Event Report + TWD – 5th Töölö Grand Ball

5th Töölö Grand Ball
Helsinki, Finland
December 9th, 2017
2R+F
12 players, Standard constructed
Winner: Tero Aalto

www.vekn.net/event-calendar/event/8794
www.facebook.com/events/1773309039635870/

The fifth edition of TGB attracted a nice attendance. All in all, the tournament was a success. There was a wide variety of deck archetypes and many tables were very balanced, including the final that might have been won by anybody. The games were also dynamic: only one out of seven timed out, and even that one with only two players left. However, the VPs were very concentrated with half of the players getting zero.

It the first time I've had any success in one of my own tournaments, and my first win overall as well. But more of the tournament report later on, first let's take a look at the result table:

Final Rank	Name	Prelim GWs	Prelim VPs	Final VPs	TPs
1	Tero Aalto	2	7	2	120
2	Lauri Salmi	1	4	1	88
2	Jyri Puhakka	1	4	0	78
2	Matias Frosterus	0	2,5	0	102
2	Matti Palomäki	1	4,5	2	114
6	Ilari Sani	0	1		76
7	Jaakko Nurro	0	0		56
7	Juho Linna	0	0		56
9	Hannu Kokkonen	0	0		46
9	Tom Lindberg	0	0		46
9	Juha Laukkanen	0	0		46
12	Lasse Pöyry	0	0		36

I played a Kiasyd bruise bleed deck (see list below) that I had gotten inspiration for from a deck I'd briefly seen at the EC in Berlin that I started trying to recall when at some point of the fall I realized I was bored of plain bleed decks and wanted a break from 11-caps as well. It wasn't my intention to play the deck at a tournament because I'd only tried it a couple of times before, and usually I like to playtest extensively. However, those few occasions had looked promising, so I decided to go for it on an impulse. I had never gotten more than 2 VPs in one of my own brand tournaments before anyway, so I didn't have much to lose. This nonchalant attitude may have contributed to the result, who knows.

First round, the table was Brujah princes (Juho), myself, Guruhi vote (Tom), and Matasuntha (Juha). I had a Pentex in my opening hand which I immediately played on Tom's Eze, neutralizing him for some time. I was wary of 2nd Tradition, so I didn't dare play any superior Governs but went straight ahead, which was expensive pool-wise, of course. Juha was the only one in the table familiar with my deck, so the combat module came as a surprise to both my prey and my predator, as well as how well I was able to block Pentex removal attempts. Not even Matasuntha could do all that much to my faeries in combat, and I bled through everybody one by one, while constantly being precariously low in pool. A sweep for me.

Second round: !Ventrue animalism (Matias), Guruhi vote (Tom, again), Blood Brothers rush (Lasse), and myself. The match started quite similarly to the first one, with Matias's Gotsdam getting my Pentex after his first action, and me protecting it for a long time. Lasse's Brothers came out quickly in masses and started attacking my minions with Coagulated Entities. This time, I had managed to quickly Govern out four faeries, which made handling combat easier. Early in the game, Tom's Eze blocked one of Lasse's minions and got hit with aggravated and diablerized in return, effectively eliminating him, as he was also constantly bombarded with both Matias's and my (deflected) bleeds. With Tom out, Matias and Lasse tried to gang up on me, but I managed to edge them both out. 3 VPs and a second VP for me.

Going into the final, I was the first seed, meaning that I had to pick my seat for the first time (as previously I hadn't reached above 4th seed in a final). I had seen everybody else's deck either in the tournament or previously in weekly games, so I was well informed. I chose to sit behind Lauri because I knew he was the only one without heavy dominate, meaning that I should be able to sink bleeds in him. I was aware that it would mean being between the only two vote decks in the table, which was a risk, but I chose to take it.

The final table turned out as follows:

1. Lauri Salmi (Camarilla infernal vote)
2. Jyri Puhakka (Carna Nephandus wall)
3. Matias Frosterus (!Ventrue animalism)
4. Matti Palomäki (G1/2 Malkavian princes with guns)
5. Tero Aalto (Kiasyd bruise bleed)

As I mentioned before, the situation was very even for the first six rounds, with everybody bringing minions and other resources out and hanging around ten pool. I was afraid that Lauri would back oust me with his votes that I would have no hope blocking, and Matti behind me would happily back him up with his princes' votes. Lauri chose instead to go forward and oust Jyri with a combination of a KRC and a Parity Shift (giving all five pool to Matti in exchange for his support). However, that (or even Lauri's Unleash) didn't stop me from bleeding him out the turn after.

At this point, I would only need one more VP (or a timeout) to win because I was the top seed, whereas both other remaining players would need all remaining points. Matti and Matias tried to collaborate, but their communication didn't work seamlessly and they ended up helping me out somewhat. At this point, it was mostly about who had the most bounce and whom they chose to use it against. Matti seemed to have more than myself, which made my situation difficult. I was running out of time and resources and needed to oust Matias quickly, all the while taking care not to accidentally hand him the point instead.

At the last possible moment, I got one crucial bleed through and got the second VP I needed. I had no chance against Matti anymore, though, but we played until the very end anyway. 2 VPs to me, 2 to Matti, and 1 to Lauri. After 1½ years of playing the game and attending 24 tournaments, I picked up my first "trophy".

Finally, here's the deck. The title is derived from the RPG "Changeling: The Dreaming", is Finnish and translates roughly into 'Changeling: The Reprehension'.

- - -

Muuttuvainen: Paheksunta

Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=5 max=8 avg=6.92)
===============================================
3x Arcadian, The 8 chi for DOM MYT OBT Kiasyd:5
2x Dame Hollerton 5 myt DOM OBT Kiasyd:4
2x Isanwayen 6 DOM MYT OBT Kiasyd:4
1x Omme Enberbenight 7 cel dom MYT OBT Kiasyd:4
2x Pherydima 8 obt pot DOM MYT NEC Kiasyd:4
2x Roderick Phillips March 7 cel obt tha DOM MYT Kiasyd:4

Library (83 cards)
==================
Master (12)
1x Coven, The
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Great Symposium
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Perfectionist
2x Wash

Action (12)
12x Govern the Unaligned

Action Modifier (9)
6x Conditioning
3x Foreshadowing Destruction

Reaction (14)
9x Deflection
5x On the Qui Vive

Combat (20)
4x Arms of the Abyss
5x Darkling Trickery
8x Earth Swords
3x Target Vitals

Combo (16)
8x Aura Absorption
8x Fae Contortion

www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?deck=view&id=26955

Archon approved