V:EKN Tremere Clan Newsletter October 1, 2001 Volume 2, Issue 7 My apologies to all myf ans for not posting any newsletters for the last few months. It's not that there hasn't been anything to write about, but there's something about real life that always seems to crop up every so often that the whole montly thing never seems to work out right. Anyway, since the last newsletter, we've seen Final Nights enter tournament legal play in force. Not to mention, a number of major tournaments have taken place, including GenCon (US & UK), DragonCon, the European V:tES Championship, and I think something out in L.A. Maybe a few things out in L.A. Those crazy kids. Heh. There have been more Tremere decks making the finals recently, it seems, and a few winners, including Brad Ward playing the Spiridonas deck, and I won the Shadow Twin tournament at GenCon with the Tremere. So it seems everyone's favorite clan is making a come-back. I reviewed the best cards from Final nights (Aisling and Perfect Clarity) last time around, and I had a blast using them at GenCon, so I won't comment on them more at this point. For the vampire of the month, we have Javier Montoya. Javier Montoya 9 Tremere Prince of Barcelona ani AUS cel pre THA Javier burns 1 less blood when rescuing a vampire in torpor. +1 bleed. At first glance, most people say, "What? No dominate? What good is he?" Aside from this minor failing, Javier is huge (literally and figuratively). I think that after Cardano, he's my favorite titled Tremere. A little celerity to throw into the mix, some animalism to add into the old Goratrix trick deck, AUS and THA go nicely for the Tremere (not to mention Telepathic Tracking or Perfect Clarity can substitute for Thoughts Betrayed if you really want to work the combat angle). Additionally AUS goes very well with a Pulse and his +1 inherent bleed. All in all, I'd say he's worthwhile. I'm working on a deck that utilizes some of his less-used qualities, namely his title itself and presence. That's right, the old titled-Tremere vote deck. I'll keep you all updated. Card of the Month Seduction Action Modifier Dominate Only usable when the acting vampire's action is announced. Choose a younger vampire. He or she cannot block the acting vampire. (S) As above, but the affected vampire can be the same age or older. Seduction is my new favorite card. (Well, after Shambling Hordes.) With the Tremere, you should have a fair amount of DOM, even if you aren't using it for bleeding, and Seduction really comes into its own at this point. Everyone realizes that Seduction is a nice utility card, but hardly anyone ever finds room for it in their deck. Big mistake, if you ask me. Rather than worrying about stealth vs. intercept, throw the Seductions into your deck, seduce the big blocker at the table, and jam any interceptors with their annoying reaction cards that they can't play. Not that there are many Tremere with stealth, but you get the idea. Admittedly, the Giovanni have Call of the Hungry Dead to knock down another blocker, but the Tremere have better combat availability (THA at low levels, unlike the Giovanni and POT), not to mention Camarilla membership, which has its own perks. Deck of the Month Tremere-!Tremere Infernalists by Tim Eijpe (As a note, this is like a year old, so I suspect Tim has a new version of this, but I'm too lazy to check with him right now.) Crypt (12) Al Ashrad Anvil Astrid Thomas Bryan Van Duesen Cardano 2x Ian Forestal Iliana Kij Dansky Marlene, the Infernalist Muaziz, Archon of Ulugh Beg Reverend Blackwood Min: 25, Max: 34, Avg: 7.33 Library (90) Master (15) 1x Academic Hunting Ground 1x Arcane Library 3x Blood Doll 2x Dreams of the Sphinx 1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany 1x Infernal Pact 4x Minion Tap 1x Rack, The 1x Spirit Summoning Chamber Minion (75) 7x Apportation 4x Blessing of Chaos 2x Blur 4x Conditioning 2x Death of My Conscience, The 2x Deflection 2x Disarm 2x Eagle's Sight 2x Enhanced Senses 2x Flesh of Marble 4x Govern the Unaligned 2x Immortal Grapple 5x Infernal Familiar 1x Ivory Bow 2x Magic of the Smith 1x Mr. Winthrop 2x My Enemy's Enemy 2x Precognition 1x Sengir Dagger 2x Skin of Steel 2x Soul Burn 2x Spirit's Touch 2x Telepathic Misdirection 6x Theft of Vitae 6x WwEF 4x Walk of Flame 2x Wolf Claws As you can see, it's very...umm...well...yeah. Toolboxy. Very. Perhaps Tim can offer some comments. All I know is that you use the Infernal stuff to gain the off-disciplines, and then giggle madly as you put Blessing of Chaos on one of your vampires, and next turn rip someone's arms off. Odd. Xian, Chronicler of Clan Tremere