Beer 100610-100623

Klein Duimpje Imperial Russian Stout
Netherlands
ABV: 8.5%
Rating: 4
Sweet liquorice and coffee. Notes of chocolate and earth. Other notes reminds a little of the best Belgian dark ales. Fruity after-taste. Very nice.

 

 

 

 

Kortedala Enskilda Hinkbryggeri – Premiere Porter
Sweden
ABV: 8.4%
Rating: 3
The first beer from my friends nano-brewery. Tastes a little like port wine. Alcohol is well hidden though and notes of liquorice shows when it grows warmer. The alcohol also starts to taste a little more. Well-rounded and a good first brew.

 

 

De Molen Rasputin
Netherlands
ABV: 10.7%
Rating: 3
Fruity and rough. Strong alcohol taste. Oak notes. A pleasant beer but far from the best from De Molen.

 

 

 

 

 

Hornbeer Black Magic Woman
Denmark
ABV: 10%
Rating: 4
Very nice oak character with pleasant coffee notes. Great bitterness. You have to focus to feel the rum taste but it is somewhere in the background. Pleasant smokey after-taste.

 

 

 

 

De Molen Hemel & Aarde
Netherlands
ABV: 9.5%
Rating: 4
Very smokey. Coffee, oak and tar notes. A little liquorice in the after-taste. A very good imperial stout.

 

 

 

 

 

Mikkeller Black Tie
Denmark
ABV: 11.5%
Rating: 3
Port wine, alcohol and liquorice. When it grows warmer it tastes a little more like a real porter. Weird brew.

Tommy Bohlin Inte Här Längre – Tournament Report

Another tournament to add to the list of failures. 14 players showed up in Örebro with what probably was the most high quality decks per player I have ever seen in a tournament. Not a single deck I encountered was anything but a potential tournament winner. This is what I played. Very fun to play and very much headache in all of the games.

Round 1
Me –> Anders Löf (Nosferatu with Dominate and Gehenna Madness) –> Tommie Hjerén (Nephandus) –> Adam Esbjörnsson (Gabrielle di Righetti toolbox) –> Henrik “Rune” Eriksson (Kiasyd S/B with Bruise)
I had a quite big crypt and wasn’t able to put more than one Gargoyle in play. At the start I was able to bleed some but Anders beat me up with his animalism combat. Rune was pretty aggressive early and I thought he would be ousted by Adam not bloating more and tapping out but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Adam played safe against Tommie who was building up pretty good. Rune’s constant bleeding and Anders’ defence was more than I could stand for so I was the first kill on a slow table that eventually timed out.
Adam GW 2.5VP
Rune 1VP
Tommy 0.5VP

Round 2
Adam Esbjörnsson –> Erik Löf (Malgorzata Toolbox) –> Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (Malkavian Weenie Auspex with Madness Netwok) –> Me
I knew from the start that this were going to be a difficult table. I couldn’t create any Gargoyles and I could hardly bleed Adam but had to focus on making Isak waste his blocks and reaction cards on blocking me so Erik could put enough pressure on him. Adam played defensive and Erik did his best. I knew I had a hard time surviving and vampire after vampire went to torpor from Isak’s Magnums. I stayed in the game longer than I thought I would but still I was the first to be ousted in a game that was doomed from the beginning. Maybe, just maybe, if I would have lunged all out forward I might have had the chance of a VP and who knows what more but that is just speculation. I don’t feel I made any mistakes in the game but I have to think more about it.
Isak GW 3VP
Adam 1VP

Round 3
Alexander Båskman (Salubri G6 Toolbox) –> Joakim Nauclér (Lawfirm) –> Me –> Erik Löf –> Anders Löf
This is one of my quickest Victory Points ever. I influenced out Bryan Van Duesen in two turns and bled with him for 7 with Govern the Unaligned + Conditioning and influenced out Heinrick Schlempt and two Tupdogs turn three. Erik had a bad crypt draw and only with the help of Information Highway he now managed to bring Malgorzata to play. He had also invested in Monastery of Shadows so he had only 10 pool left. Turn four my first Tupdog bled for one untapping with As the Crow and then rushed Malgorzata to torpor with Raking Talons. Bryan bled for 7 again and the second Tupdog and Heinrick bled for one each for the oust. Joakim was quite agressive and my six new pool plus some more were soon gone. My momentum worked and soon I had both Anders and Alex within oust range. Alex only had two pool and two Salubri on the table. He couldn’t play any Villeins because Anders had put The Rising in play. I played Pentex Subversion on Alex untapped Salubri and bled Anders out. I had two untapped minions and no +bleed on hand so I bled for one twice but he played My Enemy’s Enemy on my second bleed and survived. He had two Villeins on hand now so he had almost 15 pool at the end of his turn. Now it was a quite open game but Joakim was more effective than me and Alex defended good so I was ousted. A nice way to end a weekend of Jyhad although a game win would have been fun.
Joakim GW 3VP
Me 2VP

I made a quite poor performance but I still believe in my deck. 66 cards are 6 too many and I will tighten it down even further. I never played Skin of the Chameleon so it will probably leave the deck. When it comes to stealth I should add one or two Mirror Walks and maybe a Seduction of two. I can reduce the amount of bleed cards and remove a Create Gargoyle and two Dominate skill cards. I will tinker with this deck soon and probably play it on a tournament again soon.

Weather Control – Tournament Report

14 players gathered in Karlstad for what was to be another epic failure for your favourite expectation analysis experimenter. You can see my deck and read about my hopes and thoughts before the tournament here.

Round 1
Fredrik Larsson (Ventrue princes grinder) –> Johan Mononen (Saulot Valeren Combat) –> Me –> Adam Esbjörnsson (Cryptic Mission without Cryptic Mission) –> Ronnie ? (!Malkavian S/B)
Fredrik put some pressure on Johan early on and deflected almost any bleed Ronnie made. This made it possible for me to bleed Adam with what I had almost every round. Me and him contested Heart of Nizchetus from the start and we were both low on pool. I had three vampires out and Adam had four + two allies, I hade several opportunities of ousting him but I always failed in the end missing a card or to at a crucial point. This was very frustrating and for example I had to play Pentex Subversion twice on the same Nephandus Mage. Fredrik ousted Johan and Adam ousted Ronnie and I tried desperately to survive but was ousted after some more rounds.
Fredrik GW 4VP
Adam 1VP

Round 2
Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (Anson with weenie PRE) –> Me –> Fredrik Larsson –> Jonas Peltomäki (!Brujah long range combat)
My first vampire was Pentexed by Isak and he bled me for 10 the round thereafter. He only had Presence weenies in his starting crypt and his deck worked like a Presence weenie deck so I struggled to survive while Fredrik bloated a lot. Me and Jonas tried and stop Isak from ousting me but he was simply too quick. Game over early.
Fredrik GW 2VP
Isak 1VP
Jonas 1VP

Round 3
Alexander Nilsson (Imbued) –> Alexander Gyhlesten (Madness Network / Reversal of Fortunes) –> Jonas Peltomäki –> Me –> Jonas S (Ventrue Grinder)
As one might suspect, early game was all about Alex G’s trick deck. It didn’t work perfectly but he managed to get more turns than the rest of us. Alex N was also tooling up quite good and I did some damage to Jonas S to be hopeful for at least one Victory Point. Alex G was close to oust Jonas P but made a mistake and transferred out a new vampire going low on pool. Alex N saw his  opportunity and ousted Alex G. Jonas S was low on pool and he didn’t know Deep Song’s card text fully so I could rush his only untapped Vampire to tap him and then bleed twice with the Codex for my oust. Alex N now played Millicent Smith and unfortunately the game was stuck running the wrong way because of Alex G’s Reversal of Fortunes. Me and Jonas S, who was in a really bad position, decided to work against Alex N. He definitely had the combat to take care of the imbued and I had no real way of dealing with them other then bleeding, bleeding and bleeding. I had to burn Danielle Diron to get rid of Millicent Smith so Jonas could act with his single vampire. Alex put out a second Millicent Smith and I this time had to burn one of my 5-caps. Jonas couldn’t stop the Imbued and I got stuck in a hopeless duel with only two vampires against his four hunters. Too bad.
Alexander N GW 4VP
Me 1VP

The main problem with the deck this tournament was the inability to handle allies. In the first and third game that was what killed me. If I could have tapped Adam’s allies I would have ousted him and probably at least one more prey. In the third game I would have won if I could have passed the Imbued some way. The second game were just one of those games that you lose and those games do happen.
If anyone has some suggestion of how to handle allies with the deck – feel free to comment. I will let it rest for a while and rebuild it in the future. It is very fun to play so I don’t want to give it up.

The Expectation Analysis Experiment – Part 5 – Tommy Bohlin Inte Här Längre

The second tournament of the weekend takes place in the Dominate-Mecca of Sweden – Örebro. Why not give the locals a treatment of their own trade and play a Dominate-heavy deck?
The following deck is an old favourite of mine that has had many incarnations and now makes use of the brand new Lilith’s Blessing for blood gain and extra discipline-cards:

Deck Name : Bahari Blockheads
Author : Stefan Karlsson

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 7 average: 3.25
------------------------------------------------------------
4x Tupdog                 1  POT VIS                 Gargoyle:3
1x Bryan Van Duesen       7  DOM THA aus pre         !Tremere:2
1x Reverend Blackwood     6  DOM THA obf      bishop !Tremere:2
1x Selena                 6  AUS DOM THA             !Tremere:3
1x Kurt Strauss           5  DOM aus tha             !Tremere:2
1x Brooke                 3  dom tha                 !Tremere:2
1x Ember Wright           3  aus dom                 !Tremere:3
1x Saiz                   3  aus dom                 !Tremere:3
1x Heinrick Schlempt      2  tha                     !Tremere:2

Library [66 cards]
---------------------------
Action [16]
  7x Create Gargoyle
  7x Govern the Unaligned
  2x Scouting Mission

Action Modifier [16]
  4x As the Crow
  3x Bonding
  4x Conditioning
  3x Mirror Walk
  2x Skin of the Chameleon

Combat [8]
  6x Raking Talons
  2x Roll 

Master [17]
  1x Anarch Troublemaker
  1x Coven, The
  7x Dominate
  3x Lilith’s Blessing
  1x Misdirection
  1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
  2x Villein
  1x Wash

Reaction [9]
  6x Deflection
  1x Delaying Tactics
  2x On the Qui Vive

This is a bleed deck with some stealth and some combat. The real strength lies in that you can recruit a Gargoyle as an action that costs 2 pool, give it a Dominate skill-card and no blood, wait for your untap phase, tap Lilith’s Blessing, give it a second Dominate skill-card and 3 blood. 66 cards might seem low but this deck actually isn’t card consuming at all. 60 would probably have been enough.
There are several decks that are able to cause me problems, the ANI/PRO-deck I will play in Karlstad the day before this tournament is one example. Block decks in general is my greatest concern. If I get blocked a lot I have to be patient and focus on making the Create Gargoyle actions happen somehow. I also don’t want to appear a big table threat witch is quite hard not to if this deck works smoothly. The rate you bring out vampires with Dominate is really really high if you are not disturbed too much. Some table-talk and deal-making skills will come in handy. The great amount of pool damage this deck can do is it’s strength and should be enough to reach the finals and with a seating not next to any block decks I should be able to have momentum enough to win.
Let’s take a look at the different parts of the deck:

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 7 average: 3.25
------------------------------------------------------------
4x Tupdog                 1  POT VIS                 Gargoyle:3
1x Bryan Van Duesen       7  DOM THA aus pre         !Tremere:2
1x Reverend Blackwood     6  DOM THA obf      bishop !Tremere:2
1x Selena                 6  AUS DOM THA             !Tremere:3
1x Kurt Strauss           5  DOM aus tha             !Tremere:2
1x Brooke                 3  dom tha                 !Tremere:2
1x Ember Wright           3  aus dom                 !Tremere:3
1x Saiz                   3  aus dom                 !Tremere:3
1x Heinrick Schlempt      2  tha                     !Tremere:2

The Tupdogs are great, both for crypt acceleration and rushing softer targets with Raking Talons. With the right openining crypt you can even trick the table that you are playing the Tupdog-deck and hopefully keep them from bringing out any minions at all. The reason for going with group 2-3 instead of 3-4 is because it is actually at least as good and contesting risk is reduced a fair bit. I expect half of the decks at this tournament to include Keith Moody for example.

Action [16]
  7x Create Gargoyle
  7x Govern the Unaligned
  2x Scouting Mission

The main reason for not going all Govern the Unaligned is the potential surprise in a Gargoyle playing As the Crow between a Govern and a Scouting Mission.

Action Modifier [16]
  4x As the Crow
  3x Bonding
  4x Conditioning
  3x Mirror Walk
  2x Skin of the Chameleon

Some minor stealth both for the !Tremere and the Gargoyles is working very well.

Combat [8]
  6x Raking Talons 
  2x Roll 

Mostly a threat but it’s always níce to get rid of some minions and wasting your opponents actions on rescuing and hunting. Roll is a great card here that works both as combat defence and offence.

Master [17]
  1x Anarch Troublemaker
  1x Coven, The
  7x Dominate
  3x Lilith’s Blessing
  1x Misdirection
  1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
  2x Villein
  1x Wash

This deck had plenty more blood gain masters before Lilith’s Blessing. Maybe I should have included one more copy of the Blessing but it is not a catastrophe if I don’t draw it early. 7 Dominate cards should be enough and hopefully not too many. Villein is also an addition that works good with the Blessing.

Reaction [9]
  6x Deflection
  1x Delaying Tactics
  2x On the Qui Vive

Pretty standard and should save me from the meanest actions.

The Expectation Analysis Experiment – Part 4 – Weather Control

It’s time for a great weekend of Jyhad and I will be travelling around Sweden’s biggest lake Vänern to attend Weather Control in Karlstad on Saturday and Tommy Bohlin Inte Här Längre in Örebro on Sunday.
I know nothing of the meta-game in Karlstad other than that many players from Örebro will attend the tournament. A deck that can handle a little of each feels like the right way to go so I decided to play my version of Randal Rudstam’s Deep Song / Earth Meld deck.

Deck Name : Ack Värmeland du Sköna (a deep song)
Author : Stefan Karlsson (original concept by Randal Rudstam)

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 7 average: 5.91667
------------------------------------------------------------
2x Doyle Fincher          7  ANI PRO aus for obf         !Gangrel:4
2x Janey Pickman          6  ANI PRO for                 !Gangrel:4
2x Celeste Lamontagne     5  ANI PRO for                 !Gangrel:4
1x Beckett                7  ANI FOR PRO cel             Gangrel:3
1x Danielle Diron         7  ANI PRO chi for      1 vote Gangrel:3
1x Horrock                6  ANI PRO vic                 Gangrel:3
1x Dr. Allan Woodstoc     5  PRO ani aus for             Gangrel:3
1x Jacob Fermor           5  PRO ani tha                 Gangrel:4
1x Mowgli                 5  FOR PRO ani cel             !Gangrel:4

Library [77 cards]
----------------------------
Action [11]  
  1x Abbot
  10x Deep Song

Action Modifier [8]
  2x Daring the Dawn
  6x Freak Drive

Ally [1]
  1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)

Combat [23] 
  19x Earth Meld 
  2x Form of Mist 
  2x Pack Alpha

Equipment [4]
  2x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers  
  1x Heart of Nizchetus 
  1x Laptop Computer 

Event [1]
  1x Scourge of the Enochians

Master [11]
  1x Anarch Troublemaker
  4x Blood Doll 
  2x Heidelberg Castle, Germany

  1x Misdirection
  2x Pentex(TM) Subversion 
  1x Powerbase: Montreal

Reaction [10]
  2x Cats' Guidance
  1x Delaying Tactics
  2x Forced Awakening
  3x On the Qui Vive
  2x Sonar

Retainer [8]
  1x J. S. Simmons, Esq.
  1x Owl Companion
  5x Raven Spy
  1x Tasha Morgan

The trick should be well-known by now. Rush untapped vampires with Deep Song to either tap them or to force them to tap by blocking. Play Earth Meld to remain untapped yourself and bleed, preferably with Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers and other bleed enhancers. This deck is also a pretty decent light wall with Raven Spies and the high number of Earth Melds.
With no doubt this deck will die to Potence combat and pure stealth bleed but can handle most other deck types if played right. To win Saturday’s tournament I have be careful with my actions. 19 Earth Meld might seem like a lot but I can’t waste them on unneccecary actions or blocks. It is tempting to go all out with the Deep Song – untap – bleed combo but I have to be patient and wait for the moment while my prey is low on defence and launch at full strength. This is a tough call to make but I have to trust my instincts and skill and if I stay alert I should be able to perform well and win the tournament with this deck.
Let’s have a look at the different parts of the deck:

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 7 average: 5.91667
------------------------------------------------------------
2x Doyle Fincher          7  ANI PRO aus for obf         !Gangrel:4
2x Janey Pickman          6  ANI PRO for                 !Gangrel:4
2x Celeste Lamontagne     5  ANI PRO for                 !Gangrel:4
1x Beckett                7  ANI FOR PRO cel             Gangrel:3
1x Danielle Diron         7  ANI PRO chi for      1 vote Gangrel:3
1x Horrock                6  ANI PRO vic                 Gangrel:3
1x Dr. Allan Woodstoc     5  PRO ani aus for             Gangrel:3
1x Jacob Fermor           5  PRO ani tha                 Gangrel:4
1x Mowgli                 5  FOR PRO ani cel             !Gangrel:4

I don’t see any real use for the pro-weenies that use to be part of this deck. Originally I had two copies each of the six ANI/PRO-vampires but I have realised that not all of my minions needs to be able to play Deep Song at superior so I switched three of the duplicates to cheaper ani/PRO-vampires.

Action [11]
  1x Abbot
  10x Deep Song

Should be the right amount. Abbot is great but I don’t feel like drawing my second copy in a game where I only control one !Gangrel.

Action Modifier [8]
  2x Daring the Dawn
  6x Freak Drive

Daring the Dawn is a must if I encounter No Secrets from the Magaji or for dealing that killing blow in a desperate situation.

Ally [1]
  1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)

Well, he fits the block and annoy-theme.

Combat [23]
  19x Earth Meld
  2x Form of Mist
  2x Pack Alpha

I added some extra Earth Melds as a final change. 19 is a lot but they never seem to jam my hand and in this way I can afford discarding some if needed.

Equipment [4]
  2x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
  1x Heart of Nizchetus
  1x Laptop Computer

Nothing special. The extra copy of the Codex is a must.

Event [1]
  1x Scourge of the Enochians

Weenies is a problem for this deck so this is also an auto-include.

Master [11]
  1x Anarch Troublemaker
  4x Blood Doll
  2x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
  1x Misdirection
  2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
  1x Powerbase: Montreal

Some tap-n-bleed tech and some bloat. Heidelberg makes me bleed for a lot two times per turn without playing Freak Drive.

Reaction [10]
  2x Cats' Guidance
  1x Delaying Tactics
  2x Forced Awakening
  3x On the Qui Vive
  2x Sonar

Just enough wake to be able to be tapped out sometimes.

Retainer [8]
  1x J. S. Simmons, Esq.
  1x Owl Companion
  5x Raven Spy
  1x Tasha Morgan

The Owl Companion can be a fantastic asset but one copy has to be enough.

Asguresh deck - playtest

Yesterday I was able to test the latest version of my Asguresh deck and once again I was reminded on how hard it is to play a rush deck.

Peter Kärrberg (Brujah bleed, bruise and vote) –> Me –> Alex Ek (Ventrue Princes with sticks) –> Lars Helmfridsson (Giovanni Powerbleed) –> Mattias Thörnkvist (Black Hand Assamites with Hand Contracts)
I had a terrible start with no Concealed Weapons on hand and Peter playing two early Zillah’s Valley. As an extra bonus he influenced out  Count Germaine so my weapons would be useless against him. I tried to equip with a Magnum but Alex blocked me with Second Tradition so my only option was to cycle cards rushing backwards and using my additional strikes and presses to hit Peter’s Potence-vampires for 1 over and over again. Fortunately he wasn’t able to hit me back as hard as he wanted but he managed to reduce my pool a bit.
Meanwhile, Lars put heavy pressure on Mattias and he had just the right combat defence cards at the right moments to survive Mattias' rushes. Alex bloated and brought out several vampires. He played Parity Shift, taking pool from Lars and giving some to Mattias to make him stay in the game. Lars was starting to be in trouble, being bled by his predator and rushed by his prey. It now seemed like my prey was about to grab the first VP.
At the right moment my cards started to flow. Mattias felt a little safer so he could start rushing Peter’s vampires. I could concentrate on rushing Alex’ five or so Dominate-vampires. This is where Lars grabbed the opportunity and bled Mattias out with just the cards he needed on his hand. With the help of Dragonbound, Tension in the Ranks and Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers I could then oust Alex.
Now the game came to an interesting state. I was low on pool and Lars and Peter was low on minions and blood. Lars again showed  excellent combat defence, this time with Promise of 1528, and I didn’t manage to oust him before Peter got me. It then looked like it was his game but in a miraculous way Lars survived and bled Peter out for the Game Win.
Lars Gw 3Vp
Me 1Vp
Peter 1Vp

The deck worked nice when it started to work. I should not have influenced out my fourth minion and I would probably have had won the table. I had to play 20 or so cards until I reached the first Concealed Weapon and there is really nothing I can do about that but hoping for a better draw next time. There sure were situations where I missed not having Auspex so the idea to get some bounce, wake and intercept in the deck is still there but I still feel it will be very hard to get the combat module effective enough with more elements to the deck. I have to think about it and hopefully I’ll keep you updated as this deck develops.

Beer 100526-100602

Amager Rugporter
Denmark
ABV: 8.5%
Rating: 3

Heavy alcohol. Coffee and a nice rye-taste. After-taste of salt liquorice. Pretty decent.

 

 

 

 

 


De Molen Molenbier
Netherlands
ABV: 9,2%
Rating: 3

A little like a barley wine or even a port wine. Almond. Acidic, I sense hints of sour milk. This brew is not very drinkable until it reaches a higher temperature, then it actually gets pretty good.

 

 



Zlatopramen Half n Half
Czech Republic
ABV: 4.8%
Rating: 2

Sweet and bitter in a boring and predictable way.

 

 

 

 

 



Hantverksbryggeriet Munken
Sweden
ABV: 9.5%
Rating: 3

Smells fruity and heavy alcohol. Tastes a lot of yeast. Fruity and acidic. Pretty nice.

 

 

 

 




Oppigårds Inwit
Sweden
ABV: 4.5%
Rating: 2

Lime, wheat and a little weird barn-taste. Strange smell of curry. Boring and just bad. Since this was the winner of the Swedish nationals of home-brewing in 2009 I suspect that my bottle might have been infected.

 

 


La Rullés Estivale
Belgium
ABV: 5.2%
Rating: 4

Very nice hop bitterness and great body despite the relatively low ABV. Well-balanced and thirst quenching.

 

 

 

 



St. Sylvestre Bière Nouvelle
France
ABV: 8%
Rating: 3

Strong with a distinct apple-taste. A standard blonde and perfectly fine.