7/10/2001 Editors Corner - Ethan Burrow, Prince of Austin The National Championship is coming up, and it'll be interesting to see what types of decks show up. We've seen a lot of Tzimisce Intercept as a result of Final Nights, and I expect we'll see a lot of Settites at Gencon. Currently myself and 4 other Austinites will be there, and hopefully we can drag some more and represent the Southwest properly. Oh, and I'll be very interested in drinking beer with anyone that doesn't crosstable me. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vampire of the Month - Melisande Surprise! Our clan actually got a vampire in Final Nights, and she's actually quite damn good. You have to be careful with her though, as she's pricey - so here's the skinny : The Good ---------------- She's got all 3 in clan superiors She is the only Toreador-Antitribu with superior Dominate! She is the only Toreador-Antitribu with Thaumaturgy. She has sorta Jacko's ability - it's optional but it counts against your limit. Finally, it's one of the few of Christopher Shy's vampire art that I actually like. Melisande's very gothyThe Bad ------------- She's a 9 Cap without a Title And it's amazing how much that one bad thing can limit a vampire. If she were even a Bishop, she would be in every single deck that used Toreador-Antitribu vampires. But lack of titles puts you at the ass end of deals when a voting deck hits the table, so understand that you will need proper defenses if you play with Melisande. Delaying Tactics, Eagle's Sight, Dread Gaze to name a few. The deck archetype that she is just beautiful for is Combat Intercept. Slap Art of Pain on her and play however many Auspex cards you need to block. She can utilize the Majesty/Psyche trick to make her a one vampire grinding machine. Her optional additional strike will almost guarantee you'll put vampires who need to hunt into torpor. Note that she has 4 disciplines that each have S:CE/Dodge hosers. Her special and her off-discipline of Thaumaturgy makes her a unique addition to any Tremere deck. And even a staple vampire for Mike Ooi's Thelerity (THA/CEL) deck of the "Lisp Series". With 3 Toreador-Antitribu with Dominate now, I may explore that a bit and see if it boosts the clan or if PRE/AUS is enough. I'll let you know what I find. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Card of the Month - Sniper Rifle Toreador's are known for their love of guns, and we get a few new toys to play with in Final Nights. One of them is the Sniper Rifle, and this one deserves special attention, as it can be used very effectively in an Intercept Deck. Unless you're blocking, you're probably better off with a .44 as you can still shoot the .44 at close range. When blocking with the Sniper Rifle, you can set range to long (provided your opponent isn't Cailean or playing with Shadow Step, as they are acting and get first pick) without wasting any cards. In the long run, this will save you some card slots and allow you to control the ensuing combat which is important for any blocking minion. You *should* still play with your regular staple of maneuvers, presses, dodges and additional strikes. Don't always use your 'set to long' ability unless you can get away with it. There are now enough long range trouble that you don't want to be forced to shoot at long when your at the receiving end of a Taste of Death or Breath of the Dragon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homework Assignments - an exercise in creative deckbuilding This month's winner is David Hammond, who actually managed to add some Final Nights cards into the mix as well. "Ghouled Street Thugs...Powerrrrrrr up!" by David Hammond Crypt: 13 cards Raphael Giovanni x2 Isobel Giovanni Carlotta Giovanni x3 Jimmy Dun x3 Mitchell Headhunter Basil March Royce Library: 90 cards 10 Masters 4x Blood Doll Tower of London Haven Uncovered Morgue Hunting Ground London Evening Star Mob Connections Barrens 80 minion Bums Rush x 6 Ambush x 4 6x Ghouled Street Thug Compel the Spirit x2 Thrown Gate x 12 Increased Strength x 40 Boxed in x 4 Deflection x4 Wake with evenings freshness x2 Pretty soddin' easy - Rush, "powerrrrrrrrrr up!" and hurl a gate! Use Carlotta to pull the useful stuff back from the ash heap, and she can deflect too! Isabel is a godsend - NEC, DOM, pot. Mmmmmmmmm... Oh, and if it gets too bad for the street thugs, there's always Compel the Spirit to bring them straight back into the action. Homework Assignment - Due by next newsletter Since everyone seems to be talking about it lately, let's see who can build the most effective Abomination deck. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm running out of Telepathic Misdirections OK, 8 Preconstructed starters have come out, and none of them have Telepathic Misdirection in them. Even the 2 that have Auspex as clan disciplines! With bleed bounce being such an important defense against stealth-bleed, it's starting to bother me that I cannot go to the game store and buy more cards hoping to get another one (or heck, buy a starter to grab a couple). I like to build a lot of decks, and keep them built so that I'm unpredictable on what I play (We started seeing Obsessions in Austin). As such, I've run out of Auspex bounce! Reprint them please! ------------------------------- Ethan Burrow - Prince of Austin saark5@yahoo.com http://whitestar.ddg.com/vtes/