TWD + report: Ropecon 2015 Finnish ECQ, May 15th

• Tournament: Ropecon 2015 Finnish ECQ
• Date: Friday May 15th, 2014
• Place: Ropecon 2015 gaming convention, Dipoli, Espoo, Finland
• Players: 47
• Format: EC Continental Qualifier (constructed), 3R+F
• Organizer/judge: Petri Wessman
• Winner: Jens Johansson (see below for deck list)

Once again, the Finnish ECQ was played at the Ropecon gaming convention, but at an unusual date. Normally, the convention and thus the ECQ would happen sometime around July, but this time Ropecon was in May due to the convention center entering renovations in the summer. This was probably the last time the convention is organized at the delightfully un-Euclidian environment of Dipoli, since after renovations the available space will have shrunk. As a plus point, this will probably mean that ventilation at next year's ECQ will actually exist, hooray! (not that it was horrible this year, due to the fairly cool outside weather).

In any case, we got 47 players in total; a small drop from last year's 52 but still in the same ballpark. A brave band of Swedes arrived from Swedelania (or whetever strange and faraway realm they call home), possibly via magic carpet. The details are somewhat unclear. To the consternation of the Finns, one of them managed to snatch tournament victory after a very tight final round, even though in general the Swedes didn't do quite as well as they have done on some previous years.

Again, a huge variety in decks and deck styles. I saw quite a few Settite decks this year, two(!) separate Huitzilopochtli decks, and of course some staple, well-known deck archetypes (Dementation bleeders, grinders, etc) -- though not as many as one might expect. Quite a few decks were tuned with some additions from "The Unaligned", and some decks had vampires from that expansion or the Storyline reward expansion as stars.

Once again, play went smoothly and we stayed on time, thanks to all the players for helping with that. And of course, thanks once again to the NC, Janne Lönnqvist, for help with organizing and with promo card support.

The final round was interesting. Almost all of the decks were big-cap vote+bleed or just bleed affairs, with two of them centering on Settites. The one more toolboxy affair (Petrus' deck) never managed to get up to speed here, though I saw it do brilliantly during the previous rounds. A source of amusement was that the table ended up having both Arika and Kemintiri (merged) on it, and the final battle was between the Settites (led by Kemintiri) against the Ventrue Justicar and her friends. People who know the World of Darkness backstory for Kemintiri will appreciate that one, especially since Kemintiri won the day... err, night. Most amazingly, her rush special vs the Ventrue ended up being great here, combined with Serpent's Numbing Kiss. See below for transcript of final round.

Two deck lists still missing, I'll add them in when I get them.

Again, thanks everyone, and see you next year at Messukeskus (the site of Ropecon 2016)!

-Petri “Orava” Wessman

Results

The bolded 19 players received EC qualification for 2015.

Rank	Name	Prelim GW	Prelim VP	Final VP	TP	Deck/comment
1	Jens Johansson	1	7	3	126	"It's a friendly deck, don't trust the setites" (see below)
2	Mikko Hyvärinen	1	6	2	144	"Arika Mindrape Heidelberg.... oops, there should be 6-8 Mind Rapes..." (see below)
2	Petrus Makkonen	3	9.5		180	"Guido kuolematon" (see below)
2	Pasi Karjalainen	2	8		174	Settite bigcap bleed
2	Tommi Hakomaa	2	9		168	Kiasyd bleed
6	Esa-Matti Smolander	1	6		120
7	Teemu Salo	1	4.5		150	!Ventrue Grinder
8	Noora Hirvonen	1	4.5		144
9	Tom Lindberg	1	4.5		132
10	Mika Nurmikolu	1	4		120	"Goratrix stands defiant at the ruins of Ceoris"
11	Randal Rudstam	1	4		114
12	Juho Vuorikoski	1	4		112
13	Mikko Moisander	1	4		106	"Vlad Tepes & Brunhilde do Chameleon"
14	Lauri Salmi	1	4		96
15	Timo Rekola	1	3.5		124	"Green is Mean"
16	Sebastian Schiavone	1	3		132
17	Akseli Jalava	1	3		120
18	Jonas Ståhle	1	3		118
19	Jukka Pasanen	1	3		108	Nosferatu Royalty
20	Karri Malm	0	4		156
21	Janne Lönnqvist	0	4		138
22	Tuomas Vuokko	0	3.5		126
23	Ari Lensu	0	2.5		102	"Viksee on elämän tarkoitus"
24	Matti Palomäki	0	2		106
25	Tuukka Kallas	0	2		102
25	Jari Mäkikyrö	0	2		102
27	Juhani Puska	0	2		100
28	Jaakko Nurro	0	1.5		108
28	Juha Nyholm	0	1.5		108
30	Are Vaskela	0	1.5		102
30	Peter Kaario	0	1.5		102
32	Toni Karjalainen	0	1		94	"Geezers Will Find..."
33	Niina Lindroos	0	1		90
34	Raymond Mäkeläinen	0	1		88	Settite
35	Pekka Kinnunen	0	0.5		88
36	Jaakko Elorae	0	0.5		84	"Mättötontut"
36	Petro Hirvonen	0	0.5		84	Ravnos toolbox
36	Petteri Teerikangas	0	0.5		84
39	Anssi Rekola	0	0.5		78
39	Aapo Pitkäsalo	0	0.5		78
41	Otso Saariluoma	0	0		76
42	Magnus Karlström	0	0		70	Big Cap Dem S&B
42	Ari-Pekka Alestalo	0	0		70
44	Taija Sainomaa	0	0		66
44	Kim Nilsson	0	0		66	Dem midcap
46	Kalle Blomgren	0	0		60
46	Teemu Pulkkinen	0	0		60	"Enkindu 4ever"

Amusing notes from table 2, round 1 (Jukka Pasanen, Niina Lindroos, Mikko Hyvärinen, Magnus Karlström):

1. 23 votes on the table by turn 5
2. First successful block on turn 8

Yeah, one of those tables


Decklists

Tournament Winner (Jens Johansson)

Deck Name: It's a friendly deck, don't trust the setites
Author: Randal Rudstam
Description:
This is the deck Jens Johansson won the 2015 Ropecon created by Randal Rudstam.

When the Unaligned set was release I was very interested in some of the new FoS cards, I wanted to play reckless and parity shift in the same deck.

After some time and much work on the deck, me and my good friend Stefan Karlsson, who also was working on a similar deck, built this deck, minor differences, this became me latest version. Some changes are about to happen.

Kemintiris abilities led to two big things in the final. One she was able to rush Lucinde, Alastor and Arika and use Serpents numbing kiss to "mind numb" them. Also in the heads up with the same deck the so called "venture Justicar" used the extra bleed she gets against Venture to great effect.

Crypt (Capacity min=7 max=10 avg=8.69; 13 cards)
===================================================
1x Kemintiri ADV 10 aus dom OBF PRE SER THA Follower of Set:2
4x Kemintiri 10 aus dom OBF PRE SER THA Follower of Set:2
3x Khay'tall, Snake of Eden 9 aus DOM OBF PRE SER Follower of Set:2
1x Sarrasine ADV 8 aus nec OBF PRE SER Follower of Set:2
4x Sarrasine 7 aus nec ser OBF PRE Follower of Set:2

Library (73 cards)
=====================
Master (25 cards)
1x Cave of Apples
10x Eternals of Sirius, The
1x Ferraille
1x Monastery of Shadows
1x Opium Den
2x Parthenon, The
2x Protected Resources
1x Secure Haven
4x Villein
2x Wider View

Action (5 cards)
5x Epiphany

Political Action (18 cards)
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancilla Empowerment
3x Banishment
4x Kine Resources Contested
4x Parity Shift
4x Reckless Agitation
1x Rumors of Gehenna

Action Modifier (16 cards)
1x Approximation of Loyalty
1x Elder Impersonation
2x Faceless Night
2x Forgotten Labyrinth
1x Into Thin Air
2x Lost in Crowds
2x Perfect Paragon
5x Voter Captivation

Combat (3 cards)
3x Serpent's Numbing Kiss

Combo (6 cards)
6x Velvet Tongue



Other Finalists

Tommi Hakomaa

(Kiasyd bleed, deck list will be added when I get it)

Mikko Hyvärinen

Deck Name : Arika Mindrape Heidelberg.... oops, there should be 6-8 Mind Rapes...
Author: Mikko Hyvärinen
Description: Ropecon 2015 ECQ finalist, almost tournament winner but almost doesn't count

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 11 average: 10

5x	Arika	(11)		inner circle	Ventrue (g2)
2x	Lucinde, Alastor	(10)		justicar	Ventrue (g3)
2x	Marcus Vitel	(10)		prince	Ventrue (g3)
2x	Queen Anne	(10)		prince	Ventrue (g2)
1x	Catherine du Bois	(5)			Ventrue (g3)

Library [72 cards]

Action [14]
4x Abactor
1x Enchant Kindred
1x Entrancement
4x Govern the Unaligned
3x Mind Rape
1x Scouting Mission

Action Modifier [25]
1x Cloak the Gathering
2x Elder Impersonation
1x Faceless Night
2x Forgotten Labyrinth
7x Freak Drive
1x Into Thin Air
2x Lost in Crowds
4x Perfect Paragon
1x Spying Mission
1x Veil the Legions
3x Voter Captivation

Combat [4]
4x Majesty

Master [19]
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Hostile Takeover
2x Information Highway
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Subdued by the Blood
1x Temptation of Greater Power
1x Ventrue Headquarters
4x Villein
5x Zillah's Valley

Political Action [10]
1x Ancient Influence
2x Banishment
1x Conservative Agitation
1x First Tradition: The Masquerade
3x Parity Shift
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power


Pasi Karjalainen

(Settite bigcap bleed, deck list will be added when I get it)


Petrus Makkonen

Deck Name: Guido Kuolematon
Author: Petrus Makkonen
Description:
A very basic G2 Lasombra toolbox with some static intercept and a combat module. An. Actual. Combat. Module.

Guido's first pick, but not necessary.

He's never died.

Crypt (Capacity min=3 max=10 avg=7.58; 12 cards)
===================================================
2x Alvaro, The Scion of Angelica 9 dom pre OBT POT Lasombra:2
1x Angelica, The Canonicus 10 cel obf DOM OBT POT Lasombra:2
1x Antonio Delgado 9 tha DOM OBT POT Lasombra:2
1x Aurora Van Brande, Paladin 6 dom for pot OBT Lasombra:2
1x Cameron 3 dom pot Lasombra:2
2x Francisco Domingo de Polonia 9 pro DOM OBT POT PRE Lasombra:2
2x Gratiano 8 obf pot DOM OBT Lasombra:2
1x Guido Lucciano 5 dom obf OBT Lasombra:2
1x Talley, the Hound 6 aus dom OBT POT Lasombra:2

Library (81 cards)
=====================
Master (16 cards)
3x Blood Doll
1x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Elysian Fields
1x Fear of Mekhet
2x Path of Night, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Political Hunting Ground
1x Sudden Reversal
3x Villein
1x Wash

Action (16 cards)
2x Abbot
1x Far Mastery
4x Govern the Unaligned
1x Graverobbing
4x Scouting Mission
2x Slaughtering the Herd
2x Under Siege

Political Action (1 cards)
1x Banishment

Equipment (1 cards)
1x Zaire River Ferry

Ally (3 cards)
1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)
2x Nocturn

Action Modifier (15 cards)
2x Blanket of Night
1x Bonding
1x Foreshadowing Destruction
1x Nightshades
1x Seduction
4x Shadow Play
2x Shroud of Absence
2x Shroud of Night
1x Tenebrous Form

Reaction (15 cards)
6x Deflection
3x Eyes of the Night
4x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection
1x Wake with Evening's Freshness

Combat (12 cards)
3x Arms of the Abyss
3x Darkness Within
3x Entombment
3x Shadow Body

Combo (2 cards)
2x Murmur of the False Will



Final Round Transcript

This is based on my personal notes, scribbled down during the game. Some detail is missing and there may be mistakes here and there.

Play started at 0:51am and ended at 2:47am (4 minutes left of game time left!)

The players were (in seating order):

1. Tommi Hakomaa (2nd seed)
2. Mikko Hyvärinen (5th seed)
3. Petrus Makkonen (1st seed)
4. Pasi Karjalainen (3rd seed)
5. Jens Johansson (4th seed)

Turn 1

Tommi: Jake Washington

Mikko: Info Highway

Petrus: -

Pasi: Metro Underground

Jens:

• Wider View
• Parthenon
• Eternals of Sirius

Turn 2

Tommi: Ashur Tablets

Mikko:

• Zillah's Valley
• bring out Arika

Petrus: -

Pasi: -

Jens: bring out Sarrasine

Turn 3

Tommi:

• Pentex on Sarrasine
• bring out Isanwayen

Mikko:

• Heidelberg Castle
• Arika plays superior GtU
• bring out Lucinde Alastor

Petrus: bring out Angelica, the Canonicus

Pasi:

• bring out Nefertiti
• bring out Tupdog

Jens:

• Villein Sarrasine for 4
• Eternals of Sirius
• bring out Kemintiri

Turn 4

Tommi:

• Isanwayen plays superior GtU
• bring out Banjoko
• bring out Andrew Emory

Mikko:

• Lucinde calls Parity Shift, Angelica tries to block but fails, 5 from Petrus to Mikko, passes. Velvet Tongue from Kemintiri (Corruption Counter on Lucinde). Lucinde Freak Drives.
• Arika calls Conservative Agitation, 4 to Petrus, 1 to Tommi, passes, Arika Freak Drives.
• Lucinde steals Jake with Entrancement
• Arika bleeds, gets bounced to Pasi (bleed of 3)

Petrus:

• Blood Doll on Angelica
• Angelica gets Abbot

Pasi:

• Villein Nefertiti for 7
• Nefertiti bleeds with Intimidation, gets Enkil Cog
• Untap Nefertiti with Metro

Jens:

• Villein Kemintiri for 6
• Kemintiri plays Epiphany, merges ("2nd Ventrue Justicar on table!"
• Kemintiri removes Pentex
• Sarrasine plays Epiphany, merges
• Sarassine Banishes Isanwayen, Voter Cap for 5
• (Enkil Cog: Nefertiti bleeds)
• burn Wider View

Turn 5

Tommi:

• Ashur Tablets
• Banjoko bleeds for 1
• bring out Isanwayen

Mikko:

• Zillah's Valley
• Arika bleeds for 5, Freak Drive
• Arika plays superior Scouting Mission
• Lucinde rushes Nefertiti, plays Majesty
• Lucinde calls Parity Shift, DI from Tommi
• Lucinde plays Mind Rape on Isanwayen

Petrus: -

Pasi:

• Opium Den
• Nefertiti bleeds for 3
• bring out Kahina, the Sorceress
• untap Nefertiti with Metro

Jens:

• Kemintiri calls Reckless Agitation, 4 to Tommi, 2 to Petrus, passes. Voter Cap.
• bring out Khay'tall, Snake of Eden

Turn 6

Tommi: Andrew Emory bleeds with GtU

Mikko:

• Villein Lucinde for 3
• Pentex on Angelica, Sudden Reversal from Petrus
• move 5 from Isanwayen to Lucinde (Heidelberg)
• Isanwayen hunts with Abactor, does not burn
• Lucinde bleeds, gets blocked, Majesty
• Arika Banishes Nefertiti, passes, gets Corruption Counter from a Velvet Tongue, Voter Cap, Freak Drive
• Arika bleeds for 3

Petrus: -

Pasi:

• Villein Kahina for 5
• Kahina bleeds for 4
• Kahina untaps with Metro

Jens:

• Villein Khay'tall for 5
• Ferraille
• Wider View
• Khay'tall plays Epiphany (fails to find anything)
• Sarassine calls Parity Shift, 5 from Pasi, fails
• Khay'tall Banishes Banjoko, passes, Voter Cap
• Kemintiri calls Rumors of Gehenna (for all except Mikko), fails

Turn 7

Tommi:

• Dreams of the Sphinx
• Andrew bleeds with GtU

Mikko:

• Arika bleeds for 3, Freak Drive
• Lucinde calls 1st Tradition, would pass but Delaying Tactics from Banjoko
• Lucinde bleeds with Mind Rape, Petrus is ousted (49 min game time left)
• Arika calls Ancient Influence, passes, Voter Cap

Pasi:

• burn Metro & Opium Den instead of paying for them (Arika)
• Kahina bleeds for 3
• bring out Nefertiti

Jens:

• Kemintiri rushes Arika, strike Serpent's Numbing Kiss, Arike strikes Majesty (still is tapped)
• Sarassine calls Parity Shift, 4 from Mikko, passes, Voter Cap
• Khay'tall bleeds, bounced to Mikko, Jake tries to block but fails (bleed of 1)
• (Enkil Cog: Nefertiti bleeds for 3)

Turn 8

Tommi:

• Coven
• Ashur Tablets (triggers, bring DI to hand)
• tap Isanwayen to play Grand Convocation
• Andrew bleeds with GtU
• Banjoko plays Nocturn, Nocturn bleeds for 1
• Banjoko bleeds for 2
• bring out Dame Hollerton

Mikko:

• Hostile Takeover on Dame, Jens pays 5
• Lucinde bleeds with GtU, Freak Drive
• Lucinde calls 1st Tradition, passes, Voter Cap

Pasi:

• pay for turn
• Pentex on Arika
• Kahina gets Learjet

Jens:

• pay for turn
• Opium Den
• Eternals of Sirius
• Dame plays Epiphany (again, nothing found)
• Sarassine calls Parity Shift, 4 from Tommi
• Dame bleeds for 1
• Kemintiri rushes Lucinde, strikes Serpent's Numbing Kiss

Turn 9

Tommi:

• pay for turn
• Banjoko bleeds for 4
• Andrew bleeds with GtU + Conditioning (5)

Mikko:

• pay for turn
• Villein Arika for 10
• Giant's Blood
• (Enkil Cog: Nefertiti bleeds with Conditioning, for 6)
• Jake removes Pentex
• Arika bleeds with Enchant Kindred, Pasi is ousted (20 minutes game time left)

Jens:

• pay for turn
• burn Opium Den, pay for Parthenon (Arika)
• Eternals of Sirius x 2
• Sarrasine calls Parity Shift, 3 from Mikko, passes
• Khay'tall calls Ancilla Empowerment, DI from Tommi
• Khay'tall calls KRC, 2 to Mikko, 2 to Tommi, passes

Turn 10

Tommi:

• pay for turn
• Andrew hunts
• Banjoko bleeds for 1

Mikko:

• pay for turn
• Villein Arika for 10
• Zillah's Valley
• Arika bleeds for 3
• Lucinde bleeds for 1

Jens:

• pay for turn + Parthenon
• Eternals of Sirius x 2
• Khay'tall Banishes Isanwayen, Delaying Tactics from Isanwayen
• Sarrasine bleeds for 1, bounced to Mikko
• Khay'tall bleeds for 1, bounced to Mikko
• Kemintiri bleeds for 1, Tommi is ousted (10 minutes game time left)
• Dame bleeds for 1

Turn 11

Mikko:

• pay for turn, 1st Tradition burns
• move blood with Heidelberg, burn Jake (for blood)
• Arika bleeds for 3
• Lucinde bleeds for 1

Jens:

• pay for Parthenon
• Kemintiri bleeds for 2
• Khay'tall bleeds for 1
• Dame bleeds for 1

Turn 12

Mikko:

• Arika bleeds, Freak Drive
• Lucinde bleeds with Mind Rape
• Arika calls Reins of Power, fails (Velvet Tongue)

Jens:

• Villein Dame for 4
• Dame bleeds for 1
• Khay'tall bleeds for 1
• Kemintiri bleeds for 2

Turn 13

Mikko:

• Arika bleeds for 3
• Lucinde bleeds for 1

Jens:

• Parthenon burns
• Dame bleeds for 1
• Khay'tall calls KRC, 3+1, passes
• Sarrasine calls KRC, 3+1, passes
• Kemintiri bleeds for 2, Mikko is ousted

Game ends, with 4 minutes of game time left on clock. Close one.

Some snapshots from my mobile phone.

Some pictures from the finals, from Noora Hirvonen (thanks!)