Vampire: The Eternal Struggle

V:TES Player Profile - Robyn Tatu
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle – Top Player Interviews

"Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels." -Faith Whittlesey. It would be easy for me to stop at that quote and let you infer that Robyn's story is all about a woman succeeding in a card game. She's past that phenom stage. She's Tiger Woods, not Michelle Wie. When you sit down at a table with her, she'll prove it. - Ned Coker, White Wolf

Name: Robyn Tatu

Title (if any): Ratings Coordinator

Hometown: Midland, Texas. Or do you mean where I live now? Atlanta, GA

Age: 44

Trophy Room: 13 Tournament wins, over 40 Final rounds. Statistically, given the total number of recorded final rounds since January 2002, I'm third behind Erik Torstensson of Sweden and Ben Peal.

Job: Software Conversion Analyst for Kodak

When did you start playing and how?
In late 1999, a friend saw me sorting my Decipher Star Wars card collection (which I was only a collector, not a player) and spent several weeks courting me to sit in on a Vtes game. A 6 new player marathon.

I decided I never wanted to do anything else.

After about a month the people I was playing with burned out. I looked on the VEKN site and found Robert Goudie and that group in Los Angeles. I've wanted for many years to write about the first evening I spent with this unique group of men.

What do you appreciate about V:TES that keeps you coming back for more?
Variety. It's never the same game twice. Unlike other Multiplayer games, the predator/prey relationship makes it harder to "king make".

...and it's been a great excuse to travel around and meet some truly remarkable people.

Tell us a bit about your local playgroup.
I cut my teeth in Los Angeles and then moved to Atlanta and the playgroups were very different. Virtually all of the players in Los Angeles (learn to) love the tournament environment and their casual play reflects that. You'll see the occasional gimmicky deck but all of them could make their way successfully through a tournament. There are only a few of us in Atlanta that are really interested in the tournament scene so the group sees a lot of gimmicks, "fun" decks and more relaxed play.

Do you see any differences between players in Atlanta and the rest of the world?
...no. I think we're mostly the same whether we play in Argentina or Australia or Las Cruces, New Mexico.

However; one group's definition of fun could be toxic to someone else.

What is your favorite type of deck and why do you like to play it?
I'm most comfortable with a tool box deck with titled vampires that can hit you back.

What is your favorite strategy for winning a game?
Patience. You don't have to take actions to win this game. I'm also a card-hoarder. I like to run people out of cards.

What do you think makes a successful player?
Someone who can make the most of incorrectly guessing the 15 player metagame from event to event. And, in my case, tenacity. If you play in enough events you're bound to win once in a while.

How important do you think the political aspect of the game is?. Reading / intimidating / fooling your opponents? Do you consciously practice this?
I do consciously pick a deck that has things to offer other players, or one that offers nothing. Depends on my mood.
I have fun watching other folks attempt to drive the game. Offer deals: intimidate other players. The best I can do is play error free and try to come up with a better deal.

How do you approach the release of a new set? Preparation—reading teasers? Dividing/assessing the cards?
With dread. Just as I get to know a few cards in the current set, they spring a whole new thing on me. It takes me a while to work in new tech in to my repertoire.

How do you prep for tournaments?
I prep by driving David crazy trying to decide what deck I should play. If the Lasombra – Jeff is in attendance I can offer him 3 candidate decks in non descript boxes and have him point to one. That's the deck I end up playing. While I want to do well, it's more important for me to play a deck that will be fun for 6 hours.

Any rituals you employ to win? Superstitions?
I usually have a chocolate Pop Tart at some point during a tournament.

Are there any overlooked cards? What aspect of them is under-appreciated? [could either be fun or useful to winning]
I owe tournament wins to Life Boon, Major Boon and Archon Investigation. I play light on master cards but these are staples in a lot of my decks.

Do you have a memorable tournament moment?
Hundreds, but the most recent has spawned an Article called "David Fraille Taught Me How to Play Vtes."

In Hungary at the EC 2005. David was my predator playing a stealth bleed shark and had promised, due to some interesting table dynamics, that he would not kill me. After I expressed some doubt that he would honor his pact, he looked me squarely in the eyes, told me he'd rather self oust than break a deal, took his turn - and promptly ousted me. I had never, to that moment, had someone break a deal on me. I am forever changed.

Any memorable plays?
I seem to sit at a lot of combat-y tables at tournaments and if my deck has minions that are particularly crunchy and easy to kill, I add a Fame, for contesting purposes. Twice in final rounds I've had no minions but got a VP by my prey accidentally ousting himself while wearing one of my Fames.

What's your favorite card art?
You KNEW there was somebody out there that liked Christopher Shy. (raises hand)

I wish Esmerelda's boobs were where they belonged, but by and large, I like his work.

I own the art for Mirembe and Foundation Exhibit, those are favorites.

What's your favorite set?
I was the most excited and inspired by Final Nights.

If there was a card based on you, what would it be?
A 5 cap Gangrel with super Animalism, Fortitude and +1 Strength.

What other games do you play?
Many board games. I dabble in Doomtown, Shadowfist, HeroClicks among others.

You've done a lot of volunteer work for VTES, tell us a bit more about that.
I volunteer to keep up with the ratings data base on the White-Wolf site. I've been doing it since 2002. I had a long while off while the site was being overhauled and now I'm working on catching up.

What is it like playing with David? (sitting down at the table with him, any rivalries, do you all ever "work in cahoots"?)
Ha! I can't say anyone who's ever played with us could accuse us of working in cahoots.
He can bring out the most abominable behavior in me.
We're both out to win.
We end up sitting as predator prey at least one round in almost every event we play in. Those rounds can be very trying, indeed. We have different philosophies: He wants to talk a lot and offer advice on ways to play your game. I want to deflect attention and whine about my poor situation. I want all the VPS and he only cares about 3. He'll push two of you out of the lifeboat if it can get him to the 3 player faster. 3 player and end game is where he is strongest – I'll need to have a huge head start, a healthier trump deck, and be thinking clearly to win.

....and that is the only time I ever struggle having a husband who also plays Vtes. The rest of the time it's pretty amazing to be married to someone who loves the game as much as I do.

As the highest rated female player, what are your thoughts about women playing VTES?
I got an award in Budepest last year just for being a girl. I really appreciated that they recognized there are very few of us.

I wrote an article about being a female Vtes player – and some other things – called a Girls Guide To Vtes. Written when I was still new to V:tes and married to another nice man who isn't David.

It's at: http://vtesinla.org/girlsguide.htm

I wish there were more like Bea During or Caroline Hyll. Women who really enjoy the game for the game itself and end up bringing so much to it. I was so blown away by watching Caroline play last year, that I flew home and built a deck kindof like hers and have nursed it all year.

In general, "In Your Face" competition is distasteful to women and when you CAN get them to play they don't like games that feature "take away" and Vtes is all about the take away. Oust, foil, destroy….The game can be pretty mean.

I'm fortunate to get to play with two really good female players in my group, Erin and Danielle. Very clever players, inventive decks. If either of them liked to travel for V:tes you'd be talking to one of them instead of me.