August 1, 1998
"Whoever shoots at him, I set him there;
Whoever charges on his forward breast,
I am the caitiff that do hold him to't;
And, though I kill him not, I am the cause..."
Shakespeare, William, All's Well That Ends Well: Scene II.
Introduction
Oohhhh. The V:tES rules team dealt a crushing blow to us poor caitiff this
past month. Truth is, we deserved it. Goodbye weenie obfuscate vote push deck.
Farewell old friend. Beyond this change, us Caitiff weren't particularly
harmed by the changes of the last month. It seems a fair trade-off with the
neutering of the Tomb.
Fiction - The Third Tradition (part two)
I was schooled in the Camarilla's Traditions and the ways of the Ventrue clan.
Early on in my instruction, I realized that Sarah was destroyed for not seeking
Emerson's permission to embrace me. I tried my best to hold onto to the rage
and to set in motion a plan to destroy this haughty prince but my ire was soon
dulled. I began to doubt Sarah's motives for creating me in the first place.
Maybe I was just another pawn after all.
A Toreador by blood, I seemed to somehow find favor with Emerson. I often
wondered why hadn't he destroyed me at the same time as Sarah? Of this he has
never spoken. Most other members of my adopted clan have not been as kind and
have taken every opportunity to remind me that I was not one of them.
Strategy and Decks
Again, not a Caitiff deck but it does consist of the newly embraced. This month
I'll be showing-off one of the stupidest decks I've ever made. I like to mention
it as an example of a deck that is impossible to make in a
four-card limit environment. It is the world famous Mission Impractical deck.
Who says that a deck with 35 of the same card isn't creative?
Card List
Crypt
Blythe Candalaria x 3 Cap 3 THA, aus
Jing Wei x 2 Cap 2 tha
Ignatius x 2 Cap 4 tha, aus, dom
Magdalena Schaefer x 2 Cap 2 THA
Dr. John Casey Cap 3 tha, aus
Roreca Quaid Cap 2 tha
Heinrick Schlempt Cap 2 tha
Sarah Cobler Cap 4 THA, dom
Masters
Society of Leopold x 9
Tribute to the Master x 5
Archon Investigation x 2
Fear of Mekhet x 3
Cairo Int'l Airport x 2
Pentex Subversion x 2
Thaumaturgy x 3
Academic Hunting Ground
Life Boon
Chantry
The Parthenon
Minion
Cryptic Mission x 35
Seeds of Corruption x 5
Leather Jacket x 4
The Embrace x 4
Blood Rage x 4
Arson x 4
Charnas the Imp
Thadius Zho, Mage
Rumors of Gehenna
Burst of Sunlight
Hmm. Never realized I had *that* many masters in the deck. Oh, well. I have
managed to eek this deck into the finals of a tournament once. Wasn't easy
though. In case you haven't figured this out yet, the Cryptic Missions empty
the vampires and the Society of Leopolds burn the vampires. Simple. The Society
is unique so you have to make sure that you only put it down on the turn the
target vamp is emptied. If you screw up and don't burn the vamp, you'll be
forced to self-contest the thing or waste a bunch of time until you can get out
another copy. The deck is very meta-game dependent. It is fabulous against
players who overspend on influence and hope to minion tap a large vampire after
bringing it into play. You'll probably be able to deplete it sufficiently to
make a Minion Tap far less valuable.
The best case situation is that your prey is influencing a very large vamp to
start the game. If you are lucky you get a few minions and a Cairo Airport and
your prey never gets a vampire out. If he does get the thing out, you may have
a Pentex Subversion you can hit 'em with. Seeds of Corruption are also great
for keeping your prey down. This is the main strategy. You may be able to get a
lock on your prey but if you can't, you then keep them mired in "Seeds" and put
them in a perpetual hunt from the Cryptic Missions-- until you draw a Society.
You'll gain a lot of blood from the Cryptic Missions. That's why the Tributes
are there. Although I'm not sure I wouldn't have been better off with Blood
Dolls instead. There isn't much in the way of defense. The Blood Rages and CMs
can be used on your predator to keep them down a little on blood. Best bet is
to be quick about your offense. Also, one hunting ground makes a player almost
immune to the Society. Don't discard one of your precious few Arsons unless you
are very confident that there won't be a Hunting Ground played by your prey.
I had the most fun the first time I played the deck. My playgroup thought I'd
lost my mind. Maybe you can convince your group you're nuts too.
Contact Info
Feel free to email me if you would like to submit fiction, or wacky weenie deck
designs or strategy.
-Robert (rrgoudie@earthlink.net)