Ok, first of the Bloodlines discipline, and the one that is one of the most interesting and difficult to use. Of all the bloodline discipline, this is one of the most restrictive - second perhaps only to the ridiculously unfriendly Sanguinus. The main issue with DAI, is that even if you throw a Spontaneous Power or an Agent of Power on a vampire, he's not going to be able to use it very effectively unless he is also infernal. And we all know how much problem infernal is. This infernal thing must be taken into consideration when you're trying to use DAI as a key discipline - just take it as an underlying cost of most DAI cards.
But of course, with such stringent requirement, DAI is one of the deadliest discipline in the game.
Action
DAI has quit a few deadly action cards. One of the most recent, and most effective card is Unleashed Hell's Fury. This is perhaps one of the most intimidating defensive card, and most difficult to get rid of. In many ways, it will simply cost you to have one minion going into torpor in order to attack an DAI prey; more importantly, its presence simply means that your prey now has a +2 Intercept to block some of your important action where it can almost certainly send the action vampire into torpor - it often translate to a major slowing down of the predator's offensive action. Take for example, that the predator only has 1 star vampire on table, I'm pretty such that he will take a while to bring out a second vampire in order to begin doing anything that you can block, or he'll have to negotiate some deal with you in order to even hunt. For a measly cost of 2 pool, this action card is probably one of the most powerful one in the game.
Concordance is another commonly seen DAI card, and is used to great effect to bypass the pool cost of infernal vampires - with the added benefits of aggravated damage conversion, +1 Strength and Flight. Of course, this vampire suffers a -1 Stealth. But in decks that works with Concordance, combat is seldom a major issue.
Aside from these 2 fantastic action cards, DAI has a multitude of interesting offensive actions available to them. The various Condemnation are interesting and rarely see much use except maybe the Condemnation : Mute given the recent jump in Baali vote decks. Honorable mention will go to Greater Curse, which is often the fundamental of Infernal bleed decks due to it's pool recovery and stealth.
Modifier
Both I am Legion and Psychomachia are excellent stealth cards, especially I am Legion. With Psychomachia, Baali especially, given their in-clan OBF, is one of the most effective stealth clans in the game - imagine Elder Impersonation plus Psychomachia (and other stealth cards), there are very few walls that can block that kind of dedicated stealth.
Sense the Sin is the key bleed enhancement card for DAI, and it can second as a great intercept card, making this one an extremely efficient card that appears in almost every DAI deck.
Ally
The Infernal Servitor is one of the strongest bleeding ally in the game, and extremely versatile. At superior DAI this ally can either go ahead and bleed for 3 at 1 stealth and gain back the pool for you (and he can play stealth); or go about using his DAI discipline in combat to really annoy your opponent.
I should also mention the extremely costly but deadly Herald of Topheth. This is a Baali ally that can also use DAI, but is extremely costly. However, now that there As the Crow, this ally is much more useable in a dedicated Herald deck.
Combat
DAI in combat is known for its unconditional aggravated damage. Conflagration and Flames of the Netherworld are rightly feared for their cheap and deadly aggravated damage. DAI vampires also have Fear of the Void Below to set range either as defense or to set the stage for continuous attempt to use DAI ranged aggravated damage strikes.
However, DAI doesn't have much surprise in combat, aggravated damage being all it can do but this is more or less countered by the Baali's other disciplines (and many of their vampires' special abilities).
Reaction
Diabolic Lure is a very exciting reaction card. Used in DAI intercept deck, this card can quickly decimate the predator's younger vampire by making them infernal. Most decks cannot handle the infernal cost, and this will really deters them from taking too many actions that may be blocked by you. The side effect is of course to hasten the death of the predator, which is a problem, so don't drop too many Lures on a weakened predator.
Crypt
The vast majority of DAI vampires are Baali, as are they infernal. Without infernalism, the DAI vampires aren't much good anyway. This compounds their already thin crypt for selection. The good thing about infernal vampires is that many of them comes with great special abilities that will counteract their infernal cost - such as the Unnamed.
Even at basic, DAI is pretty effective, and aside the Hordes-abled deck, there are almost no successful DAI weenie decks, so the availability of low-cap DAi vampires is not a major issue - in fact, there are no vampires with superior DAI below 6 cap. On the other hand, all but one vampire at 6 and above have superior DAI, so it is not really a problem to get those DAI cards pumping out their maximum utility when you have your elder infernal vampire out.
(o.o)
1 comment:
Unleash Hell's Fury can only block (D) actions, so it's unlikely to deter your predator from performing undirected actions (like most forms of hunting).
An interesting historical note about Concordance is that when it was first printed it wasn't nearly as good as it is now (due to the original Infernal rules).
A quick handy way to remember which Daimoinon cards require Infernal is that pretty much all the Action cards (except outferior Greater Curse) require Infernal. Except for Diabolic Lure, all the non-action Daimoinon cards can be used by non-infernals, like Saulot, Merged Valerius, Ian Forestal, et al.
Design has always seemed to nudge the Baali/Daimoinon towards an intercept build, even though you rarely see Baali intercept. In the original Bloodlines set you had Condemnation: Doomed, Concordance (back when the untap could only be used for blocking), and Sense the Sin. Kindred Most Wanted added two Baali reactions that require blocking, Bloodstorm of Chorazin and Undying Thirst. You have several Baali have superior AUS, like Huitzilopochtli, Petaniqua, and Nergal, plus Valerius Maior if you want some out-of-clan support. Finally, HttB adds Diabolic Lure and Unleash Hell's Fury, the latter is especially great in a wall deck (since it can't be Pentex'ed). Although Shatter the Gate is mainly a trick card, it does require some defense so maybe it will encourage more blocky Baali decks.
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