The Decklist

On 11/6/06, thelasombra@hotmail.com wrote:
> Mike,
>
> Congratulations on winning the storyline tournament!
> Watching you pull out that game win was a joy to watch.


Thanks! :) I thought I might have handed the table away, when I let the reverend go, and when you Suddened that Fame.

As for how the Storyline deck affected table balance (how I managed to keep the Reverend for the better part of two games, with only 4 table votes)...

I found favorable 5-player seating to be a prey and predator who combine for fewer votes than I, and votes balanced (at any level) between grand-prey and grand-predator. I lucked into this in both the 2nd and final tables. Votes were generally split between G-prey and G-pred seats, with four of my own votes making the difference. I was the only target that would get either G-prey or G-pred's votes, and my Own.

Once there, neither G-prey nor G-pred wanted their prey or predator to claim the reverend, and I would always vote to keep the reverend. This was worth one VP, plus a hand or more worth of setup played from the cultist deck, in each of the second and final rounds.

So now, four-player. It's in no one's interest to allow the Reverend to move anywhere but to themselves. [I seriously screwed this up in the final, briefly throwing the outcome in question]. Barring that, the Reverend should only reside cross-table.

Under no circumstances should your predator or prey acquire the Reverend. In the first round, my prey went from VP to out-of-reach in a turn, by her claiming the cultist and my grand-prey disabling my Queen Anne with Temptation. I was resigned to passing a Parity Shift/Anarchist Uprising combo to oust said grand-prey, to even have a chance at ousting.

If you have the Reverend when the table goes four-player, either (a) someone has enough votes to shout down the table, and claim the Reverend, or (b) you retain the Reverend until he becomes unready.

In the second round, I augmented this scenario by making a 'synchronized-oust' deal cross-table. I was then able to draw a block with the Reverend, send him to torpor (with a grenade, if necessary), and reclaim him in the same turn, on multiple turns. The implied threat of pocket grenades dissuaded blockers, and vote lock was secured cross-table. :)

Then, three-player. At this point, whoever has vote lock takes and/or keeps the Reverend, and has immense advantage for the other three VP, especially if they play the 'good' cards in the cultist deck.

This is where I back into breaking that deal in the second round (sorry, Robyn :). Once it was clear my four cultist Creation Rites would be blockable, I had to get as many bleeds for one in as possible, before having to feed them to the Animalism/Sniper Rifle wood chipper. I was also pants-down for the big-damage votes and 3 or 6 bleed from my predator. So, I bled for four. Then I bled for four next turn, and while I was on a roll, bled with some blockable minions for an oust (and eventually, sweep).

This is also where I thought I gave away the final table; I could have held onto the Reverend for one or two more turns while Aaron remained in the game.

Notable Storyline events from my tables

Contestations: Princeship of Seattle (R-2), Queen Anne (Final)

Non-contested Crypt overlaps: Maris Streck (R-1).