Since the release of Twilight Rebellion, we see an increasing number of decks that utilized Anarch tech. From the deadly Revolutionary Council, to the myriad selection of flexible (and often highly efficient and effective) combat Anarchs, I must say that the viability of the Anarch tech has greatly increased. Anarchs are now good at several things : first, they have access to the unique 3-discipline cards, all of those are use-able at basic level of discipline, and many are equal, if not superior to many of the cards that has similar effects, but requires the superior level of the discipline - thus making even young Vampires a force to be reckoned with, not to mention the flexibility it gives to Vampires with multiple disciplines that normally has absolutely no use in the standard non-Anarch decks. Secondly, there are now quite a good number of "requires an Anarch" cards that are very efficient and powerful - the Revolutionary Council being one of them, and this arsenal includes all purpose cards such as Monkey Wrench (a popular card in draft environment), good master locations such as Anarch Railroad and powerful combat cards such as Groundfighting.
All these attractions make Anarch decks a lot more challenging to fight.
But all Anarch decks face one basic problem - there are very few Vampires that that has the "Anarch" keyword upon hitting the table (there are only 4 Anarch Vampires, and 3 of them needs to be merged to become Anarch), and all those mighty Anarch cards are completely useless if the Vampire is not an Anarch. So, making your Vampires Anarch is often the priority of Anarch decks; and if this can somehow be prevented (say, blocked), then you are probably considered to be in a deep shit position.
Fortunately, unlike Black Hands, the Anarchs are given the standard option of burning 2 blood, and taking one +1 Stealth action to acquire the status of Anarch. Of course, they must not have a title (means, no votes), and they will become Independent after the action. If the Methuselah already control another Anarch Vampire, then this action cost 1 less blood. At least you can always become Anarch even if you don't have the specific cards to do so, which is so much more superior to the Black Hands. (But I guess it IS easier to become an Anarch than a Black Hand) This option provides the Anarch deck the option of "going Anarch the hard way" - which will save you those card slots that could be utilised for better purpose than the specific function of going Anarch only.
Why is that? Because most decks will only require say, 5-6 Anarchs, at most, and any more cards than that are deck wastes. However, in order to make sure you have these cards when you need it, you'll definitely need to include more than just the bare minimum, which translate to deck dilution, and will therefore reduce the number of more important cards that you could probably use more effectively. The downside of going the hard way, is that, you have absolutely no alternative. A +1 Stealth is not a major deterrent on blocking, and if your combat is Anarch based, then you'll have next to no combat capability until your Vampire is an Anarch - making it very attractive for your opponent to block your Anarch actions. Going Anarch cards provide options - and some of them are very good.
The simplest and I must say, quite the least useful one is the Go Anarch action card. This card basically makes the going Anarch action free. It relieves the blood cost, and untaps the Vampire after it successfully went Anarch, so the only cost is the card itself. What it doesn't do is adding any more insurance to the action - no extra stealth, no means of making this action less attractive to block or otherwise. In fact, it makes this action more prone to blocking. And this card is absolutely useless once all your Vampires on table are Anarch - it is in my opinion, only useful for your first Vampire - after that, I'd rather spend 1 blood and 1 action than wasting one card slot. I think I'll go as far as saying that this card is a waste of space.
Galaric's Legacy was the favorite of going Anarch before the Twilight Rebellion expansion. This is a Trifle Master card, making it difficult to stop, and generally not worthwhile for opponents to throw out a Sudden Reversal or Rewind Time just to prevent it, and if that is done, I'm sure it's pretty worth it - even drawing out a Wash is a good trade. There is no easy way to deal with this card, and being a Trifle, it significantly helped in maintaining an efficient Master selection. It's main problem is the same as Go Anarch, that it is completely specialised, it does absolutely nothing except making a Vampire Anarch, so it generally is useless in the late game, but you have to put in a sufficient number for it to be effective in the first place - quite a dilemma.
Anarch Succession is pretty much just another Go Anarch, but it is the ONLY card that allows a titled Vampire to become Anarch (there is another way, but it doesn't involved the library). Given the fact that if you include this card you probably have a strategy involving titled Vampires, this is most probably included when you really needed it. The fact that non-titled minions cannot block this action make it a rather good going Anarch card.
Seattle Committee is a great card to make Vampires Anarch, and it can be used over and over again. This is the most viable option for Anarch Breed decks, as breeders are probably going to blurt out Vampires after Vampires turn after turn, and the Committee can make Vampires Anarch just by tapping, saving these Vampires blood, explosure and time. Too bad it can only be used once a turn (House of Sorrow might be good for this card, since you might not bring out Vampires every turn) The problem with Seattle Committee is that it is unique, and you really need a few if this is the only means for you to make Anarchs - but anything more than 2-3 is quite a waste of space, so it will be an unreliable source of going Anarch.
Twilight Camp is a great card. It has 4 counters for you to turn 4 Vampires into Anarch, and you can do it consecutively in one round if you manage to bring out so many Vampires at the same time. Its problem is that it can only be used on Vampires that you influenced (and the Web of Knives Recruits), so if you have the Twilight Camp late it can be quite pointless. However, the catch for the Twilight Camp is that those counters can be used as a limited Hunting Ground, and transform into blood for your Anarch Vampires to replace any losses incurred, so the Camp will still be of some use at the late game where all your Vampires are already Anarch. But most importantly, the Twilight Camp, is non-unique, so everyone you throw out, is potentially 4 blood or 4 Go Anarch that is not opened for negotiations. It is however, a expendable, as after 4 uses it is gone.
The Anarch Convert is a most interesting way of going Anarch. Instead of a library card you get a 1-Cap Vampire useable with all groups. This Vampire comes into play as an Anarch, and may be removed from play upon influenced to make another Vampire an Anarch - which means, it now costs you 1 pool to make another Vampire an Anarch. But there is more, you can then choose to get that 1 pool back, or bring out another Vampire from your crypt - which is equivalent to 4 transfer and 1 pool anyway. Try your best to use the second option, it is usually more efficient than the regaining of 1 pool, unless you really do not need any more options from your crypt. But do remember that the Anarch Convert is unique. So if one is in play already, you'll not get to bring out another one, and therefore cannot use its special ability; not to forget that if you include too many Anarch Converts you might not have any feasible Vampires to influece for a while - so 3-5 is probably a good number to include in your crypt.
Jack Drake is an 8-Cap Vampire who is Anarch, and after he is in play, allows your newly influenced younger Vampire to burn 1 blood upon entering play to become Anarch. Needless to say, this requires Jack Drake to be the first Vampire to be influenced, and will undoubtedly limit your deck's strategy to accomodate the discipline spread of Jack Drake - so Jack Drake is definitely a limited option here.
The universal problem of going Anarch is thus the decision to sacrifice how many card slots for these specialized function that will generally become obsolete and useless during the later part of the game. This is a delicate issue that requires you to experiment and tune throughout your game, influenced by your crypt and your strategy, and also the immediate environment's meta. But one thing I'm certain, I've seen enough deadly Anarch deck to say that mastering this technique this will definitely be worth your time.
(o.o)y
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