Swedish Nationals – Tournament Report

So, I played my wacky deck and had three fun games. I’m not sure if my initial prey or predator had a fun game in any of them but no one yelled at me or hit me so I pretend everyone was happy.

Round 1
Kasper Kristensen (Ventrue Breed/Boon) –> Tomas Wallmur (Helena Advanced) –> Henrik Klippström (Euro Brujah) –> Me –> Ville Kaijasaari (Guruhi Master heavy)
Henrik was the first person to give me the idea of using Pressing  Flesh together with Escaped Mental Patients back at our ECQ this year and it was extra fun to give him a taste of it. I didn’t draw any Inceptor early (I played almost 40 cards before seeing the first one) but the Agent of Powers and Abebe was enough to give the deck a good start. Soon I had graverobbed both Donal O’Connor and Nana Buruku and while my prey got low on pool the table, as expected, started to conspire against me. Kasper decided to lunge into me with three Kine Resources Contested when I was at twelve pool so I made a desperate deal with him granting him two Victory Points before I would do any damage to him so he changed his mind. This was a huge mistake and I could have dealt with the situation in two other different ways:
1. Giving him a similar deal but clearly make sure that I would still rush his minions, vote against his referendums and bleed heavily into him during the process.
2. Instead threatening him to spend my last game round (Maybe I would have survived one more turn and I could always bluff having a wake or similar) attacking him instead of ousting my prey if he voted damage my way.
Instead I went too easy on him. I ousted my prey and Tomas ousted Henrik. Tomas and argued that I should deal break but I wasn’t in the mood to do so. I play a fun deck and I have never broke a deal before so this wasn’t going to be the first time. Probably silly of me because breaking that deal would have gave me the game win for sure. Kasper was to strong in the duel since he had saved up lots of Majestys on hand, me having exhausted my library and him having minion superiority. I also made some silly mistakes but nothing that changed fact.
Kasper GW 3VP
Tomas 1VP
Me 1VP

Round 2
Magnus Löf (Lutz & Friends) –> Michael Holmström (!Ventrue sticks) –> Johan Mononen (!Salubri rush & blood deny) –> Alex Ek (Kiasyd s/b) –> Me
This round started a little like the first. I had a quick start  graverobbing Lutz and diablerizing Pherydima. Problem was Alex influenced out small caps and created Nocturns so he did some serious pool damage to me so I had to play Golconda on Lutz. It looked pretty bad anyhow but Johan did his best attacking Alex, not leaving much in defence. I ousted Magnus and Johan was gone soon thereafter (or was it the other way around?). Alex drew very bad and couldn’t oust me and my last four or so pool even if I was almost tapped out. Michael killed him too and again I was in a duel where I was the weaker part.
Michael GW 4VP
Me 1 VP

Round 3
Me –> Helena Löf (Presence Weenie) –> Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (Kiasyd s/b) –> Jonas Nyrén (Shambling Hordes)
I had to focus all my energy towards Helena at the start or she would have got Isak really quick. I also had to be careful with my ash heap since Jonas had Giovanni del Georgio in play and could have used his special to remove Escaped Mental Patients, making me unable to play Pressing Flesh. This wasn’t any real problem sine four of my Pressing Flesh was amongst the five last cards in the library. I had to recruit the patients the hard way and that slowed me down. I had plenty of Fake Out on hand and didn’t see any maneuvers played by Jonas so before ousting Helena I rushed and graverobbed The Arcadian but were forced to play Golconda on him to survive. I think I rushed Isak one round too late because once again I was in a duel and this time I didn’t draw any Pressing Flesh.
Isak GW 3VP
Me 1VP

The deck did quite well but it was too new to me to really shine. I will continue working on it to make it even more focused and able to really kill the whole table. It’s interesting to see that my Grandprey won all my three games, and that they all were pretty similar. My initial prey or predator (maybe with the exception of Alex in round 2) were quickly neutralized. I think I need to start spreading my attacks earlier on but the deck takes some more testing before really knowing how to play it at its best. It is a really effective concept and even if it looks like there are many moving parts it's not that hard to get the ball rolling.
First of all I think I have to increase the library to around 70 cards. I am going to remove Information Highway since I just discarded them if I didn’t draw one early. Pentex is also not needed. The times that I needed to play it were when it already looked way too bad for me. I definitely need a second Golconda and some more Sibyl’s Tongue. The rest of the library Increase will probably just be more of the already featured cards. You haven't seen the last of this, that’s for sure.

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.

Resurrection Gothenburg – Tournament Report

It is getting annoyingly obvious that I am making my absolute worst results ever since starting writing on this blog. I played this deck. My reasoning wasn’t completely wrong but the deck is simply not strong enough to be reliable. It is going to be ridden of its red and yellow sleeves and placed in the pile for cards to be sorted.
13 players showed up for the tournament with Archibald showing up first for the second round so all my tables was 4-player ones.

Round 1
Me –> Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (Kiasyd S/B w. Ashur and Liquidation) –> Robert Ekelund (Mistress Fanchon Baltimore Purge) –> Erik Cardell (CEL guns w. aus and pre)
This game my tooling up worked quite well but Robert took a lot of damage before he could start play his game and was ousted before I could make any serious attempts at getting Isak. I hopes for Erik to try and backoust to take the game win but he instead played both against me and Isak. He was one intercept card short of staying in the game when Isak launched and if that launch had failed I would probably have ousted Isak in my next round. With two Raven Spies and a handful of Earth Melds together with a little more than ten pool it looked pretty good for me but I made some mistakes, the most important one was not to think of Stone Travel so I got tapped out once and almost bled out. I managed to pull myself together and take him out but it was close.
Me 2VP
Isak 2VP

Round 2
Erik Cardell –> Robert Ekelund –> Jonas Alvdén (!Ventru grinder w. obf) –> Me
This game was a disaster. I drew no Earth Melds and since Robert had a slow build-up bringing out Carna and then Mistress Fanchon without crypt acceleration or a single action Jonas had an easy task in bleeding me out. I tried desperately to cycle cards, even convincing Erik to let me play Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers followed by a Freak Drive just for cycling but it didn’t help.
Jonas GW 4VP

Round 3
Adam Esbjörnsson (Euralye and friends) –> Me –> Roger Carhult (Large cap ANI w. multiple MPAs) –> Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson
Also a disaster. No Earth Melds from the start here either. Adam influenced out Euralye and put Heidelberg in play. Isak also had a good start building up. I contested Heidelberg and Adam argued he needed it to use backwards to survive and I knew he was right about that. Still I sat in a poor position because I knew Adam and Roger could crush Isak together and I needed all defence I could get against Adam. Him stealing my Raven Spies with Spirit Marionette/Heidelberg was simply nothing I could allow. I made a deal with Isak to keep contesting if he would stop after ousting Adam and let me oust Roger for the duel. Isak soon got Adam and I started my long uphill trip towards ousting Roger. I was almost there so many times but when I got close he always had something to gain ground. Except for a lot of wakes and Cat’s Guidances he also played Golconda twice on his own minions. My deck were almost exhausted when there were three minutes left of the game and Isak had to deal break and sweep the table. I don’t blame him, he gave me more than one hour to do my job but I didn’t manage so the victory was his.
Isak GW 4VP

I think I need to think a little less before the tournament and a little more during it. Next tournament will be the Swedish championships and I should probably go for a fun deck and relax for once to reload my batteries. Maybe next Expectation Analysis Experiment will be a little different, time will tell.

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.

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.

Swedish ECQ 2010 - Tournament report

If you have read this you know what deck I played and what my goal was. As some of you already know the tournament didn't go that well for me. Here is what happened:

Round 1
Alex Gyhlesten (Euralye & friends) -> Robert Doktorow (Weenie Presence) -> Me -> Ola ? (Blood Brothers Kiev Circle bloat and bleed)
This game I never really had a chance. I was bled heavily, Pentexed and Mind Numbed to death. Alex had a terrible crypt draw (his first 6 vampires were 4xEuralye and 2xKieth Moody) and he didn't get Heidelberg Castle. Ola put some pressure on him as well. Robert had his back free and got an easy table sweep.
Robert Gw 4Vp



Round 2
Daniel ? (Tzimisce toolbox) -> Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson (Girls will find..) -> Tomas ? (Giovanni powerbleed) -> Me -> Jonas ? (Some kind of Brujah Celerity combat)
Also a quick game for me but this time some of my destiny was in my own hands. Tomas was early scared of Isak and he tried to deal with me deflecting bleeds to him. This was a really difficult moment for me because I had no Deflections in my hand. Of course I couldn't out that but on the same time pretending to be willing to accept the deal in a near future could be my only rescue of being bled out by his four vampires. I told him I would like to see how the game turned out for a while before making my decision and I got an easy round. I tried desperately to cycle cards because a single deflection would probably have given me my first vp as Jonas didn't do anything and started to go low on pool. However I saw no Deflection and in the following round I was bled out. Tomas then drew very few bleed cards and he couldn't oust Jonas before Isak ousted him and then Isak had an easy drive home.
Isak Gw 4Vp
Tomas 1Vp

Round 3
Me -> Ralf Lammert (Legacy of Pander) -> Magnus ? (!Salubri wall) -> Randal Rudstam (Ani/Pro tap&bleed&block) Mikael Grane (War Ghouls)
Ralf got a good start being the only voter on the table. Magnus was low on pool and it was a critical moment where I decided to go all out against Ralf. He played three Telepathic Misdirecions in that round and Magnus was defenately withing ousting range. I played a Delaying Tactics on Ralf's Kine Resources Contested the following turn but he then outed his first Conservative Agitation and the first Victory Point was his. The War Ghouls kept rushing me but my famed Arcadian only went to torpor once because I drew all Fae Contortions at the right moments and he didn't play any manoeuvres. I actually killed two War Ghouls with Earth Swords and Target Vitals to my predator's great surprise and annoyance. Randal played very good and he blocked almost everything Ralf did. Mikael did his best rushing and bleeding my but I survived his rushes and deflected his bleeds to Ralf and when my library got near to the end I managed to oust Ralf. Randal then got Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers (a card he borrowed from me before the tournament) and with Heidelberg Castle he could easily bleed out both Mikael and me. I made a mistake not destroying the codex with the Anarch Troublemaker while I could but I doubt that it should have had any impact on the results.
Randal Gw 3Vp
Me 1Vp
Ralf 1Vp

Even with a pretty quick and powerful deck that I played I didn't manage to succeed with my goals. There is nothing really wrong about my deck although I'm going to change some minor things in it. The two Taste of Vitae is going to be another Deflection and another Conditioning. I never used the tastes in the tournament and there is room for more bounce and bleed. The real problem is that this deck is not quick enough when facing many other destructive and quicker decks. It also has problems facing wall decks and if it contained more stealth I would maybe have had a chance of a game win in the last game. Perhaps there is room for a Shadow Play or two in the deck. Since I also was almost out of cards in the last game it maybe should go up to around 80. I will modify the deck slightly and keep it and try again.
I feel I learned some during the tournament and hopefully I will be able to bring that knowledge with me and become a better player. In the first round I couldn't do anything but not many first preys of a good weenie presence deck can. In the second round I should probably have been able to talk the table into letting me survive long enough to oust my prey. The third game's mistake together with my library being ousted made it an impossible task at the end.
Even if I was ousted very early in the two first games I had a fun tournament and hopefully I will return stronger next time.

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.

Alltid rött alltid rätt - Tournament Report

We suffered from the Greater Curse of Eleven Players and I had a bad feeling about that from the start. Fortunately I wasn't playing in the first round so I both had the time to do some scouting and play two games of Battle Line with Alex. I knew from scouting that it would be a hard time for me reaching the finals with my specialized deck.

Round 2
Me -> Ida Olsson (Laibon Ravnos Breed/Boon) -> Roger Carhult (Nakthoreb Trafficing) -> Alex Ek (Ventrue Breed/Boon) -> Peter ??? (Followers Bleed/Entice)
My predator had a hard time with Alex getting a great start. I wasn't bled for more than I could handle which was furtunate since my crypt draw wasn't the best. I started with three Anarch Converts and one Delilah Monroe. The top two vampires in my crypt turned out to be the remaining two Anarch Converts so it took a while before I could get my first Baron. I also didn't draw any vote master until late mid-game so I spent most of the game with no permanent votes. The breeding worked fine since the whole table was completely intercept-free and Alex helped me pass some Con Boons for survival and even some Kines.

Roger fought hard and managed to corrupt some Embraces, Third Traditions and Tumnimoses from his prey and predator but it was just a matter of time before Alex got his first VP. Ida's vote engine started to work and in one round she succeeded with two Con Boons for a total of 16 pool. I had Revolutionary Council in hand and 8 Anarchs, one of them being Baron so I knew I could make Ida burn 14 pool with one action but not being able to handle the last two pool. I was also running low on pool and I made a deal with Alex that he would let me get my Victory Point before trying to oust me. I did my thing and Ida was on two pool. Alex turned out to have the perfect hand so after some bleeds and two 3-1 Kines he ousted me and Ida at the same time. Sad times and a beautifully sneaky way of honouring his deal.
I should have played it cool. I had the Museum in play and I could demand to bloat for some rounds before damaging Ida. Alex would probably have had to work with me anyhow since Ida would have been too strong without me being able to deal her massive damage. Bad mistake but a good game.
Alex GW 2.5VP Me 1VP Roger 0.5VP

Round 3
Me -> Martin Svenneryd (Beast&Co Combat) -> Mattias Thörnkvist (True Brujah/Brujah something) -> Peter Kärrberg (Akunanse Toolbox)
I knew I would never get trough my first prey without help. The situation wasn't better since he had seen me execute the Revolutionary Council for 14 in the previous round. Fortunately Peter had been slammed by his combat in round 2 so he wasn't willing to oust me before I ousted Martin.
Both me and Mattias got a good share of Potence and Animalism-combat in our faces while Peter was free to do his set-up. Soon Martin had both Information Network and Rumour Mill in play plus intercept-reactions on hand so my Barons couldn't act at all since I only had Creepshow Casino in play. I made him take some vote damage and the whole table was turned against him. Peter and I made a deal he shouldn't oust me before I ousted Martin. This time I thought I would prepare for a double-oust and getting 12 fresh pool for the duel since Mattias was totally crippled but I influenced one vampire too many to my controlled region. Peter was able to do the same thing Alex did to me the round before with an Anarchist Uprising ousting me and Martin at the same time. Who was the fool of the day?
Peter GW 3VP Me 1VP

I made one mistake in each game against smart predators and that cost me the chances of entering the finals. The greatest lesson learned from this is that it is hard to play a specialized deck that focuses on only one strategy. I don't think I am a good enough player yet to succeed when I need to. I have to start playing safer decks for a while and analyzing the different aspects of the game before I try these crazy attempts again.
There is nothing wrong with the deck I played. I will keep it for a while but the three Dodges will probably be traded for one more Con Boon, one more damaging vote and a third copy of Conductor. There are also some new cards to play with from Heirs to the Blood and most of the Con Boons should be traded for Benefit Performances. About half of the Kines should be Lily Preludes as well but other than that none of the new cards adds anything good to this deck.

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.