TWD + report - Ropecon 2024 Finnish Grand Prix (July 20th 2024)
25 Jul 2024 08:57 - 01 Oct 2024 17:45 #112169
by PetriWessman
Tournament winning deck (Teemu Sainomaa)
Report
We had a nice turnout, with a total of 54 players, of whom 20 were from outside Finland – a record number of foreign players for this tournament! The tournament went very smoothly, and a big part of that is due to the players, who helped keep things in schedule. Also a big thanks to Black Chantry, Ultrapro and the Ropecon convention for sponsoring tournament prizes and other support. Games started at around 11:00, and we wrapped up the finals around 21:30. A long (but fun!) day for everyone involved.
As usual for this tournament, the “meta” was all over the place. We had some top-tier players, and then some players who only play VTES a few times per year, all mixed up in the same tournament. All this results is a huge variety of deck types, and I did not see any one archetype really dominate this year. Quite a few new Anarch decks of course, but maybe less than I was expecting. If I had to guess the most popular deck, it would be the new Tzimisce – but that’s only because I saw more than 2 of them. As typical for Finland, there were a lot of combat decks around, and decks with no combat defense tended to be easy pickings unless they were extremely efficient otherwise.
The finalists were as follows (Lasse and Teemu had identical scores, order was determined by coin flip):
Final table order was: Teemu → Bram → Lasse → Nina → Michael. The following is a (very) condensed summary based on my quick notes (which may or may not be accurate).
First couple of rounds, nothing much happened, just general setup. Round 3, Michael’s Nana rushes Nina’s Massimiliano and sends him to torpor. After that a quiet round, with just some “bleed for 1” stuff.
Round 5, Michael’s Nangila Were rushes Teemu’s Unmada, a lot of damage but no torpor. Round 5, Bram’s Asguresh bleeds for 1 and gets blocked by Lasse’s Theo Bell, which results in poor Theo hitting torpor after getting shot full of .44 lead. Nina rescues Theo on her turn.
Round 7, Teemu triggers Ashurs, and Asguresh rushes Theo back to torpor. “And stay down!”. Things are looking grim for Lasse at this point, Bram’s gun+cel combat is a bad match for his more close-range combat package. Next round, Teemu’s Lutz calls Ancient Influence, which ousts Lasse. At this point we have 1:22 left on the game clock.
After the oust, there’s a lot of table talk about who does what (and honestly, at this point the table seems to be going to Bram, his combat demolishes anything else on this table). After lots of discussion, Michael’s Nangila rushes Bram, Asguresh blocks, and Nangila ends up in torpor. Michael to Bram: “I can’t win the game if you’re alive.”
Round 9, Teemu continues to bloat with Minion Tap (he played Giant’s Blood earlier). Nina tries to convince Bram to kill Michael, and after a lot of talk Bram decides to go for it (at least for this round). Bram rushes Nangila (to torpor). Nina does lots of bleeds for 1. Michael brings out Enkidu.
Round 10, Teemu Banishes Nina’s Kuyen and rescues Nangila. 1 hour left on game clock. Bram does nothing much, Nina bleeds and gets blocked by Nangila, sending poor Nangila back to torpor. Next round, Teemu brings out Adana de Sforza (after discussion with Bram about it), Bram and Nina do nothing much, and Michael’s Enkidu rushes Nina’s Branimira with not much effect.
Round 12, nothing much happens, Teemu and Bram both try to convince Nina to do different things. Lots of tabletalk, at the end of which there are 38 minutes left on clock. Next round, Teemu decides to make his move, and Banishes Bram’s Asguresh, Omer and Asmin Kobane. After this, Bram only has New Blood left active. On his turn, Bram brings
Asguresh & Asmin back out.
Round 14, Teemu calls Neonate Breach, uses Undele to retrieve two Banishments, and Banishes Asguresh and Asmin again. Michael triggers Ashurs for some much-needed pool, and his Enkidu rushes Teemu’s Undele to torpor.
Round 15, 18 minutes left. Teemu’s Lutz calls Reins of Power, to which Bram chooses no vampire giving Nina 6 pool. Teemu calls KRC. Bram’s New Blood diablerizes Undele (and burns in the blood hunt). Asguresh rushes Adama to torpor. Michael’s Enkidu rushes Unmada, who manages to avoid torpor.
Round 16, Teemu Minion Taps once again, Lutz bleeds ousting Bram (with 8:30 left on clock). Political Stranglehold is called, Delaying from Nina. Teemu rescues Nana. Nina’s Kuyen rushes Unmada to torpor, and then Nina tries to oust Micheal via bleed but Michael has enough wakes to block the attempt (Nana goes to torpor though). Michael plays
Golconda on Nana.
Round 17, Teemu triggers Ashurs once again, and the game times out leaving Teemu the winner. Overall, it was a very tight and interesting final round, with lots of surprises.
-Petri "Orava" Wessman
Added later a note from Lasse: I was a bit unlucky with my crypt draw. First Ghede was sixth card (less than 5 % probability). This deck needs Ghede, Theo is just a support. I didn't know what kind of deck Bram was playing. In crypt reveal there was 2 Banu Haqims and I expected Retributions... With Ghede in the opening crypt the finals would have been totally different game.
Other finalist decks
(do not have deck from Bram yet, will add it here if I get it)
Nina Nilsson
Michael Holmström
Lasse Pöyry
- Tournament: Ropecon 2024 Finnish Grand Prix
- Date: Saturday July 20th, 2024
- Location: Ropecon 2024 gaming convention, Messukeskus, Helsinki, Finland
- Players: 54
- Format: Constructed, 3R+F
- Organizer/judge: Petri Wessman
- Winner: Teemu Sainomaa
- Event link: www.vekn.net/event-calendar/event/11480
Tournament winning deck (Teemu Sainomaa)
Deck Name: Lutz vote
Author: Teemu Sainomaa and tweaked with Michael Holmstrom
Crypt (12 cards, min=34 max=44 avg=9.83)
========================================
3x Lutz von Hohenzollern 11 AUS DEM OBF PRE pot inner circle Malkavian:4
1x Adana de Sforza 11 CEL OBF POT PRE PRO aus inner circle Brujah:4
1x Rafael de Corazon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF PRE inner circle Toreador:4
1x Armin Brenner 10 CEL FOR POT PRE ani obf archbishop Brujah antitribu:4
1x Unmada 10 AUS DEM OBF VIC cel for justicar Malkavian:5
3x Undele 9 CEL FOR obf pre ser magaji Ishtarri:5
1x Dmitra Ilyanova 9 CEL FOR POT PRE obf justicar Brujah:5
1x Stavros 7 AUS OBF PRE dem priscus Malkavian antitribu:4
Library (76 cards)
==================
Master (37; 2 trifle)
----------------------
9x Ashur Tablets
1x Coven, The
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
1x Information Highway
6x Minion Tap
1x Monastery of Shadows
4x Parthenon, The
4x Protected Resources
1x Secure Haven
1x Wider View
6x Zillah's Valley
Action (1)
-----------
1x Entrancement
Political Action (15)
----------------------
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancient Influence
1x Ancilla Empowerment
4x Banishment
1x Disputed Territory
3x Kine Resources Contested
1x Neonate Breach
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power
1x Rumors of Gehenna
Action Modifier (21)
---------------------
2x Approximation of Loyalty
1x Awe
1x Bewitching Oration
4x Forgotten Labyrinth
3x Into Thin Air
2x Lost in Crowds
2x Perfect Paragon
6x Voter Captivation
Action Modifier/Combat (2)
---------------------------
2x Force of PersonalityReport
We had a nice turnout, with a total of 54 players, of whom 20 were from outside Finland – a record number of foreign players for this tournament! The tournament went very smoothly, and a big part of that is due to the players, who helped keep things in schedule. Also a big thanks to Black Chantry, Ultrapro and the Ropecon convention for sponsoring tournament prizes and other support. Games started at around 11:00, and we wrapped up the finals around 21:30. A long (but fun!) day for everyone involved.
As usual for this tournament, the “meta” was all over the place. We had some top-tier players, and then some players who only play VTES a few times per year, all mixed up in the same tournament. All this results is a huge variety of deck types, and I did not see any one archetype really dominate this year. Quite a few new Anarch decks of course, but maybe less than I was expecting. If I had to guess the most popular deck, it would be the new Tzimisce – but that’s only because I saw more than 2 of them. As typical for Finland, there were a lot of combat decks around, and decks with no combat defense tended to be easy pickings unless they were extremely efficient otherwise.
The finalists were as follows (Lasse and Teemu had identical scores, order was determined by coin flip):
- Bram Van Stappen (2 GW, 7 VP) - celerity guns
- Michael Holmström (2 GW, 6 VP) - Typhonic Beast rush
- Lasse Pöyry (2 GW, 5.5 VP) - Ghede + Theo combat
- Teemu Sainomaa (2 GW, 5.5 VP) - Lutz & friends politics
- Nina Nilsson (1 GW, 7 VP) - animalism anarchs
Final table order was: Teemu → Bram → Lasse → Nina → Michael. The following is a (very) condensed summary based on my quick notes (which may or may not be accurate).
First couple of rounds, nothing much happened, just general setup. Round 3, Michael’s Nana rushes Nina’s Massimiliano and sends him to torpor. After that a quiet round, with just some “bleed for 1” stuff.
Round 5, Michael’s Nangila Were rushes Teemu’s Unmada, a lot of damage but no torpor. Round 5, Bram’s Asguresh bleeds for 1 and gets blocked by Lasse’s Theo Bell, which results in poor Theo hitting torpor after getting shot full of .44 lead. Nina rescues Theo on her turn.
Round 7, Teemu triggers Ashurs, and Asguresh rushes Theo back to torpor. “And stay down!”. Things are looking grim for Lasse at this point, Bram’s gun+cel combat is a bad match for his more close-range combat package. Next round, Teemu’s Lutz calls Ancient Influence, which ousts Lasse. At this point we have 1:22 left on the game clock.
After the oust, there’s a lot of table talk about who does what (and honestly, at this point the table seems to be going to Bram, his combat demolishes anything else on this table). After lots of discussion, Michael’s Nangila rushes Bram, Asguresh blocks, and Nangila ends up in torpor. Michael to Bram: “I can’t win the game if you’re alive.”
Round 9, Teemu continues to bloat with Minion Tap (he played Giant’s Blood earlier). Nina tries to convince Bram to kill Michael, and after a lot of talk Bram decides to go for it (at least for this round). Bram rushes Nangila (to torpor). Nina does lots of bleeds for 1. Michael brings out Enkidu.
Round 10, Teemu Banishes Nina’s Kuyen and rescues Nangila. 1 hour left on game clock. Bram does nothing much, Nina bleeds and gets blocked by Nangila, sending poor Nangila back to torpor. Next round, Teemu brings out Adana de Sforza (after discussion with Bram about it), Bram and Nina do nothing much, and Michael’s Enkidu rushes Nina’s Branimira with not much effect.
Round 12, nothing much happens, Teemu and Bram both try to convince Nina to do different things. Lots of tabletalk, at the end of which there are 38 minutes left on clock. Next round, Teemu decides to make his move, and Banishes Bram’s Asguresh, Omer and Asmin Kobane. After this, Bram only has New Blood left active. On his turn, Bram brings
Asguresh & Asmin back out.
Round 14, Teemu calls Neonate Breach, uses Undele to retrieve two Banishments, and Banishes Asguresh and Asmin again. Michael triggers Ashurs for some much-needed pool, and his Enkidu rushes Teemu’s Undele to torpor.
Round 15, 18 minutes left. Teemu’s Lutz calls Reins of Power, to which Bram chooses no vampire giving Nina 6 pool. Teemu calls KRC. Bram’s New Blood diablerizes Undele (and burns in the blood hunt). Asguresh rushes Adama to torpor. Michael’s Enkidu rushes Unmada, who manages to avoid torpor.
Round 16, Teemu Minion Taps once again, Lutz bleeds ousting Bram (with 8:30 left on clock). Political Stranglehold is called, Delaying from Nina. Teemu rescues Nana. Nina’s Kuyen rushes Unmada to torpor, and then Nina tries to oust Micheal via bleed but Michael has enough wakes to block the attempt (Nana goes to torpor though). Michael plays
Golconda on Nana.
Round 17, Teemu triggers Ashurs once again, and the game times out leaving Teemu the winner. Overall, it was a very tight and interesting final round, with lots of surprises.
-Petri "Orava" Wessman
Added later a note from Lasse: I was a bit unlucky with my crypt draw. First Ghede was sixth card (less than 5 % probability). This deck needs Ghede, Theo is just a support. I didn't know what kind of deck Bram was playing. In crypt reveal there was 2 Banu Haqims and I expected Retributions... With Ghede in the opening crypt the finals would have been totally different game.
Other finalist decks
(do not have deck from Bram yet, will add it here if I get it)
Nina Nilsson
Deck Name: Animals
Author: Nina
Crypt (12 cards, min=16 max=28 avg=5.67)
========================================
1x Adrino Manauara 8 ANI DOM PRO pot baron Tzimisce:6
1x Ángel Guerrero 7 ANI DOM PRO baron Tzimisce:6
1x Massimiliano 7 ANI FOR pro baron Gangrel:6
2x Branimira 6 ANI dom pre pro baron Tzimisce:6
2x Kuyén 6 ANI PRO baron Gangrel:6
1x Doc Martina 6 ANI OBF for pre Ravnos:7
1x Gathii 5 ANI PRE obf Ravnos:7
1x Whisper 5 ANI DOM pro Tzimisce:6
2x Trung Chau Pham 3 ANI Ravnos:7
Library (90 cards)
==================
Master (18; 5 trifle)
----------------------
1x Anarch Free Press, The
2x Blood Doll
2x Carfax Abbey
2x Club Illusion
2x Fame
1x Flames of Insurrection
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Guardian Angel
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Vessel
4x Villein
Action (12)
------------
1x Army of Rats
10x Deep Song
1x Status Perfectus, The
Political Action (1)
---------------------
1x Eat the Rich
Retainer (3)
-------------
3x Raven Spy
Action Modifier (1)
--------------------
1x Conditioning
Action Modifier/Reaction (2)
-----------------------------
2x Form of the Bat
Reaction (22)
--------------
4x Bait and Switch
2x Cats' Guidance
1x Delaying Tactics
1x Guard Dogs
1x On the Qui Vive
10x Organized Resistance
3x Protection Racket
Combat (31)
------------
13x Aid from Bats
9x Carrion Crows
1x Donnybrook
2x Groundfighting
4x Taste of Vitae
2x Voracious VerminMichael Holmström
Deck Name: Typhonic Beast Nangila
Author: Michael Holmström
Crypt(12 cards; Capacity min=1 max=11 avg=6.666666666666667)
==================
4x Nangila Were 9 obf ser ANI POT PRE Guruhi:4
3x Nana Buruku 8 ANI POT PRE Guruhi:4
2x Enkidu, The Noah 11 for ANI CEL OBF POT PRO Gangrel antitribu:4
1x Gustaphe Brunnelle 8 obf ANI DOM POT Nosferatu:4
1x Andre LeRoux 3 aus Toreador:5
1x Anarch Convert 1 -none- Caitiff:ANY
Library: 78 cards
Master (34 cards)
==================
9x Ashur Tablets
7x Villein
4x Serpentis
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Protected Resources
1x Archon Investigation
1x Carver's Meat Packing and Storage
1x Fame
1x Giant's Blood
1x Golconda: Inner Peace
1x Information Highway
1x Mbare Market, Harare
1x Powerbase: Luanda
1x Secure Haven
1x Wider View
Action (3 cards)
==================
1x Deep Song
1x Entrancement
1x Well-Marked
Combat (35 cards)
==================
10x Typhonic Beast
6x Carrion Crows
6x Immortal Grapple
6x Taste of Vitae
3x Drawing Out the Beast
2x Torn Signpost
1x Canine Horde
1x Roundhouse
Event (2 cards)
==================
1x Dragonbound
1x Scourge of the Enochians
Reaction (4 cards)
==================
1x Cats' Guidance
1x Delaying Tactics
1x On the Qui Vive
1x Sense the Savage WayLasse Pöyry
Deck Name: Ghede Ropecon GP 24
Author: LsuP
Crypt (13 cards, min=14 max=40 avg=7.31)
========================================
5x Ghede 10 FOR OBF POT PRE SER Ministry:6
3x Theo Bell 8 CEL POT PRE aus dom Brujah:6
1x Aline Gädeke 7 POT PRE cel baron Brujah:6
1x Leumeah 6 PRE cel for pot baron Brujah:6
1x Elen Kamjian 4 CEL POT Brujah:6
1x Ariane 3 cel pot pre Brujah:5
1x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:ANY
Library (90 cards)
==================
Master (12; 6 trifle)
1x Carver's Meat Packing and Storage
1x Fame
1x Flames of Insurrection
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Secure Haven
1x Tension in the Ranks
5x Villein
1x Wider View
Action (11)
1x Entrancement
1x Field Training
1x Heart of the City
1x Heroic Might
4x Line Brawl
3x Preternatural Strength
Equipment (4)
1x Book of Going Forth by Night, The
1x Flak Jacket
1x Leather Jacket
1x Light Intensifying Goggles
Action Modifier (8)
1x Enkil Cog
7x Freak Drive
Action Modifier/Combat (2)
2x Shadow Boxing
Combat (53)
3x Disarm
1x Diversion
3x Dust Up
8x Immortal Grapple
1x Jones, The
3x Pulled Fangs
3x Street Cred
9x Taste of Vitae
22x Typhonic Beast Attachments:
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
26 Jul 2024 05:21 #112179
by Jannu
Potence, if it doesn't work, you just aren't using enough
National Coordinator of Finland
Prince of Hämeenlinna
Replied by Jannu on topic TWD + report - Ropecon 2024 Finnish Grand Prix (July 20th 2024)
Archon approved
Congratulations for the winner and thanks for the organizer!
GP attracted a huge amount of foreign players to Ropecon tournament. Usually we have the Swedes and one or two from further away. This year we had more than 1/3 of the players coming abroad. Great!
Ropecon is such a great event with lot to do and including a big VtES tournament in it gives a ton do during the weekend. Hopefully we can have a GP in Ropecon in the coming years.
Congratulations for the winner and thanks for the organizer!
GP attracted a huge amount of foreign players to Ropecon tournament. Usually we have the Swedes and one or two from further away. This year we had more than 1/3 of the players coming abroad. Great!
Ropecon is such a great event with lot to do and including a big VtES tournament in it gives a ton do during the weekend. Hopefully we can have a GP in Ropecon in the coming years.
Potence, if it doesn't work, you just aren't using enough National Coordinator of Finland
Prince of Hämeenlinna
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
26 Jul 2024 14:53 #112182
by Lönkka
Replied by Lönkka on topic TWD + report - Ropecon 2024 Finnish Grand Prix (July 20th 2024)
Kudos to Petri for once again organizing the Ropecon tournament! <3
I think Petri might've organized a VTES tournament in _every_ Ropecon right from 1994 so that would make it 30 years straight up uninterrupted.
Let that sink in for a while!
And give respect where respect is DUE!
Besides always organizing Ropecon tournament Petri has been EXTREMELY pivotal in getting the game up and running in Finland. Especially during the 90's everyone and their grandmother got to try out the game with Petri as he taught Jyhad to more or less everyone he knew and was acquainted with (not sure if he demoed it to his own grandma, but at least his mom and sis got to try their hand in vampire politics...) he also generously handed out a copious amount of cards to n00bs. In the early days when people didn't have access to that shiny new thang "interwebs" Petri, as the OG computer nerd, had the connections, got the card lists and erratas and kept them, and the local playerbase, up to date.
Especially compared to the size of Finland's populace VTES has been been disproportionately popular here. For the longest time Ropecon tournaments used to be THE largest VTES events of each year and the 93 player record was the largest ever VTES tournament for a good long time.
Disclaimer: There is video evidence from 1996 Ropecon's VTES tournament and, if my ears don't fail me, in the clip a certain inept dreadlocked player says that this time, even if he was ousted quickly, it wasn't as quickly as _last_year. Which would imply that at least in 1995 a VTES tournament was run.
So actually 1994 Ropecon didn't have a Jyhad tournament as the game was released on Aug 16th that year and the first Ropecon was organized almost two weeks prior (August 6.-7.1994) and no one had even heard about Temporis yet...
So make Petri's run, SO FAR, 29 years, not 30, and only because the game wasn't out in 1994 during Ropecon. Tough.
I think Petri might've organized a VTES tournament in _every_ Ropecon right from 1994 so that would make it 30 years straight up uninterrupted.
Let that sink in for a while!
And give respect where respect is DUE!
Besides always organizing Ropecon tournament Petri has been EXTREMELY pivotal in getting the game up and running in Finland. Especially during the 90's everyone and their grandmother got to try out the game with Petri as he taught Jyhad to more or less everyone he knew and was acquainted with (not sure if he demoed it to his own grandma, but at least his mom and sis got to try their hand in vampire politics...) he also generously handed out a copious amount of cards to n00bs. In the early days when people didn't have access to that shiny new thang "interwebs" Petri, as the OG computer nerd, had the connections, got the card lists and erratas and kept them, and the local playerbase, up to date.
Especially compared to the size of Finland's populace VTES has been been disproportionately popular here. For the longest time Ropecon tournaments used to be THE largest VTES events of each year and the 93 player record was the largest ever VTES tournament for a good long time.
Disclaimer: There is video evidence from 1996 Ropecon's VTES tournament and, if my ears don't fail me, in the clip a certain inept dreadlocked player says that this time, even if he was ousted quickly, it wasn't as quickly as _last_year. Which would imply that at least in 1995 a VTES tournament was run.
So actually 1994 Ropecon didn't have a Jyhad tournament as the game was released on Aug 16th that year and the first Ropecon was organized almost two weeks prior (August 6.-7.1994) and no one had even heard about Temporis yet...
So make Petri's run, SO FAR, 29 years, not 30, and only because the game wasn't out in 1994 during Ropecon. Tough.
Finnish Politics!
Politics!
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
27 Jul 2024 06:59 #112184
by PetriWessman
Replied by PetriWessman on topic TWD + report - Ropecon 2024 Finnish Grand Prix (July 20th 2024)
Thanks for the kind words, Janne. And you yourself have also been *very* active in keeping the game alive over here, so it's very much a group effort 
...and huh. I knew I had been running those Ropecon tournaments for a long time, but never did the math. I thought it was something close to 20 years, but seems next year we can have a 30th anniversary tournament. Yay!
...and huh. I knew I had been running those Ropecon tournaments for a long time, but never did the math. I thought it was something close to 20 years, but seems next year we can have a 30th anniversary tournament. Yay!
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
28 Jul 2024 10:46 #112191
by Lönkka
Replied by Lönkka on topic TWD + report - Ropecon 2024 Finnish Grand Prix (July 20th 2024)
Me? Nah, I've just been a round and lent a hand.
At best, occasionally enabled others do their bit.
And yeah, it is not unlike all the things that you thought happened "some 5-8" years ago when in fact they happened already around 20 years ago...
At best, occasionally enabled others do their bit.
And yeah, it is not unlike all the things that you thought happened "some 5-8" years ago when in fact they happened already around 20 years ago...
Finnish Politics!
Politics!
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
Time to create page: 0.196 seconds
- You are here:
-
Home
-
Forum
-
V:TES Events
-
Event Reports and TWD
- TWD + report - Ropecon 2024 Finnish Grand Prix (July 20th 2024)