Saturday, May 08, 2010

Liquefy the Mortal Coil: Atlanta

Liquefy the Mortal Coil: Atlanta
Stone Mountain, Georgia
May 8, 2010
8 players
2R + F, Multi deck

As we only had 8 players show up for what was scheduled as a mini-qualifier, we played 2R + a final using the multi-deck rules.  A number of the attendees have posted to the newsgroup in the past, so perhaps they will add their recollections to the thread there.

Round 1, Kaymakli Nightmares shredded two turns of my predators transfers and only 1 turn of my own, so I had to play it.  This meant that it was 4 turns before Graham Gottesman was my predator.  He governed out a younger version of himself (Mustafa, The Heir) and João Bilé.  My prey was playing group 1-2 Ventrue princes with guest stars Anarch Convert and Victoria Ash.  A First Tradition successfully removed ~24 pool from the table, as everyone always took their turn.  The eventual tournament winner was cross table from me with a Harvest Rites Hungry Coyote deck.  My deck started up slowly because of the Kaymakli and so I was only able to force an Anarchist Uprising to be my death (also ousting my prey) for an ending of 3-1 (three for my prey the 1-2 Ventrue and one for me). 

[If he hadn't played that vote to oust us both, I would have ousted him with the standing 7+ bleed I had on the table on my next turn.]

Round 2, My prey was celerity guns.  I got him down to 5 pool, then my predator swept the table as he had no predator himself.  My grand-prey this game was the Ventrue 1-2 deck from the first table.  He blocked a bleed and the celerity guns deck used two Psyche! to get around his two Majesty to put Victory Ash in torpor and then lost two pool to Perpetual Care!  My predator was playing Black Hand - Reunion Kamut - Guarded Rubrics - Tattoo Signal - bleed for 3 at stealth and swept in 3 turns once he was set up.

Results going into finals:

Player 1 - 2 GW, 8 VP, two different decks
Player 2 - 1 GW, 3 VP, two different decks
Player 3 - 1 GW, 3 VP, same deck both games, lost tie breaker
Player 4 - 1 VP, same deck both games
Player 5 - 1 VP, same deck both games

Finals, As it was officially multi-deck, I swapped out my Samedi Reanimated Corpse deck for my Enkidu Raptor deck.  I was exactly tied for 5th.  The third place player sat as my prey, the second place player sat as his prey, and the first place player sat as his prey!  (All trying to be my grand-predator, as I have exhibited some back ousting combat with some frequency in the last few months.)

My grand prey in the finals ousted all of the players at the table except himself, and his votes brought him down far enough to allow my initial predator to oust him on the turn that he ousted me backwards.

Final result:
My predator 3 vp,
Me 1 vp,
grand prey 1 vp

My predator did end up playing the same deck all three rounds.  The player resented two decks to me in blind boxes to choose from, or the player would have played something else in the finals.

Scourge of the Enochians did remove 2 vampires from the game and prevented a third from entering play.

The winner walked away with the print for Liquefy the Mortal Coil and 12 deck backers of the same art as well as ~10 boosters from various sets.  Other finalists received ~4 boosters.  The three players that played Dominion during the finals also received consolation prizes, either an UltraPack of cards for Kiasyd from Heirs to the Blood or an UltraPack of Harbingers/Nagaraja or ~5 Third Edition boosters.  (An UltraPack is all of the commons, vampires, and rares specific to a clan and their disciplines acquired from opening 4 booster display boxes.)

Here is the deck I constructed in 20 minutes before driving to the tournament from 4 starters.  (Cards that don't appear in the HttB starters used:  Poison Pill x2, Giant's Blood, Kaymakli Nightmares, Perfectionist, Lubomira, Morlock.)

Deck Name : Morlock Rocks
Author : The Lasombra
Description :
The Samedi-Nosferatu starter has a lot of Reanimated Corpses.  I hadn't seen any decks locally made for them, so I felt safe from contesting when bringing this deck.  I did review Fletcher Gibson's tournament winning decks for inspiration.  Lubomira is in the deck to provide cheap Obfuscate for the Cloaks and Veils.  (During the tournament, I had a Hungry Coyote in the deck mistakenly.  Perfectionist will replace it.)

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 10 average: 7.08333
------------------------------------------------------------
3x Troglodytia         10 AUS FOR NEC THN obf pot   Samedi:4
2x Morlock             8  FOR NEC THN obf           Samedi:4
2x Baroque             7  NEC THN aus for obf       Samedi:5
2x Tangine             7  OBF THN ani nec pot       Samedi:4
2x Abebe               4  nec obf thn               Samedi:4
1x Lubomira Hradok     3  OBF                       !Nosferatu:5

Library [90 cards]
----------------------------------------
Action [16]
  7x Computer Hacking
  7x Little Mountain Cemetery
  2x Off Kilter

Action Modifier [31]
  7x Cloak the Gathering
  8x Freak Drive
  4x Lost in Crowds
  1x Mask of a Thousand Faces
  4x Under My Skin
  7x Veil the Legions

Ally [12]
  12x Reanimated Corpse

Combat [7]
  2x Compress
  5x Soak

Master [18]
  3x Coroner's Contact
  3x Dreams of the Sphinx
  1x Dummy Corporation
  1x Giant's Blood
  1x Houngan
  1x Kaymakli Nightmares
  1x Perfectionist
  7x Villein

Reaction [6]
  4x On the Qui Vive
  2x Poison Pill

Here is the deck I played in the finals:

Deck Name : Enkidu's Raptor Training Camp 2010
Author : The Lasombra
Description :

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 11 average: 6.66667
------------------------------------------------------------
4x Enkidu, The Noah     11 ANI CEL OBF POT PRO for   !Gangrel:4
2x Celeste Lamontagne   5  ANI PRO for               !Gangrel:4
2x Petra                5  ANI OBF aus               Nosferatu:4
2x Beetleman            4  ANI obf                   Nosferatu:4
1x Effie Lowery         5  ANI SPI obf               Ahrimane:4
1x Stick                3  ANI                       !Nosferatu:4

Library [90 cards]
-------------------------------------
Action [6]
  2x Constant Revolution  // first one blocked by Maris Streck intercept, second in hand when ousted
  1x Jack of Both Sides  // discarded, no Raptors in hand when it showed up
  2x Muricia's Call
  1x Shadow of the Beast   // didn't see

Action Modifier [11]
  1x Cloak the Gathering
  1x Earth Control
  1x Enkil Cog   // didn't see
  5x Forced March
  1x Forgotten Labyrinth
  2x Lost in Crowds

Combat [37]
  13x Earth Meld
  5x Pack Alpha
  12x Psyche!
  4x Pursuit
  3x Taste of Vitae

Event [1]
  1x Scourge of the Enochians

Master [12]
  1x Coven, The     // didn't see
  1x Fame   // didn't see
  1x Giant's Blood
  2x Guardian Angel
  1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany // didn't see
  1x House of Sorrow  // put in play, never used as the masters I didn't see and put it in for never showed up
  1x Perfectionist 
  1x Rack, The   // didn't see
  1x Sudden Reversal // saved for Pentex Subversion, worked
  2x Wash  // saved for Pentex Subversion, worked

Reaction [10]
  2x Cats' Guidance
  3x Forced Awakening
  2x On the Qui Vive
  3x Sense the Savage Way

Retainer [13]
  1x Homunculus
  12x Raptor