VEKN MALKAVIAN NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 2001 THIS MONTH: INSIDE THE MADNESS NETWORK Table of Contents: I. Introduction to Madness II. The Four Seasonings A. The Rotschreck Effect B. Regaining the Upper Hand C. Getting Loopy D. Charge! III. Technical Difficulties IV. Legend of the Flying Dutchman V. Deck - Surfing the Net VI. Deck - I Love Lucian! VII. Next Month I. Introduction to Madness This month I'm zeroing in one particular uniquely Malkavian card: The Madness Network. A single card, that's been with us from the beginning, and opens up a host of Malkavians-only options and tactics. Before we dive in too deep, lets look at the text: Madness Network [Jyhad, V:TES] Cardtype: Master Clan: Malkavian Unique Master. Put this card in play. After another Methuselah has finished all of his or her minion phase actions, any untapped Malkavian can take an action (go clockwise if two or more attempt to take actions). Any minion can burn this card as an action that any untapped Malkavian <(in addition to the normally eligible blockers)> can attempt to block (go clockwise if two or more attempt to block). So, its free, and it lets ALL Malkavians on the table take actions during someone else's turn. Good, kooky, anarchic, fun. II. The Four Seasonings The ability to act during another methuselah's turn may seem interesting. But what good does it do you? Why not just take the same action during your own turn? Well, it turns out there are a bunch of good reasons to try it. In fact, the various advantages can be divided into 4 categories: * You can play out-of-turn masters while you are acting. * You can snag the edge after everyone has had their chance to steal it back. * You can act more than once per turn round the table. * You can "swarm" you actions to overwhelm an opponent. Within each of these there are some subtleties and permutations. Lets look at them. A. The Rotschreck Effect The most notorious OOT Master/Madness deck is the dreaded Malkavian Rotschreck-Rush deck. Get the Madness Network in play. During someone else's turn, have a Malk ambush someone and whip out the Ivory Bow. Rotschreck. Oh, yes. Everyone living in fear of being jumped by Normal. Good stuff, and quite a savage combination -- if you can pull it off. Backing up your own actions with an out-of-turn master can generate some other savage combinations. Consider: Direct Intervention -- If its not you turn, you can use DI to cancel your prey's intercept. Or better still, her Deflection. How's that for contingency planning? And remember if its your prey's turn, then he CAN'T play his own OOT Master, like... say... Archon Investigation. Bleed for 7. And do it without fear. B. Regaining the Upper Hand Another nice trick, when the Net is out, is to hold back your minions and wait until the end of your predator's turn to act. This has the nice psychological effect of appearing not very aggressive to your prey -- since you didn't take any actions at all during your turn. And your predator is looking at a wall of untapped minions with auspex, which may put a crimp in his style (unless he's playing a combat deck), and deter his forward progress. Then when your predator is all done acting, every untapped minion can leap forward. You can act with everyone without fear you'll need them on defense. Your untap is coming up next. The other obvious benefit is that if you snag the edge at the end of your predator's turn, no one is going to steal it back before you gain a pool. And, of course, if you've got Victoria out, you can toss the edge for another 2. 3 pool per turn makes for a strong pool gain mechanism -- thanks again to the Madness Network. C. Getting Loopy Acting during another Methuselah's turn is pretty cool. But to really turn it on you want to be acting during EVERY Methuselah's turn. The trick here is to find a way to act with your minions, and then be able to untap then so they can act again during the NEXT player's turn. Some untap tricks: Metro Underground - Act during your turn. Untap. Act during your prey's turn. Use in a fast deck, where the pool cost won't matter so much. Homunculus - Greger and Zebluon have protean. With a Homunculus they can untap during anyone's turn for 1 blood, and create a deadly barrage of bleeds. Heidelburg Castle can help to pass the Homunculus to your other Malks and assist with the blood management. If they get blocked you can even pop claws and Rotschreck. 2nd Tradition and Obedience - A nice little combo that shuts down an action, gives you some defense, and leaves the Vampire untapped to bleed again at the end of the current minion phase. Other Possibilites - Guard Dogs? Rats Warning? Freak Drive? Masika and Clan Impersonation? Anything that allows you be untapped at the end of a methuselah's minion phase can give you that extra action with which to hit your prey. D. Charge! Another benefit of the Madness Network is that it allows you to "bundle" multiple turns worth of attacks together is a manner that is likely to overwhelm your prey's defenses. This is works well for delivering the coup de grace on a defensive deck. Consider the card flow in a typical turn: A relatively balanced decks will typically spend its turn expending its offensive cards against its prey, use its master and discard phases, and try to draw into some defensive cards to have in hand when their turn ends. Except for wall decks and the like, most decks will pack enough defense to stop or deter a few actions by its predator, but will typically let a few things slide, and save their intercept etc... for those actions that need to be stopped. With Madness Network out, you can take no actions during your turn, leaving everyone untapped. Also, minions you transfer out during your turn can join the line-up and get ready for action. With a little luck, your prey will assume you're waiting because you lack the firepower to move forward and will extend himself a bit. During your predator's turn, avoid the temptation to do anything that would tap a minion. Deflect at superior if you can, but otherwise let slide what you can. At the end his minion phase, jump. Bleed with every minion and look for ways to drain defensive cards from your prey's hand. Faceless Night is a strong card here as the surprise-sit-down of a potential blocker can open the door for more attackers. Hopefully, the attack does some damage, drains your prey of blockers, and drains his hand of bounce, intercept, and wakes. Then on your turn, untap everyone, and immediately surge forward again, going for the kill. You've generated two turns of aggressive attacks before your prey had had the opportunity to expend any non-defensive card's he's drawn into. His pool should be yours for the taking. Here again Heidelberg Castle can help you out. By tapping it during each of the two waves of attack you can 4 times with a single Laptop Computer and/or Tasha Morgan for a lot of damage that requires few cards in hand. III. Technical Difficulties In signing the praises of the Madness Network, I've glossed over its major drawback. It can be burned with an action. And when you start getting wacky with it you can be pretty sure the entire table is going to be gunning for it. When that happens (and it will) you need to walk the line between defending it when you can, and knowing when to let go. The 2nd Trad-Obedience combo is nice for defending the Network even as you exploit it. But eventually its going to go down. If you're planning on using the Madness Network pack multiple copies. You'll want it early and often. And pack enough defense to hold it for a while. Don't forget that ANY Malkavian on the table can attempt to block. So, encourage other players to pitch in, take one for the team, and keep the party going. And you might even be able to get the table sufficiently fixated on destroying the Madness Network that they forget that, even when it can only act during its own turn, a Malkavian deck can be plenty deadly :->= IV. The Legend of the Flying Dutchman Late at night, when players are gathered around the gaming tables of Boston, when the playing is done and the cards and counters put away -- it is then that the tale is told of the Flying Dutchman. According to local legend, the mysterious Dutchman, and his Malkavian servants, activate the Madness Network, incite the Anarchs to Revolt, and call upon the 1st Tradition. Then the mad Malkavians fly about the table calling forth Dramatic Upheavals and Restructuring their Fellow Kindred, always acting during the turns of others, and always rearranging the players in the great Jyhad so that his turn never comes and he never has to face the wrath of the Anarchs. Around the table he flies... until the Dutchman stands alone. Some even say that he brings with him a stack of silver trays for his fellow Methuselah to carry with them as they march about the table... V. Deck - Surfing the Net This is a deck I put together to try and exploit the Madness Network as much as possible in a single deck. It is light on defense and has 0 pool gain. But it generates such quick kills that this hasn't been a problem. Also, since I only have 4 copies of the Madness Network, I've build both of these decks with 60 cards to insure I keep seeing them. This has given me a chance to experiment with small-library decks and I will say that the flow has seemed quite good, and given the speed (and lack of staying power) of these decks, running out of cards hasn't been a problem. The Crypt: Zebulon x2 Malk 5 OBF aus dom pro Greger Anderseen x2 Malk 7 OBF AUS dom pro * Ozmo Malk 6 obf AUS dom * Gilbert Duane x2 Malk 7 OBF AUS DOM * Victoria x2 Malk 5 obf AUS cel * Rolland Bishop Malk 4 obf aus dom Didi Meyers Malk 6 obf aus DOM cel Ohanna Malk 2 dom Masters: 13 Madness Network x4 Major Boon Rotschreck Protean Dominate Heidelberg Castle, Germany Direct Intervention Metro Underground Jake Washington Giants Blood Protean: 6 Homunculus x4 Claws of the Dead x2 Equipment/Retainers: 3 Laptop Computer Tasha Morgan JS Simmons Esq. Auspex: 2 Telepathic Misdirection x2 Dominate: 17 Deflection x2 Obedience x3 Bonding x4 Conditioning x2 Govern the Unaligned x3 Scouting Mission x3 Obfuscate: 14 Lost in Crowds x5 Faceless Night x6 Swallowed by Night x3 Reaction: 3 2nd Tradition x3 Action: 2 5th Tradition x2 VI. Deck - I Love Lucian! Playing the deck: Bring out Lucian. Play the Madness Network. Bleed big with Lucian. During everyone else's turn - Lucian blocks with 2nd Tradadition and Obedience to untap. Bleed. Normal is just there to pull Lucian out of torpor after he plays Rutor's Hand, and to perform odd jobs as needed. Crypt: Lucian x7 Normal x5 Masters: 11 Madness Network x4 Golconda The Barrens Fragment of the Book of Nod Metro Underground Direct Intervention x2 Giant's Blood Thaumaturgy: 2 Rutor's Hand x2 Dominate: 24 Govern the Unaligned x6 Obedience x11 Conditioning x4 Deflection x3 Obfuscate: 12 Lost in Crowds x6 Swallowed By Night x4 Spying Mission x2 Reaction: 8 2nd Tradition x8 Action: 1 5th Tradition Equipment/Retainers: 2 Tasha Morgan Laptop Computer VII. Next Month Well, that's all for this month. Thanks for reading. And tune in next month when we pay a visit to the 13th floor, explore fun things to do with a Primogen, and generally take a look at those Unsung Heroes of clan Malkavian. Feel free to send along feedback, decks, or tales of Malkavian Madness, and I'll see you in December. -Ben Swainbank