Official VEKN Nosferatu Newsletter for October, 2001
As I keep on posting these kooky decks (some of which actually work...), I keep
on hoping that there are folks out there who are sucessful with the Nosferatu,
originally one of the most maligned clans ("Thay can't bleed! They can't fight
as well as the Brujah! What are they gonna use Animalism for!"). I generally do
pretty well with them, and hopefully my various deck designs are helpful to
those out there who share a similar mindset (or love of Klaus Kinski).
This month I have a new Stealthy Political deck that takes advantage of one of
my new favorite vampires (Calebros, the Martyr), gives poor underutilized Sammy
a place to live, and as opposed to most decks I build, uses *all three* in clan
disciplines! Crazy!
Sammy, Nosferatu Justicar!
Crypt:
1x Sammy (4) ani, obf, pot
1x Agripinna (4) OBF, pot
1x Grendel-The Worm Eaten (5) ani, OBF, pot
2x Calebros, The Martyr (5) ANI, obf, pot
1x Chester DuBois (7) ANI, obf, POT, Primogen
2x Nikolaus Vermeulen (7) ani, obf, POT, Prince
2x Murat (7) OBF, POT, Prince
2x Selma-The Repugnant (8) ani, OBF, POT, Prince
Total of 66, average of 5.5
Library:
4x Blood Doll
2x Animalism
2x Potence
1x Succubus Club
1x The Labyrinth
1x Slum Hunting Ground
2x Secure Haven
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Golconda, Inner Peace
1x Sudden Reversal
8x Thrown Gate
2x Rampage
6x Carrion Crows
4x Forgotten Labyrinth
12x Cloak the Gathering
8x The Second Tradition: Domain
4x The Fourth Tradition: The Accounting
6x Conservative Agitation
6x Kine Resources Contested
6x Consenguaneous Boon
2x Parity Shift
2x Kindred Restructure
2x Banishment
1x Ancilla Empowerment
1x Ancient Influence
1x Autarkis Persecution
1x Praxis Seizure: Paris
2x Nosferatu Justicar
A moderately effective vote deck with enough stealth to get past light and
moderate intercept, good offense, good pool gain, light combat, untap and
intercept, and a good selection of flexible corner case cards. One of the
advantages of the Political deck is that if you are relying on inherrent votes
from titled vampires, you are relying on few cards per action--just a political
action and maybe some stealth is all you need for your basic action. This means
that your deck is going to be less card-combo intensive (as opposed to, say, a
Rush deck or something), giving you room for more flexible cards. Throwing in a
few PA's like Kindred Restructure and Autarkis Persecution can be very helpful
in some situations, and due to the ability to toss a vote during someone else's
political action, they are easily cycleable if they prove unecessary.
Having a handfull of combat defense (the Thrown Gates and Carrion Crows) might
allow you to manuver away from a close range combat deck or possibly deter a
long range combat deck, as you can do upwards of 4 damage per round at long
range. The very strong Prince related cards (2nd Tradition and 4th Tradition)
provide good defensive abilities and pool gain. Cloak the Gathering (which
effectively stacks) and Forgotten Labyrinth provide adaquate stealth vs all but
very dedicated intercept.
In terms of weaknesses, the biggest one this deck faces is a lack of true vote
power. Without Presence to fall back on, you have nothing to work with but your
votes on the table and maybe the edge. If there is another strong vote deck at
the table you can be shut down, and early in the game, even a few titled
vampires spread around the table can slow you down considerably. On the up
side, you have the Succubus Club to broker deals (and some Rampages and votes
that give folks pool to barter with) which might help get some important votes
through in a pinch, but still, this deck can often face a rough time at a vote
heavy table. Often, however, the card that saves the day is Nosferatu
Justicar--just when you think all is bleak, drawing the Justicar vote can give
you the edge you need, and it is much easier to pass the Justicar vote due to
the extra push from each Nosferatu on the table. Once Sammy becomes Nosferatu
Justicar, you position is safe, and no one will ever mock him again.
Peter D Bakija
PDB6@aol.com
http://www.geocities.com/bakija6
"The Ramones are more important than the Solar System."
-Sean Finnerty