Bloody Disciplines - DOMinate

Ah, the mighty DOMinate. Probably the most feared and effective discipline in the whole of Vtes, DOM is rightly feared for its efficiency in aiding Methuselahs in bleeding their prey, as well as its defensive options against bleeding. Make no mistake, DOM is THE discipline to look out for if you're big on bleeding your opponents dry - quickly.

Action

The vast majority of DOM's power comes from its powerful bleed actions. Govern the Unaligned is universally regarded as the standard to measure the value of cards - for the cost of 1 blood, it can either generate a +2 Bleed, or effectively create a 3 transfer to a younger vampire in the uncontrolled region. This multi-purpose efficiency is duplicated in other DOM's bleed cards - such as the cheaper Scouting Mission, or the deadly Mind Rape.

However, besides the mighty bleed actions, DOM doesn't have much in their sleeves. The few "control" actions are not as efficient and useful as compared to their PRE counterpart. Take for example, Far Mastery - taking control of ally is a great advantage, and most DOM decks with the relevant local environment will probably pack a copy or 2 in it, as in case - but compare it to the much more effective Entrancement and you can see it's deficiency : a deadweight when there is no target in sight, unlike Entrancement. Dominate Kine is better, but is costly for that 2 blood.

Other control cards are not very efficient either - Command the Legion, Mesmerize, Thanks for the Donation are all very difficult to use cards. The one exception is Graverobbing, which appears in most DOM-abled combat deck that specialized in sending vampires to torpor, and then take their cold bodies into your own service apartment. Beware of Graverobbing in say, Tremere combat or Slave decks, and even in the occasional Brujah EuroPrince Combat or the Lasombra combat decks.

Honorary mention must go to the Anarch DOM bleed card Steely Tenacity. I mean, recurring +bleed action?

Ouch.

Modifiers

Again, the might of DOM lies in its powerful and efficient bleed enhancement. We all know what a single vampire with superior DOM and some blood on it can do to you in turn 1 - Govern the Unaligned with Command of the Beast and Conditioning equals a blood loss of 7 pool. This is the true power of DOM bleed - given the chance and the right cards in hand, a DOM bleeder can reduce your pool by 10-15 in a single round, no sweat.

DOM also has a famous block denial card - Seduction. This card is very important for the otherwise stealthless DOM decks. Seduction remove blocker that is armed to the teeth with intercepts (or is just simply standing in the way) and is very important for DOM vampires to get those actions through without fighting that most ridiculously aware Magaji.

But let's look at the bleed enhancement again. DOM probably has the highest number of bleed enhancement modifiers - Bonding, Foreshadowing, Threats, Mouthpiece etc etc. Many of the bleed enhancement also have secondary functions that are quite useful, for example, Bonding comes with a +1 Stealth to help the bleed gets through, Murmur is also a bounce card, and Empowering can even help other minions to score that crucial one bleed.

Combat

There's not much to talk about DOM combat, since they're mostly avoidance. But we must remember Thoughts Betrayed. This used to be the strongest combat card ever, but of course, nowadays it is just a strong combat card. Denying the opponent the option to strike opens up a whole new world for combat vampires with DOM. For example, Tremeres will be able to do all the Theft that they want to (and it is extremely difficult to defend against this if you can't strike - I guess only Ferox gets to laugh at this); and all the combat ends in the world wouldn't save you if you're facing a Brujah Prince with that blurred signpost.

Other than that, DOM combat is full of ineffective cards. But strangely, it has just received a good number of anti-frenzy cards that requires a friend to be around to use it.

Reaction

Ah, the might Deflection. The key to surviving bleeds, almost a necessity in the harsh environment we have nowadays. No other cards reach the efficiency that it provides, and it is probably one of the most commonly faced defense mechanics against any decks. In fact, it is so popular that it has to be taken into account when you're building a deck.

Obedience is another excellent defense against combat, and very useful if you have a deck that can block quite consistently, since it is even more effective than combat defense.

Nothing else in DOM's reaction library that we need to look at, but hey, with Deflection, who needs anything else?

Crypt

Being one of the earliest disciplines in play, DOM has no lack of vampires at all levels, and is one of the most common in-clan disciplines. Tremeres (of both factions) have them, Ventrues have them, Lasombras have them, most Nagarajas have them, Giovannis have them, the Brujah Euro Prince use them, the Kiasyds use them to great effect, and you'll be surprised to see how many Toreadors use them. Sad are those 11-caps without DOM. (Enkidu doesn't count, he has nothing to be sad about besides his inferior FOR)

(o.o)