V:EKN Official Toreador Newsletter July 2006 Introduction: I was basking in the sun, or maybe I was baking in the sun -- small details have never been my speciality, when it struck me that I haven't played a Toreador deck for a very long time. I guess this, to a certain extent, explains my less than stellar performance when it comes to delivering the newsletters I'm supposed to write once a month. My silence notwithstanding the months since my last newsletter have seen their fair share of games with my participation. Our weekly pubgames boosted by our monthly tournaments create an environment with ample opportunity for trying out decks against other players. With our group of players having a sudden boost of growth the games differ slightly from before as new players carry with them new views of how to play the game. Those new players also bring something equally important to the game -- ignorance. This is ignorance of a good kind. They don't know how the game is supposed to be played. It matters little if they're totally new of the game or simply resurrected players from the first five releases. They either take the current cards for face value or expect the games to have changed during their ten years hiatus, and they simply play the game available today. Cards are cards and combinations of them create new opportunities as well as new challenges. NoR: All this said, I've been trying out the latest of the sets to check what it adds to the game, and of course to see what it adds to clan Toreador. Sad to say the Imbued doesn't really shine together with the artists of the Camarilla, something that maybe shouldn't come as a surprise -- brutes as these hyped up mortals really are. They lack, well, finesse. As fodder they're excellent, and a few of them can actually bring out a few surprises to help the finest of the Kindred. Unless encountered by oldtimers who want things to be when they were right, players generally complain about not understanding what's happening and the decks taking too long to play. I think there's a synergy between the two. Imbued lend themselves to Genhenna madness. The events haven't seen that much play earlier and so players ask what effects they have to consider. Add powers of the Imbued, especially if there are three or four on each Imbued in play and a player has five Imbueds running. This is basically a matter of getting to know the cards. Then there's the built in time-delay with added shuffling, having to decide which conviction to burn, tapping powers and moving cards from ash heap to Imbued. All in all a lot of cardhandling. The Imbued can be played a lot like Smiling Jack decks -- wait and block, hoping the table will crash and then rushing to grab three VP:s from the smoldering ruins. They can, albeit not very well, be played as combatants. As soon as players start chewing up incapacitated Imbued this way of playing the deck goes down the drain. More interestingly, they can be combined with vampires. I've tried mixing them with cheap superior obfuscate with good result. Mixing them with Toreador, well, it seems harder, but a few cards might make it a viable option. Cards of the month: Lock Cardtype: Action Virtue: Defense This action is at +1 stealth if it is undirected. Put this card on any minion. (D) actions directed at this minion cost monsters an additional blood or life. If this minion is a monster, he or she burns a blood or life when he or she attempts an action or a block. This minion may burn this card as an action. A minion can have only one Lock. Toreador are great blockers and horrible at stealth. A card that punishes a vampire (well, every so called monster) both when they block as well as when they act is good news for the Toreador. We've had access to Archon, Camarilla Exemplary and Aching Beauty to hamper blockers, but none of those cards double up to punish anyone acting. As the only way to get rid of Lock is to take an undirected action, and attempting that action in itself forces the vampire to burn a blood we can block it at our leisure and let the pain continue. Determine Cardtype: Reaction Cost: 1 Conviction Virtue: Vision Play when a monster controlled by your predator is bleeding you. Tap this reacting imbued. The monster is now bleeding your predator's predator. Or play when a monster controlled by your predator or prey plays an action card. Tap this reacting imbued and cancel that action card as it is played (no cost is paid, and the monster doesn't tap). That monster cannot play the same action card again this turn. As a bounce card it's inferior to what we already have access to, but the other effect is great for a blocking deck. Simply shoot that offensive action at its inception rather than waiting out the long chain starting with Eagle's Sight or Anneke's special. No risk taken and an unacceptable action simply goes up in smoke. Break the Code Cardtype: Event Gehenna. Imbued get -1 intercept when attempting to block monsters. A ready monster can enter combat with an imbued as a (D) action. If you're playing an opportunistic blocker relying on a few Gehenna events to hit the table this is a fantastic card. The effect is, at least for a clan born to blocking, minor, but it sets you up for slamming down a later event. Anson and his cohorts love this sweet addition to Anthelios. Orb of Ulain Cardtype: Equipment Unique equipment. The ally with this equipment cannot be targeted by (D) actions that require Auspex [aus], Chimerstry [chi], Dominate [dom], Presence [pre] or Serpentis [ser]. Reactions that require any of those Disciplines cost an additional blood while this ally is acting. Ok, so you've decided to mix in a few Imbued in your deck. Why risk something nasty to happen to them. This is a card from the Anniversary set and was probably seen as little more than wallpaper when it arrived. The Imbued are a lot more resilient than your average ally, though, and relying entirely on React with Conviction could be dangerous if your library isn't packed with convictions. Toreador only: One of my later attempts at playing Toreador was a stealth/bleed deck. I don't have the decklist, but a general description will do. If your gaming environment is ripe with Archon Investigation just forget about this deck. It takes a long time to set up and then bleeds for six to ten on average with the two or three vampires you have. I've bled out a dedicated bouncer with this one. There's simply nothing that can handle bleeds for 20 pool each and every round after midgame unless they can remove your vampires from the table. Heart of the City, Pulse of the Canaille, Legal Manipulation and Aire of Elation combined with Obfuscate stealth makes up the backbone of this deck. Defence is Telepathic Misdirection, Majesty and Perfectionist, yes, Perfectionist. You're going through your blood like mad with this deck, and each hunt has to count, not to speak of the possible rebate when you kit up. Some twentyfive or so stealh cards are a must for this deck to run smoothly. Don't expect any popularity as you're likely to land a massive bleed at one or two stealth where you didn't plan to, and with inferior obfuscate there's not much you can do about it. Clan Toreador, group 2 and three. Just watch the shocking number of vampires with obfuscate in a clan that's supposed to be unable to produce stealth. A few of them have a built in +1 bleed to add further pain to our prey. Blood Dolls on your cannon fodder is a good idea unless your predator plays intercept. Your prey will most likely save their intercept for your bleeders and leave your smallcaps alone as they go hunting. The last time I played this deck I ran into the duel with a VP. At six pool confronting an opponent with 20+ pool it looked a bit uneven. He never had a chance. Francois Villon with Pulse, Heart and Tasha went for Legal boosted by Aire to soften up the opposition. Another two bleeds for a mere 6 each finished the game. It's not a tournament winning deck by any means, but if you want to show people what the concept of bleed REALLY means this is the way to go. Well, it's time to check out some cards. A few decks, a cold beer and good friends to play with -- what better way to enjoy summer? Sten During -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com