Vampire : the Evaluated Situation : 01-12-2009

The Night of 1st December 2009, Paradigm Infinitum.

I managed to squeeze some time to visit PI earlier, and was in time for the final table of the Eden storyline tournament. Since I'm not one of the finalists in this event, I get to observe the intricate politics and epic struggle of this battle, and I now attempt to chronicle it. Well, the time is about 1am and therefore my language is probably going to rival that of a Gangrel on a bad day. But hey, if it has to be done it has to be done.

So here goes.

In the Beginning

Some background before we start. The 5 Methuselahs sitting in the finals are as follows, after their table sitting decision -

Player 1 is YY's Ishtarri Guns, motivated by Gehenna

bleeding Bann's Ishtarri Anarchs, motivated by Gehenna

bleeding G1's Lasombra Powerbleed, motivated by Knowledge

bleeding Ben's Guruhi Combat, motivated by Gehenna

bleeding the final player Keith's Giovanni Zombies, motivated by Jyhad

The game begun sometime around 7:40 to 8pm, can't really recall. Much was going on.

Early Game.

The early game was a sparring of non-consequential (or so I thought) skirmishes. The players are pretty conservative and careful, and soon everyone had at least 2 Vampires on table.

YY influenced Elizabeth Conde and Titi, equipped them both with .44 and had a reasonably healthy pool.

Bann had a good draw with a first turn Seattle Committee and a Narrow Mind, making it a big problem since G1 did perform bounce bleeds a bit. Bann influenced Honorine Atabe, T.J, and Shasa Abu Badr. Shasa and Honorine both got a .44 too.

G1's got himself Otieno and Ermenegildo. Otieno equipped himself with a Zaire River Ferry, which Ben attempted to block. Here is where Ben made the first mistake - he DI the stealth card instead of the Ferry. Though he did Pallid Otieno later and basically forced G1 to tap the Ferry pretty often for stealth, but without the threat of an AI after playing the DI, G1 was free to unload his bleeds and bled him for 5 that round - a significant damage, putting Ben into a defensive bloating mode. G1 then started the devious process of putting the Secure Haven on Ermenegildo. He first Pentex Subversion-ed Ben's Nana Buruku, which made Ben proceed to ask for Bann's help to sudden reverse it. In retrospect it was a mistake on Bann's part to agree, since a single directed action would have burned the Pentex anyway. With the Sudden drawn out, G1 was free to put the Secure Haven on Ermenegildo, which kept him alive pretty much all the way to the end game.

Ben had a Slave Auction in the first turn, and that in itself kept him alive longer than he could have, given G1's consistent stealth bleeds. He influenced Nana Buruku, followed by Fish. He also lead the table in the Ashur Tablets race, having 2 vs 1 by both YY and G1.

Keith influenced Nunzio Giovanni as his first Vampire, followed by Gianneria, Cristobal and finally Tarautas - whom coupled with the 1 Villien that Ben played, made pool recovery a painful process. Keith played a NRA PAC and equipped the Codex on Nunzio by turn 2!

Nunzio got the Codex!

Keith didn't really get any Shambling Hordes out early, and despite a Flash Grenade on Nunzio, he made the mistake of not using it when YY's Elizabeth rushed him and shot him with a blur .44. Curiously, Nunzio used Stunt Cycle on her, which of course, didn't save him. Nunzio went into torpor, but was rescued later.

Mid Game

The game quickly escalated when Bann decided to attack YY's Elizabeth, reason being Elizabeth had an Ancestor Spirit on her and Bann suspected a consistent 2 bleeds from her every round. Titi blocked the attempt but was sent into torpor by Shasa's close range .44 plus Diversion. With only one Vampire left YY had great difficulty fending off Keith's multiple (though rather not very Zombie-ish, he had 4 vampires, a single Procurer whom eventually armed herself with a Camera Phone, and a single Horde that was destroyed by G1's Entombment (did send Otieno to torpor at the same time though)) minions' attacks. Meanwhile, with the help of the Ferry G1 has been protected from Ben's backward rushes pretty much, and with a Path of Night in play, used Oubliette to great effect to fend off the few attacks that got through. By this time G1 had 3 Vampires (Banjoko), and was bleeding Ben consistently and effectively, burning blood on his Vampires to draw cards and refresh his hand. With that much pressure, Ben didn't manage to put enough effort to curb Keith's growth. However, Keith's one alpha strike against YY was thwarted by an Archon Investigation, and lost Nunzio and the Codex. It was a setback that Keith was to feel greatly.

At this point there was a negotiation between YY and Bann.

YY's Last Stand

YY wanted to rush Keith's vampires, but requires the edge to do so. He convinced Bann to let him bleed for 2 to get the edge (while previously convinced Bann to rescue Titi in torpor by paying blood on his own Vampires!) However, even with the rush action, he couldn't get through Keith's Flash Grenade. Bann felt lose.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Ben was bled for 10 in a single round by G1's DOM bleeders. Ben activated the Tablet, attempted to rush Banjoko, and wasn't successful. He soon fell prey to G1 despite managing to activate 3 Ashur Tablets. He became the first to be ousted even though Bann did help in sending G1's Banjoko into Torpor. Keith managed to oust YY in the same turn, and the table was down to 3 players in a single round.

Late Game

Bann was in the king-maker mode at this point, since his decision will greatly influence whether his prey or predator will be the ultimate winner. Bann rushed Keith's Vampire but was only able to kill of an Ossian. He was bled to death by Keith and Keith secured his second VP.

At this point G1 only had 1 single Vampire (Ermenegildo) standing, but Keith wasn't really able to draw into his key cards. With insufficient cards in the graveyard, Keith's Dis Pater is not operating effectively. G1's Admonitions helped him cycled through his cards quickly, and eventually his high DOM bleeds took his toll on the Giovanni. With a Scouting Mission and a Threat, Ermenegildo finally convinced the Giovanni to cede the territory and claimed the day for G1.

G1's Victory!

Final VP count -

G1 : 2 VPs plus GW - Lasombra Victory!

Keith : 2 VPs

(o.o)y