Trace: • ropecon2008

Ropecon 2008 ECQ

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

Players and results

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)

Decks

Below are deck lists for all the finalists.

Tournament Winner

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. */

Others

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

Final Round Transcript

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

Round 1

Juhani

play Info Highway
bring out Julius, Smudge

Antti

transfer

Kari:

play Dreams, use it to add pool to uncontrolled.
bring out Keith Moody

Lasse

transfer

Juho

transfer

Round 2

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

bring out Hafsa, The Watcher

Kari

use Dreams to add pool to uncontrolled
Keith gets Nephandus
bring out Antonio d'Erlette

Lasse

bring out Henti Lavenant

Juho

bring out Christine Boscacci

Round 3

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

play Alamut
Hafsa steals Calebros' title, plays Marked Path on that

Kari

use Dreams for +2 hand size, Dreams burns
Blood Doll on Antonio
Keith gets Nephandus
bring out Nephandus (Antonio's special)

Lasse

Vessel on Henri, burn Kari's Doll
Henri Governs down
bring out Virginie, Prodigy

Juho

Christine bleeds with Scouting Mission + Bonding = bleed of 3
bring out Mariel, Lady Thunder

Round 4

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

Virginie Scouting Mission down
Henri does the same
bring out Andrew Emory, Banjoko

Juho

Christine bleeds with Scouting Mission, stealths, and adds Conditioning, bleed of 4
Mariel Governs down
bring out Didi Meyers

Round 5

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

no actions

Kari

Keith hunts
Antonio hunts
bring out Nephandus (Antonio's special)

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

Round 6

Antti

Hafsa plays Hakim's Law: Leadership

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

Round 7

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

Round 8

Kari

Life in the City on Antonio
play Jake Washington
Keith hunts
Antonio hunts

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

Round 9

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

Round 10

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

Round 11

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

Round 12

Kari

Nephandus bleeds for 1
Nephandus bleeds for 1
play FBI Special Affairs Division

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

Round 13

Kari

Nephandus bleeds for 1
Nephandus Computer Hacks for 2, Lasse is ousted

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.