Stealth bleed has been a key strategy ever since V:TES was created, since bleeding is the main way to oust one's prey. Generally speaking, the concept uses Disciplines which naturally provide bleed modifiers, such as Dominate (DOM), Presence (PRE), or Dementation (DEM), and these (sometimes) huge bleeds get through because of either stealth, of which Obfuscate (OBF) is the main Discipline, or block failure, using either DOM or Necromancy (NEC). However, as pointed out to me by a co-player, the latter method of getting bleeds through, by preventing blocks, is classified as power bleeding, which I will (probably; hopefully?) tackle in another post. Between the two strategies, though, I've seen more stealth bleed decks, since the number of vampires with NEC is more limited.
Having a stealth bleeder as one's predator, in a word, sucks. A well-thought out stealth bleed deck will generally set up quickly, by getting small to midcap vampires out and putting them to work, e.g. bleed. During the 2011 ACC, I had the good luck to make it to the finals table, but had the bad luck to be on the receiving end of a stealth bleeder. The only reason I wasn't ousted was that my prey and grand prey decided to gang up on the stealth bleed deck, after which it became easy for its predator to oust him, and me.
The most common archetypes of the stealth bleed deck are the Malkavian '94 and the Kindred Spirits decks; in the recent ACC, Johann used the Kindred Spirits to win. Both deck archetypes are solid and efficient, and are often the entry-type deck for new players, since the decks are relatively simple to master.That being said, I don't really have much experience with playing stealth bleed decks, since our local metagame (heavy combat) is inimical to it. Generally speaking, once a deck is identified as a stealth bleeder, players will ignore the predator-prey mechanic, and focus on beating the crap out of the stealth bleeder, since it's an obvious table threat.
One of the weaknesses of the deck concept is its single-mindedness on bleeding; oftentimes, there will be no space for combat defense. At the same time, when one has the entire table going after him/her, resource management becomes well nigh impossible.
Aside from the table ganging up on the deck, other defenses against the stealth bleeder is to bounce the bleed via either DOM, with Deflections, or Auspex (AUS), with Telepathic Misdirections. Of course, a combat deck, whether pro-active (rush cards) or reactive (block and fight), will have a good chance of taking out the stealth bleeder's minions, although it will still depend on where one sits in relation to the stealth bleeder. A stealth bleed deck will go to town if there is a lack of any of these defense strategies. Below is Johann's winning deck list. As mentioned above, it's a Kindred Spirits-based deck, which relies solely on DEM. Based on a winning deck by Everton Biell, Johann tweaked it, and reduced it to a 75-card deck. Relying on small and midcap vampires, the deck looks like it will move swiftly, and, unless someone on the table acts against it aggressively, it will probably sweep a good number of tables.
Deck Name: Johann's 2019 ACC DEM Bleeder
Created By: Johann Ong
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 6, Max: 18, Avg: 3)
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1 Apache Jones aus for obf DEM 5 Malkavian Antitribu G4
1 Persia aus obf DEM 5 Malkavian G3
1 Uncle George aus dom obf DEM 5 Malkavian Antitribu G3
2 Jackie DEM 3 Malkavian Antitribu G4
1 Marta aus dem 3 Malkavian Antitribu G4
2 Midget obf pre DEM 3 Malkavian Antitribu G3
2 Cassandra Langely dem 2 Malkavian G4
2 Eddie Gaines dem pot 1 Caitiff G3
Library: (75 cards)
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Master (13 cards)
1 Archon Investigation
4 Dementation
2 Effective Management
4 Misdirection
1 Pentex(TM) Subversion
1 Sudden Reversal
Action (21 cards)
21 Kindred Spirits
Action Modifier (29 cards)
12 Confusion
11 Eyes of Chaos
6 Mind Tricks
Combat (1 cards)
1 Coma
Ally (1 cards)
1 Ossian
Combo (10 cards)
10 Deny
