TWD -- Prince of Mainz B-Day -- Mainz, Germany -- 30th of July 2011

Prince of Mainz B-Day
Mainz, Germany
July 30th, 2011
2R+F
12 players
Rudolf Garski

Deck Name: Announce your PRE
Author: Rudolf Garski
Description: PRE tap & bleed with Ashur Tablets/Liquidation engine. Inspired by "Kyasid Stealth Bleed" by Michael Holmström. Dedicated to Nora and Vlada.

Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=3 max=10 avg=6.25)
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2x Anson 8 aus dom CEL PRE Toreador:1
1x Gideon Fontaine 3 PRE Ventrue:1
2x Huitzilopochtli 10 AUS DAI DOM OBF PRE POT Baali:2
1x Jazz Wentworth 5 dom for PRE Ventrue:1
1x Mariana Gilbert 4 cel PRE Toreador:1
1x Ramiel DuPre 5 aus cel dom PRE Toreador:1
1x Ranjan Rishi, Camarilla Scholar 5 for DOM PRE Ventrue:2
1x Sir Walter Nash 7 DOM FOR PRE Ventrue:1
1x Victoria Ash 6 aus cel dom PRE Toreador:2
1x Violette Prentiss 4 dom PRE Ventrue:1

==> would drop 2x Huitzilopochtli for additional 2x Anson

Library (80 cards)
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Master (27)
9x Ashur Tablets ==> should be 12, but what to drop?
1x Coven, The
1x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Jake Washington (Hunter)
1x Lilith's Blessing
5x Liquidation
1x Misdirection
3x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Sudden Reversal

Event (2)
2x Anthelios, The Red Star

Action (16)
4x Enchant Kindred
2x Entrancement
4x Mind Numb
6x Public Trust

Action Modifier (10)
6x Aire of Elation
3x Change of Target
1x Seduction ==> as "surprise weapon" against a star blocker

Reaction (13)
7x Deflection
2x Delaying Tactics
4x On the Qui Vive

Combat (8)
8x Majesty ==> maybe -2

Combo (4)
4x Force of Personality ==> maybe +2

Created with Secret Library v0.9.3. (Jul 31, 2011 00:56:47)

After two rounds, the standings were as follows:
1) Rudolf G. (GER) 1 GW 4.5 VP 114 TP (PRE tap’n’bleed with Ashur/Liquidation-engine)
2) Joscha D. (GER) 1 GW 4.5 VP 96 TP (!Tremere/Tremere Wall feat. Valerius Major)
3) Anja P. (GER) 1 GW 4.0 VP (dom/pro tap’n’bleed)
4) Kristian W. (GER) 1 GW 3.0 VP (!Malkavian stealth bleed G 23)
5) Liam M. (CAN) 0 GW 2.5 VP (!Gangrel Anarchs Vote)

It was the first time for me entering the finals #1, and I decided to take place between the bleeders – far away from the two decks I knew almost nothing about ... I knew both Kristian’s deck (my predator during the second round) and Anja’s deck (built by myself) quite well, and hoped to let these two decks do some part of the job for me. Maybe a good idea, but it did not work off ...
So the seating was: Joscha => Anja => me => Kristian => Liam.

I had 3 tranfers, and a rather weak crypt: 2x Anson, 1x Huitzilopochtli, 1x Mariana Gilbert ... Second turn, I was Govern-bled for 3 by Mustafa Rahman. I Transferred on Mariana, but had no luck with a Public Trust bleed to get out Anson turn #4. Still, I could put pressure of with a Mind Numb on Caitlin ... Master cards flew nicely: an early Parthenon, followed by Liquidations and Ashur Tablets ...
A few turns later: Kristian, having Rodolfo, Midget and Dolphin Black out, managed to oust helpless Liam, but then Joscha’s armies waited for him. Joscha had all the time building up without being threatened: Selena, Uta Kovacs, Masika St. John, and finally Valerius Major. Kristian’s stealth was now useless ... Plus, Joscha had The Rack, Vessel and Heart of Nizchetus on Masika, and Bowl of Convergence on Selena. Anja had Mustafa Rahman, Caitlin, Iliana, and Lisette Vizquel out, and constantly bled me, but most of the time for 1, rarely for 3 due to some kind of hand jam. Nevertheless, I would have been almost dead by that time without the Ashur/Liquidation engine.
I had Mariana Gilbert, Anson, Gideon Fontaine, and Ranjan Rishi out (and 15 pool; the others each 10 pool or less). Thinking about what to do, Kristian threatened to back-bleed me via Kindred Spirits if I tried to oust him (of course, he was in kill range: all my minions could bleed for up to 5 or 6). I decided to stay patient, to try to get a fifth minion, to survive. I was almost sure to get at least one VP for ousting Kristian. Thus, I could wait, hoping that Anja would not be ousted to soon (if at all), and that I would survive, too ...
Joscha realised this strategy, and was already thinking about bouncing bleed crosstable at me. (Plus, he played successfully Infamous Insurgent on Valerius.) Anja’s minions grew more and more: Now six of them, all with at least “dom” and “pro” (due to skill cards). Down to 5 pool (and a Contagion by Joscha in play), I had to do the oust, which looked like an easy task with Kristian now down to 4 pool, but nevertheless I needed 3 minions to get through.
Now I prayed for Anja to stay in the game, and for at least one S:CE in my hand against Uta each turn. Anja fell, because she overextended her possibilities ... Now, pool and options both favoured Joscha, but time ran out and gave the finals to me.

Thanks to Ralf W., the Prince of Mainz, for organizing the tournament and for the nice present each finalist got: a paper printed with the very first book-printing machine by Johannes Gutenberg, the famous book printer and son of the city of Mainz.

Corrected an error in the VPs and added the TPs in the standings. Nevertheless, the correct Archon data has been sent.

+3 Ashur Tablets
+1 Dominate (Deflect and Seduce at DOM more reliably, fetchable by Lilith's Blessing, mainly for Anson)
+1 Info Highway (makes up for -1 Dreams, helps decrypt to keep rolling and may slow fat decks)

-1 Dreams of the Sphinx
-1 Liquidation
-1 Parthenon (if you use more of Anson)
-1 Aire of Elation (you bleed well enough as it is and can recycle these easily with Tablets)
-1 Mind Numb (good stuff, but only indirectly helps oust)

I would consider cutting down to 72 cards with 24 Masters. You'll see the Ashurs just about as often and you'll overall be leaner and more consistent. Can easily get there with ruthless card cutting.