Well, anyone who's been paying attention to the group at the moment has seen a lot of the arguing about what is cheesy, what isn't cheesy, the multi-facetedness of decks, combat defence, vote defence, bleed defence and so forth. Various people have proposed the idea that a Malkavian stealth and bleed deck can be just as multi-faceted as any other deck - perfectly true. But what sort of secondary functions can you work into your Malkavian stealth and bleed deck? Well, let's start with a look at combat defence - exactly how are you going to protect your minions? There are, of course, quite a few ways available and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. You can use equipment, or Master cards - there are even a few minion cards lying around which could be used to your advantage, despite the Malkavians not being hot in combat. So let's have a look at equipment first. It's something that tends to get overlooked most of the time. Why? Well, equipment and weapons have a tendency to be somewhat synonymous. Most of the time, weapons *are* over-priced and under useful. They get smacked by IG, so their pool cost is too high for something so 'fragile' (that is, something so difficult to be able to guarantee usage of). But the secondary equipment functions don't have that problem; since they provide you with a non-strike function, you just go merrily on your way and use them. + Flak Jacket The Flak Jacket is the first item to crop up. Is it useful? Well, it can be, but what sort of combat defence does it provide? At a cost of 1 pool, you can use it to prevent 1 damage during a combat. Against the concerted effort of a rush deck, that 1 damage isn't going to be good enough - the Assamites can hit you for more than that with the Khabar: Honour, the Brujah can easily manage lots of damage with Blur or with potence based cards, the Gangrel have Scorpion Sting, Ritual Challenge, Gangrel Revel, the Tremere can steal blood (not damage) and then hit you with Cauldron of Blood, the Tzimisce have Scorpion Sting, retainers and strikes like Flesh and Bonecraft which have effects other than damage. Even the Toreador can manage it with a basic Blur, even though they *aren't* hot in combat, at all. So what can it do then? Well, it will protect you against the basic hand strike of another minion, so if you play in a combat light environment but don't want to lose the blood to blocking, it can be worth it. As a serious defence against combat decks though, you are probably best to forget it. It might mean that they have to cycle a few cards to get a good strike/Torn Signpost/whatever before they can kill you, but kill you they will. Me, I'd rather have the pool still sitting round for use in bringing out a replacement vampire. + IR Goggles One of the arguments you often see on the newsgroup is how to best defend against a Brujah potence deck (or one of the other variants upon the potence decks). One of the big arguments is over whether a Dodge, a Combat Ends or a maneuver can do you the most good. The thing about the Dodge and the Combat Ends cards is that they are easily circumvented by an Immortal Grapple. The maneuver afforded by the Bum's Rush in a rush deck can be neutered by a block, and then they have to start using things like Flash. If you can draw those out and get rid of them, it makes it all the easier for you to defend. Also, against a combat light deck, a maneuver is just as good as a Dodge since all you can then do is just wave at each other from long range, so you still suffer no damage - but the maneuver can afford you better protection against the rush deck. The IR Goggles can, therefore, be a big consideration for a deck. If you can afford the time to equip it, it could be the best choice for combat defence. It's also not unique, nor limited to one per vampire (as the vehicles are), so you can start putting several on a vampire to make them kings of range setting (until they come up against the Lasombra or Cailean). + Leather Jacket The Sabbat version of the Flak Jacket, as it were, but possibly more useful against heavy, heavy combat. Unlike most of the other pieces of equipment, you might not have to lose the actions you were going to take. Why? Well, you're Malkavians, aren't you, and Madness Network is cool. Since the Leather Jacket untaps you at the end of your turn, later on round the table, take the action you were going to take anyway. How useful is the Leather Jacket though? Well, it can be good since it can, against a non-cel combat deck, provide you with a free round in which to do anything you want - a one off Skin of Steel which might make them more reticent to waste a combat on you since if they use cards to hit you, you burn it (so they waste cards) and if they don't, you don't need to burn it. Of course, at some point, they'll have to come and have a go, but it might just provide the dis-incentive you need to survive. + The Blood Tears of Kephran Preventing 2 points of damage once can be useful, of course, though their unique status means that they can be a lot less useful than the Leather Jacket - you can't have them on multiple vampires, and having too many in your deck might mean you draw several useless cards at once. The ability to burn to gain two blood has its uses, though. If a combat deck comes to hit you, it may not be able to amass enough to properly torporise you. Being able to burn it to prevent the damage can be useful, or you could leave it till later and give yourself the blood back - a possibility versus a Cryptic Mission/Society of Leopold deck. On reflection, though, a copy of Leather Jacket may well prove to be more useful. + Ruins of Villars Abbey, Belgium Expensive card, at 2 blood, and locquipment so you can't move it round later in the game, which the 'normal' equipment cards have at their advantage. Of course, it can't be stolen due to diablerie either... But at 2 blood, it's expensive. At having to burn X blood to get the maneuvers, it's also damn expensive. I mean, from equipping it to getting your first maneuver, you've just spent 3 blood. And it's unique :( A card I like for some reason, though, but just one that isn't very useful. + Hawg The Hawg can be a great weapon in the right environment. If you have a lot of Tremere (*glares at Xian*) then the Hawg can start to clamp down on them, making them waste a lot more presses than they should, or having to fire off a Shotgun Ritual, and killing their blood in the process. But, in many environments, the Tremere aren't that hot. You're more likely to get killed in the first round than the second, and so a Hawg may be of no use to you at all and this seems quite likely. That more or less rounds off the combat defence equipment. How about a retainer or two? Well... + Jackie Therman With the one optional maneuver, you essentially have an IR Goggles at your disposal. However, she's Unique :( There is also the problem of a long range player being able to shoot her from range, and there's nothing you can do to protect her in those circumstances. For style, she gets 10/10, but for use, a lot less. For masters, though? + Elysium: The Arboretum The old stalwart of the "Run away" fraternity. If you don't want to be in combat, this is a great card to have. It *will* end a combat, with almost nothing they can do about it, unless they can deal damage before range, which is rare. Of course, it's a one shot per turn. Since it taps, you have to choose when to use it and when to weather the combat - and if you choose incorrectly.... The other big problems with it are the vote it has to burn it (a combat deck can probably have enough muscle to get rid of it quick sharp-ish, if it annoys it) and the popularity - some combat decks now take to including it, simply to annoy all and sundry by contesting it. + Police Department Like the Hawg, this is only useful against, really, the Tremere. A good solid combat deck will kill you in the first round, though there are exceptions. But it's a master slot, and wouldn't you just rather have the Elysium out than this? Most of the time, I would have thought so. + Direct Intervention Not strictly a combat defence card, but worth mentioning. If that combat deck is annoying you with its Immortal Grapples, you may just be able to disrupt it using this. With a typical ratio of 10-12 out of 90 cards for the Immortal Grapple brigade, they may not be able to redraw one when you throw this at their feet. If they do, you've just wasted one anyway - and that *might* be worth the 1 pool. You decide. + Guardian Angel A problematic card. The intercept it affords you might be useful, but not really for the cost if all you want is combat defence, since it only works versus bleeds. It's expensive, then, for just the combat defence, and the fact that it can so easily go away (burn on entering torpor) makes it an awkward card to use in this manner. What surprises, then, does Obfuscate hold for the opponent of the Malkavian S&B deck? + Behind You A good card, in that it can afford a maneuver, and also a dodge. The Dodge! card can be problematic to use, since if you get IG-ed, you can't get rid of it. But this two use card gives you the added flexibility, and the considerable use of a maneuver, too. This card really could save your life, especially if you go for the high Obfuscate vampires in your deck. + Vanish from the Mind's Eye A press to end combat, or just a press at superior. The same problems as the Hawg and the Police Department, really. Unlike those, though, this is transient - you don't have to spend a master phase action, or an equipping action. You can just play this in combat. Of course, it can be almost impossible to get in your hand unless you have large numbers - and let's face it, a Press just isn't going to cut it. Even the second round combat decks will hopefully be able to hurt you in the first round as well, at least for more than just a quick slap. + Fade from View Press, or a Dodge. At the cost of 1 blood, though, can you necessarily spare the blood? Similar flexibility to Behind You, and no restrictions on first round only, but the maneuver of Behind You, and it's zero cost, make it the more logical choice, if you can get hold of enough. + Quick Exit A free version of Fade from View, but only allowing you to press to end combat. Still, who would want to press to the second round in combat defence? The Strike: dodge is still there, so if you were to need presses as combat defence, this is a far more logical choice than Fade from View. + Swallowed by the Night A beautiful card, IMHO. Having the stealth at inferior means that you can use it heavily for stealth and bleed, but the Maneuver at superior makes it absolutely superb. Definitely a candidate for any stealth and bleed deck, since it doesn't detract from the stealth (since only Lost in Crowds provides +2 for the bleed deck at superior, so this could be any other card for stealth concerns) and the maneuver is always useful to have on hand. Dominate has fewer options. + Obedience You would need to be untapped to throw this one down, so if you're being Ambushed, forget it. The requirement for a younger vampire can be fine against some of the small, fast, hard combat decks. If you can survive just long enough to start amassing pool to out-race the combat deck, you'll do fine, but it'll slow down the number of actions you can take, or require a Wake of some description to use. + Thoughts Betrayed A combined offence/defence type card. The damage at inferior is often ignored, which is a shame because it could be useful if used properly. At superior, you get to stop them playing strike cards, which is very useful. However, a lot of decks *can* have ways round that - the Potence decks often don't need a strike card once Torn Signpost, Fire in the Blood and Fists of Death find their way into their arsenal, and other decks have retainers and so forth. However, they may not have them ready, so you could slow them down, at least, or nullify the unlucky deck that hasn't other options. Combat defence is also found in the Malkavians final discipline, Auspex. + Read Intentions Essentially, the same card as Quick Exit, with all its faults. Under Auspex, you may have chosen to leave it out of a stealth and bleed deck, where Obfuscate and Dominate prove to be more useful. Under other decks, though, this could prove to be more useful, say, if you need the Auspex to defend your Madness Network. Of course, it's the old press again, whereas I'd rather have the maneuver, but it does give the flexibility of a dodge so it may work out. I wouldn't bank on it, though. + Spirit's Touch The maneuver at superior may mean that this finds its way in to your deck, but the reliance on intercept might force it out of your stealth and bleed deck, where you want to take actions, not sit around and wait. If you have a slight amount of intercept though, to stop the vote deck from running wild, say, this could prove to be just as useful as anything else. + Precognition Like the Spirit's Touch, but provides a slight amount of damage prevention, instead. Will the 1 point do much to a big hard combat deck? I think not, but it will stop you take a point from hands against another combat light deck. + Primal Instincts The problems of relying on a Dodge, when Immortal Grapple will kill it, rears its ugly head here, and that has been well discussed. The superior allow you to cancel your *own* strike and choose another one, so if you find that the Gangrel deck hasn't played Scorpion Sting, you could throw it down for a Dodge. But not very likely, I have to say. And well, that about wraps it up for this month. Suggestions, comments, criticism etc. welcome. -- James Coupe (Malkavian Mouthpiece) Vampire: Elder Kindred Network http://www.white-wolf.com/VTES/vekn.html http://www.obeah.demon.co.uk