- Tournament: Ropecon 2019 Finnish Grand Prix
- Date: Saturday July 27th, 2019
- Place: Ropecon 2019 gaming convention, Messukeskus, Helsinki, Finland
- Players: 55
- Format: Constructed, 3R+F
- Organizer/judge: Petri Wessman
- Winner: Martin Weinmayer (see below for deck list)
The Finnish Grand Prix was once again played at the huge Ropecon gaming convention, the site of 2020's upcoming EC tournament. The new Saturday time slot seems to work well, and even though it's a long and exhausting day there's (now) room for such luxuries as a lunch break. Yay!
We had a total of 55 players this year, which is very nice -- the second year in a row with increased attendance, after years and years of slowly diminishing player count. In addition to the Grand Prix status of the tournament, it's quite clear that the revival of the game by Black Chantry has had a
huge effect.
As usual, there were a lot of deck types present, and also players with wildly differing levels of game experience. That means that even experienced players needed to be careful, since newer players may well do some very surprising things; adaptability is key. No really clear trends visible... I was honestly expecting more ally decks than I saw here, especially Legionnaires, but the local ally-heavy meta doesn't seem to have migrated much to this tournament. Lots of the usual suspects visible, of course (Unnamed power bleed, grinders and stickmen, stealth-bleed, big-cap vote, etc). One of the more amusing decks of the evening was Magnus Söder's clown car deck (among the finalists), which generated an
insane amount of pool and minions when it got going.
The video production this year was elaborate and quite hightech, thanks to the (awesome!) folks at Starbacon and general tireless organizing by Janne Lönnqvist (including video narration for the whole day). We had a "black box" video environment where one table at a time could play, so one table out of 11 each round played there and the whole game was livestreamed, and the finals were as well (obviously). The first game had more explanatory narration, aimed more at new players, while the others + finals had narration going more into tactics and table situations.
In the past I've provided text transcripts of the final round here, but that seems redundant now with the video coverage. It was a very interesting final round, with lots of varied deck types (including combat), and the final win went to Martin Weinmayer with only seconds left on the clock. Stanislava wins the day (or more properly, night), once again! Congrats to Martin for yet another major tournament win.
You can view the whole day's video stream here (the finals start around the 8:07 mark):
Thanks, everyone! See you next year at the EC.
-Petri "Orava" Wessman
Results
| Rank | Name | Prelim GW | Prelim VP | Final VP | TP | Deck/comment |
| 1 | Martin Weinmayer | 2 | 6 | 3 | 144 | Stanislava (see below) |
| 2 | Jonas Ståhle | 2 | 8 | | 150 | Grinder (see below) |
| 2 | Antti Penttilä | 2 | 8 | 1 | 150 | Girls are revolting (see below) |
| 2 | Otso Saariluoma | 2 | 7.5 | 1 | 156 | Gunson (see below) |
| 2 | Magnus Söder | 2 | 11 | | 168 | Laibon is lajbans (see below) |
| 6 | Teemu Sainomaa | 1 | 6.5 | | 144 | |
| 7 | Kari Hyll | 1 | 6 | | 168 | Ahrimanes |
| 8 | Jyri Puhakka | 1 | 6 | | 150 | |
| 8 | Hannu Kokkonen | 1 | 6 | | 150 | Dom+Obf Nos Royalty |
| 10 | Matti Palomäki | 1 | 5 | | 138 | Poistajat (The Removers) |
| 11 | Tuomas Vuokko | 1 | 5 | | 132 | |
| 12 | Johan Wahlström | 1 | 5 | | 108 | |
| 13 | Marko Saari | 1 | 5 | | 102 | Montano Purge |
| 14 | Tom Lindberg | 1 | 4.5 | | 150 | Unnamed |
| 15 | Reetta Rautiainen | 1 | 4.5 | | 144 | |
| 16 | Matias Frosterus | 1 | 4 | | 108 | |
| 17 | Tomi Sillanpää | 1 | 4 | | 96 | |
| 18 | Lasse Pöyry | 1 | 3.5 | | 138 | Credible sub-contracting street thugs |
| 19 | Tero Aalto | 1 | 3.5 | | 132 | |
| 20 | Tiago Brum | 0 | 3.5 | | 126 | |
| 21 | Jani Malmi | 0 | 3.5 | | 120 | |
| 22 | Juha Nyholm | 0 | 3 | | 126 | Potence, Grapple, etc |
| 23 | Katja Jauhiainen | 0 | 2 | | 114 | Lasombra/Kiasyd stealth+bleed |
| 24 | Jukka Pasanen | 0 | 2 | | 100 | Night Moves Propaganda |
| 25 | Antti Knuuttila | 0 | 2 | | 90 | Carna toolbox |
| 26 | Jere Laatunen | 0 | 1.5 | | 112 | Stick Ventrue |
| 27 | Tommi Hakomaa | 0 | 1.5 | | 108 | |
| 28 | Juho Saari | 0 | 1.5 | | 102 | |
| 28 | Samuel Mäenpää | 0 | 1.5 | | 102 | |
| 28 | Lauri Salmi | 0 | 1.5 | | 102 | Khurshid Legionnaires |
| 31 | Teemu Pulkkinen | 0 | 1.5 | | 96 | |
| 31 | Henrik Klippström | 0 | 1.5 | | 96 | |
| 31 | Noora Hirvonen | 0 | 1.5 | | 96 | |
| 34 | Kalle Blomgren | 0 | 1.5 | | 84 | |
| 35 | Marko Oja | 0 | 1 | | 102 | Daughters vote/bleed |
| 35 | Nicolas Verhille | 0 | 1 | | 102 | Kiasyd Nocturn & Gremlins |
| 37 | Marko Lindroos | 0 | 1 | | 96 | |
| 38 | Pasi Karjalainen | 0 | 1 | | 94 | Preston S&B |
| 39 | Petrus Makkonen | 0 | 1 | | 90 | |
| 40 | Juho Vuorikoski | 0 | 1 | | 84 | Samedi |
| 41 | Karri Malm | 0 | 1 | | 72 | Ventrue grinder |
| 42 | Aapo Järvelin | 0 | 0.5 | | 84 | Capuchin + Gerald toolbox |
| 42 | Janne Kilpi | 0 | 0.5 | | 84 | |
| 42 | Zack Holmgren | 0 | 0.5 | | 84 | |
| 42 | Michael Holmström | 0 | 0.5 | | 84 | |
| 42 | Tatu Rajala | 0 | 0.5 | | 84 | Tzimisce wall |
| 47 | Juhani Puska | 0 | 0.5 | | 78 | |
| 47 | Thiago Cavalcanti | 0 | 0.5 | | 78 | |
| 49 | Niina Lindroos | 0 | 0 | | 78 | |
| 49 | Jaakko Nurro | 0 | 0 | | 78 | We do not bleed |
| 51 | Emma Takkunen | 0 | 0 | | 72 | Mithras |
| 52 | Mika Nurmikolu | 0 | 0 | | 66 | |
| 52 | Mikko Moisander | 0 | 0 | | 66 | Ventrue/!Ventrue anti-vote |
| 52 | Juha Laukkanen | 0 | 0 | | 66 | Anarch Gangrel |
| 55 | Simo Tiippana | 0 | 0 | | 60 | |
Decklists
Tournament Winner (Martin Weinmayer)
Deck Name: Stanislava
Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=8 max=11 avg=9.857143)
==================
1x Etrius 11 pro AUS DOM OBF THA Tremere:2
1x Genevieve 10 aus dom ANI FOR PRO Gangrel antitribu:2
1x Hartmut Stover 10 dom for CEL OBF PRO Gangrel antitribu:3
3x Ingrid Rossler 9 dom ANI FOR PRO Gangrel:2
1x Mark Decker 8 ani for obf pot CEL PRO Gangrel:3
4x Stanislava 11 ANI CEL DOM FOR PRO Gangrel:2
1x Xaviar (ADV) 10 aus cel pot ABO ANI FOR PRO Gangrel:3
Library: 82 cards
Master (20 cards)
==================
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
2x Monastery of Shadows
2x Papillon
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Backways
7x Villein
3x Dreams of the Sphinx
Action (8 cards)
==================
8x Govern the Unaligned
Action Modifier (17 cards)
==================
2x Enkil Cog
4x Forced March
4x Instantaneous Transformation
2x Conditioning
5x Earth Control
Action Modifier/Combat (3 cards)
==================
3x Rapid Change
Political Action (14 cards)
==================
2x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancient Influence
2x Ancilla Empowerment
5x Parity Shift
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power
2x Banishment
Combat (11 cards)
==================
7x Form of Mist
4x Earth Meld
Reaction (9 cards)
==================
2x Sense the Savage Way
7x Deflection
Deck Name: GP 2019 Helsinki (2nd place): For grinders - With the times
Author: Jonas Ståhle
Description:
GP 2019 Ropecon
Helsinki, Finland
3R+F
2GW 8VP + 0VP
Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=3 max=8 avg=6.25)
===============================================
3x Aimery Methuin 7 ani pot AUS DOM FOR !Ventrue:5
2x Bulscu ADV 8 pot pre AUS DOM FOR Ventrue:5
1x Esoara 5 aus for pot DOM !Tremere:4
1x Jefferson Foster 6 for tha AUS DOM !Ventrue:4
1x Jephta Hester 5 aus DOM FOR !Ventrue:4
1x Mariel St. John 6 dom pro AUS FOR !Ventrue:4
1x Neighbor John 5 dom for AUS !Ventrue:4
1x Polly Kay Fisher 8 for pot AUS DOM THA !Ventrue:4
1x Ulrike Rothbart 3 dom for !Ventrue:4
Library (75 cards)
==================
Master (9)
1x Anarch Troublemaker
2x Blood Doll
1x Corporate Hunting Ground
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Misdirection
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Vox Domini
Action (15)
2x Abbot
1x Force of Will
12x Govern the Unaligned
Action Modifier (16)
2x Bonding
4x Conditioning
3x Daring the Dawn
2x Foreshadowing Destruction
2x Seduction
3x Tangle Atropos' Hand
Reaction (19)
3x Deflection
1x Delaying Tactics
1x Enhanced Senses
4x Eyes of Argus
2x My Enemy's Enemy
3x On the Qui Vive
1x Redirection
4x Telepathic Misdirection
Combat (16)
1x Disarm
4x Hidden Strength
1x Lessons in the Steel
1x Resilience
1x Rolling with the Punches
3x Soak
1x Superior Mettle
4x Weighted Walking Stick
Deck Name: Girls are revolting - 2019 v.1
Author: Antti Penttilä
Crypt (13 cards; Capacity min=1 max=9 avg=5.)
==================
5x Anarch Convert 1 -none- Caitiff:ANY
3x Nana Buruku 8 ANI POT PRE Guruhi:4
1x Petra 5 aus ANI OBF Nosferatu:4
1x Stick 3 ANI Nosferatu antitribu:4
1x Beetleman 4 obf ANI Nosferatu:4
2x Aksinya Daclau 9 cel tha ANI FOR PRE PRO Gangrel antitribu:4
Library: 83 cards
Master (37 cards)
==================
1x Fame
9x Anarch Revolt
1x Giant's Blood
3x Libertas
3x Liquidation
1x Metro Underground
2x Parthenon, The
9x Ashur Tablets
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
4x Villein
1x Club Illusion
2x Direct Intervention
Action (11 cards)
==================
2x Entrancement
9x Deep Song
Combat (29 cards)
==================
3x Target Vitals
4x Taste of Vitae
2x Terror Frenzy
11x Aid from Bats
1x Canine Horde
8x Carrion Crows
Ally (1 cards)
==================
1x Underbridge Stray
Reaction (4 cards)
==================
3x Guard Dogs
1x Lost in Translation
Event (1 cards)
==================
1x Narrow Minds
Deck Name: Gunson
Author: Otso
Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=3 max=10 avg=6.83)
================================================
1x Anneke 10 dom AUS CEL PRE Toreador:1
4x Anson 8 aus dom CEL PRE Toreador:1
1x Constanza Vinti 8 CEL DOM POT Brujah:2
1x Dónal O'Connor 8 CEL DOM POT Brujah:2
1x Jimmy Dunn 4 for CEL POT Pander:2
1x Marcellus 8 pro AUS CEL Toreador:2
1x Sarah Brando 3 CEL !Brujah:2
1x Victor Tolliver 4 pot CEL !Brujah:2
1x Volker, The Puppet Prince 5 pot CEL Brujah:2
Library (83 cards)
==================
Master (26)
9x Ashur Tablets
1x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fame
1x Giant's Blood
3x Haven Uncovered
1x Papillon
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Tension in the Ranks
5x Villein
1x Wider View
Event (1)
1x Dragonbound
Action (4)
4x Bum's Rush
Political Action (2)
2x Parity Shift
Equipment (7)
7x .44 Magnum
Reaction (10)
2x Deflection
8x Second Tradition: Domain
Combat (32)
2x Blur
7x Concealed Weapon
7x Infernal Pursuit
6x Psyche!
5x Pursuit
1x Side Strike
4x Taste of Vitae
Combo (1)
1x Resist Earth's Grasp
Deck Name: Laibon is lajbans.
Author: Ober
Description: A breed and boon deck based on similar decks from the
past, but built around the change to Embrace as the now inherite the
sect of the vampire who made them. Lajbans is a swedish word for fun.
Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=2 max=5 avg=3.5)
==================
1x Ghivran Dalaal, The Dead God 5 ani aus chi FOR Ravnos:2
1x Andrei Puxon 5 ani cel chi for Ravnos:2
1x Anka, Priestess of Thorns 4 ani chi pro Ravnos:2
1x Khalil Ravana 5 ani for pre CHI Ravnos:2
1x Lazar Dobrescu 3 for Ravnos:2
1x Salbatore Bokkengro 4 for pro CHI Ravnos:2
1x Sasha Miklos 2 chi Ravnos:2
1x Sennuwy, The Promoter 4 ani chi for Ravnos:2
1x Spleen, Georgio Gutterpunk 2 ani chi Ravnos:2
1x Tsigane 3 aus chi Ravnos:2
1x Vedel Esbreno 3 chi for Ravnos:2
1x Zip 2 ani Ravnos:3
Library: 78 cards
Master (14 cards)
==================
1x Gird Minions
1x Life Boon
2x Pentex(TM) Subversion
6x Ravnos Carnival
2x Week of Nightmares
2x Dreams of the Sphinx - Should be 1 less
Action (35 cards)
==================
22x Embrace, The
2x Aranthebes, The Immortal
11x Mozambique Allure
Action Modifier (7 cards)
==================
3x Change of Target
1x Cryptic Rider - Never played it. Will probably be cut.
3x Daring the Dawn
Action Modifier/Reaction (9 cards)
==================
9x Eldest Are Kholo, The - Could use 1 more.
Political Action (9 cards)
==================
1x Autarkis Persecution - Key vs Delaying.
8x Consanguineous Boon
Equipment (2 cards)
==================
2x Heart of Nizchetus
Event (2 cards)
==================
2x Uncoiling, The
TWD: Finnish Grand Prix 2019 at Ropecon
Politics!
NC Russia
