Anarchs nowadays are full of tricks. (Which makes me kinda jealous since Ebony Kingdom really didn't put much new punch into the Laibons). Smear Campaign is a really interesting card for them, and in my opinion, you should always have maybe 1 or 2 in your Anarch deck if you can squeeze it in. I assure you that it will cause a lot of headache to your predator and/or prey.
At the very worse of your days, consider Smear Campaign a limited Sudden Reversal card that targets attachment cards on your prey/predator's minions. It doesn't work on equipment and retainers, so you can forget about getting rid of Soul Gems and Raptors - however, it works very well against other attachment cards such as Preternatural Strength, Repulsion etc. Granted, you may never get a chance to use it to good effect, but I assure you that most often than not, you will be praying really hard to get it in your next draw.
Now let's look at all the great works it will do for you on a good day.
Playing an Anarch combat deck and simply hated that Secure Haven? Smear it. See that Brujah with Heroic Might? Strip him of his heroic fantasy with Smear Campaign. Didn't like that Muse Conducting the choir over there? Sack her status with Smear Campaign... There are so many cards that you can burn to really annoy your prey/predator : for example, Armor of Terra, Aching Beauty, Repulsion, Shadow of the Wolf, Carrion Coffin... and there are really important ones that you most probably will burn at all costs - such as No Secrets from the Magaji, Charisma, Clan Impersonation, most of the title referendums, Ex Nihilo etc.
The down side of this card is that you can only use it once and it goes to the control of your target Methuselah. Well, since he is your prey/predator, he could probably use it on you, unless of course, all your minions are Anarch. (You ARE playing an Anarch deck ya?) So it makes sense for you to use it on your prey if you want him to weaken your grand-prey, and use it on your predator if you want to weaken your grand-predator. As long as all your minions are Anarchs (or you do not use any attachment cards), you will never become a target of your own card.
What happens when you want to use it again? Well, you can treat this as a 1-pool per round attrition card and contest it with its new owner by playing another copy of this card. This is actually quite effective, since the prey/predator will almost always contest to the death if they have more attachment cards that they want to protect. And if they don't, they will usually just give it up when their pool is not very healthy.
And let's not underestimate the psychological value of this card in play. How would you react if you know that your predator can burn that Regent anytime he wants? And what happens when you're holding the only Remover in your hand and your prey has the Smear Campaign in play? Would you bother to Rutor's Hand your Mistress if you know your predator hates you with the Smear Campaign? You see, with Smear Campaign in play, you create for yourself a reasonably strong position to bargain and/or impede your prey and predator's deck flow - you may get lucky and pretty much shut it down for a few turns (a weenie vote with only 1 crusade in hand), or at least force him to rethink what to do and delay him for a while.
All for the cost of 1 pool.
And remember you can use this card to aid and protect as well. If your predator is suffering really badly from your would-be predator, strike a bargain with him and burn that Sensory Deprivation on Tariq, or, remove the Alastor on your prey's Adana and your Malkavian grand prey might bleed backwards for a turn or two~
But there are things to consider about this card - most importantly - what card to burn, and when to burn it? Do you expect an even more important attachment card soon? Do you have other ways to deal with the current threat without executing the might of your *rare* Smear Campaign? This requires you to read your table, your position, and have a good idea of what your prey/predator's decks are doing.
Nevertheless, there are many ways to use this card to deter, threaten and bargain. So, if you're not Anarch, and you play attachment cards that will greatly benefit your deck, Sudden Reverse this card. It is a deadly Anarch card. If you're Anarch, throw in one or two into your deck, they'll often come in handy, and very often, is the key to your victory.
(o.o)
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