OFFICIAL V:EKN BRUJAH ANTITRIBU NEWSLETTER -- November 2001 Volume III, Issue 2 IN THIS ISSUE... * Prelude * Story Time! * Found in the Dustbin: Survivalist * Center Stage: Rigby, Crusade Vanguard * Deck of the Month: Home-Made Militia * Taming the Elephant: Using Your Momos =================================================================== PRELUDE =================================================================== Ah, November. Fall is completely and thoroughly here. The clean, crisp chill of the air... the leaves turning glorious colors and falling from the trees... Grampa out back chasing the turkey around with an axe... and the delightful smell of a freshly lit building, with just a HINT of gasoline. I don't know about you, but around here it seems like everyone is putting 2 Arsons in every deck; there's always locations out there to be got rid of. Creepshow Casino is a favourite target, as are the pesky media outlets and clan-stealth locations. Parthenon shouldn't be allowed to stick around, and nobody likes a Hunting Ground or Barrens. I'm certainly in favor of the idea, myself, especially with a clan such as the !Brujah -- who needs stealth when you can pound someone who blocks you? And, of course, with most of our vampires packing Potence we have the option of using the replaceable Rampage. Lots of dependence on locations these days... but it DOES add a weak point for attack, and a deck that is prepared to burn useful locations can pull out victory where none should have existed. Remember, ashes make the rug grow. =================================================================== STORY TIME! =================================================================== "Once upon a time there was a little birdie, so I bashed his head in. And he was lookin' at me funny anyway. The End." [0] ==================================================================== FOUND IN THE DUSTBIN: Survivalist ==================================================================== Survivalist: Ally, Brujah Antitribu, 2 pool "Ally with 1 life. 2R damage, 0 bleed. Tap to give a Brujah Antitribu you control one maneuver." Well, that's certainly straightforward enough. One maneuver, no more, no less. And only for !Brujah, so it's never going to be - especially- useful in mixed-clan decks, although it does mean that nobody will be coming cross-table to Far Mastery it (unlike a War Ghoul). Most allies suck, and at first glance this one doesn't seem to be much of an exception; it can't bleed, it probably dies if it enters combat, and 2R isn't much of a deterrent to keep people away from it. All this for 2 pool? Can I get Frederick the Weak instead, please...? Or do I really want Frederick? His tricks are kind of limited; he can bleed, vote, and S:CE. That's great if you're building that kind of deck, but in a fight deck, he doesn't do a lot of good. Hmm. Let's say I put one Survivalist in the deck. Assuming average everything, I should get to him around midway, or turn 6. This means that I'll get 6 maneuvers out of him for my 2 pool. Doesn't seem like much at first, but look at the best maneuver card in the game; Quick Meld. Its strength is primarily in the two maneuvers, but there's also a "wanna waste it?" factor that comes into play; an opponent holding a single maneuver in his hand knows that his maneuver is likely wasted on this combat, and will not bother to counter the first one -- saving his maneuver for a time when he CAN make use of it. While Quick Meld decks generally don't ever get caught at the wrong range, it does show us something handy about the Survivalist; unlike Quick Meld's second maneuver, it does NOT go away at the end of the round if unused. What does this mean? It means your opponent can't easily sit on his maneuver cards waiting to catch you (or get away from you) -- he needs to make you tap that Survivalist so you're forced to rely on in- hand resources. This could draw out a Wake to block your Bum's Rush, or a Fake Out he had been hoping to use elsewhere. It also serves as a warning marker -- Frederick carrying an Ivory Bow looks a lot more menacing with an untapped Survivalist. All in all, it will tend to make your opponent's play more predictable, and this is almost NEVER a bad thing for you. But dear god, the thing costs 2 pool. What do I want with a 2 pool ally that goes "boom" at the first sign of a Shadow Twin or Cryptic Mission? First, he can still block. If he prevents even ONE Social Charm from happening because he's untapped and all your other minions were tapped, he's paid for himself -- even if you have to block it with him and he dies. Also, that's what Enchant Kindred is for. A single superior Enchant Kindred action puts you back even, and you're good to go. This begins immediately to suggest a deck type, which is in fact our Deck of the Month. And sure enough, our Vampire of the Month can play Enchant Kindred at superior... so, without further ado: ==================================================================== CENTER STAGE: Rigby, Crusade Vanguard ==================================================================== Rigby, Crusade Vanguard: 5-cap, Brujah Antitribu [aus CEL pot PRE] "Sabbat: If Rigby attempts to block a Sabbat vampire and fails, and if any of your predator's Bishops are not at full capacity, move 1 blood from Rigby to one of those Bishops." Right. Her special disability has kicked in ONCE in all the time I've been playing, so in effect she's got one free point of disciplines available to her. That one point ends up making a lot of difference; she has the stock pot/CEL that all good fighting !Brujah possess, and her superior PRE makes her a scary bleeder as well with Aire of Elation. Also, an Enchant Kindred at superior from her can target *6* different vampires; not hurting at all, I'd say! She makes a great vampire for us even without her free point; an excellent bruise/bleeder as well as a Rusher. But what her free point IS makes a very interesting scenario. The !Brujah aren't noted interceptors, lacking, well, the disciplines and the patience to do such a thing. Give Rigby a Sport Bike, a media outlet for emergencies (possibly even a Guardian Angel), and stack your deck with a few Spirit's Touch/Enhanced Senses, though, and suddenly things can turn out a bit different. Add in a skill card or two to either give Rigby superior, or hand off inferior to someone else if you're in need of multiple options, and your defense is suddenly a lot more robust as all those annoying +1/+2 stealth actions fall by the wayside. Be sure to include plenty of beatings for people silly enough to take actions that offend you. In our Deck of the Month, though, she mostly uses it for a totally different purpose; inferior Revelations. ==================================================================== DECK OF THE MONTH: Home-Made Militia ==================================================================== Created by: DSR Description: Survivalist showcase deck. Crypt: (12 cards) [Min: 10, Max: 22, Avg: 3.92] 1 Delilah Easton (pre, Toreador, 2) 1 Evangeline (cel pot pre, Brujah Antitribu, 4) 1 Frederick the Weak (pre, Brujah Antitribu, 2) 1 Gideon Fontaine (PRE, Ventrue, 3) 1 Hugo (POT pre vic, Brujah Antitribu, 4) 1 Jacob Bragg (cel pot, Brujah Antitribu, 3) 2 Rigby (aus CEL pot PRE, Brujah Antitribu, 5) 1 Sarah Brando (CEL, Brujah Antitribu, 3) 2 Sela (cel obt POT PRE, Brujah Antitribu, 6, Bishop) 1 Victor Tolliver (CEL pot, Brujah Antitribu, 4) Library: (75 cards) Master (13 cards) 6 Blood Doll 1 Club Zombie 1 Creepshow Casino 1 Gang Territory 3 Presence 1 Waste Management Operation Action (23 cards) 1 Arson 10 Enchant Kindred 3 Legal Manipulations 3 Mind Numb 2 Revelations 4 Social Charm ActionMod (6 cards) 4 Aire of Elation 2 Blood Brother Ambush Reaction (6 cards) 6 Wake with Evening's Freshness Combat (19 cards) 1 Disarm 8 Fake Out 8 Majesty 2 Trap Ally (5 cards) 5 Survivalist Retainer (1 card) 1 Mr. Winthrop Equipment (2 cards) 1 Ivory Bow 1 Sport Bike Well, this one is fairly straightforward. You should get either Rigby, Sela, or both in your opening crypt. Get the oldest out first and begin chucking around Enchant Kindreds at superior; the quicker you can get to Creepshow Casino, the better. Recruit Survivalists and hand out Presence skill cards as appropriate (I'd stop after 3 Survivalists); bleed forward with everyone else every turn. Maneuver to long, and if necessary S:CE, but be careful; with only 8 Majesty, don't waste one if just a maneuver will do. The Blood Brothers are there for the surprise factor -- it's quite embarrassing for Sir Walter Nash to block Frederick and have a BBA rip his arm off. Also beware; Delilah and Gideon can't use your Survivalists and should mostly be used for disposable actions (or a blocker). Waste Management Operation will let you recycle things into the bottom of your deck, and with the high cardflow and a 75-card library, you should be able to actually REACH the bottom quickly. There's not much intercept, so the Enchant Kindreds and Blood Dolls will have to serve as bloat - don't ever waste an opportunity to gain pool when possible. ==================================================================== TAMING THE ELEPHANT: Using your Momos ==================================================================== So you step into the tournament with your bright, shiny new table- sweeper. It's proof against combat, bleeds, votes, and intercept. You've got more tools in the thing than a Swiss Army Polearm, and it's STILL focussed enough to kick everyone's ass. And you sit down at the first table, and influence your first vampires, and your worst nightmare happens. You realize that someone at the table is... a complete and utter momo. Maybe it's because he's new, maybe he just sucks, maybe he's there to roleplay the Malkavians and get Thadius Zho out... for whatever reason, Bozo is playing in your game, and you can just TELL that things are Not Going to Go As Planned. You have several options. You can try to play your deck as normal, and possibly eke out some measly VP with it... but more likely you're going to get caught in the backwash that will ripple 'round the table, and get hosed. You can throw your hands up in the air, wall up, and play for 2VP or the half point at worst. Or you can remember that every weak player is one more free VP... you just need to make sure it's YOURS. Where your momo sits will have a lot to do with how you handle him. If he's your prey, you need to nuke him as fast as possible, before other people can make any use of him. Throw caution to the wind and turn your deck's offense up as high as it will go; just get your first VP as fast as possible and get him OFF the table before someone talks him into walling up or worse, going backwards. Make deals with him like "I won't bleed you next turn", then Rush and diablerize all his vamps while he's tapped out. Be sleazy and be proud; after all, if you don't, someone else will. If he's your predator, your first priority is figuring out a way for him to live forever. Odds are he won't be able to muster up enough offense on his own to be a threat to your deck, so you would much rather have HIM back there for the entire game, as opposed to the Ventrue Law Firm. Make lots of deals with him. Lie to him. Give him pool. If he's on the ropes, beat up -his- predator if necessary; this will also have the side benefit of strengthening your grandprey, so your prey will have a tougher time getting an oust. (If he's not on the ropes, consider putting him there.) Your entire intent here is to completely subvert and confuse the predator-prey relationship, so your momo loses sight of the object of the game and is simply hoping that VPs will fall into his lap from somewhere. Once you can manage that, you can more or less turn him loose; he'll create chaos on the rest of the table for you, and you can sweep up VPs in a tidy line. Even if he kills you at the end, remember that 3VP for you and 2VP for him is a Game Win under the new rules, and still not a bad performance under the old. If he's cross-table from you, either as grandprey or grandpredator, you have the most work to do of all. Whichever slot he's in, he can serve an excellent purpose; either attacking backwards to help destroy your prey, or slaughtering your predator so you have a free ride. Again, lie to him. Convince him that you are his Best Friend in the world, and the most excellent outcome of the game would be for you and he to be fighting it out head to head for the last 2 VPs. However, the reason this can be very tricky is that you're going to have to give him GOOD advice for awhile. Make sure he doesn't leave himself defenseless in the face of your prey's onslaught, and don't let him blindly throw minions into your predator's intercept meat- grinder. Keep him aware of his Edge, and remind him of his Temptation counters. Hand-hold him through the entire game. If you have to kill backwards for awhile, do so; again, a 4 player table with a 1VP momo as your predator is much better than a 5 player table with a competent player behind you. The entire point here is to convince him that the other three players are the TRUE threat to win, and it is up to Good Buddy (this is You) and he to defend the Civilized Free World from the Evil Forces -- at which point he should go charging off wildly waving his sword, and you can pick up the pieces behind him. Occasionally you'll encounter a situation where your momo has a completely ineffective deck that is incapable of accomplishing anything in any direction. At this point, you should abandon him to the winds -- let someone else pick up the VP if they can, but at least he can't be used against YOU. (Make certain he actually can't be used against you before trying this. The last thing you want is to have Tatu, as your prey, talk the momo into calling repeated Con Boons on -his- vampires because you're such an Evil Person and won't help him.) Remember: everyone can be your tool, given enough opportunity. =) Next Month... - Templars, ...or how to make Richter a real nuisance - Amelia, the weeniebuster - and the !Brujah go stealth-bleeding with a new deck! As always, any submissions are welcome! Send all ideas, crack- smoking accusations, etc. to: lorimer [at] yahoo [dot] com. [0] I hate fan fiction.