Friday, October 21, 2011

Singing a New Tune : An Eze Evening

Deck Name : An Eze Evening

Crypt [12 vampires]
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5x Eze, The Demon Prince
1x Ugadja              
1x Iniko, The Black Lion  
1x Nana Buruku          
1x Sobayifa            
1x Aren, Priest of Eshu  
1x Batsheva        
1x Lumumba              

Library [90 cards]
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Action [10]
  5x Enchant Kindred
  1x Entrancement
  3x Founders of the Ebony Kingdom
  1x Horseshoes

Action Modifier [23]
  1x Aire of Elation
  2x Awe
  2x Bewitching Oration
  3x Dusk Work
  6x High Aye
  1x Make an Example
  1x Strange Day
  7x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Reaction [1]
  1x Guruhi Kholo

Ally [1]
  1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin)

Combat [9]
  1x Burning Wrath
  6x Majesty
  2x Neebi

Equipment [1]
  1x Kduva's Mask

Master [28]
  1x Ancestor Spirit
  15x Aye
  1x Creepshow Casino
  1x Dreams of the Sphinx
  1x Information Highway
  4x Villein
  2x Wider View
  3x Zillah's Valley

Political Action [13]
  1x Ancient Influence
  1x Banishment
  1x Eldest Command Undeath, The
  8x Kine Resources Contested
  1x Political Stranglehold
  1x Reins of Power
  1x Secret Must Be Kept, The

Reaction [4]
  1x Lost in Translation
  2x Terra Incognita

Eze is one of my favourite vampire, and definitely the oldest Laibon in the game, sharing the position with Lucian. I was also quite keen on using Aye tech, so putting them together, and hunting all around for deck ideas, I adapted deck lists to create this deck. (It's too long ago to remember from where...)

Primary Path of Ousting
Vote, of course. Eze is practically a Justicar, and given his multi-action ability, he will Founders or Enchant at superior to get more of his friends out in a hurry to secure vote lock. Kduva's and Ancestor Spirit (hopefully the Kholo too) will all add to the vote support. In case there is another vote deck fighting for supremacy, Awe and Bewitching are there to win the challenge.

KRCs are the primary kill card, occasionally supported by Reins of Power.

Secondary Path of Ousting
Bleed. Laibons have a surprisingly efficient path of getting all those extra bleeds on table - Kduva's, Ancestor Spirit and so on - and with those, this deck can bleed pretty well supported by Enchant Kindred. Light Stealth is provided by High Ayes, and there are some vote cards to deal with extremely annoying blockers. However, this can usually only be achieved when Eze is successful in securing much help from lots of his friends to overwhelm the defenses of his prey.

Crypt
Eze is the star, everyone else waits. Bring out the titled vampires if possible (unless you're holding the Kholo in hand), and quickly gain as many votes as possible - the Laibons do not have the depth of the other more established sects where votes are concerned. Even at full recruitment status, this deck can only secure 8-10 votes, which is pretty ok but not too fantastic.

Combat
Majesty is the primary defense, with Burning Wrath to add some spice to would-be attackers. Immortal Grapples is the death of this deck, and there is very little defense against that. Not a very creative combat defense for this deck. When the Ayes are up, Neebi plus Majesty should be able to handle most situation.

Defense / Pool Recovery
Bloating is this deck's primary method of defense. Voter Caps, Founders and Enchant Kindred tend to allow this deck to quickly gain as much pool as possible and bring out as many vampires to deal with attacks. There are several bloat votes to support this tech as well.

Surprise Elements
The combat aspect sometimes catch my prey/predator unawares - Burning Wrath can be used to torpor or even burn an enemy blocker/attacker to reduce the heat a little bit. Make an Example and Horseshoes are for this purpose as well, timed to remove blockers to free up the vampires' further actions. Can be quite a surprise when it hits the table, especially Make an Example.

Known Weaknesses
Slow, really slow. Even with Zillah's this deck will only get moving by turn 3 or so, which by then might never pick up. The deck is also slow in gaining pool and returning back to shape without compromising on the survivability of the vampires (specifically Eze). Heavy combat environment will destroy this deck, Majesty is simply not enough to handle stuff.

Playing this deck
Get Eze out, Founders/Enchant like there's no tomorrow, get enough Ayes on him and start voting to increase pool and bring out more minions. Pretty simple after that, vote and bleed and bloat to tackle pool lost. Like I say, not a very creative deck.

(o.o)


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