OFFICIAL VEKN GANGREL ANTRIBU NEWSLETTER VOLUME 4 NUMBER 7 JULY 2001 IN THIS ISSUE ...... FICTION: Waiting for Saulot: A Play by Mekhet FINAL NIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS FOR OUR HAIRY ANARCHIC FRIENDS CARD-LIMIT CORNER ROBERT DOKTOROW'S !GANGRELS FICTION: Waiting for Saulot: A Play by Mekhet. Scene: a place where roads meet. A gaunt single tree is the only feature of note, and on all sides a wide prairie stretches into the distance. Koko is sitting under the tree strumming half-heartedly on a battered mandolin. Enter left Didi Meyers. DIDI: Is he here yet? KOKO: No, he is the masculine form of the third-person pronoun. DIDI: Ah. Thank-you. KOKO: Saulot should be with us by now, don't you think? DIDI: Not according to the shrink i just ate. But my hallucinations are consistent with the general trend of your query. Enter left Mekhet. MEKHET: FEAR me. KOKO: Hullo, Fear! Me Koko. She Didi. You must find it awfully cold here in our country, no? MEKHET: Silence, insolent figments of my imagination! DIDI: i WAS being silent. It was him talking. You could tell by the way his lips flapped, and mine didn't. MEKHET: Show some respect for my playwrighterly greatness, you mad and smelly creatures.Exit left Mekhet, muttering disgustedly. KOKO: That wasn't Saulot. DIDI: No, that was the indicative mood of the impersonal third-person pronoun. Still is, for that matter. KOKO: Do you want to play NG:TEA? DIDI: Sure. i've got this really neat Derek Ray deck i've been meaning to try out for ages. KOKO: Alright, i've got an LSJ deck here in my patagia. DIDI: Does it use laconicism or sarcasm? KOKO: The former. DIDI: Should be a good match, then. KOKO: Correct. SAULOT: Hullo! DIDI: OK, i untap. i play Tomb of Card Limit Argument the 8 millionth. KOKO: Shit! OK, i burn, lessee, 299 cards from my hand. Pay for your tomb, my friend. SAULOT: i'm sorry to have kept you waiting. DIDI: Did i have the Edge? KOKO: No, you burnt it for a vote last turn, remember? DIDI: Sure, but my memory is a touch unreliable these days. Why are we here, by the way? KOKO: We're waiting for Saulot. SAULOT: And here i am! The Final Nights are here! DIDI: So we are. Were we also waiting before that? KOKO: No, we were waiting before the tree. And now we are playing cards before the tree, and still waiting. And talking. Multi-tasking, if you will. SAULOT: No you're not! i am here, Cainedammit! DIDI: If Saulot did turn up we could start another game. KOKO: That would be nice. SAULOT: Look, are you coming with me or what? DIDI: You could concede now. KOKO: Moot. SAULOT: Last chance. DIDI: Tomb backwards. SAULOT: Right, that's it! i'm off! Have a nice end of the world! DIDI: i don't think he's coming. KOKO: O well. Same time tomorrow? DIDI: Sure. FINAL NIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS FOR OUR HAIRY ANARCHIC FRIENDS Well, gee, we at Hillbilly Hall are strumming our banjos and doing toe-tapping high-kicking dances of a complexity normally associated only with irish or black men over Final Nights. TWO new brothers, one for each of our factions, with fabby discipline spreads and in the case of Haakon Baacon the totally-triffic Nikolaus Vermuelen special ability, only better. Yee-ha! Wooo! Shit-kickin' heaven! [as i believe you say in the colonies]. There's also some dam' fine minion cards to drool over. Obfuscate gets blackmail, a nice excuse for our City cousins to get into combat twice [hidden lurker on the blocker]. Celerity gets Stutter-step so your bait vampire can escape with his/her hide intact, Protean gets Mythic Form, pricey at 3 blood but with Path of the Feral Heart in play this is only two and hey, you get to be a fire-breathing dragon for a combat. Form of the Beast/Freak Drive/Rush/Mythic Form, anyone? King of the Mountain is Fortitude's little gem. Animalism gets Crimson Fury and i sense an Urgent Need to build the Dead !gangrel Society deck around this card and a few others like the Deadliest Sin, Regeneration, Blood Doll and Faithful Servant. Lupine Assault adds extra possibilities for William Lee's Anton/!Gangrel obf/cel/ani multi-raptor run-your-prey-out-of-cards trick, and Abomination means you can turn your Black Spiral buddy into a Vampiric Buddy. Nice one, White Wolf! Buy More Cards, faithful readers! CARD-LIMIT CORNER In April of this year John Woods posted the following message on the newsgroup: " Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone actually plays using a 4 or 6 card limit out there? I know my metagroup does because we feel that without a card limit, decks get pretty degenerate. I know this is opening an old can of worms, so I won't get into a "4 card limit vs. unlimited" debate here. I also really enjoy all the monthly clan newsletters and the deck ideas the writers come up with, but a lot of them are hard to implement in my group due to the 4 card limit. I was wondering if it would be possible to also have a "4 Card Limit Deck of the Month" in the newsletters as well? Thanks, John Woods" i'm afraid he didn't get much joy out of the NL writers who are all [including me] pretty passionately pro NCL, but this month it just so happens that i DO have a crop of spiffy 6CL legal decks to post and so here you are, John, and i hope you and any other cl-people out there have fun with them. i know you like 4cl but only the first two are readily reducible to that format [trim down from 90 to 60 cards keeping the ratios, and they will be 4cl legal]. All these decks are pretty ferocious, i think you'll find, since they took first, second and third places respectively in the June 2001 Watford UK tournament. i hope this will encourage cl-players to participate in the ncl environment more - you CAN compete at this level with card-limited decks if you want to, is the main thing these decks show. O, and Martin's tournament-winning deck has !Gangrel representation in the comely form of our sister Ellen Fence. You knew that it would, of course. Deck Name: The pretentious art fags tear you a new one! Created by: Martin Cubberley Description: Toreadors with Protean. Show the world that the Toreadors can fight after all. Use bleed redirection and intercept with the small vamps to keep you healthy, while you send your big vampires off to do the killing - tool Miller up with Art of Pain for one scary mutha. First place, total 7VP [2 in final] Crypt: (12 cards) [Min: 19, Max: 34, Avg: 6.92] 2 Andreas(AUS CEL dom PRE pro, Toreador, 9, Primogen) 1 Dorian Strack (AUS cel, Toreador, 4) 1 Ellen Fence (aus CEL OBF PRO, Gangrel Antitribu, 8, Bishop) 1 Felicia Mostrom (AUS CEL pre, Toreador, 5) 2 Kallista (AUS CEL pre pro, Toreador, 6) 1 Marcellus (AUS CEL pro, Toreador, 8, Prince) 3 Miller Delmardigan (aus CEL PRE pro, Toreador Antitribu, 8, Bishop) 1 Remilliard (AUS pre, Toreador Antitribu, 4) Library: (90 cards) Master (18 cards) 2 Art of Pain, The 3 Blood Doll 1 Depravity 1 Direct Intervention 1 Fame 1 Fetish Club Hunting Ground 1 Giant's Blood 1 Haven Uncovered 1 KRCG News Radio 2 Minion Tap 3 Protean 1 Society Hunting Ground Minion (72 cards) 2 Acrobatics 2 Adaptability 1 Art Scam 6 Blur 3 Bone Spur 5 Bum's Rush 3 Claws of the Dead 2 Enhanced Senses 5 Fast Reaction 2 Flash 6 Flesh of Marble 3 Leather Jacket 2 My Enemy's Enemy 2 Precognizant Mobility 4 Psyche! 2 Pursuit 1 Shadow of the Beast 3 Sideslip 2 Spirit's Touch 2 Taste of Vitae 3 Telepathic Misdirection 2 Telepathic Tracking 6 Wake with Evening's Freshness [maybe should be forced awakening?] 3 Wolf Claws Deck name: 'The Sandy Pole' Created by: Matt Green Second place, total 7 VP [2 in final] Crypt: (12 cards) 1 Courtland Leighton (Ventrue, 4, do fo pr) 1 Dominique (Ventrue Antitribu, 7, an AU do FO vi) 1 Ingrid Russo (Ventrue Antitribu, 4, DO fo) 3 Quentin (Ventrue Antitribu, 9, AU ce DO FO ot, Bis) 1 Ranjan Rishi (Ventrue, 5, DO fo PR) 1 Roland Louissarian (Ventrue, 3, fo pr) 1 Rufina Soledad (Ventrue, 2, fo) 2 Sir Walter Nash (Ventrue, 7, DO FO PR, Prince) 1 Timothy Crowley (Ventrue, 7, an do FO PR, Prince) Library: (65 cards) Masters 12 1 Demonstration 2 Dreams of the Sphinx 1 Elysium: The Arboretum 1 Giant's Blood 1 KRCG News Radio 3 Minion Tap 1 Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper, The 1 Ventrue Headquarters 1 Powerbase : Madrid Minion 53 2 Ancilla Empowerment 2 Cardinal Benediction 1 Cryptic Rider 4 Day Operation 6 Deflection 2 Disputed Territory 2 Dramatic Upheaval 1 Elder Kindred Network 1 Elder Library 2 Fifth Tradition: Hospitality, The 5 Kine Resources Contested 2 Kindred Manipulation 2 Kiss of Ra, The 5 Obedience 2 Parity Shift 1 Praxis Seizure: Miami 3 Resilience 3 Second Tradition: Domain 3 Skin of Steel 2 Ventrue Justicar 2 Wake with Evening's Freshness DECK NAME: TEMPTATION OF GREATER SLEAZE Created by Legbiter [third place, total 11 VP [1 in final]] CRYPT [12 vampires] Zebulon [replace with Mariel] Leandro x 2 Lucian x 4 Greger Anderssen x 2 Gilbert Duane x 2 Mariel, Lady Thunder LIBRARY MASTERS [21] Direct Intervention Dreams of the Sphinx Giant's blood Golconda - Inner Peace Information Highway Legendary Vampire Minion Tap x 4 The Parthenon Pentex Subversion Temptation of Greater Power x 4 Tomb of Rameses III x 3 Secure Haven Sudden Reversal ACTIONS [9] The Fifth Tradition: Hospitality x 3 Govern the Unaligned x 2 Kine Dominance x 2 Pulse of the Canaille Revelations [remove] VOTES [18] Anarchist Uprising x 2 Ancient Influence Banishment x 2 Dramatic Upheaval KRC x 5 Parity Shift x 4 Political flux [maybe remove] Political Stranglehold Rabble Razing [remove] REACTIONS [20] Deflection x 4 Forced Awakening Obedience x 4 The Second Tradition: Domain x 2 Telepathic Counter x 3 [not sure. Maybe remove]. WWEF x 6 ACTION MODIFIERS [22] Cloak the Gathering x 4 Conditioning x 3 Elder impersonation Faceless Night x 4 Forgotten Labyrinth Lost in Crowds x 4 Spying Mission Swallowed by the Night x 4 ROBERT DOKTOROW'S !GANGRELS Robert is another old friend from Jyhad on-line and he very kindly sent me a deck with permission to post it in this newsletter. To save y'all wondering, Robert is no relation so far as he knows to the science fiction writer ER Doktorow. i, on the other hand, MAY be distantly-related to General George B "All Quiet on the Potomac" McClellan who kinda won some of the battles at Bull Run, though not well enough to stop Lincoln sacking him for lack of aggression. George B didn't like killing fellow Americans much and sorta hoped the civil war would peter out once the massive industrial supremacy of the North became apparent. His reward for holding these views was to become the Second Least Successful Democratic candidate for president in the entire history of the USA so far [standing against Lincoln in 1863-4 IIRC he won two states; Jimmy Carter, who won only his home state of Georgia during Reagan's first election campaign, was of course the least successful]. The South's reward was to have Sherman and Grant set most of it on fire. The evidence for my claim of relatedness to this neglected figure in American history is that my great-grandmother's sister supposedly met George B's widow on a train once and they apparently discovered that they had a cousin in common. 'Course, Mrs George B could have been lying to make my Esteemed Ancestress feel better [and/or about being the relic of the said General], and/or my esteemed ancestress could have been lying and/or drunk/senile at the time. Anyway there are still lots of McClellans in America, and Derek Ray has had sex with at least one of them who was, i regret to have to admit, a Mormon. But i digress. Here's the deck, with Robert's typically-astute comments. Ok, here is a deck I'm proud of. Thought I could share it with the Newsletter writer. The big problem with !Gangrel are intercept, pool gain and to little blood on the vamps. So what comes in mind...yes the almighty traditions. Only need a Prince....hmmm...Marcellus "only" cost 8 with +1 bleed and have CEL, pro. Lets pick him! Also good to have his votes in Bloodhunt voting. Of course this deck is not tournament worthy (which !Gangrel deck is?), and it also depends heavily on Marcellus and Ellen. Vamps (12) 4 Ellen Fence (8, Gangrel, aus, CEL, OBF, PRO, Bishop, d-action rush prey or predator vamp that is tapped) 4 Marcellus (8, Toreador, AUS, CEL, pro, Prince, +1 bleed) 1 Darrel Boyce (6, Gangrel, CEL, OBF, PRO) 1 Zachary (7, Gangrel, CEL, OBF, PRO, for) 1 Wren (4, Gangrel, cel, obf, pro) 1 Sadie (2, Gangrel, pro) Deck size: 100 Masters (20) 2 Dreams of the Sphinx 2 Path of the Feral Heart 1 Twisted Forest 1 Campground Hunting Ground 2 Gangrel Conspiracy 1 Direct Intervention 1 Sudden Reversal 1 Protean - for Marcellus 2 Obfuscate - for Marcellus 4 Minion Tap 2 Blood Doll 1 Guardian Angel - for Marcellus Obfuscate (11) 2 Lost in Crowds 1 Hidden Pathways 3 Swallowed by the Night 2 Faceless Night 3 Cloak the Gathering Protean (23) 2 Earthmeld 4 Form of mist 2 Shadow of the Beast 3 Flesh of Marble 3 Claws of death 2 Wolf Claws 3 Uncontrolable Rage 1 Body Flare 3 Earth Control Celerity (22) 9 Psyche! - for S:CE 4 Pursuit 2 Infernal Pursuit - card cycling 2 Sideslip 5 Acrobatics Equipment / Retainers (3) 1 J.S Simmons 1 Tasha Morgan 1 Ivory Bow Miscallenous (21) 8 Domain 5 Hospitality 2 Arson 3 Amaranth 3 Bums Rush Rgds Robert Doktorow Thanks, Robert, and that's it for July. See y'all in August when FN will have been tournament legal for several days. What new monstrosities will hulk, i say positively hulk out of their crypts? Guess we'll all find out together .... hehehehe .......