Report on the final round of Praxis Seizure Palma de Mallorca 2001

Final Round

MÓNICA: The final was going to prove very difficult. I was the last player to enter it, so I was relegated to watch how the other players were deciding who wanted to become my predator and who preferred to become my prey. After the seating, I saw myself trapped between both Ventrue...a very difficult thing. Whoever I blocked, they could play the diabolical and a thousand times hated Kiss of Ra.

XAVIER: The final round presented itself very contested. Although I classified miraculously, I knew that my deck could be a real nuisance. I knew the three other finslists, and I also knew that the political parity would be the common denominator of the round. At that monent I realized that the final would have a 2 hours time limit, which implied that we were not going to finish it probably. Before choosing seats, i supposed that Mónica would be my prey, because my deck was mainly focused on her, and I thought that both Rubén and Eduardo (who knew my deck) would not want to be my prey. For that reason, I got surprised when Eduardo chose to become my prey. Maybe both he and David tried to look for a strategic position that benefited them, joining efforts to oust me from the game.

EDUARDO: The final looked very promising, for it was plenty of political decks (all of them!), so we would have to form political alliances. I began the final round allied with my co-citizen (David), to whom I had spoken about how we were going to act during the final round, which ended up being the most vibrating of all, because three out of four players from Barcelona had classified. In the beginning, I agreed with David that I would be Xavier's prey, for my deck could ruin his strategy fast.

DAVID: During this game one could think of the existence of some alliances: one between both players from Palma de Mallorca; and another formed by the three players from Barcelona (or between two from Barcelona and the remaining alone). The truth is that there were no alliances as such. And who says the opposit is lying, for alliances are related to a behaviour which should last almost the entire game.

RUBÉN: The final was very favorable to me. I classified easily, because my deck was balanced enough. Since I was the last player to choose my seat, I had a great advantage, because I did not want to be the prey of Xavier's frightening and vicious deck. With this in mind, and, given the circumstances, there were just two optimal seats to get this goal: one was to be Eduardo's prey and depredate Mónica; and the other was to be Mónica's prey and depredate David. I chose the latter, because I thought that he would be a much easier prey according to the Toreador's theoretical lack of Deflections and Fortitude. In addition, I knew that Eduardo had Quentin in his crypt, and I did not feel like beeing his prey cancelling my vampires' votes.

RUBÉN: I had drawn a very good hand: a Kiss of Ra, a Freak Drive, an Elysium: Palace of Versailles, and a Govern the Unaligned. I thought of putting Arika in play in order to influence more economically the rest of my crypt (by using GtU): Queen Anne and Roland Lousarian (and another Arika). It was a big mistake that almost costs me my "life", because I could not use my Second Tradition: Domain.

MÓNICA: My joy began when I saw my crypt: Angelica, Gratiano, Alvaro and Antonio Delgado. Perfect!. I would put in play Angélica first, for I had 2 GtU in my hand and I could bring Gratiano into play almost for free. The truth is that ar that moment I felt very nervous, because it was my first final, and I think that is why I made so many mistakes.

DAVID: No vampire was put in play until the second or third turns.

HEAD JUDGE: During the second turn, David put Anson in play, and during the third Xavier brought Sheldon into play; Eduardo, Demócritus; Mónica, Angelica; and Rubén, Arika.

DAVID: I put an Aching Beauty on Anson.

XAVIER: I played a Temptation of Greater Power on Demócritus, a perfect target.

EDUARDO: Since we were at the beginning of the game, and I had enough pool, I decided to pay the exorbitant amount of 15 pool to keep control of my vampire (paying 10 pool at once and owing 5 to the blood bank).

XAVIER: As a consequence of it, the pressure on Mónica disapeared. But, in time, Eduardo was able to bring two more vampires into play, but then it was too late.

RUBÉN: I and others at the table were affraid of Xavier. And that is the worst drawback of his deck: it frightens too much. That shocked me psicologically.

XAVIER: Suddenly I became the great menace at the table. It was impossible to bargain anything with Rubén and Mónica at the same time, so I summoned up my patience.

MÓNICA: From then on, I had no predator, for the poor devil spent the rest of the game simply trying to survive; and I could play several GtU at the superior level to recover excellently my dear pool.

DAVID: That of the ToGP was one of the key plays which destabilized the game. The other one transpired after Anson called a Parity Shift (intercepted by Sheldon) and I brought Delilah Easton into play. Arika called Kine Resources Contested. Anson blocked it with a Second Tradition: Domain.

RUBÉN: Arika played a Kiss of Ra and sent Anson into torpor, and Roland Lousarian diablerized him. That was a blow from which David could not recover.

HEAD JUDGE: Immediately a blood hunt was called and Roland was burnt.

XAVIER: Rubén proved, needles to say, that a Kiss of Ra may decide the result of a game. We all had in play high capacity vampires, and David blocked a Kine Resources Contested which, in my opinion, should not have blocked. With Anson out of play, his odds dropped drastically, so the pressure put by my predator disappeared at once.

EDUARDO: Without the Toreador (David), I felt myself alone at the table, and I was really in low spirits.

DAVID: Mónica brought Gratiano into play (3 more votes) playing a GtU, and Xavier brought Selma, the Repugnant (2 more votes) and, to top it all, Eduardo brought Quentin (also playing a GtU), having 3 pool left. Xavier was litle active. He played several Minion Tap and Fifth Tradition: Hospitality.

EDUARDO: Starting from that moment, referenda became eternal. Each negotiation lasted about 15 minutes.

DAVID: Eduardo gained a bit of pool playing a Parity Shift thanks to which the Nosferatu (Xavier) lost 5 pool. The Lasombra (Mónica) had about 20 pool and she hardly put any pressure on her prey, Rubén. Afterwards, Arika called a Kine Resources Contested by means of which his controller burnt 1 pool and I (his Toreador prey) 3 pool. Thereafter, Delilah Easton, looking for revenge for all what was happening, called a successful Kine Resources Contested. In this way, the Ventrue (Rubén) burnt 3 pool (having just 5 left) and the Nosferatu (Xavier) 1. Later I brought Alexandra into play, having only 3 pool left.

RUBÉN: What I did not expect was the alliance (making no sense to me at that moment) between Eduardo and David, which got my pool reduced to very dangerous levels. Now, once ended the tourney, I see it clear, since it was a desperate strategy to give Mónica a victory point and oust me from the game. The reason (apparently illogical) was very logical indeed. It was a very well conceived plan, and almost superbly performed. I survived this by the skin of my teeth. By ousting me from the game, one of the most powerful political decks would have been destroyed. Later, when there were 4 players left, David and Eduardo (with Alexandra, Democritus and, mainly, Quentin), should not have any trouble to crush the reinforced Lasombra (Mónica) and get rid of the Nosferatu. To accomplish this they also had got David's fearful Protect Thine Own. It was not a bad plan, but it failed.

HEAD JUDGE: Eduardo brought Sir Walter Nash into play.

MÓNICA: Then, thanks to several referenda and some bleeding by Gratiano, my prey had 3 pool left, and David 4. But at that moment my hand was terrible...6 reactions, 6!!! and 1 stealth card. It was impossible to kill my prey with 4 Forced Awakening, and 2 Obedience, even more knowing his deck, which has more than enough Deflection, and I did not want to kill David (his prey) inadvertently.

EDUARDO: Rubén told me that if I resurrected him, he would support my referenda. I played a Consanguineous Boon for the Ventrue. Such was my desperation when I saw that my prey (Mónica) did not want to oust Rubén having just 3 pool left. I thought that Mónica became a wall in order to avoid Rubén's death.

DAVID: Short afterwards, Angelica played a Kine Resources Contested affecting Rubén (3) and Eduardo (1). Rubén called for Eduardo's help, because should the referendum pass, he would have 3 pool left, and Gratiano had not acted yet. Eduardo agreed and the referendum passed. As Rubén was expecting, Gratiano called an astonishing Banishment against Quentin!!! instead of declaring it against Arika (who had 3 blood left). In my opinion, this fact did not allow the Lasombra (Mónica) to win the game.

EDUARDO: Another thing I could not understand was that, when I was not putting any pressure on my prey (Mónica), I found my Quentin Banished, thanks to the Lasombra, supported by the Nosferatu (Xavier) and Rubén.

MÓNICA: Things went better. I knew that Banishing the annoying Quentin was a referendum that everybody would support.

RUBÉN: I did not want to oust David before, because I feared that Xavier played a ToGP on Arika should he become my prey. I preferred to keep David at bay, who (controlling just Alexandra and Delilah Easton) was no threat for me. I even voted in favor of some of his referenda which affected the Nosferatu (Xavier), I i defended myself from Mónica's bleeding actions by deflecting them to David. My deck had 10 Deflection. My predator was unable to hurt me. So I focused in two things: keeping David at bay, and trying to play a double game with Xavier (not allowing him to gain pool without harming him, since I needed his votes to my defense against Mónica.

DAVID: After my predator brought Queen Anne into play, I was ousted by Rubén's bleeding actions, which I could not deflect.

RUBÉN: Then, the table became a crossed hell in which my only ally was actually my worst enemy: Eduardo.

DAVID: Eduardo, not sufficiently punished yet, suffered another catastrophe: Rubén contested Eduardo's Sir Walter Nash. But he miscalculated his action, because he would have to pay 2 pool not to yield, since Eduardo controlled Democritus. A terrible mistake.

RUBÉN: However, tha plan was favorable, for I had enough votes in my hand to oust Xavier from the game in one turn; and, according to Eduardo's desperate situation, I could not guess that he was not going to yield, because I had enough pool. Then everything went wrong...

XAVIER: I put a Raven Spy on Sheldon waiting for things to happen. I could not do much, my votes did not found the necessary support, and I knew that taking bleeding actions against Eduardo implied being deflected to another player, what I was not interested in at all.

RUBÉN: The possibility to call openly hostile votes against my prey disappeared.

MÓNICA: Meanwhile, I had gathered a great amount of pool. My mistake was not bringing into play Antonio Delgado or Alvaro, for at that moment they would have given me the political supremacy, but my lack of experience at finals, and my fear to be the target of a ToGP I could not pay, made me simply accumulate pool, a fact that made me target of several Parity Shift. Then the Head Judge told us that there were 20 minutes left. It was now or never. I needed 1 victory point to classify second. At that moment, Arika called a referendum. I saw my opportunity, and I blocked her. We entered combat and I send her into torpor playing a beautiful Entombment. Without Arika on the table, I expected to be able to get rid of my prey (who just had Queen Anne ready). On the following turn I successfully bled my prey twice.

RUBÉN: Things turned awful. My offensive potential was reduced to zero; my defenses were lower than ever, and Eduardo did not yield Sir Walter Nash. My chances to win were fading. The only thing I could do was to wait until the time limit. But, unfortunately, Mónica was exceedingly cautious and, either she did have any bleed cards in her hand, or she is affraid that I deflect them to my prey. That was perfect for me... Sheldon was preparing a new ToGP: the amount of pool accumulated by Xavier was a premonitory sign, and the only chance to avoid it was to Banish Sheldon. Eduardo was so in bad conditions that he could not continue to pay pool for his Democritus who, in Xavier's hands, would make him dominate the table. So I decided to call a Banishment, but, since Sheldon had a Raven Spy on, I said (without setting the terms of the refarendum yet) that its target was going to be Gratiano.

DAVID: The Nosferatu (Xavier) calmly asked Rubén if that Banishment was going to target Sheldon; and Rubén answered no. The climate turned rancid when the Lasombra (Mónica), wanted to block the vote.

MÓNICA: I decided to block it, but then Rubén threatened me telling me that he would play a Kiss of Ra, and the verbal battle began.

RUBÉN: It was stupidly obvious that my Banishment would target Sheldon (my prey) and not Gratiano, that I got angry with Mónica.

HEAD JUDGE: The discussion was very serious (including insults), so I was on the verge of disqualifying Rubén. But, since during the entire tourney I did not want to implement strictly the V:EKN Penalty Guide in order to speed up the games, I did not disqualify him.

DAVID: After a long and tense wait, Rubén decided to break his work and play his Banishment against Sheldon.

MÓNICA: After the Banishment, I was the best positioned player at the table. At last I had the bleed and stealth cards I needed, and I saw my prey's end closer than ever (2 minutes before the end of the final). But my predator, who had been innactive during all the game, started to perform actions with Democritus, and wasted the remaining time wthout giving me the chance I needed.

RUBÉN: I learnt much from this final. That is why tourneys are worthy: you play at the limit of your possibilities and learn from your and others' mistakes. I should not have brought Arika into play at the beginning. I should not have trusted Eduardo, considering him no threat after the ToGP he suffered, I should have been more aggressive against David and Xavier, and should not have overestimted the ToGP deck. I, most important, I must learn not to loose my temper during tense situations, since although Mónica is my girlfriend she is also another V:TES player. Thanks, Ginés, for your patience as Head Judge, and for having taught me that nobody is perfect. The tourney was a political HELL plenty of treasons in which any alliance or support was impossible. I am glad to have survived that hell and, the most important thing, to have obtained the winner's trophy.

XAVIER: It must be said that the time limit made charmless what was going to be a highly exemplary final for the public gathered, but I think that the spectacle was worthy.

EDUARDO: If your prey has 3 pool left, you must oust him or her. By the way, Rubén's behaviour was a bit unsportmanlike.

MÓNICA: My sin was cautiousness, and I was also very unlucky, because when I had the oportunity, I did not have the necessary cards, and when I had those cards, time expired. Maybe next time.

DAVID: What I supposedly witnessed was piety, given the existing relationship between the Lasombra (Mónica) and Ventrue (Rubén) Methuselahs, who are a couple and live in Barcelona. It was clear in some key plays during the final (e.g., the Banishment targeting Sheldon, that should have been intercepted by the Lasombra, as well as the Banishment the Lasombra played on Quentin instead of on Arika, a fact that could have likely made Mónica win).