Guruhi Newsletter February 2007 Introduction: This being my first ever newsletter, I thought I would preface my comments by mentioning that I have been a player of the card game since the Jyhad days but know nothing about the fictional World of Darkness. Thus, flavor text and background information will be omitted unless someone else steps forward to assist me. And, as it is also the first Guruhi newsletter, the discussion will be limited to an overview of all the cards available to the clan with a more detailed analysis reserved for future newsletters. Guruhi Crypt cards: 1) Lumumba - 4 cap. ani/PRE. G4. One of four Group 3 & 4 vampires with superior presence under five capacity, and the only Guruhi not to have all three clan disciplines at least at inferior, Lumumba seems to fit well with the Ahrimanes. Given the versatility of presence and the small investment of pool required, I would expect to see this vampire a lot. 2) Urenna Bunu - 4 cap. ani/pot/pre. G4. Each of the clan disciplines at inferior, a standard vampire by most standards. 3) Fish - 5 cap. pre/ANI/POT. G4. Two clan disciplines at superior and the other at inferior make Fish a real bargain. He will be a staple in any Guruhi deck and could easily mix with Darva, Amelia, Hezekiah, Sundown and his smaller Guruhi brethren for a little Group 3/4 bruise and bleed action. 4) Batsheva - 6 cap. obt/pot/ANI/PRE. G4. Batsheva gets +1 strength in combat with a Tzimisce. Like Fish, two clan disciplines at superior and the other at inferior, but add inferior obtenebration and a corner case ability and Batsheva is evenly costed. Note the similarity to Gentha Shale. 5) Aren, Priest of Eshu - 7 cap. ani/obf/POT/PRE. G4. Aren gets +1 stealth on political actions. Any vampire voting against a referendum called by Aren burns 1 blood when the results are tallied. Having only inferior animalism seems expensive for seven pool. However, Aren also has the always-useful discipline obfuscate at inferior plus two very good abilities making this vampire a real threat when voting, in combat or as a bleeder. 6) Maskini - 7 cap. abo/ANI/POT/PRE/SER. G4. If Maskini attempts an unsuccessful action, or attempts to block but is not successful, he burns 1 blood at the end of that action. Before you get all excited about the youngest Guruhi to have all three clan disciplines at superior, read his limitation. Lack of significant stealth or intercept will make it hard for this vampire to do anything without burning blood. That's a steep price, even with the two additional disciplines. 7) Sobayifa - 8 cap. aus/pot/pro/spi/ANI/PRE. G3. Magaji. Three added inferior disciplines makes up for the lack of superior potence and allows Sobayifa to see some use in some different decks (Group 2/3 Ahrimanes seems likely.) This is the smallest titled vampire in the clan and those two permanent votes for being a Magaji will usually come in handy in any game. 8) Iniko, The Black Lion - 9 cap. cel/ANI/OBT/POT/PRE. G4. +1 stealth. As a Guruhi, Iniko is an oddball. Having one permanent, unconditional stealth on every action is a wonderful ability. But, for his size, he is expensive. In a mostly-Guruhi deck, his out-of-clan disciplines will typically go unused. He works well with the Lasombra, but there are better, cheaper choices in Group 3/4. 9) Nangila Were - 9 cap. obf/ser/ANI/POT/PRE. G4. Nangila may enter combat with a minion controlled by another Methuselah as a (D) action. While Nangila is ready, your hand size is one card larger. Nangila features two powerful abilities that best support a combat strategy. The inferior obfuscate pairs with Aren opening up stealth/ bleed and stealth/vote possibilities, though this strategy would require a significant number of obfuscate cards to maintain sufficient stealth as well as several out-of-clan support vampires to keep a balanced crypt. 10) Ugadja - 10 cap. dom/for/ABO/ANI/POT/PRE. G4. Magaji. Ugadja may move up to 2 blood from himself to a younger Laibon in your uncontrolled region as a +1 stealth action. While it's always nice to have two permanent votes on the table, Ugadja's three extra disciplines don't much fit within the clan. His ability is okay if you're using Freak Drives to untap afterwards and take another action, but then the cost is three blood! I'd rather use a Founders to cycle cards and keep the extra blood. 11) Eze, The Demon Prince - 11 cap. aus/ANI/NEC/POT/PRE/THA. G3. Magaji. Eze gets 1 additional vote. Once each turn when Eze successfully performs a non-hunt action, he untaps after resolving that action. Two strong abilities and the Magaji title to boot... what's not to love? Eze shares inferior auspex and Group 3 status with Sobayifa, but you will have to look elsewhere to make use of his superior necromancy and thaumaturgy. Guruhi-specific Library cards: 1) Ananasi Vampirephile - Werewolf with 4 life. 2 strength, 1 bleed. Ananasi gets an optional maneuver each combat. Once each combat, she can burn a life during the press step to get a press and set the range in the next round of that combat, if any. She can gain a life as a +1 stealth action. Once each turn, she may play a card that requires basic Animalism [ani] as a vampire. A solid ally. Although, when your vampires are already larger than average, can you really spare four pool? It might be worth including a single copy to discourage non-combat decks. But if the table is showing combat, make this your discard. 2) Founders of the Ebony Kingdom - +1 stealth action. Put this card on a younger Laibon in your uncontrolled region and move 4 blood from the blood bank to that vampire. (This card remains in play.) A vampire may have only one Founders of the Ebony Kingdom. Burn this card if the vampire leaves the uncontrolled region. For the cost of a blood, several copies are required in any deck containing a significant number of Guruhi and any smaller supporting Laibon. 3) Guruhi Are the Land, The - Only usable during a bleed, hunt, or equip action. If this is a bleed action, this Guruhi gets +1 bleed, and you may not play another action modifier to further increase the bleed for this action. If this is a hunt action, this Guruhi gains an additional blood if successful. If this is an equip action, this Guruhi untaps if the action is successful. When you pay for bigger vampires, you expect more power. This card doesn't give you that unless you are using it after a successful equip action. Then it's a free untap with optional uses available so that multiple copies don't clog up your hand. 4) Guruhi Kholo - Only usable during a political action. Usable by a tapped vampire. Title. Put this card on this Guruhi to represent the unique Laibon title of Guruhi Kholo (worth 2 votes). Not usable if there are any older ready untitled Guruhi. Whenever this vampire is not a ready Guruhi or there is an older ready untitled Guruhi, move this card to (one of) the oldest ready untitled Guruhi (if any). If you're playing with untitled Guruhi, seems reasonable to include one or two of these in your deck. 5) King's Favor - Only usable during a referendum. Boon. This Guruhi gets 3 additional votes. If this Guruhi votes in favor, and the referendum passes by the number of votes this Guruhi cast or fewer, put this card in play. While this card is in play, that acting vampire may not block this Guruhi. You may burn this card during any Methuselah's untap phase to move up to 3 blood from that vampire to this Guruhi. This card requires another Methuselah to call a vote first, which immediately limits its usefulness by at least 66%. Is the return on investment worth the opportunity cost? I don't think so. 6) Palace Hunting Ground - Master: unique location. Hunting ground. During your untap phase, you may move 1 blood from the blood bank to a ready Guruhi you control. Not usable to move a blood to a Guruhi with no blood. A vampire can gain blood from only one hunting ground card each turn. It's a Hunting Ground that only cost one pool! But, there's a catch... just remember that Blood Dolls work on your Master phase and Hunting Grounds work on your Untap phase and not the other way around. Plan ahead. Deck of the Month: This is my best attempt so far at building a mostly-Guruhi tournament- worthy deck. Its goal is fairly straightforward... block, bruise and bleed. You'll spend the first several turns influencing out one or two Magaji and support vamps. This is where you are most vulnerable. Multiple copies of Dreams, Enchant Kindred and Founders should help with this. Then you want to get No Secrets on one or more Magaji and start tooling up. Guruhi Are the Land is invaluable here and will be equally useful later for the bleed boost. Use punishing combat to discourage blockers. There are a few KRCs for deal-making (since you can't push votes) and Ancestor Sprit, Fame and Kduva's Mask provide solid ousting power while Blood Dolls, Mbare Market and Palace HG keep your blood/pool supply up. This deck doesn't do anything better than other decks, but it does do many things well. Well enough to win is the question? You're comments are encouraged. Crypt: (12) 3x Sobayifa 2x Eze, The Demon Prince 1x Aren, Priest of Eshu 1x Batsheva 1x Fish 1x Patrick 1x Sundown 1x Ugadja 1x Urenna Bunu Library: (90) Master: (12) 4x Blood Doll 3x Dreams of the Sphinx 1x Ancestor Spirit 1x Direct Intervention 1x Fame 1x Mbare Market, Harare 1x Palace Hunting Ground Action: (15) 6x No Secrets From the Magaji 5x Enchant Kindred 4x Founders of the Ebony Kingdom Action Modifier: (9) 8x The Guruhi Are the Land 1x Strange Day Action Modifier / Reaction: (1) 1x Guruhi Kholo Combat: (27) 9x Carrion Crows 8x Immortal Grapple 7x Torn Signpost 3x Taste of Vitae Equipment: (12) 4x IR Goggles 3x Sport Bike 2x .44 Magnum 1x Bowl of Convergence 1x Kduva's Mask 1x Phased Motion Detector Political Action: (4) 4x Kine Resources Contested Reaction: (6) 5x Wake with Evening's Freshness 1x On the Qui Vive Retainer: (4) 2x Shaman 1x Mr. Winthrop 1x Raven Spy Shane J. Strait Bruinfan17111@yahoo.com