At Your Disposal : Week of Nightmares

Has been using, and has been on the receiving ends of this card lately. The lessons I've gained from it told me that Ravnos decks should almost always carry at least one of these, more if the deck has means of exploiting it. In fact, the power of this card is so intense that the moment of landing it, and the means of exploiting it successfully often spells the skill and focus level of the Methuselah playing it.

The impact of this card upon the Ravnos is in theory a double-edged sword. It gives all Ravnos +1 bleed and +1 Strength, so in a hordy Ravnos deck this is extremely deadly, as all the Ravnos can now fight better, and more importantly, bleed better. Given the general stealth level of the Ravnos, this may mean a sudden double in bleed amount - something that if played well, usually means the death of at least the first prey.

The problem of this card is that it will cripple the Ravnos, sometimes immediately, and if not, eventually. This is at most times a do or die card. First, all Ravnos can longer hunt for extra blood normally, and if they has no means of regaining blood either by stealing from other Ravnos, or from Hunting Ground and other blood gain tech, the deck will soon be shut down, and does absolutely nothing else after a while when the Ravnos on the table ran out of blood. Even if the Ravnos managed to keep enough blood to work, the 10 counters on the card will eventually be distributed out and a good number of Ravnos, and almost certainly the important ones, will usually burn with the card.

But the power of this card is definitely worth the risk, and whether or not to put the card in play strictly lies in your control. Although one may be forced to hold it in hand for quite a while, due to the temptation of its power, and the unwillingness to discard it as it is almost always the only piece in your deck. This is also another of the Week's many problems - it is not only an unique card, but also a one-use card, meaning that if it was sudden reversed or cancelled in some way, it cannot be played again - this is why there is almost always only one copy in deck.

That said, there are many ways to overcome the weaknesses of this card to make it even more fearsome.

First, it is very common for your opponents to forget to remove counters on the Week in the heat of the battle. Granted, the prey normally will remind everyone, but that's not always the case. Every counter that is not removed prolonged the time that you can use the Week. However, even on a table of 5 the Week will almost always run out within 3-4 turns - translating that to say, 3-4 extra bleed per turn gives you an extra 9-12 bleeds, usually enough to oust the first prey, and go on to the second. The timing of dropping the Week then is essential to the use of the Week. If you see an opening to kill a prey immediately, drop the Week and score the first kill - but an essential consideration MUST be the position of your grand prey. The Week, if dropped, has to be able to at least help you kill 2 preys (or win the table), if not more, or it will definitely spell your doom. If you can drop in on a table of 2-3, the Week has a good chance of lasting 4-5 turns, making it that more effective.

The second issue of the Week must concern the blood level, and the blood gain ability for the vampires. Hunting Ground, Rack, FOR blood gain tech, blood reduction cards such as Path of Paradox and Fatuus Mastery are all very important for the Week, or the Ravnos will quickly find them running out of blood, and since they cannot hunt as normal, become inactive if there are no blood left on all the vampires. For this, try to drop the Week when the vampires you control are generally healthy, and your blood gain cards are in place.

Lastly, one should have enough Ravnos to capitalize on this card. Having only 1-2 Ravnos on your side doesn't really help, unless the table situation calls for it. Also note that the Week of Nightmares has a global impact - so if you have a Ravnos predator that outnumbers you, then dropping the Week might not be a very good idea.

One interesting aspect of this card is that if it is drawn early in the game, before the Ravnos deck is ready, it is a deadweight. This also applies when the table situation is unfavorable - making this card quite a dilemma sometimes. The appearance of the Ashur Tablet created some means of solving this - and given the normally inability of the Ravnos to bloat properly, the Tablet should be an auto-include in most Ravnos decks anyway. Using the Tablet to bring the Week back in hand solve the deadweight issue. And don't forget, Mata Hari will allow you to use the Waste Management Operation if you're using her, it also allows the recycling, albeit in a much much less controlled way.

(o.o)