OFFICIAL VEKN GIOVANNI NEWSLETTER Vol.III No.5 May.2001 (*Really* late)
In this Issue:
INTRODUCTION
WHISPERS FROM THE DEAD: A Final Nights Wish List
VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH: Rafaele Giovanni
CARD OF THE MONTH: Torment the Soul
DECK OF THE MONTH: Hold This, Jeeves
CONCLUSION/PREVIEW
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INTRODUCTION
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I know, I know, it's 5 weeks late; but last months was late, too, and I
wanted to try out this month's Deck of the Month in Dallas against the
Austin players to see how it might do in pickup games outside of Atlanta.
(Let me extend thanks and welcome to the Princes of Austin, College Station,
and Dallas for the good time at the Dallas regional qualifier. I would have
played Giovanni, but Derek Ray ran a Lazvernuts deck by me that was too fun
not to play.)
This will be a quick Newsletter before I take off tomorrow for Pittsburgh,
PA, to get married this Saturday; I'll be missing the pre-release events, so
don't be suprised if you don't see the Final Nights release Giovanni
Newsletter till later this month.
This month is poised on the release of the MUCH anticipated Final Nights,
when I'll have (in all likelihood) *untold* amounts of new deck ideas and
things to pontificate about. So, I'll be betting/hoping what the Giovanni
will get, and showing one last deck using a card you never see.
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WHISPERS FROM THE DEAD: A Final Nights Wish List
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What do the Giovanni crave? Money. Influence. Power. Knowledge.
What do the Giovanni players crave? Much the same:
MONEY: Leonardo has always been good for an extra blood here and there, but
the Giovanni don't have much tournament competive pool gain. They don't
have 5th Tradition, they don't have Voter Cap, they don't have the Hungry
Coyote, even. They've got Govern the Unaligned, but they need more guys
with superior Dominate that also have Superior Necromancy and/or Superior
Potence.
So: Give us Pool Gain. Give us good vamps.
INFLUENCE: Giovanni vote isn't easy, and your average Giovanni deck has
trouble with being voted out of existence. Another titled vamp or two, even
big ones, wouldn't hurt, and some cheap intercept. Cheap intercept could be
easily helped by more Superior Necromancy guys (especially if there becomes
a Path of Bone/s), but some other form of intercept might be nice.
So: Give us title vamps, and one with NEC. Give us a Path of Bone/s.
POWER: The Giovanni CAN bleed, but they can't fight as well as they should.
They need more guys with POT, especially NEC/POT, or they might as well not
bother to reprint Soul Stealing. OR, give a Sac Lamb like card so they can
burn torped guys outside of combat without diablerie. They NEED NEED NEED a
card that gives them a maneuver, preferrably a Maneuver/Press card. They
are the ONLY Clan with no access to a replacable Maneuver.
So: Give us POT vampires. Give us ways to burn guys. Give us a
Maneuver/Press card.
KNOWLEDGE: The Dark arts of Necromancy can surely be extended. Surely
there is more that can be done with that ash heap. What about everyone
else's ash heaps?
So: Give us more of what the Giovanni do best: revive that which was
burned. And be sure to keep that power to the Giovanni alone.
Let the Final Nights come.
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VAMPIRES OF THE MONTH: Rafaele Giovanni
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One of the reasons the Giovanni so badly need Final Nights to be printed is
for the Ancient Hearts vampires, Patrizia and Rafaele.
Card Title: Rafaele Giovanni
Capacity: 6
Disciplines: NEC obf cel
Clan: Giovanni
Text: Independent. As a (D) action, Raphael may bleed
your predator. +1 bleed
I've always liked Rafaele. He's got that NEC/obf combo with Carlotta to
help sneak off those Possessions, and he's the only Giovanni with +1 bleed.
As time has gone by, making mostly pure Necromancy decks, I've found that
he's quite useful. Rudolpho is nice, and half the cost, but Rafaele gives
you 2 bleed for double the cost (an even deal), and most importantly, comes
with 6 blood on him. When +1 intercept costs a blood each time, Possession
is 2 blood, etc, Rudolpho runs out quick and hunts a lot, but Rafaele goes
the distance.
(I've never actually bled backwards with him, just threatened too.)
He's a nice wacky addition; hopefully he and Patrizia are all the wackyness
the clan needs, and Final Nights can concentrate (much as Sabbat War did) on
getting the clans the vamps they need with in-clan disciplines to get the
job done.
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CARD OF THE MONTH: Torment the Soul
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Card Title: Torment the Soul
Blood/Pool: n/a
Clan/Discip.: Necromancy
Card Type: Combat
Card Text: Strike: 1R; only usable after the first round of combat
(S) Strike: 1R, aggravated; only usable after the first
round of combat
Big mistake of a card. IIRC, this card was made when you could burn an
empty vampire with 1 point of agg damage. What you really need is 1 agg + 2
or more normal damage to really get the job done. Enzo with Carrion Crows
is kind of silly, and even Rafaele can't do it with additional strikes.
Also, for a clan that has Potence and no maneuvers, this is kind of a silly
way to try to get someone into torpor. What they need to make this card go
is Celerity (not unlike the Tremere and Walk of Flame), lacking dodges,
presses, and maneuvers. Which Rafaele has, of course. But he can't hit for
1 agg AND hit them with a lot of normal damage. What he needs is help, and
the Giovanni, once again, go for the Ghouled help.
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DECK OF THE MONTH: Hold this, Jeeves
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Deck Name: Hold This, Jeeves
Created by: Patrick O'Shea
Description: Torment the Soul isn't worth 2nd round. But add an RPG Launcher
with a Ghoul Retainer firing it, and you burn guys with 5 or less blood.
Crypt: (12 cards) [Min: 18, Max: 24, Avg: 5.5]
2 Abd al-Rashid (CEL obf QUI, Assamite, 5)
2 Darrell Boyce (CEL OBF PRO, Gangrel Antitribu, 6)
2 Kalinda (CEL OBF tha, Assamite, 6)
4 Rafaele Giovanni (cel NEC obf, Giovanni, 6)
1 Tansu Bekir (cel OBF, Assamite, 4)
1 Wren (cel obf pro, Gangrel Antitribu, 4)
Library: (90 cards)
Master (21 cards)
2 Barrens, The
4 Blood Doll
2 Celerity
1 Contract
1 Heidelburg Castle, Germany
1 Mob Connections
6 Necromancy
1 Obfuscate
2 Parthenon, The
1 Vast Wealth
Minion (69 cards)
3 Ambush
6 Bum's Rush
1 Clan Impersonation
7 Disguised Weapon
1 Distraction
8 Flash
5 Forced Awakening
7 Ghoul Retainer
4 Infernal Pursuit
5 Psyche!
7 RPG Launcher
2 Rumors of Gehenna
3 Taste of Vitae
5 Torment the Soul
4 Vampiric Speed
1 Whispers from the Dead
Pretty simple. Your object is to burn at least one vampire before you are
ousted. Not recommended for tournament play. Get a Ghoul Retainer on
someone with Superior Necromancy, and some kind of obf/cel. Rush someone,
and use your various cards to get to second round at long range,
cycling/etc. to get the Disguised RPG Launcher by round 2, so "Jeeves" can
fire it for you while you play Torment the Soul, for 6 normal and 1 agg,
which will burn a lot of vampires if they take it in the face.
Since it never came out at the right time, I dropped the Soul Stealings
and the Ritual of the Bitter Rose from the deck.
Note that 4 of the cards add Master phases, and 7 of the cards are card
cyclers in some way; nevertheless, discard every turn unless you have the
full combo in hand.
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CONCLUSION/PREVIEW
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The clouds are on the horizion. The Sabbat and the Camarilla, trapped in
their petty squabbles, hardly see the rise of the Independents into power.
Truly, the Final Nights are at hand.
...I can hardly wait!! Anything less than my own marriage and I'd cancel
plans and get myself to a pre-release event. =)
Next month I'll ob