The final week of the tournament finally arrived, but we were still 2 Methuselah short - Zen and Robin still couldn't make it for the game, so we were still playing 2 tables of 4. The Voice behind the Counter was busy with new incoming stocks, and therefore appointed Ryan to play his deck for him during round 4, including the draft.
We started rather late at about 8pm, and selected the packs before the table position is announced to us. I chose a pack of LotN, hoping to get enough cards that support the Assamites in order to make my deck less reliant on Enkidu, and perhaps move a little closer to an Assamite deck.
My first rare was the retainer Malajit Chandramouli. I pondered between taking it, Brute Force or a Loss. At the end I decided that Malajit is useful for Enkidu, so I took him instead of the others. (In hindsight, I think that was stupid) I was to be player 3, bleeding Ryan (TVC's deck), being bled by Ed, and Dan was my ally. On the table, 2 packs of LotN and 2 packs of TR were drafted. Notable cards that I've taken include : another piece of Steely Tenacity, a Hell for Leather, a Nest of Eagles, the Vampire T.J. and an Anonymous Freight.
I bid 0 pool and got the Mole.
I brought out T.J in the first round, and a Twilight Camp in the second, quickly making him into Anarch and bled Ryan to get myself the Edge, which net me 1 or 2 pool as Ryan's deck seems to be slow in getting a Vampire out. My second Vampire is Paulo and I placed a Blood Stone on Ransom, the Old Man that Ed was using. With another early Anarch Free Press I was able to block most of Ed's attack with T.J.'s Kpist. Ed was contesting Dirk with Dan and that forced him into a defensive position that allowed me the freedom to bring out Enkidu. Dan called an Exclusion Principle and gave me a couple of pool. Ryan brought out Nergal, much to my surprise, and I was comfortably letting him bleed Dan, while occasionally went in to bleed him a little, just to cycle the Edge. In this game I was being very careful and didn't really use Enkidu to attack the Vampires of my prey or predator. But once I see that Dan was gaining the upperhand of the table I started to attack his Vampires to make sure that he had no more than 3 ready minions most of the time. By then Ed was in serious trouble and couldn't spare time to harass me, pretty much leaving me alone to attack Dan's little critters. When Dan brought out Jamal and equipped him with a Kpist Enkidu slowed down and Dan went ahead to oust Ed. Meanwhile I was able to reduce Ryan's pool to a manageable level and ousted him with a surprise Steely Tenacity Monkey Wrench with Paulo. The Fires of Insurrection allowed me to bring out Izhim, who then took the gun from T.J. and promptly started to attack Jamal. Jamal was eventually torpored after Enkidu blocked and Frenzy him. I got myself a game win with 3 VPs.
Table Standing
Me - 3VP
Dan - 1VP
Time was short, and we went on to draft the 5th and the final round. I continued to try my luck with LotN. This time, I was to be player 2, being bled by Richard, bleeding Donkey, and allied with Ed. 1 TR, 1 BH and 1 3rd Ed was being drafted on the table. in addition to my pack of LotN. Notable cards that I took include the Vampire Lin Jun, another Legworks, another Hell for Leather and an Agent of Power.
I bid 0 pool and got the Hawg.
This round my luck continued to hold. By round 2 I brought out Janni, round 3 I equipped her with a Kpist. Round 4 I have Paulo became Anarch but Donkey dropped a The Damned on him, and basically removed his option of bleeding. With Janni on the table I blocked Donkey's Jaroslav's sole attempt to equip with a Bundi. Upon a successful block Jaroslav is no longer a combat threat and Janni, now equipped with the Hawg, reduced his blood to a manageable level. Richard was too busy bleeding to death from Ed's Leveraged Steely Tenacity and multiple small Vampires, he didn't really have time for me - Ed's Jack Drake with a Baseball Bat deterred Donkey's attack and he began to grow in strength. I took the lull to bring out Enkidu again, and after turning Enkidu Anarch, started to attack Ed's Vampires to attempt table control. I was pretty successful, thanks to the multiple Hell for Leathers that I had in hand (all 3~) , and pretty much torpored most of Ed's Vampires. Ed almost killed Richard with a 4-point bleed, but I Major Boon it to keep Richard in the game. However, Richard decided that he'd rather helped Ed sweep and committed his Vampires to bleeding me continuously. I had no choice but to block and eliminated the threat. Richard was ousted by Ed, wasting my Major Boon. Janni's Steely Tenacity's attack with Kpist torpored Jaroslav again and again, whom by now had diablerized Jack Drake and confiscated his Baseball Bat. Donkey's Vampires were no match for Enkidu and Janni's relentless attacks, and soon was struggling just to survive. Ed had to leave early and left his deck for Richard to play, whom I quickly proceed to tropor every single one of his Vampires, just to be safe. Paulo eventually went through with a Monkey Wrench to reduce Donkey's pool to 1, and Enkidu finished the job. With no Vampires to bring out anymore, Richard was ousted and I got myself a second game win tonight.
Table Standing
Me - 3VP
Ed - 1VP
Dan didn't manage to win on the other table and I won the Anarch and Alastor Storyline Tournament. My notable minion was Enkidu and he supported the Anarchs. It was a great tournament, a very enjoyable experience.
This is my draft deck's final Incarnation:
Crypt (8)
Enkidu
Izhim Abd Azrael
Janni
T.J.
Paulo de Castille
Lin Jun
Anarch Convert
Antoine, the Lost
Library(44+4)
Master
Fires of Insurrection
Dreams of the Sphinx
Frenzy
Major Boon
Twilight Camp
Anarch Free Press
Agent of Power
Guardian Angel
Blood Turnip
Action
2 x Steely Tenacity
Haven Hunting
Rave
Anonymous Freight
Equipment
Kpist m/45
2 x Baseball Bat
Bloodstone
Hawg
Wooden Stake
Retainer
Malajit Chandramouli
Action Modifiers
Lost in Crowd
Crimeth Inc
The Missing Voice
Monkey Wrench
Combat
Song of Serenity
3 x Hell for Leather
Lam Into
Brute Force
Form of Mist
Mercury's Arrow
Projectile
Diversion
Groundfighting
High Ground
Armor of Vitality
Blur
Reaction
Open Dossier
Nest of Eagle
Sense the Savage Way
Fillip
Eluding the Arms of Morpheus
Rooftop Shadows
2 x Legworks
The Mole
Looking back I think that I was extremely lucky throughout the 3 weeks of tournament. I drafted an early Enkidu (2nd Pack), and therefore was very focused on my draft strategy afterwards. I had a first turn Dreams of the Sphinx 2 rounds out of 5, and a 2nd-3rd turn Twilight Camp 3 rounds out of 5. Twice I had Janni out with a Kpist within the 2nd-3rd turn, and Enkidu was present in my first draw of 4 Vampires every round. Fires of Insurrection was played (either by me or by somebody else - usually TVC) in 4 out of 5 rounds, and that card had given me at least a couple of pool or transfers every round.
The packs that came into my hands (or that I opened) gave me some very good cards. Dreams of the Sphinx, Twilight Camp, Guardian Angel, Major Boon, Kpist all contributed to the success of the deck significantly. My draft strategy was just to take anything that will even remotely help Enkidu, mostly combat cards that help him to either prevent damage or increase damage. By the middle of the game I focused on untap cards and intercepts whenever I can. I have no idea if the deck would have worked if I didn't bring out Enkidu. Though there was no prize for the winner, the rares that I got at the end more than justified the $30 entrance fee (not to mention the fun I had). In totality, I got these rares : Dreams of the Sphinx, Inconnu Tutelage, 2 x Chameleon, Twilight Camp, Anarch Convert, Left for Dead, Blood Turnip, Malajit Chandramouli, Political Antogonist and one of the victory had given me the Trophy : hunting ground. Add in the 3 more valuable promo cards - Fires of Insurrection, Public Enemy and Nergal Adv, I think the $30 was a good investment.
I've also realized that with such an heavy investment on the table I should remain defensive for a while before using Enkidu for offensive rush actions. Cards resource in a draft environment is limited and therefore I should choose my enemy very carefully or risk drawing the table hate. Enkidu will eventually draw table hate anyway, but I must be prepared before that comes. In the final round I chose to block Jaroslav's attempt to equip a Bundi even though there is a good chance that he would then use it to suppress Ed's then aggressive deck. But I didn't know that he only have 1 Bundi, and wouldn't want to have another combat powerhouse on the table - dealing with Ed's Vampires wasn't really a problem for Enkidu anyway, but facing Jaroslav with a Bundi was, and I wasn't counting on Janni's Kpist to give me the advantage against him forever. During round 4-5, I was very careful with Enkidu, he didn't try to attack anyone (or even block) when he has less than 4 blood.
It was definitely a great tournament for me. can't wait to play something like this again.
(o.o)y
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