Don't forget to visit http://texas.vekn.org/ if you want to have the hyperlink goodness version. 11/22/2002 Editors Corner - Ethan Burrow - Texas Justicar Who knew so much deck creativity would surface purely upon the release of a single vampire. Yet Creamy Jade continues to expand the horizons for the Clan, and this month I have two decks and renewed respect for the new fourth discipline of our clan - Vicissitude. If people thought The Art of Pain or Miller were trouble... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vampire of the Month - Edith Blount I have to admit, I found this vampire useful in my Storyline deck (see below). She has all 3 of the primary disciplines I was using (cel/vic/aus), and since I wasn't really using presence she was almost as good as Creamy Jade(except that she's not Sabbat nor in Clan). However, I was willing to pay the 5 pool to get all 3 disciplines I needed without fishing for skill cards. The cel/vic alone makes her appealing for non-Toreador decks. Unfortunately I think her special is near worthless since Enid and Edith barely share any in clan disciplines. The pair might fit into a Tzimisce deck.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ New fourth discipline : Vicissitude [ Part 2 - Combat ] The more I play this discipline, the more it fits. It's thematic, it fills in the gaps the clan is missing, and it makes them better at what they already did well. This issue, we're focusing on how they can now kick a lot more ass. Horrid Form - This card is huge. At inferior you get +1 strength, and with Celerity can deal a lot of damage via additional strikes (ala Miller). Lack of strength enhancing cards keeps Toreador/Toreador Antitribu from being as scary as Brujah. This card fixes that, and gives the clan the respect it deserves. At superior you also get damage prevention, which will also give you staying power. Superior Horrid Form and Superior Sideslip now allows us to survive strikes such at Taste of Death, Song in the Dark, Flamethrower, etc. without dodging. This is argueably the biggest swing card that Vicissitude will offer to !Toreador combat. Kraken's Kiss - This gives us the ability to get around fortitude, and have a backup range strike in case we lose the maneuver battle. While Tzimisce must figure out how to survive several trapped rounds to utilize it, celerity allows us to dodge/additional strike on the first round and suck their blood if played at superior, potentially allowing you to remove a lot of blood from an opposing minion at range in the first round. Care must be take not to torporize yourself though. Special Note, you can use this if you are struck with a Thrown Sewer Lid and still survive. Chiropteran Marauder - Very versatile card. Mix with flash to provide versatility without sacrificing maneuvers. Body Arsenal - Great threat card, you only need inferior. Celerity provides the additional strikes needed to make sure the strike connects (unless opponent is playing S:CE). Once you play it, most players will hopefully fear all your vampires with at least inferior Vicissitude. Blood of Acid - Combined with Horrid Form and/or Art of Pain gives the Potence combat decks something to fear. Breath of the Dragon - As with Kraken's Kiss, it's a nice backup card in case you lose the manuever battle. It's less risky since you don't have to worry about taking more than 3 damage, and it does Agg, but it can be beaten more easily. I've discovered that you get the most out of your mileage with these cards by also playing with Taste of Vitae. With the celerity, you have better odds of actually doing damage (sometimes a lot of it) and tasting the blood back will keep your minions healthy. With Psyche as well as Telepathic Tracking, dodges, and additional strikes, there should be no reason you can't control combat as easily if not more so than your opponents using !Toreador with Vicissitude. Derek Ray already made a Matteus deck using most of the other Vicissitude combat cards a while back, so I won't repeat their utility here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Storyline Hazimel Deck - No Flesh Shall Be Spared This deck performed real well in several metagames including Austin, Dallas, and Boston (Ben Peal missed it since he had to work). Figuring there was going to be a lot of combat because of the Eye, and my recent combat exploration with Vicissitude yielded a *very* robust deck in our playgroup, I decided to make a couple of modifications to include permanents instead of transient cards and see if the !Toreador could fight at tournament level. Turns out I was the meanest combat deck that I witnessed at the tournament, and almost made the final. - Tied for 5th with yet again a die roll deciding my fate. I really need to focus on winning the die rolls instead of table control at future tournaments. Deck Name: No Flesh Shall Be Spared Created By: Ethan Burrow Description: Vic/Cel/Aus !Tor Toolbox Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 17, Max: 36, Avg: 6.50) 2 Matteus AUS CEL PRE VIC 10, Toreador Antitribu, Priscus 1 Miller Delmardigan aus CEL PRE pro 8, Toreador Antitribu, Bishop 1 Anton ANI AUS cel obf vic 8, Tzimisce 1 Greta Kircher AUS CEL obf PRE 7, Toreador Antitribu 1 Blaise ANI CEL obf vic 7, Gangrel Antitribu 1 Ian Wallingford aus CEL PRE 6, Toreador Antitribu, Bishop 1 Victor Revell aus CEL dem pre 5, Toreador Antitribu 1 Edith Blount aus cel pot vic 5, Toreador 2 Creamy Jade aus cel PRE vic 5, Toreador antitribu 1 Carter cel 2, Toreador Antitribu Library: (90 cards) Master (18 cards) 3 Art of Pain, The 6 Blood Doll 1 Dreams of the Sphinx 1 Guardian Angel 1 Hungry Coyote, The 1 Information Highway 1 Legendary Vampire 4 Vicissitude Action (6 cards) 3 Art Scam 3 Enchant Kindred Action Modifier (6 cards) 6 Changeling Reaction (20 cards) 4 Forced Awakening 2 My Enemy's Enemy 3 Precognition 2 Spirit's Touch 6 Telepathic Counter 1 Telepathic Misdirection 2 Wake with Evening's Freshness Combat (37 cards) 1 Acrobatics 2 Aura Reading 1 Blood of Acid 1 Body Arsenal 1 Breath of the Dragon 2 Chiropteran Marauder 2 Flash 4 Horrid Form 1 Kraken's Kiss 2 Psyche! 3 Pursuit 1 Quickness 2 Side Strike 5 Sideslip 7 Taste of Vitae 2 Telepathic Tracking Retainer (1 cards) 1 Jackie Therman Equipment (2 cards) 2 Sport Bike ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Another Toreador Antitribu Vicissitude Stealth/Bleed deck Since everyone is lamenting the change to Embrace, it reminded me that the Sabbat still have Creation Rites. Coupled with my recent Vicissitude kick, I built the following monstrosity that wins 50% of the time and never fails to get a VP. Deck Name: Orgy of Flesh Created By: Ethan Burrow Description: Vic / Palla Grande swarm stealth bleed. Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 16, Max: 38, Avg: 6.83) 2 Matteus AUS CEL PRE VIC 10, Toreador Antitribu, Priscus 2 Donatien AUS cel pot PRE 9, Toreador Antitribu, Cardinal 2 Lachlan AUS CEL dom PRE 8, Toreador Antitribu, Archbishop 1 Sheila Mezarin AUS cel for PRE 6, Toreador Antitribu 1 Jost Werner ani AUS PRE 6, Toreador Antitribu 1 Mercy AUS cel dom pre 5, Toreador Antitribu 1 Creamy Jade aus cel PRE vic 5, Toreador antitribu 1 Remilliard AUS pre 4, Toreador Antitribu 1 Carter cel 2, Toreador Antitribu Library: (90 cards) Master (21 cards) 1 Creepshow Casino 1 Dreams of the Sphinx 1 Fetish Club Hunting Ground 2 Hungry Coyote, The 1 Information Highway 4 Palla Grande 1 Parthenon, The 1 Powerbase: Montreal 3 Sudden Reversal 6 Vicissitude Action (30 cards) 10 Art Scam 2 Blood Feast 6 Creation Rites 1 Entrancement 2 Eternal Vigilance 2 Legal Manipulations 1 Patronage 1 Propaganda 5 Revelations Action Modifier (6 cards) 6 Changeling Reaction (18 cards) 6 Telepathic Counter 6 Telepathic Misdirection 6 Wake with Evening's Freshness Combat (6 cards) 6 Chiropteran Marauder Equipment (1 cards) 1 Sport Bike Combo (8 cards) 8 Plasmic Form ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Future Topics? Having done 33 issues now, I think I may have covered damn near everything there is to cover to date regarding the Toreador Antitribu. I still think lack of stealth and lack of aggressive combat are the main failings of the clan. I found somewhat of an answer in Vicissitude (although it's still rough with only 2 vampires), although I think Melpominee outferiors still has merit. While I may come up with future ideas before Anarchs comes out, I was curious if there are any gaps or holes I may have left out that people would like to have explored or addressed. ----------------------------- Ethan Burrow - Texas Justicar http://texas.vekn.org/ http://monger.vekn.org/