At Your Disposal : Summon History

I think Summon History is probably the most talked about, ridiculed, and complained about card in HttB. After LSJ's ruling that clan/sect/discipline requirements are not considered when putting into play if summoned by history, this card presents a daunting potential for the Temporis discipline.

This is probably one of the very rare instance in Vtes where the basic function of the card is way superior to the superior function in pretty much every situation except when a deck is built to capitalize on the superior function. Though given that the Temporis cards usually do different things with their basic and superior functions this is not surprising.

By itself it sounds like it is not a big deal. A single action with no stealth, able to call in a equipment, retainer or ally from library AND ash heap is powerful, but not going to scream broken. However, given the sheer number of powerful and effective equipment, allies and retainers in Vtes library, this becomes quite an exercise for deck-builders planning to use this card.

It can be as casual as choosing the right thing to use for defense, enhancement or offense, for example, a weapon, a combat or blocking ally, or important retainer as simple as J.S Simmons. Even in these simple cases it must be noted that the cost of the summoned is now paid in blood, as compared to many cases that requires pool. This by itself is a great advantage. Combining this with blood gaining tech and you can have a lot of stuff for cheap. Kiss of Lachesis deals only with non-unique equipment and only at half cost and you see what the Trujahs can do with that, won't you shudder at the potential that Summon History now brings to them?

Now throw in the "clan/sect/discipline requirement waived" thing and now it really becomes sophisticated. You can immediately think of several "must-have" stuff that every Trujah will include when they play any reasonable number of Summon Historys in their deck. Top of the list is the Ankara Citadel. Once that it on, everything is half price (or less), and the Summon History engine can start, be it at inferior or superior.

You can then create a whole list of equipment that can be beneficial, or even central to the deck using Summon History, or the Trujah in any other cases. With Ankara Citadel, everything is possible, and everything is cheap. You can have an Assault Rifle at 2 blood cost (if you have a Perfectionist, this darn gun costs you only 1 blood if no one reacts). And barring the few cases where the equipment doesn't work unless it's user is the right clan, stated by the wording on the card, pretty much everything else can be purchased at a discount and summoned from the library AND ash heap with Summon History and put to good use. You can have a Trujah with Blood Shield, strike with a Femur, and walk around with a Shaal Fragment. The sky's the limit here.

And if this isn't enough, there's retainers to consider - Omael Kuman, Razor Bats, Stone Dogs, and a myriad of different retainers to add to the capabilities of the Trujah using Summon History. Of course, the deadliest of all comes with the allies. Allies are usually restricted by their cost and their clan requirement, this is totally stepped over by Summon History, and with Ankara Citadel, even the cost factor is severely compromised. Imagine Ossian costs only 1 blood, Succubus 2 blood, Samuel Haight 2 blood, and the silly Harzomatuili finally useable - at 2 blood cost...the sky's the limit guys, the sky's the limit.

Of course, there are weaknesses to this card, most notably the lack of stealth. There are Trujahs with some disciplines to work on this, and Creepshow Casino, Monastary of Shadows will all help, I think people might even resort to Zip Line...but in general, the Trujahs aren't too fantastic with stealth. But with Domain of Evernight and Outside the Hourglass there are very few minions who can survive a block against the Trujahs.

So you can see, Summon History is definitely a very powerful card meant to change the Trujahs forever.

But that is not enough.

To add insult to injury White Wolf has created the Amulet of Temporal Perception. Now, with this little thingy any and every vampire can play Summon History at basic with 1 extra blood cost. And this opens a whole can of worm.

As you know, THA can Magic of the Smith this card, most of the time without much contest due to the very high stealth given by the card. Once the Amulet is in place, Summon Historys can start it's operation. Mistress Fanchion can just summon either from the library and Rutor's Hand, in fact, any THA-abled vampire can do this pretty easily. Ian Forestal doesn't even need the Amulet...

I shudder at the prospect of this card in the hands of Saulot and an ally deck that has enough financial power to get all the necessary cards to work on, say, 10 Summon History, 12 Ashur Tablets, 10 Neutral Guard and enough Resurrections. This is so going to hurt...

(o.o!)