True Brujah Newsletter, July 2006 Mark Merlin Petersen hallofhadescourt@sbcglobal.net Sleeping with Cobras Nehemiah has a whole lot of Serpentis that seems to be generally ignored. His ability to hand-cycle and the outferior obfuscate versions of so many Temporis cards make him mix well with Followers of Set. But which way is the best to capitalize on superior Serpentis? For hand-cycling, Cagliostro is an excellent choice as a companion to Nehemiah. Combined with a Tabriz Assembly, that's an eight-card hand with up to two cards to the bottom of the library during the untap phase and up to two in the discard pile during the discard phase per turn, for a total of four cards moved. Cycling one's hand into "the good stuff" can mean the difference between success and failure in almost any game, so this strength should not be underestimated. Cardname: Nehemiah Cardtype: Vampire Set: LoB Sect: Independent Group: 4 Clan: True Brujah Capacity: 9 Discipline: obt POT PRE SER TEM Cardtext: Independent: Nehemiah has 2 votes (titled). During your untap phase, you may move up to two cards from your hand to the bottom of your library (draw afterward). Nehemiah cannot use cards that require Celerity [cel]. Scarce. Cardname: Cagliostro, The Grand Copht Cardtype: Vampire Set: KMW Sect: Independent Group: 4 Clan: Follower of Set Capacity: 8 Discipline: nec OBF pot PRE SER Cardtext: Independent: If Cagliostro is ready during your discard phase, you get an additional discard phase action. If Cagliostro is blocked and combat occurs, he may place a corruption counter on the blocking minion when that combat ends. Now 17 pool worth of vampires is about as much as one can get during the course of a highly competitive game, so pool recursion and defense is going to be important with these two as the kingpins of a deck. Oh, and there must be a way to oust, as well. Serpentis+Temporis defense module: Bleed Reduction and discouragement - 1x Retribution 0-4x Quicksilver Contemplation (I don't like using this unless I plan to use the aus outferior as well. Just using it a bleed reduction seems inefficient to me) 2-4x Frozen Object 2x Rewind Time 2x Confusion of the Eye (these last two cards, CotE and Rewind Time, have some utility against both bleeds and votes) 4-6x Ecstasy 2-3x Dummy Corporation 1-2x Crocodile Temple 1x Vox Domini or Direct Intervention as additional vote defense, or 1 Archon Investigation or Major Boon for further bleed defense. This is actually a powerful package to punish potentially troublesome bleeders, but it turns out that ousting the predator is worth zero VP. This kind of package goes a long way to taking pressure off of oneself, however, so only the most obstinate of bleed players will self-oust by continuing to push into this kind of pain. The downside is that getting the right mode of defense takes an action from Nehemiah (Frozen Object superior) and requires that at least one of the two, preferable both, are untapped for reactions. This can be accomplished in several ways: Mylan Horseed Domain of Evernight (Nehemiah only) Clotho's Gift (Nehemiah only) Truth of a Thousand Lies (Both, but expensive) Copious Wake With Evening's Freshness Majesty or Internal Recursion after a block ...or some combination thereof. Pool Recursion: Nehemiah can use Clotho's Gift and Enchant Kindred superior to place counters on Cagliostro and other support crew to reduce the cost of unliving. Cagliostro can use the outferior of Clotho's to look for new recruits or the superior of Enchant to give love to the little guys. Enchant can also double as some oust-help with the inferior bleed. Blood Dolls and Minion Taps are also good ways to stay alive while setting up, but Serpentis and Temporis are fairly expensive disciplines blood-wise, so be careful to keep the lads healthy enough to get the job done. That f'ing oust: Bleed Bleeding is the standard way to get the job done. This is a crowd pleaser; it's simple and easy to remember. All vampires can have a go at it, and Mylan can help in a pinch. Heart of the City is a great addition to a bleeder, especially if there is either a stealth element to push the payload through or a bruise element to punish blockers. Nehemiah and most of the support have Potence, for instance. Rush This is a card-intensive option but it is difficult to ignore the Potence going to waste in the crypt. It will be important to maximize utility by including small combinations of cards that get the job done while limiting the amount of space that they take up. Typhonic Beast and Disarm make for a nasty combination that also protects the bullies from some hitback and potential agg-poke. Superior Temporis Lapse and Disarm avoids non-additional strike hitback altogether, but is costly. Majesty is just generally good for the safety of minions and for multiacting (well, there's a block and an unsuccessful action involved). The real problem comes from stapling in rush cards to make sure the red cards get played. I've chosen to play a more bruise/bleed style deck with some of the above combinations and no rush cards. Bleed actions, preferably with Heart of the City, will be my 'enter combat' actions. A few Fame and a Tension in the Ranks will help to make the "do i block the bleed for three and take my chances in combat?" choice a little harder to make. Vote The most card-intensive option for oust, because of the amount of transient votes necessary to make it viable with this crypt. The lack of permanent votes can be countered somewhat by Free States Rant, but several action mods will be necessary to pass votes and to regain pool at the same time. Some of the Enchants could be dropped in favor of Voter Captivation in this style, but card slots should also be devoted to cards like the Society of Leopold and Temptation to get the most out of the damage being done to opponent's minions. Unfortunately, this doesn't necessarily lead to an oust, as minion removal is not the same as pool removal. Conservative Agitation, Anarchist Uprising, and the ubiquitous Kine Resources Contested are the most popular pool damage votes that don't involve sect titles. Passing these votes may require serious vote push, and push requires serious votes to be in the deck, lest the hand be full of vote mods with no votes to call. Nehemiah and Cagliostro help this somewhat with their specials, but it still requires a lot of card slots. Card of the Month: Typhonic Beast Cardname: Typhonic Beast Cardtype: Combat Set: BH Cost: 1 blood Discipline: Potence&Serpentis Cardtext: Only usable before range is determined. [ser] For the remainder of combat, this vampire gets +1 strength. [pot][ser] As [ser] above, and this vampire can prevent 1 damage each round. [POT][SER] As [pot][ser] above, and this vampire gets an optional press this round. I've found that this little card is a gem. It can be a gamble, of course. If an opponent has a modicum of combat defense it can be a wash, but catching a foe with their pants down (i.e. no combat cards or permanents) is what makes this one nasty. Against a helpless foe the double-superior version costs 1 blood, the standard cost of a combat, yet it does a total of four damage and prevents two over the course of two rounds. Not bad at all. I've used it to manhandle Carlton Van Wyk and Mylan (the press is fatal) and knock down blockers for subsequent lunges. I've used two (they stack!) to give hell to a punk who thought he was safe with a .44 Magnum, preventing two per round and hitting him for three on the second round. Sure, it costs two blood, but if they have a .44 that blood is practically as good as gone anyway. Again, this card costs as much as a standard combat would (1 blood), but delivers the goods over two rounds. The Path of Typhon surely helps, but I don't think it is necessary to play it when using the double-superior version (Nehemiah, Bupe, and Maskini; others with POT or SER skills). Deck Name : Snake 'N' Bleed Author : Mark Merlin Petersen Description : The toughest thing about this deck is going to be the oust: Get some extra bleed via the Heart of the City or some bleed retainers (J.S. Simmons, esq.; Tasha Morgan; not in the deck but a reasonable substitute if you find there are few Heart of the City in your collection, and they cost less blood) so that you can push forward. During playtest i accidentally included Qetu the Evil Doer instead of Tutu the Doubly Evil One in the deck (go figure, similar names, skull-based artwork, both Bane Mummies), and he/she/it is awesome! I bled for eight over the course of two preys with he/she/it! He/she/it deserves a second look for sure, and he/she/it is cheaper than Tutu by a pool. I haven't been able to recruit a Neighborhood Watch Commander yet; they always get blocked! I seem to have trouble getting Nehemiah in the opening draw with only (only!) four copies of him in the deck. But the Clotho's Gift outferior helps find him in a pinch. I swept a table without him as well, but that was mainly thanks to the Qetu/Tutu mishap detailed above. I include a few Kiss of Lachesis in every True Brujah deck that i make now. In an imbued-free V:tES, they served less purpose. Now they can burn a pesky Champion, and they work pretty well against Carlton, Sport Bikes, and Assault Rifles. If there's an Assault Rifle in someone else's ash heap... The sole Form of Corruption is some bleed deterrence for your prey. An extra copy may be in order. Add to taste. The Recurring Contemplation and Tangle Atropos' Hand are for Nehemiah to tap blockers and/or draw out Wakes for a lunge. Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 9 average: 7.17 ------------------------------------------------------------ 4x Nehemiah 9 POT PRE SER TEM obt 2 votes True Bruj:4 3x Cagliostro, The Grand Copht 8 OBF PRE SER nec pot Follower :4 1x Bupe Kuila 7 OBF POT SER pre Follower :4 1x Ezekiel, Lord of Montreal 6 PRE SER obf pot Follower :3 1x Sundown 6 ANI POT obf pre Nosferatu:3 1x Tock 4 obf pot pre !Nosferatu:3 1x Reverend Djoser Jones 3 pre ser Follower :4 Library [90 cards] ------------------------------------------------------------ Action [21] 4x Clotho's Gift 5x Enchant Kindred 1x Form of Corruption 2x Frozen Object 3x Heart of the City 2x Kiss of Lachesis 1x Path of the Scorched Heart, The 1x Rampage 2x Summoning, The Action Modifier [15] 7x Domain of Evernight 3x Recurring Contemplation 3x Tangle Atropos' Hand 2x Truth of a Thousand Lies Ally [5] 1x Amam the Devourer (Bane Mummy) 1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter) 1x Mylan Horseed (Goblin) 1x Neighborhood Watch Commander (Hunter) 1x Tutu the Doubly Evil One (Bane Mummy) Combat [21] 2x Disarm 3x Immortal Grapple 4x Majesty 1x Shattering Blow 2x Taste of Vitae 2x Thrown Sewer Lid 7x Typhonic Beast Master [15] 5x Blood Doll 1x Crocodile Temple, The 1x Direct Intervention 2x Dummy Corporation 2x Fame 1x Giant's Blood 1x Retribution 1x Tabriz Assembly 1x Tension in the Ranks Reaction [13] 1x Confusion of the Eye 5x Ecstasy 2x Rewind Time 5x Wake with Evening's Freshness Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Sun Jul 30 13:51:32 2006]