VENTRUE ANTITRIBU SPECIAL REPORT
V:tES Player's Guide Edition
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Rising from torpor for a little light reading, I happened upon a copy
of the recently published 'Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Player's
Guide', wherein I found a most preposterous item: a !Ventrue-based
intercept deck!
"What chutzpah," I said to myself, "Don't they know that !Ventrue
intercept never works! What imbecile or snake oil salesman could be
responsible for perpetrating such a fraud?"
In this special edition, we feature an interview with the responsible
party, one 'Ben Peal', if that really is his name...
CONTENTS
- Banner
- Executive Overview
- Contents
- From the Chairman: Revelations
- Market Research: Corporate Hit Squad
- Forward-Looking Statements
- The Fine Print
FROM THE CHAIRMAN: Revelations
So, yeah, I devoured the V:tES Player's Guide. The guides to the
disciplines and the clans are reasonably well written, though the
'comprehensive' nature of those guides does lead, necessarily, to
skimming over some things that could use more depth, and,
alternatively, spending too effort on some that could probably have
been skipped at the expense of less, errrr, comprehension.
(Comprehensiveness? Comprehensensitivity?) The pictorial reference is
also nicer and more useful than I expected. Where the volume really
shines is in the Deck Construction and Strategy & Tactics sections -
the attributed subsections by Jay Kristoff and Josh Duffin were
particularly interesting and useful to me.
And then there are the decklists. Many of these are pure gold. Most
left me wishing for author commentary: the whys, hows, and what the
@#$%s of designing and playing the deck. This was especially true of
the !Ventrue deck presented. Those with a penchant for useless trivia
and a long memory may recall the following 'inflammatory assertion'
issued in these very pages a few years back:
The Ventrue Antitribu can't do dedicated intercept (using in-clan
disciplines) successfully.*
(With the caveat (*) in this case rejecting Lazverinus-based decks as
being '!Ventrue' decks per se.)
So it was with a decidedly doubtful eye that I perused what appeared to
me to be not only a potentially playable !Ventrue intercept deck, but a
!Ventrue intercept deck by none other than V:tES luminary/deck designer
extraordinaire, Ben Peal. My curiosity piqued, I fired off a request
for an interview, the results of which are compiled below in our Market
Research section. Enjoy!
MARKET RESEARCH: Corporate Hit Squad
The Deck:
Deck Name: Corporate Hit Squad
Created By: Ben Peal
Description: From the pages of the V:TES Player's Guide, p.112 to be
exact...
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 14, Max: 30, Avg: 5.83)
----------------------------------------------
1 Sarah Raines for 2 Gangrel
1 Juan Cali aus for 3 Ventrue Antitribu
1 Maldavis AUS for 4 Caitiff
1 Miriam Benyona AUS for 5 Salubri
1 Billy AUS dom for 5 Ventrue Antitribu
5 Blackhorse Tanner AUS DOM FOR 7 Ventrue Antitribu
2 Owain Evans AUS DOM FOR 8 Ventrue Antitribu
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (14 cards)
1 Barrens, The
4 Blood Doll
1 Corporate Hunting Ground
1 Demonstration
2 Effective Management
1 Elder Library
1 Information Highway
1 KRCG News Radio
1 Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper, The
1 Visit from the Capuchin
Action (6 cards)
6 Govern the Unaligned
Reaction (32 cards)
4 Eagle`s Sight
4 Enhanced Senses
12 Forced Awakening
2 My Enemy`s Enemy
2 Precognition
2 Spirit`s Touch
6 Telepathic Misdirection
Combat (31 cards)
7 Concealed Weapon
4 Magazine
5 Resilience
4 Rolling with the Punches
4 Scattershot
7 Unflinching Persistence
Equipment (7 cards)
3 .44 Magnum
4 Desert Eagle
The Interview:
!VN: Howdy Ben!
BP: Heya!
!VN: Every time I go to make a deck like this (basically aus/for) I get
hung up on all the different directions the various 7-caps could take
the deck. There are a lot of good AUS/for 7-caps (Matthias, Adonai,
Omaya) - did you set out to make a !Ventrue deck when you made this
deck, or did you start with aus/for? (Are there other directions you
have taken AUS/for decks that seem promising?)
BP: I don't remember if the deck idea started with
Magazine-Scattershot or if it started with Blackhorse Tanner.
Regardless, Blackhorse Tanner is a great choice in a deck that's
waiting for a card combo, since he helps you cycle cards. If I was to
run Concealed-Gun _and_ Magazine-Scattershot, Blackhorse Tanner seems
the way to go. On top of it, he has AUS-FOR, giving me the benefits of
Eagle's Sight as well as the better Fortitude abilities.
I've messed around with AUS-FOR before, having collaborated with
Patrick van der Reest on an Omaya + Matthias deck. You can find his
version and my version in the Salubri newsletter I wrote a while back:
http://www.thelasombra.com/ClanPages/salubri/index.htm
!VN: Why Sarah Raines? (Why not March or Peter?)
BP: March seemed a bit fragile, but I don't think it's necessarily a
bad decision to swap Sarah for March. Peter only has aus, the deck
doesn't use Dominate all that much, and I wanted to keep the average
capacity down.
!VN: You seem quite determined to draw Blackhorse - why is he so
important to the deck? Are you making heavy use of his special?
BP: As I mentioned above, the deck is trying to pull off two card
combos: Concealed-Gun and Magazine-Scattershot. Blackhorse Tanner's
ability is invaluable towards that plan.
!VN: Given that you are pretty much sure to have a Black Hand member
out, why not Corporal Reservoir? Weeping Stone? Shakar? Dominion?
BP: Corporal Reservoir has some potential, since it would combo well
with the hunting ground and Owain Evans. I'd be nervous about putting
in more than a couple, due to the card cycling needs of an intercept
combat deck that's waiting for card combos - don't want to jam on
masters.
As for Weeping Stone, I don't like the fact that it only gives blood to
Black Hand vampires. I've definitely found that my other vamps get
themselves into plenty of trouble. :)
I'm not sure Dominion is worth the master slot. Sure, having to burn a
blood to block Blackhorse Tanner is a threat, but having to potentially
eat 4 damage from a gun is a bigger threat.
I could see putting in Shakar.
!VN: Doubling Owain says to me that he's pretty important too - why?
What's your policy on Owain's special? Is it really important to your
own blood/pool gain strategy?
BP: I like Owain's discipline spread for the deck. He can Govern
down, and he can be a major part of the AUS-FOR wall plan. The special
is also very handy. I can also see replacing one copy of him with The
Outlaw Jesse Menks - who wasn't available at the time I built the deck.
!VN: Why Effective Management?
BP: It's a standard thing I do in a deck where I'm running 5 copies of
a vampire. It helps in the mid to late game, where I'll be wanting to
bring out another vamp.
!VN: Why Information Highway?
BP: If I get the Info Highway out early, then the wall gets set up a
lot sooner. I can see replacing it with a Dreams, or maybe a Shakar.
!VN: Why not Smiling Jack, Pentex (TM) Loves You!, and/or Vast Wealth?
BP: Or maybe replace the Info Highway with a Smiling Jack or a Pentex
Loves You. :) The deck runs fine without Vast Wealth.
!VN: Standard deck construction rules argue for 20% masters, or 18 in a
90 card deck. Do you recommend fewer for intercept-y decks like this
one?
BP: I definitely went with fewer masters (14) because it's an
intercept-wall deck. Cycling is extremely important to those decks,
and I don't want to jam on masters. I can see going as high as 16.
There wasn't a scientific decision behind using 14, but it seems to be
working out well.
!VN: Are the Elder Library and Visit from the Capuchin in to facilitate
the use of Magazines/ammo?
BP: Exactly. In a deck that's waiting for card combos, I find it
helpful to increase your hand size so you can sit on a card or two
without hurting your options and card flow. Visit from the Capuchin is
terrible, and should be replaced with a Dreams (or Pentex Loves You or
Smiling Jack or one of those Weeping Stone things if you wanna try it
out).
!VN: Govern vs. Conditioning: With this much combat in, it looks like
you are adopting a 'bruise' strategy for getting actions through.
Conditioning has more synergy with bruise (bleed), as it encourages a
block for every bleed; why did you go with Govern? (I'm guessing pool
gain is important?)
BP: I went with Govern 'cause I wanted to bring out more guys. If you
can get a couple Governs off, then you can get an extra guy or two out,
who in turn can mean more bleeds.
!VN: No backup rush actions? Or does Eagle's Sight serve the same
function?
BP: Exactly - Eagle's Sight is a lot like a rush, and it helps prevent
your prey from running around the table while you play your wall game.
!VN: Wake vs. Forced: No Wakes in a deck with eight bounce cards?
BP: Keeping blood on the vamps isn't so much of a problem between the
hunting ground and Owain Evans. Also, I've found that since intercept
wall decks rely on cycling ability, it's preferable to use Forced
instead of Wake. Oh, and if I'm trying to draw into the weapon-related
combos, I _really_ want the cycling ability of Forced.
!VN: I love the Scattershot + Magazine combo. My earliest Concealed
Weapon/!Ventrue decks used Sawed-Offs to get a similar punch, but
Shotguns have obvious limitations. My question: Why so many
maneuvers, given the flexibility the Magazine provides? (I'd be
tempted to run Hidden Strength or Indomitability instead of Unflinching
Persistence, both for the additional threat on offense, and for the
ability to bail out of unexpected Traps.) Are you trying to keep
opposing vampires at a particular range?
BP: The Unflinching Persistences are in there 'cause Grapples are
fairly common. I expect to face far more Grapples than Traps. Also,
maneuvering can help you avoid having to play more Fortitude by keeping
you away from big hand strikes. If your opponent plays Torn Signpost,
just save yourself the trouble and maneuver out of the way (and shoot
them).
!VN: Given all the transient maneuvers, why split between Magnums and
Desert Eagles? Why not just go with Magnums?
BP: The pool cost of Magnums starts to really hurt after about a
couple of them in play, and I like to equip all the vamps since
nobody's particularly afraid of Maldavis bleeding for one without a
gun. Desert Eagles are a fine compromise.
!VN: Hand jam on intercept/prevent was my constant companion with my
AUS/for deck. Forward motion and pool/blood levels were also generally
problematic. What has your experience been playing this deck? How do
you like to see it run?
BP: I enjoy playing the deck a lot. It's not a top-tier tournament
deck, but I did win an Infernal Plague event with it - going
non-infernal. I may tweak it a bit and give it a shot in a regular
constructed tournament. Forward motion is sometimes a problem, and
sometimes cycling into the combos is a problem, but overall I've found
it to run pretty reliably. Something I get a kick out of is getting a
bleed bounced to me when I have a vamp with a Magnum and a Magazined
Scattershot. I can just maneuver to long and blow confetti. I also
enjoy players treading lightly around the deck when it's got the
4-damage threat out. Even the War Ghouls are scared. ;)
A key to blood management is AUS-FOR instead of AUS-for - though Soak
has helped out inferior Fortitude a lot. I could see swapping out a
few copies of Resilience for a few copies of Soak to help out the
little guys.
!VN: What sort of deck types does this deck like to see at the table?
Which are its nemeses?
BP: The deck loves what any wall deck loves: a prey that relies on
undirected actions. It also loves blasting the snot out of War Ghouls.
Its nemesis is that accursed Animalism. Grr.
!VN: Back when I was !Ventrue editor (and teaching myself the game) I
got pretty burned out trying to make the !Ventrue work, often with
aus/for concepts, so I'm genuinely interested myself to hear your
thoughts on the subject, as it's not really a path too many seem to
have taken.
BP: Oh, the !Ventrue are awful. They can be great defensively, but
they really can't get going on offense since they don't have any
delivery system disciplines. In terms of tournament power, it's all
about Lazverinus 'cause of the +2 strength.
I do have another !Ventrue deck which is apparently making it into the
Strategy Guide supplement book (dunno when that one's getting printed).
It's an Advanced Dylan going Anarch deck, which isn't super amazing,
but it's the only Dylan deck the author of that section was aware of.
:)
!VN: Of course, once I disclose all your l33t secrets to the newsgroup,
I'll never be able to collect enough Magazines to try the deck
myself...
BP: Y'know, for such a dippy card, Magazine sure is a pain to get. :)
It did take me a while to get enough to get that deck going.
!VN: Thanks!
BP: No problem. It was fun!
So there you have it - a working !Ventrue intercept deck! The High
Stakes is in the mail, Ben! Heh. Of course, the star of the show,
Blackhorse Tanner, didn't exist when I made the original statement, but
my hat is still off to Ben. Spare a Magazine, anyone?
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Until next time, whenever that may be...
Submissions and feedback to me: wumpus7 at comcast dot net, or to
whatever other pretender to the editorship of this newsletter suits
your fancy.
THE FINE PRINT
CORRECTION: In the Bloodlines special edition, Jack Dawson's discipline
spread was misrepresented as including superior Thanatosis. The
!Ventrue, and, we are sure, Samedi everywhere also, regret that Jack is
afflicted with inferior Thanatosis.
The information contained herein is based on sources believed to be
reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Decks constructed
using the !Ventrue may lose games. Decks are not insured against loss
by the author, Lazverinus, rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad, LSJ, White
Wolf, the government, or your mother. Please _don't_ email the author
requesting a full disclosure of the !Ventrue's finances. For a full
disclosure of the editor's shortcomings, however, please see past and
present Executive Overviews. Caveat Emptor.