Tournament Reports
GenCon 2002
Milwaukee, WI
Boy, is my memory fuzzy. I should have jotted notes directly after each round. I'll try taking a pocket pad into my next tournament, maybe that will help retain some information. Of course, I'll have to remember to use it, but that's a detail to deal with later.

Rapid Thought II
Rapid Thought rules, 3+1
Thursday, August

R1:
Me:
Robyn Tatu:
??


R2:
Me:
?:
Jared Strait:

R3:
Me:
Galen:
Fredrick Scott:
Gencon North American Qualifier
V:EKN Constructed, 3+1
Saturday, August

Having been royally screwed over at Origins, I had resigned myself to play a deck that could provide disincentive for cross-table interference, and enforce predator-prey relationship. VP and game wins would be nice, but I had no illusions that I'd be able to score any, given the expected levels of interference. So I brought my non-fortitude !Malk lunatic eruption/ bleed deck, spiked with a few extra Kindred Spirits, but kind of master-heavy. The plan: sit on my prey, threaten anyone else that attempts to interfere, and earn my VP at a slower pace than a standard sneak-n-bleed.

R1:
(0 VP): me: !Malk looney/bleed
(1 VP): Dan: !Tor fundamentals
(1 VP): Mark Woodhouse: Tzi intercept
(0 VP): "Gumby": Ravnos no-stealth bleed for one
(3 VP): Mike Z.: Malk stealth-bleed'n'vote

I was stuck between two California players, who formed a limited team for the round. My grand-predator brought out Gabrin, and spent three turns trying to equip Gabrin with a .44, thanks to my grand prey, who didn't block my predator very much. I got busy sending various !toreador of my prey, who spent most of the round rushing the Tzimisce and playing Majesty. And then the judge incorrectly (IMHO) ruled that once untapped via majesty (or other means), a minion was no longer under the effect of Lunatic Eruption. And as if that was wasn't enough, I caught my prey reading my hand and tipping it to my predator. So my round was royally screwed from about the 20th minute. Actually, my tournament became an impromptu ruling playtest, more on that later.
Gumby, having produced no forward pressure, and being low on pool (via bounces and Tzimisce bleeds of 1), then made a speed-bump 'deal' with my predator, whereby Gumby would act as a speed bump until and unless my predator became his predator, and gave more indications of burning lunatic eruptions cross-table. At this point, I figured my predator's plan was to let my prey sweep, and I was having none of this. It was time to put pressure on my predator, and I did so by ousting my grand-predator via Kindred Spirits. This action ensured at least one VP would not go towards the tag-team.
Since my grand-prey hadn't done much in the way of blocking, I figured that he'd be stocked up on intercept. I knew that my predator was jammed on stealth; he hadn't done anything significant for most of the game, although a constant bleed for two or three was taking its toll. By putting the two in contact with one another, I figured the Tzimisce would be able to catch some of my predator's Boons. Wrong. The Tzimisce produced 3 intercept once (Read the Winds + Spirits Touch + Cat's Guidance), and didn't produce any more intercept while I was in the game. My predator cycled into his bleed, and ousted me anyway. Screw that.

R2:
(.5 VP): me
(1.5 VP): S_____: Anneke/Alexandra Untouchable Bloat
(0 VP): R_____: Tremere
(1.5 VP): Boris : Weenie Prince nastiness
(0 VP): Errol Trepanier: !Tor toolbox/vote
And now, more bitching about that incorrect ruling. My prey influences out: Alexandra and Anneke. So again, Lunatic Eruption was nigh useless. Anneke rushes left, plays majesty, untaps, and does something useful, or Anneke punches for one, Alexandra untaps her, and then Anneke does something useful. Bleh. This time, however, my prey waited for someone to burn the Eruptions from cross-table. This was interesting to see, and a prudent move on S_____'s part: I could have been playing the block-and-kill deck, with all the !Malks' auspex.
Boris, as he did often during the weekend, played an inventive and interesting-looking deck. He influenced out Calebos, Volker, Rufina, and a few more weenies. He put Ventrue HQ and Island of Yiaros into play, and equipped Rufina with an Ivory Bow, and bled for one a LOT. Noting the lack of pressure this was leaving on my predator (especially after he influenced Greta, negating most of the incoming bleeds), I dropped an Eruption on Rufina, and sent her to harass those !Toreador to my right. And several times during the round, Rufina would rush, into the teeth of my predator's Majesties, then freak drive and do something useful, like bleeding. Qualifier complaints aside, this actually bodes well for dem/for decks. I can now make, say, Ian Forrestal looney, send him rushing left with protean nastiness, and then freak-drive/Govern.
I'm not sure who everyone was at this table, or where they hail from, but Errol and I both received cross-table screw-over vote support during the midgame. I took a KRC three, called by Errol, and passed by Boris. Errol took a KRC three, called by Boris, and supported by S_____. Errol was directly ousted by votes sent from my prey, however, and receives my screw-over award for the tournament. There really was no clear reason for voting in favor.

R3:
(1 VP): me
(0 VP): T______: 1st Trad
(4 VP): Darby: Goratrix tha/vic/dom/ani nastiness
(0 VP): Aaron: Lasombra/Kisayd power bleed
(0 VP): Mike Courtois.: Tzimisce death machine
More California teaming, this time from Darby and Mike, and this time Aaron was the lucky winner. I managed to get initiative, and hence, lockdown, on my prey, who brought out Muaziz, Rebekka, Anson, and Etrius over the course of the game, using minion tap and fifth to good effect.
Most of the round consisted of negotiations with grand-prey and predator, over how to deal with the deflection-packing grand-predator. My minions were rushed twice, and escaped once. Artemis found himself torporized, but I still had enough minions to stick a Madman's Quill and some Eruptions on my prey, who was pretty much reduced to bloating.
Eventually, predator had to take a defensive posture, after grand-predator scored a couple of 4+ bleeds. I also managed to instill a sense of caution in my predator, after threatening to make him lose pool if he bled me. Given this opportunity, I pulled Artemis (and one other vamp) out of torpor, and begain to bleed for 8-10 per turn (courtesy madman's quill). I did this for three rounds, reducing my prey to five pool.
My prey then sent his loony, quilled Anson into combat with his prey, and found Anson in torpor. To save the scant blood remaining on his vampires, my prey then sent Muaziz to diablerize Anson, getting rid of the Quill. It was too late, as I'd drawn into a Kindred Spirits, which added with my other three minions for the requisite five pool to oust.
My new prey walled up at that point, and my predator then sent the pulsed Meshenka, with Femur in hand, to bleed for three. I accepted the bleed, and reduced him to one pool with superior Burnt Offerings. My predator then walled up, and hostilities ceased for several turns. Eventually, my predator started bleeding me again, and for some reason, I thought I'd go torporize Dragos with a Reality Mirror'ed agg. damage card. This was inherently stupid, as my predator immediately dropped the four(4) Horrid Forms he was keeping, preventing any damage a non-combat deck could hope to inflict. So Artemis went to torpor again, and instead of having four minions up, I was stuck with three.
My prey, seeing that I was now defenseless, and having influenced a total of 6 vamps, then bled out my predator, and ousted me a short time later, around the 115th minute.
Shadow Twin
V:EKN Constructed, 3+1
The real prize in the NA Championship is not winning the Championship round, it's playing there in the first place. In qualifying for an Continental Championship tournament, one earns the right to play alongside some of the best players around. The penalty for failure: Shadow Twin, a tournament largely devoid of such players. I played the same deck, minus Tasha and J.S., partially out of wanting to maintain a disincentive threat, and partially because I couldn't find my potence princes deck. As it turned out, we played the optimal seating arrangement of four-player tables.

R1:
(4 VP): Larry Strait: Giovanni nec-stealth bleed.
(0 vP): me: !Malk Bleeding Lunacy
(0 VP): Walter "Dreamlord": Princely something-or-other
(0 VP): w (Chicago): Assamite no-psyche Bleed for 1.
I really screwed the pooch this time. I'd effectively neutralized my prey, who wasn't very happy to see this new card, Lunatic Eruption. Apparently none of the other players had seen it, but that didn't stop my nigh-useless grandprey from 'playing nice' and keeping my prey's minions ready. And again, the "Lunatic Eruption only applies on the first action" ruling burned me again. So my grandprey bled my predator for one a lot, and rushed into the teeth of S:CE a lot, and only succeeded in cycling out my predator's S:CE, making room for bleed and stealth.
Anyway...I got my prey down to three pool, and figured I'd tap out, bring out Artemis, and use the bounce and the wake in my hand to bounce-oust my prey. The astute reader will note that Artemis has inferior auspex, which cannot bounce any bleeds. Having realized my CF, I then attempted to bluff my predator, who was bringing about 15 points of bleed anyway. So my predator swept. Humbug.

My prey

R2:
(0 VP): Walter "Dreamlord": Princely something-or-other
(4 VP): Dave "Raille": Setite tempt'n'bleed
(0 VP): me: !Malk Bleeding Lunacy
(0 VP): Matt Heslin: Setite corrupt'n'bleed
Misery continued: The guy I should have ousted last round was an absolute speedbump cross-table. He brought out vamps, made an embrace, stacked it with equipment and a skill card, was introduced to Corruption and Venenation, and lost the Embrace. My predator had absolutely zero pressure, and set up a very strong position, corrupting my Boy Toy, and tempting a Setite weenie controlled by my prey. There wasn't much I could do from there, although I should have ousted my grand-prey cross table to put pressure on my predator. I was bled out in short order, and my predator used the momentum to sweep the table from there.

R3:
(1 VP) Me: !Malk Bleeding Lunacy
(0 VP) Larry Strait
(0 VP) Frederick Scott: Temptation of Greater Power
(3 VP) Z______: Gangrel Wall/Hack
This game was very tight. After five rounds of ineffective Lunatic Eruptions, I brought out Gillian Krader, gave her superior Dementation, and equipped her with a Sengir Dagger. Next turn, I had Dolphin put an Eruption on Gillian, who immediately went headlong into Larry's raft of NEC and DOM vamps (Krassimir, Chaz, Isabel), and caught him without S:CE. Krassimir and Chaz went to torpor on successive turns. Although they were both promptly rescued, Larry wasn't bleeding his prey at full bore, which was good news because....
Fredericks deck didn't go anywhere. Anneke came out, and couldn't block anything Larry was doing (thanks to Call of the Hungry Dead). And of three Temptations and two Minion Taps played through midgame, only one Minion Tap wasn't suddened by either Larry or Z______. And Z______ blocked the few actions Frederick took, so he was just stuck.
Z______, meanwhile, had a nice +1/+2 intercept, +1 bleed Gangrel wall going, with Form of Mist to back it up. I was getting pinged for 1-3 a turn, which was quite bothersome. I managed to bounce two bleeds of two or three, which opened the door for my VP. I bled Larry out, then came up one action short of ousting Fred, and Z______ cleaned up the mess.

So, for the course of the weekend: 6 rounds, 3 VP. That's good enough for a benchmark: Instead of looking to average 1.5 VP/round, I'm now looking to average 0.5 VP/round, an adequate total for game win.
Camarilla Preview
Camarilla Starters, 2+F
Friday, August __
Round 1
(.5 vp) me : Nosferatu
(.5 VP) ??? (Conn): Brujah
(1.5 VP) Hughes Bertrand: Ventrue
(0 VP) ???? (Quebec): Toreador
(.5 VP) Larry Strait: Ventrue

Round 2
(1 VP) me: Nosferatu
(0 VP) Josh D.: Tremere
(0 VP) Ben Peal: Brujah
(4 VP) Robyn Tatu: Brujah
(0 VP) Josh Fuerenstein: Nosferatu

Prince Theo Bell of New York, acquired an assault rifle, and commenced to kicking ass. I am so glad White Wolf included Canine Horde in the Cam set, because that rifle had to go.
Pickup

Friday Night
(0 VP) me: Superior Potence rush
(? VP) Ethan Burrow: PAAD: Protean
(0 VP) Oscar Garza: OEE: Animalism
(? VP) Boris: Obeah/Thaumaturgy nastiness.
Ethan and Oscar both asked me to pick a discipline for them to use, neither of them had visceratika or obtenebration modules constructed, so Ethan selected his PAAD: Protean module, and Oscar selected his Animalism module.
I got early initiative, catching Ethan with neither prevent nor agg. damage in hand, and torporized his first minion. Then Boris influenced out some THA weenies, and Mattias (and added two THA skill cards), and started swiping my minions via Spirit Marionette, and that had to go. In retrospect, I think Spirit Marionette only works on tapped (or untapped) minions, and we played it incorrectly that game. But potence doesn't care for such trifling details, so I dropped a haven on Mattias, and sent Chaz, Talley, Agatha, and Hugo, at varying blood quantity, to go beat Mattias into tiny pieces.
Vitae Block, Weather Control, Hugo goes to torpor.
Vitae Block, Weather Control, Immortal Grapple (from me), Anesthetic Touch, Talley goes to torpor.
Vitae Block, Weather Control, Nigel goes to torpor.
Vitae Block, Anesthetic Touch, Chaz goes to torpor.
Well, so much for that. Needless to say, I got bled out shortly afterwards. That's one more deck that I'll be putting together; Vitae Block is exactly what a Weather Control deck needs, even at inferior (per Ian Forrestal).

Sunday Night
8/11/02, ~8 PM
(0 VP): me: !Gangrel block'n'poke
(? VP): Norm: Setite Mummies
(? VP): Robyn: Gangrel bloat
(1 VP): Aaron: Lasombra/Kisayd power bleed.
(0 VP): Dave: Setite Mummies

I borrowed a deck from Steven Fazio, it involved Anti-Gangrel block'n'poke, with celerity. It worked fairly well, too. Norm and Dave were playing almost the same deck. It was funny listening to the cross-table haggling over uniques.
Robyn played her Gangrel power-bloat and vote, the same deck as the Origins clan-tournament. Aaron ran his power bleed deck from the qualifier, and it found Dave's setites to be much more forgiving than Mike Courtois' Tzimisce.

Last Call
8/11/02, 11:00 PM
Comfort Suites

(0 VP): Frederick Scott: Giovanni power bleed
(0 VP): Me: Gangrel agg. damage/Vulnerability
(0 VP): Matt Hirsch: Tzimisce War Ghoul/Bauble
(0 VP): Ben Peal: Illusions of Alexandra
(5 VP): Steven Fazio: Daughters bleed/choir

I left my cards at my hotel, so I borrowed a deck from Frederick. "Vulnerability" is it's name, IIRC. The goal is to send vamps to torpor, then burn them with vulnerability. I really liked the deck, and I'll be building a similar deck once I get my cards re-inventoried. Ben played that silly Alexandra untap loop deck, which I think has a legitimate chance to be a tournament deck. Steve played a rather impressive Daughters deck, combining Choir, Force of Will, and Daring the Dawn to great effect. Frederick, having built the deck I was playing, was very cautious with his forward actions.
I had a miserable crypt draw: only one vamp had animalism, which ended up increasing my handjam throughout the round. Still, with the Daughters performing swandives into torpor, and illusory Alexandras singing Songs in the Dark, there were plenty of opportunities to burn vamps with vulnerability, most notably, my prey's Lambach.
After losing Lambach, my prey pulled off his deck's trick: create a War Ghoul, then turn horatio into a baubled Bang Nakh, to let the Ghoul punch for six. The Ghoul acquired a Mr. Winthrop, and stayed up as a blocker. I spent the rest of my game trying to work my way into a position to either go around or through the Ghoul, but it didn't work.
So eventually, Steven scored a sweep, and I made off with the remaining beer. An excellent end to an excellent weekend.