Tournament Report: Fillip 2008, Berkeley, CA, Sunday, Jan 13

Fillip 2008
January 13, 2008
Berkeley, CA
15 Players
2R + F

15 players was a great turnout, and I believe that most people had a
good time. I don't recall everyone's decks, but what I do remember
was a decent amount of bleed and forward motion. A few wall type
decks, but overall, it was an aggressive environment, with 5 GW over 2
rounds, out of a possible 6, which, given the past history of the
Berkeley area, is quite good!

The cutoff to make the final table was 1 GW, 2.5 VPs, but since the
2nd seed had to go, Brandyn snuck in with 1.5 VPs and 84 TPs.

The finalists were:

Ira (Gio hand size bruise/bleed) -> Stephen (Aus/For/Nec/Obe) -> Jeff
(Assamite Obf swarm) -> Ian (Ani Laibon) -> Brandyn (Big Cap Pre/Dom/
Obt vote)

I got a good start with Therbold and several media locations, then
Guillaume. Stephen got Matthias and Agitas. Jeff got several little
Assamites, including Tansu and Kalinda, and a couple more. Ian, who
knew Jeff's deck was capable of racking up the bleeds, transferred
very carefully, only bringing up two 6-caps. Brandyn got Marcus Vitel
and Francisco Domingo de Polonia. I governed down a bunch, and got
Baldesar mostly free. Jeff went full force into Ian, but had a lot of
pool to chew through. Ian got a Raven Spy and managed to block a
couple of Jeff's actions - he seemed to have less stealth than
previous games. Matthias managed to block a couple of Jeff's actions,
too, and I was generally free to build up unhampered. My predator
went full forward into me, but early on, I caught Marcus and disarmed
him, which slowed down my predator a bit. I got Carlton pretty early
on, and he was able to block a vote or two as well. The one vote I
remember Brandyn passing was an Honor the Elders, which netted me +2
blood and +2 pool, since I had 2 Guillaume in my uncontrolled.

Stephen eventually got Pulse on both Matthias and Agitas, and was
bleeding for 6 each turn. Jeff couldn't hold out for very long, but
he had 4 blood dolls and was hunting with all of them. After a couple
bleeds were bounced around the table, I managed to bounce a key bleed
into Stephen who couldn't bounce it on to Jeff. Jeff held out for a
while longer (with the help of a crosstable DI of a Sudario Refraction
which would have gotten me the necessary ousting cards), but his
minions were low on blood, and by this time I had Don Michael out,
too.

Brandyn got whittled down with a combination of me blocking most of
his votes, and Ian bleeding at opportune times. The next oust was Ian
getting Brandyn, and Jeff fell shortly afterwards. In the end, time
was called, but Ian and I were both reasonably confident that I would
have gotten him.

Winning Decklist:
Deck Author: Ira Fay
Description: Get a giant hand size and win. It's fun! Cards I
intended to include but couldn't find before the tournament: Benedict
Giovanni, Esoara, Almodo Giovanni, and Earl in my crypt, and
Filchware's, Club Zombie, PB:Cape Verde, Parthenon, Brothers Grimm,
and Palatial Estate in my Library. At the tournament, I played
against Esoara, Earl, and Parthenon, so I'm glad I didn't end up
contesting them!

Crypt (12):
5x Guillaume Giovanni
3x Baldesar Rossellini
2x Don Michael Antonio Giovanni
1x Raphaela Giovanni
1x Lia Milliner

Library (90)

Master (24):
2x Fortitude
1x Direct Intervention
1x Centralized Background Check
1x Carver's Meat Packing
1x London Evening Star
1x KRCG News Radio
1x WMRH Talk Radio
1x Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper, The
1x Wall Street Night, Financial Newspaper
1x Channel 10
1x Morgue Hunting Ground
3x Blood Doll
2x Vessel
1x Powerbase: Chicago
1x Information Highway
1x Effective Management
2x Therbold Realty
1x Metro Underground
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany

Actions, or things like Actions (21)
6x Govern the Unaligned
1x Scouting Mission
3x Preternatural Strength
1x Haunt
1x Mesmerize
1x Sudario Refraction
1x Ambrosius, The Ferryman (Wraith)
1x Mylan Horseed
1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
1x Leonardo, Mortician
1x Felix "Fix" Hessian (Wraith)
1x J.S. Simmons, Esq
1x Mr. Winthrop
1x Flak Jacket

Combat (21):
3x Taste of Vitae
2x Disarm
2x Undead Strength
5x Immortal Grapple
2x Thrown Sewer Lid
4x Soak
1x Skin of Steel
1x Superior Mettle
1x Street Cred

Reactions (13):
1x Fillip
2x Forced Awakening
2x On the Qui Vive
3x Wake with Evening's Freshness
1x Redirection
3x Deflection
1x Delaying Tactics

Reaction/Action Mod (4):
2x Spectral Divination
2x Murmur of the False Will

Action Mod (7):
3x Freak Drive
1x Forced March
1x Bonding
2x Foreshadowing Destruction