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)

At Your Disposal : Ambulance

I remember you Ambulance, was quite a card during LotN, and I was usually quite happy when you appear in the booster pack, I remembered that the Ambulance cost something around $8 or so. However, after a while, it seems that Ambulance is almost nowhere to be seen, and very few decks in my community actually utilise its powers.

Well, afterall, what would Ambulance know about vampires anyway.

Granted, this card is powerful in its own way, especially in a deck that is well constructed to take advantage of it. The Aching Beauty deck quickly comes to mind - again, blocking is already a bad thing against an Aching Beauty, and if the opponent slap an Ambulance on Anson you really won't bother much. The problem of course then, is that the Ambulance is too effective in deterring the enemy from blocking, which forfeits the whole purpose of Aching Beauty. That said, free bleeds are always good.

Ambulance can also feature in stealth heavy decks - you see, heavy stealth decks with star vampires (Daughters or Trujah) should always consider an Ambulance. For starters, it is not easy to block a high-stealth vampire, and that the opponent knows that blocking once isn't enough will really make him think twice about even attempt to block, especially if you have other minions waiting to act. In this sense, the Ambulance is a great distraction for the enemy - forcing him to decide whether to commit to block somebody whom he knows will require a second attempt, or save his reacting opportunity to try against another more realistic attack - this will then provide you the leverage to do what you need to do by always using the Ambulance vampire first, often without the need to commit too much of your stealth resources, or even bluff your way through.

Secondly, if you use cards like Majesty in combat, Ambulance is as good as a multi-action card if the opponent blocks you, giving the vampire in question the option to do something more, or just be ready for defence - and in this case, still having the original action gone through to a second phase. This is again, a great deterrent to the opponent if he sees you pulled it off a couple of time.

IMHO I believed that the Ambulance is used more as a distraction than an actual bypass card, providing an option of strategy that its simple text hid. The opponent also often give away hints at blocking minions with Ambulance - he probably has the means to block your Ambulance twice if he commits a blocker despite knowing you can still try a second time with an Ambulance - in such cases, well, depends on whether you think he is bluffing, and whether or not you hold enough stealth resource to push through during your second try.

Cards like Blind Spot and Seduction works superbly with Ambulance, reducing the option on blockers that the opponent have to thwart your actions. It is a great deterrent, and truly useful in discouraging your opponent in blocking you.

Of course, if you face a Magaji No Secrets then the Ambulance is absolutely pointless.

Oh ya, it burns Imbued too.

(o.o)

Lyrics of the Night : Efficiency

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)

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]
------------------------------------------------------------
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)

Lyrics of the Night : Laibon

The Laibons are a fairly new addition to the Vtes scene, given that they are pretty much the last "sect"-based keywords that was introduced before Vtes goes into torpor a second time. 

The Laibons, being in Africa and all, comes with their own set of special advantages just for being exotic. This article tries to look at the different Laibon cards that are good enough to be included in most Laibon decks (or at  least considered), or perform very well in Laibon-based deck concepts or clans.

First of all, let's look at one of the defining, though not really very successful concept of Laibon-based tech - Aye and Orun. 

Well we all know it is not really easy to slap 3 or any one of these onto a vampire quickly, not to mention 3 of both of them to enable them to"transcend". Moreover, these fellas only really work (and interact with cards) when they are in a suite of 3s - so any time you have a vampire with 2 Ayes, for example, is not of much use to you.

Comparing them, Aye seems to be easier to use - wake and cancel Frenzy seems to be marginally more useful than increase capacity against opponent's cards and extra votes. (1 vote for 3 Oruns is a terrible bargain for the effort). The Highs on these 2 cards are quite powerful though. High Ayes provides excellent stealth for some of the otherwise stealth-light Laibon clans, and High Orun is incredible for blood-intensive combat decks. Dusk Work is pretty much a free Freak Drive, and Unholy Radiance is a good oration useable even as a reaction. Of course, the down side is still the Aye and Orun requirement.

Aside from these, there are several combat cards that rubs off Ayes or Orun, some of them are quite interesting. Invoke Poison Glands is actually easy to use as a single Orun gives sort of a +1 STR all the time though I must say that the Akunanses usually have better means of fighting with all those Devil Channels, which bring me to Devil Channel Feet, which is a misplaced card since most Akunanses won't be needing much of Strike:Dodges (though I guess the press is cool, moreover, with 1 blood cost the Akunanse might as well as Freak Drive).

There are some decks that uses Ayes or Oruns pretty effectively. The Lucian Orun bleed deck that I've encountered in Philippines is a deadly deck when ready (I heard the highest bleed was 29 or something), well, he managed to bleed me for 12 in a single attempt. I have a Eze deck who uses Aye as well, and it is reasonably effective.

Although one can technically use Nkishi to place more Oruns and Ayes, still, not the most efficient decks in the world.

Other Master Cards

The 2 Powerbases are powerhouses. Powerbase : Tshwane is very good for pool saving, and every Laibon deck who uses a reasonable number of cards which cost pool should throw in one for good measure. Powerbase : Luanda is an auto-include if you're playing a combat-able deck. Ancestor Spirit is another auto-include as long as you have a reasonable number of vampires above 4 cap. Finally, Mbare Market is also a good card to play, though a little expensive.

I've yet to try out the effectiveness of Mundane and Pallid but I think they are circumstantial at best.

Action Cards

Well Marked is possibly the best Laibon action card here, a prevent 1 damage card in combat is always good, and if you use it with a 5cap or above vampire it is pretty much a free action. Aside from this, perhaps Masai Blood Milk is a honorary mention, too bad it is unique and doesn't last too long if you don't utilise it in a hurry - that really remove quite a bit of functionality from an otherwise very efficient card.

Bamba is Laibon's breeding card, and it is pretty ok with reasonable requisite and really shines in a Magaji deck.

Action Modifier Cards

Strange Day my friends, Strange Day. This one probably turns up in almost every Laibon deck - really no reason not to play 1 copy of it.

Besides that we should mention the Kholos (since every Laibon clan gets one). Again Kholos are excellent card, useable as vote boost or vote defense, always good to have too~

Equipment

Laibons have quite a couple of cool equipment. Kduva's Mask is a must, 1 bleed 2 votes plus (don't forget this one) anti Auspex is an excellent package not to have in any Laibon deck, also, Reliquary : Trinket and Kerrie are all interesting equipment in the right deck.

Reaction

Oh, Terra Incognita, one of the most valuable card you pray for when your predator bounced the last 20 million bleeds to you. The Familial Bond, though limited to usually the predator's minions, are also quite useful for a combat deck that is built to exploit it.

Referendum

Here the Laibons have powerful cards. No elaboration is needed for the much feared (though blood intensive) The Eldest Command Undeath.  Very few cards in Vtes burn vampires just like that, so even though this card will put the playing vampire into quite a bit of a vulnerable position, the ability to just burn one of your prey's minion is too much an advantage, especially if there is one important or highly invested one available for you to target.

The Secret Must Be Kept is another unique referendum not duplicated in other clans/sects. It targets allies and retainers, and again burn them straight. Combine this with Ilomba and you get a cute (though not exactly a very deadly) combo.

Retainers

Shaman is a superb multi-purpose retainer, but the other Laibon retainers are so-so only, though you occasionally do see Elephant Guardian in a Demdemeh deck.

In summary, they may not look much with these cards above, but when you're building a Laibon deck, you'll often find that quite a few of those mentioned above are auto-include and significantly improve the efficiency of your deck. A similar vote deck, for example, say with the Ishtarri versus a typical Toreador PRE vote, gets pretty much most of the advantageous cards useable by the Toreador, augmented by many of the Laibon-only cards - starting with the specialized referendums. Combat decks also, cards like Powerbase : Luanda and Well Marked are exceptional cards for combat decks; Ancestor Spirit and Kduva's Mask are good to have in bleed decks, and Terra Incognita is a reasonably effective defense for those clans (such as the Akunanse) without good bounce tech.

If you don't have a Laibon deck yet, try building one, they're great fun to play. 

(o.o)dum dum dum dum

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^)/

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Singing a New Tune : Along Came a Spider

Deck Name : Along Came a Spider

Crypt [12 vampires]

------------------------------------------------------------

3x Uchenna

2x Ugadja

2x Nkule Galadima

1x Kikiyaon, The

1x Hasani

1x Dolie

1x Meno Ngari

1x Tupdog

Library [90 cards]

------------------------------------------------------------

Action [15]

1x Army of Rats

5x Belonging Grants Protection

2x Deep Song

6x No Secrets From the Magaji

1x Wise Spider

Action Modifier [11]

1x Dawn Operation

1x Devil-Channel: Throat

4x Freak Drive

1x Kiss of Ra, The

3x Predator's Mastery

1x Strange Day

Action Modifier/Combat [5]

5x Predator's Transformation

Action Modifier/Reaction [1]

1x Akunanse Kholo

Combat [15]

1x Canine Horde

4x Concealed Weapon

1x Flesh Bond

2x Rolling with the Punches

2x Superior Mettle

2x Terror Frenzy

3x Unflinching Persistence

Equipment [13]

2x .44 Magnum

2x IR Goggles

1x Kduva's Mask

1x Kevlar Vest

1x Laptop Computer

1x Reliquary: Akunanse Remains

4x Sniper Rifle

1x Sport Bike

Master [18]

1x Ancestor Spirit

1x Creepshow Casino

1x Direct Intervention

2x Dreams of the Sphinx

1x Erciyes Fragments, The

1x KRCG News Radio

1x Mapatano Utando

1x Powerbase: Montreal

1x Powerbase: Tshwane

5x Vessel

1x WMRH Talk Radio

2x Wider View

Political Action [3]

2x Kine Resources Contested

1x Secret Must Be Kept, The

Reaction [1]

1x Terra Incognita

Retainer [8]

1x Mr. Winthrop

1x Murder of Crows

1x Owl Companion

4x Raven Spy

Ally [1]

1x Mylan Horseed

This is the other deck that I wanted to use in the Asian Continental Championship, but decided against it at the final moment since I felt that it is not ready enough to face intense challenge and that it is a little too passive. After I came back to Singapore, I added more offensive cards and re-tune the deck based on what I've learnt in Philippines about my own style and preference. This is the final version at the moment, pending testing during one of the Tuesday nights.

Primary Path of Ousting

This is a little weird. In theory, bruise bleeding is what it mostly do. On the other hand, the whole deck concept is wall with No Secrets and endure to the end time with 3 players, then oust both prey and be the last man standing. To accomplish this much of the deck is dedicated to permanent resources - No Secrets, Sniper Rifles, Kevlar, retainers and equipment; so that by the time the deck is set up, it will be ready to fight with very little cards in hand.

The vampires in this deck may look quite tame in bleeding, with only Deep Song and Predator's Mastery for bleed enhancement. But take into account Kduva's Mask, Ancestor's Spirit, Akunanse Remains and Laptop; these vampires can bleed for 2 or 3 pretty consistently. Moreover, with No Secrets (and usually a gun in hand), the Magajis are going to bleed away every turn, with enough combat threat to discourage blocking. It is quite deadly after a while.

Now the problem is "a while". Using the cheapest Magaji, this deck requires at least 3 turns to be even ready for anything, and this is a problem. Speed ousting is not what this deck is good for.

Secondary Path of Ousting

Combat is a good answer to preys who cannot handle guns. Once a .44 is in hand, the Akunanse can go in with Deep Song (though it is usually reserved for predator) and eliminate troublesome minions. That said, a fully set up Magaji deck has good votes to sometimes push through referendums when no powerful vote decks are on table (2 Magaji, and maybe a Kholo gives a total of 6 votes already, and that's usually the case with this deck when it runs smoothly) - Ancestor Spirit and Kduva's Mask all give extra votes to the deck, making a vote kill sometimes viable. Erciyes's Fragment, when in play, allows recycling of KRCs for those 3 points of damage.

Crypt

Uchenna is the best early Magaji to call out, seconded by Nkule or Ugadja (though she is not Akunanse and might not be a good choice if many Akunanse-only cards are in hand). After that any of the weenies will be good if you have Vessels in hand (that's one of their primary function).

Magajis are absolutely necessary in this deck, so never bring out someone else as the first vampire unless there is a very compelling reason.

Combat

FOR plus gun. Period. Blocking makes lots of sense due to No Secrets, and once blocked, unless the opponent has set range ability (Gargoyles come to mind), the blocking Magaji should have a Sniper Rifle to set range to long and shoot away. This deck's combat is not about killing off vampires but more on damaging them and deterring them from attacking. Offensive combat will have to be dealt with Unflinching Persistence or the .44; which should be alright once the deck is ready.

There are some cards that will support forward movement - Dawn Ops for example, or Kiss of Ra, but mostly the deck just bleeds and waits to block, and truly just shines when the table reaches the final 3.

Defense

This is where the deck truly excels. Many decks simply cannot handle a No Secrets deck. Simple 1-stealth weenie Dom-bleed deck, for example, will just have to wait for the Seduction in order to punch through even a single Magaji with No Secrets; and simply cannot do much against a Magaji deck with 2 No Secrets. Granted, it takes a while for the Magaji to set up to that stage, but even with a single Magaji with No Secrets, the DOM-bleed will be significantly slowed down.

The key with No Secrets is not to be afraid. If you're afraid of losing your No Secrets and therefore decline to block even small bleeds then the deck has lost it's teeth. If you lose a No Secret and simply reattach it - there are 6 in the deck and a Ericyes to pick them back - you CANNOT be afraid of declaring blocks. On the other hand, if you Owl has told you that they fella has Elder Impersonation, and the vampire he's using is the only one with superior OBF then perhaps you can wait if your pool can take it.

Remember, No Secrets shall know no fear.

Pool Recovery

Vessel, and perhaps some Belonging Grants Protection. That's about it. Ugadja can throw some of her blood back if you really need. Protecting your pool like there's no tomorrow is key.

Surprise Elements

KRC votes sometimes do take the opponent by surprise. Kiss of Ra, Dawn Op can keep your prey guessing (and deter predator walls, since this deck often will have the vote power to threaten diablerie)

Known Weaknesses

Slow. This deck do take quite a bit of time, and much pool to make it truly ready. And many speed oust deck will never give this deck the chance to do that. The other problem is the stealth to get the No Secrets through. A maximum of 3 stealth is as far as this deck can go, and it's not easy to achieve. Drawing all the components is also a problem - A Magaji with No Secrets but no guns need to fight with cards, he with guns and no No Secrets can't block much due to lack of wake cards, and he who has everything but no on board Intercepts can't block very much.

Not to mention dedicated stealth decks can always push through your No Secrets, forcing reattachment and down time.

And er, there are the allies...and Imbued...

Playing this deck

Pretty simple actually, slap on No Secrets and gun, get permanent Intercept, sit and wait it out, bleed prey all the time since tapped or not you can block. Adapt to the table as Methuselahs are eliminated, and attempt to get stronger all the time. If this deck can kill off 1 prey early then it will be in an excellent position.

In a word, block like hell and out-last everyone, that's what this deck is built to do~

(o.o)

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)

Lyrics of the Night : Toolbox

Well, the Asian Championship did pull out quite a bit of interest in Vtes for our community, and we are starting to plan for regular games again. Needless to say, we are all planning new decks and recreating older decks to prepare ourselves for Vtes games again. I am therefore, committed to reviving Singing Vtes as well~ lots of battles to record and I'm sure, lots of insights to learn from my esteemed nemesis(es).

The first thing I do is to re-sleeve many of my old decks with all these Japanese card sleeves that I've received from my Japanese friend. In the process of doing so, I automatically attempt to make each deck better by tuning it to fit my idea of an optimized version. After tuning a couple of decks, I find that I've probably found my preferred play-style now. Contrary to what I used to do, which is to build a deck type of every kind, I kinda like playing toolbox style decks. I've been lucky to win 2 Asian Championship now, and both decks are pretty toolboxy in nature. All the more successful decks that I played are also quite toolbox too. I guess it's a personality thing - I just couldn't commit to a single efficient kill plan, but prefer to be as prepared as possible for all occasions.

Well, toolbox is just that - to be able to do multiple things, or I should say, to attempt to be able to answer all threats, and work around all problems. This is of course a myth - nothing can handle everything Vtes throws at you - it is just too diverse to allow that. However, a toolbox deck usually has the flexibility to handle more situations than other more focused deck types.

For me, I just like the idea that the deck I'm playing has enough thoughts put into it to make it flexible and adaptable.

For toolbox decks I always try to achieve the following for the deck, each element must be answered.

1. Kill Intensity

I try to have enough damaging cards to remove 50 pool in order to sweep the table. I try to make it happen with at least 2 avenues whenever I can - a couple of KRCs in my Prince Gun deck and Magaji Wall; Fame in Maureen Servitor deck and Enticement in my Typhonic Beast deck. So if you add in all the bleed cards, bleed modifiers and other damage cards, you will usually find about 50 damage potential in these cards.

When that is not possible, I will add in elements to either recycle the damage cards, or improve the delivery system to ensure success of the damage.

2. Delivery System

One key specialty of a toolbox deck is its ability to handle different kinds of defense. My Howling deck can stealth through low intercept decks, and can punch through low combat defense deck - a mix of stealth and bruise bleed, with the extra ability to surgically attack bleed bouncers or toublesome defenders. I try to add in stealth of some kind whenever possible, especially if the deck in question has difficulty of branching into multiple adaptations.

3. Defensive Options

Again, one of the key purpose of a toolbox deck is its flexibility to handle most common predators' attacks. Most of my toolbox deck has answers to attackers' common ousting method - a lot of them can do at least 2 of the common defensive measures - bounce, bloat, block or beat. IMHO, a good toolbox deck should be able to adjust itself to match the tempo and environment of the table - shifting the kill strategy as needed. Much of this can only be done because there is a viable defensive plan that one can adopt.

4. Combat

My toolbox deck will never just keel over and die when faced with combat. One important element of a toolbox approach is the ability to handle combat. For that, I try to always have some offensive combat capability, and will throw in multiple defensive option whenever possible - combat ends, damage prevention, maneuvers; combine with high damage output or more commonly, aggravated damage cards should provide some deterrent to the enemy.

For decks that lack bouncing capability (I consider blocking unreliable, and bloating is a must in every deck, so that's automatic), I will try to include surgical enter combat capability so that the deck can handle high bleeders - worse comes to worse, pack AIs or Aranthebes, or even a Lost in Translation or 2.

5. Bloat

All my toolbox deck must have a bloating plan, without that it probably couldn't be called a toolbox. Bloating will of course be customized to be as efficient and as non-intrusive as possible - don't rely on Vessels with high blood usage decks such as Ravnos, and don't bother with Vessels when a PRE vote deck replenish blood every 3 seconds.

6. Surprise Elements

Most fun of the deck building part - always include at least one "wow" card. More often than not, it will wow the table and win you brownie points even if you lose, and occasionally it will win you games too! A Horseshoe in my Lasombra stealth bleed deck was instrumental in winning me a game~

All in all I just adore toolbox decks, they are flexible, they are adaptable, and they are lots of fun to play and usually make you feel that you have a chance in every table, no matter the prey or the predator.

Just that feeling of "Just have to draw that card" is worth all the effort in making every deck toolbox - lots of work to be done.

(o.o)tuning deck in progress