Hi folks!
Since the NAC I've spent many hours thinking of new tournament decks to build, but I found it hard to match all those criteria I have developed:
1. I need to be able to rush vampires.
2. I need an effective combat package.
3. I need to be able to generate (lots of) pool.
4. I need either modest intercept or bleed bounce.
5. Ousting power should not rely only on torporizing or burning vampires.
So far I have three decks that fit these criteria.
1. Brujah Alastor
Pro: Very versatile, but still reliable. Has massive pool gaining ability with Parity Shift, Voter Cap and Grooming. Rush ability and Combat is fixed, saving resources. Another great advantage is that the deck can produce 3-4 stealth on critical actions. Second Traditions is awesome of course. Ousting Power is supported by perm +bleed through New Carthage, also Parity Shifts help to reduce your preys pool pretty fast. Can achieve total vote lock.
Contra: Can be very vulnerable in the first ~30 minutes. A bad draw in the early stage or an aggressive predator can ruin your game.
2. Nana Buruku + weenie Animalism
Pro: Many minions, that can cause a lot of damage either through combat or by bleeding. Very effective in combat. Ashur tech saves resources and provides you with pool. Also PB: Montreal and a hunting weenie gives an additional 2pool/turn when needed. Has access to some intercept via Animalism. Very good ousting power. Maybe my best deck for the 1GW 3 VP strategy.
Contra: Can have serious trouble when facing other decks with combat options like Akunanse or Apparition Ravnos. Very vulnerable to cross table ousts which are likely to happen. Combat Ends stealth-bleeders can be a serious problem, too.
3. Hardestadt eats the world
Pro: Can become very overwhelming. Diablerizes vampires, so whats dead, stays dead. Can produce large amounts of pool if the Amaranth - Villein engine starts working. Though it lacks intercept it can bounce bleeds, which is great. Very fun to play.
Contra: It's a star vamp deck, which is always a vulnerable deck type. Carlton is a real issue. Has problems against Animalism combat and decks running plenty of prevent cards.
Right now I am looking for another deck that could become No. 4 in the list. Any ideas? Potential candidates are Akunanse and Blood Brothers, though both have disadvantages: Akunanse can't handel S:CE and isn't weenie enough, Blood Brothers seem to lack stability: no bounce and Gestalt isn't really my favorite Intercept source to play...
Feel free to comment. Any ideas are highly appreciated!!!
by: Mephistopheles
How about the new Tremere? Alastor for perma-rush, Gabrielle has an out of combat blood stealing ability, Anathema if you want. Defense is solid, plus there are votes. It's a good opportunity to play really silly combat cards like Blood to Water and Thoughts Betrayed. What's not to like?
ReplyDeleteThere is one main reason why I do not like Tremere: the lack of stealth. With only Mirror Walk available you can call your votes or Govern down at 2 stealth only, which is not enough to bypass a Second Trad. I would say there is nothing worse than getting blocked. Even a combat deck wants to pass his actions.
ReplyDeleteCombat package would be tempting with Gabrielle and Dr. John Dee. Carrion Crows, Aid From Bats and Walk of Flame will burn almost anything once you reach mid-game.
Gabrielle and the Mistress Fanchion both have obfuscate and dominate, good disciplines for getting actions through. If you have a big problem with 2nd tradition, how about Seduction and The Sleeping Mind? Once you get Rutors, you can do an action and Mirror Walk to end combat, then do another action while they don't get to cycle combat cards. Magic of the Smith is also at 3 stealth for that Ankla Citadel, Bow, Heart or whatever.
ReplyDeleteA Nosferatu Anathema deck sounds like it's just what you're looking for.
ReplyDelete@Brandon: I see your point, but that would turn the whole thing more into stealth-vote than combat. Also, I already have an Alastor deck.
ReplyDelete@John: Yeah, seems to be a potential number 4! The only issue I have is, that I always found some more copies of Parity Shift more useful than Anathema. Nevertheless I quite positive that I will build this kind of deck and give it a go...
Thanks for the comments guys!
Parity Shift is certainly a much stronger card than Anathema, no argument there. But after playing The Witchfinder Army for a long time, I found that they're not really that comparable.
ReplyDeletePS is straightforward pool damage (and bloat, if you manage to pass it without needing to give away the pool). Anathema is bloat, but also minion containment, in that people who have Anathema'd vampires tend to be very, very cautious in how they use those vampires. It's a great deterrent to Anathemize your predators vamps, often resulting in the psychological fear that's better than any amount of actual defense because it doesn't require any more effort.
Actually for number 4 i would recomend deck playing rather thought block with a lot of avoid combat options. In my case favourite vamoire are ulugh beg (2 discards are realy powerfull if needed) and Lucian.
ReplyDeleteMy last Lucian build was tested succesfully on EC last chance qualifier, deck list could be found on groups.
When comming to combat my best recomendation is simply avoid it. Obedience/mental maze and other allows you to avoid rush decks and as well in case of succesfull block allows you to remain untaped for further blocks. In both cases it gives you another option of what you wanted. DOM=bounce+speed up and OBF means you actions will pass. (guess why mlaks g1/2 are so great :) )