Two decks I have in mind...

Hi folks!

Sooner or later I will play v:tes again anyway. I have two deck ideas in my mind...

1. Sack dat Jake

This deck idea is based on the Akunanse Kamiri wa Itherero (advanced). The idea is to exploit the following mechanic: play Jake Washington, destroy Jake with Ithereros ability to do 2 damage as an action -> play: Taking the Skin: Minion -> bleed twice. Use Enkil Cog as a perma bleed bonus + the option to bleed once more out of turn. This deck allows to be built toolboxy for great variety and fun.

2. Absimilard's Army Snakes

Play Absimiliard's Army. Whenever someone uses it make sure to play a Set's Curse on it. Use it yourself, but leave your own ghoul's as a target for Set's Curse at last.

by: mephistopheles

Tournament Report: HNC Final + Eze Deck explained

Hi folks!

Here is brief report on the HNC Final. I played my Eze deck again.

1st round:

Zsóka (Gerald + Gargoyle)- Szilver (Anson tap and bleed) - Me - Robert (Asguresh rush) - Csaba (Lutz and friends)

Long story short: I got Pentexed again before I could draw a Sudden Reversal. 0 VP

2nd round:

Me - Colos (Enkidu + Muricia block/rush) - Dio (Tzimi Wall) - Denes Kocis (Cailean Raptor Wall) - Ádám "Törpecápa" Honur (Omaya Wall)

Long story short: 2 hours that seemed like 2 days. 0,5 VP's for everybody. Yay!

3rd round:

Me - Márk (Ariadne rush) - Slaven Karakas (Kyasid bleed) - Péter Botos (Rock Cat) - FlekkAttakk (Howler bleed with modest intercept)

Finally something to report here. I had good luck because Flekk didn't drew his bleed modifiers so I could stall along and bring out a second vampire. Meanwhile Slaven earned the table threat status since he managed to steal the only Rock Cat and ousted Péter pretty fast. Flekk was afraid of Slaven, I didn't want to risk getting rushed so I didn't go forward. Instead I gathered all kind of stuff on Eze: Secure Haven, Well-marked, Preternatural Strength, Heart of Cheating, Kduva's Mask, Enkil Cog and whatever I forgot. So there was some strong pressure on Slaven. By the time I was set up Márk asked me if I want to come forward since he has a Pentex Subversion. Stupid Pentex again. Of course I had to say that I won't go forward since a Pentex would automatically kill me. I counted on him playing the Pentex on the Kyasid then because he was low on pool and blood so he could have gone for the oust. Instead he kept the Pentex in his hand. When I asked Márk if he will ask the same question every turn he said yes, that was his plan. Basically this meant I either play along and therefore just give up on the game or I break the deal so I have a real chance for the game win. I chose the ethically or morally bad solution and decided to not give up on this game and bled with Enkil Cog.

I didn't oust Márk right away, but I could do some hard pressure on him. I cycled a lot of cards and drew both a Sudden and a Strange Day. Márk played his Pentex on Eze for 3 pool (because of the Secure Haven). I didn't Sudden it. In my turn I removed the Pentex with the Strange Day and ousted Márk. A turn later I ousted Slaven with a Reins of Power. In the heads-up with Flekk I drew my own copy of Pentex and played it on the Siamese, because it was the one with a Raven Spy. After a Banishment on Howler with a Call of the Hungry Dead on her block attempt we shook hands. 1 GW 4 VP's for me. Too bad it took a deal break to achieve this.

Conclusion:

The first thing I did after this tournament was to add a 3rd copy of Sudden to the deck. This Eze deck is really a very strong one and works wonderfully, but it is just so annoying that a single master card can ruin your entire game. The only defense you have against the Pentex is Sudden Reversal or as you could read above deal - deal break your way out of it. I don't want to do the deal break part, but I don't want to give up a game just because this single card. Now with 3 Suddens in the deck I might be able to draw a Sudden before somebody else draws the Pentex. As I wrote here on my blog earlier: once I have a Sudden in my hand I keep it for the Pentex. I don't mind my prey playing a Villein for 10. I won't Sudden that. Just wait for the Pentex...

The Deck as I played it in this tournament with comments:

Deck Name:   Eze will slow roll you
Created By:  Martin "Mephistopheles" Major with help from Frankie

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 32, Max: 44, Avg: 9,58)
----------------------------------------------
  5  Eze                                aus ANI NEC POT PRE THA11 Guruhi
  3  Nana Buruku                        ANI POT PRE    8  Guruhi
  2  Sobayifa                           ANI aus pot PRE pro spi8  Guruhi
  2  Ugadja                             ABO ANI dom for POT PRE10 Guruhi

Even though Nana has no votes she is stall my first pick to bring out next to Eze. Once this deck starts rolling it consumes a crazy lot of cards and even though 19 master cards / 7 trifle in a 90 card deck doesn't seem too much I almost always master jam at least once during a game. Nana helps you a lot with that. Also the Sudden I have to keep in my hand is basically a -1 hand size and Nana compensates that.

Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (19 cards)
  1  Ancestor Spirit
  1  Archon Investigation
  2  Dreams of the Sphinx
  1  Giant`s Blood
  1  Monastery of Shadows
  1  Palace Hunting Ground
  1  Pentex Subversion
  1  Perfectionist
  1  Secure Haven
  2  Sudden Reversal
  6  Villein
  1  Wider View

All of these cards proved extremely useful. NOTE: never ever play Ancestor Spirit on Eze! Eze will get a +2 bleed from the Kduva's mask and Enkil Cog so if you would play Ancestor Spirit on Eze you would risk loosing him to an Archon Investigation! I think all the other cards are self explanatory.

Action (13 cards)
  2  Entrancement
  5  Founders of the Ebony Kingdom
  3  Magic of the Smith
  1  Preternatural Strength
  2  Well-Marked

After 10+ games now played with this deck I think that this action package is good as it is. People ask why I play no No Secrets of the Magaji. No Secrets would be bad on Eze, since you don't want to block with him. You just want to get him utapped. The 8 Majesty are not enough to support Eze blocking. No Secrets on a secondary vampire could be good theoretically, but I think most of the time it would show up just the wrong time. I never felt during any game that I could need it. 

Action Modifier (24 cards)
  4  Call of the Hungry Dead
  1  Edge of the World
  3  Enkil Cog
  4  Iron Glare
  2  Mirror Walk
  6  Perfect Paragon
  1  Strange Day
  3  Voter Captivation

Sometimes I wish I would find the space for some more Mirror Walks (1-2), but I don't. Edge of the World isn't necessary at all, but it is just so fun to play it once in a while that I afford this luxury to play a copy of it. 

Political Action (8 cards)
  1  Ancient Influence
  1  Ancilla Empowerment
  3  Banishment
  1  Neonate Breach
  1  Political Stranglehold
  1  Reins of Power

The 3 Banishment and the Reins, Ancient, Political trio are the key to victory. Banishment is just ridiculously strong in this deck. Funny thing: I never played Ancilla so far! However I will keep it for a while but I seriously consider to swap it for a 4th Banishment. 

Reaction (10 cards)
  10 Sense the Savage Way

This is a card you can never enough in your deck. I could use some more copies some time. It is the key that makes Enkil Cog shine!

Combat (8 cards)
  8  Majesty

I am sure that I need no more. Currently I am thinking of making this 6x Majesty 2x Force of Personality. FoP has the advantage that you can cycle it when the action is announced and its effect is another synergy with Kduva's Mask and Banishment.

Equipment (5 cards)
  1  Blade of Enoch
  1  Heart of Nizchetus
  1  Ivory Bow
  1  Kduva`s Mask
  1  Signet of King Saul, The

HoN, Kduva's and Signet are the killer equipment here. Blade of Enoch protects you from Rotschreck and Deep Songs, but didn't prove itself useful yet. The Ivory Bow is in there mainly for contest, but I could use it once to prevent my neighbors to block actions like Founders, some votes and bleeds for 1-2.   

Event (2 cards)
  1  Narrow Minds
  1  Scourge of the Enochians

Narrow Minds is pure gold. Awesome synergy with Kduva's Mask and Banishment. Scourge had to go. I love that card, but it had to make room for a 3rd Sudden.

Combo (1 cards)
  1  Guruhi Kholo

Good on Nana. 'nough said.


Gameplay:


Start with Eze and tool up. In the early stage of the game you should just bloat as much as you can and make your equips and get all the stuff you can on Eze. The first Banishment should almost always go on your predator. Let your prey play and let him go forward. All you should do is to get your Enkil Cog asap and grind your prey with occasional bleeds for 1-3. Once his vampires run low on blood and you are set up you can start pushing more seriously. Never bleed for more than 3 with Eze except when it is your prey's turn.

Don't mind if somebody gets ousted. It is easier for you to control the table if a player is gone. Once you are down to 3 players you should have good control. Never forget that even though this deck does not seem to be that threatening it can cause big damage in a single turn and can keep the pressure up consistently.

by: Mephistopheles

Deck Idea: Shattering Marionettes

Hi folks!

Here is a funny deck idea I tested during this weekend. It is by no means a tournament deck, but a very fun to play casual deck for the chill-out games between the tournament tests. Actually that doesn't mean that the deck is not working. I almost won one of the games, but I just couldn't stealth through that hardcore Omaya wall deck. I almost got it though and added a Daring the Dawn and a Virtuosa after that game to the deck. The basic idea of it is to punish Villein addicted decks either by draining of the blood before a Villein can be played or by torporizing the vampires who got their Villein already. Either way I punish :)

Robert Carter is a really strong ally in any Heidelberg based decks since he is actually a permanent +4 bleed. If you want to play a funny deck, give this one a try!

Deck Name:   Shattering Maionettes 

Created By:  Martin "Mephistopheles" Major

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 17, Max: 32, Avg: 6,41)

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

  1  Harlan Graves      FOR mel pre    4  Daughters of Cacophony

  2  Hillanvale              FOR MEL obf    5  Daughters of Cacophony

  1  Janet Langer         MEL pre        3  Daughters of Cacophony

  4  Matthew                AUS FOR OBE cel7  Salubri

  4  Scout Youngwood  MEL OBF PRE for qui8  Daughters of Cacophony

Library: (70 cards)

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

Master (15 cards)

  2  Dreams of the Sphinx

  1  Fame

  4  Heidelberg Castle, Germany

  1  Spontaneous Power

  4  Villein

  1  Wash

  1  Wider View

  1  Pentex Subversion

Action (24 cards)

  1  Concert Tour

  2  Renewed Vigor

  12 Shattering Crescendo

  9  Spirit Marionette

Action Modifier (16 cards)

  4  Cloak the Gathering

  4  Freak Drive

  2  Lost in Crowds

  2  Repulsion

  2  Veil the Legions

  1  Virtuosa

  1  Daring the Dawn

Reaction (5 cards)

  1  Confusion of the Eye

  1  Delaying Tactics

  3  On the Qui Vive

Combat (4 cards)

  4  Superior Mettle

Retainer (1 cards)

  1  Robert Carter

Combo (5 cards)

  5  Gift of Sleep 

by: Mephistopheles

Deck idea: Warsaw Purge

Hi folks!

I recently spent some time thinking of Baltimore Purge based decks and I came along Alonso Petodron and Warsaw Station. I am sure many of you guys have played or seen such a deck before since there is nothing new under the sun, but in my playgroup I have nobody seen done this kind of stuff. I have never ever played Baltimore Purge before and in like 8 years of v:tes I can count the number of times I have played against one on one hand. So my experience is totally limited. 

So here is the decklist I cam up with. Any comments, help and criticism is highly appreciated. As always when talking about decks I prefer a - 2 of x card for +2 of y card pattern when making suggestions. Thanks for all your helpful advice in advance.

 Deck Name:   Alonso Purge 1.0

Created By:  Mephistopheles

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 19, Max: 40, Avg: 7,5)

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

  5  Alonso Petrodon for tha ANI DOM OBF POT10 Nosferatu

  2  Gustaphe Brunnelle obf ANI DOM POT8  Nosferatu

  1  Louis Fortier aus dom for obf pre5  Ventrue
  1  Louis de Maisonneuve aus dom obf FOR5Ventrue Antitribu

  1  Black Lotus aus DOM obf ser5  Followers of Set

  1  Assad Salhoum aus dem dom obf5  Malkavian

  1  Robin Withers dom obf pre    4  Ventrue

Library: (70 cards)

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

Master (12 cards)

  3  Dreams of the Sphinx

  1  Fame

  1  Giant`s Blood

  1  Labyrinth, The

  1  Pentex Subversion

  2  Villein

  3  Warsaw Station

Action (13 cards)

  9  Baltimore Purge

  3  Graverobbing

  1  Sacrificial Lamb

Action Modifier (25 cards)

  2  Elder Impersonation

  3  Enkil Cog

  4  Faceless Night

  2  Forgotten Labyrinth

  6  Freak Drive

  6  Lost in Crowds

  2  Spying Mission

Reaction (18 cards)

  4  Deflection

  6  Obedience

  2  Second Tradition: Domain, The

  6  Sense the Savage Way

Combo (2 cards)

  2  Swallowed by the Night

by: Mephistopheles

Deck Idea: Nahir Research and Bleed

Hi folks!

Here is another one of my deck ideas. It's plain and simple: build up an awesome hand and stealth-bleed for the victory. It's pretty similar to the Guillaume Giovanni powerbleed archetype. This deck has a solid defensive module against rush and bleed decks. Should your metagame have many vote decks you might want to add some Delaying Tactics and exchange the Guard Dogs for On the Qui Vives.

First Governs should always be at superior and you should start building up your hand size. An early Enkil Cog is of course always nice to have. Let the table influence! With such decks you don't need to hurry because people will wall up pool against you if you show too early forward pressure. With 3 vampires on the board and a hand size of ~10 you should have no problem with making vp's in the midgame.

So here is the decklist (note that it has 80 cards only, so there is still free room for stuff left):

Deck Name: Nahir Reasearch and Bleed

Created By: Mephistopheles

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 20, Max: 40, Avg: 7,83)

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

4 Nahir tha ANI DOM OBT POT10 Lasombra

2 Anton de Concepcion aus ANI DOM OBT POT9 Lasombra

2 Conrad Adoula ani cel DOM OBT POT8 Lasombra

2 Otieno ani dom OBT POT6 Lasombra

2 Paulo de Castille ani dom pot 4 Lasombra

Library: (80 cards)

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

Master (15 cards)

3 Dreams of the Sphinx

1 Monastery of Shadows

1 Elysian Fields

4 Villein

1 Giant`s Blood

1 Coven, The

2 Perfectionist

1 Pentex Subversion

1 Wider View

Action (10 cards)

10 Govern the Unaligned

Action Modifier (28 cards)

6 Conditioning

4 Bonding

3 Seduction

4 Shroud of Absence

4 Shadow Play

4 Shroud of Night

3 Enkil Cog

Reaction (22 cards)

6 Sense the Savage Way

4 Guard Dogs

6 Obedience

6 Deflection

Combat (5 cards)

5 Shadow Body

by: Mephistopheles

Deck idea: Nergal vote deck

Hi folks!

Here is a funny deck idea imo. I won't advise a deck list, just share my ideas. As the title of the post shows, this will be a vote deck with Nergal as your main or star vampire. There are some good reasons why I suggest Nergal. 

First of all he is a 10 cap and therefore can get additional multi-action power with Enkil Cog. Also he has Fortitude for Freak Drives. Since this will be a vote deck, we need to make sure our votes will pass. Condemnation: Mute is our friend and Nergal can play it and use Freak Drive to play a political action right away! With sufficient Mute/Freak Drive combos you can reduce the overall votes on table, to 0 or close to 0. Also the targets will burn a blood for each successful referendum! 

Here comes the second reason for Nergal: Free States Rant + Reckless Agitation! Free States Rant is the ultimate Predator lock-down and works well with Condemnation: Mute. Reckless Agitation is the perfect forward going card and will cost Nergal only 1 blood! So you can be aggressive both ways or wreak havoc upon a single target. 

Nergal also has Auspex for some bleed bounce. This together with Unleash Hell's Fury and the Free States will give you a solid defense. 

Nergal of course can make great use of Tend the Flock. Arishat, Annazir and Xeper are your other vampires in the crypt, of course. I think this deck doesn't need a lot of master cards, therefore you can put in a good amount of Tend the Flocks. 

So let's take a look at the deck again:

Crypt:

So our crypt will have a multi-acting star vampire with a bleed for 3 and a "free Mute/turn", who can bounce bleed. Arishat will give us additional vote power, as well as Annazir and Xeper does. Annazir can burn locations and equipments, while Xeper can steal allies. 

Versatility:

As you can see from above you have an answer to many situations. Add the threat from Free States Rant (that combos with Mute), the ousting power of Reckless Agitation and you really have an answer for maybe every possible game situation!

Ousting Power:

+2 bleed for Nergal, +1 bleed for Annazir, Reckless and Neonate Breach maybe. Enough said.

Defense:

Bleed bounce, Unleash, Free States Rant and maybe a few Banishment. S:CE of course. Seems solid.

Conclusion:

While surely not being Tier1, this deck seems to be effective. On paper at least. I think this deck will be very fun to play, mainly because of it's versatility. I encourage you guys to build it and play it because I hardly find an opportunity to play these days (mainly because I am playing soccer in a team and that is more important to me right now). Therefore I would be happy to get some feedback on this.

by: Mephistopheles 

New ideas for "Girls will..." decks (+18 only)

Hi folks!

I just came across some new ideas for this "Girls will" archetype. This is sort of 50% fun and 50% serious, can't really decide, but here you go:

1. Girls will find a "Monster of Cock"

Besides Cybele and Nana you could add Cock Robin to the deck. Play with Monster archetype and diversify your rush cards: Deep Song, Taunt the Caged Beast, Sense Death. With a Monster on Cock he can potentially use all 3 rush cards in a turn. 

2. Girls will show you their Titts version 1

This deck can go with the classic 3 girls: Cybele, Nana and Aksinya. The idea behind this version is the use of Diabolic Lure (this is the show titts part). Build a wall with Sense the Savage Way, Cat's Guidance, Sense the Sin (inf. gives intercept) and Raven Spies. Make sure Cybele catches everybody and shows them what she has to offer.

3. Girls will show you their Titts version 2

Similar as above, but even more Cybele based. Use Striga to add Scobax to the deck, which can be used at inferior pre by the other gals to reduce bleeds. 

4.  Girls will burn you in hell

Finally nothing sexual goin' on here. Cybele + Aksinya is of course in here. This version would be more combat heavy with Carrion Crows, Aid from Bats, Walk of Flame and Target Vitals in there to burn vampires. Since you have the MPA you can add Thaumaturgy skill cards to be played on weenie Animalism support vampires.

These decks are of course weaker than the original version(s). The goal here is parody and fun. Oh, and I almost skipped the "Girls will Target your Vitals with a Lucky Blow and stick it Up Yours!" idea...

by: Mephistopheles

Deck Idea: Stop the Girls!

Hi folks!

I just came along this idea while drinking my coffee and so I built this deck in like 2 minutes or so. I am sure it can be improved. However I already like it, though it's not combat. Actually it's a dull stealth-bleed. You know I hate the Girls will find archetype so I was thinking of a deck might have a chance to oust it. 

First of all I wanted to make sure to pack a bunch of Sudden Reversal's in the deck, 5 seemed sufficient. The second thing I have to deal with is the Ashur angle of the Girls's deck. The Solution is of course Trochomancy! It's self explanatory. I couldn't resist to add a Not to Be and a The Uncoiling to the deck, so I have a good chance to kill the Anthelios. Now the only problem I still have to face is Aksinya's ability. She is maybe the strongest weapon of the Girls will find deck. However those decks play with very little wake cards only, so I need to make sure she's tapped. That is exactly my problem: how to do that? I don't have any free master slots so Misdirection and Anarch Troublemaker are out of question. Mind Numb seems like a way to go for. The problem here is that it's hard to find the right crypt cards for it. Halim Bey and Black Lotus don't have presence. I am stuck with this Aksinya problem. Should I figure this out, the deck could actually be able to oust a Girls will find deck. Mind Rape on Aksinya would be another option, but isn't that way too much blood?

Deck Name:   Stop the Girls!

Created By:  Mephistopheles

Description: A deck designed against the Girls will find archetype

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 17, Max: 40, Avg: 7,25)

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

  2  Amenophobis    dom pre OBF SER7  Followers of Set

  1  Anarch Convert           1  Caitiff

  2  Black Lotus     aus DOM obf ser5  Followers of Set

  2  Halim Bey   DOM SER obf tha6  Followers of Set

  5  Seterpenre   AUS NEC OBF PRE SER10 Followers of Set

Library: (84 cards)

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

Master (18 cards)

  2  Animalism

  2  Blood Doll

  1  Coven, The

  2  Dominate

  1  Giant`s Blood

  1  Opium Den

  1  Pentex Subversion

  1  Secure Haven

  5  Sudden Reversal

  1  Not to Be

  1  Perfectionist

Action (13 cards)

  9  Govern the Unaligned

  4  Mind Rape

Action Modifier (31 cards)

  6  Conditioning

  2  Elder Impersonation

  3  Enkil Cog

  4  Faceless Night

  4  Lost in Crowds

  3  Seduction

  4  Spying Mission

  5  Trochomancy

Reaction (17 cards)

  5  Deflection

  4  Obedience

  2  On the Qui Vive

  6  Sense the Savage Way

Event (1 cards)

  1  Uncoiling, The

Combo (4 cards)

  4  Swallowed by the Night

by: Mephistopheles

Deck Idea: Temptations Wings

Hi folks!

On my way back home I had this little idea how I should build my Temptation deck, so here it is:

The basic idea is that I get back a lot of pool from my vampires through the Villeins. Samat Ramal-Ra will hunt with Abactor and Heidelberg can be used to transfer that blood to other vampires. Later on I will use the Heidelberg on the tempted vampires. I have 12 Temptations in a 60 card deck, so I should be able to spam them very fast.  

Now I wonder if this is enough to win a game. I have the ability to create a lot of pool and will have most likely at least 4 vampires of my own. I've never played with Temptation before, so I have no idea if you can win a game with this card. Well, it's time to test now!

Deck Name: Temptations Wings
Created By: Mephistopheles

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 17, Max: 24, Avg: 5,33)
----------------------------------------------
  1  Allonzo Montoya                    ani aus OBF SER6  Abomination
  1  Celine Chevalier                   obf ser        3  Followers of Set
  1  Count Ormonde                      dom OBF pre ser5  Followers of Set
  1  Dedefra                            nec obf SER    5  Followers of Set
  1  Ezekiel                            obf pot PRE SER6  Followers of Set
  1  Hesha Ruhadze                      ani obf pre SER6  Followers of Set
  1  Nepata                             obf pre ser    4  Followers of Set
  4  Samat Ramal-Ra                     OBF pre ser tha6  Followers of Set
  1  Sir Marriot D`Urban                aus obf PRE ser5  Followers of Set

Library: (60 cards)
-------------------
Master (17 cards)
  2  Dreams of the Sphinx
  4  Heidelberg Castle, Germany
  1  Opium Den
  1  Pentex Subversion
  1  Temple Hunting Ground
  7  Villein
  1  Wider View

Action (18 cards)
  6  Abactor
  12 Temptation

Action Modifier (20 cards)
  4  Cloak the Gathering
  4  Faceless Night
  4  Forgotten Labyrinth
  4  Lost in Crowds
  4  Spying Mission

Event (1 cards)
  1  Narrow Minds

Combo (4 cards)
  4  Swallowed by the Night

by: Mephistopheles

Becoming ready for 2011

Hi folks!

Seems like my personal v:tes crisis is over finally. I've built 2 brand new (for me) decks, which are now ready to play and I've got a good feeling for them. At the end of the last year I promised myself to build new decks and move on. I had a hard time doing so, since the ties that bond me to my successful decks (Nana Buruku and Dmitra Alastor) proved very strong. It took me almost 2 month to find and build (not in the deck builder only, but actually sleeve those cards) 2 new decks. Here are the decks I've build (brief description, no deck list):

1. Akunanse Wall

The idea is to set up with permanents fast. The deck contains 75 cards only, but has a fair number of permanent effect cards like: Raven Spy, Shaman, No Secrets from the Magaji, Army of Rats, Well-Marked, Ivory Bow, The Rack, Powerbase: Montreal, Powerbase: Luanda, Mapatana Utando, Smiling Jack, Dragonbound. Also the deck packs a good amount of reaction cards. The price I had to pay for this, was dropping rush cards (Deep Songs) and using a lighter combat package than I originally intended. The combat package became more defensive than I planed, but I had to include prevent and anti-equipment cards.

Compared to the Ahriman Wall deck I used to play the strength of this one is better combat defense with Well-Marked and fortitude, a reasonable chance of having 4 votes on the table and the lock down that No Secrets can provide. The drawback is that I really miss a card like Enchant Kindred in here. Ousting power relies on Army of Rats, Dragonbound, Smiling Jack and the bleed for one with 4-5 minions if everything goes well. This deck should be able to make a solid 1 Game Win 5 Vp's in the preliminaries, which means I should play this one in small tournaments. The deck is untested so far, so there might be changes later on.

2. Sever The Wicked Hand  

I named this deck after the new Crowbar album, which I really like a lot. The idea for the deck came while listening to it. The deck is also inspired by an earlier deck built by Guyla Ferdos. It features Gustaphe Brunelle as a star vampire with 8 other DOM-POT or POT-dom support vampires like Don Michael Antonio Giovanni or Harold Tanner, just to name 2 of them. This deck is also 75 cards. It features pretty standard Potence combat and classics like Govern the Unaligned and Conditioning. The whole idea is that Gustaphe "governs out" the support vampires. Early rush is of course directed at the predator first to have time building up with 4 vampires in play. Ousting power is pretty strong with Fame, Dragonbound, Govern and Conditioning once there is no one left to bounce. 

What makes this deck look a little different than all the other pot-dom decks out there are the other master card choices. Those who followed my blog know that blood management is alpha and omega for me. So this 75 card deck containes 2 Hunting Grounds, a Carver's Meat Packing and Storage, a Giant Blood as well as 7 Taste of Vitae's to support blood gain. Even though I dislike bleed bounce I of course included Deflections.

Well I wasn't going for inventing something never seen before. Both decks are pretty common, but I never played with them, so I made my own versions. I am looking forward to test them and see how they will do at this years tournaments. Since I don't want to spend a year with 2 decks only I am still thinking of other decks to play, here are some ideas:

3. Dominate Brujah

Again, this will not be a copy-paste. My plan is to use Donal O'Connor and Theo Bell as the basic vampires. I want to make use of Theo's special and include Amaranth in the deck. Supporting vampires will be Rake, Volker and Anvil. New Carthage together with Parity Shifts and the always mandatory Fame (I won't Amaranth the one with Fame) should do the ousting. I need to pack sufficient combat cards, since my plan is an Amaranth/turn ratio with Theo. I wonder if Imperator + Blood Hunt will fit in there...

4. Fakir al Sidi takes your Skin

There is one critical point for this deck: 1. get Fueled by Heart's Blood into play asap! The rest is easy: rush, amaranth and play Predator's Transformation + Taking the Skin: Minion. Then bleed of course. Twice. The deck needs sufficient Freak Drives to operate. The Sense the Sin + Enkil Cog combo will provide me with an additional bleed. This is more of a fun deck than a tournament one, but I think this is the most unique of the decks I am recently thinking about....

5. Who let the Tupdogs out?

This deck will differ from other tupdog decks I've seen so far a lot. The idea here is to play Parthenon and Ashur Tablets + Effective Management. The rest of the deck is mainly (but not entirely) pure combat cards. The idea here is to use the Tupdogs to Amaranth everything with a title first (then the rest). That is why I need the Effective Managements. After a while there will be nothing left to burn me in blood hunts (I'll get the edge anyway). Once there is no one left in the ready region the few little Tremere Antitribu will bleed for 1 + I'll play a Smiling Jack that nobody will be able to burn. A Hunting Ground + Robert Carter combo seems to be awesome to finish my current prey off. I first thought that Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers will be optimal, but I realized the AI threat, so Robert Carter seems better.

That's all for today. Five decks should be sufficient for some time.

by: Mephistopheles

Deck idea: Original Amaranth Graham Crackers

Hi folks!

This is a deck idea inspired by my previous post. I haven't given it much thought. I was bored. Indeed.


Deck Name:   Original Amaranth Graham Crackers
Created By:  Mephistopheles
Description: Healthy Valley Original Amaranth Graham Crackers are all natural and are made with no genetically engeneered ingrediants.

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 12, Max: 28, Avg: 5)
-------------------------------------------
  4  Graham Gottesman                   obf pre tha DOM FOR7  Ventrue
  2  Louis Fortier                      aus dom for obf pre5  Ventrue
  2  Robin Withers                      dom obf pre    4  Ventrue
  1  Jackson Asher                      dom            2  Ventrue
  1  Jack Tredegar                      pre            2  Ventrue
  1  Emily Carson                       for pre DOM    5  Ventrue
  1  Victor Pelletier                   cel dom for PRE5  Ventrue

Library: (66 cards)
-------------------
Master (13 cards)
  3  Dreams of the Sphinx
  1  Pentex Subversion
  4  Vessel
  1  Ventrue Headquarters
  1  Uptown Hunting Ground
  3  Obfuscate

Action (7 cards)
  6  Govern the Unaligned
  1  Graverobbing

Action Modifier (12 cards)
  3  Hidden Lurker
  2  Mask of a Thousand Faces
  3  Forgotten Labyrinth
  3  Lost in Crowds
  1  Conditioning

Political Action (8 cards)
  4  Parity Shift
  3  Ventrue Justicar
  1  Neonate Breach

Reaction (8 cards)
  3  On the Qui Vive
  5  Deflection

Combat (13 cards)
  5  Disguised Weapon
  5  Skin of Steel
  3  Amaranth

Equipment (5 cards)
  1  Ivory Bow
  4  Improvised Flamethrower

by: Mephistopheles

What a flavor text!

Hi folks!

I just came along this by accident and I couldn't go pass this. There is a little flavor text on Anesthetic Touch: "Just relax; this won't hurt, much.Blanche Hill, Salubri"

It just reminded me of a deck I played for maybe more than 2 years. It was my favorite deck at that time and I played many finals with it, though I could never win one. Well, I should have quoted Blanche when playing it!

This was the final version:

Deck Name: Blanche and Friends

Created By: Martin "Mephistopheles" Major

Description: Fresh Blood Vienna

2009.03.01

2 GW 9 VP 0VP 2. place

Crypt:

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

4 Blanche Hill aus FOR OBE 6 Salubri

1 Blackhorse Tanner AUS DOM FOR 7 Ventrue Antitribu

1 Edward Neally aus DOM FOR pre7 Ventrue Antitribu

1 Owain Evans cel pre AUS DOM FOR8 Ventrue Antitribu

1 Vanessa aus DOM FOR pre6 Ventrue Antitribu

1 Ranjan Rishi DOM for PRE 5 Ventrue

1 Catherine du Bois DOM for obf pre5 Ventrue

1 Ingrid Russo for DOM4 Ventrue Antitribu (was a typo here earlier)

1 Lana Butcher dom for 3 Ventrue

Library: (60 cards)

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

Master (10 cards)

2 Vessel

2 Dominate

4 Heidelberg Castle, Germany

1 Pentex Subversion

1 Giant`s Blood

Action (18 cards)

8 Spirit Marionette

9 Govern the Unaligned

1 Slaughtering the Herd

Action Modifier (19 cards)

8 Conditioning

5 Daring the Dawn

1 Command

2 Repulsion

3 Freak Drive

Reaction (9 cards)

1 Delaying Tactics

5 Deflection

3 On the Qui Vive

Combat (4 cards)

4 Superior Mettle

Killer Combo: Derange + Sacrifice

Hi folks!

Okay, don't take this too seriously. It should sound more like this: funny combo. You know I like the vampire Louhi so from time to time I try to figure out what to play with her. And here we go:

I guess you can see the idea here. It's like playing with a PTO again. Since you have a Cardinal, you can also use the derange to get vote lock. Throw in some Banishments for the 7-9 caps and annoy your playgroup with this.

by: Mephistopheles

/I am working on Hungarian translations, so don't expect any smart post until I am finished with that./

Deck idea: A new way for Ravnos

Hi folks!

Norman Brown aka XZealot posted like endless decks on the newsgroup. For some people this seemed to be pretty annoying. Well you can't please everyone, right? I myself found some of XZealot's ideas pretty amusing, but there was one deck that caught my attention:

Ravnos Whack-a-Mole

The basic idea is that you steal all the pool from your prey's uncontrolled region. Should any vampire pop out you just send it back with Reality.

You can build a pretty cool swarm bleed module around it with Tumnimos and weenie Ravnos vampires. Week of Nightmares will give you ousting power and Chimerstry has pretty good stealth and combat defense available. I'm sure that my version of this deck would differ in many cards, but the basic idea is really cool. Thumbs up!!!

by: Mephistopheles

Deck idea: Osebo Vote Deck

Hi folks!

I was just looking through my 7 displays I took home with me from the NAC and the idea stroke me like a lightning. Cesewayo seems so strong to me, I must build a deck around him. Since I like to play toolboxy decks I can't ignore his 4 votes. Together with Kisha Bhimji and an Osebo Kholo, I can have 8 votes on the table. Add cards like Ancestor Spirit, Kduva's Mask and Sense Vibration to it and you can easily call your politics with 10-12 votes.

Also Cesewayo has a very strong defensive ability. He can get some Aye and a No Secrets from the Magaji, too. Superior Dominate will make Obedience a No-Brainer, also I can try to fit in some Govern the Unaligned's.

Of course he can get a very card effective combat on him with Well-Marked and Preternatural Strength. Maybe a Blood Shield will fit in there, too. Combat is not my main strategy here, I will go with permanent solutions only with the exception of Resist Earth's Grasp.

The only problem I see is pool management. Since I'd like to play with Kduva's Mask, Monastery of Shadows and maybe some other equipments like Sniper Rifle and Blood Shield, I need to generate sufficient pool. Ancient's Influence and Powerbase: Tschwane might not be enough. Maybe I should go for the Rack + Vessel module. Another option could be Bamba + Con Boon with Carver's Meat Packing Storage for possible blood support on Cesewayo.

Well, I will build an alpha version of the deck and give it a try. Too bad I don't see when I will have time and opportunity to play v:tes in the next few weeks...

by: Mephistopheles

Deck Idea: Maleficia Vote Deck

Hi folks!

I just had an awesome idea! Why not build a Maleficia Vote Deck with Annazir and Friends using Barreness to decrease capacity and play Neonate Breach. Add some Reckless Agitation and you have a crazy ousting power. Not only Barreness is useful, you can make good use of Psalm of the Damned, too.

The point is: reduce capacity so that every player has a vampire with capacity 4 or less. This way 1 Neonate Breach can inflict 16 pool damage to the table. AWESOME!!! Of course you need to play this smart otherwise the entire table will pull out your eyes and skull-fuck you...

Have fun shredding playaz!

by: Mephistopheles

Is she underrated???

Hi folks!

I've just spent a couple of minutes searching the FELDB for any vampire I haven't played with, yet. I came across Louhi and I have to say that I can't understand why I never played with her. She has awesome disciplines, a cardinal title and a very good special. The supporting vampires seem nice, too. So what am I waiting for?

I've searched the TWDA for her and was really surprised to find only 1 deck which used her as the main vampire. Thinking back, I really can't remember any single tournament when I've seen Louhi hit the board.

So I am off building the deck! It will be some sort of Vote Deck with a multi action module using Enkil Cog and Rutor's Hand. I'll throw in some The Call's so I will not depend on the Villein for pool gain. Black Forest Base seems like a must have in it. I'll write a report after playing the deck a couple of times!

by: Mephistopheles

TWD: HNC Katalinpuszta

Hi folks!

I just got the deck list of Szilver's winning deck. I really like this deck, especially the crypt choice. I hope the organizer(s) will post on the newsgroup so it will find its way in the TWDA!

Deck Name: bruce de guy vote

Created By: Sebestyen Balazs

Description:

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 21, Max: 40, Avg: 7,83)

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

1 Andrew Emory aus dom pot OBT5 Lasombra

2 Anton de Concepcion aus ANI DOM OBT POT9 Lasombra

4 Bruce de Guy AUS DOM FOR OBT10 Ventrue Antitribu

1 Jefferson Foster for tha AUS DOM6 Ventrue Antitribu

1 Jesse Menks ani AUS DOM FOR8 Ventrue Antitribu

1 Keith Moody DOM 3 Tremere Antitribu

2 Omme Enberbenight cel dom MYT OBT7 Kiasyd

Library: (89 cards)

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

Master (12 cards)

1 Blind Spot

1 Demonstration

1 Framing an Ancient Grudge

1 Giant`s Blood

1 Gurchon Hall

1 Information Highway

1 Monastery of Shadows

1 Vessel

4 Villein

Action (11 cards)

1 Eternal Vigilance

10 Govern the Unaligned

Action Modifier (32 cards)

4 Conditioning

2 Daring the Dawn

1 Enkil Cog

4 Freak Drive

1 Kiss of Ra, The

2 Notorious Brutality

5 Seduction

8 Shadow Play

1 Shroud of Absence

4 Shroud of Night

Political Action (12 cards)

1 Ancient Influence

1 Ancilla Empowerment

1 Banishment

7 Kine Resources Contested

1 Neonate Breach

1 Reins of Power

Reaction (15 cards)

8 Deflection

2 Eyes of Argus

2 Obedience

3 On the Qui Vive

Combat (7 cards)

7 Shadow Body

Note that Shadow Body is important to get the Governs at superior!

by: Mephistopheles

On demand: my TGB AAA deck

Hi folks!

Torrance Circle asked me to post my Toreador Grand Ball deck, so here it is:

Deck Name: AAA - yawn

Created By: Martin

Description:

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 31, Max: 44, Avg: 9,41)

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

4 Alexandra ANI AUS CEL dom PRE11 Toreador

2 Anneke AUS CEL dom PRE10 Toreador

4 Anson aus CEL dom PRE8 Toreador

1 Francois Villon AUS CEL chi obf pot PRE10

Toreador

1 Tatiana Romanov AUS cel pre 7 Toreador

Library: (75 cards)

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

Master (27 cards)

1 Archon Investigation

2 Dreams of the Sphinx

1 Giant`s Blood

1 Monastery of Shadows

1 Pentex Subversion

7 Toreador Grand Ball

7 Villein

1 Wider View

6 Zillah`s Valley

Action Modifier (11 cards)

1 Approximation of Loyalty

3 Awe

3 Perfect Paragon

4 Voter Captivation

Political Action (15 cards)

1 Anarchist Uprising

1 Ancilla Empowerment

2 Banishment

4 Parity Shift

4 Kine Resources Contested

2 Neonate Breach

1 Reins of Power

Reaction (13 cards)

2 My Enemy`s Enemy

2 On the Qui Vive

3 Second Tradition: Domain, The

4 Telepathic Misdirection

2 Wake with Evening`s Freshness

Combat (7 cards)

7 Majesty

Equipment (1 cards)

1 Heart of Nizchetus

Event (1 cards)

1 Anthelios, the Red Star

I didn't take it to a tournament, yet. After several rounds in casual games I have a very good feeling for this deck. It seems well balanced and I could win most of the recent games with it.

by: Mephistopheles

Deck revealed: Nergal's Snake Form

Hi folks!

My friend Csaba Greguss had a wonderful deck built around Nergal and The Eternal Mask. We played many games together and it was always fun to see this deck work. I wanted to post it here earlier, but we agreed on posting it only when he will stop playing with it. Finally Csaba decided to stop playing the deck, so here it is:

DECK: Nergal's Snake Farm
CREATOR: Csaba Greguss

2 Nergal 10 FOR, THA
1 Neferu 9 THA
1 Pentweret 9 for
1 Shemti 9
1 Porphyrion 9 for
1 Ankh-sen Sutekh 6 bleed2
1 Arnulf Jormungandrsson 8
1 Seren sukardi 7 THA
1 Sundervere 8 THA
1 Halim Bey 6 tha
1 Amenophobis 7 cycling

4 Recruitment
2 Heidelberg Castle
1 Antediluwian Awakening
7 Villein
1 Giant's Blood
1 House of Sorrow
1 Monastery of Shadows
1 Opium Den

12 Eternal's Mask
2 Soul Gem of Etrius
1 Martinelli's Ring
1 Heart of Nizchetus
4 Magic of the Smith
9 Force of Will

3 Lost in Crowds
3 Faceless Nights
3 Spying Mission
1 Forgotten Labyrinth
3 Aire of Elation

The basic idea is to burn Nergal and bring him back with The Eternal Mask. Even though it is a very creative approach it is basically still a stealth-bleed deck. It can generate a surprisingly large amount of pool and once the combo gets going it has very good ousting power. My favourite part of it is still the use of Martinelli's Ring, which can burn the Eternal Mask's not needed to give you another vampire to act. Give this deck a try if you want, it is really funny to play!

by: Mephistopheles