Don't I feel like the dork for getting this out as late as I am, but I have only recently recovered from my trip to Origins (where my Nosferatu Rush deck made a pretty good showing, I must add...) and only have time to write it now. Anyway, almost a year and a half has passed since I started writing these newsletters (this being issue 17), and now that I have pretty much covered all general aspects of the Nosferatu that I can, it is time to start getting really specific. This month I devote this entire newsletter to my second favorite vampire in the game, Mr. Marty Lechtansi (No one is better than KoKo. No one.) Marty Lechtansi (9) for, ani, DOM, POT, OBF. Nosferatu Primogen. Marty can pay 1 blood to get 1 press once each combat. Marty Lechtansi is, simply, The Man. That's right. He is the one responsible for keeping you down. First off, Marty has one of the best portraits there are. Quinton Hoover is a long time favorite artist of many CCG players, and I'm no different, and Marty is one of Quinton's best works to date. Look at the guy--he's reaching out of a sewer grate with a hungry look and wanting to eat your liver. He is clearly buff; his eyes burn red with righteous fury; he's got nasty, bitey fangs; he's wearing a Mickey Mouse watch (look real close!) What is not to love? Next, examine Marty's excellent discipline combination. In clan he has POT, OBF and ani. POT is well known for being incredibly, ahem, potent. The OBF certainly can't hurt. The ani is always useful, as in most cases, ANI isn't particularly necessary (most Ani cards work just as well at inferior as superior, barring Cat's Guidance). Next, he comes equipped with DOM and for. Dominate is widely regarded is the most useful of all disciplines, and having it at superior is just begging to make use of it. The basic fortitude is just gravy on his already strong discipline combination. Marty can hang around with Selma, Chester, Nikolaus, and Sheldon to build incredibly powerful (if a bit pricey) combat decks. What can you do with Marty's disciplines? Lots of things: -Combat: With POT, ani, and for, Marty immediately has the worst possible combat combination available to him--Drawing out the Beast, Immortal Grapple, Skin of Steel. They can't get away from you, they can't hurt you. Unless they are also packing SoS, they are meat, pure and simple. You don't even need to Throw in the Thoughts Betrayed that Marty has access to, as it would simply be over kill. Marty even comes with a special Press ability, making him even a stronger combatant. Strong. -Bruise and Bleed: With DOM as an option, Marty can be the backbone of a vicious B+B deck. Go to Govern your prey's Unaligned for a bleed of three (it might be a 6 with a Conditioning if they don't block!). If they block you, lay down a Dawn Operation. If they back out, you get through a big bleed. If they fight you, you mangle them with the above mentioned cards, except this time the damage is aggrivated. Eww. What a mess. -Stealth and Bleed: The Malkavians are well known for their inability to survive in a stand up fight, so why not make a Potence S+B deck? Use Marty, Judah, Roxanne, and any number of other huge vampires with Pot, Dom, and Obf. Through a good use of Obf skill cards and/or Cloak the Gathering, you will be able to get quite a few large bleeds through, and if some one Rushes your vampires, you just mess them up real good. Clearly, Marty is the versitile backbone of many deck types. Why just doesn't everyone use him all the time? Oh, wait, it's because he is a 9. Nine point vampires suffer from being very slow to get out, very vulnerable to being stolen, burned, or Banished, and Marty is no different. Getting out a good, strong 9 is basically putting all your eggs in one basket, and you are just asking to have him Mind Raped, Banished, Diablerized, Hostily taken over, or just plain burned. As this can never lead to any good, you are best off making sure that you are very combat strong, and have lots of vote power to back up your other defenses. Now that I have examined the theory of Marty Lechtansi, I might as well examine the practice with a deck. Ladies and gentlemen... "The Deck That Only Works When I Get Out Marty Lechtansi, Mk. V" Crypt: 6x Marty Lechtansi (9) POT, OBF, DOM, ani, for 2x Judah (6) POT, dom, ani 2x Aurora Van Brand, Paladin (6) pot, dom, for 1x Shane Grimald (4) pot, dom, ani 1x Cameron (3) pot, dom Masters: 5x Minion Tap 2x Fortitude 2x Potence 2x Golconda 2x Info Superhighway 1x Tomb of Ramses III 1x Barrens/Fragment/Dreams of the Sphinx Library: 8x Govern the Unaligned 2x Conditioning 6x Deflection 4x Bum's Rush 8x Immortal Grapple 8x Torn Signpost 8x Undead Strength 6x Drawing out the Beast 5x Rat's Warning 8x Skin of Steel 2x Dawn Operation 4x Freak Drive 6x Taste of Vitae Total of 90 cards (15 Masters/75 Minion). This deck starts off slowly, as most of its vampires are huge, but with the two Info Highways and the Tomb of Ramses, it might just start working before it gets ousted. It has good combat offense/defense, and in most cases, your prey will only block you once. Once. With the Rat's Warning and Deflections, you have some good bleed defense (when combined with the Bum's Rushes). What you need to worry about most is a really speedy predator, getting Marty Banished, and getting Deflected. The Freak Drives allow you to get the most use out of Marty. Govern at superior to speed up your vampire production, Freak Drive, go bleed with a Conditioning, Freak Drive, and then Bum's Rush someone to Taste and fill up Marty. It'll only happen, like, once per game, but when it does, boy, will you feel cool. Peter D Bakija PDB6@aol.com "Can't find the spoon that we once had, the sugar cubes will melt no more" -Cibo Matto