[Use Soundwave's voice for full effect!]
Hello everyone, this is my first blog post of where I analyze a deck and post my findings for my readers to look through. It is my hope that with this analysis, the author and my readers get ideas for their own decks and hopefully make them look at deck designs in a new way. Here is the deck.
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Deck Name: Baron Buddies v2.9
Created By: Kevin J. Mergen
Description: Create bleed-for-2 Corpses w/Perfectionist'd vamps and
gain pool via LMCing to Lithracs in your uncontrolled.
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 20, Max: 32, Avg: 6.08)
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1 The Baron FOR OBF THN 9, Samedi, +1 bleed
1 Genina for OBF THN 8, Samedi
1 Reg Driscoll for OBF THN 8, Samedi, +1 bleed
1 Jorge De La Muerte for OBF THN 7, Samedi, +1 bleed*
1 George Frederick FOR obf THN 6, Samedi
7 Lithrac for OBF thn 5, Samedi
* +1 bleed only against sabbat vampires
Library: (90)
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Master: (19)
8x Coroner's Contact [to retrieve The Baron on Turn 1]
1x Kaymakli Nightmares [pool gain sync with LMC]
1x Information Highway [ " ]
4x Perfectionist [blood gain module]
1x Giant's Blood [ " ]
1x Anarch Troublemaker [tap two vampires/blow up equipment]
3x Sudden Reversal [to stop my prey's pool gain]
Action: (14)
12x Little Mountain Cemetery [blood+pool gain]
1x Putrescent Servitude [to steal an ally]
1x Psychic Veil [+1 stealth for everyone for a turn]
Action Modifier: (34) {24 stealth cards}
10x Freak Drive [multi-acting is good!]
4x Lost in Crowds [stealth module]
4x Cloak the Gathering [ " ]
4x Elder Impersonation [ " ]
4x Faceless Night [ " ]
4x Swallowed by the Night [ " ]
4x Under My Skin [ " ]
Ally: (15)
15x Reanimated Corpse [2 life, 2 str, 2 bleed, non-unique!]
Combat: (8)
8x Armor of Vitality [combat defense]
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Kevin M. has been kind enough to be my first victim. Kevin has been a pillar of the vtes community for a long time and has been running the North American Championship (NAC) for some time now. The deck below I have played against many times and with many versions. This is a strong deck and probably does not need some of the standard analysis.
But I'm up to the challenge! Let's see what we can see!
[For my comments: Look for the term "Adam's Notes:"]
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Deck Name: Baron Buddies v2.9
Created By: Kevin J. Mergen
Description: Create bleed-for-2 Corpses w/Perfectionist'd vamps and
gain pool via LMCing to Lithracs in your uncontrolled.
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 20, Max: 32, Avg: 6.08)
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1 The Baron FOR OBF THN 9, Samedi, +1 bleed
1 Genina for OBF THN 8, Samedi
1 Reg Driscoll for OBF THN 8, Samedi, +1 bleed
1 Jorge De La Muerte for OBF THN 7, Samedi, +1 bleed*
1 George Frederick FOR obf THN 6, Samedi
7 Lithrac for OBF thn 5, Samedi
[Adam's Notes:]
So based on Kevin's description, this seems like a strong crypt. The chance of drawing The Baron in opening crypt is 33.3%. If you see below, Kevin has chosen 8 Coroner's Contract out of 90 card deck. According to a card calculator (http://www.unseelie.org/cgi-bin/cardco.cgi), there is a approximately 50% chance of getting one contract in starting hand. So that means the odds off drawing The Baron OR a Contract is [ .5 + .5(.33) = .665 ] or 66.5%. Not the greatest odds, but not the worst either.
First step: Is the Baron essential for the deck? Suppose you get a bad draw and get an 8-cap instead and no contracts. With the lack of pool gain, it would be hard to go for an 8-cap and then later for The Baron (9-cap). That's 16-17 pool. Probably not likely.
So the Little Mountain Cemetery will not work for 2 of the crypt (the other 8 cap and 9 cap). That is not so bad but that means you are operating with only 4 vampires. One 8 cap, Jorge, George and Lithrac.
My original draft of this analysis went into adjusting ratios so that there is a better chance of drawing The Baron (crypt and/or library). But looking at 4 vampires pumping out +2 bleeders seems strong enough. There is some minor things that can be done that can aid with drawing a Corners contract in the first 9 cards which I will discuss that below.
Conclusion: Crypt is quite optimal for this library, just remember that if The Baron is not in starting crypt and you don't have a Contract by 7-9 cards, don't be greedy and use future Contracts for the other 8 cap or The Baron. Not worth it, just get all the other vamps :)
Library: (90)
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Master: (19)
8x Coroner's Contact [to retrieve The Baron on Turn 1]
1x Kaymakli Nightmares [pool gain sync with LMC]
1x Information Highway [ " ]
4x Perfectionist [blood gain module]
1x Giant's Blood [ " ]
1x Anarch Troublemaker [tap two vampires/blow up equipment]
3x Sudden Reversal [to stop my prey's pool gain]
[Adam's Notes:]
So from Kevin's note, we assume he wants to draw The Baron on turn one via the Contract. But above, I made the determination that its nice but not essential. The one blood counter that gets placed on The Baron from the contract makes one able to bring him out in 2 turns. Currently there is 49% chance (rounded to 50% above) of drawing one in 7 cards.
But let's say Kevin LOVES the Baron, and will do WHATEVER it takes to get him. How can we help him out? Changing the crypt is the easiest but above we determined that the THEME of the deck doesn't require the Baron so we don't want to mess with that.
Actually, we can increase those odds a little by realizing that he can also draw into a Coroner's Contract and play it on TURN 2. Why? Consider if he's drawn The Baron. The Baron comes into play and plays Little Mountain Cemetery. Unless its Lithrac, Kevin is going to use transfers anyway on the turn after the Baron comes out for the 2nd vampire. Therefore, if Kevin doesn't draw the Baron or a Cemetery, he gets a 2nd shot of draw a Contract by doing the transfers for his 2nd vampire first. And if he doesn't draw it on turn 2, then we go back to the "non-Baron" strategy mentioned above.
So how to increase the odds? Well, for every card he can play on turn 1, that increases the odds that he will draw into a contract. So what cards can be played? A MASTER card, and a card during the discard phase. If he can play 2 cards, he has about a 18% chance of drawing a Coroner's Contract in cards 8 and 9.
What master cards can he play on turn 1? Kaymakli Nightmares while used for pool gain normally, but gives him another great shot at The Baron. Information Highway can as well. Anarch Troublemaker is also a fine staple turn 1 card.
Suddens? While suddens are great, they prevent him from have a turn 2 master phase. Note the lack of reaction cards in this deck. Wash is almost as good and allows for the Turn 2 Coroner's Contract scenario.
What if this deck brings the Master cards to 22? In order to avoid some hand jam, changing Suddens to Wash will help and consider the use of the cards below to aid in deck theme and drawing that Turn 2 Coroner's Contract.
OPTIONAL MASTERS
- #1 Choice - The Barrens. This card is Excellent in this deck! Besides the hand jam fix this can do (always a possibility when you have many of a type of card), if this is a turn 1 master, it increases the chance up 26% of getting a Contract.
- #2 Choice - Dreams of the Sphinx. This vastly inscreases the chance of drawing the Contract and if you have the Baron already, possibly bringing him out on turn 2.
- #3 Choice - The Coven. In such a blood intensive deck, this is a viable option and it is a trifle.
Others: Secure Haven, Pentex, Golconda
HOWEVER, as stated before, Kevin is a good player and I'm sure that he's considered these choices above before. Below are some other master cards that he might have not considered that I would encourage him to try out.
BONUS MASTERS
- #1 Choice - Powerbase: Zurich. This card is excellent for this deck. And even multiple vampires can use it (only lose the edge if one is blocked).
- #2 Choice - Police Department. The Armor of Vitality stops the Torn Signpost or the Bats/Crows. This card always stops the Immortal grapple and Aid from Bats press.
- #3 Choice - Haven Uncovered. Having a bunch of guys punch for 2 can sometimes do the trick.
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Action: (14)
12x Little Mountain Cemetery [blood+pool gain]
1x Putrescent Servitude [to steal an ally]
1x Psychic Veil [+1 stealth for everyone for a turn]
[Adam's Notes:]
On to actions! Again, this is pretty streamlined for theme. Since the average game lasts about 13 turns, 14 actions on a deck with freak drives is a little on the light side. Lets see if we can offer Kevin some strong Action cards as possibilities to try out. If he finds that he has too many actions, he can increase the freak drives or increase the discard potential (example: Barrens).
OPTIONAL ACTIONS
- #1 Choice - Blackmail/Condemnation: Doomed/Jar the Soul. Tapping a minion and then freak driving is always a strong play. Also good to tap the deflector behind you.
- #2 Choice - Heart of Nizchetus. In a deck that has many cards of the same type, this is a good choice.
- #3 Choice - Gran Madre di Dio, Italy. An underplayed card but strong in tournament. Kills Tup dog decks, and fits with the tapping blockers.
- #4 Sargon Fragment - get your one-shot cards back.
BONUS COMBO!
- So it is commonly known the Baron/Soul Gem trick. However, one can steal from this idea and add 5 cards and "trick people" into thinking its a Soul gem deck (oh no! have to stop the Possession!) when really its not. Each is useful in its own right. But the potential of it being very strong is equally good. Kevin COULD consider putting in ONE (and only one, want to stick to theme of deck) of each of the following 5 cards and see how they play.
1) Soul gem of Etrius - with the manipulation of Coroner's Contract. The Gem does not necessarily have to go on the Baron.
2) Antedeluvian Awakening - Easiest way to make the Soul Gem go off and puts pool pressure on everyone.
3) Force of Will. - Hidden extra bleed. Can set off Gem. Using it then rescue is easy enough with that much stealth.
4) Anthelios, The Red Star - Get back a Sudden. Or perhaps an Antedeluvian Awakening...
5) Blessed Resilience - A prayer card, and probably cut. But if there is a lot of combat it can put you back in the game by bring our hero The Baron back.
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Action Modifier: (34) {24 stealth cards}
10x Freak Drive [multi-acting is good!]
4x Lost in Crowds [stealth module]
4x Cloak the Gathering [ " ]
4x Elder Impersonation [ " ]
4x Faceless Night [ " ]
4x Swallowed by the Night [ " ]
4x Under My Skin [ " ]
[Adam's Notes:]
So we are giving Kevin all these great ideas for more masters and more actions. So where are the card slots going to come from? Tricky Tricky... Let's say we need to make room for 8 slots. [2-3 masters, 3-4 actions, 2 reactions?]. We can probably steal 2 from the Ally count, and maybe 1 from the combat defense So we need to lose 5 cards from here and have the lease likelihood of effecting theme.*
*I would like to stress again that Kevin's deck is strong deck! But by tweaking the numbers, he can find slots to try other cards, keeping to theme and see if he likes something better.
So the simplest way would be to just take out one obfuscate stealth card each. But I'm not a fan of that. We want to maintain the COUNT of stealth effectiveness (Kevin has actually more stealth then it looks, but we will get into that below.
What exactly does Kevin have for stealth? He has 24 stealth cards, but Under My Skin gives additional stealth on on a different action. So that is +4 there. And he has 1 Psychic Veil, meaning in a worse case situation he may have 4 minions (two vampires and 2 Corpses) which is +4 stealth. But the card is at zero stealth so he needs stealth for it to get through. So lets say that he gets +2 stealth there. So he really has 30 STEALTH EFFECTS.
Can we steal slots here and keep it close to the "magic 30"? It should be noted also that There are only 5 cards currently in deck to let the Corpses bleed through.
So 1 Under My Skin Counts for 2 STEALTH effects, but we can't increase it too much because we may hand jam. Increasing it from 4 to 6 though allows use to lose 2 extra stealth cards I would loose 1 Lost in Crowds, 1 Elder Impersonation, 1 Faceless and 1 Swallowed by the Night.
Veil the Legions is a good card and only weak early game or when you draw into it on last action. So lets say be on the conservative side and say its only worth 2 Stealth effects also (can be more obviously). If one adds two, you can drop another 4 cards! This time lets drop, 1 Cloak the Gathering, 1 Elder Impersonation, 1 Faceless and 1 Swallowed by the Night.
So we have dropped 8 cards and added 4. It would look like this:
Action Modifier: (30) {20 stealth cards}
10x Freak Drive [multi-acting is good!]
3x Lost in Crowds [stealth module]
3x Cloak the Gathering [ " ]
2x Elder Impersonation [ " ]
2x Faceless Night [ " ]
2x Swallowed by the Night [ " ]
6x Under My Skin [ " ]
2x Veil the Legions [ " ]
How to gain that last card slot? Well, Kevin could just swap a master card for something like Monastary of Shadows, or Creepshow Casino, but pool is precious. Anther idea is adding Malajit Chandramouli [Lithrac and George can't use him unless go anarch but I think that's okay :) ] Another nice permanent +1 stealth is always good and he is a good deterrent. Adding him and taking out 2 cards it perfectly feasible.
A side note is that an extra Freak Drive + another Psychic Veil is another option.
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Ally: (15)
15x Reanimated Corpse [2 life, 2 str, 2 bleed, non-unique!]
[Adam's Notes:]
As stated above, we need to lose 2, this is the theme, but dropping 2 Corpses should be okay.
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Combat: (8)
8x Armor of Vitality [combat defense]
[Adam's Notes:]
As stated above, we need to lose 1, but dropping 1 Armor should be okay.
This card really seems to the best choice (and I really like it in conjuction with Police Department.)
Dust to Dust [Combat | Thanatosis/Obfuscate [obf] Press, only usable to end combat. [thn] Strike: dodge, with an optional press. [THN] As [thn] above, with an optional maneuver. ] seems like an interesting option (its free), but it doesn't allow the Corpses to survive.
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POSSIBLE REACTION CARDS
So I mentioned above in the Action Modifier Section that reaction cards are possible for 1 or two slots. Below is just some suggestions that could be useful but these slots can as easily be used for other cards mentioned above.
Delaying tactics/Confusion of the Eye/Poison Pill - both strong anti vote cards. Particularly Parity shift. Poison Pill can be played by an ally.
Deflection/Redirection - even 2-3 with the Baron is good. And there is also the Seal of Verdatha which helps.
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CONCLUSION
So we have reviewed this already strong deck. It its original form we offered the advice of what do when in 35% of the time one does not get The Baron easily (how to get a second shot at it). We have given several Master card options that Kevin can consider. [If he is getting crushed by combat for example.] We have also stated some interesting actions and equipment that help the mechanic Tap-Get-Zombie bleed through. Finally we gave some advice on how to many steal some slots from the action modifier package and still have a similar punch.
Thanks to everyone for reading my first deck analysis. And thanks to Kevin for showing me this deck and letting me pick and prod at it. A strong deck but I hope that my advice and analysis of the possibilities of other things to do with it.
Adam Hulse
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