Betrayer - Gamex 2012, Los Angeles, NAQ

Betrayer - NAQ
Gamex 2012, Los Angeles
26 May,
15 Players
Aaron Clark


Aaron should post his deck soon. I cannot remember the finals well enough to report any of it (too drunk, duh) but maybe Aaron can give a run down.

Deck name: Tremere 1.5
Author: Aaron Clark
Description: I gave the deck that name because it earned me 1.5 VP in each game I played in the tournament. Apparently that is good enough to win some tournaments - who knew? It is Tremere bruise and bleed with a strong reactive component. The Sport Bike was the star player of the deck.

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 2, Max: 8, Avg: 5.33)
1 Justine, Elder of Dallas 8 obf AUS DOM THA primogen Tremere:1
2 Astrid Thomas 7 aus pot DOM THA primogen Tremere:1
1 Muaziz, Archon of Ulugh Beg 7 aus dom for THA Tremere:2
1 Lydia Van Cuelen 6 aus dom pre tha Tremere:1
1 Thomas Thorne 6 ani aus cel tha DOM Tremere:1
1 Aisling Sturbridge 5 dom AUS THA Tremere:2
1 Merrill Molitor 5 aus dom THA Tremere:1
1 Ignatius 4 aus dom tha Tremere:1
1 Sarah Cobbler 4 dom THA Tremere:1
1 Jing Wei 3 dom tha Tremere:1
1 Mustafa Rahman 2 dom Tremere:2

Library (86)

Action (14)
1 Bum's Rush
9 Govern the Unaligned
4 Magic of the Smith

Action Modifier (7)
4 Conditioning
2 Foreshadowing Destruction
1 Seduction

Combat (26)
11 Apportation
3 Burst of Sunlight
8 Theft of Vitae
4 Walk of Flame

Equipment (5)
2 .44 Magnum
1 Flak Jacket
1 Hawg
1 Sport Bike

Master (14)
1 Academic Hunting Ground
2 Arcane Library
3 Blood Doll
1 Chantry
1 Dominate
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Elder Library
1 Haven Uncovered
1 KRCG News Radio
1 Pentex Subversion
1 Sudden Reversal

Political Action (1)
1 Tremere Justicar

Reaction (18)
8 Deflection
1 Enhanced Senses
2 Forced Awakening
1 Precognition
6 Wake with Evening's Freshness

Retainer (1)
1 Charnas the Imp

Tournament report:
Time was very important in my three games, which all timed out. In my first game, I earned a VP early on because my prey was playing DoC and couldn't block a single bleed. My second prey had good defenses, but I would have gotten the GW if I had gotten one more turn before the timeout - I know because he let me see his hand afterward. In my second game, Matt Wedge got 2 VP, and then I ousted him. Adam Hulse and I were left to fight for the remaining VPs. It was very close: his last action was a bleed of three that I would have had to block with Muaziz since I only had three pool, and Muaziz would have been sent to torpor by CEL/guns. Had I had four pool, I would have taken it, then Governed at stealth with Muaziz to get Adam's remaining two pool. As it happened, Adam's final bleed never got resolved because of the time limit, so I had 1.5 and he had 0.5. That made the difference between me being fifth seed in the final and not him.

The rank was (I think)
1. Matt Wedge: weenie Dominate
2. Edward McGlynn: G2/3 !Toreador bleed
3. Robert Scythe: Lasombra/Kyasid nocturns/shadow twin/bleed
4. Andy Fernandez: G3/4 Toreador bleed/vote with Forced March
5. Aaron Clark: Tremere toolbox/bruise 'n bleed

Seating was Robert -> Andy -> Aaron -> Matt -> Edward

Matt got shut down hard when I Pentexed Gloria Giovanni on my second turn. Afraid of my combat, he never attempted to remove it, and missed his critical first Govern down. Then Andy played Narrow Minds, and Matt's Deflecting/Redirecting became much too expensive for his weenies. I took a while to tool up, since almost all my equipment was in my opening hand. Eventually Aisling had a .44 magnum and a sport bike, and Astrid had a hawg and a flak jacket, and I had six minions because of Astrid's superior Governs. Even though Edward feared Matt's weenies, he still put forward pressure because so much of his deck was bleed. Robert did his thing with Nocturns and Shadow Twins. He burned Barth using a Society of Leopold + shadow twins, ignoring Madame Guil whom he had made famous. Andy put pressure on me with bleeds and votes, although that crazy sport bike really helped to deal with him (and Deflections didn't hurt, either). Luckily for me he did not draw any early Aching Beauties.

Eventually I started to wear down Matt with bleeds, bounced bleeds, and blocking some undirected actions. His minions started to leave the ready region because of my combat with some special help from Charnas. Luckily for me Matt didn't draw the Saturday Night Special/DBR combo that I'd seen in the previous game. I ousted him with not much time left to spare. Robert put a lot of pressure on Andy with four Govern bleeds plus nocturns in one turn (did I mention Andy had 21 pool?), and then Andy made a lunge at me that would have succeeded if he had had a Forced March in his hand. However, Robert was sure to get him on Robert's next turn. I bled Edward with almost everybody and several combats ensued that ate up time as Edward blocked. Jost was burned by a Walk of Flame, and Edward was left in ousting range at the end of my turn. Time ended at the beginning of Edward's turn, leaving me with the only VP at the table.

Time was so important. If time had ended after Robert's next turn, he would have won as a higher seed than me, because I'm confident that he would have ousted Andy. If I had then gotten another turn, I most likely would have ousted Edward and gotten my second VP. In a heads-up between Robert and me, Robert would have had an advantage, but it's hard to say how things would have turned out.

For good or for bad, I won the tournmanet without making a single game win.

Aaron, I thought it was a good win. I didn't know what Robert was playing so I sat behind him instead of in front of him. Matt ousted me the previous round he chose to bleed me again, putting you as his predator. We both knew what he was playing so that sealed his fate, and your early Pentex Subversion was crucial.

AaronC wrote:

Robert put a lot of pressure on Andy with four Govern bleeds plus nocturns in one turn (did I mention Andy had 21 pool?), and then Andy made a lunge at me that would have succeeded if he had had a Forced March in his hand. However, Robert was sure to get him on Robert's next turn....

Time was so important. If time had ended after Robert's next turn, he would have won as a higher seed than me, because I'm confident that he would have ousted Andy.

He most likely would have ousted me. If I HAD the forced march and DID oust you he would have had to bleed through eleven pool. I had bounce but no wakes. Would have been nice to oust then take my chances though.

Edit: you know, looking at the decklist from the other thread...he may not have been able to get through 11 pool.