Lyrics of the Night : Infernal

Before HttB, Infernal is a real pain, extremely difficult to pull off. For their cost they don't really deliver much that is worth it. Therefore Baali and other Infernal Vampires only appears in very thematic and specific superstar decks.

Of course, you still see the TurboCybele decks, Valerius multi-action combat and the ever deadly Nergal. But for these decks Infernalism doesn't really shine out as an important aspect - in fact, all the above decks basically just treat Infernalism as an inconvenience.

The HttB expansion seek to answer this shortfall and created new toys and tricks for Infernal Vampires.

Since the Baali is the default clan for Infernal Vampires, their effectiveness is therefore an indication of how well (or bad) Infernalism is doing. We must always remember that taking 1 pool to untap EACH Infernal Vampire is a very expensive business, and therefore the reason to do this must be truly worth it.

So what can these Infernal vampires put to the table that other clans cannot?

For a start, most Infernal vampires are very efficient for their cost - take the Horde for example - as a 3 cap non-unique vampire, they have 3 inferior disciplines, including the very sought after OBF, and they can tap to give another Infernal vampire +1 Bleed. I think this vampire should cost almost 5 cap if they weren't Infernal. Older Infernal vampires are simply deadly - just look at Nergal. So in terms of discipline efficiency, the Infernal vampires are truly worth it.

Post HttB, the DAI discipline now adds a very interesting set of options for the Methuselahs. DAI now comes with bleed cards, stealth cards, and even pool gain cards. A single attack with Greater Curse combined with I am Legion at superior will net you 2 pool, more than enough to pay for the infernal minion. DAI also has deadly aggravated damage capacity, making DAI-abled vampires very deadly opponents in combat. There are many powerful DAI cards, from the incredible Unleash Hell's Fury to the staple Flames of the Netherworld, DAI is a great discipline to use in many different deck strategy, and again, they are usually very efficient cards. And don't forget, many (in fact, most) good DAI cards also requires the vampire to be Infernal, and hence using Spontaneous Power or Ian Forestal isn't going to net you a lot of benefit with DAI cards.

The Baali as a clan also has quite a few good clan cards. The Herald is an expensive but deadly ally, the new mage is magnificent, Call the Great Beast needs no more elaboration and even the only Baali retainer D'habi is a pretty good retainer to have. Shatter the Gates shatter the playing field, and Tend the Flock is probably one of the best bloat/speed card there is.

However, all these benefits is counteracted by Infernalism. If one cannot get the deck to work quickly enough, or suffers heavy bleeds or attack early in the game, the deck can just shut down and will be more difficult to come back than other decks. The 1-pool cost to untap a vampire can add up and quickly put you at a distinct disadvantage.

Infernal vampires and abilities have of course taken into account of this disadvantage, and thus their efficiency and for some of the vampires, simply ridiculous powers. And there are many ways to bypass the Infernal cost associated with these vampires. Concordance, Rutor's Hands, Homunculus and other untap techs are invaluable to the Infernal vampires, not just giving them a chance to bypass the cost of Infernalism, but also giving them the ability to take multiple action to maximize the investment to untap them. These are still by far the easiest and best way to deal with Infernalism - comparatively, The Path of Evil Revelation and Ruins of Charizel are all unreliable as well as difficult to defend.

So are the Infernal vampires too weak? Not at all. You may see more Superstar Infernal decks than other clans, but that doesn't mean you'll only see a single Superstar Infernal vampire and no other Infernals supporting it - there are of course specific decks that use only one Infernal vampire, but there are just as many possibility now to use multiple Infernals. It can be a stealth bleed deck (with OBF, PRE and DAI, Baali makes excellent bleeders, especially with I am Legion and Greater Curse); an ally deck with Infernal Servitor or Herald of Topheth; combat decks with Flames of Netherworld and Contagion, or fanciful decks with all those Condemnation cards. I'm sure the True Brujah (and to a certain extent, the Salubri) are way much more Superstar than the Infernals.

Which bring me to the two quasi-Infernal disciplines. Maleficia and Striga both have interesting potentials. They are not really there yet, since there aren't really a lot of cards for them - but already cards like Evil Eye and Barrenness are showing incredible potential. I look forward to the next expansion that focus on Infernalism. (I tell you, Bahari will win this storyline tournament, White Wolf has pretty much ensured that)

And are the Infernal vampires over-powered? I don't think so either. Infernalism will continue to be one of the most painful disadvantages in Vtes, requiring a lot of thoughts and deck support to ensure that it works at all, usually more so than most of the more common decks.

But as far as I can see, after HttB, selling your soul has become a lot more lucrative.

(o.o)selling soul in process