Sydney Qualifier Wrap

8 players, (a disappointing number*), attended the Sydney Qualifier run on the 14th July at Good Games in the city.  Of the players, only 2 were local.  The rest came from Brisbane (2) and Newcastle (4).

The players were:

1. Steve Wedd (Sydney) - Settite Stealth Bleed with weenie dominate minions
2. Claudio Gomes (Sydney) - Aus/Dom/Tha wall with a splash of fortitude
3. Stephen Harris (Brisbane) - Tremere Wall
4. Tony Wedd (Brisbane) - Harbinger + Weenie Fortitude Wall with Sticks
5. Julian Gatt (Newcastle) - Juggler Twister feat Pochtli
6. Stephen Cowie (Newcastle) - Ian Forestal is an Anarch Wall
7. Justin Evans (Newcastle) - Malkavian Vote with Madness Network feat. Lutz
8. Craig Johnston (Newcastle) - Ravnos with Thaumaturgy Wall

The Event was 2R + F

Round 1.

Game 1

Julian -> Stephen Harris -> Justin Evans -> Tony Wedd

Result: Julian 4VP & GW

Game 2

Craig -> Claudio -> Steve -> Stephen Cowie

Result: Steve 4VP & GW

Round 2

Game 3

Steve -> Julian -> Claudio -> Stephen Harris

Result: Claudio 3VP & GW, Steve 1VP

Game 4

Justin -> Craig -> Tony Wedd -> Stephen Cowie

Result: Justin 3VP & GW, Tony 1VP

Ranking after Prelim Rounds

1. Steve Wedd : 1GW & 5 VP
2. Julian Gatt : 1GW & 4VP
3. Claudio Gomes : 1GW & 3VP
4. Justin Evans : 1GW & 3VP
5. Tony Wedd : 1VP

The Final seating was:
Tony -> Steve -> Justin -> Claudio -> Julian

The Final started off with Julian placing a Fame onto Tony's Andy (1cap Caitiff with for), and using Dodd to rush and bin him after a protracted combat.  The Fame would stay in torpor for a considerable time after this, causing plenty of pool damage to everyone.  Steve hit Justin hard who was trying to hit Claudio but getting blocked.  Claudio was building up and trying to defend whilst Julian got out Juggler to go with Dodd and equipped Juggler with a .44 and began trying to rescue Andy.  Tony kept blocking the rescue and would invariably lose a weenie to torpor.

Justin then realized he had made a terrible mistake, only influencing out Lutz he couldn't play the Parity Shifts that he began to draw into.  This realization soon heralded the demise of Justin.  Tony fell soon after (thanks to a stealth bleed from Claudio being flicked to him by Julian), never being able to draw a Harbinger.  He kept paying 1 to see 1 but was denied by his Crypt.  Julian too had a Crypt draw issue, digging repeatedly for Pochtli and unable to find him, but Tony's failure was more severe.

Claudio tried to defend against the heavy bleed of Steve, but couldn't last long.  When he died, Julian conceded.  He didn't have much pool left (7), and only 2 minions, Dodd and Juggler.  The Waste Management Operation was his only recursion with Pochtli not controlled.  Julian's library was down to 5 cards, and he had no combat or rush in hand.  Steve conversely had 4 minions in play, most with considerable blood and close to 15 pool.

Final Rank	Name	Prelim GWs	Prelim VPs	Final VPs
1	Steve Wedd	1	5	4
2	Julian Gatt	1	4	1
2	Claudio Gomes	1	3	0
2	Justin Evans	1	3	0
2	Tony Wedd	0	1	0
6	Steve Cowie	0	0	n/a
6	Craig Johnston	0	0	n/a
6	Steve Harris	0	0	n/a

It was a good win to Steve and a good, fun day even if the turnout was poor*.

Thanks to Nick for organizing and running the event.  Even with the small number, it was a good, fun time of playing V:TES.  Everyone played in the right spirit, and there were quite a few laughs all round.

And no deals were broken from what I can tell.  So the fuddy duddy's can be happy that everyone played honest.  :)

*Sydney players.... where were you?