Once I've been told that ANI is a discipline that really doesn't work very well at the inferior level, but nowadays I feel that even at basic ANI it is actually pretty self-sustaining, capable of supporting singular discipline deck if one really wanted to. Celerity, however, is a discipline that really doesn't do much at basic level, and besides appearing in dedicated gun decks, would require heavy support from other disciplines to make it effective. That said, besides the mighty Potence, CEL is probably the most efficient and rightly feared combat support discipline in Vtes.
Actions
Almost nothing to do here. Flurry of Actions is the only non-combat action card that see some use, and usually effective only in wall decks that has good bleeding functions, and still want to be around to intimidate would-be attackers, and even that is not a common sight. The appearance of Fleetness has given CEL its most effective action card, giving stealth for bleed, or stealth for enter combat - it is a little costly (as with pretty much all the non-combat CEL cards), but nevertheless a very efficient card, especially for those CEL combat decks. Out of these 2 cards, you almost never see any other CEL action cards played.
Modifiers
There are some excellent modifiers that has CEL in it. The most signature CEL modifier (and in my opinion, the best) is Forced March. This card is effectively a free Freak Drive, with the bonus of stealth if your vampire is good enough to have both FOR and CEL at superior - of course, this isn't that easy, and therefore only sees play in decks with reasonably matured vampires. Resist Earth's Grasp is another great CEL card that it can truly calls it it's own. Providing either stealth or combat maneuvers/press at the cost of 1 blood, this card is very good to have in a CEL deck - afterall, multi-function cards aren't that common in the first place. Aside from these 2, you do see Scalpel Tongues in vote decks, and Alacrity as a one-off surprise stealth card, but that's about it for CEL modifiers, nothing very unpredictable.
Combat
Here is where CEL shines like the burning sun. Being THE discipline that provides the deadliest additional strike options, as well as maneuvers and press, CEL provides excellent combat options for vampires who utilized it. Blur is perhaps the most commonly seen specialized additional strike card, and at the cost of 1 blood, provides 2 additional strikes at superior CEL - combine this with damage augmentation or guns, it normally does an extra 2-4 points of damage with its use, and is not easy to counteract if the opposing minion cannot generate additional strikes. Besides this, many CEL cards provide a good range of combat options - Flash gives maneuver AND press (at superior), Pursuit gives maneuver or additional strikes, and many others provide a good range of unpredictable effects in combat - such as Side Slip's prevention of damage, Lightning Reflexes's multi-additional strikes, Acrobatics and Stutterstep's multi-effect strikes and Infernal Pursuit's card-cycling. Not to forget the mighty Psyche! - the other card besides Immortal Grapple that tackles combat ends and Rotschrecks. Also worth mentioning is Fast Hands, which every CEL deck should have a copy if possible, simply to get rid of those troublesome AK-47s that don't belong to you (yet).
There are many CEL combat cards, most of them provide maneuvers, press, additional strikes and dodges. Almost everyone of them are useful in some way, and most of them are very efficient, and pretty much all are worth their cost (a large number of them are free). However, CEL lacks a true kill card in combat by its own. Without damage augmentation from other cards (like a gun), CEL's damage output is still rather pathetic - which is apparent when you see minions simply ignore CEL opponents when they're un-armed or not augmented. That said, there is always Concealed Weapons, and therefore when a CEL minion hits the table, it is always prudent to prepare to receive a flurry of hits. Of course, that means that any vampire with high damage output that has access to CEL is a killing machine. (Art of Pain with CEL is pure pain)
By the way, honorable mention has to go to Torrent with those pesky Aching Beauties. The gloomy "block and be damned, don't block and still be damned" stuff is really hard to swallow.
Reaction
For a discipline that focus on speed, CEL has nothing in the reaction pool to tell people about. Granted, Quickened Sight requires CEL too, but that's about it. You may see some Rooftop Shadows thrown in for fun, but that's the extent of CEL reaction pool.
Crypt
A weenie gun deck that requires superior CEL is practically thirsting for minions with superior CEL unless you play Group 2/3. Anywhere else and you have to use Master discipline cards, or look to vampires with capacity of 5 and beyond - which is very frustrating. Granted, gun decks can hold its own even with basic CEL, but that is simply inefficient. Even at Group 2/3, where there are 5 vampires with superior CEL, all but one of them requires an investment of 4 pool. However, once it hits 6 cap, most vampires with CEL as in-clan have good access to superior CEL, which is a good thing.
The few clans with CEL as in-clan, most of them are well accustomed to combat.
Assamites, for example, lived for combat (actually, nowadays many of them votes, and too many of them Losses people a little too much). They are excellent gun decks, given their option to Disguised Weapons (and Fatima)(and don't leave home without Janni). Their Quietus discipline also makes them very quiet but very fast killer. Assamite gun decks are very efficient given their Black Hand status, Contracts, and all of their toys that can be integrated into the CEL combat package.
The Brujahs (and their Sabbat counterpart) are the traditional CEL/POT combat supporters. Where others deal out damage from afar, they have the option to go near and then pound you with a Torned Signpost a couple of times. The Brujahs have the Arms Dealers to quickly make sure that they're well armed enough to play with you, and occasionally you'll see the Brujah Debate decks using nothing but CEL combat to augment their already deadly damage output. The Brujahs used to be one of the most commonly seen combat decks, but now they seems to pale a little in my area.
A good number of !Gangrel has CEL as their "in-clan". The deadliest of them all is Enkidu, and you see Psyche! used to good effect in the famous Raptor decks. (Not that Enkidu actually needs it, he can do very well by himself with some CEL support). Do note that most of the older !Gangrel with CEL also has PRO, making them very deadly opponents in combat.
The Ishtarri also has CEL, but for them is usually used for voting (Scalpel Tongues) and some stealth, and perhaps for combat defense rather than offense. Their Laibon friends the Osebo, however, usually employ CEL to great effects in combat, with their AUS for blocking, and their POT for added punches.
The Toreadors (and to a lesser extent, !Toreador) is well known for using CEL. They can use it to vote, use it to fight, and use it in the Toreador Aching Beauty themes. (The !Toreador has Art of Pain for that). CEL package for Toreadors enable them to always stay far away to use either their guns, or their looks to get out from combat the winning side.
I should also mention that much effort has gone to trying to pair CEL with other more interesting combat options. For example, the additional striking THA decks featuring CEL-abled Tremeres and !Tremeres is something to look out for. These decks are deadly when you're unprepared to fight them (stealing 6 blood is no joke), but they're generally card-intensive and tend to run out of steam after a while - which speaks of the lack of additional strikes-based combat besides the guns and permanent damage augmentation packages (Preternatural Strength, Art of Pain, Brujah Debate, Gangrel Revel etc.)
(o.o)
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