Official V:EKN Clan Salubri Newsletter Vol.5 No.1 (February 2007)
Of interest to Scholars and Slanderers
Editor: Joel Tate
In this issue:
1. Introduction
2. Miscellanea et Demonica - strategy
3. The Dwindling Few - featured vampire(s)
4. The Powers of the Righteous - featured card(s)
5. The Hosts of Heaven - featured deck(s)
6. Conclusion - summary & theme for next issue
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1. INTRODUCTION
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Hello everyone and welcome to the first of the newsletters for 2007.
This issue was meant to go out in January, but the newsletter was
delayed. Hopefully I'll address the rest of the Gehenna cards and
other Events in a subsequent issue, ideally before the release of the
Sword of Caine Expansion.
Last month we reviewed additions to the Salubri arsenal addressing
more the defensive aspect of the Salubri, focusing around counter
instead of blocking as the defensive strategy, this month, we shall
review some of the Gehenna Events, linking them into typical Salubri
decks. As a result, Section 4 will be devoted to Gehenna cards, rather
than Obeah / Salubri cards this month.
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2. MISCELLANEA ET DEMONICA
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I'll be honest from the start, at the release of Gehenna, I wasn't
really sold by the concept of Events. Now after seeing, & also
playing, decks including these useful cards, I'm certainly less
skeptical, although a few cards are yet to prove themselves
sufficiently.
I tend to split the Events released in the Gehenna expansion into 6
definitive categories and an odd ball one, each based on the deck
type / strategy it supports. The split is fairly obvious, for example,
some cards suit crypts of weenies or fatties (big vampires) and others
suit the Imbued/ally deck. Other Gehenna cards fall into a denial
deck, some favor a damaging/diablerie deck; my favorites are utility
cards, for general use in all decks.
For deck purposes, it is easier to start at the end result desired and
work backwards. If you want the ability to diablerize with impunity,
but lack the votes, then Fueled by the Heart's Blood and Gehenna
Events with no "do not replace" requirement is the way to go. However,
playing a lot of allies (or Imbued), then The Unmasking will aid you.
Once you've selected the combination of effects that you want your
Gehenna cards to bring, you need to work out how to build up the
critical mass of Gehenna Events so you can play your desired cards.
The more general utility cards are indispensable in this role (ie
Anthelios, Blood Trade etc...), since their requirements are few/none.
However if you are lucky enough to require very few Gehenna cards for
your combo, then that is one less problem to overcome.
When playing Gehenna, there are three types of card to assist in
playing a deck based at the end of times. The first is the Event
seeker card, Fortschritt Library, which allows you to pull a Gehenna
card from your library and put it in your hand, (note: this card is
playable once per game). The second type of card is an Event
accompanier, ie Alia, God's Messenger, Tapestry of Blood etc..., having
added benefits when playing Gehenna cards. The third type of card aims
to reduce the inherent drawback ("do not replace") on some Gehenna
cards; Fragment of the Book of Nod or Servitor of Irad et al. can aid
card cycling in limited hand sizes.
I've included a couple of typical combinations of Gehenna/Government
cards alongside the types of decks they are in below, helpfully this
will aid some of you new to Event cards:
Ally/Imbued decks - Blood Weakens, Edge Explosion (for Imbued), FBI
Special Affairs Division (for Imbued), The Slow Withering, The
Unmasking and Veil of Darkness
Salubri blood denial deck - Dr Marisa Fletcher CDC, Dragonbound,
Restricted Vitae (usually when not playing Blanche Hill), Thirst and
potentially Torpid Blood
Card appendix:
Fortschritt Library
Type: Master
Master. Search your library for a Gehenna event card. Show it to all
players and add it to your hand. Discard down to your hand size
afterward. Only one Fortschritt Library may be played per game.
Tapestry of Blood
Type: Equipment
Cost: 1 blood
Unique equipment. The bearer can look at the top three cards of any
Methuselah`s library and burn up to one of those as a +1 stealth
action that costs 1 blood. If that action is successful, the bearer
untaps at the end of the turn. The bearer gains 1 blood when a Gehenna
event is played.
Servitor of Irad
Type: Master
Master. Put this card on a ready vampire you control. When any
Methuselah plays a Gehenna card, you may draw two additional cards
from your library if this vampire is ready. Discard down to your hand
size afterward. A vampire can have only one Servitor of Irad.
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3. THE DWINDLING FEW
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Mr. Noir
Salubri (Group 4)
Capacity 3
for obe
Independent. If Mr. Noir is burned in combat, you gain 2 pool. Scarce.
Mr Noir is the smallest (youngest) of all the Salubri which currently
exist in VTES, at a capacity of 3, and when influenced out when other
Salubri are on the table you can consider his cost doubled, unless you
have a Path of Tears. To most this proves to be a disincentive to play
Mr Noir with other Salubri, unless you are prepared to pay twice his
cost, something I would be more inclined to do for Euralye, but not a
3 cap.
However, what brings Mr Noir into his own is that he complements an
Imbued deck by being able to play Cleansing Ritual, Healing Touch,
Heaven's Gate, Panacea Renewed Vigor & Resurrection on the Hunters.
Most tend to favour Eurayle as the vampire of choice for this role,
however, if you are intent on playing Slow Withering and keeping crypt
cheap, the Nr Noir is the way to go. Dropping a Spontaneous Power on
Nr Noir, or Sanguine Instructing him by Euralye or Saulot and the
problem of basic Obeah goes away.
Mr Noir will also fit comfortably into a weenie Fortitude deck, re-
worked for group 3-4 vampires; or even a non-discipline weenie
(Gehenna) deck.
I'm not really sure how best to abuse Mr Noir's special, other than it
gives your opponents less incentive to burn him in combat. However, Mr
Noir can still play Dawn Operation, and when on no blood 2 damage will
mean 2 pool recovery of his 3 pool cost, if someone foolishly burns
him in combat.
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4. THE POWERS OF THE RIGHTEOUS
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Absimilard`s Army Type: Event
Requires: 1 Gehenna card Gehenna. Do not replace until a Methuselah is
ousted. Requires at least one other Gehenna card in play. During each
Methuselah's untap phase, he or she may put the top card of his or her
library in play. That card represents a ghoul ally with 2 life, 2
strength, and 1 bleed. If the ally is burned, it is removed from the
game. When a Methuselah is ousted, burn this card. Remove all such
allies from the game when this card leaves play.
For Salubri, Absimilard's Army forms an edge to ousting, allowing to
create an additional ghoul minion per turn, which can bleed. Since
Salubri are few and far between, these additional Ghouls can allow
your Salubri to focus on defense duties, something which they are
renowned for.
Else, combining Salubri with Allies and/or Hunters and the Gehenna
card The Unmasking (discussed in next issue), you can potentially
escalate up a horde of ghouls with 1 intercept & 2 strength, forming a
strong defensive wall (until someone is ousted anyway).
Anthelios, the Red Star
Type: Event
Gehenna. Once each master phase, a Methuselah can use a master phase
action to exchange a master card in his or her hand for one in his or
her ash heap.
Anthelios, the Event card which introduced us to the concept of
Events, and probably one of the most commonly played Events. Simply
for its few requirements, no card replacement issues, and a handy
effect to pull back Master Cards, Anthelios is still a Gehenna card of
choice.
As benefits go to the Salubri, Anthelios can help pull back discarded
Path of Tears or Second Sight, if a Salubri with the card is burnt.
Another classic combination, is to use Minion Tap on your large
vampires, and if your Salubri fails to Renewed Vigor the vampire / you
don't draw it, then you can fall back on Golconda (great for pool
gain).
Becoming of Ennoia Type: Event
Requires: 2 Gehenna cards
Gehenna. Do not replace until your next discard phase. Requires at
least two other Gehenna cards controlled by other Methuselahs in play.
During each Methuselah`s untap phase, he or she chooses a ready
vampire he or she controls. The chosen vampire takes 1 unpreventable
damage. Playing Earth Meld costs 2 additional blood.
Becoming is probably one of the few Gehenna cards that have left me
unconvinced, yes it is attritional damage and also causes Earth Meld
to be far more expensive, but requiring 2 other Gehenna cards, it
seems like too many drawbacks.
Other than the obvious assistance to inflicting damage to vampires,
for you to block hunts with your Salubri, and that Salubri can gain
blood quite quickly with Renewed Vigor, I can't really see Becoming
making headway into many Salubri decks.
Blood Trade Type: Event Gehenna. Burn all boons in play. No more boons
may be put in play. During each Methuselah`s untap phase, that
Methuselah may move a blood from a vampire he or she controls to a
vampire controlled by another Methuselah.
A handy card for the Salubri, in that there are no replacement rules,
or number of Gehenna card requirements, which makes it ideal to assist
Salubri set up, before playing the more critical Gehenna cards with
Event requirements. Assuming that you decide to play Minor Boon in a
block deck in order to reduce the predator minions bleeding you,
playing this card will be self-defeating. I haven't ever seen anyone
engaging in actual Blood Trade, however I'm sure there is a first time
for everything.
Blood Weakens Type: Event
Gehenna. Do not replace until a vampire commits diablerie. Cards that
a minion plays that require any Disciplines to play are not replaced
until the end of the current action or until any Methuselah`s hand is
empty (whichever comes first). Any vampire who commits diablerie is
immune to this effect until the next Gehenna card is played.
A double-edged card for the Salubri, seeing as it is as much a support
card for weenie non-discipline decks, where it is most commonly
played, as it is for combining in a Saulot Multi-rush/Diablerie deck.
On balance, risk probably outweighs the benefit, however if
successfully teamed with Fueled by the Heart's Blood, then watch the
vampires fall.
Conquest of Humanity Type: Event
Requires: 2 Gehenna cards Gehenna. Do not replace until your next
discard phase. Requires at least two other Gehenna cards in play.
During each Methuselah`s untap phase, he or she may choose a location
controlled by his or her prey. The chosen location is burned unless
its controller burns 2 pool.
Conquest isn't a really a key card for the Salubri, since it supports
location destruction, which goes against the usual support mechanism
to Salubri decks (ie Heidelberg Castle in a Marionette deck or various
Powerbases to secure pool gain in Block decks. The requirement for 2
other Gehenna cards is a further disadvantage which doesn't help the
cause.
Dragonbound Type: Event
Gehenna. Do not replace as long as this card is in play. During each
Methuselah`s discard phase, he or she burns X pool, where X is the
number of vampires in torpor he or she controls.
Dragonbound is a great card for the Salubri decks, either in a multi-
rush (Saulot) or block deck (Matthias / Blanche / Saulot), as the card
forms part of the "Fame Trio" (Fame, Tension in the Ranks &
Dragonbound).
Up to the rules revision in 3rd Edition, people used to get around the
do not replace permanent, by using Visit from the Capuchin, however
with the errata, you have to rely on cards like Elder Library to get
around the card restriction. However the disadvantage in the card
doesn't detract from being one of the better (and more expensive)
Gehenna Cards.
Fall of the Camarilla Type: Event
Requires: 3 Gehenna cards Gehenna. Do not replace as long as this card
is in play. Requires at least three other Gehenna cards in play. There
is no Camarilla. Any Camarilla vampire is considered Independent
instead.
Not a crucial card to the Salubri clan, unless you want an abstract
vote / vote denial deck, or your local play group is heavily playing
Princes. 3 Gehenna card requirement and a "do not replace" permanent
also do not help Fall of the Camarilla's entry in a Salubri deck.
There is only one deck I've seen this card included in (Ben Peal's
Matthias Watches Over Beckett - see VTES Players Guide).
Fall of the Sabbat Type: Event
Requires: 3 Gehenna cards Gehenna. Do not replace as long as this card
is in play. Requires at least three other Gehenna cards in play. Not
playable if any ready vampire is Black Hand. There is no Sabbat. Any
Sabbat vampire is considered Independent instead.
Like the Fall of the Camarilla, except apply to the Sabbat instead,
except Black Hand vampires prevent it's play, so potentially even less
point in being in a Salubri deck, Ditto with Fall of the Camarilla,
there is only one deck I've seen this card included in (Ben Peal's
Matthias Watches Over Beckett).
Fueled by Heart`s Blood Type: Event Gehenna. Do not replace until a
vampire commits diablerie. Put 10 counters on this card. Remove one
counter each time another Gehenna card is put in play. A blood hunt
cannot be called on a vampire whose capacity is greater than the
number of counters on this card when he or she diablerises a younger
vampire.
Fueled suits only 1 vampire in the Salubri line, its Founder, Saulot.
Likewise, as deck strategies go, there probably one main strategy
which the card will support, the Multi-rush, that is unless you want a
Diablerist outbreak. Pair up with Dragonbound, and if the vampire
isn't Diablerized, then pool damage awaits.
New Inquisition, The Type: Event Requires: 1 Gehenna card
Gehenna. Do not replace until a titled vampire goes to torpor.
Requires at least one other Gehenna card in play. During each
Methuselah`s untap phase, he or she may choose a ready vampire
controlled by his or her prey. That vampire takes 1 unpreventable
damage. Any titled vampire may call a referendum to burn this card as
a +1 stealth political action.
New Inquisition, just like Becoming, not really an overtly beneficial
card for the Salubri and I never seen it played. However, just as with
Becoming, there is an attritional value to New Inquisition, which
combined with Smiling Jack, Vitae Block and Salubri intent on blocking
actions, and vampires fall into torpor, ready for Dragonbound /
Diablerie.
Nightmares upon Nightmares Type: Event
Gehenna. Do not replace until your next discard phase. For each minion
a Methuselah controls during his or her untap phase, the Methuselah
must burn a card from his or her hand or tap that minion. Cards burned
in this way are not replaced until the master phase. Vampires with
capacity greater than the number of Gehenna cards in play and mortal
allies are not affected by this card.
For Salubri, a good card (unless you are playing with Mr Noir / non-
mortal allies), as it helps hose those annoying mass weenie decks
which Salubri decks can be vulnerable to. Another plus is that there
are no pre-requirements, and the replace run is only in effect until
the end of you next turn. However, I still am yet to see it played
regularly.
Recalled to the Founder Type: Event Requires: 2 Gehenna cards Gehenna.
Do not replace as long as this card is in play. Requires at least two
other Gehenna cards in play. During each Methuselah`s untap phase, if
he or she controls more than two vampires of the same clan, he or she
burns one such vampire. If that vampire`s capacity is above 5, this
Methuselah becomes immune to the effects of this card for the
remainder of the game.
Recalled to the Founder is quite a helpful card for Salubri, in that
it can help hose massive weenie decks of one clan / larger vampires of
one clan (as long as there are more than 2 controlled by one
Methuselah). Seeing that it is unlikely that you will play with more
than 2 Salubri in your draw the drawback isn't a problem.
Currently I've only ever used this card in a True Brujah deck, however
Recalled to the Founder's ability to destroy a vampire outright
(assuming more than 2 of one clan played by each Methuselah) can't be
played down.
Restricted Vitae Type: Event Gehenna. Do not replace until a vampire
successfully hunts. Vampires cannot hunt unless forced to hunt. A
vampire who must hunt may hunt by stealing a blood from a younger
vampire as a (D) action instead of performing the usual hunt action.
Great card for the Salubri block deck, combined with Vitae Block and
Dr Marisa Fletcher (discussed next issue), and just watch the
vampires, of both predator and prey, burn. Sure there is a drawback,
in that you can't replace until someone hunts, but that can be
rectified with Elder Library or the like. The other disadvantage is
that your vampires aren't able to hunt, but then it isn't as if
Salubri can't gain blood by other ways is it?
Rise of the Nephtali Type: Event Requires: 1 Gehenna card
Gehenna. Do not replace until a vampire becomes a Liaison. Requires at
least one other Gehenna card in play. Any Independent vampire may take
an action to become liaison. Liaison is a unique Independent title
worth 4 votes. If this title would be contested with a younger
vampire, the younger vampire immediately yields instead of contesting.
Although Salubri aren't well known for their vote decks, this card is
perfectly suited for Saulot who would at least have a say when it
comes to voting, and considering his mighty 11 capacity, others would
need Skill cards to force a yield. Requiring 1 other Gehenna card
isn't much of a disadvantage, especially if you pack it with other
Gehenna Events.
Combining Rise with Fall of the Camarilla and Fall of the Sabbat, vote
lock is nearly assured. If you want to guarantee non-yielding, play
with Wormwood and make Rise of the Nephtali the last card to reduce
the capacity to your top independent vampire, then go Liaison (Note:
make sure no one else goes first, else you can't contest back).
A worthwhile strategy may now be to play the vampire block/nose rush
deck, become Liaison, and then in a combination of Dragonbound and
Perpetual Care (vote), then oust forwards.
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5. THE HOSTS OF HEAVEN
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This month I've done a mini Salubri / Harbinger bloat and bleed deck,
with Gehenna cards in to allow for card recovery and acting as an anti-
weenie. Initially the deck had been played with a Brinksmanship
element, however there were too many working parts.
Deck Name: Old School Salubri and Harbinger bloat 'n bleed fun
Created By: Joel Tate
Description: Standard Salubri with Harbinger fun. Bloat through a
combination of Blanche, Razor and Perfectionist, as well as Minion Tap
& Renewed Vigor.
Matthias acts as the nightmare blocker, protecting Maabara with Guard
Duty to allow pulling back a card a turn; Anthelios, Summon Soul and
Sargon Frgament aid card recovery.
Expensive Pulses paid by Renewed, with "permenant" stealth coming from
the Repulsion & Mask.
Gehenna cards are there to mess around with weenie decks. Dr Marisa
Fletcher, CDC, Thirst, Dragonbound and Lazarene Inquisitor combine to
burn blood on vamps, force the hunt and burn.
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 24, Max: 32, Avg: 6.91)
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2 Unre dom ser thn AUS FOR NEC9
Harbingers of Skulls
2 Egothha obf AUS FOR NEC 7 Harbingers
of Skulls
3 Matthias nec AUS FOR OBE 7 Salubri
2 Agaitas for AUS NEC 6 Harbingers
of Skulls
3 Blanche Hill aus FOR OBE 6 Salubri
Library: (90 cards)
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Master (15 cards)
1 Maabara
1 Parthenon, The
3 Blood Doll
5 Minion Tap
1 Elder Library
1 Perfectionist
1 Fragment of the Book of Nod
1 Lazarene Inquisitor
1 Sight Beyond Sight
Action (11 cards)
1 Guard Duty
2 Summon Soul
5 Renewed Vigor
3 Pulse of the Canaille
Action Modifier (3 cards)
3 Repulsion
Reaction (20 cards)
4 Eagle`s Sight
10 Forced Awakening
4 Telepathic Misdirection
2 Melange
Combat (28 cards)
10 Anesthetic Touch
6 Vitae Block
12 Unflinching Persistence
Equipment (3 cards)
1 Sargon Fragment, The
1 Aaron`s Feeding Razor
1 Erebus Mask
Event (7 cards)
1 Anthelios, the Red Star
1 Break the Code
1 Dr. Marisa Fletcher, CDC
1 Nightmares upon Nightmares
1 Thirst
1 Blood Trade
1 Dragonbound
Combo (3 cards)
3 Spectral Divination
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6. CONCLUSION
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Well, that's it for this newsletter, next issue we shall complete the
remainder of the Gehenna and Event cards, looking at some of the
vampires which complement Gehenna Events. If you have any ideas,
comments or additions please feel free to contact me.
Joel
Cambridge, UK