I ended-up going with the weenie potence deck in the Championships and I didn't
doubt my decision for long.  After a close race in which my prey nearly bled his
prey out first, I was able to get him and Robyn Merrill and eventually 4 VPs.
In the second round I got three more VPs after a really tight game with Jay
Kristoff and Trey Morita.  Trey and I worked together in that game and began a
wonderful working relationship that would last a lifetime--or actually maybe
only another 3.9 hours.  In the third round I had Niki Stewart as my predator
with a nasty weenie obf deck.  The deer rifles scared me a lot with my grapple
deck.  I managed to Fame, rinse, and repeat, one of Donovan Brouwer's vamps
enough times to just about oust him.  Donovan had had enough and understandably
gave his minions  and his last pool to Tatu (his prey).  That last kill,
fortunately, managed to keep me out of the Dice With Death(tm) that would soon
ensue. 

I'm still processing the final but I'll briefly say that it was long and intense
and a great game to play in.  Probably not the best one to watch but it was
really intense from where we were sitting.  I didn't know what anybody's deck
did (save Trey's) and I liked Trey in an ally position like in my previous
round.  I sat down with Jared as my predator and Stephen as my prey and then Ben
sat as Stephen's prey.  The short version of the game was that I didn't allow
Stephen Fazio to have minions and he got assistance from the rest of the table.
Then we had a seating change (which Trey again tried to help me quash) whereby
Stephen would move away and Trey would become my prey.  Now the game was
completely locked down.  Insert 1 hour of terrifying manueverings and
deal-making that accomplish little except to take years off my life.  Jared
Strait had me low on pool but realized also that I could at a minimum take his
vamps with me when we'd fight (he was playing mid to large size Brujah
combaters) so we were deadlocked. 

However, at one point Trey got a little over-extended and he seemed to still be 
thinking that him and I were working together.  

I can't say he was mistaken because I was really doing my best to not
harm him--needing also to stay defensive and keep the last of my pool from
Jared's grip.  That said, I notice that he transfered himself down to 4 pool.  I
had a computer hack and four minions.  I could kill him if he didn't have more
than one Forced Awake in his hand.  He had been playing them in this and prior
rounds so I wasn't terribly confident of my chances.  Frankly, I just asked Trey
if he could help me cycle a combat card (just like we had done many times
before) and he said he couldn't.  Armed with my new knowledge I bled Trey out
immediately.  It was a cruel thing to do after all the help he had been in this
round but I certainly couldn't pass on the opportunity.  I had to get a VP.  Not
much changed from there until Stephen Fazio decided to let Ben (my prey) have
all of his pool without putting up a fight.  All I can say is that Stephen was
completely crippled by me probably 15 minutes into the game.  Having moved to
his new table position (between Ben and Jared) it isn't any wonder that Stephen
didn't find this new home very inviting either.  Those of you who've played with
one or both of them can easily imagine why.  :)  Anyway, Jared and I, having
unfortunately been seated as predator and prey, were now finally on the same
page with respect to the destruction of Ben. However, time was not on our side
and the round timed out with Ben in first, me in second, and Jared in third.  A
special congrats to Ben on a great win, to Scott Johnson for judging, and to
Steve Wieck of White Wolf for his personal and professional support of the game.
Ben and I enjoyed reliving the adrenaline filled finals at...where else but, the
bar back at my hotel!!!.  This time we had around 30-35 players packed into the
place (pictures will be up at www.vtesinla.org withing a few days--nevermind,
there's links below!!!).  We guzzled down a great big bottle of Chivas Regal and
a heck of a lot of beer while we all tried to get in one more game and avoid the
realization that GenCon 2001 was about over.  The security guards gave us the
boot at 5:00 AM so we said our goodbyes and were off to bed.  It was great to
hang out with all of you guys.  See you next year!

-Robert

Robert Goudie
robertg@vtesinla.org