This deck was a cute idea which sprung out of my head when I saw Anu Diptinatpa. Still in the testing phases though. After a couple of games, I've swapped out things like Computer Hacking, Leverage, and Change of Target for bounces and more blood gain. The idea is that Anu and the Giovanni will recruit Shambling Hordes to act as both muscle and also bleeders, using Anu's ability and Mouthpiece. Still needs more testing and tweaking methinks..
Deck Name: Geeky Zombies
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 14, Max: 28, Avg: 5.5)
---------------------------------------------
5 Anu Diptinatpa DOM NEC aus vic7 Nagaraja
2 Accorri Giovanni DOM POT ani nec6 Giovanni
1 Gianmaria Giovanni POT dom nec obt5 Giovanni
2 Kay Polerno dom necpro 4 Giovanni
2 Stephen Milliner necpre 3 Giovanni
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (12 cards)
3 Path of Bone, The
2 Giant`s Blood
3 Perfectionist
1 Failsafe
1 Barrens, The
1 Villein
1 Coven, The
Action (1 cards)
1 Emergency Rations
Action Modifier (26 cards)
11 Mouthpiece
8 Conditioning
7 Call of the Hungry Dead
Reaction (12 cards)
6 On the Qui Vive
6 Deflection
Combat (10 cards)
4 Trap
6 Fake Out
Ally (18 cards)
1 Ossian
1 Leonardo, Mortician
14 Shambling Hordes
2 Arcanum Investigator
Retainer (2 cards)
1 J. S. Simmons, Esq.
1 Malajit Chandramouli
Equipment (2 cards)
1 Palatial Estate
1 Ritual Scalpel
Combo (7 cards)
7 Spectral Divination
Primary Oust Method:
Bleed, bleed, and bleed. When Shambling Hordes declare a bleed for 0, your prey has to think whether they should block or not. If they do, the Horde can try its best to beat up the opposing vampire. If they don't block, boost the bleed with Anu, and Mouthpiece/Conditioning. Keeping Anu well stocked with blood is important for this deck. Don't waste her blood on things other than bleeding unless really necessary, and try to slap a Perfectionist on her so she can replenish her blood. Keep the pressure up, bleed with the weenie Giovanni and the Hordes. Try not to risk Anu unless you have enough stealth in hand. Meanwhile, deflect big bleeds to your prey, and beat up your Predator's vampires if necessary. One sneaky trick is to use Anu to boost your Predator's bleed to 4 if he is bleeding for 3, and then pull an Archon Investigation on him.
Secondary Oust Method:
Send your prey's vampires into torpor with the Shambling Hordes. Not as easy as it sounds though. Alot of things can foil a zombie attack, even if you have a Trap and Fake Out in hand. But against unprepared vampires, it still packs a punch. Or you could hope your predator is a Dom bleeder and bounce his bleeds.
Plan C:
Help somebody on the table sweep by boosting all their bleeds...
Strengths:
-Shambling Hordes can pull double duty, bruise and bleed.
-Being able to boost all your bleeds by 1 is powerful indeed.
-Anu enables you to perform a sort of table control by boosting the bleeds of other Methuselahs to your own advantage.
Weaknesses:
-Having a group 5/6 Crypt means that there isn't much choice.
-Beyond +1 intercept from Spectral Divination, the deck cannot block anything which is at stealth.
-Poor combat defence. Only have the Hordes to stand in the way of rushes, and Fake Out..
-Deck tends to rely on Anu. If she goes down, you'll be in a tough spot.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Shroudsight: 18/9/2010
At Games Garage
Eight Methuselahs gathered at Games Garage for a night of bleeding. I was intending to have 2 games that night, but it was late after our first game and we still had to wait for the other table to finish, so I ended up only having one game.
I played a deck which I made recently and have been testing, my Anu Diptinatpa/Giovanni Shambling Hordes Mouthpiece deck. I'll do a write up for that deck after this. For now, I shall name it "Geeky Zombies"
Seating for the game:
Yi Peng's Imbued, bleeding
Bann's Spell of Life, bleeding
Sheena's Ventrue voters, bleeding
My Geeky Zombies
From early on in the game, things didn't look good for me. Although I brought out Anu on round 2, th Imbued were quickly beginning to set up their defences, and the Ventrue had quickly amassed vote superiority. I started eating K.R.C from the Ventrue, and the Imbued could block my actions if I wasn't careful.
I next brought out Stephen Milliner, and had recruited a couple of Shambling Hordes. Yi Peng had gotten Ossian out and that was worrying for me. I tried to kill Ossian with 2 Shambling Horde attacks but he used Angel of Berlin and On the Qui Vive to block. In desperation, I attempted to recruit Ossian myself to contest, but this was cancelled by the Imbued.
Meanwhile, Bann was setting up his Spell of Life, meaning that pressure on Sheena wasn't as high as I would have liked, and I was still suffering from political actions that the ventrue were calling. Stephen Milliner was Banished at one point of time, and I had to waste 3 pool to bring him back out. I was stuck in a bad place.
Not confident of my Hordes being able to get through the Ventrue Fortitude, I went full steam ahead, bleeding with my Hordes and vampires. However my hand was mediocre and I had to cycle alot of cards to draw my Conditionings and Mouthpieces. Yi Peng had spent alot of his pool bringing humans out so I chipped away at his pool. He was generally fearful of blocking the Hordes when they bled, so with Anu's help, I was doing some damage at least.
Bann was well on his way to getting his Mummies out, but he was suffering a bit, not so much from the Imbued but from his prey... The Ventrue always allocated 1 to him when calling KRC, and Bann even got Parity Shifted because he was the only one with more pool than Sheena. Meanwhile, I had been reduced to a mere 5 pool. I had to oust the humans now or i'd be dead.
Anu was empty, she had spent all her blood boosting bleeds. Luckily, I had drawn a Giant's Blood, and with Anu fully refuelled, I was able to oust Yi Peng using 3 Hordes, Stephen Milliner, and Anu herself. The Ventrue were slowed for a bit due to a lack of political actions in hand, and Bann just needed 1 more Spell of Life. By ousting the Imbued I had bought myself one round, possibly two, but no more. On my next turn I went full ahead and bled Bann with everything. However he deflected two of the bleeds to Sheena, and managed to block almost all the rest.
On Bann's turn, the last spell of life was out, and the host of Mummies came forth. I was pretty much out of the game, and true enough, Sheena ousted me. However, all but 1 of her vampires proceeded to be pounded into torpor by the Mummies. We called the game at that point.
Final VP count:
Bann - 2VP
Sheena - 1VP
Me - 1VP
Notes: I think I need to add bounces to the deck. It is a funky concept which is cute, but needs a bit more defence, so bounces would be good.
Eight Methuselahs gathered at Games Garage for a night of bleeding. I was intending to have 2 games that night, but it was late after our first game and we still had to wait for the other table to finish, so I ended up only having one game.
I played a deck which I made recently and have been testing, my Anu Diptinatpa/Giovanni Shambling Hordes Mouthpiece deck. I'll do a write up for that deck after this. For now, I shall name it "Geeky Zombies"
Seating for the game:
Yi Peng's Imbued, bleeding
Bann's Spell of Life, bleeding
Sheena's Ventrue voters, bleeding
My Geeky Zombies
From early on in the game, things didn't look good for me. Although I brought out Anu on round 2, th Imbued were quickly beginning to set up their defences, and the Ventrue had quickly amassed vote superiority. I started eating K.R.C from the Ventrue, and the Imbued could block my actions if I wasn't careful.
I next brought out Stephen Milliner, and had recruited a couple of Shambling Hordes. Yi Peng had gotten Ossian out and that was worrying for me. I tried to kill Ossian with 2 Shambling Horde attacks but he used Angel of Berlin and On the Qui Vive to block. In desperation, I attempted to recruit Ossian myself to contest, but this was cancelled by the Imbued.
Meanwhile, Bann was setting up his Spell of Life, meaning that pressure on Sheena wasn't as high as I would have liked, and I was still suffering from political actions that the ventrue were calling. Stephen Milliner was Banished at one point of time, and I had to waste 3 pool to bring him back out. I was stuck in a bad place.
Not confident of my Hordes being able to get through the Ventrue Fortitude, I went full steam ahead, bleeding with my Hordes and vampires. However my hand was mediocre and I had to cycle alot of cards to draw my Conditionings and Mouthpieces. Yi Peng had spent alot of his pool bringing humans out so I chipped away at his pool. He was generally fearful of blocking the Hordes when they bled, so with Anu's help, I was doing some damage at least.
Bann was well on his way to getting his Mummies out, but he was suffering a bit, not so much from the Imbued but from his prey... The Ventrue always allocated 1 to him when calling KRC, and Bann even got Parity Shifted because he was the only one with more pool than Sheena. Meanwhile, I had been reduced to a mere 5 pool. I had to oust the humans now or i'd be dead.
Anu was empty, she had spent all her blood boosting bleeds. Luckily, I had drawn a Giant's Blood, and with Anu fully refuelled, I was able to oust Yi Peng using 3 Hordes, Stephen Milliner, and Anu herself. The Ventrue were slowed for a bit due to a lack of political actions in hand, and Bann just needed 1 more Spell of Life. By ousting the Imbued I had bought myself one round, possibly two, but no more. On my next turn I went full ahead and bled Bann with everything. However he deflected two of the bleeds to Sheena, and managed to block almost all the rest.
On Bann's turn, the last spell of life was out, and the host of Mummies came forth. I was pretty much out of the game, and true enough, Sheena ousted me. However, all but 1 of her vampires proceeded to be pounded into torpor by the Mummies. We called the game at that point.
Final VP count:
Bann - 2VP
Sheena - 1VP
Me - 1VP
Notes: I think I need to add bounces to the deck. It is a funky concept which is cute, but needs a bit more defence, so bounces would be good.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Final Death?
V:TES is gone, burned, sent to the ash heap. This is tragic news. Tragic tragic news indeed.
What is to become of this excellent game? Can somebody rescue it from torpor? Can we compel the spirit of V:TES back into being?
I sure hope so.
:(
What is to become of this excellent game? Can somebody rescue it from torpor? Can we compel the spirit of V:TES back into being?
I sure hope so.
:(
Friday, September 10, 2010
Call of the Hungry Dead: Zombie Paparazzi
I don't know why, but this deck of mine never fails to draw groans from the table whenever people realise I'm playing it. Must be because of the flash grenades. But anyway, it has proven to be a moderately successful deck which attempts to control the table and swarm bleed for VP.
Deck Name: Zombie Paparazzi
Created By: The Necromancer
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 12, Max: 19, Avg: 3.91)
----------------------------------------------
1 Nicomedes aus for nec vic5 Harbingers of Skulls
1 Prejudice aus dom nec 4 Nagaraja
2 Thomasso Ghiberti pot NEC 4 Giovanni
2 Primo Giovanni domnec pot 4 Giovanni
1 Margaret Milliner dom for nec pot pre5 Giovanni
1 Nunzio Giovanni nec pot 3 Giovanni
1 Cristobal Ghiberti nec 2 Giovanni
1 Kay Polerno dom necpro 4 Giovanni
1 Stephen Milliner necpre 3 Giovanni
1 Gianmaria Giovanni POT dom nec obt5 Giovanni
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (18 cards)
3 Vessel
1 Charisma
2 Perfectionist
4 Path of Bone, The
1 Dis Pater
1 Barrens, The
1 Vast Wealth
1 Nod
1 Powerbase: Cape Verde
1 KRCG News Radio
1 Morgue Hunting Ground
1 Tribute to the Master
Action (2 cards)
2 Sudario Refraction
Action Modifier (7 cards)
6 Call of the Hungry Dead
1 Conditioning
Combat (20 cards)
10 Concealed Weapon
8 Cold Aura
2 Trap
Ally (16 cards)
13 Shambling Hordes
2 Procurer
1 Ossian
Equipment (17 cards)
12 Flash Grenade
1 Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
3 Camera Phone
1 Pier 13, Port of Baltimore
Event (3 cards)
1 NRA PAC
2 Unmasking, The
Combo (7 cards)
7 Spectral Divination
Primary Oust Method:
One would have noticed the Flash Grenades. These little pretties are important for the deck to work. Nobody likes being denied the chance to untap. The general idea is for the vampires to recruit Shambling Hordes, which are then either kept untapped as blockers, or used to rush potential problem vampires and hurl flash grenades into their faces(Sometimes even beating them up somewhat before blinding them with a grenade). If you have enough flashes, any celebrity will go home. Meanwhile, swarm bleed the prey with Camera Phones and Dis Pater. Don't worry if your vampires are blocked, pull out a concealed flash grenade, set range to long with Cold Aura, and let the grenade do the work. Sometimes I even find that I don't have to use the grenades because people are so fearful of not untapping that they would rather not block. The cute thing about Flash Grenades is that they trump Strike:Combat Ends cards(except those that allow the vampire to untap after combat like Majesty). Dodging is one way to avoid the debilitating effects of the grenade, but I think on the whole you're less likely to encounter dodges than S:CE. By careful application of a few grenades(Either through blocking/being blocked, or delivery by shambling horde), you can slow down either your predator or prey sufficiently and give you time to keep the bleed pressure up. Oh and the Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers is useful in this deck, since you cause vampires to remain tapped.
Secondary Oust Method:
There isn't much of a Plan B to fall back on in this deck, so maintaining forward momentum is important. I suppose you could try to beat up your prey's vampires with the Hordes, but many a good player will have combat defenses to defeat unsupported zombies. You could also try playing havoc with the table by tossing grenades at vampires belonging to Methuselahs other than your prey and predator. This could actually be beneficial, as if you can successfully stall the table and prevent anyone from getting VP, it buys you some time to bleed out your prey.
Plan C:
Uhhh.....bloat as best as you can?
Strengths:
-Flash Grenades are a great deterrent. Ends combat and punishes your opponents in their next turn.
-Ability to control table. Strong psychological influence. Sometimes you can bluff your way through while bleeding with threats of not untapping, even if you don't have a grenade in hand.
-Strong against decks that have only a couple of big capacity vampires and hence can deny a greater proportion of actions.
-Shambling Hordes with the Unmasking are useful for blocking all the typically important +1 Stealth actions.
Weaknesses:
-Needs to set up a bit. Hence likely to suffer heavy pool loss from stealth bleeders in the early game before being able to shut their vampires down with Flash Grenades.
-Equipment hosers are obviously a problem for this deck. Count Germaine, urp... Or Terror/Frenzy.
-Shambling Hordes can be twarted in their attempts to throw grenades by Immortal Grapple(though perhaps this is mitigated somewhat by the fact that they still hit for 3 or 4 with a hand strike).
-Possible problems against Ally decks or Imbued since the grenades only end combat against them but don't tap them or force them to remain tapped.
-Pool gain tech is nothing much to be sniffed about.
Deck Name: Zombie Paparazzi
Created By: The Necromancer
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 12, Max: 19, Avg: 3.91)
----------------------------------------------
1 Nicomedes aus for nec vic5 Harbingers of Skulls
1 Prejudice aus dom nec 4 Nagaraja
2 Thomasso Ghiberti pot NEC 4 Giovanni
2 Primo Giovanni domnec pot 4 Giovanni
1 Margaret Milliner dom for nec pot pre5 Giovanni
1 Nunzio Giovanni nec pot 3 Giovanni
1 Cristobal Ghiberti nec 2 Giovanni
1 Kay Polerno dom necpro 4 Giovanni
1 Stephen Milliner necpre 3 Giovanni
1 Gianmaria Giovanni POT dom nec obt5 Giovanni
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (18 cards)
3 Vessel
1 Charisma
2 Perfectionist
4 Path of Bone, The
1 Dis Pater
1 Barrens, The
1 Vast Wealth
1 Nod
1 Powerbase: Cape Verde
1 KRCG News Radio
1 Morgue Hunting Ground
1 Tribute to the Master
Action (2 cards)
2 Sudario Refraction
Action Modifier (7 cards)
6 Call of the Hungry Dead
1 Conditioning
Combat (20 cards)
10 Concealed Weapon
8 Cold Aura
2 Trap
Ally (16 cards)
13 Shambling Hordes
2 Procurer
1 Ossian
Equipment (17 cards)
12 Flash Grenade
1 Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers
3 Camera Phone
1 Pier 13, Port of Baltimore
Event (3 cards)
1 NRA PAC
2 Unmasking, The
Combo (7 cards)
7 Spectral Divination
Primary Oust Method:
One would have noticed the Flash Grenades. These little pretties are important for the deck to work. Nobody likes being denied the chance to untap. The general idea is for the vampires to recruit Shambling Hordes, which are then either kept untapped as blockers, or used to rush potential problem vampires and hurl flash grenades into their faces(Sometimes even beating them up somewhat before blinding them with a grenade). If you have enough flashes, any celebrity will go home. Meanwhile, swarm bleed the prey with Camera Phones and Dis Pater. Don't worry if your vampires are blocked, pull out a concealed flash grenade, set range to long with Cold Aura, and let the grenade do the work. Sometimes I even find that I don't have to use the grenades because people are so fearful of not untapping that they would rather not block. The cute thing about Flash Grenades is that they trump Strike:Combat Ends cards(except those that allow the vampire to untap after combat like Majesty). Dodging is one way to avoid the debilitating effects of the grenade, but I think on the whole you're less likely to encounter dodges than S:CE. By careful application of a few grenades(Either through blocking/being blocked, or delivery by shambling horde), you can slow down either your predator or prey sufficiently and give you time to keep the bleed pressure up. Oh and the Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers is useful in this deck, since you cause vampires to remain tapped.
Secondary Oust Method:
There isn't much of a Plan B to fall back on in this deck, so maintaining forward momentum is important. I suppose you could try to beat up your prey's vampires with the Hordes, but many a good player will have combat defenses to defeat unsupported zombies. You could also try playing havoc with the table by tossing grenades at vampires belonging to Methuselahs other than your prey and predator. This could actually be beneficial, as if you can successfully stall the table and prevent anyone from getting VP, it buys you some time to bleed out your prey.
Plan C:
Uhhh.....bloat as best as you can?
Strengths:
-Flash Grenades are a great deterrent. Ends combat and punishes your opponents in their next turn.
-Ability to control table. Strong psychological influence. Sometimes you can bluff your way through while bleeding with threats of not untapping, even if you don't have a grenade in hand.
-Strong against decks that have only a couple of big capacity vampires and hence can deny a greater proportion of actions.
-Shambling Hordes with the Unmasking are useful for blocking all the typically important +1 Stealth actions.
Weaknesses:
-Needs to set up a bit. Hence likely to suffer heavy pool loss from stealth bleeders in the early game before being able to shut their vampires down with Flash Grenades.
-Equipment hosers are obviously a problem for this deck. Count Germaine, urp... Or Terror/Frenzy.
-Shambling Hordes can be twarted in their attempts to throw grenades by Immortal Grapple(though perhaps this is mitigated somewhat by the fact that they still hit for 3 or 4 with a hand strike).
-Possible problems against Ally decks or Imbued since the grenades only end combat against them but don't tap them or force them to remain tapped.
-Pool gain tech is nothing much to be sniffed about.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Call of the Hungry Dead: Sudario Destruction
Back when I first started V:TES, I had built a typical Giovanni shambling hordes deck involving liquidation and Dom bleed. When Lords of the Night was released, Khazar's Diary immediately caught my eye. I realised that Liquidation would fit perfectly in a deck based around the card. So far, this has been my longest serving and most successful/reliable deck.
Most recently, I played it in the Singapore Qualifiers for the Asian Continental Championships 2010. 1 game win and 3.5 VP isn't the best result for the deck, but it performed admirably despite some tough opposition. All in all, my best deck to date.
Deck Name: Sudario Destruction
Created By: The Necromancer
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 10, Max: 19, Avg: 3.58)
----------------------------------------------
1 Isabel Giovanni pot DOM NEC 5 Giovanni
1 Vittorio Giovanni dom for nec pot 5 Giovanni
1 Patrizia Giovanni nec qui tha 5 Giovanni
1 Francesca Giovanni dom nec pot 4 Giovanni
1 Gloria Giovanni nec DOM 4 Giovanni
1 Chas Giovanni Tello DOM POT 4 Giovanni
1 Rudolfo Giovanni NEC 3 Giovanni
1 Lia Milliner dom nec 3 Giovanni
1 Cristofero Giovanni nec pot 3 Giovanni
1 Mario Giovanni nec pot 3 Giovanni
1 Marciana Giovanni dom 2 Giovanni
1 Paul DiCarlo pot 2 Giovanni
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (22 cards)
8 Liquidation
2 Acquired Ventrue Assets
2 Protected Resources
1 Information Highway
3 Parthenon, The
1 Channel 10
1 KRCG News Radio
1 Fortschritt Library
2 Tribute to the Master
1 Powerbase: Cape Verde
Action (19 cards)
1 Chair of Hades
4 Sudario Refraction
2 Embrace, The
12 Khazar`s Diary (Endless Night)
Action Modifier (15 cards)
2 Conditioning
7 Call of the Hungry Dead
6 Shroudsight
Combat (5 cards)
4 Dodge
1 Zip Gun
Ally (20 cards)
1 Mylan Horseed (Goblin)
2 Felix `Fix` Hessian (Wraith)
3 Repo Man
3 Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
2 Leonardo, Mortician
1 Young Bloods
1 Impundulu
2 Ambrosius, The Ferryman (Wraith)
2 Gregory Winter
2 Tye Cooper
1 Ossian
Event (2 cards)
2 Unmasking, The
Combo (7 cards)
7 Spectral Divination
Primary Oust Method:
Self-explanatory. Trigger the Endless Night by putting 7 counters on Khazar's Diary, and drown your prey(and the rest of the table) with Wraiths bleeding at +1 stealth. Getting to 7 counters of course requires some work. That's where the set up comes into play. Speed is of the essence. I bring out my vampires as fast as possible. Early actions consist of putting a Diary into play, and then recruiting allies for defense. Get the Unmasking into play ASAP, and start to use Liquidation to regain pool and dump Allies into the Ash Heap. Meanwhile, keep playing more Diary, using Shroudsight to speed things up, and block actions with your expendable Allies. This effectively lets your Prey/Predator do your work for you when they burn your unique allies that are so annoying positioned as blockers which they neither want dead or alive. Once the Diary has triggered and you've put a fair few Wraiths into play, the game is often in the bag for you as long as you defend your pool properly. Not many people can survive more than a couple of rounds being bled by that many minions.
Secondary Oust Method:
If the circumstances are not in your favour and the Diary has not been triggered for whatever reason, the 2nd option is to swarm bleed your prey. I put 2 Conditionings in as there are a few vampires in the Crypt with Dominate. The Conditionings prove useful for a sneak bleed when least expected, and can be returned back to hand with Sudario Refraction if needed again.
Plan C:
If things are really grim and nothing is going your way... Bloat, and refuse to die.
Strengths:
-Able to quickly oust most prey once the Diary has triggered.
-Many blockers to stand in the way of incoming bleeds/rushes.
-All actions(except bleeding) taken are at +1 stealth base, so it is not easy for opponents to block consistently, short of a dedicated intercept wall. Spectral Divination and Call of the Hungry Dead make blocking the deck's actions even more problematic.
-Consistent intercept with the Unmasking and media locations allows you to block many actions.
-Decent pool gain mechanisms allow the deck to survive a protracted game.
Weaknesses:
-Takes a few rounds to set up.
-Suffers if predator is a stealth bleeder or stealth power bleeder, in which case only digging out Protected Resources and bloating will keep you alive long enough to see the Diary trigger.
-Suffers if prey is an intercept wall. Inability to get actions through will stall the deck.
-Suffers against consistent multiple rush decks. The allies you recruit to block rushes will eventually die(unless you bring out Tye and Ambrosius) and when the rushes start to reach your soft chewy Vampires, the game is up. Combat defense is minimal, only a few Dodges to protect against certain attacks.
Most recently, I played it in the Singapore Qualifiers for the Asian Continental Championships 2010. 1 game win and 3.5 VP isn't the best result for the deck, but it performed admirably despite some tough opposition. All in all, my best deck to date.
Deck Name: Sudario Destruction
Created By: The Necromancer
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 10, Max: 19, Avg: 3.58)
----------------------------------------------
1 Isabel Giovanni pot DOM NEC 5 Giovanni
1 Vittorio Giovanni dom for nec pot 5 Giovanni
1 Patrizia Giovanni nec qui tha 5 Giovanni
1 Francesca Giovanni dom nec pot 4 Giovanni
1 Gloria Giovanni nec DOM 4 Giovanni
1 Chas Giovanni Tello DOM POT 4 Giovanni
1 Rudolfo Giovanni NEC 3 Giovanni
1 Lia Milliner dom nec 3 Giovanni
1 Cristofero Giovanni nec pot 3 Giovanni
1 Mario Giovanni nec pot 3 Giovanni
1 Marciana Giovanni dom 2 Giovanni
1 Paul DiCarlo pot 2 Giovanni
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (22 cards)
8 Liquidation
2 Acquired Ventrue Assets
2 Protected Resources
1 Information Highway
3 Parthenon, The
1 Channel 10
1 KRCG News Radio
1 Fortschritt Library
2 Tribute to the Master
1 Powerbase: Cape Verde
Action (19 cards)
1 Chair of Hades
4 Sudario Refraction
2 Embrace, The
12 Khazar`s Diary (Endless Night)
Action Modifier (15 cards)
2 Conditioning
7 Call of the Hungry Dead
6 Shroudsight
Combat (5 cards)
4 Dodge
1 Zip Gun
Ally (20 cards)
1 Mylan Horseed (Goblin)
2 Felix `Fix` Hessian (Wraith)
3 Repo Man
3 Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
2 Leonardo, Mortician
1 Young Bloods
1 Impundulu
2 Ambrosius, The Ferryman (Wraith)
2 Gregory Winter
2 Tye Cooper
1 Ossian
Event (2 cards)
2 Unmasking, The
Combo (7 cards)
7 Spectral Divination
Primary Oust Method:
Self-explanatory. Trigger the Endless Night by putting 7 counters on Khazar's Diary, and drown your prey(and the rest of the table) with Wraiths bleeding at +1 stealth. Getting to 7 counters of course requires some work. That's where the set up comes into play. Speed is of the essence. I bring out my vampires as fast as possible. Early actions consist of putting a Diary into play, and then recruiting allies for defense. Get the Unmasking into play ASAP, and start to use Liquidation to regain pool and dump Allies into the Ash Heap. Meanwhile, keep playing more Diary, using Shroudsight to speed things up, and block actions with your expendable Allies. This effectively lets your Prey/Predator do your work for you when they burn your unique allies that are so annoying positioned as blockers which they neither want dead or alive. Once the Diary has triggered and you've put a fair few Wraiths into play, the game is often in the bag for you as long as you defend your pool properly. Not many people can survive more than a couple of rounds being bled by that many minions.
Secondary Oust Method:
If the circumstances are not in your favour and the Diary has not been triggered for whatever reason, the 2nd option is to swarm bleed your prey. I put 2 Conditionings in as there are a few vampires in the Crypt with Dominate. The Conditionings prove useful for a sneak bleed when least expected, and can be returned back to hand with Sudario Refraction if needed again.
Plan C:
If things are really grim and nothing is going your way... Bloat, and refuse to die.
Strengths:
-Able to quickly oust most prey once the Diary has triggered.
-Many blockers to stand in the way of incoming bleeds/rushes.
-All actions(except bleeding) taken are at +1 stealth base, so it is not easy for opponents to block consistently, short of a dedicated intercept wall. Spectral Divination and Call of the Hungry Dead make blocking the deck's actions even more problematic.
-Consistent intercept with the Unmasking and media locations allows you to block many actions.
-Decent pool gain mechanisms allow the deck to survive a protracted game.
Weaknesses:
-Takes a few rounds to set up.
-Suffers if predator is a stealth bleeder or stealth power bleeder, in which case only digging out Protected Resources and bloating will keep you alive long enough to see the Diary trigger.
-Suffers if prey is an intercept wall. Inability to get actions through will stall the deck.
-Suffers against consistent multiple rush decks. The allies you recruit to block rushes will eventually die(unless you bring out Tye and Ambrosius) and when the rushes start to reach your soft chewy Vampires, the game is up. Combat defense is minimal, only a few Dodges to protect against certain attacks.
Welcome!
Greetings fellow Methuselahs,
I've finally decided to start a blog, and here it is. I shall now provide a brief description of the labels i will be using. May add more but these are just for a start.
Call of the Hungry Dead: My deck lists and a description of how they work.
Grasp the Ghostly: Reviews of Necromancy cards and the clans that use Necromancy.
Shroudsight: Game reports and other event reports.
Haunt: Random things and anything that doesn't fall into the other categories.
I've finally decided to start a blog, and here it is. I shall now provide a brief description of the labels i will be using. May add more but these are just for a start.
Call of the Hungry Dead: My deck lists and a description of how they work.
Grasp the Ghostly: Reviews of Necromancy cards and the clans that use Necromancy.
Shroudsight: Game reports and other event reports.
Haunt: Random things and anything that doesn't fall into the other categories.
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