OFFICIAL VEKN KIASYD NEWSLETTER VOL II ISSUE IV SEPTEMBER 2004
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1. EDITORIAL
First, I would like to thank everyone for the great response generated by
the last newsletter, it is always great to have a positive impact on the
game and generate interest about things most people had written off.
That being said, I have a correction to make regarding the last
newsletter. I suggested that Bartholomew, etc. might use Shroud Mastery
when recruiting a wraith with Grandest Trick. At this time, there are no
wraith allies or retainers that can be recruited using Grandest Trick;
they all require a clan or discipline. If, at some future point, a wraith
ally or retainer is produced that requires no clan or discipline, then the
Shroud Mastery Grandest Trick will work.
This month, we have the first newsletter that features a vampire that is
not in our clan. They are many vampires that are excellent support
vampires for the Kiasyd, and while we may take a second look at some of
the Kiasyd vampires we already visited in upcoming newsletters, you can
expect that for some time I will be focusing on other clans contributions
to our cause.
Another exciting piece of news, in my opinion, is the picture of Barbaro
Lucchese, the Baali promo for the upcoming storyline. It seems clear that
White Wolf will continue to support the Bloodlines clans. I hope
that we can expect group 3 members for the Kiasyd as well.
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2. VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH
Talley, the Hound [SW:C]
Cardtype: Vampire
Clan: Lasombra
Group: 2
Capacity: 6
Discipline: aus dom OBT POT
Sabbat: Talley gets +1 intercept when attempting to block any (D) action
directed at one of your other minions.
Talley is a great vampire to play with the Kiasyd. Not only does he have
six points of disciplines and a special to boot, he can play the outferior
of any Mytherceria card. He has inferior Dominate and superior
Obtenebration putting him on par with Kassiym in terms of the Kiasyd's
other clan disciplines.
For decks that will be using Obtenebration with the Kiasyd, Talley is a
better choice than Beatrice in most cases. Her lack of Obtenebration
makes her unable to play a vast majority of cards. Talley can play all
the Mytherceria cards at the outferior and as a support vampire, he is
quite a good choice for the Kiasyd.
Next month: Gerard
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3. CARD OF THE MONTH
Riddle Phantastique [BL:C1]
Cardtype: Action
Clan: Kiasyd
Cost: 2 blood
Burn Option
(D) Put this card on an ally or younger vampire who is not Malkavian or
Malkavian antitribu. Put X riddle counters on this card, where X is half
the capacity of the acting vampire (round down). The minion with this card
burns 1 riddle counter instead of untapping during his or her untap phase.
Burn this card when the last counter is removed. You may not play this
card if another Riddle Phantastique is in play.
Riddle Phantastique is a fantastic card. Depending on the Kiasyd that you
use, you can keep a vampire tapped for up to four turns, giving this card
tremendous power to shut down various deck types. Since you can't play
second Riddle while the first is in play, I suggest not having more than 3
or 4 in a deck. I think that you can expect to be able to play 3 a game
if you cycle to them at the right times. Having a fourth may give some
assurance of getting when you need it, but more than that is sure to jam.
The Riddle gives you the opportunity to push forward with a deck and mixes
well with Anarch Troublemaker, Misdirection, and Steal the Mind. You'll
want to be running Change of Target to burn Wakes. You can quickly
overwhelm a deck with big bleeds, but the setup can take some time.
Defensively, the Riddle can hold off your predator's big bleeder or combat
monster. Unfortunately, it's restriction of no Malks/!Malks comes into
play most on defense, where you would like to be able to shut down your
predators stealth bleed deck. Considering that most vampires are
susceptible to the Riddle it is well worth using on defense as well.
Here, you're holding off bleed or combat until you can bring up more
minions, making the card a great stall tactic.
There is no reason not to include Riddle Phantastique in a Kiasyd deck
unless it's very hyper-focused. You should be able to find some use for
it during the game. Much like last month's Grandest Trick, giving a slot
to (at least) one of these in every Kiasyd deck is going to be well worth
your time.
Next month: Steal the Mind
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4. DECK OF THE MONTH
This month's deck is a slight modification of a deck sent to me by David
Knowles (hopefully he'll be able to make some comments on the newsgroup
regarding his version). I altered his deck to add a Talley in lieu of
Beatrice. This reflects my thoughts on Talley's usefulness over Beatrice.
You should be able to stop most non-stealth decks with the intercept in
this deck. For stealth predators backrushing may be the answer. This is
a rather tool-boxy combat deck that relies very heavily on equipment. A
second Communal Haven or a Heidelberg Castle may be necessary to help move
blood and equipment.
Deck Name: Faerie Fellas Master Stroke (remix)
Created By: David Knowles (manorr2001@yahoo.com)
and remixed by Karl George Schaefer
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 23, Max: 35, Avg: 7.17)
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3 Marconius DOM MYT OBT pot 9, Kiasyd:2, Archbishop
2 Bartholomew AUS dom MYT NEC obt 8, Kiasyd:2
2 Julia Prima aus DOM myt OBT 7, Kiasyd:2
2 Talley aus dom OBT POT 6, Lasombra:2
2 Kassiym Malikhair dom for MYT OBT 6, Kiasyd:2
1 Gerard aus dom for obt 5, Ventrue Antitribu:2
Library: (90 cards)
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Master (16 cards)
4 Blood Doll
2 Chanjelin Ward
1 Club Zombie
1 Communal Haven: Cathedral
1 Fame
1 Guardian Angel
1 Haven Uncovered
1 Hungry Coyote, The
3 Perfectionist
1 Powerbase: Barranquilla
Action (10 cards)
3 Ambush
4 Bum's Rush
1 Games of Instinct
2 Scouting Mission
Action Modifier (6 cards)
2 Foreshadowing Destruction
4 Stone Travel
Reaction (10 cards)
1 Deflection
1 Eyes of the Night
1 Fast Reaction
7 Forced Awakening
Combat (26 cards)
1 Ahriman's Demesne
8 Arms of the Abyss
3 Darkling Trickery
4 Darkness Within
7 Earth Swords
1 Entombment
2 Taste of Vitae
Ally (1 cards)
1 Mylan Horseed (Goblin)
Equipment (17 cards)
1 Assault Rifle
4 Cooler
1 Desert Eagle
2 Flak Jacket
2 IR Goggles
2 Leather Jacket
3 Pier 13, Port of Baltimore
1 Sport Bike
1 Starshell Grenade Launcher
Combo (4 cards)
4 Aura Absorption
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5. SIGN OFF
Thanks for reading. The next newsletter will be in November.
Karl Schaefer
kschaefe@alumni.nd.edu