I quite firmly believed in action efficiency, and strongly believed that if one is doing everything more efficiently than one's prey, then in the medium run, assuming no disasters happen, one should be way ahead of the prey's growth curve and therefore able to overpower him by sheer efficiency.
In Vtes, this efficiency is measured in the various assets - pool, blood, minions and on-table resources. The idea is to have more than everyone on the table, and one should be able to eventually win.
That said, Vtes is a complex game, and therefore not as simple as just the "I have 2 more minions than you, I win" scenario. So many factors inter-relate with each other to make simple efficiency analysis impossible - for example, even if you have 3 more minions than your prey, and has more blood in total, a battle-hardened elder can very quickly decimate that; also, having 2 more locations than your prey cannot equate to having a Constant Revolution in play. Add to this equation all those things that bite back - such as Smiling Jack, and you have a mess of mathematical possibility that is way beyond my ability to comprehend, not to mention capitalize.
In reality, I have a rather simple outlook of efficiency when building decks - card comparison. My one most important criteria for card comparison is speed, which is my idea of efficiency.
Let's take a look at the classic example of Governed the Unaligned vs. Scouting Mission. In essence Scouting Mission is just a younger brother to Governed, and they do the same thing, only at a different degree and a different cost. I used to think that having free cards (doesn't cost blood) is a good thing, but now I tend to use faster cards regardless unless the cost is overwhelming or the deck is ruled by certain theme or constraints.
Consider this is the second turn of the game, and you have Ingrid Russo in play while your prey has Gloria Giovanni. If you're playing Governed and your prey is playing Scouting Mission, assuming the crypt is similar, your Governed would have allowed you to bring out a 3-cap and a 4-cap, with the likely hood of getting ahead in terms of vampire resources. At the end of that turn, it seems that both you and prey could have 3 minions of 10 blood count on table each, but don't forget you are 1 capacity ahead of him - you can have up to 2x4-caps and 1x3 cap while your prey, all things equal, can only have up to 2x4-caps and 1x2 caps. Now we all know that there are no 2-caps with superior DOM, but there is Keith Moody. In a simple 2-player fight with pure DOM tech going forward, you are actually quite significantly ahead, and will get further and further ahead if you keep playing Governed, and he keeps playing Scouting.
Of course, this is never static, since you will run out of blood way faster than your prey, and he probably can afford to ghetto fight you to death that way. However, add in the extra 1 bleed from Governed, and you'll suddenly find that you are more efficient in killing him. Assuming the 2 decks are just weenies with no other tech, you'll be faster in bringing out vampires, and bleed harder. I assure you that in no time you will win the race.
It is this reason that multi-act tech is so powerful. A single minion can usually only do 1 action per turn, and then hopefully draw a wake to defend (1 card for 1 defensive attempt) - therefore, if your deck's discipline has access to multi-actions, always attempt to add some. That said, try not to "cycle" Freak Drives in order to get the right cards unless you really have to, untapping for the sake of untapping is a true waste of efficiency.
Master Phase is another important aspect of getting ahead of your opponent. Most Master cards are quite powerful - from the simple Hunting Ground to the exotic Ancestor Spirit, they all add powerful on-board boost to assets - from extra blood to extra bleeds to all sorts of random capabilities. It is definitely a crime not to have the option to play Master cards every turn. This requires very careful construction of the deck to facilitate maximum utilisation of the Master Phase.
The contest between permanent and one-use cards for deck space is always a delicate matter. We all wish for effective cards that can be used again and again - like a good'old .44, or even just a Procurer, and the ever useful Mylan. But calling these fellas take an action, and requires a card space plus a vampire committed to it (not to mention pool or blood cost). They are also extremely obvious to good players how you intend to use them. Cards like these tend to stay in your hand when you lack either the delivery method to get them onto the table (like sitting beside a Tzimisce Wall with 7 Raptors), or the time to do it (need to block that one vampire that bleeds you every turn for 5 with no stealth) - in such cases, these cards turn from efficient on-board assets to dead weight. The decision to take an action to summon/employ/equip these cards can sometimes be pretty game changing.
Another thing, I don't believe in hunting unless there are excellent hunt/blood recover tech in the deck - like the Ahrimanes. I tend to treat my vampires like engines that can achieved only that much. In most decks I expect my vampires to deal a certain amount of damage with a certain of blood invested, say for example, I intend to have Gloria to play superior Governed once, bleed with Governed once and boost it with Conditioning, and Deflect once. After that she'd done her job. In order to maximize her success I have a Creepshow Casino in the deck to facilitate superior Governs, and a couple of Call the Hungry Dead to substitute for the Conditioning or Deflection when needed. After that if she can come back from the lack of blood good, if not it's ok.
For older vampires this cannot be done, they have to have the ability to recover blood to keep themselves active all the time - for that not every deck has the luxury of the Ahrimanes or some of the more efficient hunters, such as Blood Brothers. In order to minimize down time, a deck that requires star vampires to work relentlessly should have non-hunt blood recovery tech to enhance economics - losing one action to a hunt is terrible. There are a lot of such cards in the game, some more effective than others- like Voter Cap or Taste of Vitae, some a lot more passive, like Hunting Ground, and some conditional or severely limited, like Giant's Blood. For this purpose I must always point to 2 of my favourite - Jake Washington and Lilith's Blessing.
There are too many variables to consider in even the simplest of decks (maybe not so much for the mighty Thrown Gates), but I think a good approach is to create a dream scenario in your mind, and then construct your decks based on that - how many times you can expect Endiku to untap in a single round, and how many times you want to do that consecutively - add in another one third of the necessary cards to maximize draw potential (and include draw support like Dreams) and your primary dream scenario is a green to go~
Of course, if your projected kill tech is flawed in the first place, the most efficient ratio wouldn't do you any good~
(o.o)
That said, Vtes is a complex game, and therefore not as simple as just the "I have 2 more minions than you, I win" scenario. So many factors inter-relate with each other to make simple efficiency analysis impossible - for example, even if you have 3 more minions than your prey, and has more blood in total, a battle-hardened elder can very quickly decimate that; also, having 2 more locations than your prey cannot equate to having a Constant Revolution in play. Add to this equation all those things that bite back - such as Smiling Jack, and you have a mess of mathematical possibility that is way beyond my ability to comprehend, not to mention capitalize.
In reality, I have a rather simple outlook of efficiency when building decks - card comparison. My one most important criteria for card comparison is speed, which is my idea of efficiency.
Let's take a look at the classic example of Governed the Unaligned vs. Scouting Mission. In essence Scouting Mission is just a younger brother to Governed, and they do the same thing, only at a different degree and a different cost. I used to think that having free cards (doesn't cost blood) is a good thing, but now I tend to use faster cards regardless unless the cost is overwhelming or the deck is ruled by certain theme or constraints.
Consider this is the second turn of the game, and you have Ingrid Russo in play while your prey has Gloria Giovanni. If you're playing Governed and your prey is playing Scouting Mission, assuming the crypt is similar, your Governed would have allowed you to bring out a 3-cap and a 4-cap, with the likely hood of getting ahead in terms of vampire resources. At the end of that turn, it seems that both you and prey could have 3 minions of 10 blood count on table each, but don't forget you are 1 capacity ahead of him - you can have up to 2x4-caps and 1x3 cap while your prey, all things equal, can only have up to 2x4-caps and 1x2 caps. Now we all know that there are no 2-caps with superior DOM, but there is Keith Moody. In a simple 2-player fight with pure DOM tech going forward, you are actually quite significantly ahead, and will get further and further ahead if you keep playing Governed, and he keeps playing Scouting.
Of course, this is never static, since you will run out of blood way faster than your prey, and he probably can afford to ghetto fight you to death that way. However, add in the extra 1 bleed from Governed, and you'll suddenly find that you are more efficient in killing him. Assuming the 2 decks are just weenies with no other tech, you'll be faster in bringing out vampires, and bleed harder. I assure you that in no time you will win the race.
It is this reason that multi-act tech is so powerful. A single minion can usually only do 1 action per turn, and then hopefully draw a wake to defend (1 card for 1 defensive attempt) - therefore, if your deck's discipline has access to multi-actions, always attempt to add some. That said, try not to "cycle" Freak Drives in order to get the right cards unless you really have to, untapping for the sake of untapping is a true waste of efficiency.
Master Phase is another important aspect of getting ahead of your opponent. Most Master cards are quite powerful - from the simple Hunting Ground to the exotic Ancestor Spirit, they all add powerful on-board boost to assets - from extra blood to extra bleeds to all sorts of random capabilities. It is definitely a crime not to have the option to play Master cards every turn. This requires very careful construction of the deck to facilitate maximum utilisation of the Master Phase.
The contest between permanent and one-use cards for deck space is always a delicate matter. We all wish for effective cards that can be used again and again - like a good'old .44, or even just a Procurer, and the ever useful Mylan. But calling these fellas take an action, and requires a card space plus a vampire committed to it (not to mention pool or blood cost). They are also extremely obvious to good players how you intend to use them. Cards like these tend to stay in your hand when you lack either the delivery method to get them onto the table (like sitting beside a Tzimisce Wall with 7 Raptors), or the time to do it (need to block that one vampire that bleeds you every turn for 5 with no stealth) - in such cases, these cards turn from efficient on-board assets to dead weight. The decision to take an action to summon/employ/equip these cards can sometimes be pretty game changing.
Another thing, I don't believe in hunting unless there are excellent hunt/blood recover tech in the deck - like the Ahrimanes. I tend to treat my vampires like engines that can achieved only that much. In most decks I expect my vampires to deal a certain amount of damage with a certain of blood invested, say for example, I intend to have Gloria to play superior Governed once, bleed with Governed once and boost it with Conditioning, and Deflect once. After that she'd done her job. In order to maximize her success I have a Creepshow Casino in the deck to facilitate superior Governs, and a couple of Call the Hungry Dead to substitute for the Conditioning or Deflection when needed. After that if she can come back from the lack of blood good, if not it's ok.
For older vampires this cannot be done, they have to have the ability to recover blood to keep themselves active all the time - for that not every deck has the luxury of the Ahrimanes or some of the more efficient hunters, such as Blood Brothers. In order to minimize down time, a deck that requires star vampires to work relentlessly should have non-hunt blood recovery tech to enhance economics - losing one action to a hunt is terrible. There are a lot of such cards in the game, some more effective than others- like Voter Cap or Taste of Vitae, some a lot more passive, like Hunting Ground, and some conditional or severely limited, like Giant's Blood. For this purpose I must always point to 2 of my favourite - Jake Washington and Lilith's Blessing.
There are too many variables to consider in even the simplest of decks (maybe not so much for the mighty Thrown Gates), but I think a good approach is to create a dream scenario in your mind, and then construct your decks based on that - how many times you can expect Endiku to untap in a single round, and how many times you want to do that consecutively - add in another one third of the necessary cards to maximize draw potential (and include draw support like Dreams) and your primary dream scenario is a green to go~
Of course, if your projected kill tech is flawed in the first place, the most efficient ratio wouldn't do you any good~
(o.o)
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