TWD and Finals report: Member of the Entourage

Member of the Entourage vekn.net/index.php/event-calendar/event/6709
4/14/12
15 Players
Deck Name: Tribute to Jay 2
Winner: Ira Fay
Description: Jay Kristoff has inspired previous decks of mine (thelasombra.com/decks/twd.htm#2k7ctw1), and this deck was also inspired by him, hence the name. You can read all about his deck here: vekn.net/index.php/forum/9-event-reports-and-twd/10918-twd-the-unnamed-newark-ohio-september-24th-2011
With some research from Mephistopheles, Jay outlined 6 design goals for his deck:
1) 9-12 different vampires without a star
2) Many pool generating cards
3) Cards that move vamps from crypt to uncontrolled
4) 60 cards
5) Doesn't appear frightening
6) Unusual

I started by thinking about what +2 Pool action I could take. It's hard to get that many Art Scams, so I settled on Dark Mirror of the Mind. Then I had to figure out how to get a bunch of 8+ caps. Eternals of Sirius was the best answer I could find, and it also solved #3 since I could use Mesu Bedshet. I think I succeeded on all the design goals except #5, since it's really hard to convince people that you're not frightening when you have 5 or more 8+ caps.

When actually playing the deck, it's relatively simple. The Dark Mirror of the Mind actions just don't get blocked that often. I think 1 was blocked the whole tournament. Bring out minions as fast as possible, gain a lot of pool, ignore your predator as much as possible, and then bleed for the win when the opportunity is right.

I intended to have 10x Dark Mirror of the Mind, but could only trade for 8, so I put in an extra Lost in Crowds and Scouting Mission instead. I also took out a single Foreshadowing Destruction and put in Forgotten Labyrinth to try to keep my threat level slightly lower. Discarding or playing a Foreshadowing Destruction at any point makes people nervous. I doubt it changed much, but I was trying to stay true to the design goals. Finally, I included Gran Madre because Jay recommended it, and I liked it too.

Crypt (12)
2x Nefertiti
2x Khay'tall, Snake of Eden
1x Amisa
1x Intisar
1x Kephamos, High Priest of Marrakech
1x Kahina the Sorceress
1x Saqqaf, Keeper of the Grand Temple of Set
1x Kemintiri
1x Nehsi
1x Sutekh, The Dark God

Library (60)
Master (19)
7x Eternals of Sirius
6x Villein
2x Information Highway
1x Golconda
1x Giant's Blood
1x Ferraille
1x Opium Den

Actions (22)
8x Dark Mirror of the Mind
5x Mesu Bedshet
3x Govern the Unaligned
2x Enchant Kindred
1x Entrancement
1x Set's Curse
1x Gran Madre Di Dio
1x Scouting Mission

Political Actions (1)
1x Political Stranglehold

Allies (1)
1x Mylan Horseed

Action Modifiers (6)
3x Lost in Crowds
1x Veil the Legions
1x Cloak the Gathering
1x Forgotten Labyrinth

Reactions (6)
2x Confusion of the Eye
2x On the Qui Vive
1x Deflection
1x Redirection

Combat (5)
3x Majesty
2x Staredown

Member of the Entourage
Brooklyn, New York
April 14, 2012
15 players
3R + F

Ira Fay's Tournament Winning Deck

Deck Name : Tribute to Jay 2
Author : Ira Fay
Description :

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 8 max: 11 average: 9.25

2x	Nefertiti	(10)			Follower of Set	(g2)
2x	Khay'tall, Snake of Eden	(9)			Follower of Set	(g2)
1x	Sutekh, The Dark God	(11)		2 votes	Follower of Set	(g2)
1x	Kemintiri	(10)			Follower of Set	(g2)
1x	Nehsi	(10)		2 votes	Follower of Set	(g2)
1x	Kahina the Sorceress	(9)		1 vote	Follower of Set	(g3)
1x	Saqqaf, Keeper of the Grand Temple of Set	(9)			Follower of Set	(g2)
1x	Amisa	(8)		2 votes	Follower of Set	(g2)
1x	Intisar	(8)			Follower of Set	(g2)
1x	Kephamos, High Priest of Marrakech	(8)		2 votes	Follower of Set	(g2)

Library [60 cards]

Action [21]
8x Dark Mirror of the Mind
2x Enchant Kindred
1x Entrancement
3x Govern the Unaligned
5x Mesu Bedshet
1x Scouting Mission
1x Set's Curse

Action Modifier [6]
1x Cloak the Gathering
1x Forgotten Labyrinth
3x Lost in Crowds
1x Veil the Legions

Ally [1]
1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)

Combat [5]
3x Majesty
2x Staredown

Equipment [1]
1x Gran Madre di Dio, Italy

Master [19]
7x Eternals of Sirius, The
1x Ferraille
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda: Inner Peace
2x Information Highway
1x Opium Den
6x Villein

Political Action [1]
1x Political Stranglehold

Reaction [6]
2x Confusion of the Eye
1x Deflection
2x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection

That deck is very entertaining. I'm surprised by the lack of significant stealth. I mean, I guess unless your predator is a serious intercept deck (which I don't think it ever was), no one is going to try and block many of your actions anyway.

The final game consisted of (in order):

-Ira
-Greg Galyanov with a Dimitra/Armin Brenner multi act vote deck
-Shawn Stanley with a big Ventrue not vote deck
-Sonam Adinof with a stealth vote Lutz/Auspex deck
-Matt Morgan with a weenie Tzimisce with Dominate deck

When I wandered over in the late game, Greg busted out and managed to oust Shawn and then Sonam in pretty quick succession, leaving Ira, Greg, and Matt. Matt's deck didn't seem to be doing so hot, and Ira was hugely bloated with, like, 8 huge minions on the table. Greg was rapidly being bled out at this point by Ira, so Greg made a lunge to oust Matt, got him down to, like, 2 pool (having drawn the needed KRC to have ousted him during the last futile bleed action), and then got killed by Ira. When I left (Asif and I were waiting for Greg so we could drive home for 5 hours...), the game wasn't over yet, but Matt was at 1 pool, and Ira had a billion pool and still 8 huge minions. Presumably, it ended in Ira's favor not long after that

On my front, I super sucked. I was playing a Pot/Dom Lasombra fighty bleed deck (lots of dominate and bounce and some reactive combat) that won a tournament not that long ago and regularly wins games in general. Not the best deck in the world, but certainly solid. I managed to get a grand total of none VPs. First game, my prey was a wall of Shambling Hordes protected by the FBI (so I couldn't seduce them, and when I killed them, Mulder shot me in the face), and my predator had Lutz. I got stealth voted to death quickly. Second game my prey was Greg's deck, he killed two guys, I had the chance to oust Greg and possibly get a 3VP win, made my lunge, I need him to *not* have an AI in his hand when I bled for 5, he had an AI in his hand, so my lunge failed and I died (getting Greg a 4VP win). My last game, my prey was Pete Kapsalis playing Malkavians with fortitude and intercept and sniper rifles and my predator was Gwendolyn bleeds for 5, and when you block her, she IGs/TS/Burning Wraths you. I was in that game and not doing badly for a long time, and kept almost ousting Pete, but then between Gwendolyn burning someone and Pete Mind Raping someone who diablerized and got killed in the blood hunt, well, that ended my trip real fast.

A fun tournament with a great group of guys in Brooklyn. If only I didn't suck so much.

A lot of things went right for me this tournament, and I definitely got lucky at several points. Here are some notes:

Two out of my four games, I got to play Giant's Blood on a nearly empty vampire. That card is really good if you get to play it.

Round 1:
Ira -> John (anarch Pariah rush with Anarch Revolts) -> Sonam (!Malk vote with PRE) -> Peter (midcap lasombra) -> Cory (anarch NEC PRE to summon allies)
At the beginning of the round, as the tournament was starting, Cory said to me, "Pick your poison" and offered me three decks to pick at random. I didn't know what I was choosing at the time, but he showed me later that the other two decks were a SPI wall deck and !Ven grinder. I'm glad I picked what I did!

I had an incredible start this game, with 3x Eternals of Sirius, 1x Opium Den, and 2x Villein, so I got large vamps out quickly and proceeded to gain pool, trying not to draw John's ire. He went forward the whole game, except for one turn.

Cory's deck had a cool trick with Summoning Cry Wolf, and then using it to feed Shambling Hordes. I kept his Shambling Hordes at Bay with Nehsi who could just maneuver away, and saved wakes/end combat for when he had extra hordes to send my way. Mostly, though, he just left them untapped (with Unmasking) so Peter's game was pretty tough.

John had been making a dent in Sonam's pool with Anarch Revolts, so Sonam called Political Stranglehold and gained me 12 pool cross table. After that, Cory started playing for the 0.5 VP. I stole one Shambling Horde with Entrancement, and much later burned another with Set's Curse.

Mostly Sonam and I cooperated on votes, and he passed an Anarchist Uprising with Lutz in play, doing a lot of damage to Peter, and then ousting him. That got John low enough for me to oust him soon after. Cory stayed walled up, trying to live.

Sonam tried a few things backwards against me, like Banishment, but I failed it with some table votes and a timely Confusion of the Eye. He also tried to Entrance my rightfully stolen Shambling Hordes, but the Hordes itself was able to block because Sonam didn't realize that Approximation of Loyalty had to be played as the action was announced at inferior.

I managed to get Sonam with bleeds, and then the game timed out. In the endgame, Cory had quite a bit of pool and still plenty of minions. I might have gotten him in the end if we had 30 more minutes, but it would have been tight. 2.5 VPs and the GW.

Round 2
John (anarch Pariah rush with Anarch Revolts) -> Ray (Gwendolyn toolbox) -> Ira -> Asif (Harbingers ANI wall) -> Adam (Anarch qui rush with Alan Sovereign Advanced + investments to pay for big guns)

John got a good start and torpored Gwendolyn, and again after she rescued herself, then she reached Golconda. That meant I had very little pressure the whole game.

It took a while for Adam to get setup, but when he did, Steely Tenacity rushes with Assault Rifles were very strong. Asif made slow and steady progress against Adam, getting him down a bit lower, and also suddened a Tribute to the Master for 5.

John eventually ousted Dan with Anarch Revolts, since all of Dan's minions were titled. Everyone else had gotten anarchs by that point. Mid-game, I had vote lock, and I made a deal with John to vote against any vote to burn Anarch Revolts, in exchange for him not playing a Delaying Tactics on my Political Stranglehold (gaining me 12, Asif 3, and Dan 3). I was down to ~4 pool at that point and Dan was still in the game bleeding slowly but steadily, so I understand why he decided to go for it, but obviously that was a huge lucky break for me. It seemed like Asif was going to try to block the vote, but John tried to misplay Delaying Tactics, so Asif decided not to block.

My favorite play of the game was when I tried to take PB: Montreal from Asif. I got to +7 stealth with Opium Den, Forgotten Labyrinth, Lost in Crowds, and Cloak. He got to +8 (!!) intercept with +1 inherent on Mordechai Ben-Nun, Eagle's Sight, Cat's Guidance, Sense the Savage Way, Enhanced Senses, and Eyes of Argus. I believe that's my personal record of high intercept and stealth on a single action. Unfortunately, doing something like that caused my threat level to go up, so it might have been strategically unwise.

In the late game, after it was down to a 4 player, I was trying to prop up John, which upset Adam who came crosstable at me a bit, but then decided to refocus forward.

In the end, with a few minutes left, I decided go forward at Asif with a hand full of bleed. I got lucky and managed to barely oust him because he forgot that his untapped minion didn't have animalism, so he couldn't untap with the handful of Cat's Guidance he had in his hand.

In the three player, with just a few seconds left, I would have been able to oust Adam as well, but the time ran out. 1.5 VP for me.

Round 3
Ray (Tremere toolbox) -> Sonam (!Malk vote with PRE) -> Ira -> Shawn (Ven with Aus grinder) -> Cory (anarch NEC PRE to summon allies)
This game timed out with 0.5 all around. I gained a lot of pool trying to survive against Sonam, who had light but consistent pressure from Ray the whole game. Cory wasn't able to do much because Shawn blocked key actions. Shaun tooled up a bunch and was generally pretty cautious. I looked for opportunities, but didn't see much.

Knowing Sonam's deck, I brought up all my titled minions first, and Ray had a few votes too, so Sonam sometimes had tough times passing votes, which caused a lot of discussion.


Finals
Greg (Armin and Dmitra bleed vote) -> Shawn (Ven with Aus grinder) -> Sonam (!Malk vote with PRE) -> Matt (Tzim bleed combat with dom) -> Ira

Matt got a fast start, I was able to pool gain enough to live and get some sympathy. Matt only drew one vamp with dom, which was a 2 cap. Greg, Shawn and Sonam got out their vamps and tooled up. Lots of table votes (~20 total on the table) plus plenty of vote push - Bewitching, Scalpel Tongue, Telepathic Vote Counting, Iron Glare.

Notable events were that a Political Stranglehold failed to pass where Greg and Shawn would gain 6, I gain 9, Sonam gains 3, and Matt gains 0. After it failed, I thought I had made a bad mistake, since I could have taken a different, good action with that vampire and saved the Political Stranglehold for later. Normally I never like to call a vote that will fail, especially when you can ask around in advance and know that it will fail. In retrospect, maybe it was OK that it failed, since reduced my threat level. Calling votes that fail is a good strategy for appearing weak. Maybe that will inspire my next deck idea: a winning deck that intentionally calls votes that fail. Wow, that seems like a hard challenge.

Anyway, Greg eventually got Shawn with multiaction from votes and bleeds, along with a surprise Torrent for the oust. Then Sonam and I tried to stop Greg's votes, but he had a Legendary Vampire for a while, and lots of push, and was able to get Sonam anyway.

At that point, Matt was just hanging in there, bleeding me periodically, but not making a significant dent in my pool gain. I had 5 setites (one with +1 bleed), Mylan, and a Set's Curse. Matt and I both agreed that I had to go full forward, so I did, and made a dent in Greg's pool. He went forward at Matt, but didn't oust him. I went full forward again, but couldn't get Greg. He had one more turn at Matt, got him down to 2 pool, but couldn't oust him. I got him the next turn, and then easily ousted Matt.

My favorite part of that game was playing 2 Set's Curse, even though I only have 1 in my deck and no recursion. I burned Matt's dom 2-cap with it. Then he played Erciyes Fragments, and burned my Set's Curse in combat. When I went to steal the Fragments, he put Set's Curse on it. Sonam had a 2-cap, so I burned that crosstable as well. I never expected to get to play that card twice!

Thanks to Adam for organizing, the Ithaca playgroup and other distant players for making the trip, and everyone else for a fun event!

Very Good report Ira! Thanks for writing it!

And thanks to everyone for showing up!

Adam Hulse
Prince of New York

Yup, thanks for a detailed report!