Ventrue Antitribu Newsletter February 2003 Once and Future Kings Ventrue Antitribu Newsletter (Feb. 03) 1 Introduction 2 Feature Dominate: Beyond Bleed and Bounce 3 Stratagems #1 "Deceive the sky to cross the sea" *new* 4 Vampire of the Month Ingrid Russo 5 Card of the Month Recruiting Party 6 Deckstravaganza 7 Final Words 1 Introduction Welcome to round two of Once and Future Kings. Now I know what you're wondering: Is there any way that this second newsletter could be any worse than the first one? Well, in a word, no... this ought to be better. First things first, I wanted to give everyone reading this handy little newsletter an understanding about just how downtrodden these poor !Ventrue really are. The last (and only) time on record that a ! Ventrue deck won a tournament was (drum roll ) the 20th of November in the year 1999. Congratulations Stuart Piolech, you're one of a kind with that win. I should note though that he does not have to be, you, my attentive readers. You too have the power to take the ! Ventrue once more out of obscurity, into the winning circle. So for all you would be !Ventrue players, it's tea time once again. Sit back, and enjoy the fruits of my insights. 2 Feature Dominate: Beyond bleed and bounce Well, here's our second feature, focusing this time on the not so typical applications of Dominate. Next month, of course, I'll stick with the pattern and cover Auspex. Dominate is a wonderful discipline, shared by Ventrue, Lasombra, Giovanni, Old-school Malkavians and Tremere. These clans, with the exception of the Malkavians are skilled in imposing authority in the WoD. The card game interprets this authority in several ways, but most cards focus upon the ability to increase bleeds and to redirect bleeds. The objective of this article is to tell you what else it can do. Clio's Kiss and Thanks for the Donation assist Methuselahs in having others suffer for your contested minions. Lasombra have cards that exploit the contesting rules, but the poor Ventrue Antitribu being so underused rarely have to concern themselves with contesting, unless it involve common unique retainers and unique master cards. Command can be used to cause allies blocks to fail. This card, although lost in antiquity, may with the advent of the Weenie War Ghoul and Shambling Horde decks may again be worthy of maybe just a little consideration. Having said that though, this card still fails though due to it's reliance upon not just allies, but allies that remain untapped and attempt to block. Given the nature of today's popular allies, this shouldn't be all that frequent though. On the subject of allies, Far Mastery is a far superior choice (I do apologize for the pun). At the cost of one blood you gain stealth to steal an ally (or retainer at basic). Denial of Aphrodite's Favour mulches presence for dinner, but it has never come to prominence. This is likely because of the quantity of combat decks that share dominate and fortitude. Due to the necessity of presence cards to target, this card proves itself quite lacking in versatility. Dominate Kine allows you to steal locations, at the cost of 2 blood at no stealth. Assuming there is a worthwhile target, the action is liable to be blocked, unless alternative means of stealth are available (this rules the !Ventrue out, unless they want to day op it). In my metagame, I've found that locations are generally in a slump, and thus it compels me to bury this card even deeper into my collection. Both Govern the Unaligned and Scouting Mission at superior are wonderful for reducing the costs of your minions or just plain bloating. The recycling of blood is in most every deck a worthwhile cause, and these two cards fit the bill. As to which is better, I prefer Governs due to their enhanced recycling performance, but Scouting Mission costs nothing to use. This brings us to Graverobbing. This, ladies and gentlemen is a game shattering card. It grants the ability to simultaneously remove an enemy's minion from their control and add it to your own. Their firepower decreases, yours increases. PhDs in math are not necessary here; in a game where 4 minions per game per player is about the average, the loss of one is a heavy cut. Of course graverobbing has limitations: You have to get a minion into torpor first, and then you have to get past the inevitable block attempt. Playing this card successfully makes the entire table pay attention to what you're up to, so I classify it as a very _loud_ card. By then, though, it's usually already too late for them. In a similar category, Mind Rape can steal vampires temporarily. Combined with Heidelburg this can be rather effective. The Salubri (good good lackeys of the !Ventrue, I might add) do it better and do it for cheaper, however. Kindred Coercion is the peak of anti-vote warfare. Though it costs blood, and can only effect younger vampires, it can maliciously turn the tide of any vote. With this card you become single-handedly the vote swing. I have put this card to extremely good use with my "Revolting" deck (available upon request) in the past. Pulling Strings is KCs little brother, and rarely is it more practical than KC. Unless you like looking at the picture, don't waste your time here. Obedience is a great way to avoid a fight. Unlike Majesty that can be eluded by an IG, Obedience is much more difficult to thwart. The younger vampire can be a problem, but for the big guys bounce is much better anyways. Steal the Mind can be used as a baby version of Mind Numb. It will never have stealth, and the target will untap next turn, rather than the turn after (like Mind Numb). Lastly, Thoughts Betrayed, even after the errata that was made offers divine power in the hands of a combat deck, or against a combat deck. No strike cards may be played is another game winning effect that can stymie most any combat deck in it's tracks, while simultaneously permitting you to kick ass without impediment. Despite its heavy cost, you are liable to make that cost back in one of two ways: Either you 1) don't get hurt as badly as you could have, or 2) you hurt them bad and Taste it back. 3 Stratagems #1 "Deceive the sky to cross the sea" The newest element to your !Ventrue newsletter, the stratagems section discusses VtES strategy in reference to those classic words of Chinese wisdom. Each month one (or perhaps more of the 36 Stratagems will be explored. This month we look at the first stratagem, "Deceive the sky to cross the sea." This stratagem draws upon your opponent's reliance upon that which is repeated and predictable. In the world of Jyhad, there are very few tournament calibre deck concepts that have not been done before ad nauseum. By the end of the third sequence of turns it should be possible to ascertain what kind of deck all of your opponents have. For instance, when a Malkavian is influenced out, the table gets ready to thwart the stealth bleed. Every single deck can quickly be pigeonholed into categories. Stealth / Bleed, Bruise / Bleed, Rush, Vote / Bleed, Intercept / Bruise, Weenie X, Purge, Vote / Bloat, and perhaps a few more are the typical categories. I posit that while these decks can be very sound tournament winners, their singularity can detract from their effectiveness. Though I'm certain many disagree, decks that pack just a little bit of mystery can crucially shift the balance of power. I once had a deck that just happened by accident to have three minions with protean. I put one wolf claw in my deck. Every single time it came up, I found a use for it. This is precisely what is meant by "Deceiving the sky to cross the sea." Everyone at the table sees my Toreador bloat deck, and figures that rushing with an IG would be smart. 9 times out of 10 their right, but that once is liable to send their big bruiser crying home to mommy. Now the player has to wonder "maybe this isn't the deck I thought I was against, how many more of those has he got?" The seed of doubt is planted, and Methuselahs are given moment of pause. The table just shifted in a way that is certainly to your benefit. By defying the typical categories, by mixing just enough cards that are outside of a deck's paradigm you take away your opponent's ability to completely anticipate what is to come. 4 Vampire of the Month Ingrid Russo Ingrid Russo Capacity: 4 Disciplines: DOM, for Abilities: None Ingrid is tied with 2 Giovanni as being the lowest capacity vampire with DOM. This, in a word, makes her divine. Even if you're not playing weenie dominate, Ingrid is excessively useful, and should be a core component of just about any !Ventrue deck. She can bounce and bleed with the greatest of ease, and her low capacity maximizes her value. Ingrid is small enough to possibly get out on the first turn, and if your prey doesn't put out a minion to match you can easily govern / conditioning a bleed of 6 by the second turn. With Weenie dominate, her value increases ginormously. Heck, she quarterbacks any weenie dominate deck. If she were inclined, she could govern down to get out any of a dozen 3 capacity dom vampires out for 1 blood, allowing for another vampire to be added to the uncontrolled region while still gaining a minion. Bar none, Ingrid is one of the best things that has yet to happen to the !Ventrue. All you have to do is look at other decks that borrow Ingrid to see that she truly is an 'A' string vampire. 5 Card of the Month Recruiting Party Action (!Ventrue): Each !Ventrue in your uncontrolled region gains 1 blood from the blood bank Well, since I'm writing the !Ventrue newsletter, I suppose I should dwell upon their unique cards. I must profess that some of these cards are not grade 'A' material, and some of them I am inclined to redecorate my apartment with. This particular dandy happens to be useful only at the beginning of a game, and only if you can influence someone out very quickly. If you are using a mixed crypt (3+ non !V in your deck), forget about this card. It costs nothing, and you stand to gain 1 blood on up to 4 vampires (I don't predict that there would be any more uncontrolled !Ventrue than that), but it's at no stealth, and is definitely block worthy. Throw into the mix that a straight !Ventrue decks are virtually unheard of, those poor !Ventrue don't often work alone, I'm afraid. My recommendation: Govern the Unaligned, although it costs more and requires an older vampire offers more versatility (with the bleed at +2), comes with built in stealth, concentrates the blood gain on a single vampire (making it more likely for him to come out faster) and can be used effectively at pretty much any time in the game. Next month I'll feature a useful card. 6 Deckstravaganza This month's deck is a guest article submitted by Colin Riggs. It relies on revelations to scout out your opponents hand, biding your time until your prey cannot intercede. It's strong points include: ? A relatively small crypt, unless lady luck hates you it should be easy to get 3 minions out even without resorting to the superior governs. ? Strong bleeds that can be used to maximum effect because of the revelations I might suggest though: ? Adding a couple of master cards, possibly a Ventrue Investment or two. 10 is too few for a deck like this that doesn't cycle like a combat deck. ? Adding a couple of the sleeping minds. I believe that many people foolishly disregard the incredible power that this card wields. Once an opponent is tapped out it is a nigh-guaranteed bleed. It is well worth the one blood for such an assurance. ? Adding a Pulse of the Canaille. Since 4 of your crypt possess AUS, it is likely that the pulse will be playable in a game. This deck is already a bleed machine that already tempts an visit from the archons, thus a pulse that adds even more bleed would not endanger your vampire. ? Dropping Catherine or Gracis for a Samson ? Edward's special ability is too useful, I might recommend a second copy Thanks, Colin, you've made my job a bit easier this month. If anyone else has any decks they would like to submit, please feel free. If I get enough submissions I might just feature two a month. So, without further ado: Deck Name: Revelating Freaks Created By: Colin Riggs Description: Bide your time and get out 3-4 minions, using Governs if you can. Try to draw into revelations and freak drives. Then Revelate as much as possible, Freak Drive and bleed for 4-5 at 1 stealth and 1 night of love. The Jakes block rushes and fill you up. Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 13, Max: 30Avg: 6.08) ---------------------------------------------- 1 Edward Neally aus DOM FOR pre 7, Ventrue antitribu 2 Gustav Mallenhous AUS DOM for obt 8, Ventrue Antitribu, Priscus 2 Ingrid Russo DOM for 4, Ventrue Antitribu 1 Marlene AUS dem DOM for tha 6, Ventrue Antitribu 1 Vanessa aus DOM FOR pre 6, Ventrue Antitribu 1 Alan Sovereign AUS DOM for pre 6, Ventrue 1 Catherine du Bois DOM for obf pre 5, Ventrue 1 Gracis Nostinus aus DOM for PRE 7, Ventrue, Primogen 1 Horatio Ballard aus DOM FOR PRE 7, Ventrue 1 Ranjan Rishi DOM for PRE 5, Ventrue Library: (90 cards) ------------------- Master (10 cards) 4 Blood Doll 1 Demonstration 2 Jake Washington (Hunter) 2 Political Hunting Ground 1 Uptown Hunting Ground Action (20 cards) 12 Govern the Unaligned 8 Revelations Action Modifier (38 cards) 10 Bonding 10 Command of the Beast 8 Freak Drive 10 Seduction Reaction (14 cards) 7 Redirection 7 Wake with Evening's Freshness Combat (8 cards) 8 Skin of Steel 7 Final Words Alright, well that's volume two of the !Ventrue newsletter. Stay tuned, and feel free to do any of the following: ? Comment on this newsletter, scathing or otherwise ? Send me material, including decks ? Send me non-sequential bills (Those bills promised from the last newsletter must have been lost in the mail) :) Thanks for your attention... hopefully once more the poor relegated Ventrue antitribu will once again see a glorious rebirth. Go forth and win tournaments with them, so I can feature you. Derek Rawlings