True Brujah Newsletter April 2006 Mark Merlin Petersen, writer and editor hallofhadescourt@sbcglobal.net In honor of the new ally-only crypt cards, I give to you, the reader, an opportunity to get use out of some dusty cards in your collection while at the same time being competitive at the Nights of Reckoning pre-release. Trophies for Trujah Trophy cards are a largely un(der)used portion of many collections. The True Brujah have a couple of ways to get some use out of them. The toughest part of using them is burning a Red List minion. Also, since burning minions is a much-less viable ousting strategy than sending them to torpor, lacking the common combat-support options of Dragonbound and Fame, additional provisions must be made in order to oust. Burning Minions 1. Diablerie: The classic minion elimination method, diablerie becomes a much easier prospect with Trophy: Diablerie to cancel a blood hunt. It is tough to support Trophy play with only this burn-method, however, since the Diablerie Trophy must be re-acquired to thwart each blood hunt. This makes acquiring multiple other Trophies tougher during the beginning of the game. 2. Multiple aggravated wounds: Nu is pretty decent at this, but lacks the title to Red List minions. Since all True Brujah have POT TEM, Domain of Evernight, Torn Signpost, and Lapse/Immortal Grapple is a possibility. Convincing a Red List minion to block the actions of the prospective Trophy hunter may be difficult after the first use of this combination, however. There is always Burning Wrath for the desperate Trophy-hunter, which can be pushed to astronomical levels by Increased Strength and Torn Signpost. Synesios and Al-Muntaquim have the Obfuscate to use Disguised Weapon on the Sengir Dagger and Black Gloves, which can then be augmented by the diamond-fist for burning power. Lapse is great target-acquisition in this kind of deck. 3. Decapitate: Sending a minion to torpor by whatever means necessary and then using Decapitate is awesome. A Flamethrower gained by Kiss of Lachesis can be used with Lapse, Decapitate, and Ritual of the Bitter Rose to burn and bloat. Torn Signpost , Immortal Grapple, and Disarm can set a Decapitate up at an even cheaper blood-cost, but at a higher cost in transient cards. If Nehemiah gets an Obtenebration skill card, Lapse + Entombment + Decapitate becomes possible, at an astronomical cost of six blood. 4. Kiss of Lachesis: This only works against Red List allies, of course, but Caiaphas Smith is a traitorous ally. The True Brujah with titles also have superior Presence to play The Summoning and fish Caiaphas out of the library. Then Red List, wait a turn, and burn him with a Kiss of Lachesis. Also, in an ally-heavy metagame, Red List and Kiss of Lachesis will change the tune of more than one Renegade Garou or War Ghoul deck. The coming Night of Reckoning set even features mortal ally crypt cards, so Caiaphas and The Summoning can be removed from the equation for the 40/40 format. Maybe the Imbued will be able to cancel the Kiss (Hide or whatever other defenses they have), but chances are the Trujah are going to end up with some Trophies by end-game. So dust off those four Synesios and the unused Trophies in the ol' collection. It's time to shine. The Oust Since dedicating a pile of cards in a deck to offensive combat with intent to burn, oust strategies can't be combat- (well, torpor-) oriented. Still, Fame and Tension in the Ranks have their place in a Trophy-Hunter's arsenal. I suggest bleed-pump and/or weenie bleed support in addition to the Trophy Hunter of choice. Vote-oust tends to be too card intensive (in addition to a Trophy-build) and can therefore jam up a hand. Bleeds are a little more user-friendly and this leaves room for some bloat and maybe even a few reaction cards. Using Trophies to augment the oust is the way to go, since the purpose of the deck is to burn Red List minions first and foremost. Trophy: Retainers (gaining J.S. Simmons, Tasha Morgan, and possibly Robert Carter) and Trophy: Clan Respect will give the most bang for the buck as far as oust-power goes, and against a single-clan deck it can be a death sentence. Trophy: Wealth with multiple laptops is another decent option, since True Brujah have multi-action capacity (and need to multi-act to be used effectively). The Wealthy time-traveler can equip a laptop, untap with Clotho's Gift/Mylan Horseed/Domain of Evernight, and bleed for +1 ever after. Doing this every turn will surely garner an oust eventually, but watch out for those Archons, and be sure to pack Tangle Atropos' hand for responsibility in bleeding. Trophies Cardname: Trophy: Clan Respect Cardtype: Master Set: KMW Cardtext: Master. Trophy. When this card enters play, choose a clan. Vampires of the chosen clan cannot block the vampire with this card. Trujah don't have a ton of stealth options, though Tangle Atropos Hand is great. Bleeding a mono-clan deck with Clan Respect is golden. Mono-clan decks aren't entirely uncommon, either. Tangle supplements it quite well as responsible bleeding for bounce. Metagames with few mono-clan decks will not enjoy this as much, however. Rating: B- Cardname: Trophy: Diablerie Cardtype: Master Set: KMW Cardtext: Master. Trophy. The vampire with this card gets +2 stealth when attempting diablerie. Blood hunts cannot be called against this vampire. If this vampire successfully diablerizes another vampire, burn this card at the end of the action. One of the better Trophies, as it has great synergy with burning minions as a D action through diablerie. The downside is that it must always be burned just after the action, and if there aren't any other Trophies in play then nothing is gained aside from the burning of a minion, but depending on minion-size the gain could be significant. Decapitate may be a better way to go about Trophy-hunting for the Trujah, but a copy of this w/ a spare Amaranth can be a good supplement. Rating: B+ Cardname: Trophy: Discipline Cardtype: Master Set: KMW Cardtext: Master. Trophy. When this card enters play, choose a Discipline. The vampire with this card has the chosen Discipline at the superior level. I haven't had much luck with this one. Since the Trujah already have an odd discipline i usually avoid mixing in anything but the skill cards i require to get combinations rolling. Entombment requires superior Obtenebration, for example, but since i need OBT to play the card to get Trophies, relying on a Trophy to get me there is not an option. Also, the card is static once it hits the table, and so it lacks the versatility of Spontaneous Power in multi-discipline decks where that card shines. It could find a home in a trick-Trophy deck, but it really isn't that great. Rating: D- Cardname: Trophy: Domain Cardtype: Master Set: KMW Cardtext: Master. Trophy. The vampire with this card has +1 intercept. Once each action, this vampire can burn 1 blood to untap and attempt to block. Hello, Magaji! Yeah, this one is more expensive than No Secrets, but it's also totally permanent, so with a decent blood supply and a way to consistently survive (read: own) combat it is the best trophy of all. Trujah can tool up with a Flamethrower or Assault Rifle for cheap using Kiss of Lachesis and get a Path of the Scorched Heart to avoid frenzies. Then the machine is set to fire away. True Brujah have poor intercept options, so this is the Independent's No Secrets or Eternal Vigilance. Note that Trophy: Domain stacks, so +1 intercept is gained every time it is gained, and extra copies are not worthless in the deck. Rating: A+ Cardname: Trophy: Hunting Ground Cardtype: Master Set: KMW Cardtext: Master. Trophy. Hunting Ground. During your untap phase, the vampire with this card gains 2 blood from the blood bank. A vampire can gain blood from only one Hunting Ground card each turn. This is probably my second favorite Trophy, as it is a permanent Rack that cannot be stolen or moved. In combination with Trophy: Domain, it can make for a nasty wall strategy and with a couple of Blood Dolls it makes a decent bloat engine. Also, Temporis cards cost blood, so this sort of recursion is great for Trujah. A Tabriz Assembly makes the total blood gain three per turn, which is enough to survive indefinitely in some environments. Rating: A Cardname: Trophy: Progeny Cardtype: Master Set: KMW Cardtext: Master. Trophy. If this card would be moved to a non-sterile vampire, that vampire's controller takes control of it instead, and it becomes a non-unique vampire of the same clan as that vampire with 2 capacity. He or she may go through his or her library (shuffle afterward), ash heap or hand to find a Discipline card for this new vampire. Move 2 blood from the blood bank to this new vampire. The idea of dropping a bunch of little Trujah into play amuses me, but the possibility of Banishment and/or burning makes it a scary proposition. If Synesios burns, not only would the cost to re-recruit him have to be paid, but the Scarce penalty would be triggered by his many Progeny. No good. Rating: F Cardname: Trophy: Retainers Cardtype: Master Set: KMW Cardtext: Master. Trophy. During your untap phase, if this card is on a vampire, you may search your library (shuffle afterward) or hand for a retainer. This vampire employs that retainer (he or she must meet the requirements, if any). Pay the cost as normal. This is not an action. This card is great, simply put. Useful with Marijava Ghouls for the Trujah, using Legal Manipulations to bleed. Even better with a few Trophy: Clan Respect to cancel blocks and some extra bleed retainers like Simmons, Morgan, and Carter. Trophy: Hunting Ground can help pay the cost for Robert Carter. Mr. Winthrop supports Trophy: Domain use and Jackie Therman is a free maneuver. Oh, and Ghoul Retainers are pretty nice with extra weapons gained via Kiss of Lachesis. Having trouble burning Red List minions? Shoot with the Assault Rifle while Wadsworth uses the Flamethrower! "Your AK-47, Sir." Rating: A+ Cardname: Trophy: Safe Passage Cardtype: Master Set: KMW Cardtext: Master. Trophy. While the vampire with this card is ready, he or she cannot be the target of (D) actions. An excellent defensive card, as it does not burn when the host is in torpor, just loses its properties. I find it a little antithetical to the Trophy ideal of *wanting* to enter combat, but it also protects against Sensory Deprivation, Condemnations (there's a Baali guy in my playgroup, it's annoying), and the like. In not-so-combaty Trophy decks, such as the Synesios-Caiaphas one at the end of the newsletter, it can be gold. Rating: A- Cardname: Trophy: Wealth Cardtype: Master Set: KMW Cardtext: Master. Trophy. When this card is placed on a vampire, put five counters on it. The vampire with this card can use these counters to pay some or all of the blood or pool cost of equipment. Burn this card when it the last counter is removed. This card is not of particular interest to me, because Kiss of Lachesis already offers bargain-basement prices for equipment. The acting Trujah can pay the cost to move equipment using Kiss from this card, so it isn't a total loss, but i find it's opportunity cost not worth the card slot. I'd rather have a Trophy: Hunting Ground, Domain, or Retainers most of the time. Rating: C Cardname: Kiss of Lachesis Cardtype: Action Set: BL, LoB Cost: 1 blood Discipline: Serpentis/Temporis Cardtext: +1 stealth action. [ser] (D) Burn a retainer or a non-unique equipment card. [tem] (D) Burn a retainer, ally or non-unique equipment card. [TEM] Move a non-unique equipment card from any Methuselah's ash heap to this vampire. If the equipment card comes from your ash heap, pay half the cost (round down), otherwise no cost is paid. Burning minions is going to require some moxy. Permanent moxy is what the Trujah are all about. Yeah, they can rush and hit for eight with Potence, Decapitate, Taste, and so on, but the Path of the Scorched Heart is just begging to be abused. Permanent anti-frenzy with powerful ranged technology can be devastating and is much more card efficient than piling on the Potence. And Lapse+Decapitate with a Flamethrower is fairly short-chain, if expensive. 40/40 ideas for the Nights of Reckoning pre-release Deck Name : Nehemiah 40 40 for NoR Author : Mark Merlin Petersen Description : Red List Imbued. Burn them. Dance upon their ashes. Gain Trophies. Society of Leopold vampires. Burn them (maybe with hunter actions to damage them?). Dance upon their ashes. Gain VPs. Use the Waste Management Op to keep the deck flowing and to move discarded retainers back into the library after Trophy: Retainers is gained. Try to limit yourself to 60 cards at the actual event so that it flows as well as possible. The ability to place two cards on the bottom of your library should keep you at an optimal place most of the time. Archon Investigation could be an issue. If you fear it, drop Robert for a Jackie Therman or a Clotho's Gift. Crypt [8 vampires] Capacity min: 2 max: 9 average: 5.5 ------------------------------------------------------------ 4x Nehemiah 9 POT PRE SER TEM obt 2 votes True Bruj:4 4x Jayne Jonestown 2 PRE !Brujah:4 Library [40 cards] ------------------------------------------------------------ Action [8] 4x Kiss of Lachesis 3x Red List 1x Summoning, The Action Modifier [14] 6x Domain of Evernight 3x Recurring Contemplation 3x Tangle Atropos' Hand 2x Shadow Play Ally [3] 2x Caiaphas Smith 1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin) Combat [2] 2x Majesty Master [10] 2x Blood Doll 1x Society of Leopold 1x Tabriz Assembly 1x Trophy: Clan Respect 1x Trophy: Domain 1x Trophy: Hunting Ground 1x Trophy: Retainers 1x Trophy: Safe Passage 1x Waste Management Operation Retainer [3] 1x J. S. Simmons, Esq. 1x Robert Carter 1x Tasha Morgan Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Wed Apr 05 14:40:18 2006] Deck Name : Synesios 40 40 for NoR Author : Mark Merlin Petersen Description : Red List Imbued. Burn them with Kiss of Lachesis to collect Trophies. Dance upon their ashes. Use the WMO to move discarded retainers back into the library after Trophy: Retainers is gained. Bleed like a pig with Synesios after removing mean hunters. Crypt [8 vampires] Capacity min: 2 max: 8 average: 5.38 ------------------------------------------------------------ 4x Synesios 8 POT PRE TEM obf ser 2 votes True Bruj:2 2x Frederick the Weak 2 pre !Brujah:2 1x Nepata 4 obf pre ser Follower :2 1x Lena Rowe 3 aus obf pre Pander:2 Library [40 cards] ------------------------------------------------------------ Action [14] 4x Clotho's Gift 4x Kiss of Lachesis 4x Red List 2x Summoning, The Action Modifier [12] 6x Domain of Evernight 1x Faceless Night 2x Forgotten Labyrinth 2x Recurring Contemplation 1x Tangle Atropos' Hand Ally [3] 2x Caiaphas Smith 1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin) Combat [2] 2x Majesty Master [7] 2x Blood Doll 1x Tabriz Assembly 1x Trophy: Hunting Ground 1x Trophy: Retainers 1x Trophy: Safe Passage 1x Waste Management Operation Retainer [3] 1x J. S. Simmons, Esq. 1x Robert Carter 1x Tasha Morgan Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Wed Apr 05 14:50:34 2006] Deck Name : The Shadow Out of Time (Bloodsport remix) Author : Mark Merlin Petersen Description : The combo we're looking for is Lapse+Entombment+Decapitate+Ritual of the Bitter Rose. I've got a bunch of hand-enhancers to help facilitate the idea, and i've thrown the Eye of Hazimel in for good measure (to reduce the cost of "the combo"). This deck lacks the oust-module of Fame+Tension+Dragonbound, instead garnering retainers from Trophy: Retainers to bleed out my victims. Trophy: Clan Respect helps a little, but i usually use it for my second prey or my predator if they look robust. Yes, there are many master cards in the deck, but i rarely experience hand-jam. I can place two of them on the bottom of my library during untap w/ Nehemiah, and Dreams of the Sphinx is great for extra discards. Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 9 average: 6.67 ------------------------------------------------------------ 5x Nehemiah 9 POT PRE SER TEM obt 2 votes True Bruj:4 3x Shawnda Dorrit 6 CEL obt pot pre priscus !Brujah:4 1x Dr. Julius Sutphen 5 POT dom obt bishop Lasombra:3 1x Gemini 5 OBF ani obt pot Nosferatu:3 1x Tock 4 obf pot pre !Nosferatu:3 1x Hester Reed 3 obt pot Lasombra:3 Library [90 cards] ------------------------------------------------------------ Action [18] 1x Aranthebes, The Immortal 2x Big Game 2x Black Metamorphosis 2x Clotho's Gift 2x Path of the Scorched Heart, The 2x Rampage 7x Red List Action Modifier [11] 1x Blanket of Night 4x Domain of Evernight 1x Nightshades 2x Recurring Contemplation 2x Shadow Play 1x Shroud of Night Action Modifier/Combat [6] 3x Form of the Serpent 3x Ritual of the Bitter Rose Ally [2] 1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter) 1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin) Combat [23] 1x Amaranth 6x Decapitate 6x Entombment 8x Lapse 2x Shadow Step Equipment [4] 4x Eye of Hazimel Master [22] 4x Blood Doll 3x Dreams of the Sphinx 4x Obtenebration 1x Tabriz Assembly 2x Trophy: Clan Respect 1x Trophy: Diablerie 2x Trophy: Domain 1x Trophy: Hunting Ground 1x Trophy: Retainers 2x Vast Wealth 1x Waste Management Operation Retainer [4] 1x J. S. Simmons, Esq. 1x Jackie Therman 1x Mr. Winthrop 1x Tasha Morgan Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Sun Apr 02 00:16:40 2006] Deck Name : Caiaphas Walks a Thin Line Author : Mark Merlin Petersen Description : Synesios uses the Summoning to get Caiaphas early, untaps, Red Lists him, and then burns him with a Kiss of Lachesis after he moves to my predator. This can garner several Trophies in the early game. Of course, in a combat heavy environment like the one i play-test in, this one can be a bear because of the lack of transient combat cards. I had some trouble during play test and added in the 2x Lapse and 2x Majesty. Also, i diversified the crypt w/ Obfuscate-y weenies instead of the !Brujah i was running for a WMO (dropped). If Synesios can get 2x T: Domain, the Ghoul Retainer, and one or two of the big guns, he'll do pretty well. If not, you may be in trouble. Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 2 max: 8 average: 5.67 ------------------------------------------------------------ 5x Synesios 8 POT PRE TEM obf ser 2 votes True Bruj:2 1x Calebros, The Mart 5 ANI obf pot prince Nosferatu:2 1x Cicatriz 5 ani obf pot bishop !Nosferatu:2 1x Olivia 5 OBF POT vic bishop !Nosferatu:2 1x Nepata 4 obf pre ser Follower :2 1x Tock 4 obf pot pre !Nosferatu:3 1x Lena Rowe 3 aus obf pre Pander:2 1x Frederick the Weak 2 pre !Brujah:2 Library [90 cards] ------------------------------------------------------------ Action [26] 1x Aranthebes, The Immortal 6x Clotho's Gift 1x Heart of the City 7x Kiss of Lachesis 2x Path of the Scorched Heart, The 6x Red List 3x Summoning, The Action Modifier [20] 7x Domain of Evernight 1x Cloak the Gathering 3x Forgotten Labyrinth 1x Lost in Crowds 5x Recurring Contemplation 1x Spying Mission 2x Tangle Atropos' Hand Ally [7] 4x Caiaphas Smith 1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter) 1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin) 1x Procurer Combat [4] 2x Lapse 2x Majesty Equipment [4] 2x Assault Rifle 2x Flamethrower Master [20] 4x Blood Doll 2x Direct Intervention 2x Dreams of the Sphinx 1x Giant's Blood 2x Life in the City 1x Perfectionist 1x Tabriz Assembly 1x Trophy: Clan Respect 1x Trophy: Diablerie 2x Trophy: Domain 1x Trophy: Hunting Ground 1x Trophy: Retainers 1x Trophy: Safe Passage Reaction [4] 2x Delaying Tactics 2x Wake with Evening's Freshness Retainer [5] 1x Ghoul Retainer 1x J. S. Simmons, Esq. 1x Jackie Therman 1x Mr. Winthrop 1x Tasha Morgan Crafted with: Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Wed Apr 05 09:58:35 2006]