grand player total this year was 85, which isn't bad; 2 more than last year. On the other hand, we had a small Swedish group of visitors (who also kicked ass in the tournament), so we actually had a few less Finns this year. It's always a bit random. In any case, a nice turnout.
There's really not all that much I can say about the three preliminary rounds, except that “things went well”. The only negative was the usual lack of oxygen and ridiculous humidity in the main games hall, but that's not something we can do much about. People coped with it nicely, even though it got a bit “tropical” at times. Thanks, everyone.
Even though LSJ had threatened (in the pub) to ask nasty rules questions from the tournament judge (which would be me), he managed to contain himself. Maybe it was the threats of physical violence, or maybe it's just the fact that he's a nice guy. Or both. In any case, it was very nice to able to ask LSJ for rulings directly – though I ran into only one question where I had to resort to that, everything else was fairly straightforward.
I would like to say something about the decks people were playing, but I really can't. Even though I spent quite a bit of time wandering the tables and looking at the games, there were just some many deck types being played that nothing rose as “the” deck type this year. I guess it's the sign of a balanced game: people play all sorts of decks, and get points with them.
As I said earlier, the Swedes kicked (our) ass. The final round had two (Adam and Michael), and two other Swedes were also very high on the score list. Well done guys!
The final game was a long and (at times) tense, Dominate-heavy slug. Adam was playing a deck based around Gabrielle di Righetti, Pauli had a Mata Hari deck, Antti had Settites with Dominate & Enticement, Michael was playing a Vignes deck, and Antero had a finely-tuned !Ventrue deck. Pauli (the only one not fielding Dominate) got ousted quite quickly, after which things seemed deadlocked for a while… fortunately not forever, though. Adam finally took the win, with about 5 minutes left on the game clock.
See further on in this document for a transcript of the game.
The tournament started at about 18:15, which meant that the prelim rounds & qualifier t-shirt handouts were done around 1:30… so the final round ended at around 3:30 (yes, AM). Which in turn meant that people were starting to be a bit frazzled around the edges and most headed off somewhere to sleep. I didn't have that luxury, I had info desk shift until 7am… but after that, I did finally stumble home and sleep for a few hours.
I won't write much about the rest of the Con here, that's a separate subject really. LSJ gave a GoH speed on Saturday and told us about how he came to be the head designer of the game, what his design workflow is, about his priorities in designing cards… interesting stuff. Well, interesting to us VTES players anyway.
On Sunday we had a small private “VTES brunch”, in which LSJ and some of the high scorers from the tournament got served a luxury brunch (thanks, Katri & gang!) at a rooftop sauna place, and then got to play a game of VTES. It was an idea that came up during Con planning, and I think it went well and everyone had fun. Not to mention the pancakes, bubbly wine and the most necessary ingredient for surviving Ropecon: strong, pitch-black Finnish coffee, in industrial amounts.
In sum, everything went great and LSJ seemed to enjoy the visit – and I know the local players loved the opportunity to play a game with him. I was a bit sleep-deprived after the weekend, but that's par for the course. An extra thanks to the Swedes for making their way here, we haven't had too many non-Finns at the tournament so far (bar Hugh, but he's an honorary Finn anyway). Hope this becomes a regular event; we were also talking about going to Sweden to play at some point. We'll see.
A huge thanks to the players from me, there is no way in hell I could run a tournament of this size “solo” without players who are high on sportmanship and long on patience. Also a big thank you to Janne, Juki, Katri and all the others who did a ton of work in organizing the VTES & GoH events at the Con. Especially Janne; in addition to keeping LSJ company he also organized and ran heroic numbers of VTES demo games during the con. Awesome work.
See you all next year. Or at the EC.
-Petri “Orava” Wessman
| Rank | Name | Prelim GWs | Prelim VPs | Final VPs | Deck/comment |
| 1 | Adam Esbjörnsson | 3 | 10 | 3 | Tutte bjuder till fest |
| 2 | Pauli Kiova | 2 | 9.5 | | Mata Hari shifts you! |
| 2 | Antti Horelli | 2 | 9 | | Team !deflection |
| 2 | Michael Holmström | 2 | 9 | 1 | Vignes deck |
| 2 | Antero Leppänen | 2 | 9 | 1 | The !Ventrue do not sleep. They Wait. |
| 6 | Seppo Lipponen | 2 | 8 | | |
| 7 | Are Vaskela | 2 | 7 | | |
| 8 | Jussi Ranta | 2 | 7 | | Well, Dog Tired to Bleed (eh?) |
| 9 | Erik Torstensson | 2 | 5.5 | | |
| 10 | Kari Mäkinen | 1 | 9 | | |
| 11 | Mika Nurmikolu | 1 | 7 | | MC Shamblers & friends from beyong the veil |
| 12 | Isak Esbjönsson | 1 | 6.5 | | <3 Dom |
| 13 | Tommi Hakomaa | 1 | 6 | | Pirates, YARR! |
| 14 | Mikko Hyvärinen | 1 | 5.5 | | |
| 15 | Tuomas Nyberg | 1 | 5.5 | | Guruhi |
| 16 | Marko Lindroos | 1 | 5.5 | | |
| 17 | Marko Saari | 1 | 5 | | Pahan Markon paluu |
| 18 | Veijo Fiskaali | 1 | 5 | | |
| 18 | Antero Hakala | 1 | 5 | | |
| 20 | Akseli Jalava | 1 | 5 | | Vittu teitä tulee vituttamaan |
| 21 | Matias Hurme | 1 | 5 | | Malk '94 |
| 22 | Mika Uusi-Kilponen | 1 | 4.5 | | |
| 23 | Romeo Leinbaum | 1 | 4 | | Backoust GG |
| 23 | Ville Saaristo | 1 | 4 | | obf+DOM |
| 25 | Tuukka Kallas | 1 | 4 | | Eurobrujah |
| 26 | Timo Rekola | 1 | 4 | | Stolisnaja |
| 27 | Matias Frosterus | 1 | 4 | | Big Hand |
| 28 | Johan Wahlström | 1 | 3.5 | | |
| 29 | Ville Kaijasaari | 1 | 3.5 | | |
| 30 | Tom Lindberg | 1 | 3 | | Spam, spam, spam |
| 31 | Otso Saariluoma | 1 | 3 | | Nu Ventrue |
| 32 | Toni Karjalainen | 0 | 4 | | |
| 33 | Otso Turunen | 0 | 3.5 | | Peruspeukku |
| 34 | Jussi Hattara | 0 | 3 | | Hardestadt & co., Mk III |
| 35 | Matti Palomäki | 0 | 3 | | Käykö täällä Visa Electron? |
| 36 | Aleksi Nuora | 0 | 3 | | |
| 37 | Peter Kaario | 0 | 3 | | 3rd |
| 38 | Juri Juskevits | 0 | 2.5 | | lol |
| 39 | Miika Karmitsa | 0 | 2.5 | | Suuta korviin ja persettä polviin |
| 40 | Joonas Sahramaa | 0 | 2 | | |
| 41 | Jukka Karvonen | 0 | 2 | | |
| 41 | Jussi Koskimäki | 0 | 2 | | |
| 43 | Teemu Sainomaa | 0 | 2 | | |
| 43 | Juho Vuorikoski | 0 | 2 | | |
| 45 | Tommi Ketonen | 0 | 2 | | Lupus in Tabula |
| 45 | Juha Ivanoff | 0 | 2 | | |
| 47 | Pasi Karjalainen | 0 | 2 | | |
| 48 | Otto Kukkasniemi | 0 | 2 | | Conglomerate of the People's Republic |
| 49 | Kimmo Pekkola | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 49 | Ari-Pekka Alestalo | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 51 | Joni Huumonen | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 52 | Juhani Puska | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 52 | Jyri Puhakka | 0 | 1.5 | | |
| 54 | Antti Iivari | 0 | 1.5 | | If you can't win, you can hurt |
| 55 | Janne Lönnqvist | 0 | 1 | | |
| 56 | Anssi Herranen | 0 | 1 | | |
| 57 | Kirmo Lassheikki | 0 | 1 | | Back from Hell |
| 57 | Juha Nyholm | 0 | 1 | | |
| 59 | Lasse Pöyry | 0 | 1 | | |
| 60 | Raymond Mäkeläinen | 0 | 1 | | |
| 61 | Jaakko Liemola | 0 | 1 | | |
| 62 | Jari Vulli | 0 | 0.5 | | Okon vinot hampaat |
| 63 | Touko Kästämä | 0 | 0.5 | | |
| 63 | Kalle Cederström | 0 | 0.5 | | |
| 65 | Aleksi Kivilahti | 0 | 0.1 | | |
| 66 | Kari Vieno | 0 | 0 | | Vittu joo! |
| 67 | Samuel Mäenpää | 0 | 0 | | Sauli & co. |
| 67 | Mikko Laine | 0 | 0 | | |
| 67 | Johannes Leppä | 0 | 0 | | Magic of the Mic |
| 67 | Markku Puska | 0 | 0 | | |
| 71 | Arsi Järvinen | 0 | 0 | | |
| 71 | Tuomas Hallgren | 0 | 0 | | |
| 71 | Sami Dadu | 0 | 0 | | Eyessamites |
| 71 | Lauri Keinänen | 0 | 0 | | |
| 71 | Taija Kanerva | 0 | 0 | | |
| 71 | Niko Heinonen | 0 | 0 | | |
| 77 | L.Scott Johnson | 0 | 0 | | Ravnos |
| 77 | Jani Anttila | 0 | 0 | | |
| 77 | Arto Heinonen | 0 | 0 | | |
| 77 | Jari Mäkikyrö | 0 | 0 | | |
| 77 | Heikki Parviainen | 0 | 0 | | |
| 77 | Teemu Aro | 0 | 0 | | |
| 77 | Ari Lensu | 0 | 0 | | Deadsong |
| 77 | Teppo Aro | 0 | 0 | | |
| 85 | Jani Nokkanen | 0 | 0 | | perinteinen |
Deck Name: Tutte bjuder till fest
Created By: Adam Esbjörnsson
Description: The deck is best slow-played, not to show off too much dominate to keep the table guessing at whether you play combat or votes. Using mirror walk and obedience to never get into a combat you don't want to enter. Just wait the game out and take the last two VPs before anyone knows what's happening (at least that's the idea 
). Works really well in a combat environment, would probably be weak against vote decks with stealth - but thankfully I never had to face that.
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 23, Max: 40, Avg: 8,08)
----------------------------------------------
1 Andrew Stuart AUS DOM THA 5 Tremere
1 Claus Wegener aus for tha DOM 5 Tremere
1 Dr. John Dee chi ANI AUS DOM THA9 Tremere
5 Gabrielle di Righetti obf pot ANI AUS DOM THA10 Tremere
1 Graham Gottesman obf pre tha DOM FOR7 Ventrue
1 Muhsin Samir aus pot DOM THA 6 Tremere
1 Preston Varrick aus nec DOM OBF THA7 Tremere
1 Troius cel AUS DOM THA 8 Tremere
Library: (76 cards)
-------------------
Master (8 cards)
2 Anarch Troublemaker
1 Arcane Library
1 Metro Underground
2 Misdirection
1 Monastery of Shadows
1 Pentex Subversion
Action (15 cards)
13 Govern the Unaligned
2 Mind Rape
Action Modifier (23 cards)
2 Bonding
6 Conditioning
1 Enkil Cog
8 Mirror Walk
4 Seduction
2 Veil the Legions
Political Action (2 cards)
2 Parity Shift
Reaction (26 cards)
8 Deflection
8 Obedience
10 Second Tradition: Domain, The
Ally (1 cards)
1 Ponticulus
Equipment (1 cards)
1 Heart of Nizchetus
Deck name: “The !Ventrue do not sleep. They Wait.”
By: Antero Leppänen
Crypt (12)
2 Owain Evans, The Wanderer
2 Blackhorse Tanner
1 Jefferson Foster
2 Neighbor John
1 Jephta Hester
1 Louis de Maisonneuve
1 Ulrike Rothbart
1 Lana Butcher
1 Tupdog
Library (79)
Master (15)
2 Anarch Troublemaker
2 Blood Doll
1 Direct Intervention
2 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Pentex Subversion
1 Powerbase: Montreal
1 Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper
1 Sudden Reversal
2 Vessel
1 Wall Street Night, Financial Newspaper
1 WMRH Talk Radio
Action (11)
2 Abbot
1 Aranthebes, The Immortal
8 Govern the Unaligned
Action Modifier (6)
3 Bonding
3 Conditioning
Combat (17)
4 Hidden Strength
5 Indomitability
2 Rolling with the Punches
2 Target Vitals
4 Weighted Walking Stick
Equipment (2)
1 Bowl of Convergence
1 Ivory Bow
Reaction (28)
7 Deflection
1 Delaying Tactics
2 Eagle's Sight
2 Enhanced Senses
4 Eyes of Argus
2 Forced Awakening
3 My Enemy's Enemy
3 On the Qui Vive
1 Precognition
1 Spirit's Touch
2 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Settite Enticement “Team !deflection” deck, created by Antti Horelli
2 Amenophobis 7 dom OBF SER
3 Halim Bey 6 DOM obf SER
1 Ankh-sen-S 6 obf SER
2 Black Lotus 5 DOM obf ser
1 Ahmose Chambers 3 obf ser
1 Bloodfeud 2 obf
1 Denette Stensen 2 obf
1 Old Neddacka 2 obf
1 Crocodile Temple
1 Opium Den
1 Temple Hunting Ground
2 Obfuscate
1 Barrens
2 Dreams
1 DI
1 Sudden Reversal
2 Wash
3 Tribute to the Master
1 Villein
1 Slave Auction
1 Momentum's Edge
18
1 Priestess of Sekhmet
2 Mokolé Blood
4 Waters of Duat
2 Far Mastery
3 Temptation
6 Night Moves
8 Enticement
26
4 Conditioning
3 Cloak the Gathering
3 Forgotten Labyrinth
3 Faceless Night
1 Marked Path
2 Lost in Crowds
2 Swallowed by the Night
2 Domain of Evernight
2 Veil the Legions
2 Spying Mission
24
6 Deflection
2 Redirection
4 Wake
4 On the Qui Vive
3 Delaying Tactics
19
3 Dodge
Edward Vignes deck, played at Ropecon 2009 by Michael Holmström
Author : Graham Smith
Michael's comments:
I just want to thank ruben feldman for his determination and stamina for playing this deck over the years, and being an insperation overall.
Crypt (12 vampires) Capacity min: 3 max: 7 average: 5
------------------------------------------------------------
3x Edward Vignes 6 DOM PRE for Ventrue:3
2x Ranjan Rishi, Cama 5 DOM PRE for Ventrue:2
1x Gracis Nostinus 7 DOM PRE aus for primogen Ventrue:3
1x Boss Callihan 5 PRE dom for pro Ventrue:3
1x Catherine du Bois 5 DOM for obf pre Ventrue:3
1x Elena Gutierrez 4 aus dom pre Ventrue:3
1x Ingrid Russo 4 DOM for !Ventrue:2
1x Pieter van Dorn 4 dom pre tha Tremere:3
1x Diana Vick 3 dom pre Ventrue:3
Library (70 cards)
------------------------------------------------------------
Action (20)
4x Entrancement
11x Govern the Unaligned
5x Mind Numb
Action Modifier (20)
4x Bonding
7x Conditioning
3x Daring the Dawn
2x Foreshadowing Destruction
4x Seduction
Combat (8)
8x Majesty
Master (12)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
5x Blood Doll
1x Coven, The
1x Giant's Blood
1x Jake Washington (Hunter)
1x Misdirection
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
Reaction (10)
7x Deflection
3x Delaying Tactics
Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. (Fri Aug 14 15:19:35 2009)
Deck Name: Mata Hari shifts you!
By: Pauli Kiova
Crypt
5x Mata Hari
2x Karen Suadela
1x Benjamin Rose
1x Victor Pelletier
1x Mukhtar Bey
1x Victor Dodaldson
1x Dmitra Ilyanova
Master
1x Barrens, The
1x Black Throne, The
1x Demonstration
1x Ferraille
1x Fortune Teller Shop
1x Framing an Ancient Grudge
1x Mausoleum, Venice, The
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Perfectionist
1x Secure Haven
1x Waste Management Operation
1x Ventrue Headquarters
3x Villein
Action
1x Blessing of the Name
1x Bujo
2x Sensory Deprivation
3x Sibyl's Tongue
2x Sudario Refraction
Modifier
4x Forgotten Labyrinth
20x Freak Drive
4x Lost in Crowds
Action/Reaction
3x Draba
Ally
1x Ambrosius, The Ferryman (Wraith)
1x Asanbonsam Ghoul
1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
1x Felix "Fix" Hessian (Wraith)
1x Herald of Topheth
1x Nephren-Ka
1x Ponticulus
1x Tye Cooper
Equipment
1x Ankara Citadel, Turkey, The
1x Shilmulo Tarot
1x Treasured Samadji
Event
1x Unmasking, The
Political Action
3x Kine Resources Contested
4x Parity Shift
3x Reckless Agitation
This is based on my personal notes, made in a somewhat tired state between 1:30 and 3:30 am. In other words: a lot of detail into is missing, some details are possibly wrong, and so forth.
The players were (in seating order): 1) Antti (Horelli), 2) Antero (Leppänen), 3) Michael (Holmström), 4) Pauli (Kiova), 5) Adam Esbjörnsson.
(just transfers from all)
Antti: bring out Ahmose Chambers
Antero: bring out Jefferson Foster
Michael: bring out Gracis Nostinus
Pauli: bring out Mata Hari
Adam: (transfer)
Antti:
Antero:
Blood Doll on Jefferson
J bleeds with Bonding
Michael:
Pauli:
Adam:
Antti:
play Barrens
Halim plays Waters of Duat (with Obf master)
WoD hunts
Ahmose bleeds, gets bounced to Adam (with stealth)
bring out Denette Stensen
Antero:
Vessel on Jeff
bring out Owain Evans
Michael:
Pentex on Mata Hari
Gracis steals Nephren-Ka with Entrancement
Edward bleeds GtU + Conditioning = 6
bring out Pieter van Dorn
Pauli:
Adam:
Antti:
Antero:
Owain GtU down
Jess does same
bring out Neighbor John
Michael:
Gracis bleeds with GtU, block attempt, Daring the Dawn + Foreshadowing = Pauli is ousted
Edward rescues Gracis, NeighborJ blocks, Majesty from Ed
Ed GtU down, NeighborJ wake+block
Dieter tries to rescue Gracis, NeighborJ blocks (Eyes of Argus)
bring out Elena Gutierrez
Adam:
play Metro Underground
Claus diablerizes Gracis
Gabrielle GtU down
bring out Andrew Stuart
Antti:
play Opium Den
Ahmose rescues WoD
WoD hunts
Antero:
Michael:
Adam:
Antti:
Antero:
Jeff hunts
Owain bleeds for 1
Michael:
Nephren-Ka rushes Jeff, Owain wake+block
Edward Mind Numbs Lana, NeighborJ blocks, Edward plays Majesty
Edward removes Aranthebes (w/Seduction)
Adam:
play Arcane Library
Gabrielle GtU down
Antti:
Denette bleeds, NeighborJ wake+block
WoD bleeds, Lana bounces to Michael
Antero:
Michael:
Adam:
Gabrielle GtU down
bring out Dr. John Dee
Antti:
Denette hunts
Halim tries to steal Ponticulus w/Far Mastery, Gabrielle tries to block w/2nd trad, stealthed, success
Antero:
Japhta bleeds, Ed blocks and plays Majesty
Owain bleeds w/Conditioning, gets bounced to Adam, bounced on to Antti, blocked by WoD
Michael:
Adam:
Antti:
Antero:
Jeff bleeds, blocked by Elena
Lana bleeds, blocked by Edward
Michael:
Adam:
Claus bleeds, Ahmose blocks
Andrew bleeds, bounced to Antero
Dr. Dee bleeds
Antti:
Antero:
play Powerbase:Montreal
Lana hunts, Ponticulus taps to give Michael's Pieter van Dorn intercept, Pieter blocks, Lana goes to torpor
Jeff hunts
Jephta gets Abbot
Owain GtU down
Jephta rescues Lana
bring out Blackhorse Tanner
Michael:
Misdirection: tap Andrew
Pieter hunts
Edward bleeds w/Foreshadowing, bounced to Antti, Denette blocks, Ed plays Majesty
Elena bleeds w/Conditioning, bounced to Antti, WoD blocks
Gabrielle uses EK to bleed for 2, bounced around a bit, finally lands on Michael
Adam:
Misdirection: tap Halim
Claus bleeds
Andrew bleeds, bounced to Antero, Blackhorse blocks
Dr.Dee bleeds
Gabrielle steals 1 life from Ponticulus, P burns
Antti:
Denette bleeds, bounced to Adam
WoD bleeds
Ahmose bleeds
Halim bleeds w/Conditioning, bounced to Adam, bounced back to Antero, DI on bounce, Adam bled for 4
Antero:
Lana hunts
NeighborJ bleeds
Blackhorse bleeds
Jeff bleeds
Michael:
Pentex on Gabrielle
Edward Mind Numbs (someone, missing info?), Dr.Dee blocks with 2nd trad
Pieter bleeds w/GtU , Dr.Dee blocks with 2nd
Elena bleeds w/Entrancement + Conditioning, bounced to Antti, Denette wake+block
Adam:
Pentex on Owain (contest)
Claus GtU bleeds
Andrew GtU bleeds, bounced to Antero, Owain blocks
Dr.Dee bleeds w/Conditioning, bounced to Antero, Owain wake+block
Antti:
Antero:
Adam:
play Anarch Troublemaker
Dr.Dee hunts, Owain blocks, Dr.Dee into torpor
Claus bleeds w/GtU, Antti is ousted
Gabrielle bleeds w/GtU, Blackhorse blocks
Antero:
Adam:
Use Anarch Troublemaker to tap NeighborJ and Owain
Gabrielle Parity Shifts 2 pool from Antero to Adam
Andres GtU bleeds, Jephta blocks
Claus bleeds w/Conditioning
Antero:
play Rumor Mill
Lana bleeds, Gabrielle blocks 2nd trad & Obedience
Jephta bleeds, Gabrielle blocks 2nd trad & Obedience
Gabrielle uses EK to bleed (for 2), Blackhorse blocks
Adam:
