Top Hat Times #3 Samedi newsletter - November, 2008. -= Table of contents =- 1 -- Word from the editors desk 2 -- Hunk of the month: Tangin 3 -- The Tuning: Withering 4 -- Hats off ===== 1 - Word from the editors desk ===== Colder, shorter days are drawing near. Winter jacket has left the wardrobe. Pretty much all there is to say about November around here. New month and a new installment of this here newsletter. Since a lot of Keepers of Tradition spoilers has found its way to the internet everyone is talking about how to break cards and together with the debates about what cards should be banned or toned down etc this is the bulk of the vampire communities topics at the moment - I fine time to play Vampire in! :) I'm not much for banning cards at the moment since the worst of the lot is already banned and I dont feel there is enough power in the cards people most often cite as game breaking to warant bans. I'm much much more interested in tuning some cards that are low on the power scale UP instead, which I'm starting with in this month's newsletter. That and more within, hope you enjoy your stay. /A.Gyhlesten - this here editor ===== 2 - Hunk of the month: Tangin ===== There seems that we wont get a new recruit for the bloodline in the upcoming set which is a bit saddening, but nothing surprising. Would have been neat to see a camarilla loyal Samedi in one way or another introduced in the set, but alas the chance was missed :) But the bloodline still got plenty of fine ladies and gentlemen in the ranks to put up a good fight and the vampire I'd like to focus on right now is Tangine from Legacy of Blood: Tangine Group 4, 7 Cap, Samedi THAN, OBF, pot, nec, ani Independent. Tangin cannot strike except to dodge or end combat when in combat with a Salubri. She may inflict 1 damage on any non-Salubri minion or retainer as a (D) action. 7 points of discipliens attached to a 7 cap is quite good and the discipline spread is awesome to be honest, especially when one consider the anarch options wiht all them disciplines. Its a bit of a shame that the inferior disciplines are quite weak at the...well inferior. Carrion crows biting for 1 isnt going to scare anyones pants off, necromancys versatility is lost with only basic necromancy and the shambling hordes made from it arent as potent for their cost. Her drawback wont normaly hurt your game. The positive effect of being able to plink away at stuff on the table is a really good one. Sniping a Mr. Winthrop is always a lot of fun and sending an empty vampire to torpor is equally giggle worthy. Overall I feel that this vampire got a lot of untapped potential. A well balanced vampire that there might be a place in a deck somewhere as a backup. ===== 3 - The Tuning: Withering ===== Theres some cards I just cant make any sense out of and I've looked more than once at Withering and just feel how underpowered it is compared to how it could have been with just the proper tuning. Lets take a look at the card: ani - Strike: 1R damage. than - Strike: strength damage. Place this card on the opposing minion. The minion with this card has -1 strength. Burn this card during his or her controller's next discard phase. THAN - As above, and the minion with this card cannot play cards that require any Disciplines. First of all - Why is the second discipline on the card animalism? Why oh why. It just doesnt make any sense at all. But nevermind that, lets take a look on the Thanatosis side of the card instead. In my opinion this card isnt worth putting into any kind of deck, at all, since the effect essentially doesnt "do" something and even when it doesnt really, you know, do something its not even staying around for long. So my suggestion for tuning this card slightly would first of all to up the blood cost on the card to 1, so we can give it some meaningful effect without it being free and spammable :) Allrighty, since something has withered you have to pay a price to undo the damage the thanatosis maniac just did to you so my suggestion would be to that in your untap you may pay 2 blood to remove the card. Disarm requires 3 blood, but doesnt cost any blood (instead requiring you to have done more damage on the opposing vampire) and have -2 strength instead of one (at superior) so I feel this is somewhat balanced in regard to the inferior thanatosis effect. The superior though would be totaly uncool balance wise if it was kept the way it is, so I'd probably change it to "This minion pay an extra blood to play cards that require any Discipline" instead, just to give you an incentive to get rid of the card for the blood cost. These changes still wouldnt turn the card into something really that workable, outside some wierd deck based around blood draining (Free states rant?) strategy. The card needs something else, like a backup card to milk it out for its full potential. Ho hum. :) ===== 4 - Hats off ===== This was all I had to offer you this month, may your hot chocolate be yummy! Live long and prosper. /alex_fnurp