V:EKN Clan Brujah Newsletter, May 1999 Crushing all deceivers, mashing non-believers Never ending potency Hungry violence seeker, feeding off the weaker Breeding on insanity Metallica, "Battery" THE BRUJAH HATE YOU ALL In the World of Darkness, the Brujah have no friends. They hate the Ventrue and the Toreador, don't trust the Tremere, Malkavians, Giovanni or Followers of Set, find the Gangrel inscrutable, have a grudging respect for the Nosferatu, Assamites and Ravnos, are opposed by the Sabbat, and create more Caitiff than any other clan, all of whom hate them. Their dream of Carthage was smashed by the Ventrue, their machinations in the former USSR came to ruin, and even within their own ranks, they are divided. The Iconclasts hate the Idealists, the Idealists loathe the Iconoclasts, and everyone hates the Individualists. Coupled with the fact that many Brujah are anarchs, the Brujah "curse" keeps them from acting together most of the time. In the World of Darkness, the Brujah hate you all. But not in Jyhad. In Jyhad, the Brujah have lots of friends; in fact, they can't survive without them: a pure Brujah deck has almost no chance of achieving victory in a tournament setting. By mixing other clans into a predominantly Brujah crypt, however, a much more effective deck emerges. For this month's newsletter, I'm going to rate Brujah and non-Brujah vampires according to how useful they are in the archetypal Brujah killing machine: the weenie potence rush deck. A good weenie rush deck comes out fast and hits hard, and is best designed around a crypt of small, cost-efficient vampires chosen on the principle that POT will win more combats than CEL or pot+cel. As such, I've limited the vampires rated to those who fulfill any one of the following qualifications: Vampires of capacity 1-4: Vampires of capacity 5-7: a) pot a) POT b) POT b) POT cel c) pot cel c) POT CEL d) POT cel e) pot CEL f) POT CEL In my experience, vampires of capacity 8 and above are prohibitively expensive in most rush decks -- and even more so in a weenie rush deck. Similarly, it just isn't worthwhile to spend 5+ pool on a vampire that doesn't have POT, even if she's got a cool special ability. The judging system I'm using allows for ratings from * to *****, including 1/2*. In order of blood capacity (and with relevant disciplines), here they are... BRUJAH, AND BRUJAH AT HEART **** Hasina Kesi Caitiff 1, pot You must pay 1 pool each time Hasina goes to torpor. Hasina kicks some -serious- ass. Bring her out on turn one, slap a Potence skill card on her in turn two, and you have the potential to do the following: Bum's Rush + Torn Signpost + Immortal Grapple + Undead Strength + Pulled Fangs + Taste of Vitae ...which will torporize any vamp of capacity 5 or less, cycle your whole hand, and leave Hasina full up at 2 blood. Her disadvantage should rarely come up (unless your deck can't handle combat, in which case...), and is pretty minor even when it does surface. No rush deck should be without her, period. * Uriah Winter Caitiff 1, pot During your untap, if your prey has more blood than you do, he or she will take control of Uriah. Although he is also a 1-cap with pot, Uriah pretty much sucks in a rush deck. His disadvantage, unlike Hasina's, will come up all too often, since rush decks aren't known for good pool management. *** Lupo Brujah 2, pot *** KoKo Nosferatu 2, pot After Hasina, Lupo and KoKo can serve quite well in your speedy little strike force. They're small enough to make them worthwhile despite their lack of celerity, because if you bring them out early enough in the game pot (or ideally POT, with the addition of a skill card) should be all you need. ** Mitchell, The Headhunter 2, pot Rescuing Mitchell from torpor costs an additional blood. With a fairly minor disadvantage and 1 more blood than Hasina, Mitchell isn't bad. On the other hand, both Lupo and KoKo are 2-caps with pot, and neither of them comes with strings attached. Unless you're in serious need of another 2-cap with pot -- and can't just double up on KoKo or Lupo -- leave Mitchell out. ** Cameron Lasombra 3, pot ** Cristofero Giovanni Giovanni 3, pot ** Duck Nosferatu 3, pot ** Mario Giovanni Giovanni 3, pot ** Raziya Samater Brujah 3, pot ** Tommy Nosferatu-Antitribu 3, pot For 3 pool, you can recruit either Dre or Jacob Bragg, both of whom also have cel. Unless you're -really- strapped for 3-caps, give these jokers a miss. * Rex, The Necronomist Pander 3, pot Combat cards cost Rex an additional blood to play. Abysmal. I'd rather chew my own leg off than put Rex in a combat deck. 'Nuff said. *** Dre, Leader of the Cold Dawn Brujah 3, pot cel *** Jacob Bragg Brujah-Antitribu 3, pot cel Both the rush deck's posterboy and his Sabbat counterpart are worth including in your crypt, and probably even good enough to merit doubling up on at least one of them. Not exceptional, but with both pertinent disciplines at a nice price, they're solid options. * Agrippina Nosferatu 4, pot * Francesca Giovanni Giovanni 4, pot * Ignacio, The Black Priest Lasombra 4, pot * Sammy Nosferatu 4, pot * Shane Grimald Gangrel-Antitribu 4, pot Just like the 3-caps with pot, only worse. There's no reason to put any of these vamps in a rush deck, unless you don't own enough of the better 4-caps. ** Yuri, The Talon Brujah 4, pot cel Yuri is outclassed from below by Dre and Jacob, and from above by all of the 4-caps with POT, and by...you get the idea. There's really no reason to use Yuri, even though he looks like a badass. ***1/2 Hugo Brujah-Antitribu 4, POT Hugo gets -1 intercept against Lasombra and Tzimisces. Why take Hugo, when Hector Sosa, Agatha, and Jimmy Dunn are clamoring for your attention? His disadvantage is pretty minor, but he still comes in behind the other three 4-caps with POT. **** Hector Sosa Brujah 4, POT **** Agatha Nosferatu-Antitribu 4, POT Hector, and his after-the-session-with-the-Ugly-Stick companion, Agatha, should form the core of a rush deck's crypt. You might not want to double up on either of them, since Jimmy Dunn is generally a more attractive prospect, but they're still a very sweet addition, since POT doesn't come any cheaper than 4 pool. ***** Jimmy Dunn Pander 4, POT CEL Jimmy Dunn cannot be contested. If a second Jimmy comes into play, burn the first Jimmy in play instead of contesting him. He may look like a demented Quaker, but this boy is Brujah all the way. The next vamp with both major disciplines at superior is Anvil, who also costs 2 more pool than Jimmy does. Moreover, in most tournaments you won't see too many other combat decks, making his disadvantage relatively minor in the long run. -Definitely- a vamp to double up on, Mr. Dunn is always good to the last drop. **1/2 Rigby, Crusade Vanguard Brujah-Antitribu 5, pot CEL 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. His disadvantage is pretty silly, but he's still not good enough to include in your crypt. Both Black Cat and Volker are better, and neither of them are all that good in a rush deck that relies more on POT than it does on CEL -- but at least they have a special ability and a title, respectively. *** Black Cat Brujah 5, pot CEL Equip actions with Black Cat cost 1 less pool (not less than 0). Unfortunately, Black Cat's special ability isn't all that useful in a rush deck, since weapons are less efficient than 0-cost combat cards (like TS and US) and don't work in conjunction with Immortal Grapple. If you use Leather Jackets, Sport Bikes or other defensive frippery, Black Cat -might- be worth including, but otherwise Volker is the better option. ***1/2 Volker, The Puppet Prince Brujah 5, pot CEL Prince of Frankfurt Volker cannot attempt to block a Primogen. The best of the 5-caps with both disciplines, Volker is a bit of a tough call. His disadvantage is more than cancelled out by his title, and he has CEL, but both Jimmy Dunn and Anvil have POT CEL (and a title, in Anvil's case). He's an excellent vamp for other decks, but I tend not to play with him in my rush deck. ***1/2 Nigel the Shunned Nosferatu-Antitribu 5, POT I'd play with Nigel before I played with Volker, but only if I already had two Jimmy Dunns and one each of Hector Sosa, Agatha and Olivia, all of whom are at least as good and cheaper to boot. **** Olivia Nosferatu-Antitribu 5, POT Bishop Its possible to squeeze quite a few titles into a rush deck's crypt without paying much extra pool for them (Volker, Anvil, et al), and if you find having a few swing votes to be useful in your play environment then Olivia isn't a bad addition. Most of the time, I'd rather have a 4-cap with POT than a 5-cap with POT and a title, since speed counts for so much in a rush deck. *1/2 Lisette Vizquel Lasombra 6, POT Bishop +1 intercept against any vampire who attempts diablerie. Even with her title, Lisette just isn't worth the space. Her special isn't all that useful, and Olivia and Nigel both have POT and cost one less pool. **** Bianca Brujah 6, pot CEL +1 hand damage Even lacking POT Bianca is a pretty good buy, since her +1 hand damage almost makes up for it. If you're planning on using more than a few Blurs, she's a must (and definitely a bargain). If not, Sela, Anvil and Gaspare are all slightly better vampires. ****1/2 Anvil Brujah 6, POT CEL Primogen Anvil is an astonishingly good vampire, and one you'll likely find yourself contesting fairly frequently. Don't double up on him, but definitely include him, as he's one of the best 6-caps out there. ****1/2 Sela 6, POT cel Brujah-Antitribu Bishop If Sela becomes an Archbishop, each ready Bishop controlled by your prey burns 1 blood. +1 bleed. Almost as good as Anvil, and the +1 bleed can be quite nice (as it tends to get her blocked, which is what you're after anyway. If you're using 2-3 6-caps, Sela should probably be one of them. *1/2 Judah Nosferatu 6, POT Primogen Judah is as bad as Lisette, and almost worthless unless you're using -zero- celerity cards. Yuck. ****1/2 Gaspare Giovanni Giovanni 6, POT cel During your master phase, Gaspare may burn 2 blood to move a burned vampire from your ash heap to the top of your crypt. +1 hand damage. As good as Anvil and slightly better than Sela, Gaspare has POT and +1 hand damage, as well as his funky special ability. A -very- good high-end vampire for any rush deck, although he often gets overlooked. **** Richter, The Templar of DuMont Brujah-Antitribu 7, POT CEL +1 hand damage. Nice, but just slightly too expensive to be -really- nice. Most rush decks can't handle huge pool expenditures, and although Richter has the best combination of disciplines and special abilities (he can TS+US+PF for a whopping 7 points of damage) he's not a must-have. **** Beast, The Leatherface of Detroit Nosferatu-Antitribu 7, POT cel As a directed action, Beast may enter combat with any minion. Beast cannot equip, recruit allies, hire retainers, or play actions cards. +1 hand damage. Beast is a one-vampire army in his own right, although including him in a rush deck is a complicated affair. He's very, very cool, but also costly. Moreover, he won't allow you to cycle cards as efficiently as any other vamp in your crypt, which could be a bit of a problem. Unless you have some decent sources of pool gain, or design your deck to be explicitly Beast-friendly (in which case you've got a Beast deck, not a weenie rush deck) I'd leave Beast out. OPEN UP A CAN OF WHOOP-ASS With all of this in mind, here's the current incarnation of my weenie potence rush deck, with its crypt of (roughly) 50% Brujah and 50% non-Brujah vampires. The complement of combat cards is designed for minimum blood expenditure with maximum damage potential (the three basic combat cards, Torn Signpost, Undead Strength and Pulled Fangs, cost no blood to use), with enough celerity to support Flashes and a handful of Blurs. There's plenty of rush and pseudo-rush (Rampage and Computer Hacking) and blood recovery (Taste of Vitae), as well as a decent amount of pool gain (Blood Doll). Enjoy. DECK: The Brujah School of Dentistry [ Crypt ] 1x Hasina Kesi--1 pot 1x Lupo--2 pot 1x Jacob Bragg--3 pot cel 2x Dre, Leader of the Cold Dawn--3 pot cel 1x Hector Sosa--4 POT 1x Agatha--4 POT 2x Jimmy Dunn--4 POT CEL 1x Sela--6 POT cel Bishop +1 bleed 1x Gaspare Giovanni--6 pot CEL +1 hand dmg. 1x Anvil--6 POT CEL Primogen 12 vampires (average 3.83, worst 22) [ Library ] 5x Blood Doll 4x Potence 4x Haven Uncovered 12x Bum's Rush 2x Computer Hacking 1x Rampage 12x Immortal Grapple 10x Torn Signpost 10x Undead Strength 10x Pulled Fangs 9x Taste of Vitae 7x Flash 4x Blur 90 cards (13 master, 15 action, 62 combat) OTHER STUFF If there's anything you'd like to see more of in future newsletters, or if you'd like to contribute something directly, email me (skywise@umich.edu). Comments, questions, and feedback are also welcome. See you in a bit less than a month. ;-) ------------------------------------------------- Martin Ralya - Prince of Ann Arbor -------------------------------------------------