TWD Abomination 3 August 14, 2021 New Holland, PA

Abomination 3
New Holland, PA USA
August 14
2R + Final
10 players
www.vekn.net/event-calendar/event/9820

Thank you to everyone who came out of torpor to play some Vtes!  10 players gathered for Abomination 3. Adam’s Alastor Assault Rifles carried him to victory.  It felt amazing to play some in person Vampire again!  

The finals consisted of: 
Infernal Ravnos Votes >> 419 Operation >> Alastor Assault Rifles >> Inside Dirt >> Untitled Brujah Beats

Deck Name:   Lock and Load
Created By:  Adam Hulse
Description: Based upon Martin Major's First Chance Qualifier at NAC 2010 Tourney winning deck
The goal is to get assault rifles and let people play their game. Okay to rush down cross table voters if necessary.
With Parity shift rule change pool gain was an issue.
Possible change is removing dreams, 1 monastery, 2 grooming for 4 ashur tablets.
Meddilng with Semsith was worth the card slot.

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 23, Max: 36, Avg: 7.58)

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  2  Carlak                             dom pot CEL PRE          8  Brujah                     G5  Prince
  5  Dmitra Ilyanova                    obf CEL FOR POT PRE      9  Brujah                     G5  Justicar
  2  Karen Suadela                      obf pre CEL POT          7  Brujah                     G5  Prince
  1  Reginald Moore                     PRE                      4  Brujah                     G4  Primogen
  1  Tara                               cel POT PRE              6  Brujah                     G5  Prince
  1  Tomaine                            CEL POT PRE              6  Brujah                     G4  Primogen

Library: (70 cards)

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Master (11 cards)
  1  Dreams of the Sphinx
  1  Fame
  6  Grooming the Protege
  2  Monastery of Shadows
  1  New Carthage

Action (1 cards)
  1  Preternatural Strength

Action Modifier (12 cards)
  4  Forced March
  1  Iron Glare
  3  Perfect Paragon
  4  Voter Captivation

Political Action (12 cards)
  5  Alastor
  1  Ancilla Empowerment
  1  Meddling of Semsith, The
  4  Parity Shift
  1  Political Stranglehold

Reaction (8 cards)
  8  Second Tradition: Domain

Combat (12 cards)
  6  Psyche!
  2  Side Strike
  2  Superior Mettle
  2  Taste of Vitae

Equipment (5 cards)
  3  Assault Rifle
  1  Heart of Nizchetus
  1  Ivory Bow

Event (1 cards)
  1  Scourge of the Enochians

Combo (8 cards)
  8  Resist Earth's Grasp
 

Here is a synopsis of play, provided by one of our players, Matthew Heslin:

I barely remember what happened, but the authorities have asked me to piece together what I can. 

I went to New Holland for Amish baked goods, highly desirable in the stinking metropolis of Philadelphia but always sold at a premium by the mercantile Mennonites and their agents. Going to their home turf was an effective if dangerous method of avoiding the markup. 

Wil came with me. “You’ll wind up under the wheels of a buggy without someone to watch your back,” he said. He wasn’t wrong. We hadn’t reached Morgantown before he stopped a gang of straw hats from building a barn around my Prius. 

Before we could reach the bakery, we slowed down to see a concentrated riot occurring outside of a game store. Six Feet Under Games. At least they were honest about it. Wil saw familiar faces and black t-shirts, and recommended we investigate.

A small group of real pros from New York were about to throw down with the locals. Neither side looked outclassed, and the “proxies allowed” policy meant no one was lacking weapons. I told Wil we should get out of there, get to safety, and get the apple dumplings my girlfriend had specifically asked for. Wil half-smiled and showed me a deck with Saulot in it. I knew we were in for it. 

ABOMINATION III: THE RETURN OF IN-PERSON PLAY 

Ten players gathered at Six Feet Under Games in New Holland PA for two rounds and a final on Saturday, August 14th, 2021. 

I apologize for the incomplete nature of this report, as I was mostly writing down funny things people said rather than noting their decks or seating position. 

In attendance were: Wil (Phila), Guy (Lancaster), Adam (NYC), Angel, Ken, Shawn, Kyle, Rob, Vinny, and myself. 

The first round seating was:
Me, playing group 3-4 Brujah Anarchs
Rob, playing Computer Hacking Nocturns
Shawn, playing The Unmasking allies
Kyle, playing huge Gangrel fight
Ken, playing 419 Operations with Hide the Heart tech 

Guy, playing Inside Dirt OBF
Angel, playing Ravnos CHI toolbox?
Wil, playing Saulot and friends
Adam, playing Alastor Assault Rifles
Vinny, playing Creeping Sabotage 

At my table, Ken and Rob both showed early strength: Ken with the first in a long line of 419 Operations, and Rob with Nocturns benefiting from OBT stealth and Computer Hacking bleeds. Shawn had an early Jake Washington, but the rest of his allies developed slowly with Melek leading them. I got out Salvador Garcia and offered to tell the table about his backstory and the Anarch’s Cookbook and the southern California Anarch movement and was met with stony silence. Shawn was under considerable pressure early, and found that his prey Kyle would meet bleeds with huge Gangrel violence. I did not have a good solution to Ken’s endless 419 Operations and decided that earning 6 pool from ousting my prey would pay for a turn or two of 419 pool loss.  Rob attempted to convince the table that Shawn’s efforts to defend himself and my efforts to, y’know, prey on him, meant that he had TWO predators and the table should heroically band together to help him. No one bought his act, and I was able to oust him with a mix of bleeds (Illegalism) and fights (Make the Misere, Fame). With both Fame and Anarch Revolts on the table, everyone had some kind of additional pressure, which I used to get two more VPs before the time ran out. 
Me: 3.5 VP,
GWKen: .5 VP 

At the other table, I imagine Wil was valiantly trying to make some huge Salubri shit happen while being bookended by those efficient NYC murder machines, Adam and Angel. (Being bookended this way may have cost Ken his chance in the final. You don’t wanna be in that sandwich.) Adam had votes and Alastors, so he was covered on politics and combat.  Angel had efficient midrange Ravnos which, in my experience, chew up a deck that needs time to get out big vamps and assemble Voltron or whatever. Guy was probably able to put some bleeds through to Angel’s pool with his OBF guys, and Vinny was also there. Vinny, I’m sorry, buddy, I didn’t pay enough attention, and you were at another table all day.Looking at the VPs, I’d guess Angel got Wil, Guy got Angel, and Adam got everyone else.
Adam: 3 VP, GW
Angel: 1 VP
Guy: 1 VP

Second round seating was: 

Ken, 419 Operations
Wil, Salubri
Angel, Ravnos
Me, Brujanarchs
Shawn, Allies 

I was first ousted in this round, so I am additionally sorry for not having enough details about the round I was seated in. Shawn remembered Ken’s strength in round one and developed quickly to deal with him. Wil felt the pressure of the 419 Ops, and as a result didn’t put much stress on Angel. I wasn’t able to get much done against Ken, and tried to punch Angel’s minions before they could bleed me, but there was a lot of Strike: Combat Ends available in CHI. I note again that I am caught in an NYC vise, and I am ousted first. It’s good that Angel got the VP (and Shawn’s), though, because Ken’s 419s just dominate the rest of the table, giving him the game win.
Angel: 2 VP
Ken: 3 VP, GW 

Rob, OBT Nocturns
Vinny, Creeping Sabotage
Adam, Alastors
Kyle, tall Gangrel
Guy, Inside Dirt 

I did not see this round, so I will make up the following fiction:
Rob immediately put the pedal down and forced Vinny to brace himself and try to live. Adam had zero pressure and just got to do whatever he wanted. Kyle developed a strong force of Gangrel who were A) outvoted by Adam and B) outmaneuvered by Assault Rifles. Guy was probably able to do a bit of OBF work, but Rob’s reliable Nocturn offense scored him a VP before Guy was able to get him. Adam cleaned up the rest of the table.
Adam: 3 VP, GW
Guy: 1 VP
Rob: 1 VP 

Final round seating 

We used the new playtest final round seating rules (each finalist draws three crypt cards and displays them for all finalists to see, allowing all players to have some information about who is playing what and where they should choose to sit). Angel and Guy were seeded fourth and fifth. I chose to sit as Angel’s predator. Ken chose to sit as Guy’s predator. Adam chose to sit as Guy’s predator. (Lucky Guy! So popular.) Angel received first transfer for random selection. 

Angel, playing Ravnos
Ken, playing 419 Operations
Adam, playing Alastors
Guy, playing Inside Dirt
Me, playing Brujah Anarchs In the early game, 

Guy recruited Skulk, Ken recruited Kamaria (who named a vampire Kamaria in a game where Camarilla is a game mechanic term?), I started with Salvador Garcia again, Angel got out Chavi and Adam made a bold statement with Dmitra Ilyanova. We learned that an effective way to prevent Ken from winning the table is to have Angel prey on him and Adam effortlessly Second Tradition his 419 Ops and calmly explain to Guy that he would be bleeding him to get the Edge and burn the 419s. Guy and I did not scrap much (if at all) since his guys could bypass my blocks with reliable stealth, and I wasn’t going to wreck his minions and give the table to Adam. I couldn’t hold Angel up from running over Ken, but in the aftermath of the oust, alliances seemed to run with state of origin rather than seating: Angel and Adam knew what each other’s deck did, and “sharks don’t eat other sharks”, while Guy seemed happy to let me run amok on my prey if it meant I wasn’t running amok on his minions, and I was happy to let him bleed me a bit to keep his Inside Dirts running. I ousted Angel and Adam ousted Guy. I had a couple of Immortal Grapples I’d been hoarding that I hoped would solve Adam’s Assault Rifle combat, but I lacked a means to rush his guys, and wound up without any Roundhouses or anarch combat to take advantage of the hand strikes. Also, Adam ran Psyche! to restart combat after my Grapples so he had continual maneuvers and eventual control.
Adam: 3 VP, GW
Angel: 1 VP
Me: 1 VP 

Prizes were $20 in store credit which we all immediately blew on VTES-backed printed sleeves and new Black Chantry decks and expansions. It was a good time, and many thanks to Guy Poole for running the show in a still-masked and uncertain set of circumstances.

It´s possible to get the inside dirt deck? Thanks