This event was played on October 14. Reported by Devin Villegas, VEKN Prince of New Orleans, with comments from the winner:

We had a total of 19 methuselahs across three days in New Orleans attending tournaments, with a peak attendance of 18 folks on Saturday. There was also an incredible event Friday where someone's collection fell out of their car into a busy thoroughfare. A local bartender saw it happen, notified the game store, and a large group of gamers and bar patrons rallied to safely collect the cards from the street. Quite the display of hospitality and communities supporting each other.

Above: The place of the incident.

Standings after round 3:
1. Andy Smith 3 GW 11 VP
2. Mark Figuerola 2 GW 9 VP
3. Norm Brown 2 GW 8 VP
4. Brad Cashdollar 1 GW 5 VP
5. Kelly Lyons 1 GW 2,5 VP

Kelly Lyons comment:

First of all, it was a miracle just to get to the final table. I was ousted in Round 1 in about twenty minutes. Round 2 was just luck. I was sandwiched between two wall combat decks; Tremere predator and Brujah prey. My ally helped me out with a banishment on my Brujah prey. I followed it up with a banishment on him as well. All of sudden I had prey I could handle. Got my game win when the table timed out. Round 3 was like Round 1. I was the first one out. So, I was lucky to have a game win and be in 5th place after Round 3.

Second, the seating for the final was not in my favor. When I looked at it I felt I would be the first one out. Not to mention, I drew the short straw and played first.

Third, Brad and I were essentially playing the same deck. So, contesting was another hurdle.

Fourth, the only real chance for me to win was to back oust Norm. Easier said than done.

When it comes to a Tupdog Deck being my predator I have had plenty of experience over the last two years to develop a strategy. Don’t bring out vampires!!! They have to hunt someone else.

Now, in this tournament I did bring out a 2-capacity vampire, Mateo Garcia, just to have some sort of presence on the table. Norm topored him immediately. So, I spent the next four turns just influencing enough to bring out two vampires at the same time with another one ready to go. I also, set-up my hand to get ready for the onslaught.

Meanwhile, Norm was busy killing the board. He crippled Brad immediately when he burned Diana Iadanza. He then diablerized one of Mark’s vampires and got three Trophy Progenies into play. However, he was down to 10-pool and I had my board and hand set.

I influenced out Catalina Vega and Flavio Goncalves. Flavio has a built in dodge which will come into play. My hand was the following:
1X Majesty
1X Charismatic Aura
1X Resist Earth's Grasp
1X Forced March
1X Voter Captivation
1X Camarilla's Iron Fist
1X Kine Resources Contested

Norm sent three rushes at Flavio. Using the built-in dodge and my combat cards, Flavio, was still in the ready region. He didn’t have blood but he was still there. Flavio hunted, then Forced Marched. I hit Norm for 4-pool damage with Camarilla's Iron Fist. Then followed it up with 3-pool damage with Kine Resources Contested. Norm was left with 3-pool. I let Brad do the rest. Norm was gone and Brad was crippled.

Next, I ousted Mark pretty quick. But, it took over an hour to get rid of Andy. I got Victoria Ash and Mkhokheli into play. With the extra votes and Catalina’s and Victoria’s +1bleed ability I slowly whittled away at Andy. Andy had plenty of Delaying Tactics. I want to say he used four of them against me. He bounced most of my bleeds into Brad. But, over time I got him. Brad surrendered after that.

Andy is a really good player. He won the other two tournaments this weekend. He made all three final tables. I call him my arch-enemy. He says to me, ”How am I your arch-enemy?” He knows why. LOL. He’s always at the final table. I have played Andy at the final table more than any other player I have played against. Especially, all the tournaments and games over 30 years of casual play in Dallas. Andy is one of the best players in the game. He doesn’t get enough credit.

Thanks to Devin Villegas the Prince of New Orleans for hosting. Michelle (my wife) and I had great luncheon with Devin and his family. What a great host. Thanks to Go 4 Games. Great store. Wonderful atmosphere. Thanks for having us.

Final result: Kelly Lyons 4 VP, Brad Cashdollar 1 VP.

The tournament winning deck: “Water Dog - Flower Power”
Creators: Kelly Lyons and Randal Rudstam

This is the same deck I ran in Mississippi and got to the Final Table. I did make a few modifications from that deck to suit the current meta I was seeing. You can see the original deck on my Youtube Channel Reading Between the Lyons episode "RBTL - VTES - Episode 0044 - 30th Anniversary Toreador (TWEAKED)". Here are the modifications:
Dropped the following MASTERS:
1 X Anarch Troublemaker
1 X Camarilla Conclave
1 X Dreams of the Sphinx
1 X Elysium: The Palace of Versailles
Added the following MASTERS:
1 X Protected Resources (3 Copies)
1 X Secret Passage
2 X Secure Haven
Dropped the following POLITICAL ACTIONS:
1 X Anarchist Uprising
1 X Ancilla Empowerment
Added the following POLITICAL ACTIONS:
1 X Camarilla's Iron Fist (7 Copies)
1 X Kine Resources Contested (3 Copies)

Crypt (12 cards)
2x Diana Iadanza 9 AUS CEL FOR PRE justicar Toreador:7
2x Catalina Vega 8 AUS CEL PRE for prince Toreador:6
2x Flávio Gonçalves 7 CEL PRE aus for prince Toreador:6
2x Mkhokheli 6 PRE aus cel for prince Toreador:6
1x Maila 6 AUS PRE cel primogen Toreador:6
1x Victoria Ash 6 PRE aus cel dom Toreador:7
1x Kazuki Hanabira 2 aus Toreador:7
1x Mateo García 2 pre Toreador:6

Library (90 cards)
Master (20; 4 trifle)
1x Art Museum
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
3x Protected Resources
1x Secret Passage
2x Secure Haven
6x Toreador Grand Ball
3x Villein
1x Wider View

Action (8)
2x Embrace, The
2x Entrancement
2x Heart of the City
2x Third Tradition: Progeny

Political Action (15)
2x Banishment
7x Camarilla's Iron Fist
3x Kine Resources Contested
3x Parity Shift

Action Modifier (25)
2x Aire of Elation
4x Awe
2x Bewitching Oration
4x Forced March
3x Freak Drive
2x Loup
2x Perfect Paragon
6x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Combat (2)
2x Resist Earth's Grasp

Action Modifier/Reaction (2)
2x Scalpel Tongue

Combat (8)
2x Charismatic Aura
4x Majesty
2x Torrent

Reaction (10)
2x Eyes of Argus
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Second Tradition: Domain
4x Telepathic Misdirection

Thanks to Devin, Kelly, sponsors and participants! If you are interested in the other two events, check out the VEKN forum: Abandoning the Flesh New Orleans 2024 and Redeem the Lost Soul New Orleans 2024

Current top 10 standings Gulf Coast Roast Grand Prix (Rank – Name – Points)
1 Kelly Lyons 90
2 Brad Cashdollar 50
3 Dean Garrison 40
3 S. Andy Smith 40
5 Sidney Conklin 31
5 Matthew Hatch 31
7 Darby Keeney 28
8 Norm Brown 26
9 Chance Thebeau 24
10 Mark Figuerola 21

Find out more about the Gulf Coast Roast and its next installment at the Facebook page or at official web site.