Toreador-Antitribu Flesh is art, pain an artform, and your soul is my canvas.... V:EKN-Clan Newsletters | Austin Council | Newletter Archives 3/1/99 Editors Corner - Ethan Burrow, Prince of Austin The February Giovanni Newsletter claimed that "As a matter of fact,the best stealth-bleeder in the game". Our clan had a good laugh at this claim :-). And in the spirit of friendly competition, this newsletter will provide our Clan's best contender at the stealth bleed. While it's not quite as ferocious as the Malkavians, we still would like to believe we're better at it than Gloria. I'd also like to thank the playgroup from Kansas City and the Prince of Dallas for showing up to Praxis Seizure - Austin. The official report is here, and I also whipped up a quick page detailing the social side of the event. We had a lot of fun, and we only regret that the vast distances prevent us from seeing each other regularly. Hopefully we'll all get a chance to meet again at Praxis Seizure - Dallas in June. Vampire of the Month - Jost Werner This vampire upped the ante a notch by becoming the cheapest vamp with an inherent +1 stealth on all actions. Make no mistake, this vampire becomes a target the moment it hits the table. By everyone. Even your Predator and Grand Predator will still view Jost as a target. Why? Because +1 stealth pisses people off, and he's easy to kill. Knowing this, the +1 stealth might not be worth the wrath of the table. However if you're playing a bleeding deck, or for some reason no-one in your group plays rush decks, then there shouldn't be any hesitation for you to add at least two of him into your crypt. Just make sure to include Presence combat cards to abort combat, and for Cain's sake avoid the grapplers if possible. They will kill Jost, he doesn't have the Celerity to defend himself. As far as his skills, I think Presence is the only one you really want to consider. He does have superior Auspex, but he'll likely be acting every turn. Odds are you'll never keep him untapped unless your hand is jammed...and then you have bigger problems. Quite frankly I've only used his Animalism in sealed decks, although he'd be a nice addition to a Tzimisce deck if someone focused on Auspex more than Vicissitude. Useful Card of the Month - Marijava Ghoul This card is almost a staple in any presence bleed deck. While it'll help other decks that use presence, the only non-bleed card I've played in conjunction with the Ghoul is Mind Numb. You could also help your voting decks if you decided to play with Charming Lobby. This retainer allows you to complete actions against casual intercept, and I highly recommend 2-3 of them if you can afford the slots. But you should put at least one in if you have more than 20 Presence actions. Be aware that this retainer can be killed at long range, so resist the urge to use Celerity to go to long range. Be very aware of your opponents combat techniques when planning your strategy. If your opponent plays a good amount of intercept and has maneuvers, play very conservative. If a gun rush deck is sitting next to you, it's really not worth bringing the Ghoul out. Why Jost Werner is better than Gloria Giovanni at Stealth-Bleed. One of the mistakes some people make is assuming Dominate is the *only* true bleeding skill. Presence may not have the plethora of bleed modifier cards, but if played well a Presence Bleed deck can perform as well if not better. Basically here are the ingredients for Pure EvilTM : 1.Jost Werner 2.Pulse of the Canaille at the superior 3.Marijava Ghoul 4.Any presence bleed card. You could also add equipment, retainers, etc. to increase the bleed...but only if you can spare the action to bring it into play. You can also remove the Marijava Ghoul if +1 stealth is sufficient to get your bleeds through. What I want to stress is the ease of which this could be pulled off provided there isn't heavy intercept in your metagame. Once Jost is on the table, bringing the Pulse into play is at +2 stealth (+1 for Jost and +1 for the action). Equipping with Marijava is again +2 stealth. Any presence bleed after that point is +2 stealth as well. No card combinations once the permanents are in play, with an inherent +2 bleed and +1 stealth. Bleeding with presence will grant you an additional stealth, so pack plenty of social charms and legal manipulations. Don't forget to use Aire of Elation to add another +2 bleed as well. So you can bleed using a social charm for a bleed of 4 at +2 stealth. Really the only defense is deflecting or AI....or intercept. An intercept deck would crush you. Rush decks could also attempt to take out Jost before you build him up. Just hope the table seating agrees with you. Deck Medic/Strategy Corner Since I didn't receive any decks or questions this month, here are some definitions and terms that I sometimes use. Abort Combat - Usually meaning Strike : Combat Ends, can also refer to dodging, or maneuvering to long against a short range combat deck. Casual Intercept - Usually this refers to simply +1 intercept via Sport Bike, Mr. Winthrop, or a handful of intercept. Rarely would you see +2 intercept from a casual intercept deck. Meta-Game - While the common inference is to view the V:TES game beyond Predator and Prey relationships, I tend to refer it as more of a playgroup phenomenon. (e.g. The Austin Meta-Game usually has heavy intercept). What may work for one playgroup's Meta-Game may not for another playgroup's.