#22 Design Team Notes on New Expansion

The VEKN Design Team for the new expansion has provided some background on their composition, work process and the upcoming expansion. Some highlights---

On the goals for the new set:

The design team strove to achieve several goals for the set. Among them, and not necessarily in any order of priority:

1. Preserving game balance and card balance.
2. Adhering to World of Darkness canon for crypt and library cards
3. Creating cards which enable portions of the game which are lacking or underdeveloped. (We are not making "hosers.")
4. Developing high-caliber cards which can be feasible in tournaments and fun in casual games.

On set contents:

It is no big secret that the traditional Sabbat clans lack Group 5 crypt cards, so these will comprise a large portion of the set. We hope this will provide more options for viable Sabbat G4/5 crypts and additional synergy with G5/6 Bloodlines. The new G4/5 vampires are intended to work well with those previously established in G4, and we hope that G4/5 plays to different strengths and weaknesses than G2/3.

See the full text over at the VEKN Forums.

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My personal takeaway: While I am extremely happy that there is continuing fanbase support for V:tES, I will probably pass on this one since I've long ago decided that I will focus on G1/2/3 vamps.

#20 TWDA Statistics

Over at the VEKN Forums, drnlmza created a script to parse TheLasombra's Tournament Winning Deck Archive for the number of TWDs* since 1997 (when many rules changes took effect).

Below is the data collated by the script, in bar graph form.

As the drnlmza pointed out, 2011's figures have topped that of 2009, which was, until last year, the most number of TWDs ever. The 2011 figure does not include the European Championships and subsequent tourneys to be held through December.

Very interesting numbers indeed, for an out-of-print game.

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* Note from the TWDA page:

This is a chronological archive of decks that have won tournaments that were sanctioned by the Vampire: Elder Kindred Network and had 10 or more players. To be included in this list, a tournament report had to be made on the Usenet newsgroup: rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad or on the official V:EKN Player's Forum: http://www.vekn.net/index.php/forum/9-event-reports-and-twd. This archive will not include the Storyline Tournament Winning Decks.

#19 Fan-based expansion in development by the V:EKN

During the EC 2011, the V:EKN announced some more details about the upcoming fan-based expansion for V:tES.

From the VEKN Forums:

- There will be a new, fan-made set created by the V:EKN.
- There is a development team within the V:EKN. Members may or may not disclose their membership.
- The set will be 20-30 cards in size.
- The targeted release is 2012, no exact date known yet.
- The cards will be tournament legal for constructed tournaments, just like any other set.
- The cards will have to be printed out in color on standard paper, cut out properly and stuck in sleeves before an original V:TES cards


Gines Quiñonero is the art director. If you are an artist and want to contribute or if you are a layout wizard please contact him.


Robert Goudie, the V:EKN marketing director will update you with more information in the coming months.

So to play the cards from the new expansion, players will be required to print out the cards, cut them out then sleeve them with an original V:tES card. (Aside: This is a good way to use up all my Code of Milan Suspended and Twisting the Knife!) Any thoughts on this?

Read more about the expansion and some suggested card ideas at the VEKN Forum.

#17 Properly Playing ... Escaped Mental Patient

The Malkavian Antitribu is a clan that's well-positioned for stealth mega-bleed (Pulse of the Canaille + Kindred Spirits + Eyes of Chaos + Lost in Crowds, anyone?), so naturally, some minion-targeting actions can be helpful in eliminating pesky chump blockers or weenie flickers.

Enter the Escaped Mental Patient. For two pool, you get a fragile minion with free rush, and an optional aggravated hand damage. It pops after using its special, but you can leverage this with FBI Special Affairs Division. Even a few in a deck can mean a VP if it means you can selectively remove your opponents' minions.

How do you deal with opposing minions that:

• hit back: Use the special. He'll die from the hands-for-one strike anyway.
• prevent damage: Use the special. He'll die from the hands-for-one strike anyway.
• maneuver long and strike with ranged damage: Try not to engage them. If they come to you, well that's it.
• manuever long only: If the manuever comes from a card, you have wasted one of their manuevers. Don't use the special.
• combat ends: It's up to you. The EMP won't burn if you use the special.

A deck that capitalizes on the interaction between FBI Special Affairs Division and Escaped Mental Patient can be found on the TWDA.

Deck Name: säävarauksella Created by: Matti Palomäki Description: The idea of the deck is to use the Escaped Mental Patients with Flash Grenades for tapping, Revelations and Change of Targets to get rid of Wakes and permanent bleed enhancers with some Dementation support for ousting. The EMPs are also great at slowing down too aggressive predators (or any players, for that matter) and defending against rushes and such. Crypt [12 vampires, average capacity: 5.66667] 1x Rodolfo AUS DEM OBF pro 8 Malkavian antitribu:3 bishop 2x Korah AUS DEM OBF ani 7 Malkavian antitribu:2 priscus 1x Marie Faucigny AUS OBF dem tha 7 Malkavian antitribu:3 archbishop 1x Dolphin Black AUS DEM OBF 6 Malkavian antitribu:2 1x Quira, The Bitch Queen AUS OBF obt tha 6 Malkavian antitribu:2 1x Colonel, The AUS cel dem obf 5 Malkavian antitribu:3 2x General Perfidio Dios AUS dem obf 5 Malkavian antitribu:3 bishop 1x Idalia, Prophet of Guad AUS dem 4 Malkavian antitribu:2 2x Roger Farnsworth OBF aus 4 Malkavian antitribu:3 Library [88 cards] Master [14] 1x Anarch Troublemaker 2x Blood Doll 1x Church of the Order of St. Blaise 2x Dreams of the Sphinx 1x Elder Library 1x Major Boon 1x Perfectionist 1x Powerbase: Chicago 1x Powerbase: Washington, D.C. 2x Rotschreck 1x Sunset Strip, Hollywood Action [14] 2x Madman's Quill 4x Pulse of the Canaille 1x Restructure 4x Revelations 1x Sibyl's Tongue 2x Zillah's Tears Action Modifier [15] 4x Change of Target 2x Cloak the Gathering 2x Elder Impersonation 3x Eyes of Chaos 1x Forgotten Labyrinth 3x Walk through Arcadia Ally [9] 1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter) 8x Escaped Mental Patient Equipment [10] 10x Flash Grenade Event [2] 1x FBI Special Affairs Division 1x Unmasking, The Reaction [13] 3x Telepathic Counter 7x Telepathic Misdirection 3x Wake with Evening's Freshness Retainer [2] 1x J. S. Simmons, Esq. 1x Tasha Morgan Combat [9] 9x Concealed Weapon

So, how have you used the Escaped Mental Patient?