Dominated

Back when I started playing, more than a decade and a half ago, I made it clear as to what I would play, and what I would not play. Of course, as I said in the post, "never" is such a long time, and I've shifted some of my self-imposed restrictions. For example, thanks to the Lords of the Night expansion, I've experimented with Assamite and Setite decks, albeit with little success so far. I've also long incorporated Immortal Grapple into a number of my combat decks, such as the Cock Robin deck, which I used in the Asian Championship in 2011. However, there is one concept, one that has been around since the game started, that I've long kept myself from using, and that is Dominate.

Dominate (DOM) is the bleed Discipline, as a combination of its library cards can bleed one's prey for a hell of a lot. Combine it with Obfuscate (OBF), and you've got a stealth bleeder that will absolutely tear through your prey's defenses (unless, of course, your prey decides to bounce it). DOM, on its own, is also effective at shutting down your prey's minions via cards like Seduction, and The Sleeping Mind.

As a defensive Discipline, DOM also shines. Cards such as Obedience takes care of minions coming after your own, while Deflection and Redirection bounce your predator's bleeds to your prey.

Other DOM cards of note are Graverobbing, which allows you to take control of your opponents' torpored minions; one of my friends built a gravedigger deck for this purpose, and would often wind up with half a dozen minions that weren't originally his.

Mind Rape allows you to take control of your opponents' vampires for a turn, and, depending on the target vampire, can be used to perform a good number of actions; it's a bonus if the controlled vampire has similar disciplines to your own.

Of course, there is the all-purpose DOM card, Govern the Unaligned, which can either be used to bleed for 3, or, early in the game, make it easier for your uncontrolled minions to rise from the crypt. I forget from which strategy guide I read it, but it recommends that you should block the early Governing down to the uncontrolled region.

All in all, DOM is a versatile Discipline, capable of dealing with a number of table concerns. This is why, back in 2004, I eschewed using it, since it was too easy to use. I felt back then it was a cheesy option, when I was still grappling with the niceties of the game's strategy and tactics.

My switching to using DOM in my decks has more to do with rising to the challenge of using the Discipline creatively, without falling into the easy grip of just stealthing the bleed through.

So far, I've built two decks which use DOM, and have conceptualized two others, meaning I've organized the deck list, but haven't put them together. They are as follows:

1. A Tremere/!Tremere deck - while built, I haven't played much with this; it's still pretty experimental. It's basically a toolbox, which I feel is a more responsible way of using DOM, but it's still pretty wonky, so I should play with it some more so that I can get a feel of how to use it properly.

2. Gotsdam, the Tired Warrior - So far, this is the deck I've been constantly tinkering ever since I incorporated DOM into my strategies. Gotsdam is versatile, and can stand up to the combat metagame in Manila. I've had a lot of fun using this deck.

3.  DOM Midcap - So far, this is a work in progress. Being mostly 5-cap vampires, Govern can only reliably used as a bleed card, which means this is basically a forward-moving deck, with little defense and combat options.

4. Giovanni powerbleeder - Technically, this deck doesn't rely on stealth to get its bleeds through, but rather, it relies on Call of the Hungry Dead to make blocks fail. This is also still a concept, because I haven't had the time to put it together. Also, I suspect I lack enough cards to make a separate deck, and I may have to take apart another deck, probably the Tremere, in order to build this.

I actually am intrigued by the possibility of building a version of the dreaded Malkavian '94 deck, a stealth bleeder archetype which has withstood the test of time, and remains terribly effective to this day.

While I probably won't completely embrace DOM and go all out on the bleeds, I will have to concede that it provides a lot of entertainment, due to its versatility. It will always be a useful tool in one's repertoire of tricks in Vampire.

Janky Stuff - The Flung Junk Deck

Over in our local group chat and during our games, I learned about the term, "janky,"; in the Oxford Dictionary, the term, which is of unknown origin, it means "of extremely poor or unreliable quality." In the game, specifically, it means using card combinations or crypt discipline combinations that are either so weird, or funky, or strange it makes other players wonder why the hell you decided to use that.

I lost track of the discussion thread in the group chat, but some of the more recent concepts included a discussion on political combat and splashing in a Discipline such as Thaumaturgy (THA) to make use of cards such as Rego Motus (damage prevention) and Magic of the Smith (equipping something).

In my case, I'm not sure if it counts as janky, but I used to have an obsession with the Well-Aimed Car:

As you can see, the card is pretty cornercase, meaning it's not really that useful. One, it can only be used at long range, and, two, it can only be used after the first round of combat. This means that, when getting into a fight, you have to survive the first round, press for the second round, and then maneuver to throw it on a minion. Still, it was compelling enough for me to build a deck around it, which I nicknamed "Flung Junk" because it relied on long-range combat.

I chose to use mostly Brujah and Brujah antitribu for this deck: one, they had the Celerity (CEL) and Potence (POT) Disciplines, necessary to throw stuff, and they had Presence (PRE), which constituted one of the means for me to oust, namely bleed modifiers.

There are four Potence combat cards wherein one can throw something: Thrown Gate (which has a built in maneuver), Thrown Sewer Lid (No maneuver, but a press at superior), Stunt Cycle (damage and damage prevention, but can be countered by a vampire with CEL), and, of course, the Well-Aimed Car.

The centerpieces of the crypt revolved around Amelia and Jacko, two Brujah antitribu, whose specials, Amelia being able to get into combat with weenies, and Jacko having an extra strike that does not count against the strike limit, made them fairly useful. A good number of the vampires in the crypt (Amelia, Jacko, Sela, Miguel Santo Domingo, and Sir Ralph Hamilton) also had POT and PRE at superior, which allowed me to pack Iron Glares, mainly for the bleed modifier (+2).

The deck was janky because the combination for the Well-Aimed Car did not come out consistently, although, when it did come out, it was glorious. The most memorable victim of the Car was the Setite Sarrasine, who went down after the combat.

 Looking at the current deck list, I would probably remove the Blurs and the Flurry of Actions, and put in tech that might help me move more forward. Admittedly, there is no intercept in this deck, since I envisioned it to be more proactive than reactive, although I might consider placing light intercept in, considering the current metagame. Still, it would probably compel me to up the library to 90, and I'm not sure what that would do to the probabilities.

At the same time, in the current local metagame, a good number of players pack damage prevention, namely Fortitude, that would trump the damage done by the Flung Junk. If you look at the deck list below, there is no damage prevention in the deck; it relies mainly on long-range combat. This makes it vulnerable to the same type of combat, which means I would have to look for a way for the vamps to get back the blood. Perhaps more Tastes? Or maybe a Procurer or two?

As I write this post, I'm getting ideas in my head regarding how I would tinker with the deck, so it's possible, the next time I play the Flung Junk deck, it may be more potent.

Deck Name:   Flung Junk

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 21, Max: 30, Avg: 6.41)
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  2  Amelia                                  CEL POT PRE              7  Brujah Antitribu           G2  Bishop
  1  Evangeline                                   cel pot pre              4  Brujah Antitribu           G2 
  1  Henry Taylor                       cel pre pro POT              6  Brujah Antitribu           G3 
  2  Jacko                              obt CEL POT PRE              8  Brujah Antitribu           G2 
  1  Miguel Santo Domingo     cel for POT PRE              7  Brujah Antitribu           G3 
  1  Pug Jackson                      for pre CEL POT               6  Brujah                          G3  Primogen
  1  Rigby                                aus pot CEL PRE              5  Brujah Antitribu           G2 
  1  Sela                                   cel obt POT PRE              6  Brujah Antitribu           G2  Bishop
  1  Sela (ADV)                       cel obt POT PRE              7  Brujah Antitribu           G2  Archbishop
  1  Sir Ralph Hamilton           cel ser POT PRE              6  Brujah                           G3 

Library: (80 cards)
-------------------
Master (10 cards)
  4  Blood Doll
  1  Celerity
  1  Fame
  1  Gang Territory
  2  Haven Uncovered
  1  Path of Lilith, The

Action (16 cards)
  3  Ambush
  3  Bum's Rush
  6  Enchant Kindred
  3  Flurry of Action
  1  Intimidation

Action Modifier (2 cards)
  2  Iron Glare

Combat (52 cards)
  4  Blur
  8  Flash
  4  Increased Strength
  4  Psyche!
  5  Pursuit
  4  Sideslip
  2  Stunt Cycle
  6  Taste of Vitae
  8  Thrown Gate
  5  Thrown Sewer Lid
  2  Well-Aimed Car

Stealth Mission: The OBF Deck

So, it was a start, and then, a long absence. So much for posting regularly. At any rate, let's pick up where we left off, and maybe, I can manage some regularity.

In my last post, I was exploring my shift from weenie to midcap play. Below is one of the results of my efforts.

Obfuscate (OBF) is one of the more useful Disciplines, mainly because of the stealth factor. Play enough stealth, and your opponent would not be able to block it, even if his/her deck was built to intercept. Some of the OBF stealth cards, such as Faceless Night and Elder Impersonation, added some extra oomph by respectively keeping blocking minions locked or preventing further blocks.

In combat, using Disguised Weapon to surprise opponents with .44 Magnums or Flamethrowers makes them think carefully about getting into combat. While Celerity has the edge in determining combat range, with OBF, getting away from close combat is facilitated by Behind You! and Swallowed by the Night maneuvers. Thus, the dedicated OBF deck can fight, to a certain extent.

The ousting mechanism for the deck is the Night Moves+Spying Mission combo. While not as potent as Dominate or Presence bleeds, using the Mission to bleed for 3 is fairly effective, if a little slow.

Thus, after some tweaking, below is the deck list for the OBF deck.

On further thought, I could focus it on particular vamps with special abilities, such as Synner-G or Luc, but I tend to work with whatever I have handy. That's also the reason for the Blood Dolls, which I would swap with Vessels if I had any spare ones.

Deck Name:   OBF Midcap Spying Mission
Created By: 

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 15, Max: 20, Avg: 4.58)
----------------------------------------------
  1  Antoine                            aus cel dem OBF    5  Malkavian                 
  1  Florentina Lengauer        aus OBF                  4  Malkavian                  
  1  Frank Litzpar                   ani for pot OBF      5  Nosferatu Antitribu       
  1  Jeffrey Mullins                cel OBF                  4  Gangrel Antitribu         
  1  Layla bint-Nadr               qui CEL OBF         5  Assamite                    
  1  Lubomira Hradok            OBF                        3  Nosferatu Antitribu       
  1  Luc                                  dem vic OBF           5  Malkavian Antitribu       
  1  Petra                                aus ANI OBF          5  Nosferatu                 
  1  Renenet                           ser OBF PRE           5  Follower of Set          
  1  Ruxandra                         ani aus OBF            5  Nosferatu                 
  1  Skulk                               ani OBF                   4  Nosferatu Antitribu      
  1  Synner-G                         pro CEL OBF          5  Gangrel Antitribu          

Library: (80 cards)
-------------------
Master (14 cards)
  1  Archon Investigation
  4  Blood Doll
  1  Direct Intervention
  2  Effective Management
  1  Heidelberg Castle, Germany
  1  KRCG News Radio
  1  Vast Wealth
  1  WMRH Talk Radio
  2  Wash

Action (16 cards)
  8  Computer Hacking
  8  Night Moves

Action Modifier (18 cards)
  4  Cloak the Gathering
  4  Faceless Night
  2  Lost in Crowds
  8  Spying Mission

Reaction (4 cards)
  4  Forced Awakening

Combat (13 cards)
  6  Behind You!
  4  Disguised Weapon
  3  No Trace

Retainer (3 cards)
  1  J. S. Simmons, Esq.
  1  Mr. Winthrop
  1  Tasha Morgan

Equipment (10 cards)
  4  .44 Magnum
  2  Flamethrower
  2  Laptop Computer
  2  Sport Bike

Combo (2 cards)
  2  Swallowed by the Night

Midcap Play

For the longest time, the deck type I've most often played were weenie decks. Weenie, of course, means the crypt contains vampires of capacity 4 or less. I've always appreciated the speed with which the decks operated; getting 2-3 vampires ahead of your prey and predator means that, if I'm lucky, I can do some damage before my opponents are up and runni,ng.

However, there is a downside to playing weenies. Unless they were incredibly unlucky, veteran players would remain unfazed by sheer numbers, and had contingencies to deal with them. Usually, this meant some means of unlocking the vampires, whether by waking cards such as Forced Awakening or On the Qui Vive, or unlocking after combat, provided by such cards as Majesty and Earth Meld.

 Also, since vets tended to play with larger vampires, there was, more often than not, a wider range of options that they had at hand. In my case, I would have to hope that my combat cards were enough to either do damage or get away from the bigger minion. However, such was not always the case, and I often wound up with a field of torpored minions.

With new cards coming into play, and new decks becoming available, I've taken another look at my single Discipline decks, and have decided to use vamps that had the superior version of the Discipline. Generally speaking, this meant that I would be using vampires with capacities from 4-5, which would slow down getting minions out, but not by much. It would still be relatively faster than using the big vamps, which would allow me to set up more quickly, and do some damage before I get blocked.

Having vamps with the superior Discipline meant that I wouldn't have to pack Discipline Masters in my deck, which was the case with the weenie deck. This would streamline my deck designs by a little bit; normally, I packed 2-3 Discipline Master cards in the weenie decks. It also meant that I would have the full range provided by the superior Discipline. For example, this meant that I could bounce bleeds using Telepathic Misdirection, instead of using just +1 intercept.

So far, I've built the following single Discipline midcap decks (deck lists to be posted soon):

• Obfuscate (OBF, group 4-5) - Using a combo of Night Moves and Spying Mission, the deck has done relatively well so far;
• Presence (PRE, group 3-4) - This is a vote and bleed deck. It's still experimental, but getting a number of Princes made the voting more difficult to counter;
• Celerity (CEL, group 2-3) - This is my version of the Celerity gun deck, but it had difficulty getting going in the one game I played it. It still needs a little tweaking.  
• Auspex (AUS, group 2-3) - Bounce the bleed, and defend the Jack. That's pretty much it.

Of course, the fact that the decks rely on one Discipline means that I have to move fairly quickly, because going up against larger vamps is still a challenge. It also means that the decks are limited by what the discipline can do. For example, the OBF deck is primarily a stealth deck, with little intercept to protect myself from my predator.

At any rate, how the deck will do will depend on who is at the table, and what deck each player has brought. This means that the deck will do well at times, and crash and burn on other occasions. In my case, hopefully, the extra speed provided by the smaller vampires will make winning easier.

Rising From Torpor

When V:TES went out of print eight years ago, it was a sad day for many of us who had enjoyed the game.

However, happily, players did not take the game's apparent demise sitting down. Despite the game going out of print, players from around the globe kept the game alive, and continued to hold tournaments, such as the Asian Continental Championships (ACC) and the European Championships (EC).
 
During the game's hiatus, the Vampire Elder Kindred Network (VEKN), the game's governing body, with the help of dedicated players, came out with several PDF card sets, wherein players could download the files, print them out, and, after sleeving them with valid VTES cards, players could use them in tournament play.

Then, during the EC tournament in Berlin in 2017, a 100-card anthology set, made up of popular cards, as well as cards from the PDF sets, was distributed to participants. This was a milestone, since it marked the first time new cards were printed ever since the game went down in 2010. What was even more exciting was that there were leftover anthology sets available, and players such as myself snapped them up.

Thanks to the efforts of Hugh Angseeing and others, the game came back in a big way last year with the formation of Black Chantry Productions, which now oversees the publication of the game. To start of the game's resurrection, the company came out with several reprint sets of the most recent expansions, Keepers of Tradition and Heirs to the Blood, followed by a new set for the bloodlines, Lost Kindred.

Then, late last year, it announced that it would be coming out with preconstructed decks, focusing on four clans of the Sabbat:

• Parliament of Shadows, featuring the Lasombra;
• Den of Fiends, featuring the Tzimisce;
• Libertine Ball, featuring the Toreador antitribu (!Tor), and
• Pact with the Nephandi, featuring the Tremere antitribu (!Tre).

The release of the deck lists caused some consternation among veteran players, because of the number of previously rare and expensive cards, such as The Embrace and Nephandus (Mage), in the decks. The fact that there are 9 Embraces in the !Tor deck, and 8 Nephandi in the !Tre deck is sure to bring the individual card prices of these cards way down.

Still, the major difference between the Black Chantry decks and previous "starter" decks is that the new decks are more playable out of the box. Unlike the older starter decks, which needed several (to many) cards to be added for them to be competitive, the new decks appear to have been designed to stand up and hold their own in standard play.

With the release of the new decks this month, and with the promise of deck designs for new players in the making from Black Chantry, it's an exciting time to come back to, or get into, Vampire: the Eternal Struggle.