Voting is a strategy that, while effective, is one I've not used effectively. More often than not, I get stymied by other voters on the table, or else, my lack of experience with the strategy causes me to make mistakes. Still, it's hard to deny that voting is probably, after bleeding, the most efficient way to get rid of one's play.
Essentially, the strategy involves bringing
out vampires with titles (votes) and playing vote cards in order to burn
pool from your prey. At the same time, voting is versatile in the sense
that vote cards have access to a number of effects. While some, such as
Kine Resources Contested (affectionately known as KRC), Conservative
Agitation, and, for the Camarilla, Parity Shift, focus on burning pool,
others, such as Autarkis Persecution, Consanguineous Boon, and Political
Stranglehold, can be beneficial to the entire table.Voting's versatility allows players to make deals with the rest of the voters on the table; oftentimes, all one has to do is throw in Bribes, and some players will vote in the affirmative, without considering the consequences of their vote (much like the current political atmosphere).
Other cards which provide flexibility and utility are Banishment, which sends a vampire back to the uncontrolled region, forcing the controlling Methuselah to influence it out again, if possible, and Anathema, which causes a targeted vampire to burn if it goes to zero blood.
Another card which I saw used to terrible effect in a janky deck was Might of the Camarilla, which was last reprinted in the 10th anniversary set, making it difficult to find. The strategy involved bringing out a Justicar (3 votes) or an Inner Circle (4 votes), and giving it Necromancy (NEC), which no current Justicar or Inner Circle possesses. Might of the Camarilla causes players to burn a vampire in the uncontrolled region, including the voting player. The Methuselah then has a minion act with Possession, which allows him to bring back a burned minion from the ash heap, or, using Mistress Fanchon's ability to search the library for minion cards, use the Sargon Fragment in order to gain superior NEC, which would make bringing burned minions out easy. In the game we played, before we knew it, he had 3 Inner Circles and 3 Justicars, and the vote totals were the highest I'd ever seen; it took 29 votes to defeat a called referendum. (More details on this janky deck in a future deck.)
Of
course, if the table is opposed to one's votes, one can push the votes,
and this is facilitated by the discipline Presence (PRE). With PRE, one
can attempt to control the vote by playing cards such as Bewitching
Oration and Awe. After winning a referendum, playing Voter's Captivation
allows a Methuselah to gain blood and pool, depending on the winning
margin of the referendum.Combat defense for PRE voting begins and ends with Strike:Combat Ends (S:CE), of which Majesty is probably the most used, since it allows a minion to burn a blood to untap. If one is a little more aggressive, there is Catatonic Fear, which causes 1 point of unpreventable damage, or Unholy Penance, which is placed on the opposing minion and gives one +1 bleed against the Methuselah. Still, Majesty by and large is the go-to S:CE card. One of the challenges of S:CE is that it gets shut down by Immortal Grapple, which only allows hand strikes, so it's important to pack maneuvers in order to get away from dedicated combat decks.
All in all, voting is a versatile, effective strategy in V:TES, and, with the acquisition of Parity Shifts via the 25th anniversary deck (even if nerfed. I'm not going into that discussion.), I will probably try my hand at building a more focused voting deck. Bribes, anyone?
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