The Infamous Battlecry Jyhad Tournament

Once more, Methuselah wield power over their underlings and aren’t at all the pawns of greater forces…

The Rules

By Chris Stott. Adjustments by Andrew Young & Kirsten Goodall. Last updated 20/11/08 by Andrew Young.

BC2010 will be the second year we play with no card limits, as per the V:EKN rules. We still do not play with time limited rounds, but that’s about the only remaining international rule we’re not using. All sets released before 20th Jan 2010 are legal. Sorry Heirs to the Blood miss out by a few weeks.

Cards

You may bring and play more than one deck, but each deck must stand on its own (without moving cards between decks). Except in finals you must choose your next deck at the start of the preceding game.

Crypt

Must contain 12 or more vampires/imbued, with no limits on individual cards. Note that as of 10th anniversary release, Raven and Camille Devereux are now a single vampire (Camille Devereux, the Raven) and thus contest.

Remember that a crypt may only contain vampires of adjacent groups (1 & 2, 2& 3, 3&4, etc). Group 1 = Jyhad and V:TES releases, Group 2 = Ancient Hearts, Dark Sovereigns, Sabbat, Sabbat War, Final Nights and Bloodlines releases. Subsequent releases have the group number printed on the card.

Library

As per V:EKN rules, must contain 60-90 cards with no limit on the number of any one card.

Banned Cards

The usual V:EKN bans apply in full: Dramatic Upheaval, Kindred Restructure, Madness of the Bard, The Return to Innocence, Succubus Club, new additions Edge Explosion, Memories of Mortality & Protect Thine Own, and any cards that are only useable when playing for ante.

Notes

You may use any set released to date and all promotional cards.

Deck adjustments (or even making whole new decks) are legal between the first and second days, but not at any other time. Application may be made to the judge council to adjust a deck if some horrible misfortune occurred (like you forgot all the wakes), but it had better be extreme.

As a reminder, some of the decks at the tournament will be Sneak & Bleed decks. This is acceptable, so if your deck can’t deal with that, redesign it.

Proxy Cards for an Ousted Methuselah

Due to the nature of our tournament (play as many games as possible) when a Methuselah is ousted, all of the cards they own are returned to them so they may play the same deck in another game immediately. In order to increase the variety of decks, proxy cards (blank templates) will be used to record the information of any card controlled by another Methuselah which is owned by an ousted Methuselah. The proxy cards will remain in play for the duration of the game as per normal rules (e.g. if a controlled proxy is burned it will be removed from the game instead; or control could change to another Methuselah, etc). No other form of proxy cards will be tolerated – only original Jyhad/VTES cards are playable in decks.

Sportsmanship

Deals are part of the Jyhad but no deal may be made that requires you to be ousted from the game. Additionally, you may not transfer your last pool on to a vampire to achieve your own ousting.

Arbitration

All errata/rulings apply & we’ve agreed to use LSJ’s rulings en-masse. If you’re in doubt, go to www.white-wolf.com.

A council of 3 judges elected at the outset will arbitrate disputes.

Games & Winning

A game is formed whenever four or five players are available. Players must play a minimum of five games to make the final. Games must be completed between 9am to 6pm on the first day and 9am to 3.30pm on the second day.

If a player’s first day is unsatisfactory they may choose to start from scratch – this is termed a mulligan. Mulligan can be taken any time after 3pm on the first day. This would usually only be done by a player achieving below one VP per game. Players taking a mulligan should play a fast deck for the rest of the tournament, or they may not complete the required five games.

Rankings will be determined by computer using Dog’s rating system. Basically, you are ranked with a combination of factors – number of games played, number of victory points gained, and the quality of your opposition (as determined by previous games). If a final place is at stake and the rankings fail to separate two (or more) players then a random dice roll or coin toss will be used.

Seating position for the final (only) will be determined in a manner similar to the V:EKN rules. Players will first select their decks. Then the lowest ranked player will be ‘anchor’, fourth ranked will place a marker to one side of the anchor (i.e. predator or prey), third ranked will place their marker to either side or in-between the two already positioned, etc, until all have placed their markers. Once the seating order has been determined the anchor (fifth ranked) player becomes the first player (one transfer) and play is clockwise from them.

The final will start at 4.00pm on the second day and consist of five players. It is similar to any other game but is ranked twice.

First to Fifth prizes apply to those five players who play in the Final only (based on rankings of those players after the final).

Questions & Clarifications

Please direct any queries to mailto:drag0nbear@yahoo.co.uk">Andrew