Rise of the Imperator storyline

We played the Espoo (Finland) Imperator storyline tournment last Saturday (May 9th), with a total of 14 players. First things first, here are the condensed results:

* Winning Player: Otso Turunen * Winning Clan: Brujah * Key Minion: Hektor * Imperator Nominee: Themistocles

Otso says he chose the Imperator nominee because he's studying ancient Greece, and (I quote): “if this guy managed to deal with the old Persians, he can handle modern challenges too!”.

We played three rounds (with normal 2h time limit), no finals – winner determined by final score total. Otso was the only one with 2 Game Wins here, so it was a clear win. I used Imperator decks of 40 cards each, following some recommendations from the “official” list but doing lots of my own tweaks. Each deck was slightly different, and all were randomized between tables before each round. The decks had a lot of effect in some tables, very little in others. Also, I noticed that there were huge differences in how much people liked to use actions to discard cards from the deck – some tables went through the decks *fast*, while in others the same 3 cards sat on the table for a long time.

Everyone seemed to like the format, the Imperator decks provided some extra tactical considerations and some extra randomness, without changing the nature of the game. I know I had a lot of fun, and judging by comments so did everyone else. All in all a success, even though the turnout (14) wasn't too big by local standards.

Here's a breakdown of the clans people played:

* Nosferatu: 4 decks * Toreador: 3 decks * Ventrue: 3 decks * Brujah: 2 decks * Malkavian: 2 decks

So no Tremere at all, and the Nosfes were the most popular. Somewhat surprising.

Here's a breakdown by final total scores and clan:

* Nosferatu: 2 GW, 10 VP * Brujah: 2 GW, 9 VP * Ventrue: 2 GW, 9 VP * Malkavian: 1 GW, 7 VP * Toreador: 0 GW, 4 VP

Finally, here's Otso's deck list:

<pre> Deck Name : A union made in hell

Author : odeoderok

Description : The deck is not very consistent, but fun! The Major Boon got me both of my game wins, protecting me from bleedy predators. I never played New Carthage. Despite the negligible amount of defense, cross-table buddies with votes helped me stay alive long enough. It also helped that my first prey was ousted by other people in two games :D

Crypt (12 vampires) Capacity min: 6 max: 10 average: 8.5

4x Dmitra Ilyanova 9 CEL FOR POT PRE obf justicar Brujah:5 3x Hektor 9 CEL POT PRE QUI for priscus !Brujah:4 1x Jann Berger 10 CEL POT PRE dem for prince Brujah:4 1x Carlak 8 CEL PRE dom pot prince Brujah:5 1x Count Germaine 8 CEL FOR POT PRE obf Brujah:4 1x Karen Suadela 7 CEL POT obf pre prince Brujah:5 1x Tara 6 POT PRE cel prince Brujah:5

Library (90 cards)

Action (14)

1x Abbot
1x Ambush
3x Bum's Rush
1x Condemn the Sins of the Father
1x Eternal Vigilance
2x Fleetness
1x Harass
2x Heart of the City
1x Preternatural Strength
1x Rampage

Action Modifier (11)

5x Forced March
4x Freak Drive
2x Iron Glare

Action Modifier/Combat (5)

5x Resist Earth's Grasp

Combat (24)

3x Armor of Vitality
3x Blur
6x Immortal Grapple
5x Pursuit
2x Taste of Vitae
5x Torn Signpost

Equipment (5)

2x Assault Rifle
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Helicopter
1x Sport Bike

Master (18)

3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fame
1x Guardian Angel
1x Major Boon
1x Monster
1x New Carthage
1x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Sudden Reversal
1x Tension in the Ranks
3x Vessel
3x Villein

Political Action (6)

3x Alastor
3x Parity Shift

Reaction (4)

2x On the Qui Vive
2x Second Tradition: Domain

Retainer (3)

1x J. S. Simmons, Esq.
1x Mr. Winthrop
1x Tasha Morgan

</pre>