OFFICIAL VEKN GIOVANNI NEWSLETTER Vol.III No.8 August.2001
In this Issue:
INTRODUCTION
WHISPERS FROM THE DEAD: Send in the Guards
VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH: Gillespi Giovanni
CARD OF THE MONTH: Baleful Doll
DECK OF THE MONTH: That Voodoo That They Do So Well
CONCLUSION/PREVIEW
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INTRODUCTION
================================================================
Well, sorry for everyone I missed at GenCon, but I had a prior engagement
all last week; I certainly invite any and all to make it to Dragon*Con
(Labor Day weekend) in Atlanta to have their Souls Jarred. =)
However, from first reports I'm hearing, it sounds like everyone had a
blast, and not a few Hordes Shambled their way through pickup games, among
other Giovanni decks haunting the con. It's great to hear the numbers of
player picking up, and I'm looking forward with great anticipation to the
turnout and the results of the EC in Paris.
However, the time not spent preparing for Gen*Con did give me time to
polish off a newsletter to actually be delivered on time! I'll hope to keep
it that way, at least to try to keep the month of the newsletter landing in
the month I post it. =)
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WHISPERS FROM THE DEAD: Send in the Guards
================================================================
There seems to have been a bit of "unwallpapering" in reprinting some of the
Dark Sovereigns and Ancient Heart cards. However, several other cards
(specifically, locations) got "unwallpapered" with the addition of Guard
Duty and Haunt, to take care of those pesky "any minion may burn this card
as a (D) action" text.
Guard Duty
+2 stealth action.
Put this card on the acting minion and choose a location. If the chosen
location is the target of a (D) action (and you control the location), this
minion can burn 1 blood or burn this card to untap and attempt to
with +1 intercept.
Note that this doesn't require the minion to be tapped, not unlike 2nd
tradition. I'm not using it enough in this month's deck to make it "Card of
the Month," but instead put it in the Whispers From The Dead, because it's
really more of a "Card of the Set: Honorable Mention."
Note also the "+*2* stealth action." With a lot of light intercept
going around, a 2 stealth action will get off almost twice as much as a 1
stealth action. I haven't had one successfully blocked yet.
Haunt
Cost: 1 blood
+1 stealth .
[nec] Put this card on a location you control. The controller of this
location can burn this card to cause an action directed at this location to
fail. A location can have only one Haunt.
[NEC] (D) Burn a location that doesn't require Giovanni to play.
Not unlike Guard Duty and Arson all in one. However, for cards where
you might have to defend against several (D) actions due to pesky card text,
Guard Duty is your card. For example:
Arcanum Chapterhouse, Alexandra (free!): predator and prey burn a pool if
they have hunting grounds. To be featured in this month's deck. Hunting
Grounds are pesky things, and you can make them lose a pool for one MPA if
they already have one in play, before they even try to get past your Haunt.
Forest of Shadows(3 pool): +X stealth for X blood. Still questionable.
Grand Temple of Set(2 pool): 1 pool each master phase, tap and burn X
counters to take control of a minion with X capacity. You can drop this
card, get a counter on it, and Guard Duty it in one turn. Not as good as
Corruption, but much less card intensive. You can recoup some losses with
Crowbar Towers, another location you'll want to Guard Duty.
Island of Yiaros(2 pool): Tap for +X strength on one strike, where X is the
number of votes of the vampire. While Princes are better off with 2nd
Tradition, the Guard Duty insures you can save your 2nds for whatever else
you want, since your Princes can afford to burn the blood and keep the card,
continually protecting the Island.
The Louvre, Paris(2 pool): Here's one screaming for Guard Duty, since
Toreador are excellent gunning away or Majesty-ing at long range. No need
to pay a blood to untap; the Guard Duty gives you that.
Mob Connections(free!): Tap to give a press to continue. Excellent for
Giovanni to Haunt (they need the press, having few cards for it) but even
scarier for Tremere to Guard Duty. No one's going to bother trying to run a
Tremere out of blood through force of numbers; you'll just end up paying for
his untaps (since he's thefting all YOUR blood), and you'd better be ready
for that press he has waiting in the card he's guarding.
Oxford University, England (2 pool): Tap and burn 2X pool to get X votes.
Still pretty worthless, since Brujah don't exactly pool gain much. But at
least you can keep the card in play if you like the theme.
Pere Lachaise, France (free!): Put a burned vampire on the card, and use an
MPA to put a pool on the vampire. When the vampire is full up, move to the
ready region. For any "multiple MPA" decks, Anson, Parthenon, Rumors, etc,
this is really a way to get extra transfers to get guys back from ashes.
Better in a Giovanni deck that counts on guys getting burned, since it's not
really worth Possessing 1,2 and 3 caps, but this might be worth it, and it
just *sounds* cool to be able to say "I Haunt Pere Lachaise."
Powerbase: Lots(various): All of these cards were marginal, but can be good
in "block everything come-and-get-it" decks. Guard Duty is a big sign
saying "YES, I WILL BLOCK YOU," instead of cheeky player checking to see if
you'll run out of Wakes.
The Rack(free!): Especially when you Guard your own Rack, you're gaining 2
untaps each time around the table until people quit bothering you, so you
can start Blood Dolling it off.
Ventrue Directorate Assembly(2 pool): Each ready Ventrue gets an additional
vote during political actions. Again, you could use 2nd tradtion, likely,
but this is less card intensive, allowing you to stop this card from getting
burned while ALSO stopping the stuff you REALLY need to stop.
Wasserschloss Anif, Austria(2 pool): Effectively, move a blood from one of
your Tremere to a Tremere in your uncontrolled region, except you can time
delay it. You're better off with Arcane Library, but this way you can have
both, and possibly be gaining 2 pool a turn, and just like the Mob
Connections, you don't want the Tremere blocking you.
And, for many of these cards, "X clan gets +1 stealth when burning this
card" text is counteracted with Guard Duty's +1 intercept.
And some cards without the (D) action text are still excellent to Guard.
Secure Haven is safe, but a Guard Dutied or Haunted Secure Haven is
near-ironclad. To cover all your bases, you'd need to include Delaying
Tactics and Sudden Reversal. Or just more copies of Secure Haven, if you
have an Arson happy playgroup.
And I've got an Arson happy playgroup, so I'm really excited about Guard
Duty. If I didn't have Haunt to play with, I think I'd have 2 Guard Duties
in every deck. (Yeah, I know, I need to branch out. I'm getting an itch
for Ravnos and Protean these days, as well, but I've still got a newsletter
to write. =)
I'd have to watch for the occasional Unnatural Disaster, but if one new
card can both be so generically useful and also push a long forgotten card
from wallpaper into the metagame, I'd have to call that a complete success.
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VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH: Gillespi Giovanni
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Gillespi Giovanni
7-Cap
aus DOM NEC POT
Independent: Gillespi gets +1 bleed when bleeding a Methuselah who controls
a ready Camarilla vampire.
It's hard to go wrong with Gillespi in a Giovanni deck. A HUGE boon
from the release of Final Nights, he's the "Gitane St. Claire" of the
Giovanni, being the cheapest guy with all 3 in-clans at superior, previously
held by Regina Giovanni, who was then ALSO the LARGEST Giovanni with all 3
in-clans.
The Auspex might seem trivial, except that he now shares it with 4 other
Giovanni, and while they're 8, 9, 10, and 11 cap, 3 of those also have all 3
in-clans at superior, and they all have [aus DOM], giving you some
intercept/Obedience opportunities.
His special is nothing to sneeze at, either. If it's anyone you want to
bleed, it's those bloating Camarilla. Also, with weenie decks using
Caitiff, and cross-sect decks (Tor/!Tor, Bru/!Bur, Nos/!Nos, Tre/!Tre), they
only need the one guy ready to cash in on your bonus.
Sure, they could have printed a 6-cap "uber-poster-childe" with all 3
in-clans at superior, and I would have played with him; but that one extra
pool is worth it for the ability and the versatility. Either way, you can
put him in any toolboxy Giovanni deck, knowing he'll be worth his weight,
being able to chunk around all the cards you want at superior. Second
vampire in any Giovanni deck. (Who's the first? Andrea, of course! Read
last months newsletter! =)
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CARD OF THE MONTH: Baleful Doll
================================================================
Baleful Doll
Cardtype: Equipment
Cost: 1 blood
Discipline: Necromancy
Unique equipment.
[nec] Choose a vampire controlled by your prey. The bearer may tap himself
or herself and burn the Baleful Doll during his or her untap phase to cause
the chosen vampire to burn 3 blood.
[NEC] As above, but choose a vampire controlled by any Methuselah.
There's a certain charm in getting to make little Voodoo dolls of your
prey. But, fun factor aside, let's compare it to Jar the Soul:
* It requires only 1 card to remove 3 blood, but essentially 2 actions.
However, it costs a blood, barring the Path. Kind of 2 actions and a
"punch-punch" fight.
* You name the target at the equip, not at the burning. No loss there; if
you're burning blood with Jar the Soul, you name the target all 3 times.
* Must be your prey at inferior; again, not a big loss, since you need
superior NEC to burn blood with Jar the Soul anyway, and then they're back
on equal footing
* It doesn't tap people like Jar the Soul; which we'll ignore, since if
you're thinking about a Baleful Doll deck, you're looking to burn blood, not
tap people.
* Both inherently +1 stealth. However, Jar the Soul is directed and
Baleful Doll undirected. Plus to Jar the Soul if you've got an intercept
predator. Big plus to Baleful Doll if you're going cross table, since, like
votes, it affects something of theirs without (D) targeting it.
* It's equipment, which can be stolen, destroyed, etc. Not a big deal,
since you're going to burn it next turn.
* ...However, you don't HAVE to burn it next turn. You can leave it hanging
around for later, like the Voodoo Doll of Damocles (or somesuch =)
* ...Except that, it's unique. So, if you want to play another, you kind of
have to burn it the following turn. And, you can't cycle one in your hand
until you do. Big plus to Jar the Soul, here.
Really not a bad card at all. It's cross-table utility could be very
useful on a grandprey with intercept you don't want to mess with. You can
get the Doll on him before he becomes your prey, and then take a non-action
(just tap your guy) he can't block to get him to burn the blood. Certainly
a candidate for a "Giovanni Toybox" module, even if only one copy.
Hmm...Giovanni Toybox...well, next month. =)
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DECK OF THE MONTH: That Voodoo That They Do So Well
================================================================
Decklist created using Elder Library Deck Builder 2.06; kudos yet again to
David Dávila!
Deck Name: That Voodoo That They Do So Well
Created by: Patrick O'Shea
Description: Jar the Soul/Society of Leopold looks much better when you add
Baleful Doll and Daemonic Possession.
Crypt: (12 cards) [Min: 11, Max: 30, Avg: 5.25]
1 Andrea Giovanni (DOM NEC pot vic, Giovanni, 7)
1 Carlotta Giovanni (dom NEC obf POT, Giovanni, 7)
1 Cristofero Giovanni (nec pot, Giovanni, 3)
1 Enzo Giovanni (ani DOM NEC pot tha, Giovanni, 8)
1 Francesca Giovanni (dom nec pot, Giovanni, 4)
1 Gillespi Giovanni (aus DOM NEC POT, Giovanni, 7)
1 Isabel Giovanni (DOM NEC pot, Giovanni, 5)
1 Marciana Giovanni (dom, Giovanni, 2)
1 Mario Giovanni (nec pot, Giovanni, 3)
1 Pochtli (cel dom NEC OBF POT, Giovanni, 8)
1 Rafaele Giovanni (cel NEC obf, Giovanni, 6)
1 Rudolpho Giovanni (NEC, Giovanni, 3)
Library: (90 cards)
Master (19 cards)
1 Arcanum Chapterhouse, Alexandria
1 Barrens, The
4 Blood Doll
1 Direct Intervention
1 Morgue Hunting Ground
1 Necromancy
1 Parthenon, The
2 Path of Bone, The
5 Society of Leopold
1 Sudden Reversal
1 Tower of London
Action (30 cards)
1 Cull the Herd
5 Daemonic Possession
5 Govern the Unaligned
3 Haunt
8 Jar the Soul
1 Release of the Shackled Soul
4 Summon Soul
3 Whispers from the Dead
ActionMod (5 cards)
5 Call of the Hungry Dead
Political (1 card)
1 Rumors of Gehenna
Reaction (13 cards)
4 Deflection
1 Forced Awakening
3 Obedience
5 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Combat (7 cards)
1 Fake Out
1 Pushing the Limit
3 Spiritual Intervention
1 Torn Signpost
1 Undead Strength
Ally (2 cards)
1 Felix 'Fix' Hessian (Wraith)
1 Leonardo, Mortician
Retainer (2 cards)
1 Guiseppe, Gravedigger
1 Mr. Winthrop
Equipment (6 cards)
6 Baleful Doll
Combo (5 cards)
5 Spectral Divination
The original version I had was some 100 cards that I played with before
tweaking it to it's current version. Dropped some allies and some masters
out, and it got a bit more focus. Alas, no Guard Duties, but that's because
Haunt is just so good. All that aside, I think it wouldn't take much to
trim it to 85 or even 80 cards, but that's left as an exercise to the
student.
If I were to break it into modules, one chunk that comes out is all the
Baleful Dolls, Jar the Souls, Daemonic Possessions (funny sound to that...
maybe "Baleful Dolls and other Daemonic Possessions" would have been a
better deck name. =), and Societies of Leopold go together, but WITH that,
goes Felix, the Arcanum Chapterhouse, and the 3 Haunts. Nothing screws up a
perfectly good Society of Leopold burning like a Hunting Ground (or a Rack,
but you can steal the Rack), and those cards are designed to mess with that,
but failing that, guarding locations and/or burning them is always a good
tool to have.
I tried to toolbox a bit more, here, tossing in some Potence and cutting
back on the Dominate from my usual decks. However, the tweaked version has
a slightly higher ratio of Dominate, and the 4 Summon Soul and 3 Whispers
are for snagging that ousting card you need as well as getting your Dolls
and Societies back if your trick is going well.
Oh, yeah, the trick. Pretty obvious, but:
Pick some good target vampire of your prey to turn to ashes. If it
can't be someone great, make it someone small you can nuke quick. Using a
combination of Baleful Doll and Jar the Soul, get a guy to zero blood with
the Society of Leopold on them before their turn, preferrably your prey's
vamp. Since they burn on their turn, it will fit the "since your last turn"
clause on YOUR next turn, and you can add the body to your toybox of
Daemonic Possessions. An excellent to do this is to get the Doll ready and
then play through till you get the Society of Leopold; burn the Doll in your
untap phase, and drop the Society; it's too late to block any actions, then.
In the mean time, stay alive, and be sure to go after any Hunting Grounds.
Some opportune Jar the Soul tapping and bleeding is a good idea, but don't
overdo it; you want to avoid the Govern bleed unless it's an ousting bleed.
Don't forget your chance to make a trade; diablerie with a weenie you
have for a bigger guy you can Daemonically Possess might be your best move;
I managed to make a deal "for help in the next vote," actually, and got to
keep my guy AND eat and Possess Lazvernutz, who promptly Governed backwards
to get me some pool to keep me alive.
The crypt is a bit big; it could use more Dominate bleed to make more
bang for the buck and/or move to weenies/embraces and concentrate on a
Baleful Doll at inferior every turn, which only takes 2 weenies busy all the
time to be burning 3 blood off a victim every turn. I chose to go for the
halfway point, for versatility, while still concentrating on "the trick."
However, the trick is pretty good; it IS easier to burn guys this way
than it is to burn guys in combat, even using Amaranth. It's also more
Necromantic, which appeals to me, and it's overall harder to defend against.
People are prepared for bleed, votes, and combat, but getting guys burned
without using any of the 3 puts a crimp in their style.
One last note: I left out the Succubus Club until I saw how many people
it burned; it's not quite enough to be selling bodies wholesale, so the
Succubus Club may not be worth it. However, if you like that route, simply
swap out the Arcanum Chapterhouse.
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CONCLUSION/PREVIEW
================================================================
I would assume it's been done to death by now, but next month I may take a
stab at incorporating Dominate and Necromancy together to make a brutally
effective bleed deck. I've seen how powerful Call of the Hungry Dead can
be, and it's time, having tried out the best of Giovanni's newest "toys," to
get to ousting prey directly.
And at the the same time, I might go with a very toolboxy deck, and see
about the "one of every good card" module a Giovanni player should consider:
the "Giovanni Toybox."
If I can, I'll see if there's enough room in a 90-card deck to put both
concepts into one deck, and see if there can't be made a deck with good
forward momentum, but with the robustness of a toolbox deck. Hopefully this
kind of construction can lead toward a deck capable of winning tournament
finals; which should be one of the goals of any clan-newsletter writer:
making their clan tournament competitive.
And for those of you out there trying that very thing with the Giovanni,
best of luck, and Welcome to the Family!
--
Pat Ricochet
Soul Jar'rn Fool of Atlanta