This issue has a lot of links in it, so it would enjoyed +2 if you read it online at http://whitestar.ddg.com/vtes/TorA11012000.html ------------------------ 11/1/2000 Editors Corner - Ethan Burrow, Prince of Austin Sabbat War is out!!!!! And boy did we get a lot of neat cards to play with. Considering that our clan wasn't one of the Pre-Constructed starters, we still got lots of improvements and added value. 3 new vampires and one new clan specific action. Not to mention a lot of good cards that were reprinted such as Telepathic Vote Counting, Taste of Vitae, and Sideslip of which our clan depends on. (you *are* playing with these important cards right?) I would like to highlight the following cards as Ethan approved, and you should start considering these in your Toreador Antitribu decks (in no particular order). Enchant Kindred - superior is now at stealth. Govern the Unaligned is one of the top 5 cards in the game. We now have a Govern 'Light' that works as well with all of our Presence vampires. Templar - Toreador Antitribu have a very impressive range of Presence and titles on their vampires. Voting is second nature for us. This card allows permanent rush provided you can mainting a decent voting presence. Mix this with Celerity and Art of Pain for a Sabbat version of the Brujah Archon deck archetype. Private Audience - Give the other voting clans the finger (well, except for the Ventrue-Antitribu and Lasombra). Pier 13 - Celerity and weapons work well together. Unblockable equipping of weapons good. Powerbase Montreal - The first Powerbase I really liked. It works like all the other Clan based influence generators, except this one is free. Sure it can be stolen, but you can always get it back before your influence phase. Not only is it fun, but it gets us closer towards the 'one turn Inner Circle Member' (i.e. Gangrel Clan with Dreams of the Sphinx, Eco Terrorists, Info Highway, Powerbase Montreal, and Ingrid Rossler; we now have 8 transfers with 3 blood from the blood bank - one turn Stanislava!! I dare you to build it Mike) Telepathic Tracking - Hey guys, we have Auspex too!! This card plus Psyche gives us lots of versatility - and now more than one way to deal with S:CE. I'll be delving into this card next month. I haven't completed my set yet, but if anyone is willing to donate rares so I can fill in the rest of the gaps in Monger, please contact me and I'll give you my mailing address :-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Vampire of the Month - Mercy, Knight Inquisitor Mercy is Remilliard on steroids :-) Start with all the elements I mentioned for Remilliard in the May 1999 newsletter, and then peruse the following. Mercy's just at the low end of mid-ranged vampires (the 5-8 range), but boy does she pack a punch with her skillset. She has all 3 in-clans - one at superior...as well as a secondary discipline - the almighty Dominate. This vamp is a perfect offensive bleeder, and defensive bleeder. Offensive --------- -Put a Pulse of Canaille at superior -Bleed with Govern the Unaligned/Legal Manipulation -Pump bleed with Dominate bleed modifiers -A 5 capacity vampire bleeding for 6+, not bad for a Toreador Antitribu. -If you get caught, she has Celerity and Presence - not a problem in combat unless you have hand jam. Defensive --------- -Telepathic Counter -Telepathic Misdirection -Deflection -Redirection (if being bled by weenies) With Mercy we now have 2 vampires with Dominate in Clan - Lachlan Noddist being the other. With a couple of skill cards, you could easily fit in a dominate bleed defense module or a smattering of other dominate cards to surprise your opponents. To some degree you can apply Ventrue strategies, except with Celerity on our vampires you can actually fight back--------------------------------------------------------------------- Card of the Month - Patronage The one pool cost may be a bit daunting at first. It's there for a reason, this card is awesome and needed the cost to keep it in line. As with Force of Will and other multiple action strategies, the key is to make your initial actions very worthwhile and then follow it up with the rest of the combo. Hunting and then playing Patronage is a waste of resources (unless your desperate and/or need to cycle cards). However well timed actions previous to a Patronage can yield very rewarding results. Take the following actions for instance : Equipping - Either it's a laptop before you bleed or a weapon before you rush, this allows you to setup and execute without giving your opponent a turn to react or plan. Imagine their shock when you equip with Bang Nakh, then untap and rush them. Mind Numb - An excellent precurser to any bleeding onslaught, tap their minion and keep it tapped before you untap and bleed into them with Legal Manipulations which incidentally will gain your pool back for you. Don't forget to read the March 1999 newsletter on recommendations for how to bleed effectively with the Toreador-Antitribu. Art Scam - You gain 2 pool but waste an action. Now you gain the action back by losing a pool. End result, 2 card slots gains one pool with no Master Phases or wasted actions (provided you aren't sittin next to intercept). While this action is at +1 stealth, our clan still has almost no additional stealth to aid us aside from Alacrity. If you are sitting next to intercept, make sure you have celerity combat in conjunction with Patronage. Otherwise you'll lose your advantage, and possibly your vampire. Also take care begin a turn where you plan to use Patronage. Take a moment and study your vampires to make sure the correct ones take the correct actions. Remember that only an older vampire can untap a younger one with this card, so make sure the initial action is taken by a younger vampire that can still be most effective. If you rush your turn, you'll invariably play things out of order or pick the wrong vampires...which could cost you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Deck Design - Diversification A while back on rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad there were a few posts where the England folks tried to explain their 'toolbox' style of decks to the rest of us playing 'focussed' decks. Having played both I can say the following : Focussed -------- PRO : Faster. Can oust people before their deck begins to function. CON: Fragile. One or two weak links can topple entire deck strategy. Toolbox ------- PRO : Versatile. Can deal with most other decks and has staying power if it can survive the first 10 rounds and setup. CON : Slow. May not have the time to setup. I'm not sure that one type is a clear winner over the other, despite what both sides may have to say on the issue, but admittedly I have been a focussed player in the past. Recently I've taken to adding a bit of Happy Families and toolbox methodologies into my deckbuilding and the past few decks I've been building a hybrid of the two. I don't really have a name for it, but I build HF ratio decks with 80% focussed cards (sometimes modules), and then toolbox the rest with assorted neat things. Some of the resulting decks have been quite interesting, as well as competitive - but not scary as some of my other decks have been. However as I've said before, playing a really scary deck only encourages the table to crush you first...so I see my deckbuilding trend as a good thing. The reason I bring this up, is that recently I've realized that with my new decks I tend to get shut down less often. My hand jams less frequently, and I'm able to react and mold with the metagame rather than collapse next to a deck that foils my own. With the toolbox additives, I have extra things I can accomplish - and I haven't truly noticed a significant degredation in my VP's. While my decks may be a bit slower than normal, I am now not quick to ire the rest of the table. I no longer see the need to rush for the first victory point, but content to get at least one and survive/buildup to a 2 player game. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Month - Combat super issue We're going to focus on combat next month as we take a look at Miller Delmardigan, Telepathic Tracking, revisit the combat matrices from newsletters March 2000 and April 2000, and show you a few decks. Meanwhile, enjoy Sabbat War as the Eternal Struggle continues....for eternity and stuff. ------------------------------- Ethan Burrow - Prince of Austin ethan@ddg.com http://whitestar.ddg.com/vtes/