EC blog going silent

This will be the last post to this EC 2007 blog. I will not remove, nor close, the blog for access, but any new posts will be at yapvamp.blogspot.com

One last photo:

I don't know who grabbed the camera, but whoever it was, focus wasn't much in vogue. This is your happy scribe, during Thursday, before knowing how much work the EC would be together with an even dizzier David Tatu.

Monday pubgame

The V:TES in the Sun week officially closed with the weekly pubgame. After a major overdose of V:TES only three players showed up, so it hardly classified as a normal, weekly, pubgame.

We tried out the engines for a couple of decks and had something to drink and eat.

That concludes the reports for this year's EC.

From now on I will put my random ramblings down at yapvamp.blogspot.com

See you there.

Sunday unsanctioned event

We were only five die hards showing up, something that removed the maybe most interesting aspect of the format.

Poker style V:TES.

All once per game effects are once per tournament effects. No VP:s. Last remaining player in the tournament wins. Global effects ousting a player gives pool to predator, but whenever there is an "opposing" methuselah (bleed, dunk a famed vampire, mastercard played dealing out pool-damage, etc) then pool goes to the ousting metuselah. Yes, that means kick the weakest player.

Whenever the number of players differ by more than one between two tables then one player from the larger table is randomly reseated at the smaller one.

If, at a table, fifteen minutes pass without an oust then the following, stackable, effects kick in: 1 pool to leave untap, 1 blood/life or pool to leave untap, one random minion gets +1 bleed, one random minion gets +1 stength, ousting is worth one more pool.

Late in a tournament (given that you start with a fair number of players) you will have one four and one three player table, then two three player tables and then you merge for a final table.

We didn't need to fix rules for recursion, but an idea was to make it a master phase action costing 3 pool to reshuffle ash-heap into library.

Doing all the hard work didn't pay off for Josh who ousted three players only to fall for the waiting Matt. Matt thus won our small unsanctioned Sunday tournament.

Friday on Liseberg

At noon on a cloudy Friday we gathered at Korsvägen, the tram and bus stop nexus closest to Liseberg. A couple of minutes' walk late we were inside the amusement park. People bought their ride-passes and I waited with their bags as we went from ride to ride.
Halfway through our visit it started raining heavily but that didn't dampen the good mood much.
We finished the day with an outright awful meal, grabbed a few more rides and left for a pub. A few beers later we called it a day.

Unfortunately my compact camera really isn't suited for shooting the high speed rides, and I have almost no pictures from then, ad none worth displaying here.

Some photos below:

I got to ride one attraction which is just a rotating platform on a high rise tower. So here is the amusement park as seen from above.



The open space is Korsvägen.



Josh, Matt and Keiko waiting to be winshed up for a long free fall drop.



This is basically a big swing looking like a ship of some kind.



And this is a bigger swing looking like a, well, big scary swing.



Bea met up with us after a while, bringing Simone from daycare.



Bumper cars. Gines is planning for a rough ride.



And a different kind of cars.



Wet, wet, wet.



Simone got to take part of the fun as well.

Memories from Sunday

For Sunday we had planned three tournaments. The Warzone unsanctioned, a standard constructed sanctioned side event and the 40 player EC day two tournament. When we were finished with the registration we had a whopping three players wanting to play the Warzone, so we asked them to take part of the standard constructed tournament instead.

After some problems with loudly talking spectators at the very end of each round during Saturday we decided to have players choose between staying at the table where they were ousted or leave the hall were the games were going on. This of course created some friction, but all in all the players showed great understanding.

By this time I had grown accustomed to a silent EC, and I was not to be surprised.

With only two events we had LSJ judging the EC day two and I judged the standard constructed side event. The two day format of the EC made the side event the largest tournament during Sunday with 83 players.

I saw how both tournaments silently and slowly timed out their games. 40 players in the EC day two equals 24 tables played before the final round. A total of 12 game wins were awarded which kind of have to be an all time low. The standard constructed wasn't much better in this department neither. 83 players and when it was time to set the final table two players with one game win and 5.5 VP each were a coin toss from the final table.

I didn't see much from the EC final table as I was judging the other final. Andreas Nusser, the top seed to the final round in the standard constructed, gracefully bowed out to let both the coin tossing players participate.

More on that tournament separately.

During the third round of each tournament we distributed questionnaires to all players, and eventually we got 85 or so returned. The results of those will be made available later.

After the EC proper quite a few of the players headed out. I stayed with the cleaning crew and when I returned home a lost French player walked by, so I just dumped some electronics and a backpack at home and joined him in his quest for other players. Eventually we all ended up at Locatelli, a local waterhole on Avenyn with decent opening hours for a Sunday, and spent the rest of the night there chatting about the EC.

Some photos below:


The standard constructed.



EC day two. We placed the eight tables around the preplanned final table on which we had placed the prize support for the tournament.



The prize support. You can see the Lords of the Night display box in the middle placed upon the non-disclosure contract.



Final table, standard constructed.



EC, final table.



The prize ceremony standard constructed.



European champion 2007.



All the finalists of the EC 2007.

Memories from Saturday

Saturday saw one Internal Recursion draft with seven boosters, one Silence of Death unsanctioned constructed tournament and the EC day one tournament.
Apparently my memories from Friday were too dizzy as I have listed two of the side events above as happening during Friday instead of during Saturday. Friday's side event was a sanctioned draft and nothing else.
So 95 players in the EC day one, ten in the draft and 25 in the Silence of Death makes 130 players on Saturday. Ten or so dropped from the EC after Friday, so a total turnout of around 14o players seems to be about it.

Saturday's draft and Silence of Death managed themselves under the multi judge system. LSJ was the head judge of the EC day one with me assisting.

Just as during Friday the event was ghostly silent with laughters from the Silence of Death tournament cutting through the lull from time to time. Only during the last fifteen or so minutes of each round did the number of spectators rise so high that the noise level got truly disturbing.

After three rounds the final results of the EC day one were tallied as the final round turned out to be a non-event with four players silently watching their cards and playing very little V:TES and Olivier talking a lot and playing very little V:TES. There were several chances for ousting but none took them and it all time out with 0.5 VP:s for each player.

After the prize ceremonies players split up. A few headed to the night club next doors. I spent a few hours with the Hungarian crew just outside the venue and after that we also went to the night club.

Some photos below:


Silence of Death.



The reception. Alex, Bea, Archie and Keiko working. Whatever you do, make sure you have a sufficient number of computers in a small network. It will save you from all kinds of trouble during the event.



The final round has started.



I thought that only the spectators fell asleep during the final round, but here is photographic evidence of the players and judge doing the same.



The Hungarian crew playing a casual game outdoors after the venue closed.

Intermezzo

Liseberg done and our monthly standard constructed tournament done. Only an unsanctioned event tomorrow and our weekly pubgame at Monday remain before this year's EC, with all attached events, is finished.

I have a camera full of photos, albeit sadly lacking any shots from the tournament today, and I intend to display a few of them here.

A week or so, no more, this blog will stay active with memories of a fantastic week. On the newsgroup you will find some reports as they come in, and after that this place will go silent, to be replaced by a more generic blog on V:TES for those of you who want to follow my random ramblings on the game we share.

Well met and good night for today.

Nergal unsanctioned

After the V:TES in the Sun standard constructed was finished we walked back. Walked back? Well, we had one round of true V:TES in the Sun, but during the lunch break a shower of rain hit the city while the sun still shone; a not too unusual kind of weather here in Gothenburg during summer. We thus spent the second round and final round of that tournament in my apartment.

Anyway, by the time the final was finished at eight o'clock or so we headed outdoors again to play out a fierce five player tournament in the lingering evening sun.

Each player had to play a deck with at least one copy of Nergal in it. Nergal doesn't contest in this type of tournament according to Gines' (Damnans') wows of eternal promises. Now, I can't vouch for those as Nergal, and therefore Damnans, kind of are Infernal, and within the shadowed rules of the Infernals wows have a slightly different, and much more omnious, meaning that in the world of mere mortals.

Damnans also preached the might and absolute power of Nergal, and that so mighty is his princly power of darkness that no Metuselah may gain a Victory Point should he or she fail to have a Nergal in his or her ready region when a prey is ousted.

So true were his words and wows of infernal darkness, that it became all too clear that when this very servant of Prince Nergal renegaded on his dark faith and brought only a minor thrall of obscure importance into play, Nergal himself was mightily wroth. Four Metuselahs had obeyed the tenants and each called upon the services of Nergal, but Danmans, the voice of the prince, alone failed to do so. It thus happened that not even this scribe of yours, playing his self ousting deck, which have until this event failed to allow a predator to handle the oust before the deck implodes horribly upon itself, could fall to the great before Damnans was laid low to pay the final price for disobedience. It so happened that four remained, and your scribe was deemed unworthy and fell in disgrace.

Three then remained to beg for the favours of mighty Nergal, and Alex, trusting his strength above that of Nergal, was found wanting and discarded like a used rag.

Two then faced each other, both desperately clamouring for princely favours, and as the infernal ones are prone to do, Nergal abandoned one of them and was burned. His grasping hands feebly searching for the dark prince himself Joshua Duffin stared at the place where once Nergal had been found to promise riches beyond belief, and Matt Morgan joined the hellish laughter of Nergal and closed in for the final kill.

Such an ugly sight, such a triumphant roar from the nether regions when Josh, betrayed and alone in the dark, fell to the favoured servant of dark Nergal himself.

V:TES in the Sun constructed

Eight plus one minus one showed up. That translates into one player having to leave after the first round and one arriving to play at the second.

Christoffer Arvidsson grabbed three Game Wins, which is the proper way to play at a two rounds plus a final round tournament. Presence/Obfuscate bleed centered around cap 6 -8 (I believe) vampires kicking in Intimidation, built in +1 bleed and Aire of Elation.

I would have loved to have some photos, but a camera has a shutter time, and every round including the final simply went too fast for a mere camera to register. Well, that's my excuse at least.

Archipelago picnic

We spent a glorious day out on the islands and as usual I have a few photos to show you.


You don't need all that much space for one of these.



One of many small marinas cluttering the islands.



Old fisher harbour.



The landscape is quite special when you come out here.



Food being prepared.



A conversation in the sun.



Looking for stones to throw.



Going home.

Memories from Friday

Friday saw the LCQ with 108 players, Silence of Death with 25 players and a sanctioned Draft with 10 players. This just goes to prove that I can't do simple math as I earlier stated that we had a total turnout of about 130 players.
Added to the 143 players listed above are some five to ten who didn't show up until Saturday.

All tournaments were held in one large hall, which worked fine apart from the last fifteen or so minutes of each round. When the number of spectators reached critical mass the noise of people talking got deafening. Eventually we had to ask people to either sit down at the tables where they had played their games or leave the hall altogether.

What I remember most vividly from Friday is the usual chatting during the setup and early stages of the game -- and then the eerie silence that followed twenty or so minutes into each round.

LSJ was head judge with me as support, but as the day went on it became obvious that one single judge could have handled the entire tournament with plenty of time left for having dinner undisturbed during the course of each round.

22 tables of LCQ making less sound than the draft and Silence of Death. Most players slugging wildly to their left or defending desperately to their right. Several bewildered diplomacy style players who found themselves without anyone to close deals with. Decks overall built for a meta game where vampires are soft targets, pool has to be regained and the player always hangs in the balance between going on a killing spree to their left or keeping enough defences ready to handle a potential onslaught from their right.

Tables started to collapse an hour or so into the first round, and then a few more, and them only a few more. Almost half timed out.
Same the second round, after which we had an hour and a half long lunch break.

The third round gathered sleepy and fed players lacking in concentration. It was a massacre, with tables collapsing right and left.

Some photos below:

First round. A few players have been ousted, but the games are still mostly probing. Even though each player rationally should know that they won't play against the same opponents again they are still more interested in watching what kind of oposition they are facing among all these new faces than going for the kill.



Smoking was prohibited inside the venue.



Silence of Death. In theory. Laughing at the results from actions taken these tables were not discernibly more silent than the average LCQ table.



Some fancy footwork.



Look, no talking.



Four players silently watching and one acting.



Do we see a trend here?



The final round.

Memories from the Thursday welcome gathering

A fair number of players showed up to the gathering held at Thursday. Some photos below.

Archie and Scott.



Players having arrived are busy playing pick-up games.



Local players Magnus and Max watching the event.



Oscar watching and Janne playing.



And even more games running.



The Finnish crew.

Tuesday V:TES in the Sun Draft

Today we ran a sanctioned 2 + F draft with twelve players attending. The event was moved from my apartment to a nearby park prior to the first round, so we literally played V:TES in the sun.

Eight boosters total, five Third Edition and three Sword of Caine.

Games went well with surprisingly coherent decks and when evening came it was time for the final round. Brian Moritz was the player surprised to see his 2 VP and a GW not being enough to make it into the finals.

Seating: Christoffer Arvidsson, Matthew Morgan, Gines Quinonero, Erik Torstensson, Joshua Duffin.

After fighting it out, just as darkness started to fall, Erik made his 3 VP and a GW leaving Christoffer at second place with 2 VP.

Below some photos:

First round. Gines, Brian and Max.



When the sun is too hot for you why not compete picnic style?



Second round. Christoffer, Erik and Gines. The open place is my seating.



Standings prior to the final round.



Final round: Matt, Gines and Erik.