At Your Disposal : Dreams of the Sphinx

Dreams of the Sphinx is one of the few universally good card to include in almost every deck, and one where 2-3 copies can be inserted without much problem if you have the space. It is also almost an auto-take if you're drafting. A most satisfactory card.

For those who do not know what it does, this is a unique master card which costs one pool and does 1 of the 3 things for you. It can tap to increase your hand size by 2 for a turn; it can tap to put 1 counter to a Vampire in your uncontrolled region; or you can tap it if you have the edge to gain one extra pool from the edge. Unfortunately it can only be used 3 times, in any combination, but only 3 times. You add a counter to it every time you tap it - and when the card accumulates 3 counters - it burns. Now, all these flexibility for the cost of 1 pool. If this is not a bargain I don't know what is. Let's look at what it can do for you, ability by ability. One of the more immediate uses is the "tap to put 1 blood on an uncontrolled Vampire". Basically, at worst, you can tap this card 3 times over 3 turns, to transfer those 3 blood back into your pool as a slow pool-gain mechanics. (usually the last resort if you need this to survive) More commonly it is used to speed up the influencing of your Vampires. With a 1st turn Dreams you can influence a 5-cap Vampire instead of a 4-cap, or a 10-cap Vampire in 2 turns instead of 3, which is a great help in speeding up your deck. This may not be as fast as Tomb of Ramses II or Zillah's Valley, but it is much less taxing on your pool, and is useable even at late games. If you really don't need (or able to) bring out that Vampire, at least you get 3 pool with the expenditure of 1. Dreams is also one of the best means to cycle your hand. An addition of 2 to your hand size allows 2 more cards to be drawn, and at the end of the turn, you get to discard 2 of the more useless cards in addition to your discard phase - this is a pretty good way of resetting your hand to a more favorable position. Cycling is a key mechanics in Vtes, and Dreams is one of the most efficient and effective way of doing just that, also remember that the card can be tapped anytime to give you that 2 extra hand size, not necessarily during your minion phase, so if you need to try to get that intercept card to block a crucial enemy action, you can tap the Dreams during his turn to try your luck, but you can't do this half way in combat, so tap to fish for your combat combo BEFORE the combat. This ability allows you a much greater chance to getting the combo you need or getting the card that spring starts your engine (or even the card that can save you from your current predicament, such as a Delaying Tactics) The abililty to gain 1 pool if you have the edge is rarely used. But do remember that most pool-gain cards give you the pool during the master phase, Dreams provide that in the untap phase, similar to Vessel. So it may save your life against a hostile Judgment : Camarilla Segregation or Antediluvian Awakening once in a while. But if you need that 1 pool, transfering it back during your influence phase with the Dreams is an easier route anyway. But the most important feature of the Dreams is that it is multi-purpose, and it is flexible. It provides 2 solutions to 2 of the more important functions in Vtes - pool gain and card cycling. These are 2 very common problem that a Methuselah encounters in most games, and usually at least one of them exist in any one time. Therefore, the appearance of a Dreams in your hands almost always justifies its inclusion - that 1 pool will pay for itself almost 100% of the time. Its main drawback? It is unique, and many people will play it, so you're bound to find one on the table and may be stuck with it in your hand while another copy is on the table, or forced to discard it, or being contested simple because your opponent(s) can afford to do so. (Which is another reason why you should have a Dreams if that is a viable solution to meta against your opponents) That said, it is a minor irritant as compared to the value of the Dreams, it does reduce the motivation to put in too many copies in your deck though, and I've seen players with a Dreams on the table, used it twice, and just refused to use it again, in order to prevent others from gaining advantage from their own Dreams. There were also talks of using Goth Bands to increase the longevity of the Dreams by moving their counters to investment cards. Quite an interesting possibility, but I doubt that is going to win you many games. Nevertheless, the value of the Dreams of the Sphinx cannot be disputed. Next time you see one in a pack, grab it, you'll probably never have enough of them anyway. (o.o)y