=============================================================== Clan Tzimisce Newsletter. September 2006 Author: Damien Hennessy Table of contents: 1. Introduction 2. Tzimisce Vampires in Third Edition (Starter Only) 3. Card of the Month - War Ghoul 4. Deck of the Month - The Pre-Release Creation 5. Final Death =============================================================== 1. Introduction Greetings, With the release of Third Edition I was looking for a new and shiny clan I could explore the wonderful world of VTES with. Looking through the deck lists a week before the pre-release I noted with interest that the War Ghoul was now in the Tzimisce Starter. At the pre-release I was finally sold on this clan upon reading the extract of Clan Tzimisce on the back of the starter. My type of scum. On a side note I also settled on this clan when being told I was told by a local player that I honestly had no hope of ever accomplishing anything with this clan. =============================================================== 2. Tzimisce Vampires in Third Edition (Starter Only) All the new vampires are group 4. Jane Sims: 4: Sabbat VIS pro aus ani Special: Non-combat cards cost Jane an additional blood to play. I especially like the superior VIS on the 4 capacity vampire but her special makes my eyes glaze over her a bit. At a glance I can only see her being utilized as a throw away minion in a combat deck or a chump blocker in an intercept deck. Elizabeth Westcott: 5: Sabbat AUS vis cel ani A nice little, solid vampire for those intercept decks out there. The picture looks very familiar for some reason, so I cannot help but think she was printed in an earlier set. Yuri Kerezenski: 5: Sabbat Bishop ANI vis fort aus Another nice little support vampire and he comes with a title to boot. Nothing from Yuri leaps out at me except his last name and the out clan discipline. He'll slot nicely in with some of his bigger capacity cousins who have fortitude. Definitely something to explore with future issues. Duality: 6: Sabbat VIS AUS ani Special: When Duality plays a card that requires Vicissitude, you may draw an additional card. Nice, very, very nice, of all the Tzimisce so far Duality is the one that leaps out of the box at me. An excellent mid-range vampire with a really nice ability for cycling, Duality will fit nicely into intercept, combat or those bleed Tzimisce decks. Laika: 7: Sabbat AUS ANI vis obf chi Special: Laika may burn 1 blood to strike for 2R damage. Hmmm, is that a tongue ring or stud on the picture? It's at the very tip of the tongue sticking out of her mouth. Her ability is ok and her out clans make me think how many Tzimisce now have obf as an out clan. She'll be solid in intercept decks, through cannot envision her going into a combat one. Lady Zara Slatikov: 8: Sabbat Bishop ANI OBF AUS ANI Special: Zara gets an optional press each combat. She may enter combat with a ready Baali as a D action. The poor Baali don't get much love these days do they? :o). She's superior everything with a title and a press each combat. I see nothing but good things in the future for this vampire. The OBF as an out clan really adds a different dimension to Tzimisce, stealth to be able to bleed and keep rushes on target. This can only be a good thing. Radu Bistri: 8: Sabbat Cardinal DOM AUS vis pre ani Special: During your untap phase, Radu gains 1 blood if the Purchase Pact is in play. Another nice vampire which will slot well into Tzimisce decks, the vampire's ability is a bit average....but the cardinal title is nice and the out clan DOM and pre disciplines will should see this vampire included in the crypt range for vote decks. Count Vladimir Rustovitch: 9: Sabbat VIS AUS ANI pro pot dom Special: When you draw to replace a combat card Vladimir plays, you may draw an additional card (discard afterward). He gets +1 strength in combat with a werewolf. Flight. A combat monster, definitely my type of vampire, his discipline spread is nice and I feel it lends itself to a toolbox combat deck. His special will help with card cycling in combat, which is a good thing. Another vampire with +1 strength against those pesky werewolves and Flight. =============================================================== 3. Card of the Month War Ghoul Ghoul with 5 life, 4 strength, 0 bleed. 3 pool. When a War Ghoul enters play, burn an ally or retainer you control. She can enter combat with any ready vampire controlled by another Methuselah as a D action. She may prevent 1 damage each round. Tap and burn War Ghoul to burn any location; you cannot use the ability during combat. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! It's big, it's nasty and it brings a whole world of pain to the enemy. It's also in the starter and should now be more easily accessible. Expect to see these appearing on the table tops near you. I long, burning ambition of mine was to always build a deck around these babies. =============================================================== 4. Deck of the Month - The Pre-Release Creation To be honest I am not a fan of Limited Events, so I tend to only play when a new set hits the shelves. The mistake I did in the KMW set was selecting the wrong starter and I died a horrible death with 0.5vps at the end of the day. This time around I had already selected my deck and had a general idea of what I was going to build. This time round I managed to place 1 GW and 4 VPS going into the final, in the final I managed to place second overall. A better performance this time around. Crypt:14 1x Count Vladimir Rustovitch 2x Radu Bistri 2x Lady Zara Slatikov 2x Laika 1x Duality 2x Yuri Kerrezenski 1x Jane Sims 1x Droescher One-Eye 1x Stick 1x Jonathan Gursei Library: 80 Master: 10 1x Powerbase: Barranquailla 1x Rotschreck 2x Guardian Angel 2x Blood Doll 1x Fame 1x Library Hunting Ground 1x Vicissitude 1x Dream of the Sphinx Action: 18 1x Root of Vitality 2x Leather Jacket 1x Neighboorhood Watch Commander (Hunter) 3x Raven Spy 1x Revenant 1x Owl Companion 3x Rumble 1x Local IIII 1x Cardinal Benediction 1x Crusade: Pittsburgh 1x Eternal Vigilance 1x Ivory Bow 1x Assault Rifle 1x War Ghoul Combat: 29 1x Aura Reading 1x Cainine Horde 1x Breath of the Dragon 1x Amaranth 2x Inner Essence 2x Horrid Form 4x Starvation of Marena 3x Body Arsenal 2x Staredown 3x Claws of the Dead 2x Scorpion Sting 3x Bonecraft 3x Drawing out the Beast Action Modifer: 4 4x Changeling Action Modifer/Combat: 2 2x Plasmic Form Reaction: 16 1x Keep it Simple 5x Enhanced Senses 2x Spirit's Touch 3x Forced Awakening 2x Eagle's Sight 3x Guard Dogs Deck Concept: On the day I drafted really well, an Assault Rifle, Ivory Bow, 2 Leather Jackets and Eternal Vigilance were my first 5 cards. The other card of note was my lone Keep it Simple and Cardinal Benediction. The rest wasn't anything too amazing. I went for a toolbox intercept deck that should take the table when it was done to three players, with me (in theory) being in the strongest position. It worked pretty well on the day, the only deck that caused me any grief was the Malk deck that simply bleed everything off the table. =============================================================== 5. Final Death In a couple of weeks I'll be traveling to Brisbane to compete in the Australian National Championship. Sadly I plan to represent clan Tzimisce as I already have several decks tuned to horrible nastiness. If anyone has any comments, deck submissions, flames or other such feel free to e-mail me. The next issue is planned for November so I can digest the new set with sufficient gusto. d21_aod(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)au Comments, suggestions and other ideas are welcome.