Tournament report - Avsnitt 4: Tjindar's List

The Expectation Analysis Experiment is from now on resting and I doubt I will pick it up again. Last tournament I played I wrote an article but changed deck on the tournament day so the article was pointless, just spoiling a deck list. I have learned quite some from writing those pre-tournament articles but I feel I got it in me now when designing and choosing decks for tournaments so from now on you’ll just get simple tournament reports.

I drove solely the 280 kilometres early in the morning from Göteborg to Örebro without any real problems but it took some time due to the snow, ice and slow traffic. I was a little tired arriving at the venue but as soon that it was time for the first round I woke up. This is the deck I played:

Deck Name : Funny Form of Curruption Deck
Author : Stefan Karlsson (some credits should go to Erik Gustavsson and Alex Ek for playing their versions of the Undele-deck and sharing ideas)

3x Lutz von Hohenzoll     11 AUS DEM OBF PRE pot  inner circle Malkavian:4
3x Dmitra Ilyanova        9  CEL FOR POT PRE obf  justicar     Brujah:5
3x Undele                 9  CEL FOR obf pre ser  magaji       Ishtarri:5
3x Karen Suadela          7  CEL POT obf pre      prince       Brujah:5

Action [3]
  2x Entrancement
  1x Form of Corruption

Action Modifier [21]
  2x Awe
  1x Daring the Dawn
  5x Forced March
  3x Forgotten Labyrinth
  3x Into Thin Air
  2x Perfect Paragon
  5x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Reaction [3]
  3x Scalpel Tongue

Combat [5] 
  5x Majesty

Equipment [1]
  1x Heart of Nizchetus

Master [21]
  1x Coven, The
  2x Dreams of the Sphinx
  1x Giant's Blood
  1x Information Highway
  1x Monastery of Shadows
  1x New Carthage  
  1x Pentex(TM) Subversion 
  6x Villein
  2x Wider View
  5x Zillah's Valley

Political Action [18]
  1x Ancient Influence
  1x Ancilla Empowerment
  2x Banishment
  2x Conservative Agitation
  1x Domain Challenge
  3x Kine Resources Contested
  1x Lextalionis
  1x Neonate Breach
  5x Parity Shift
  1x Reins of Power

This is a standard Parity Shift deck with some quirks. Undele is the key minion but he is no standard star vampire as I don’t need him in the beginning. The crypt with 3x4 vampires and some Wider View works really well in this kind of deck. First I want one of the Brujahs to call early Parity Shifts and then I want the other vampires in the order and speed the game allows. Undele’s special is a killer and that is what makes it worthwhile and possible to include cards like Form of Corruption and Lextalionis in the deck. I think you get the idea so I move on to the actual report. There were 16 players at the tournament but one late arrival and one early departure made us play with 15 players all three rounds.

Round 1
Me –> Henrik Ericsson (KS bleed featuring Santaleous) –> Tomas Wallmur (Seterpenre + Anu Diptinatpa) –> Henrik Rune Eriksson (Ahrimanes toolbox) –> Anders Löf (!Ventrue grinder)
I got a dream start being able to influence quickly and call two early Parity Shifts on my prey. The strength of Santaleous special ability were soon discovered as he cancelled an Eternals of Sirius played by Tomas and to everyone’s surprise Tomas still had to burn the pool for the card. No more Zillah’s Valley for me at that point. Good thing I had Heart of Nizchetus in play so I could hide all my master cards in the bottom of the deck. Tomas got a slow start and Anders drew very few bleed cards but kept himself alive from quite heavy bleeding from the Ahrimanes. I ousted Henrik and and Tomas but then I literary went in to a wall. Anders started to bleed heavier so I needed to oust Tomas quicker than I wanted to not risk getting ousted myself. Anu also increased many of Anders’ vampires bleeds so that was yet another reason. When I hit the tooled-up Ahrimanes there were nothing left do. My library was exhausted due to too many discards and excessive use of Undele’s special and every round he had just enough intercept or wakes to stop my attempt at voting back some heavy stealth on hand. Anders was ousted and I kept a stubborn struggle for a while but the game win was Henrik’s (confusing with two players with the same name isn’t it?)
Rune GW 3VP
Me 2VP

Round 2
Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (Lutz & Co Petra Resonance) –> Jonatan Sjöberg (!Nos rush) –> Henrik Rune Eriksson –> Me –> Tomas Wallmur
Isak and I became voting buddies but I had a little struggle influencing the right minions. My starting crypt consisted of one Dmitra and three Lutz and Isak’s first vampire was Lutz and there were no reason to even consider a contest. Isak got a brilliant start playing Pentex on Jonatan’s first vampire only to banish him as quick as the Pentex was removed. When he was influenced back he was banished again and Jonatan didn’t take a single action the whole game. With his back free Rune could bleed me far heavier than I could bloat and even if I did as much damage to Tomas as Rune did to me I was in danger. Isak did what he could to keep me in the game, including not freaking out when I played Parity Shift on him. There were some massive dealing including Isak playing Parity Shift on Jonatan, giving the pool to Tomas in exchange for not being bled. Tomas’ Anu offered her services to Rune’s vampires so soon after Jonatan was ousted Rune got me. Isak could then oust Rune and it looked like he would have a comfortable duel with Tomas but then we were shown what Tomas’ deck really was capable of. He increased Lutz bleed for 3 with Anu to play an Archon Investigation followed by a Daemonic Possession. Next round he did the exact same thing to Tryposa’s Kindred Spirits bleeding if I remember correctly. Very fun to see and I like it when somebody beats me at whacky deck building.
Isak 2VP
Tomas 2VP
Rune 1VP

Round 3
Me –> Adam Esbjörnsson (Girls will find thinspiration) –> Anders Löf –> Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson –> Ivan Marin-Rivas (Anson Ashur Tablets table control)
Again I had a good start and Adam did not. He didn’t draw any crypt acceleration and I could play two early Parity Shifts on him. Anders could build up without any real pressure and Ivan mostly blocked Isak’s actions and let me perform mine since he probably wanted to get rid of Adam’s deck. Andres slowly ousted Isak followed by Ivan and I put ridiculous amounts on pressure on Adam but as you all know his deck (a 65-card version) is a pain to oust, especially played by such a brilliant player. I got to play Lextalionis after Anders ousted Ivan and that felt really good – it is such a powerful card during the right circumstances. I had vote lock and no one were blocking my actions so I could either opt for defence of offence the following turns with Undele. Some rounds I picked Banishments up and some I picked Kine Resources Contested. Problem was that I had to play defensive a little too often to be able to oust. As soon as I did pool damage to Adam he could regain it with Liquidation, Ashur Tablets and its likes and I myself went into ousting range. The game timed out leaving Anders with the win but with ten more minutes anyone could have won.
Anders GW 2.5VP
Me 0.5VP
Adam 0.5VP

It was a nice tournament and I had three good games. I feel the deck lacks a little in offence, I should probably just add two more Kine Resources Contested or something like that. Maybe also exchange some of the more conditional votes even if I like the idea of being able to pick up whatever I need. Protected Resources should probably also be added since I think I performed one or two single bleed actions the whole tournament. The deck is master heavy as it is but Undele’s special makes that problem not being as big as it could have been. I will definitely keep working on this deck since it is both very good and fun to play. Suggestions are welcome.

I also want to thank all players and party animals for a nice day and night in Örebro. See you soon guys!

Expectation Analysis – Part 6 – Swedish Nationals

I have to face fact – I have been trying too hard lately. I don’t win games anymore, not in tournaments, not even in casual play. I rarely even take victory points nowadays. So what to do at the nationals? Sure, I could play one of my “stable” decks, getting frustrated for hour after hour and getting 0gw2vp and a major headache. No thanks, not this time.
Time fur a fun deck, time to create chaos and have a good time. Don’t get me wrong, I am not playing a deck with that as the only purpose, of course I have been thinking about ousting and how to win a table. Players will get frustrated and maybe even pissed off encountering this but that has to be their problem. I am going to have fun, play my game, surprise some people and maybe even reach some success.
Here is the deck:

Deck Name : Zombie Asylum
Author : Stefan Karlsson

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 4 average: 2.33333
2x Abebe 4 nec obf thn Samedi:4
1x Roger Farnsworth 4 OBF aus !Malkavian:3
1x Jackie 3 DEM !Malkavian:4
1x Marta 3 aus dem !Malkavian:4
1x Midget 3 DEM obf pre !Malkavian:3
1x Bloodfeud 2 obf !Malkavian:4
1x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:0
1x Basir 1 qui Assamite:4
1x Cesar Holfield 1 obf Caitiff:4
1x Lisa Noble 1 ani Caitiff:3
1x Sandra White 1 Caitiff:3

Library [60 cards] 

Action [18]
  1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
  7x Graverobbing
  9x Pressing Flesh 
  1x Sibyl's Tongue 

Action Modifier [9]
  7x Domain of Evernight
  2x Veil the Legions

Ally [8]
  7x Escaped Mental Patient
  1x Gregory Winter

Combat [6]  
  6x Fake Out

Event [1]  
  1x Uncoiling, The

Master [18]
  6x Agent of Power
  2x Dreams of the Sphinx
  1x Golconda: Inner Peace
  5x Inceptor
  3x Information Highway
  1x Pentex(TM) Subversion

I have been fooling around with a similar but much slower concept for a while using Josette and Marge Khan but when I thought of Inceptor this turned from only goofy to goofy and doable. The idea is to bring out one or several Escaped Mental Patient(s), rush and torporise with them and redo it with Pressing Flesh over and over again. Graverob when doable and swarm bleed the table to death.
The setup is ideally very quick. Influence a !Malkavian out in round 1, recruit an Escaped Mental Patient in round 2 and start the action in round 3. The idea is to have a 1-cap with Inceptor by then and the three cards on Inceptor is Pressing Flesh, Domain of Evernight and Graverobbing. From then it should just be torporising everything and bleed with all spare actions.
Lets look at the different parts of the deck:

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 4 average: 2.33333
2x Abebe                4  nec obf thn   Samedi:4
1x Roger Farnsworth     4  OBF aus       !Malkavian:3
1x Jackie               3  DEM           !Malkavian:4
1x Marta                3  aus dem       !Malkavian:4
1x Midget               3  DEM obf pre   !Malkavian:3
1x Bloodfeud            2  obf           !Malkavian:4
1x Anarch Convert       1                Caitiff:0
1x Basir                1  qui           Assamite:4
1x Cesar Holfield       1  obf           Caitiff:4
1x Lisa Noble           1  ani           Caitiff:3
1x Sandra White         1                Caitiff:3

5 !Malkavian and 5 1-caps. Two copies of Abebe to get another vampire that can play Pressing Flesh

Action [18]
  1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
  7x Graverobbing
  9x Pressing Flesh
  1x Sibyl's Tongue

Aranthebes is for contesting. I think you get the idea behind Graverobbing and Pressing Flesh. Sibyl’s Tongue is that last card I included since it would have been a 59 card deck without it. There should be spare actions for !Malkavians after some rounds so its just there to fetch a card I need. I don’t think I’ll have blood enough to include more copies of it.

Action Modifier [9]
  7x Domain of Evernight
  2x Veil the Legions

Domain of Evernight is the free untap for the Inceptor making him able to play both Pressing Flesh and Graverobbing in the same turn. It also doubles as stealth at outferior Obfuscate. Veil the Legions can be a game winner under the right circumstances and can give the Patients that crucial Stealth Rush.

Ally [8]
  7x Escaped Mental Patient
  1x Gregory Winter

Not everyone can be Graverobbed so Gregory Winter is there for some good old fashioned burning.

Combat [6]
  6x Fake Out

Combat offence against manoeuvring decks and combat defence for my vampires.

Event [1]
  1x Uncoiling, The

Scourge of the Enochians is the obvious target but cards like Anthelios also needs to go away.

Master [18]
  6x Agent of Power
  2x Dreams of the Sphinx
  1x Golconda: Inner Peace
  5x Inceptor
  3x Information Highway
  1x Pentex(TM) Subversion

Agent of Power is very good here. An extra Graverobbing, Pressing Flesh or Stealth? Just pick your discipline. I think the rest speaks for itself.
Of course this deck has weaknesses. Heavy prevent, combat ends or other combat avoidance will slow it down and probably kill it quick. Dedicated long range combat will also be hard to deal with as probably some other archetypes as well. As this is our national championships I hopefully will see lots of mid to high cap deck vote and bleed decks with little or none combat defence and if I do I should be able to do well if I stay alert and don’t make any mistakes.
I just got to know that V:tes is dead and this deck can be seen as a tribute. I will press Jyhad flesh for quite some time more, count on that.

The Expectation Analysis Experiment – Part 6 – Resurrection Gothenburg

This time it was quite hard to decide which deck to play but when thinking of the probable competition I will face I decided to run a modified version of the deck I played in Karlstad some months ago. The reason for this is that I expect to see quite a lot of toolbox decks containing light combat but hopefully not any ones I can’t handle with my 21 combat ends cards. There will probably not be many fast bleed or vote decks and that should be the right environment for this me for once:

Deck Name : Earth Died Screaming
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 [7]
  2x Daring the Dawn
  5x Freak Drive

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

Combat [23]
  16x Earth Meld
  5x Form of Mist
  2x Pack Alpha 

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

Event [2]
  1x Scourge of the Enochians
  1x Waiting Game

Master [12]
  1x Anarch Troublemaker
  4x Blood Doll
  2x Heidelberg Castle, Germany  
  3x Misdirection
  1x 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 [7]
  1x J. S. Simmons, Esq.
  1x Owl Companion
  4x Raven Spy
  1x Tasha Morgan

 

 

 

This deck has three real weaknesses;

1. Combat with combat ends-deny (IG, Psyche, TT etc.)
2. Heavy stealth predator
3. Prey with allies

The two first weaknesses I have to live with and if I have read the meta correctly I won’t be encountering to much of them. The third weakness was my main problem when I played this deck in Karlstad and I have added more cards to deal with allies. I have increased the numbers of Misdirection and changed some Earth Melds to Form of Mists to be able to tap those annoying allies and bleed with the Codex. I have also added the underrated event Waiting Game, it can really be a killer to for example a Nephandus deck.
I have also been thinking some about how to really play this deck. I need not to waste my resources. It is tempting many times to play Earth Meld in any combat but I have to take a small beating now and then and only play Earth Meld when I risk being hurt badly or when I get the benefits of the untap effect.
I also need to be thinking before wasting my resources in bleeding heavy. I need to make sure that my Deep Songs end up where they do any real good and not just play them because I have them in my hand.
Sorry for not being that original this time but I will try and compensate that with my upcoming tournament report and it will hopefully be about four games and not just three as all previous tournament reports on this blog.

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.

Asguresh deck – second draft

So I finally got some time to trim this deck and this is the version I’m planning on trying out for a couple of games now. I have seriously considered adding Auspex as some of you friendly comments suggested but I feel its not the way to go. If Asguresh would have had superior Auspex some bleed bounce would have found its way there. As it is now I fear that the deck would lose potential and become more toolboxy adding the block-angle and I don’t think it would actually survive most games. The fifth copy of Asguresh is simply there for the opportunity of putting the first Nagaraja-deck on the Twda. Well, here is the updated list:

Deck Name : Asguresh skjuter skarpt
Author : Stefan Karlsson

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 6 average: 5.16667
------------------------------------------------------------

5x Asguresh            6  CEL NEC aus   Nagaraja:5
2x Titi Camara         5  AUS CEL pot   Osebo:5
2x Idrissa             4  CEL aus       Osebo:4
1x Elizabeth Conde     5  CEL FOR pre   Ishtarri:4
1x Michael diCarlo     5  CEL obf qui   Assamite:4
1x Fairuza             4  CEL pre       !Brujah:5

Library [72 cards]
---------------------

Action [11]  
  9x Bum's Rush
  2x Fleetness

Combat [39]
  3x Blur
  6x Concealed Weapon
  4x Flash
  2x Infernal Pursuit
  6x Psyche!
  7x Pursuit
  3x Side Strike
  2x Sideslip 
  6x Taste of Vitae

Equipment [9] 
  7x .44 Magnum 
  2x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers 

Event [1]
  1x Dragonbound

Master [12]
  5x Blood Doll
  2x Fame
  1x Haven Uncovered
  1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
  2x Powerbase: Luanda
  1x Tension in the Ranks

Asguresh deck – Help needed

Deck Name : Asguresh skjuter skarpt 
Author : Stefan Karlsson

 

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 6 average: 5.08333
----------------------------------------- 4x Asguresh 6 CEL NEC aus Nagaraja:5  
2x Titi Camara 5 AUS CEL pot Osebo:5
2x Idrissa 4 CEL aus Osebo:4
1x Elizabeth Conde 5 CEL FOR pre Ishtarri:4
1x Laecanus 5 CEL obt pre Toreador:4
1x Michael diCarlo 5 CEL obf qui Assamite:4
1x Fairuza 4 CEL pre !Brujah:5

Library [78 cards]
----------------------------------------- Action [12]
  10x Bum's Rush
  2x Harass

Combat [40] 
  5x Blur
  7x Concealed Weapon
  2x Infernal Pursuit  
  8x Psyche!  
  8x Pursuit 
  3x Sideslip
  7x Taste of Vitae

Equipment [10] 
  8x .44 Magnum
  2x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers 

Event [2]
  2x Dragonbound

Master [14] 
  6x Blood Doll
  2x Fame
  1x Haven Uncovered
  2x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
  2x Powerbase: Luanda
  1x Tension in the Ranks

I have tried this deck a couple of times and usually it does quite well but sometimes it just dies before it gets started. I think the basic concept is good but the deck needs some optimizing and that is where I need your help.

Asguresh is a fantastic vampire for a Celerity gun deck, his special ability can counter virtually any form of combat or combat defence. The deck is built around him so advices like “Go for Anson/Ashur instead” are pointless. The reason for having duplicates of Titi and Idrissa is that I want to be sure to bring at least one Laibon to the ready region to be able to play Powerbase:Luanda.

Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers is very good for actually ousting and not only bringing a shitload of vampires to torpor. The Master package seems about right but when I’m efficient in combat sometimes I jam on Masters. Infernal Pursuit is one of the latest additions to be able to cycle some away. Where I feel I need the most help is the Combat-section. I don’t have much experience playing gun-decks and I have a hard time getting proportions right.

When you help me trim this deck think of it as the deck that will win EC2010. Many thanks in advance!

The Expectation Analysis Experiment - Part 3 - Swedish ECQ 2010

This time the expectation analysis will be a little different. Since the ECQ will be a quite big tournament, at least big for me I have set my goal to that of qualifying instead of winning. Last year I played a !Salubri breed/suicide burn-deck for a total of 1.5vp and an epic failure. The year before that I managed to get 1gw 5vp and that was 0.5vp short of qualifying. Never mind, qualifying is extra interesting this year since there is actually a slight possibility that I will be able to attend the European Championship.
The Swedish ECQ is a quite odd tournament in that you will be facing top decks and top players mixed with odd decks and players that play the game just once a year. In other words you have to be prepared for everything.
So my goal is to get at least 1gw 6vp and I figure a bleed deck that doesn't die just because it sits next to a combat deck will do the trick. Kiasyd seems like the right choice with both great combat avoidance and the ability do deal some casual damage. This deck is not really the most creative I have created and you may even call it boring but I like to play it and even if the stealth/bleed/bruise-archetype have been around for a while I can still surprise some with the tricks up my sleeve.

Deck Name : Stormöte i Pysslingklubben
Author : Stefan Karlsson

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 8 average: 6.83333
------------------------------------------------------------
2x Arcadian, The 8 DOM MYT OBT chi for Kiasyd:5
2x Pherydima 8 DOM MYT NEC obt pot bishop Kiasyd:4
2x Omme Enberbenight 7 MYT OBT cel dom priscus Kiasyd:4
2x Roderick Phillips 7 DOM MYT cel obt tha Kiasyd:4
2x Isanwayen 6 DOM MYT OBT Kiasyd:4
2x Dame Hollerton 5 DOM OBT myt Kiasyd:4


Library [75 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action [13]
9x Govern the Unaligned
4x Gremlins

Action Modifier [16]
2x Bonding
5x Conditioning
2x Seduction
2x Shroud of Absence
5x Stone Travel

Action Modifier/Combat [7]
7x Fae Contortion

Combat [11]
5x Earth Swords
4x Target Vitals
2x Taste of Vitae

Master [13]
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Coven, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Great Symposium
2x Grooming the Protege
1x Misdirection
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Vessel

Reaction [12]
6x Deflection
2x Delaying Tactics
2x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection
1x Wake with Evening's Freshness

Reaction/Action Modifier [3]
3x Aura Absorption

I have tried to make it as tight as possible with no unnecessary or just-for-fun cards. I think the list speaks for itself but the idea is to get some minions in play and then bleed. Some occational damage dealing and maybe a block or two during the way to victory.
A deck like this should be able to take one game win out of three if I play it correctly and don't repeat last years cold and fever. I will probably not be able to make a table sweep so I have to grab some victory points in the other games as well. Play-testing has shown that this deck can do that even if it is bled heavily or beaten down early in the game so I should be able to reach my goal.
Let's have a look at the different parts of the deck:

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 8 average: 6.83333
------------------------------------------------------------
2x Arcadian, The 8 DOM MYT OBT chi for Kiasyd:5
2x Pherydima 8 DOM MYT NEC obt pot bishop Kiasyd:4
2x Omme Enberbenight 7 MYT OBT cel dom priscus Kiasyd:4
2x Roderick Phillips 7 DOM MYT cel obt tha Kiasyd:4
2x Isanwayen 6 DOM MYT OBT Kiasyd:4
2x Dame Hollerton 5 DOM OBT myt Kiasyd:4

This is the part where I have not optimized the deck and that is actually a choice I've made. I suspect there will be some contesting risk for Kiasyd group 4 at the tournament and Pherydima will be everyone's star. Therefore I have skipped Quincy the Trapper in favour of brand new Arcadian where the extra copies of Pherydima should have been. He is a good vampire on his own and I don't feel I desperately need Pherydima's special ability to be successful.

Action [13]
9x Govern the Unaligned
4x Gremlins

Maybe one or two Gremlins should be extra copies of GtU but the card is really nice and who knows when you need destroying Talbot's Chainsaw?

Action Modifier [16]
2x Bonding
5x Conditioning
2x Seduction
2x Shroud of Absence
5x Stone Travel

Action Modifier/Combat [7]
7x Fae Contortion

Reaction/Action Modifier [3]
3x Aura Absorption

I instinctively feel 5 Conditioning is too few but I know from experience that they become early game discards if they are too many. Also, with only five I have to think before I use them and that is good and maybe even responsible. The rest is cheap, effective multi-purpose stealth that really makes the Kiasyd shine as a stealth/bleed deck.

Combat [11]
5x Earth Swords
4x Target Vitals
2x Taste of Vitae

I think this is enough to do the damage I need to do at the right moments. Hopefully I will even be able to frighten some with an early heavy hit.

Master [13]
1x Anarch Troublemaker
1x Coven, The
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Great Symposium
2x Grooming the Protege
1x Misdirection
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Vessel

Great Symposium is a wonderful card but I don't want to include any extra copies. It works very well late game and is no necessary early draw. The rest of the master module is pretty standard and Dreams of the Sphinx is really really helpful in this deck.

Reaction [12]
6x Deflection
2x Delaying Tactics
2x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection
1x Wake with Evening's Freshness

I hope 7 bounce cards is enough. The same goes for the 3 wakes. Earlier versions of the deck had more of them but I just ended up discarding.

I really hope and believe I will be able to reach my goal this time. This is a good deck and I hope I am good enough player to handle it right. Don't wish me any luck because when you are reading this the tournament has already happened.

The Horde

Since I put the unnamed as the top vampire from Heirs to the Blood I had to try and make a deck with him. I started toying with different ideas and when I read the Maleficia cards I thought I make something from that angle. I mean Evil Eye at mal has to be good with the unnamed, has it not? I decided to go all Baali and of course some copies of The Horde found their place. The more I thought about it the more I felt like building a pure The Horde deck and what you are about to read is the first draft of it.

I need input and ideas here. I have never played Baali and as far as I can remember I have never included a single Infernal minion in any deck I ever built. There will be things I have missed and others I just have got wrong. Anyhow - here is the decklist and I present my thoughts about it later:

Deck Name : The Horde
Author : Stefan Karlsson

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 3 average: 3
12x Horde, The 3 dai obf pre Baali:6

Library [80 cards]
Action [21]
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
12x Barrenness
8x Greater Curse

Action Modifier [19]
1x Cloak the Gathering
1x Domain of Evernight
2x Faceless Night
2x I am Legion
2x Lost in Crowds
5x Psalm of the Damned
1x Spying Mission
5x True Love's Face

Action Modifier/Combat [1]
1x Swallowed by the Night

Ally [1]
1x Veneficti (Mage)

Combat/Reaction [5]
5x Evil Eye

Equipment [2]
2x Kaymakli Fragment

Event [2]
1x Anthelios, The Red Star
1x Scourge of the Enochians

Master [29]
1x Coven, The
3x Effective Management
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington (Hunter)
10x Maleficia
3x Parthenon, The
4x Path of Evil Revelations
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Ruins of Charizel
3x Tribute to the Master

The idea is to weaken and possibly destroy other vampires with Barrenness. The untap granted by Barrenness opens for a poolgaining bleed at +1 stealth with outferior Greater Curse. There is some stealth and a few True Love's Face to increase the bleed amount. Psalm of the Damned and Evil Eye are great cards that have to be included to some amount. Because of the need of multiple Maleficia-cards I decided to go Master heavy all over. Some crypt acceleration, blood and pool gain dominates that section. Kaymakli Fragment is insanely good if no one steals it. If you can use it without problems everything you have to do is to "pay one to see one" to get a fresh Horde every round.
My idea is that this deck should be able to do pretty much damage and still survive without any real defensive package. These are rough guesses and I bet there are many things that can go wrong. I have a feeling that this is a deck that should be 60 cards with 6 Ashur Tablets but to build such a deck you need some real knowledge about the different parts of it and relevant amounts of the different cards.
I really like the idea and would love to get it good enough to be competitive and that's why I publish it this early asking for advice. I really need all input I can get so shoot!

The Expectation Analysis Experiment - Part 2 - The Pop Star

Time again for a monthly Gothenburg tournament and another expectation analysis. I'm writing this Thursday 11 February but you will be reading it earliest Saturday 13 February since I don't want to spoil the deck to the other participants.
The deck I will play this time is a remade version of Matt Morgans winning deck from day 1 of NAC 2008. I have made what I feel is improvements to it and slimmed it down to 60 cards witch should be enough. The most important change is of course that I changed clan from Assamites to Daughters of Cacophony. Alex Ek and Erik Torstensson helped me with the last polishing of details so credits should go to them.

Before I discuss further, here is the deck list:

Deck Name : The Pop Star
Author : Stefan Karlsson

Crypt (13 vampires) Capacity min: 1 max: 6 average: 3.30769
------------------------------------------------------------
5x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:0
2x Yseult 6 FOR MEL PRE Daughter :3
2x Angela Preston 5 MEL PRE for Daughter :2
1x Gael Pilet 6 FOR MEL chi pre Daughter :2
1x Delilah Monroe 4 MEL for pre Daughter :2
1x Celeste, The Voice 3 mel pre Daughter :2
1x Muse 3 ani for mel Daughter :2

Library (60 cards)
------------------------------------------------------------
Action (14)
8x Embrace, The
1x Entrancement
1x Fee Stake: Boston
1x Fee Stake: Corte
1x Fee Stake: Los Angeles
1x Fee Stake: Perth
1x Fee Stake: Seattle

Action Modifier (11)
1x Cryptic Rider
2x Daring the Dawn
2x Freak Drive
4x Missing Voice, The
2x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Madrigal

Combat (3)
3x Dodge

Event (1)
1x Uncoiling, The

Master (13)
1x Anarch Railroad
2x Bastille Opera House
2x Conductor
1x Coven, The
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Giant's Blood
1x Paris Opera House
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Seattle Committee

Political Action (14)
7x Consanguineous Boon
5x Kine Resources Contested
2x Revolutionary Council

The general idea is to survive my predator's pressure via the Consanguineous Boons and seem like no big threat towards my prey (yeah right, good luck!) until I drop Revolutionary Council for 10+ pool damage. I have chosen Daughters since they have access to some very strong cards while I am aware that I lose some of the strengths of the Assamite version.
I know this deck will drop dead at some tables and my hopes are for 2 game wins in the preliminary rounds but 1 is more realistic and I will be happy with that. In the final I will probably not encounter as much combat as in the preliminaries and if I read and flow with the table balance I should be able to achieve a 3-2 or 3-1-1 win.
The good thing with this deck is that when it gets hammered by another deck, be it rush, wall or fast bleed, you can easily grow strong again if you plead for your cross table buddies for help. I suspect that that will be key to my success this Saturday.

I will give you some short comments on the different card categories in this deck so you see why I have chosen what I have chosen:

Crypt (13 vampires) Capacity min: 1 max: 6 average: 3.30769
------------------------------------------------------------
5x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:0
2x Yseult 6 FOR MEL PRE Daughter :3
2x Angela Preston 5 MEL PRE for Daughter :2
1x Gael Pilet 6 FOR MEL chi pre Daughter :2
1x Delilah Monroe 4 MEL for pre Daughter :2
1x Celeste, The Voice 3 mel pre Daughter :2
1x Muse 3 ani for mel Daughter :2

I want at least 5 vampires with capacity 5 or higher to have a good chance of an early Baron. This is one of the parts where this deck is inferior to the Assamite version since thy have a better Baron crypt. Erik made me put in a fifth Anarch Convert and I have to trust him there, I have not done the maths myself yet. This crypt has never disappointed me in play testing so far.

Action (14)
8x Embrace, The
1x Entrancement
1x Fee Stake: Boston
1x Fee Stake: Corte
1x Fee Stake: Los Angeles
1x Fee Stake: Perth
1x Fee Stake: Seattle

The 8 Embraces may seem a little over the top but it is really important to play two or three early so I can gain enough pool to survive with my Con Boons. 5 Fee Stakes feels about right and the Entrancement is simply too good to exclude.

Action Modifier (11)
1x Cryptic Rider
2x Daring the Dawn
2x Freak Drive
4x Missing Voice, The
2x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
4x Madrigal

In the first versions of this deck I had plenty of Freak Drives but multi-acting isn't really that important for the deck. The two that are left are more there to be able to make that last unexpected ousting action than anything else. Earlier I also had more stealth but still with the 4 Missing Voice I have left I tend to discard them as often as I play them. I still want to keep them because I know I need them when facing a real block deck. Daring the Dawn is there for the crucial Revolutionary Council and Voter Captivation is actually there more for blood- than pool gain. Madrigal is a wonderful card that can make people do stupid mistakes out of greed so they are auto-include in this deck. Also all my Daughters gets one blood if I tap Bastille Opera House or have Conductor in play.

Combat (3)
3x Dodge

Maybe the best choice would be no combat defence at all but an Embrace playing Dodge can be just that little extra surprise that will grant me an oust. In earlier versions I packed some Majesties but Dodge feels like a more versatile choice for this deck.

Event (1)
1x Uncoiling, The

Main targets: Unmasking and Scourge of the Enochians.

Master (13)
1x Anarch Railroad
2x Bastille Opera House
2x Conductor
1x Coven, The
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Giant's Blood
1x Paris Opera House
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Seattle Committee

Three different stealth locations is a great asset for this deck. It's important to get Bastille Opera House and/or Conductor in play as fast as possible, thereby two copies each. I also want to get Seattle Committee in play before mid-game since it's the only sane way in making Embraces Anarchs. Some blood gain, the mandatory Pentex and the real Pop Star - Garibaldi-Meucci Museum. That is probably the best card in the deck since it allows me to get one Revolutionary Council each round when I need them.

Political Action (14)
7x Consanguineous Boon
5x Kine Resources Contested
2x Revolutionary Council

7 Con Boons might be one or two to few but I hope not. The Kines are there as a second ousting mechanism and 2 Revolutionary Council should be enough together with Garibaldi-Meucci Museum.

The Expectation Analysis Experiment - Part 1

Before you read this, take a look at this.

I will play the following deck this Saturday:

Deck Name : Aztec Woodcutting
Author : Stefan Karlsson

Crypt (12 vampires) Capacity min: 3 max: 10 average: 7.08333
------------------------------------------------------------

5x Mictlantecuhtli 10 ANI FOR POT THA pre pro Gangrel:5
1x Jayakumar 6 ANI FOR chi tha Ravnos:5
1x Juniper 6 FOR ani dom pre Ventrue:4
1x Callirus 5 CHI FOR ani Ravnos:4
1x Kikiyaon, The 5 FOR abo ani Akunanse:4
1x Rathmere 5 FOR ani pro Gangrel:5
1x Solomon Batanea 5 AUS FOR nec Harbinger:4
1x Rosemarie 3 FOR mel Daughter :4


Library (77 cards)
------------------------------------------------------------

Action (6)
6x Magic of the Smith

Action Modifier (25)
2x Enkil Cog
23x Freak Drive

Combat (22)
5x Hidden Strength
7x Indomitability
10x Taste of Vitae

Equipment (6)
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Ivory Bow
1x Sargon Fragment, The
2x Talbot's Chainsaw

Event (2)
1x Dragonbound
1x Scourge of the Enochians

Master (15)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
2x Fame
1x Giant's Blood
2x Haven Uncovered
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Tension in the Ranks
5x Villein

Retainer (1)
1x Dog Pack

Overview
The general idea is to bring out Mictlantecuhtli and play Magic of the Smith to get Talbot's Chainsaw. Mictlantecuhtli's ability to ignore damage from weapons makes him immune to the negative effects of Talbot's Chainsaw in a much more reliable way than Ambrosius, Ponticulus or Tye Cooper. The downside is of course that he is a 10-cap but hopefully it will be made up for in this deck.
I have seen (and tried) other versions of the Mictlantecuhtli/Talbot's Chainsaw-deck but in my opinion they tend to pack way too many different elements. I have tried to reduce the number of elements for maximum effect of the combo. The saw in itself is great in combat and together with the prevent-cards that grants a press it's even better. Add Taste of Vitae and there should be a working blood gaining module. Since we are already using Fortitude, Freak Drive comes to mind. Instead of using rush cards in addition to the saw's in-built rush why not let Mictlantecuhtli's friends borrow the saw and rush with it as well?
The really neat thing is that when your prey is out of minions its time to Magic of the Smith to get Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers. Now all your vampires can use the same module they use to rush to bleed for 4 each. A nice addition to the slow ousting mechanisms of combat decks, don't you think?

Weaknesses
This deck dies if it faces too many destroy equipment effects. The cards I'm especially worried about are Canine Horde, Heroic Might, Anarch Troublemaker and Loss. A solution and plan B could be to include more rushes but I think the deck's flow will be way too crippled if I do so I have to live with that I'm going to be destroyed in probably at least one game this Saturday. The only counters for this I'm packing is an additional copy of Talbot's Chainsaw, The Sargon Fragment and Anarch Troublemaker for contest.

Animalism combat may be a pain to handle but if there aren't too many Canine Horde I should be able to survive it. Especially if I get the Ivory Bow. The same goes for Potence combat but I think I will be able to survive that as well.
A deck has to be very combat ends-heavy to withstand this deck so unless I see Rachel Brandywine or Henry Taylor I wont be worrying that much.
Of course I will have problems facing a really fast and agressive predator but every deck has the same problems. If I survive long enough to get my first round with Mictlantecuhtli in the minion phase I should do just fine.
One last big problem is if anyone's contesting Talbot's Chainsaw but every deck with any unique key elements suffer this so nothing much to be done about it.

General play
In the beginning of each game I will discard until I have Villein and Magic of the Smith in hand. I need to get some of that 10 invested pool on Mictlantecuhtli back as soon as possible and I need the Chainsaw equipped as fast as possible.
I will then start rushing first to survive my predator and then to crush my first prey. If the situation demands, I will backoust without hesitation. I will even backoust the whole table if needed. The most comfortable situation is of course if I can oust my first prey and then focus on maintaining table balance and slowly take control towards a game win with as many victory points as possible. When I have tried out this deck and it has got an early victory point I have suffered some table hate so there might occur situations when I have to take it easy and pretend I have a worse card flow than I actually have.
I probably need to be ready to use my diplomatic skills a lot and I have to be hard on myself and let some victory points go to other players, even my prey if my grand prey is something I can't handle.
After Mictlantecuhtli I need at least one other vampire but I can't go to low on pool even if my predator hasn't got a single minion in play. That can risk someone cross-table finding a chance to oust me, something that actually almost happened in one of this deck's try out-games.

Metagame
I expect this to be a small tournament with about 12-15 people attending. There will be a spread in deck types and qualities from tier 1 to untested experiments as usual in our tournaments and I will have to deploy different tactics at different seatings. My realistic plan is to take 2 game wins and at least 6 victory points to be able to at least influence my seating in the finals. When a deck like this reaches the finals, risk is a conspiracy is formed to kill it especially if it is the only combat deck. I have to be very cool and perhaps pretend my card flow is worse than it is to be able to strike at the right moment. Maybe I'll pretend not to draw any Magic of the Smith early if my predator isn't too fast.

Card by card
Lastly I will list the cards section by section and comment their existence and numbers below:

Crypt (12 vampires) Capacity min: 3 max: 10 average: 7.08333
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5x Mictlantecuhtli 10 ANI FOR POT THA pre pro Gangrel:5
1x Jayakumar 6 ANI FOR chi tha Ravnos:5
1x Juniper 6 FOR ani dom pre Ventrue:4
1x Callirus 5 CHI FOR ani Ravnos:4
1x Kikiyaon, The 5 FOR abo ani Akunanse:4
1x Rathmere 5 FOR ani pro Gangrel:5
1x Solomon Batanea 5 AUS FOR nec Harbinger:4
1x Rosemarie 3 FOR mel Daughter :4

5 copies is the standard Star Vampire amount and nothing to argue about. The rest of the Vampires all have FOR and the only one below cap 5 is Rosemarie. Her drawback is made up for by her capacity. There are plenty of 5-caps with FOR and I choose those whose special abilities were at least a little useful. The 6-caps are there because their abilities are simply worth an extra transfer and pool.

Action (6)
6x Magic of the Smith

I figure six is a good number. I won't draw it too late and I won't draw too many.

Action Modifier (25)
2x Enkil Cog
23x Freak Drive

Enkil Cog is great in this deck. The extra copy gives me a good chance of seeing it in the first half of the game but I can't include any more because of jamming-risk. Just the possibility to have Mictlantecuhtli untapped and being able to threat to act can be gold worth when it comes to chainsaw diplomacy. The number of Freak Drives is what I have been struggling with the most with this deck. I started out with 20 in a 80-card deck simply because I wanted every fourth card to be a Freak Drive. As I reduced other cards I kept the 20 and I have never been too low on Freak Drives for the deck to work. The reason for adding 3 more in this final version is that I hesitate too often when I need to discard a copy and I rarely put them back in the library via Heart of Nizchetus. That can make me having too few end game. And if three more are too many this deck don't have any problems in passing the classical "hunt-freak drive"-trick.

Combat (22)
5x Hidden Strength
7x Indomitability
10x Taste of Vitae

Indomitability is a little bit better than Hidden Strength for this deck because I can press even when not preventing. Hidden Strength's opportunity to prevent more than one damage can be useful though. 12 prevent/press-cards is a good number for the flow of this deck. The number of tastes seems fine but its very hard to know. In some games 10 are way too many and in some way too few.

Equipment (6)
1x Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Ivory Bow
1x Sargon Fragment, The
2x Talbot's Chainsaw

The Codex is a great for ousting. Every deck with Magic of the Smith should include the Heart of Cheating so that's a no-brainer. The Ivory Bow is there to threat at range and to put Arika with 11 blood but no Majesty in hand to torpor for a blood-gaining diablerie. Two copies of Talbot's Chainsaw is needed to be sure to get it and The Sargon Fragment is there to pick up the saw if all fails.

Event (2)
1x Dragonbound
1x Scourge of the Enochians

Dragonbound won't see play every game but in some situations it is too good not to be included. Scourge of the Enochians is simply there to save some rushes.

Master (15)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
2x Fame
1x Giant's Blood
2x Haven Uncovered
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Tension in the Ranks
5x Villein

Anarch Troublemaker is there for contesting only. I will not use its benefits if its not a very worthwhile move. Two Fames seems about right as ousting-help. The Giant's Blood is a last minute addition that is superb in about one out of five games and useless in the others. I will either curse of praise this choice after the tournament. Two Haven Uncovered maybe seems a little low in addition to the saw but I feel I don't need more. The Pentexes are actually there more for offence than defence. This is probably one of few superstar combat decks that don't die to Pentex. If Mictelantecuhtli is Pentexed my other vampires do his work almost as good as long as he is ready and takes the penalty during the untap phases. Pentex is a great card to put on one of my predator's minions to save me some time and/or pool or on a especially disturbing minion that denies my deck to work properly. Tension in the Ranks is another addition to the ousting module and the 5 Villeins and ousting are my only pool gain sources. 5 might seem a little low but I should see one early enough and as I said before - I don't want to jam.

Retainer (1)
1x Dog Pack

Will not be used in most games but when I face heavy combat ends it is worth a lot.