Vampire: The Eternal Struggle

V:TES Player Profile - Ben Peal
Vampire: the Eternal Struggle – Top Player Interviews

I recently had the pleasure of an afternoon-long instant messenger conversation with the infamous Ben Peal. In answering the questions below he displayed the true breadth of love he has for V:TES. As one of the major players in the world and U.S. national coordinator, he’s got some very interesting things to say about the game, his game, and gaming in general. – Ned Coker, White Wolf Game Studio

Name: Ben Peal

Title: U.S. National Coordinator of V:EKN

Lives in: Somerville, near Boston, MA

Birthyear: 1972

Trophy Room: "Career leader in tournament wins", "Most clans used to win tournaments", "Most entries in The Lasombra's Tournament Winning Deck Archive", 4-time qualifier champion, 2001 North American Champion. Apparently I'm currently ranked #1 in the world, but I think that might be inaccurate right now (Stefan Ferenci should have that, I'd expect), but I was #1 for most of 2005. Also made the finals of the 2004 EC in Heidelberg. Co-author of the V:TES Player’s Guide and creator of the Create-A-Clan rules.

Job: Manager of Your Move Games in Somerville, MA. I used to work as a systems administrator, but running a game store is way more fun and appears to be my true calling.

When did you start playing and how?

[in order to save Ben some time and possible finger-centric arthritis, I lifted this info from www.thelasombra.com ‘s who’s who interview – with permission from Jeffrey Thompson himself].

I first played the game the day it hit the shelves in Pittsburgh. My Magic and board-gaming friends and I each got a starter deck and a few boosters and tried the game out. It caught on well, and the crew ended up playing it once a week or so. However, I was poor and couldn't afford the cards at the time, so I only played once in a blue moon, and with the same dumb Ventrue-Gangrel deck I had (and still have!).

A few years later, I moved back to the Boston area to start a new job and encountered Dave Zopf and his crew at Your Move Games. It was refreshing to see that there was a group that still actively played the game. Given that I could afford to buy cards, and that it was a very friendly group to play with, I got back into the game.

What do you appreciate about V:TES that keeps you coming back for more?

What keeps me coming back for more are the players. No matter where I've traveled to play V:TES, I've always been impressed by not just the skill level of the players but the quality of people they are, as well.

What about V:TES should appeal to the average gamer?

The big appeal would be the multiplayer dynamic. It sets V:TES apart from almost every other CCG out there, and give it something in common with the multiplayer board games and card games out there.

Tell us a bit about your local playgroup…

I could go on for a long time about the Boston group - we've been around for 10 years now! Might even be more than 10 years...Dave Zopf was the original Prince of Boston, who put in a ton of effort showing up at our local store - Your Move Games - doing demos every week and building up the group. I moved back to Boston about 9 years ago, and while I played Jyhad a little bit here and there when I was living in Pittsburgh, Dave's the one who really got me sucked into the game. Dave eventually got a new job down in Charlotte, NC, and appointed me Prince of Boston. Some players have come and gone over the years, but over time I feel we've become one of the most skilled and creative playgroups in the world. Both Ben Swainbank and I have made it to the final round of a continental championship twice, and I managed to squeak out the 2001 NAC championships win. Swainbank's style is very toolboxy, with a lot of cards being common throughout his decks, such as Jake Washington, Weighted Walking Stick, Ericyes Fragments, and Vampiric Disease. My style is typically fairly focused, but with a few curveballs thrown in to keep people off-balance.

Ben and I were also among the authors of the V:TES Player's Guide, with Ben doing in-game strategy writing while I was working on clans, disciplines, and some deck-building strategy. Eventually I took the position of US National Coordinator in the V:EKN, and had the Boston group vote for a new Prince. The crew chose Josh Feuerstein, who's been Prince of Boston for about a year now. Josh is our resident mad scientist, who comes up with all sorts of crazy rules questions and card combinations. A few of my recent hot tech decks (EconoGhoul, InterSet) were ideas of Josh.

Another thing about the Boston crew is how frequently and how far they'll travel to play V:TES. We're regulars in events throughout the Northeast, as well as GenCon, Origins, qualifiers in Canada, and the European Championships. Partners in crime in these travels include Matt Hirsch (who also makes cool Boston V:TES tshirts and does our website), Kevin Mullen, Scott Gomes (whose awesome wife Tanya feeds us dinner and cake), Jon Scherer, Greg Pettigrew, Peter Jehlen, and Jason Schneiderman (our resident World of Darkness expert). Oh, and add Matt Flint to that list. He's a V:TES star from Cincinnati who's since moved out here. That's not even half of the cast of characters. We have a lot of people who just show up for our regular Monday night games at Your Move Games, but don't have the time to travel around and meet the rest of the V:TES world. Quickly looking at the Tournament Winning Deck Archive, players from Boston who are in that archive include: myself, Ben Swainbank, Scott Gomes, Matt Hirsch, Jon Scherer, and Matt Flint

Why did you decide to step down as Prince of Boston and up as U.S. Coordinator?

As I traveled around a lot to play the game over the years, I made a lot of new friendships and new contacts. I found that I was getting involved more and more in the North American V:TES scene, and I wanted to help out more with things there. At the same time, the Boston V:TES scene had grown past the point where it could manage itself fine without me as Prince, and there were several people who could do a solid job in that role. Josh Feuerstein ended up with the job.

What is your favorite type of deck and why do you like to play it?

My favorite deck is whatever I've just built and haven't played yet. I love to try out new clans or new ideas, and I try to experiment and push the envelope as much as I can.

What is your favorite strategy for winning a game?

I do prefer to be aggressive and offense-minded, as I like to create opportunities instead of waiting and hoping that openings will pop up. Apart from that, I have a bag of tricks I've accumulated by being a wily old veteran. In terms of deal-making, one tool I've learned and use often is small deals. Rather than making broad table-splitting deals, I prefer to deal in very small amounts and small favors. Rescuing vampires from torpor, lending a Powerbase: Montreal, allowing one action to succeed so one of mine can succeed, etc. Another plus for making small deals is that it minimizes the effects of getting backstabbed.

What do you think makes a successful player?

I think what separates the best players from the rest of the pack is the ability to understand the table dynamic. It's probably the hardest thing to learn in V:TES, and it can really only be fully learned by experience. Once you know which way the table is moving, you have a better idea of what plays to make, what deals to make, etc.

How important do you think the political aspect of the game is?. Reading / intimidating / fooling your opponents? Do you consciously practice this?

Josh Feuerstein offers this, one of many of his original V:TES images: http://thaumaturgy.monocleofclarity.com/magicofthesmith.jpg

Given that it's a multiplayer game, the political aspect (in terms of dealmaking) is very important. You can only manage and control so much in the game, so every little bit of help you can get from other players goes a long way. As such, you have to be very careful about how much help you _give_ to other players, as well. Reading, intimidating, and fooling opponents are also very helpful, as they can be ways of creating openings and opportunities. Intimidation works less well these days, as players are typically too smart to be bullied around anymore.

How do you approach the release of a new set?

We pretty much just sit around and wait for the White Wolf preview page like everyone else, and then gorge ourselves on cards when they show up. We're pretty impatient and want to get new decks built as fast as we can.

If they released equal amounts of cards for every clan discipline, etc. what would you tackle first?

Since I like pushing the envelope and trying new things, I'd first look at clans I haven't yet won a tournament with and see if there's anything new in there that shows promise. I also have a bunch of unfinished decks, so I'll see if there's anything new that'll complete them. Apart from that, I just drool over the new cards for a while until something pops out at me.

How do you prep for tournaments?

Well, because V:TES is a multiplayer game, there really doesn't end up being a single best deck like you see in head-to-head CCGs. As such, you don't end up going through the usual deck-testing drills like you see in Magic and Vs. It's more a work-in-progress thing when developing tournament decks. It'll start with trying out new decks, and one or two of them will pop up and show some potential. From there, you play them more and more and refine them and modify them until you think it's ready for prime time. In the month leading up to a qualifier or the NAC, we'll schedule a tournament so we can get a last serious field test in, and our weekly games will shift from more casual stuff to "bring it" games where we play our best stuff. For the qualifier or championship, we'll play what we feel are our best decks. We also make sure to go to bed a bit earlier the night before so we're rested up.

Any rituals you employ to affect your success? Superstitions?

I shuffle my crypt first, then my library. After they're cut, I always draw my library cards first, then my crypt, both face down, then look at the library cards first. I do have dice superstitions, but they don't really apply to this game. If you're about to roll, and your opponent says, "Anything but a 1", IMMEDIATELY stop yourself from rolling the die, look your opponent right in the eye, and say, "No, 2+, sir", the roll. I also have my own sorting system for my V:TES collection. You can find it here: [LINK]

That post is 3 years old...doesn't factor in KMW and LoB stuff...it's been adjusted since then...But you get the idea.

Is there a card you feel is often overlooked? What aspect of them is under-appreciated?

I've been championing the cause of The Barrens for years and years, since I've found it to be a highly useful tool. It helps clear hand jam, and also allows you to include a few cards with a high opportunity cost. High opportunity cost cards are often in that "curveball" category. People often say "prayer card" as a way of saying the card is bad. I think they forget how useful their discard phase action is. Robyn Tatu did a great job of illustrating how a high opportunity cost card can actually have a lower opportunity cost than previously thought, once you look at the card in a tournament environment. She made what was easily the top play of 2005, when she tagged Alexandra - the Toreador Inner Circle Member - with Nosferatu Performance Art. This is a card that has existed since Dark Sovereigns, but had really never seen play because it has such a high opportunity cost (it can only target Toreador). However, it's only a bad decision if you're just looking at it from the perspective of only playing one game, where your odds of facing a Toreador are relatively low. In a tournament, you'll be facing 9-12 opponents in the preliminary rounds, and finding one Toreador opponent amongst them won't be at all unusual. In the games where you draw Nosferatu Performance Art and don't face a Toreador opponent, you can just discard it in your discard phase (or use The Barrens). Not only did Robyn illustrate a great metagame strategy idea, she also used the lowly Nosferatu Performance Art to it's maximum (and catastrophic!) effect.

Do you have a memorable tournament moment?

My favorite moment was during the finals of the 2001 North American Championships, when I managed to get the entire audience to bust out laughing. I was playing Short Leash Bleed, which is very run of the mill Obfuscate-Dominate stealth-bleed deck, but with the added twist of Change of Target and intercept locations to minimize the effects of getting the bleeds bounced. At one point in the game, Stephen Fazio (playing Toreador vote) played a Kindred Restructure to get himself the hell away from Robert Goudie, who was pounding him flat with a Potence weenie deck. A very, very lengthy discussion ensued amongst the players - it was at least 10 minutes, if not longer - as everyone was very nervous about how the table would shape up and who might get VP as a result. Finally the terms of the vote are decided, and Fazio is about to declare the vote to be passed. "No, wait!" I say. "But the vote passes!" says Fazio. "Not yet!" I say. And I play Malkavian Rider Clause. At which point the crowd erupted in laughter, and another 10 minutes of discussion occur with players at the table wondering if I'm actually playing a political deck instead. Thankfully Trey Morita got everyone to shut up with a Delaying Tactics. I did have a pair of Dramatic Upheavals in the deck, just in case. Winning the 2001 NAC was awesome and a great memory, but I was very happy that I put on a good show for the crowd.

Any memorable plays?

Yeah, that last one ranks way up there. Another favorite moment was in the finals of a tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia. I was at 3 pool, playing a Tremere-Gargoyles deck with 3 minions untapped (1 Tremere, 2 Gargoyles). My predator (weenie Thaumaturgy) had 5 ready minions and an Anarch Troublemaker. I didn't have a Wake in my hand. Instead, he tapped the Tremere and one Gargoyle (presumably being concerned about Deflection) and bled. I let the first two go because they didn't have Dominate, putting me at one. I blocked the third because I had to, playing Bond with the Mountain to end combat and untap. I blocked the fourth, and played as many combat cards as I could, hoping to draw into a Wake or a Bond with the Mountain. No luck. All was lost. He just had to bleed with the last minion, and he did. And then I remembered I had the Barrens. I tapped the Barrens and top-decked the Wake. Bailed out that crisis, then gained a little pool on my turn, got back in action, and went on to win the tournament for the first ever win by Gargoyles, and my first ever win in Europe. Since then, I've called The Barrens my guardian angel.

What’s your favorite card art?

As with cards and decks, there's a lot I like. For vampires, I like Ingrid Russo, The Muse, Petra, and Joaquina Amaya. Hmm...it's hard to pick just one, since there's a lot to choose from. I suppose it's easier for me to pick some favorite artists: Jeff Holt, Steve Prescott, Becky Cloonan, John Bolton, Doug Alexander, Ron Spencer, Dave Seeley, Durwin Talon, James Stow, and Christopher Shy. I do own some original pieces: Aurora van Brande, Infernal Pact, Ivory Bow (CE version), Defender of the Haven, and...The Barrens (Sabbat version).

Favorite set?

Bloodlines will still go down as my favorite, since it added a whole ton of new things to try out. At the time it came out, it changed how I looked at deck design, as I found that not every vampire has to do everything the deck does. I found mixing and matching clans and vampires to be a lot easier as a result. I'm still digesting Legacies of Blood, but I'm finding it to be a very challenging set in terms of deck design, and there could be some great rewards at the end of it.

If there was a card based on you, what would it be?

Dave Wilson from Ann Arbor actually made Ben Peal Fan Club tshirts that had me portrayed as a Salubri.

What other games do you play on a regular basis?

I play assorted board and card games - favorites include Tutankhamen, Fearsome Floors, Tigris & Euphrates, Vinci, Wiz War, Up Front, and Bang. I also play Warhammer 40,000, Warmachine, a little Vs., a little Magic, D&D when I can, as well as games on my Xbox and Xbox 360 (gamertag: Fudjo)

You’ve got a hand in the direction of V:tES. How do you view that responsibility?

As both a player and as US National Coordinator, the focus is always the same: building up the V:TES communities and creating the best possible environment for the game and for my friends.

What’s the most fun you’ve had traveling for V:tES?

Oh, definitely in 2002, when I took a two week trip to the EC that year in Vienna, and visited the groups in Munich, Vienna, Budapest, and Bratislava. I got in touch with the players in the various cities, and ended up getting offered a place to crash wherever I went! In the two weeks, I only spent 2 nights in hotels. It saved me a ton of money, and it also gave me more time to spend with the people there and I felt that I learned more about those countries and the people who lived there by doing so. It was definitely an eye-opener, both for life experiences and for the V:TES experiences. I very much appreciate all the hospitality I received from my hosts in Europe, and I made a ton of new friends. Carl Pilhatsch did a great job of running the EC, too!

And finally, a fun post about V:tES and the Ben Peal Fanclub: [Ben Peal Fanclub Post]