Ventrue Antitribu Newsletter: Summer 2005 Edition I. Introduction II. Fiction: Part 2, but not really III. Special Feature: Drafting the !Ventrue IV. Strategy: KMW and the !Ventrue V. Conclusion Introduction First of all, my apologies for missing the entire month of March, April, May, and June!!!! I'm a Ph.D. candidate, short on time... Mea Culpa! This month, I have chosen to look at our starter deck with regard to drafting and to briefly examine some of the potential KMW unlocks for our clan. Fiction [The author of this newsletter grunts something unintelligible about being on too many academic committees to have time to write part 2 of the fiction section begun in his last newsletter; he then returns to his office to contemplate where life went wrong.] Special Feature: Drafting the Ventrue Antitribu Drafting is an often overlooked tournament style due to the complexity inherent in V:TES, but it can be amazingly rewarding. Lets assume you're going to be doing a starter-based draft and adding a few boosters. You'll begin with a basic !Ventrue stater from the Sabbat War expansion, and you'll have access to the following crypt: 1x Lazverinus 10 AUS DOM FOR POT pro archbishop 1x Kyle Strathcona 9 AUS DOM POT PRE for cardinal 1x Quentin 9 AUS DOM FOR cel obt bishop 1x Dominique 7 AUS FOR ani dom vic 1x Dylan 6 aus cel dom for pro 1x Marlene 6 AUS DOM dem for tha 1x Vanessa 6 DOM FOR aus pre 1x Gerard 5 aus dom for obt 1x Vincent Day 5 aus dom for pot tha 1x Ingrid Russo 4 DOM for 1x Juan Cali 3 aus for 1x March Halcyon 1 for With an average capacity of 5.92, you can plan to field two minions with a possible third, depending on your initial crypt draw, what you've drafted as additions, and the table seating. Among the large minions, the ones you'll want to see most are Lazverinus (for his combat supremacy) and Quentin (for table vote control; between the two of them, you want Quentin). Unless you've happened to luck into drafting a Voter Captivation (only available to our clan through Camarilla edition boosters), Kyle is a very weak investment of 9 pool in spite of his cardinal title (his inferior fortitude is likely not going to be enough to save him when he gets into combat). I'd remove Kyle from the deck if I drafted an acceptable substitute (virtually any voter with either dominate or fortitude). Among the mid-caps, Vanessa is the best of the bunch, coming with her built in superior dominate and fortitude for only six pool. Marlene is second with her superiors in auspex and dominate. I'd cheer loudly if both appeared in my uncontrolled region at the same time! Dominique, Dylan, Gerard, and Vincent Day are all good minions, too; in fact, one of the great strengths of the !Ventrue starter is our superb range of mid-cap vampires. Sadly, the deck-type requires you to field a fatty to have any success at all; else, we could run a straight-up mid-cap deck. The weenies of our crypt are pretty solid reactors, the gem of which is the unparalleled Ingrid Russo. Juan Cali is an excellent blocker. March Halcyon has fortitude and can fight for quite a while in spite of being a 1-cap, depending on the strength of your hand. Our minions' special abilities are none-too-shabby, either. Dominique can take care of those pesky locations people may be playing (goodbye Ventrue Headquarters, hasta la vista Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper). Dylan can be quite dangerous with his +1 bleed. Since we'll take the edge at some point, Vincent Day's edge-burning vote special can come in amazingly handy in a pinch (and you need all the votes you can get). Of course, if you must field Kyle, his delicious "I give blood to all my peoples" special is great to have. Quentin and Lazverinus will be the single most dangerous vampires on whatever table they're sitting on (save perhaps for Arika, whom Quentin just might be able to take care of anyway). In short, our beginning crypt is pretty good. We're a bit shy on voters, so if you draft into any with auspex or dominate, you should think of shifting them in; otherwise getting VPs is going to be a nightmare of deal making and luck. On to our beginning library of 77 cards: Master [15] 1x Antediluvian Awakening 1x Auspex 1x Blood Doll 1x Corporate Hunting Ground 1x Demonstration 1x Dominate 1x Fortitude 1x Life Boon 1x Minion Tap 1x Out of Control 1x Purchase Pact 1x Recruitment 1x Short-Term Investment 1x Sudden Reversal 1x Ventrue Investment Our master selection looks okay, given that we're using a starter. We've got several pool gain options: blood doll (sadly only one, but you can't have everything), minion tap, a short-term investment, and a ventrue investment. We have four fantastic masters which deserve special attention. Antediluvian Awakening is a brutal card, dealing permanent pool damage to the table unless a terrible sacrifice is made. Think of it as our "definitely going to be suddened by someone" master card of the deck. Demonstration will likely lock down vote control for you, and is almost too good as it can completely manipulate the entire table to your advantage as long as it's untapped. Purchase Pact, on the right table, can save you an abundance of fortitude combat cards and cause many starter deck types to whimper in anger and frustration, especially since everyone's going to be low on rushes. The saving grace of our deck is our Life Boon, which (if in hand at the right time) can insure that you take the game win. Finally, do not underestimate the power of Recruitment. The deck depends on having one of your three voters out and manipulating things. If there are any other vote decks on your table, you simply must have Quentin in order to survive the Jyhad. There really aren't any "bad" masters among the ones we start with (Out of Control being the only exception here, but since the !Brujah starter begins with our foil, I find it appropriate that we have an answer). Things to look for in drafting would be more pool gain/blood manipulation, permanent intercept locations (always good), and hand flushing tech. I might possibly take out a discipline card (fortitude being the most likely candidate), but only if I had something very good to replace it with. Much of our pool gain requires the sacrifice of master phase actions, so I might possibly think about dropping down to 13 masters. Action [7] 1x Eternal Vigilance 1x Far Mastery 1x Govern the Unaligned 1x Pulse of the Canaille 1x Rapid Healing 2x Restoration Our actions are few, but amazingly powerful (and likely to be blocked). Probably the weakest of them is Eternal Vigilance, since only Laz or Kyle will be able to play it (but if either of them succeeds at it, it's happy days for our clan). Hopefully you'll draft more Archbishops... Far Mastery, too, can be game-turning if it succeeds. Govern is always solid, alas that we have only the one. If you luck into a prey who can't bounce, inferior's the way to go here; otherwise use it for pool gain. Pulse: it wins games. Rapid Healing is normally not such a great card...but honestly, you're going to be going to torpor, and any way of getting out of torpor for free is a good thing. The two restorations are very solid, especially if you luck into your blood doll. Actions to draft would be +bleed and any of the dominate "steal something" cards. Anything that will get blood back on your minions is good, too (Entrenching, although not a fortitude card, would be a solid addition to this deck; seek it out in Gehenna). Action Modifier [10] 3x Bonding 2x Bribes 1x Daring the Dawn 1x Kindred Manipulation 1x Private Audience 1x Seduction 1x Telepathic Vote Counting Action modifiers, too, look pretty skimpy; however, all of them are useful. Savor and defend your three bondings; they're the only stealth you're going to see. Along this same "I want my actions to be successful" vein, Daring the Dawn and Seduction are equally game-saving cards. Alas that we have so very few! If you (somehow) succeed in getting an action through, Bribes, Kindred Manipulation, Private Audience, and Telepathic Vote Counting assist this deck's strategy as nothing else. If you're looking to slim the deck down a little, I would possibly consider dropping the Private Audience. There's likely to be more Sabbat votes on your table, and if you're me, they'll more than likely be your predator. You'll especially want to toss it if the draft is Sabbat only. What to draft? Bleed modifiers and Bribes. You want as many Bribes as you can get your grubby little torporous hands on (seek ye out Sabbat War boosters). It's your pool gain, means of propping up a weak Methuselah, and one of the easiest ways to get your votes passed. The Sleeping Mind would be a very solid addition to this deck, considering that it's a seduction for a tapped vampire (and is common in the Sabbat War boosters you might choose to draft from). If you find yourself with a Stealth Ritus in hand, you might consider drafting it (they're from the Black Hand expansion); in a draft, very few minions are going to be able to block a 2 stealth action. On to the combat options: Combat [11] 1x Boxed In 1x Dodge 1x Open Grate 1x Resilience 1x Rolling with the Punches 1x Skin of Rock 1x Superior Mettle 1x Thoughts Betrayed 1x Undead Persistence 1x Unflinching Persistence 1x Zip Gun The combat module is, well, really bad, especially considering the number of times your minions are going to see combat. You'll want to draft some more fortitude prevention cards, definitely. I'd toss out Boxed In and the Open Grate. I'd seriously consider tossing Thoughts Betrayed since the deck has very few ways of recouping that 2 blood investment and equally few ways to torporize minions in combat. What do you care if they dodge or S:CE? You don't. (You're happy as a clam if they do.) The card you'll want to draft is Rolling with the Punches (only available through SW boosters), though in a draft tournament there generally aren't bad fortitude prevention cards you could get. If someone on your table is drafting Bloodlines, you might consider Nose of the Hound if you can get it (in spite of your pitiful combat, a rush at the right time is a good thing, especially if you happen to be Lazverinus). Any other rush would be good, since if you draft it, others can't (and, again, you have Laz). However, you want to stick with what works and get fortitude prevention. Aura Reading, from Camarilla edition boosters, would be an excellent addition to the deck's combat options, too. Equipment [5] 1x Brass Knuckles 1x Concoction of Vitality 1x Leather Jacket 1x Saturday-Night Special 1x Sport Bike Your equipment will serve you quite well, if you can acquire it. If something better comes along in the draft (Flak Jacket, Gas-Powered Chainsaws, Bang Nahk, and etc.) I'd swap out some things. Concoction of Vitality is a very powerful card in a draft. Equipment is the only way you can count on to deal damage in combat; consider your options carefully if it comes your way. To this end, a Jack of Both Sides would be an excellent draft pick from the Gehenna commons as it gives more stealth and saves pool. Political Action [15] 1x Anarchist Uprising 1x Ancient Influence 3x Consanguineous Boon 4x Conservative Agitation 1x Crusade: Mexico City 2x Disputed Territory 1x Peace Treaty 1x Rabble Razing 1x Sabbat Priest Since bleeds for 1 or 2 really aren't likely to win you the game on their own, these political actions are your means toward victory. It's really not as bad as it looks, I promise. Rabble Razing is probably the weakest of them, and I'd definitely consider removing it (there aren't that many weenie decks among the starters, so this will be of limited help in a draft). Otherwise, you look pretty set. You have pool gain, location and weapon control, title gaining, a good number of pool damaging votes, and a Sabbat Priest to round everything out. All your votes give you some measure of control over the table due to their flexibility. You can definitely prop up an ally, or hurt a potential threat. Reaction [14] 2x Deflection 3x Enhanced Senses 2x Forced Awakening 1x Obedience 1x Redirection 1x Spirit's Touch 2x Telepathic Counter 2x Wake with Evening's Freshness Finally we come to reactions. They're all quite solid: 4 react/block while tapped, three bounces, a bit of intercept, a couple counters, and a single Obedience (very, very handy). We've definitely got nothing to complain about here, and you'll want to try to draft more of the same (when possible). Note that Cam boosters have Deflections and Redirections, and SW boosters have redirections and telepathic counters. Look for these. All told, our drafting options are quite solid. Our discipline set is amazingly common: you'll be able to pick cards from virtually any pack of boosters and be able to use them. Focusing on the commons will usually win you the day. You can vote. You can bleed. You can react. What more does one want of a draft deck? Discipline Card Commons by Draftable Expansion Drafting from boosters is all about commonality and probability, as such I've compiled a list of commons by our in-clan disciplines. This is not a comprehensive list. Sabbat War Commons Auspex 1 Precognition 2 Primal Instincts 3 Spirit's Touch 4 Telepathic Counter Dominate 1 Redirection 2 Scouting Mission 3 The Sleeping Mind 4 Threats Fortitude 1 Regeneration 2 Rolling with the Punches 3 Skin of Rock 4 Superior Mettle Special Mention 1 Bribes 2 Conservative Agitation 3 Forced Awakening 4 Many !Ventrue vampires are booster draftable Final Nights Commons (Not Recommended for Drafting) Fortitude 1 King of the Mountain Special Mention 1 Vampire: Gustav Mallenhous (priscus) Bloodlines Commons Auspex 1 Anesthetic Touch 2 Aura Absorption 3 Folderol 4 Nose of the Hound 5 Panacea 6 Sense the Sin 7 Tourette's Voice Dominate 1 Absorb the Mind 2 Clio's Kiss 3 Spirit Marionette Fortitude 1 Infection 2 Renewed Vigor 3 Sense Vitality Special Mention 1 Many Kiasyd share aus/dom with us 2 Rare: Nagaraja share aus/dom with us (think Le Dinh Tho) Camarilla Commons Auspex 1 Aura Reading 2 Enhanced Senses 3 Reading Intentions 4 Spirit's Touch 5 Telepathic Counter 6 Telepathic Misdirection Dominate 1 Bonding 2 Conditioning 3 Deflection 4 Govern the Unaligned 5 Seduction 6 Threats Fortitude 1 Hidden Strength 2 Indomitability 3 Rapid Healing 4 Skin of Rock 5 Skin of Steel 6 Unflinching Persistence Special Mention: 1 Concealed Weapon 2 Kine Resources Contested 3 Vampire: Edward Neally Anarchs Commons (Not Recommended for Drafting) 1 Improvised Tactics 2 The Mole 3 Diversion Special Mention: 1 Vampire: Joseph O'Grady Black Hand Commons Auspex 1 Quicken Sight (with celerity) 2 Under the Skin (with presence) Fortitude 1 Alpha Glint (with animalism) Special Mention 1 Vampire: Blackhorse Tanner (Black Hand) 2 Vampire: Charice Fontaigne 3 Vampire: Dominique (ADV) 4 Vampire: Katherine Stoddard (Black Hand) 5 Vampire: Owain Evans, the Wanderer 6 Vampire: Sister Evelyn 7 Martial Ritus 8 Stealth Ritus Gehenna Commons Auspex 1 Crocodile's Tongue 2 Principia Discordia (with anarch) Dominate 1 Chain of Command 2 Reformation (with anarch) Fortitude 1 Friend of Mine (with anarch) 2 Soak Special Mention 1 Vampire: Jesse Menks (archbishop) KMW Commons Auspex 1 Anima Gathering 2 Weight the Heart (with serpentis, which we lack) Fortitude 1 Forced March (with celerity) Special Mention 1 Dylan (ADV) Strategy: KMW and the Ventrue Antitribu Although KMW is still very much on all our minds, I thought I'd focus my energies on examining the way the set might mitigate our clan's primary disadvantage (only having access to expensive stealth) through the way it interacts with cards from older sets. Arguably the most expensive stealth in the game, Stealth Ritus, requires two Sabbat minions, one blood from each of them, and "frontloading" the stealth on the declaration of your action. Yet this is the easiest stealth card our clan will ever be able to play. (The alternative is to utilize our clan's access to obtenebration, which likewise costs blood for its stealth; thus we have the same problem.) Two cards from KMW make Stealth Ritus not hurt quite so much. Procurer. It's an amazingly effective ally, especially for us, and its ability to lend us blood helps mitigate the damage inflicted on us through accessing Stealth Ritus. Since we also have access to both Perfectionist and Capitalist, our blood-hemorrhaging stealth options become less burdensome, especially once our actions are successful. Paying for the Procurer is less a problem for us than other clans, since we can Restoration the blood sometime later with relative ease. (Note that another alternative to Procurers is the Local 1111, which is an equally excellent card for us, albeit not from KMW.) Lear Jet. Is there a better vehicle for our capitalistic minions to travel within? Lear Jet helps us cycle like madmen when we frontload our Stealth Ritus stealth. Combined with such fantastic minions as Blackhorse Tanner and Katherine Stoddard , drawing an extra card for each card we play insures we almost always have the card we need when we need it. (Also note that including Blackhorse Tanner and Katherine Stoddard in a deck gives us access to the myriad Black Hand card options not usually available to our clan; central among these boon cards are The Art of Memory, Marijava Thuggee, and Ministry). Card cycling seems to be our clan's area of influence, even more so than our domination of the political scene, and Lear Jet doubles that cycling capacity. Speaking of the Black Hand, this sub-set of the Sabbat is likely our best means of acquiring precious, juicy Trophies from hunting down the Red List. We only rarely manage to burn minions outright in combat (Lazverinus aside), and having no access to either Anathema or Sacrificial Lamb, we must resort to that most vile of acts...Diablerie (or use Amaranth in combat, as we rarely have difficulty torporizing our foes). Why does Black Hand help us in this regard? Why because we can send Blackhorse or Katherine off to do the dirty deed, then save them with an Ebony Fox Hunt, ensuring that we both get the trophy of our desire *and* still have our precious card-cycling minion for further rounds of the great Jyhad. Which trophies are best for our clan? This question I still ponder, though I like the potentials of Clan Respect, Hunting Ground, Progeny, and Domain. Conclusion I hope you've enjoyed this month's rather lengthy newsletter. Next month you can expect a KMW flavored deck (once I've had some time to investigate a solid strategy). Until then, keep fighting the good fight against the Camarilla and Independents!