Bloody Disciplines - NECromancy

Over here Necromancy used to be (and still is) dominated by the presence of Zombieboy, aka Keith, and his myriad selection of Giovanni packages delivering different experience of necromantic death to any who opposes his immediate objectives. And he's really good at it. Perhaps due to the reverence to his dominance (he's got the Iron Throne in Vtes on Necromancy), I have built very few Necromancy decks, the exception being my Baron Soul Gem (Nec being the key discipline afterall), a fun Hordes deck, and perhaps a couple of  trial decks here and there, but I've never actually built one based on this discipline seriously (afterall, Keith does it so well he Awed me every time he throws out a Giovanni deck)

Nevertheless, NEC is a powerful and rather unique discipline in Vtes, being very capable of achieving victory for the Methuselah utilising it in many different ways. And it is probably one of the most interesting discipline to look at due to their many strange and powerful effects, especially when they're dealing with the dead, undead, and the un-undead.

Action

NEC truly shines in this field, not exactly in the way of having very efficient action but with a range of sometimes rather strange (and definitely one of a kind) actions that in the hands of innovative Methuselahs, can become the backbone of very effective (or hilarious but not really working) theme decks. I mean, think of the mighty Soul Gem deck, the Wake Up Sweet Prince deck, Divine Blockers, Ex Nihilio Bleed, Jar the Soul...

In fact, the actions are varied enough to warrant Methuselahs to take a look at the offers that NEC is giving out, as unlike some of the other disciplines, NEC, albeit sorta specialized in ash heap management, isn't the kind where you go "ya, good bleeding discipline", or "this one can fight!"; but will probably give you something like "mmm..."

Moreover, due to the many different clans utilising the NEC discipline (and they can be quite different), some of these actions work rather interestingly with some of them, for example, Lifeless Tongues is an action that is quite difficult to utilise with the Giovanni, but seems pretty at ease in say, a Harbinger deck that is able to defend the card.

Unfortunately that also means that NEC action is not a "plug and play" discipline.

Action Modifiers

Needless to say, Call of the Hungry Dead and Spectral Divination are the 2 most commonly seen modifier cards, and that they are pretty good - Call simply negates a block (similar to Elder Impersonation), and Spectral Divination is another of those multi-function cards (a little costly for 1 stealth or 1 intercept, but well, the Giovanni has the Path of Bones)

Trochomancy is also commonly seen in NEC decks, being a free bleed card, and simply will belong in a Harbinger deck that has space for it~ Honorary mention goes to Shroudsight that appears in many Diary decks.

Ally

The Shambling Hordes had been used in so many ways that I've lost count - dancing ones, bombing ones, those with grenades and those who bleeds...but in every incarnation they're just as deadly. One of the more commonly seen allies for a while. And no, I've never seen the Puppeteer Wraith in play before.

Combat

Not a lot of options, but actually pretty potent. Dead Hand is a good combat hand that bypasses FOR, in the hands of Giovanni with good POT focus and STR, this card can cause a lot of headaches to traditional FOR decks. Give superior NEC to Lorrie and see her decimate opponent's normally very resilient vampires. Breath of Thanatos is seldom, if ever, used as a modifier except in Wraith decks, but is an excellent combat threat. Spiritual Intervention is the best combat end card that NEC has, and commonly seen in most NEC decks that is not focused on combat.

Equipment

Baleful Doll? Never seen before.

Reaction

Honestly, haven't seen a block deck with NEC reactions, and since all the NEC reaction cards basically deals with Intercepts, there isn't much to see. Moreover, the functions of the NEC reaction cards are really quite disappointing.

Retainer

The Masquer is actually a pretty good retainer, but due to its cost, and that NEC is not really that high on blocking deck's priority, it is not really seen in use.

All in all NEC shines mostly in their action library, with a range of action cards that people will remember after seeing them in play (effective or not), and has a lot of those wow factors. There are quite a few clans that has NEC as an in-clan or appears in their crypt choice common enough to be used - Giovanni, of course, the Harbingers, Samedi, Nagaraja and even the Settites and some Tremeres. Interestingly, each of the prominent NEC clans can use the discipline in seemingly slightly different, but surprisingly varied manners, seeing that some NEC cards fit in better with individual clans (or even vampires). 

And I'm always excited to see what Zombieboy will do with NEC in his next deck~

(O.O)brains

Bloody Disciplines - MYTherceria

Mytherceria, among the Bloodline disciplines, is probably the most toolboxy of them all, rather similar to Obtenebration and Chimestry in terms of the multiple abilities and bonuses that it can confer, and some of them extremely efficient. Combining this discipline with the Kiasyd is simply fearsome, making them perhaps one of the most feared bleeders of all times. Granted, almost every deck I see that utilises MYT are bleed decks, occasionally seeing a combat fun deck, but primarily MYT is most feared for the stealth and bleed that it provides for the deadly blue vampires.

Action

The most commonly seen action card for MYT is Gremlins, and perhaps one of the most efficient bleed action cards there is. A +1 Stealth with a +1 Bleed simply creates a very efficient package, and it costs absolutely nothing - combine this card with the Song of Pan, and you're looking at a bleed for 3 at 1 stealth for every use of this card, with no blood cost. Add to this deadly package the DOM potential of the Kiasyd and you see why this is probably the best card MYT has ever given to the blue fellas. Burn non-melee equipment can be quite useful at times too, and taking into account the stealth potential of the Kiasyds, they can probably destroy any equipment that they don't like most of the time - those troublesome .44s, Ankara on the Summon History guys, Intercept Bikes.. you name it, and Gremlins destroy it.

Aside from this only Pandora's Whispers see some use, but is normally used in more "fun-oriented" Kiasyd decks. Afterall, any non-bleed related action that a Kiasyd should take is Governed the Unaligned at superior. A well-ratioed deck shouldn't have issues with cards most of the time and Pandora's is quite a waste of action.

Action Modifier

The modifiers for MYT are gems. Stone Travel is an excellent free stealth card that also serves as combat protection, giving the acting vampire a choice to have no combat even if blocked. Fae Contortion's main value is the ability to cancel Immortal Grapple, giving the Kiasyds the option to simply run away with combat ends, or even Entomb the opponent - not to mention that it seconds as a Maneuver card, AND a stealth card, and er, it's free too. 

Combat

MYT's combat cards are all pretty interesting cards. Earth Swords being the most unimaginative card, but yet is probably one of the most efficient card in combat, able to deal 3R damage at superior at no cost. Basilisk's Touch is deadly to ally and younger vampires but is quite expensive to pull through and limited in use since not many Kiasyds are old enough to be truly effective.

Equipment

Tinglestrip is actually a pretty effective weapon - giving a maneuver and a 1R strike, and FOC. Since additional strikes are usually not the Kiasyd's forte, the limitation is not really a big problem for them, and at superior, that problem doesn't even exist.

Reaction

Aura Absorption is one of the few rare cards in Vtes that provides both stealth and intercept, moreover, it is a free card, it doesn't get any more toolbox than this. Faerie Wards, though expensive, is a great deterrent against combat decks (or even Sense Deps).

Retainer

Given the high stealth capability of the Kiasyds, this retainer can be a great deterrent for weenie blockers. Nevertheless I think this card is not really a very important addition to the Kiasyd's stealth bleeders.

All in all MYT has great cards at good cost, making the Kiasyd one of the most efficient vampire clans ever, why anyone wanna play a Lasombra stealth bleed deck is beyond me.

(o.o)

Bloody Disciplines - MELpominee

The Daughters have always been one of my favourite clans in Vtes (who doesn't like pretty singing vampires? They're just girl versions of Lestat~). And the MELpominee discipline, despite being a little weird (blood into voice?), ended up (after HttB) as one incredibly useful, and deadly discipline. Combine this discipline with the many Clan-based Daughters cards, and this obscure (and did I mention pretty?) bloodline becomes quite a powerhouse to deal with.

Action

MEL offers many interesting and deadly actions, some of those definitely ranked way up there in power level. The most fearsome one at the moment (definitely the most commonly seen one now) is Shattering Crescendo. Granted, Shattering isn't easy to use, needing 2 of same cards to deal 2-3 damage to up to 2 minions controlled by a Methuselah, and it has no in-built stealth. But think of the power it offers. How often do you have minions with 3 blood or less running around working for you (if you have many minions with more than that amount of blood all the time, then you're either extremely efficient in blood/pool management or you're the exact opposite), and think of how much damage just a single successful Shattering will do to your HR department.

More often than not, a successful Shattering will send at least 1, or even both of your minions to lala land, and if timed well (or when thrown indiscriminately in sufficient quantity), will seriously compromised your ability to conduct defensive actions against the Daughters. Don't forget, the Daughters are PRE bleeders, excellent voters and very effective killers in a group of Choir. Losing minions is not a good thing with the Daughters as your predator. And, er, did I mentioned that the damage is unpreventable? (Not that it's easy to prevent damage out of combat) And never underestimate the bargaining power of this card when you can scream at anyone on the table with shattering effects.

Choir is another interesting kill tech - it cannot be bounced, and therefore, Intercepts and DIs are the only means of defending against it. (Of course, combat is the ultimate answer to every threat). Combine with the new clan-action Harmony, and even a single Choir is 3 points of damage. (Please remember that Daughters have FOR for those Freak Drives and a master location to untap them)

Persistent Echo is like a superior Storage Annex, Blessed Audience need a bit of work, but with Scout Youngwood it can serve as a surprise element card. All these great action cards make the Daughters a very interesting group of vampires to work with.

Action Modifier

MEL has some of the most effective block denial, stealth and vote support modifiers. Let me just point you to Madrigal and you can see why every vote deck would die for this card - a 2 vote boost (useable as a Reaction) plus extra 1 blood for vampires who support you - a combination of Bribe and mini-Voter Cap for other vampires you control who has vote - what's not to like about this card? My Anarch Daughter breed vote deck uses Madrigal with Rant to effectively gain votes without losing blood. 

Virtuosa is simply fearsome, it is so flexible that it costs 3 blood. If you use it in the traditional way for a Daughters Vote, then the 3 blood can usually be partially or completely recovered with Voter Cap, and if you're using it to bleed (Media Influence plus Virtuosa equals 1 stealth 5 bleeds), not bad at all. The true value of the Virtuosa is of course the unblockable part - that is simply too awesome for the otherwise not-stealth heavy Daughters.

You throw Siren's Lure into the picture and suddenly you have the Daughters capable of pushing much of their actions through, and if it's a Shattering then the blocking vampire may be either in torpor or in such bad shape that it cannot effectively combat the luring vampire; and if it's a heavy ousting bleed then all is good for the Daughters.

Combat

Nothing to see here, moving along. Oh wait, Death of the Drum can be a real surprise when you see one. Ya, when you see one let me know.

Reaction

Nothing to see here as well, Madrigal had already been mentioned. I guess if you really want, you can use Tourette's Voice to give your Entourage Intercepts...

Referendum

Ah, the cards they get here are again excellent power cards. Lilly Prelude is simply fantastic - 4 points of damage to any number of Methuselahs (and not limited to a minimum number, meaning you don't ever have to eat any unless you like it) while gaining 1 bonus pool (just because I can), unaffected by random requirements such number of players or capacity of the vampire playing the card. 

Fanfare for Elysium may not be much of anything at inferior, but at superior it becomes an excellent combat defense card.

Let's face it, MEL is a voting discipline, given that it is the only discipline that has specific referendum cards requiring it~

But it also have a good range of stealth, block denial and non-combat kill/damage actions; making this perhaps one of the most bizarre disciplines in the game. Bloody Voices~ mmm.

\(^0^)/

Bloody Disciplines - FORtitude

Picking up from where I've left off almost a year ago, my journey with the disciplines now come to the one most resilient combat discipline of all, and unquestionably one of the most powerful disciplines in the game - Fortitude.

This is the one discipline that all combat decks must think of defeating, and every single deck with access to it will probably think of using it in some way. Much like DOM, it is one of the defining disciplines in the game.

Action

That said, FOR is quite lacking in rewarding action cards. Pretty much all of the FOR actions revolves around damage prevention, blood gain or healing (rescuing), it is also one of the few disciplines that allow torpored vampires to take action (like Regeneration). Not that it is of much help in most decks (except those who specialized in going torpor, perhaps a Baltimore deck variant).

However, FOR does have a surprise action that often catch preys unaware - Force of Will. A +2 Bleed action that a TAPPED vampire can take is quite a surprise sometimes. The vampire will have to pay dearly for the action of course, and besides the Gargoyles very few vampires have the ability to come out from this action in one piece. Of course, for the benefit of ousting a prey, all is worth it~

Modifiers

This is where FOR shines. And in fact many believes that Modifiers is where the true power of FOR lies, even more impressive than their combat capability. FOR has very few modifiers, but pretty much all of them are powerhouses -let's look at these impressive cards -

1. Freak Drive

Multi-action. Period. Think of how many decks need this card to be effective, and think of what the world will be like without the Freaks Driving. Number 1 Modifier card in Vtes - case closed.

2. Dawn Operations

Best stealth in the world - vampires cannot block - finished.

3. Daring the Dawn

You blocked? Better ensure that you can handle aggravated damage. We who have FOR enjoys fighting in the sun anyway.

4. Kiss of Ra

You no FOR you block me? Me got 3 blood. If I have 5 blood I Freak Drive and Diablerize you.

Combat

FOR abled vampires are extremely difficult to eliminate in combat. Most combat cards centered around dealing damage to vampires, and when are dealt send them to torpor. Combat decks usually categorized themselves into either a. High damage count with POT or weapons or Strength. b. Aggravated damage.

And even common FOR decks will be able to deal with these combat decks with impunity. There are a variety of FOR cards to be used in combat to prevent damage, making combat decks look very bored most of the time. Moreover, it is not easy to overcome this defense - combat ends can be dealt with Immortal Grapples, Dodges you can attack again and again, Maneuvers you can shoot down. FOR, aha, you have to hope he has less cards than you have - and unfortunately many of the FOR prevention cards are extremely efficient in preventing damage.

For example, Superior Mettle. Even Enkidu with Heroic Might can only cause this vampire to burn 1 blood a turn, and if combined with Rolling with the Punches, 2 blood a turn regardless of what Enkidu does. In time, the FOR vampire can be torpored, but with great effort.

A aggravated damage deck without high damage intensity is most afraid of FOR decks. A single Indomitability will be able to handle a 1 point aggravated damage all the time. To complete the FOR vampire's combat array, Unflinching Persistence provides maneuvers with damage prevention in a great package and stuff like Soak and Armor of Vitality are incredible damage prevention cards.

Also beware the Undead Persistence [Undying Tenacity]/Trap combo that will just refuse to let your vampire go - enough poking and even the largest vampire will die, especially if this is a combat in a Daring the Dawn situation.

One thing is for sure, FOR is probably the best combat defense for vampires, and many decks rely on it to keep their vampires alive. It is also one discipline that almost all combat decks will have to measure against. This alone speaks the power of FOR.

Reaction

Again, FOR has quality over quantity here. Forced Vigilance is a great wake card - kinda a mix between Cat's Guidance and a superior Guard Dog. Hard Case is an interesting clone for Obedience with a very deadly application - excellent if used with old vampires such as Saulot. Steadfastness is a very flexible card as well, providing Intercept or bleed reduction - always a good card to throw in a deck with FOR.

Crypt

Being one of the earliest disciplines in the game, FOR has no lack of vampires - both the big ones and the small ones, the good ones and the not-so-impressive ones. Interestingly, the Freak Drive's presence kinda divide expensive vampires into 2 camps - those with FOR and those without. Most often than not, a vampire with FOR provides the Methuselah the ability to use it multiple times in a turn, making the vampire a lot more "worth it" - and in fact increase it's versatility by a hundred fold. Many decks rely on Freak Drives to make it efficient, especially those who work with Star vampires. It is pretty common for an old vampire to be measured with "he's got FOR or not?".

That said, superior FOR is not common for vampires of 4 cap and below, and none available for Groups 1-3. Even those with superior FOR at 3-4 cap have disadvantages that you might want to look at (Rico for example, is almost un-useable in most decks~)

That said, FOR is useful even at the basic level, so not missing much here~

(o.o)

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)

Bloody Disciplines - DEMentation

Pretty much the exclusive discipline for the new Malkavian and !Malkavian, probably created in an attempt to curb the mighty combination of the in-clan disciplines of the Group 1 & 2 Malkavians. (OBF & DOM is just too darn deadly) It is however, IMHO, quite a restrictive discipline and doesn't do very much and is not very interesting to me. It has quite a bit of annoying actions and stealth support, but does little besides delaying and annoying an opponent.

It isn't the most exciting discipline that I know.

Action

Of course, Kindred Spirit is the most commonly seen, and probably the only action card that allows the vampire to bleed any Methuselah. This is also a very efficient bleed card, giving pool gain and bleed enhancement. Aside from this very effective card, pretty much most of the other DEM actions are in some way delaying cards, or lacking a better word, crippling cards that aim to curb or reduce the effectiveness of opposing minions. IMHO, temporary discomfort cards like Passion or even Mind of the Child, are not much of a point unless the deck is built to capitalize on their effect by either blocking the attempt to remove these cards, or send those minions to torpor.

Modifier

The stealth support of DEM is not bad, you get Deny, Confusion (for bleeding), Random Patterns (with AUS) and Mind Tricks. There is a bleed enhancement card (Eyes of Chaos) that is commonly used in most DEM bleed decks. The Touch of Clarity is a good addition to DEM bleed; but besides this DEM isn't known for much else.

Combat

Well, everybody knows about Coma, ya? And that's about it.

Reaction

Quite a range of pretty mixed up effects, but nothing efficient enough to become key cards.

Somehow I think DEM is most useful as a bleed discipline and nothing much. I consider this one of the most unexciting discipline in the game~

(o.o)

Bloody Disciplines - DAImoinon

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)

Bloody Disciplines - CHImerstry

Chimerstry is one of my favorite disciplines because it is such an unpredictable toolbox discipline that can do so many different things, some of them plainly scary, and many of them extremely efficiently. Of course, one of the main problems of this discipline is the blood cost that is attached to so many of its stapler cards, and therefore kinda curb its deadliness. On the other hand, the Ravnos, the one clan that used CHI almost exclusively, had many ways to reduce the cost of CHI cards, so all is good.

Action

CHI has some of the most interesting, and very often deadly action cards in Vtes. We all know about Sensory Deprivation - one of the most effective and difficult to remove, incapacitating card in Vtes. Simply put, this card has no equal; its might may be partially contained by its high blood cost, but a combination of Ravnos Carnival, Fatuus Mastery and Path of Paradox make this card more than useable, even in the hands of younger Ravnos. The power of Sensory Deprivation is so strong that it is never reprinted, except by the vastly nerfed Nightmare Curse, and even Nightmare Curse is still a deadly card when used.

Besides this, CHI still has quite a few interesting action cards in its library, though they're mostly thematic and do require decks that are built around it in order to maximize its effectiveness. For example, Mass Reality requires weapons, Edged Illusion works well only with multiple vampires, and the Trick of Danya really needs a lot of work to make it effective. However, they're all very interesting action cards that has very dynamic effects that no other discipline in Vtes can do.

Honorable mention goes to Fatuus Mastery, which is the only card in Vtes that actually accumulates "currency" counters for the bearer of the cards to be used to pay blood cost of cards - a most interesting, and sometimes very annoying book-keeping card. It is also one of the most effective cost-reduction cards for CHI-abled vampires since almost all the important CHI cards is costly in blood.

Modifiers

CHI has excellent multi-purpose modifiers. The several stealth options almost always come with a different function package, making these cards very deck-space efficient. For example, Mirror Image also provides combat defense in the form of Combat Ends, Occlusion provides Dodge. The more focused Stealth cards are also very useable, such as the mighty Will'o'the'wisp (An elder with enough blood can simply eliminate the opponent with high bleeds), Fata Morgana adds the much needed bleed enhancement to the stealth, very much like Bonding, but is way more flexible in its uses.

Put together, CHI can generate a very good amount of stealth just by itself, the problem remains the blood cost of the modifiers, and vampires will quickly run out of blood without the Path of Paradox or other blood-supporting cards in play.

Combat

People might under-estimate CHI in combat since so many of their decks focused on stealth and combat avoidance. But CHI is capable of excellent and often deadly combat if they want to. Mass Reality as an action card has already given it the possibility of using weapons very effectively in combat; and if you add in damage prevention given by Apparition, Horrid Reality to get the weapons (for free)[And by the way, how does the Dagger works with Horrid Reality? Does it burn if used at range?], and Mayaparisatya is one of the deadliest ranged aggravated damage card in the game.

Of course, blood cost remains the key issue with CHI combat.

Reaction

The mighty Draba is probably the most famous of them all, able to defeat the highest of stealth. Given the Ravnos' in-clan ANI, a Ravnos blocker with a couple of copies of Draba can defeat a very good number of stealth decks once they have one or two Raven Spies. Ignis Fatuus is another interesting card that CHI vampires can use, granting multi-function, and is a great defensive card that can sometimes double up as some sort of a Boon, usually to keep your predator or grand prey alive.

Crypt

One major major issue with CHI is that it is rare. Basically you only get them in the Ravnos, and a large number of them, even the older ones, do not have it at superior, and only 2 below-4 cap vampires have it at superior, and they don't share the same group. This makes weenie CHI a challenge to execute. Even at 7 cap, more than half of the 7-cap CHI-abled vampires do not have them at superior, which is most frustrating.

This thin selection of vampires where a key in-clan discipline is concerned is almost at the level of the bloodlines, I guess it is a mechanic to keep the Ravnos from running away with Vtes games, given the power offered by CHI as a discipline.

(o.o)

Bloody Disciplines - CELerity

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)

Bloody Disciplines - AUSpex

Having finally done with all my "A" decks, I've worked relentlessly on the letter B now. The first of them all is my Beautiful Eyes deck, which is a !Toreador PRO wall deck. And needless to say, it coincides nicely with the discipline of AUS that I had intended to look into.

Well, AUS is essentially a very reactive discipline, and almost always play a supporting role in a deck. Even as the central theme of wall decks, and sometimes the Black Hand Psychic Assault decks, the AUS doesn't really work very well by itself without quite an injection of other disciplines, or at least a good dose of equipment or allies to help it kill. However, as a defensive discipline it is probably without equal.

Actions

Despite being a defensive discipline, AUS does have quite a lot of very interesting, and subtlely deadly action cards. To start with, it has Pulse of the Canaille, which is one of the very few +Bleed cards that cannot be easily rid of (and a +2 Bleed for that matter!) It may be costly, but it is nevertheless deadly, and even at basic it can be quite a tool at times, which makes it more versatile than its PRE counterpart - the Heart of the City.

Besides that, Anima Gathering is another costly but effective card that gives bleed and intercepts. AUS also has one of the most annoying action cards in Vtes - Revelations. This card will immediately turn your prey against you, and sometimes even attract table hate, which speaks of its incredible utility of showing you your prey's hand.

Besides that, most of the other AUS action cards aren't very useable, there are some untap cards, many "show me your hand" cards, and some pretty random stuff like Soul Scan. But note that AUS actually do have one of the best enter combat cards in the library - Nose of the Hound at outferior. Pretty interesting, since most AUS wall decks can fight very well, and sometimes want to go pick a fight instead of waiting for something to happen. For that, Nose of the Hound is a perfect addition in the deck.

Modifiers

For a defensive discipline, AUS has the magnificent Crocodile's Tongue. But besides that AUS really doesn't have much to write home about. Telepathic Vote Counting is good in a referendum, and there are several other random +bleed modifiers which often have other side effects, but the majority of them requires at least one other discipline to work, making them viable only for specialized decks.

Combat

Another weak aspect of AUS. AUS combat is pretty well known for revealing the opponent's hands, drawing cards, or simply defensive dodges. However, since the release of Target Vitals and Psychic Assault, Black Hand AUS combat become quite a deadly combination. It may not have the impact of the famous Target Vitals/Catatonic Fear duet, but is still a deadly combat package that can trump many unsuspecting opponents.

Aura Reading is another effective AUS combat card, allowing the AUS Methuselah to fight an informed battle, or draw up cards to look for the ones that he needs. Another commonly seen AUS combat card will be Telepathic Tracking, especially in Tzimisce ANI combat decks and other AUS walls that have no other means of handling Combat Ends and Rotschrecks.

Reaction

This is what AUS is all about. A large majority of Intercepts in Vtes are generated by AUS reaction cards, and many of them are efficient and highly desirable when one is trying to block something. Enhanced Senses and Quickened Sight are 2 of the excellent efficient Intercept cards in Vtes, and they generate good Intercepts just by themselves. AUS also have the famous Eagle's Sight, giving them the option to block their prey's actions regardless of who he's targeting.

Eyes of Argus complete the whole package, giving AUS walls a great reactive cards that is versatile and efficient in decks - saves deck space. Furthermore, AUS gives the Methuselah a whole range of Intercept options that usually comes with benefits, and the player can choose which one to include (or to play), depending on what their combat package is like - maneuvers from Spirit's Touch, damage prevention from precognition and so on.

AUS is also one of the very few disciplines with bleed bounce, with the famous Telepathic Misdirection, and the less useable My Enemy's Enemy. They also have the best bleed reduction card in the game - the Telepathic Counter. There are more AUS reaction cards made famous in wall decks, but those requires another discipline to work with - like Read the Winds, Faerie Ward or Glare of Lies, but they are all excellent reaction cards, and AUS is there somewhere.

Oh, I almost forgotten about Fast Reaction - it's the opposite of Hidden Lurker, but I assure you that you have a lot more control in using this than with Hidden Lurker - where it will be stuck in hand if nobody dares to block you. Not so for Fast Reaction, you can always get it to work if you can block his actions; and with so many Intercept cards, you eventually will.

(o.o)

Bloody Disciplines - ANImalism

Continuing with the tuning of the Akunanse, I had quite a bit of a look at Animalism. I find that at the end of the day, despite all the common complaints of ANI, it is actually a pretty good discipline to stand by itself, having answers to most of the problems of the game, and can be used as a single discipline for a deck if needed.

Actions

With the addition of Deep Song, ANI is semi-complete. It has actions to increase bleed, enter combat, put permanent damage into play, and has cards that help it to confront and compliment one of their strongest aspect - retainers. Deep Song is without a doubt one of the best things that has happened to ANI. Before it, ANI has to rely on other disciplines to provide the extra bleeding enhancement that ANI most desperately need, and generally are inefficient since the majority of ANI clans don't have good disciplines to supplement the ANI spread. With the flexibility provided by Deep Song, ANI bruise bleed decks become much more viable, and no longer need to rely only on Tiers of Souls for bleed enhancement.

Army of Rats is a most commonly seen pool deprivation card that plays well into the ANI style. Attacking the prey consistently (albeit slowly), it also attracts the prey from attempting to burn it, and therefore increases the chances of getting into combat. Combine the Army with other permanent damage cards, and it can get heaty after a while. Moreover, one only needs basic ANI to put the Army in play, which is very handy even for other non-ANI decks to have one for the added damage. (My Ferox hired one)

Other notable cards include the mighty Shepherd's Innocence when there are other ANI decks in play, and should be included in most ANI deck whenever possible. Taunt the Caged Beast is another very cute card that can be quite effective sometimes.

Modifiers

This is where ANI really sucks. It has nothing actually worth talking about except in very dedicated decks - like Animal Magnetism for the random vote decks, or Tainted Springs for retainer decks. Besides that it really has nothing to tell the world about.

Ally

The Underbridge Stray is an excellent ally, even at basic ANI it works, and it rarely if ever attracts blocking attempts, plus it is usually very useful for most ANI blockers.

Combat

One of the best combat packages in the game, a dedicated ANI combat deck is hard to overcome unless you are either another ANI combat deck, or you're really good at handing out damage at long range (or able to absorb an absurd amount of damage over time). The basic Carrion Crow plus Aid from Bats is already a potent combo in the hands of a vampire with superior ANI, dealing out 3 damage per turn with a maneuver and a press. Anyone without answer to that will usually be gone in a turn or 2. Throw in other deadly cards such as Terror Frenzy or Drawing out the Beast and the full package is present, eliminating even more threats (such as guns), and/or causing more problems (absorb with Indomitability? Go ahead with that superior Terror Frenzy in play)

There are other ANI combat package available, but the others usually require some support from other disciplines. Song of Serenity is an interesting damage prevention card, and can be put to good use in close combat, imagine a Conquer the Beast with a Devil Channel: Hands and a couple of Songs in play, and the FOR vampire will have sweat running down its spine. (unless of course he has Superior Mettle).

The most powerful combat card that will almost always appear in any deck with ANI is the Canine Horde. It is one of the very rare combat cards that can eliminate the threat of weapons at first strike, and should always be included in a deck if anyone in the community actually does play with guns. And then there is always the famous Pack Alpha Raptor combo, and the very good Hell-for-Leather Anarch ANI card. They also do have a single aggravated damage card in the form of the Song in the Dark.

Overall, ANI combat is excellent, but it suffers from combat ends. They have no means of dealing with combat ends, and might waste a hell lot of cards and would do absolutely nothing against a single Staredown. Furthermore, most ANI combat are card intensive, and one might either get clout with combat, or run out of combat cards after a while.

Reaction

ANI reactions are good, most provides untaps and Intercepts. Cat's Guidance is a common sight in ANI walls, as it not only provides Intercept, but also untaps when it is needed. Sense the Savage Way is another excellent untap/Intercept card if one is playing with older vampires. The problem with many of the ANI reaction cards is that a lot of them have very specific uses - such as Instinctive Reaction, Guard Dogs, Rat's Warning and so on, and target specifically only at the predator. If defense is at the top of your mind, then it is all cool, but sadly that is not as efficient as it could be.

Retainer

This discipline is one of the top disciplines (if not THE top) when it comes to retainers. The few top contenders for the best (or most commonly seen, or at least the most famous) retainers are all from ANI - Raven Spy, Raptors, Owl Companion and the Murder of Crows. Together they provide intercepts, damage, card drop and espionage. And they're all good at even basic ANI and are generally cheap enough to use in large numbers. Without a doubt retainer is ANI's proudest department.

Crypt

There are lots of vampires with ANI, being one of the first disciplines in Vtes. They have the normal number of weenies (4 or below) with superior, but they have only 3 in adjacent groups - meaning that a weenie ANI is among the most restricted weenie decks where superior ANI is concerned.

Quite a few clans call ANI as one of their key strength.

First and foremost the Nosferatu and their Sabbat counterpart is one of the clans that use ANI quite a lot. In the hands of the Nos, ANI commonly provides the entire package, from bleed to enter combat to combat itself and the permanent Intercepts. With OBF supporting their Aid from Bats when maneuvers are needed, the Nossy are quite good at dealing with the opponent in combat. Sometimes Nosferatu will only use ANI for their untaps and retainers, especially if Cock Robin is involved, and use POT as their combat package - which is just as efficient. A mix of both can be utilized, especially in a Song of Serenity / Spawning Pool / Conquer the Beast / Immortal Grapple combo. The Nosferatu even has the Bestial to help them get retainers fast.

The Gangrels are the other old clans that uses ANI well. However, due to the excellent and deadly prospect of the PRO discipline, a lot of Gangrels chose to use ANI only as a support discipline. There is always use for the ANI retainers, and the most famous of all is the Enkidu Raptors. The FOR provided by most Gangrels favors close combat given the aggravated nature of PRO, and therefore ANI does not usually see as much use in Gangrel decks as it is with the others. Though Raven Spies with Homonculus is a common sight for Gangrel Walls.

The Ravnos also use ANI as a support discipline very often, and almost always exclusively for their intercepts only. But in an offensive combat deck the Ravnos usually look to ANI for the answer since CHI is usually not very aggressive in combat (unless you're in Maya, or there are Mass Realities in play).

The Tzimisce loves ANI. Combine ANI with AUS and VIC and you have the most wally deck in the world. Permanent Intercepts plus high Intercept enhancement cards and excellent untaps (and not to forget Read the Winds), and the whole world needs to ask for the Tzimisce's permission to do anything. The Tzimisce generally only utilizes Carrion Crows, since they have VIC for even more effective killing.

Needless to say, the Akunanse needs ANI to be effective, nuff'said.

The Ahrimane also relies on ANI for combat and intercepts. If they want to be a wall deck they're only slightly less effective than the Tzimisce, and that is mostly due to their thin crypt. SPI with ANI provides almost the same amount of effectiveness in blocking the opponent's actions, since Falcon's Eye is the only one that emulates the famous Eagle Sight.

All said and done, ANI is one of the most commonly seen, and effective discipline, able to stand on it's own (though limited in the form of decks that it presents) or play an excellent supportive role. It is effective at basic, and absolutely deadly at superior, and enough vampires has it to make this one of the most well-known disciplines in the game.

(o.o)

Bloody Disciplines - ABOmbwe

In order to avoid the Sixth Tradition, I've been buzzing to gather all my cards from the various hiding places in the work room and transferring them to the study room to make space for the immediate conversion of the work room into the play room for the kids. Under the ever watchful eyes of my wife-sama, I quickly Auspexed all my cards and moved them quickly (and incredibly efficiently) to their new haven.

And since I'm sorta having a long vacation, I also took this opportunity to re-sort the messy lot, throw cards away to the pool (yap, one new batch just reached PI yesternight), and also re-tuning the old decks to fit new environment. The fact that no new cards will be appearing for a while allows me to finally get the decks into more or less a "final" version to test out (and what a disaster one of them was on Tuesday - so much for High Orun and Typhonic Beasts).

However, in tuning decks I suffered from the same symptom that plagued me during my U days - the first few chapters of every text book was painstakingly analyzed, memorized and compartmentalized neatly into little drawers in my mind, and God forbid the examiner from using materials from the remaining 20 chapters or so...it was a testament to Singapore's examination system (or the fact that I was in fact, a genius without knowing it), that I could make it out of the school in the first place.

So here I am, STILL tuning the first 3 decks in my whole lot of decks, all of them had names starting with the letter A. Well, if all goes well, one more "A" deck and I'll reach "B".

One of the decks that I worked on today was my Along Came A Spider Akunanse deck, inspired probably somewhere from the net, and pushed on by Bann's early experiment on destroying every single vampire I had with the No Secrets from the Magaji. Of course, this deck, over a span of over 2 years, had evolved significantly, and I could say that it is now completely and totally mine. That said, working with this deck makes me really really thinking about the discipline ABOMBWE.

ABOMBWE is a teddy bear discipline, with the discipline symbol that looks like a teddy bear to me. As a deadly combat discipline its symbol is kinda tamed. POT had a fist, ANI had a claw, and here we have all the aggravated thingy from a teddy bear.

That said, I must say that ABO, being the first of the disciplines in the alphabetical order, is indeed one of the most unique and interesting discipline, though it did suffered, like most other Laibon tech, from a need of further expansion to make it truly a competitive discipline when compared to the other "mainstream" or even some of the more developed Bloodlines disciplines. Sadly, that day will be rather far away at this point of time. I only hope I could live to see it before the final death.

Actions

The ABO discipline has no action cards whatsoever, and is probably the only discipline that can claim this. (Even Flight has Dive Bomb)

Modifiers

ABO is quite a toolbox discipline actually, its action modifiers are pretty spread out for effects. You have bleed enhancement, stealth, and even block denial (we'll talk about those skins later) The modifiers are quite efficient since most of them don't cost blood, the downside is they're also limited in their applications - for example, Predator's Transformation gives +1 Stealth even at basic ABO, but must be used as the action is announced, reducing the surprise element and generally waste that one card if no one is going to even attempt to block in the first place. That said, generally the modifiers are still very useful in almost any decks that use ABO - I mean, +1 bleed is always good, so is +1 Stealth, and the block denial from Devil Channel Throat comes in handy when one is playing elder Akunanses (or Ugadja)

Combat

Here's where ABO shines. Devil Channel : Hands and Invoking the Beast are probably the 2 most commonly seen combat cards for ABO combat. Combined we'll be looking at a lot of aggravated damage over here - which is scary. The other Devil Channels give additional strikes, presses and some of the other ABO cards provide strength enhancement etc. But the 2 key ABO combat cards will probably remain DC : Hands and Invoking the Beast. As for combat avoidance, Whistling up the Beast and Devil Channel : Feet are useable but nothing to write home about.

Combining ABO with ANI (in clan) doesn't exactly work very well, since ANI combat pretty much will be able to handle the opponents by itself in their patented ways without the ABO's otherwise close combat emphasis - the only probable utility is Devil Channel : Feet, and even that is highly questionable. At close ANI really isn't that fantastic by itself, and though Carrion Crows can still add to the close combat that ABO so excel, it doesn't really matter a lot if sending to torpor is all the ABO monster wants. Maybe Drawing Out the Beast can prevent the opponent from getting away to long... ANI, however, provides good means of entering combat with Deep Song and Taunt the Cage Beast.

That brings out the other in clan discipline that truly aids the ABO combat - FOR. FOR allows the ABO combatant to survive most combat up close, while still providing some extra stuff that ABO combatants will benefit from - such as presses - be it from Hidden Strength, or Indomitability, or the extra Maneuvers from Unflinching Persistence. In this aspect, FOR is a lot more complimentary to ABO in combat.

Reaction

Predator's Communion is a good untap card with Intercept. Besides that, the others are quite laughable.

Misc

ABO makes all the Rotschreck decks cry. Pretty much EVERY ABO card allows you to discard it to cancel a frenzy card, removing all possibilities of Rotschrecking your blocking minion - this is a big deal as it also cancels all the nonsense Frenzy cards such as Drawing Out the Beast and so on - creating ample possibility of using weapons in combat freely. Combine that with FOR, and your blocking minion is immune to all those normal means of getting rid of blockers - Kiss of Ra? Checked. Outside the Hourglass plus Domain? Checked. Rotschreck? Check. Nothing short of a Dawn Op Weather Control/Lady Thunder can prevent you from fighting the minion up front when you successfully block his action - which again is not a big deal given that the vast majority of ABO vampires (the older ones) has ANI from on-board Intercepts, and the Laibons have No Secrets from the Magaji; not to mention that all three in-clan disciplines of the main ABO clan - the Akunanse provides good intercepts.

Crypt

Spanning over 3 groups, there are only 24 vampires with ABO, and it is not as easy to place ABO on vampires without it as the ABO master discipline card is one of the few that do have limitations (it is also the only one (Agent doesn't count) that is a Trifle).

The Akunanse is the key clan that has this discipline. Every Akunanse has it, and you'll be surprise to find so many other random vampires having this discipline too, and it is with them that you may find interesting use of the ABO discipline in many exciting possible means, especially for the non-Laibons. (Sadly, all of them have it at inferior, and can only shine if you drop an ABO master discipline on them)

Skin...

This thing is really hard to work I tell you. Really hard. For now I'll probably just say leave it alone for the far future when Vtes comes out of torpor.

(o.o)