Lyrics of the Night : Battlelines Storyline Tournament

One very interesting aspect of Vtes is the deviation of games one can have when playing in a storyline tournament. We had that in many of the previous tournaments - Cultists, Nergal, the Anarch and Alastors, even minor changes such as the Imperator storyline do have players create completely dedicated decks in order to capitalize on the advantage(s) given to certain (sometimes) underused or otherwise "not-very-competitive" cards/clans/sects.

The current Battlelines tournament illustrates this expertly.

Bloodlines have always suffered from a thin crypt, and even with 3 expansions dedicated to it, (all of which are pretty good) due to the grouping mechanics, one doesn't really have a lot of choice when selecting a crypt - and very often it limits the way one can play with the Bloodlines. Take the Gargoyles for example, the different slave clans are loosely Grouped, so you kinda are limited in your preferences on Groups when you're choosing your master clan.

The Battlelines tournament changes all that~

Now we have the options that help each Bloodline to do things a little differently, and will definitely see "Battlelines-only" dedicated decks, more so than during the other tournaments. The Battlelines introduced many exotic options -

1. No Grouping issues - all vampires' Grouping ignored.

2. No slave issues - all slaves can do what they need to do without a master.

3. No Infernal costs - all Infernal vampires do not need to pay for untap.

4. No Scarce issue - no extra cost associated with Scarce vampires.

5. You start with either the "Guide and Mentor" or "Blessing of Lilith" already in play.

6. There is a whole group of vampires that are considered "Bloodlines"

7. 75% of the crypt must be of the same Bloodline clan.

I'd like to see how this will work for the different Bloodlines~

Abomination

Well, though grouping is not an issue, and scarce is ignored, Abomination's crypt is still too thin to actually work very well here - though having Pariah and Zubeida together could be an interesting team. But the most exotic aspect here is Count Germaine and Pariah. With Infamous Insurgent and Anarch Convert, the problem of Pariah's reliance on Master cards could be slightly averted, and they have enough disciplines in common to be cohesive. Include Lilith's Blessing and both Pariah and Count can quickly get the necessary disciplines onto themselves (with extra blood to power up when the time is right). Most of the Abominations lack one discipline or the other, with Pariah simply rejecting Guide and Mentor, so Lilith's Blessing probably works better with them.

Besides that, the Abomination clan is too small to have noticeable abusing of the tournament.

Ahrimanes

With Lilith's Blessing, the major issue of the many younger Ahrimanes' problem of basic Animalism can be quickly addressed and you can compound that with their now excellent selection of crypt (Ahrimanes have some of the best vampires in their groups, though they could not be used together normally) (Howler's existence is of course going to be welcomed in most decks), there are now enough weenie Ahrimanes (and enough have PRO) to create a reasonably deadly bruise/stealth bleed deck of your choice. It also makes Spirit Claws so much easier to use. Ahrimanes can benefit greatly from Guide and Mentor, even with the cost - there are enough Blood-costing PRE bleed actions that rewards the pool if successful, and with the stealth associated with SPI a stealth bleed Ahrimane deck isn't that far from reality. (think of Cavalier Ahrimanes)

Baali

Ha, what else do you want? No Infernal cost! I think that, oddly, the Baali may be one of the clans that will consider Guide and Mentor seriously over Lilith's Blessing. With Tend the Flock they don't really need those blood or Master discipline badly, and unless you're playing the Horde it isn't that common that you need to use the Blessing.(I guess you can Villein every Horde and then give them 3 blood back...) Moreover, many archetypes help in one way or anther in many of the more specialized Baali decks.

The best gift to the Baali in this tournament is the ability to use THE HORDE in any and every crypt - opening up the combinations otherwise not seen in standard decks. Before there is only the Group 5s and 6s (so usually you see the Unnamed), but now one can technically use the Hordes with the other powerful Baalis such as Nergal and Cybele. (Cybele's extra Master phase screams of multi Tend the Flocks)

Blood Brothers

Whole world is talking about Lilith blessing the Blood Sisters. With POT coming in together with 3 blood, the Hermanas suddenly become immediately useable and effective the moment they hit the table. And not just them, most Blood Brothers do have issues with insufficient superior disciplines, and they use up blood like nobody's business, therefore the Blessing is a god-send. With blood-replenishment that is so needed by the Brothers, and the (usually) good number of Brothers on the table, the Blood Brothers may technically be using the Blessings the most in a game. The crypt extension only added Angelo to all, since the circle aspect of SAN cannot be bypassed. I guess Infamous Insurgent do work with Angelo too, though it is kinda silly unless you're looking at an Anarch Blood Brothers deck.

You can also consider working with Karsh (ADV) for his ability to call Blood Hunts all the time and the Blood Brothers gang can then go out and dish it out to the unfortunate fellow.

Daughters of Cacophony

Like the Ahrimanes, the Daughters' crypt is reasonably alright, though the extra Grouping extension will help to make the crypt even more efficient for Conductor and other Daughter spamming tech. The bloating mechanics that the Daughters do so well might actually allow them to use Guide and Mentor and spam Cavaliers on enough Daughters to do the otherwise difficult to achieve Multi Shattering bleeds.

Like their wilder friends the Ahrimanes, the Daughters are reasonably well supported now without too much need for help from the storyline.

Gargoyles

No slave issues? TupDog is so going to rule. Without the slave issue many of the more powerful Gargoyles will shine in the deck - and imagine the combat capability packed by Ublo-Satha, Ferox and Chaundice working together in a deck, flanked by Tupdogs. For the bigger Gargoyles, perhaps Guide and Mentor will do better than Lilith's Blessing, since archetypes work so well with Gargoyles - be it Perfectionist or Monster. However, I'm going to go for Lilith's Blessing because Hatchlings are so going to get the most from it, and become very effective fighters very quickly with FOR or more possibly POT on them quickly. (And since you burn 1 blood to gain flight, you get 2 blood back!) Just beware of Tension in the Ranks if you're spamming TupDogs.

Harbingers of Skull

I rest my case with the Harbingers. The efficiency they get in this tournament kinda look a little timid when compared to the others. I have yet to see how the Harbingers will benefit extensively for this tournament. I guess if you do go the Anarch way (which is pretty common for their Slaughterhouse tech), they could work with Ambrogino being an Infamous Insurgent...

Kiasyd

Full selection of cheap Kiasyds. Master phase for blood and discipline. (DOM!) (Isanwayan might actually be tapping for extra master phase here) What else do you need for this already powerful clan? Even Guide and Mentor might come in handy if archetype is what they want to do~ One do need to manage the blood on the vampires properly to maximize the Blessing.

These blue fellows really don't need any more help.

Nagaraja

Hmm...without the Scarce issue, and the full crypt available to the Nagaraja, then add to it the blood and discipline enhancement of Lilith's Blessing, and we might be looking at the first and ever ally spamming Nagaraja (I'm talking about the Shambling Hordes here baby~) With blood regaining ability up to the heavens (many associated with ally in the first place), many cheap minions with interesting abilities (Just think of Anu helping the Hordes to bleed...Empower plus her ability, and voila, each Horde bleeds for 3) Getting the Hordes into play quickly, and replenishing blood when they are killed, (Consume the Dead when your Hordes go down blocking), or ping your own Hordes with Ritual Scapel then block with it and Consume it, and then eat it as Emergency Ration. These extra blood will then be used to power up more Hordes. Ambrogino can come in to help with his abilities if you find there aren't enough good Nagarajas to work with.

Due to the blood cost involved in calling Shambling Hordes, I think it shouldn't be too much of an issue to get the Nagarajs to no blood and take advantage of the Lilith's Blessing. I also think that it would be most interesting to see a Nagaraja deck - I kinda almost never see their colors on the table.

Salubri

Ha, Saulot plus all others, and no scarce. Combine this with their now very effective power and you have a powerhouse right there. However, the Salubris do not actually gain much from this tournament besides this, and due to their generally fat capacity and their uncanny ability to gain so much blood already, they might be the one clan that will go for Guide and Mentor over the Blessing more often than the others.

Salubri Antitribu

Definitely a good thing for all the little ones to come together. And the Lilith's Blessing will make the Brothers-in-arms so much more dangerous with AUS powering their Eye of Unforgiving Heaven. Already a powerful combat clan, the Blessing will also give them the much-needed blood replenishment for working before the Path is in play - more weenies, more blood, faster discipline cards. I foresee the !Salubri being one of the most powerful beat decks in this tournament environment. To maximize Lilith's Blessings, the !Salubris' usual means of blocking and fighting could be a good way to manage blood counts. Karsh could work well with these fellows too if you like~

Samedi

Sigh.

Sigh.

Sigh somemore.

True Brujah

Like what Damien said, multiple True Brujahs isn't necessarily a good idea, so the crypt extension isn't going to do much for them, and is actually more a hindrance than a boon. In this case the True Brujah needs to re-think and definitely restructure the deck into something more specific to the tournament, which might not be easy. The Guide and Mentor will help a little but besides that the tournament isn't very friendly to the True Brujahs.

I actually think that True Brujah is quite difficult to play in this tournament.

Storyline Characters

So many of them, but not many of them are actually cohesive with each other or with some Bloodline clans. There are possibly interesting combos but it's beyond my ability to fully figure out the possibilities.

Others

I was told that White Wolf obviously wanted Bahari to win this tournament since Lilith's Blessing is superior to Guide and Mentor in many ways, since it gives blood AND discipline and does not require an action to do so. What it does is takes up your Master phase action. But it is not actually all that useable if you can't get your vampires to have no blood at the untap phase quickly.

For that the Guide and Mentor, given the right deck support, might, in the long run, be worth the cost and initial disadvantage. Imagine many Cavaliers on Daughters who call Preludes, or many Perfectionists on all the Kiasyds (or for that matter, the HORDE bleeding with Greater Curses) Though the second and following archetypes of the same kind will cost you pool, there are enough archetypes that can get that back for you very quickly (and how many are you gonna call anyway, 3 is quite a lot already)

I think the storyline tournament will be very interesting~ can't wait!

G1 even created an Abomination deck with NO Abomination vampires!

Really can't wait!

(o.o)