Official VEKN Brujah Newsletter for June, 2004 I wasn't born so much as I fell out Nobody seemed to notice me We had a hedge back home in the suburbs Over which I never could see Lost in the Sueprmarket, The Clash ___ Introduction and apologies in advance ___ Few strokes upon the Gehenna Set ___ New goodies for the clan ___ Strategy and Deck: Becoming the police force of the camarilla ___ Epilogue ________ Introduction ________ As most of you might already know, I'm a spanish player who has been in thsi game since the 95. So, my english might not be all the correct it's needed, so if you find somethign absoultely unclear, ask for a better explanation. Since the first very day I'd allways loved the clan of the leather jacket, and against all reasonings and throughfull thinkings I've allways tried to pull strategies for this clan that could lead to winning tournaments without using the boring euro-brujah. I ahven't achieved the objective to full extend, but at least managed to play several final rounds with such decks. For my limited english, I won't try to add any fiction in my newsletters, but if you have some you'd like to see published, don't hesitate posting me with it so I could include them in the future. ________ Few strokes upon Gehenna ________ Clearly, Gehenna is going to destabilize the game as we know it in the near future. Not only for the event cards, but it also brings light and enforces the anarchs to a nice level along with some more black hands. Gehenna event cards have to be seen mostly as hosers. Metagame hosers, for their impact is most of the time _versus_ a strategy. It's difficult to get real advantage of the most of them, while others are really good enforcers for existing-but-not-on-the-top strategies, but you have to be very carefull in order to pack them, as it might benefit other decks more than yours. let's review a few of them: Absimilliard army: This card might be a good add on for some allies decks, as they already pack cards that benefit them. The fact that it is burned when a player is ousted, don't allows you to build a full strategy for them. Becoming of Ennoia: The most difficult to put in play event card, appart from being a great hoser against mirembe's decks, is a card to go in most of the atttrition decks: Cryptic missions, deranges, temptations, smiling jack... Anthelios: A great card for master's based decks, but also a good card for decks based on critical master cards. Retrieve Toreador Grand Ball or Brujah Debates *is* good. Blood weakens: Pseudo meddling for everyone. Use it if you pack a really low number of discipline based cards. Dragonbound: The Card for combat decks, and most of blockers. The drawback has to be countered somehow, as playing a combat/block deck with a hand of 6 is significant. Fall of the camarilla: The Enemy. Half of the brujah decks around depend on the use of 2nd traditions for defense. So better act accordingly to avoid this card even hit the table. Fall of the sabbat: Not worht playing it. Every sabbat vote deck will pack a black hand in order to prevent it seeing play. Fueled by heart's blood:Tyler will love this card. Pack it with wormwood and you can start purging the whole table. New inquisition: See becoming of Ennoia Nightmare upon Nightmares: Thsi card will see two primal uses: Against weenies if they are a problem for your deck, and for "mill" decks in order to deplet all the players' library Recalled to the funder: The anticlan card. Better pack some expendable 6 cap in your deck, or do all that is in your hand to oust the player who has put this card in play. Restricted vitae: See becomming of ennoia Rise of the Nephtali: An Inner circle for Aanrchs!!! Thirst: Another weenie hoser. Put it on top of nightmares upon nightmares and with a few domain challenge weenie decks will soon be hsitory. Torpid blood: Great aid for combat/block decks. Specially for those who play disarms/aggropoking Veil of darkness: Hoser against master's decks, whose obedience/deflections won't work really well. Wormwood: This card is god against Big minions decks. Once it hits the table, soon they'll be unable to play obedience, or minion taps for lots, or else. So, from now on when you build a deck you'll have to keep in mind a) which events help me most and b) which events absolutely destroys you, and try to reduce it's effects upon you. As some people has already stated all over the newsgroup, the best you can do is perhaps to act preemptively against decks that you *know* will play sooner or later in the game some of these cards, as you already do against some of the bitter strategies around (purge decks, AR decks, etc). For camarilla politics, someone who starts to put in play the least dangerous gehenna cards should set their defence to def-con 3, as that will allow someone around the table to place fall of the camarilla in play. ________ New goodies for the clan ________ But what have this set gift us? Well, some events of course, but also some great cards: - Leadership vacuum Master: out-of-turn. Unique. Only usable when a ready titled vampire controlled by another Methuselah is burned or sent to torpor. Usable during your turn. Put this card in play and put X counters on this card where X is the number of votes that vampire has. That Methuselah burns X pool during each of his or her untap phases. During his or her untap phases, if he or she controls a vampire with a capacity above 7 or with a title, burn this card. High opportunity cost, but in a heavy rush deck might gave you a victory point really soon. Just dunk down a titled and any other vamp your prey palys that might burn it. - carver's meat packing and storage 1 pool Master: unique location. When a vampire of capacity below 4 goes to torpor, put a hostage counter on him. Hostages cannot be moved to the ready region or be diablerized. During your master phase, you may tap this card to move X blood from the blood bank to a ready vampire you control where X is the number of hostages in torpor. Any ready vampire may burn 2 blood to burn any vampire's hostage counter during any untap phase. Burn all hostage counters if this card leaves play. This card can become a huge income of blood, along with increasing the effective cost of retrieving from torpor to 4 blood. Note that it's compulsory to put the token, but also that it's all vamps below 4 that end in torpor, not needed that you to send them to torpor. You can build a really bloating strategy around, say Menele. Create embraces and send them to torpor somehow. Menele will gain each turn a lot of blood, and really soon if the deck is oriented that way. - Flurry of action Cel, action [cel] (D) Bleed. If the bleed is successful, draw two cards. Discard down to your hand size afterward. [CEL] (D) Bleed. If the bleed is successful, this vampire untaps. Even though this card is brutal for aching beauty's decks, brujah might beneffit from it somehow, specially decks that pack bleed modifiers to some extend. -Approximation of loyalty pre, action modifier 1 blood Requires a vampire with capacity above 6. [pre] Only usable when the action is announced. Choose a vampire with capacity below 7 or an ally. That minion cannot block this action. [PRE] Cancel a reaction card played by a vampire with capacity below 7 or an ally as it is played (no cost is paid). No more action modifiers can be played on this action. A "you don't block card" that allows you to cancel a delaying tactics. Enough said, but again, will see more use in tories or that huge lot of malkies/!malkies/baali bleed decks than in brujah ones. At least it brings some more responsible bleed modifiers which is something that we, the non-bouncing clans, are happy to see. - Stunt Cycle POT, comabt Only usable at long range. [pot] Strike: 3R damage and prevent 1 damage from the opposing minion's strike during this strike resolution. If the opposing minion has Celerity, he or she can burn a blood to prevent all damage from this strike. [POT] As above, but for 4R damage and prevent up to 2. Awesome card for ranged combat. Ok, you won't substitute all your frisbies for these, but some damage prevention, even at long range, is great. But that strategy is something I might discuse in a future newsletter as there are really better combat strategies to play, specially for the slots it requires And the two vamps... Count Germaine Brujah, group 4 Cap 8 obf FOR CEL PRE POT Camarilla: Minions opposing Germaine in combat cannot use weapons. He can enter combat with any Toreador controlled by another Methuselah as a (D) action. What a great vamp, definitely worth palying, though it implicitily means you won't pack in volker or the brujah princes. The anti-weapon abbility hoses a whole lot of combat decks, and those solitary ivory bows that somewhat stops you in a given game. Also note that he can play Elemetnal Stoicism at superior, which turns him in a combat monster, and allows you to play multirush with a single 8 cap, having all the clasic disciplines a multirush gun deck needs: CEL:psyche!, FOR:freak drives, obf: Disguised weapon. Perhaps even at the same level of Fatima al Fawadi... Hezekiah Rutledge Brujah, group 4 Cap 5 ani cel pto PRE Camarilla The group four substitute for Rake? not sure of that, as he lacks the title, but it has ani... appart from the use of mole, he can join the ranks of weird nosferatu with presence decks... ___ Strategy and Deck: Becoming the police force of the camarilla ___ I've left for the deck of this month one of the surprises of the set: Alastor Alastor Political card - Worth 1 vote. Called by any justicar or Inner Circle member at +1 stealth. Choose a ready Camarilla vampire. If this referendum is successful, search your library for an equipment card and place this card and the equipment on the chosen vampire. Pay half the cost (round down) of the equipment. This vampire may enter combat with any vampire controlled by another Methuselah as a +1 stealth (D) action. This vampire cannot commit diablerie. A vampire may have only one Alastor. This card is a variant of the archon vote, that can only be called by a justicar or inner circle. It has 2 advantages and 2 drawbacks when compared: It's not burnable once you put it in play, and allows you to pick whatever equipment you like from your deck and equip it at half cost. The drawbacks are that not only you can't diablerize without blood hunt, but you can't diablerize at all. Over all, allows you to equip with some magnificient equipments(specially from the storages of the Tremeres) This deck focuses on the Camarilla police, say archons and alastors, and all such cards that combat decks can win with a bit of politics. This deck is rush mainly, but a bit of toolboxy too, as you need both the votes to pass critical political actions and a bit of bloat/mild intercept to avoid being ousted soon. Not sure how will it survive heavy combat environments, but has a LOT of tricks in it. The reinforcements are to bring back the equipment you have drawn too soon to your deck, in order to equip it with the alastor's vote Deck Name: Pascek and Germaine Created By: Tom Description: CEL FOR political deck Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 30, Max: 40, Avg: 8,83) ---------------------------------------------- 1 Madame Guil AUS CEL for pot PRE ser 10, Toreador:3, Justicar 4 Jaroslav Pascek CEL for obf POT PRE 10, Brujah:3, Justicar 1 Tyler CEL dom for obt POT PRE 9, Brujah:3, Primogen 1 Maxwell CEL FOR POT PRE PRO 9, Brujah:3 1 Hrothulf CEL dom FOR pot PRE pro 8, Ventrue:3 3 Count Germaine obf CEL FOR POT PRE 8, Brujah:4 1 Pug Jackson CEL for POT pre 6, Brujah:3, Primogen Library: (80 cards) ------------------- Events (2 cards) 1 Nightmares upon nightmares 1 Thirst Master (10 cards) 2 Blood Doll 1 Carver's meat packing and storage 1 Creepshow Casino 1 Depravity 1 Fame 1 Leadership Vacuum 3 Minion Tap Action (9 cards) 2 Bum's Rush 4 Enchant Kindred 2 Fourth Tradition: The Accounting, The 1 Will of the Council Action Modifier (13 cards) 1 Approximation of Loyalty 1 Awe 1 Bewitching Oration 1 Forgotten Labyrinth 6 Freak Drive 2 Iron Glare 1 Voter Captivation Political Action (11 cards) 3 Alastor 2 Anathema 1 Ancient Influence 1 Archon 1 National Guard Support 1 Parity Shift 2 Reinforcements Reaction (6 cards) 6 Second Tradition: Domain, The Combat (22 cards) 2 Disarm 1 Disguised Weapon 2 Flash 3 Psyche! 6 Pursuit 2 Side Strike 2 Sideslip 2 Skin of Steel 2 Taste of Vitae Equipment (6 cards) 1 Ankara Citadel, Turkey, The 1 Assault Rifle 1 Crimson Sentinel, The 1 Eye of Hazimel 1 Sword of Nuln 1 Sword of Troile Combo (1 cards) 1 Elemental Stoicism ______________ Epilogue ______________ And that's all for this newsletter, hope you have enjoyed it or even learnt something :-P Next month we will debate something.... Hope to set up a site soon in order to archive my newsletters, too. yours, Smiling tom tmadico@almadrava.net