Ahem--- so there was this tournament... (Mata Hari deck)

... and I won it! It was a while ago but another blog was kind enough to mention it.

http://vtesone.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/deck-of-the-month-julyaug-2013-mata-hari-is-the-founder/

Here is the deck!

Deck Name: Mata Hari is the Founder
Author: Adam Hulse (original idea came up with Sonam Adinolf).

Description: Take advantage of Mata Hari and all of her tricks. Tried to Mask of 1000 faces was to work with Faceless Night to tap blockers.


Crypt (Capacity min=3 max=7 avg=5.42; 12 cards)
==================================================
1x Abu Nuwasi 3 cel for Ishtarri: 4
1x Dolie 3 abo ani Akunanse: 4
1x Fode Kourouma 5 ani aus pre POT Guruhi: 4
1x Kamaria 3 aus pot Osebo: 4
5x Mata Hari 7 aus for qui CHI OBF Ravnos: 4
2x Tsunda 6 abo ani dem CHI Ravnos: 4
1x Urenna Bunu 4 ani pot pre Guruhi: 4

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (15 cards)
6x Ashur Tablets
1x Chanjelin Ward
1x Fear of Mekhet
1x Ferraille
1x Mbare Market, Harare
1x Perfectionist
1x Secure Haven
1x Ventrue Headquarters
2x Wider View

Action (15 cards)
1x Blithe Acceptance
1x Concert Tour
7x Founders of the Ebony Kingdom
2x Sensory Deprivation
4x Sibyl’s Tongue

Political Action (22 cards)
1x Disputed Territory
4x Diversity
15x Kine Resources Contested
1x Neonate Breach
1x Secret Must Be Kept, The

Equipment (5 cards)
1x Ankara Citadel, Turkey, The
1x Helicopter
1x Kduva’s Mask
1x Sargon Fragment, The
1x Shilmulo Tarot

Action Modifier (21 cards)
4x Cloak the Gathering
4x Faceless Night
9x Freak Drive
4x Mask of a Thousand Faces

Combo (12 cards)
2x Akunanse Kholo
2x Guruhi Kholo
2x Ishtarri Kholo
4x Mirror Image
2x Osebo Kholo


---------------

Notes after playing it --- Lessons Learned
Chanjelin Ward, while cute should just be another secure haven or Secret passage. (or something else)
Helicopter - not enough pool gain to warrant it.
Sargon Fragment - I think only in one game I needed to go get a killing vote.
Mask of 1000 Faces - While a nice idea, more cloak/veil or some other stealth would be better
By choosing no 2 caps (on purpose) I really should add Scourge of the Enochians i think.

Wanders Council or Guruhi Are the Land might be worth it.
Assuming I keep the obfuscate in the 12-15 card range, maybe Changeling skin mask. Maybe

In bigger tournaments, this deck will rarely win the 'Ashur War' -- I'm curious about just dropping them all together and putting in useful other masters or other cards. More vote locations perhaps, but need better ways to gain pool.





Good stuff -
Sybil's Tongue is amazing for this deck
In the age of Big vampires - Sensory Dep is great against your predator, if I add more blood gain I would even add a 3rd one.

Anyway, it was a fun deck and I figured I would share it with you guys.

Adam

OPERATION DECK DECONSTRUCTION #5

OPERATION DECK DECONSTRUCTION #5
[Use Soundwave's voice for full effect!]

Hello everyone, this my fifth deck analysis. I enjoy doing the analysis and like the challenge. 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. My goal is for me to hone my deck analysis using what I have learned while playing and in previous blogs. Here is the deck below.

Deck Name : Classic Tremere Tricks
Author : Osny M.
Description : It's a well-rounded Tremere deck that have some pretty good results in most games that I play. The only thing that most of the time I discard right away is the Sword of Nuln but, in some cases, it serves the purpose of some kind of intimidation in combat.

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 10 average: 7.5
------------------------------------------------------------

1x Lucas Halton           10 AUS CEL DOM THA qui      prince   Tremere:3
1x Lille Haake            9  AUS DOM THA nec pre      primogen Tremere:3
1x Oliver Thrace          9  AUS DOM THA nec obf pot           Tremere:3
1x Anastasz di Zagreb     8  AUS THA ani cel dom      justicar Tremere:3
1x Ardan Lane             8  AUS THA dom obf pre      primogen Tremere:3
1x Erichtho               8  AUS DOM THA cel obf               Tremere:3
1x Carna, The Princes     7  AUS DOM THA              primogen Tremere:3
1x Muaziz, Archon of      7  THA aus dom for                   Tremere:2
1x Virstania, The Gre     7  AUS THA dom pre vic               Tremere:3
1x Eugenio Estevez        6  AUS THA dom for                   Tremere:3
1x Valois Sang, The W     6  AUS DOM nec tha                   Tremere:3
1x Aisling Sturbridge     5  AUS THA dom                       Tremere:2


Library [90 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------

Master [16]
  1x Academic Hunting Ground
  1x Arcane Library
  4x Blood Doll
  1x Chantry
  2x Dominate
  2x Haven Uncovered
  1x Information Highway
  1x Mob Connections
  2x Special Report
  1x Wasserschloss Anif, Austria

Action [8]
  2x Dominate Kine
  4x Govern the Unaligned
  1x Magic of the Smith
  1x Rutor's Hand

Action Modifier [8]
  4x Bonding
  4x Seduction

Ally [1]
  1x Thadius Zho, Mage

Equipment [3]
  2x Leather Jacket
  1x Sword of Nuln

Combat [30]
  10x Apportation
  2x Aura Reading
  2x Blood to Water
  6x Theft of Vitae
  4x Walk of Flame
  6x Wind Dance

Reaction [24]
  4x Deflection
  2x Eagle's Sight
  2x Enhanced Senses
  6x Forced Awakening
  2x Precognition
  2x Spirit's Touch
  2x Telepathic Counter
  4x Telepathic Misdirection


WHO IS THE AUTHOR: Osny is a buddy of mine from Brazil who comes to visit us New Yorkers every couple of years and plays with us some good ole vtes. I was talking to him about how I haven't done a deck deconstruction for a while and I decided that I would ask him for a deck. This is what he sent me and I was intrigued!

-------


[Adam Notes:] If one has read my previous posts, there are certain questions that should be asked in order to analyze a deck.
Here they are again:

1) Is my Machine a Bleed or Vote machine?
2) What is my Engine to make my machine work?
3a) What cards/decks, cause my Machine to fail?
3b) Does my Engine have an answer for it?
3c) Are those cards/decks likely to be seen?


1) Is my Machine a Bleed or Vote machine? -- So with the library shown we can see that its not a vote deck (although with a slight crypt change it could be. So it must be a bleed deck. At first glance, the bleed seems a little small, so we will address that.

2) What is my Engine to make my machine work? -- His engine is a "grind", i.e. minor wall (12 cards)/combat(30 cards). Similar to Ventrue "Stickmen" decks, the idea is to let people (like their prey) play their game and when the "beads" (pool) is mostly off the table, that is when you win.*

*This is one of the hardest engines to play actually because there is a tendency to do too much of it, which can lead to (a) timing out tables when pool is not being lost fast enough or b) you stop you predator, but don't have enough to stop next predator and don't have enough forward to give pressure to do both. This deck has this problem in my opinion, but by the end of this article, we should have some possible solutions for this.

3a) What cards/decks, cause my Machine to fail? -- A dedicated deck. Pure Stealth Bleed. Stealth Vote. Possibly pure combat would give this a problem. Small cap Dementation comes to mind when I see all those large vampires.*

3b) Does my Engine have an answer for it? -- I should note that Osny's deck has the solution to ALL of these "machine failures" in his deck! [Which is the main point of a Toolbox Deck!] What he doesn't have is a way to get to those solutions into his hand. This deck can easily have the wrong hand for the situation and jam on it.

3c) Are those cards/decks likely to be seen? -- As of Sept 2013, I would say that Osny has a 50/50 chance of having a deck that can be a problem for him. The two main types of decks are Dedicates decks (problem), and tool-up deck (not problem). They are other issues of common deck like classic Tzimisce that might be a problem. But really that is more of wall-versus-wall = timeout issue.

Review: This deck has the tools for the job! But getting the right tools in hand is the issue.


Now that we have the baseline for what we are looking for, we can address the crypt and library itself.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This review will be a little different. I'm aware that Osny's playgroup has trouble getting some of the newer cards (or certain rares), so I will try to give recommendations twice. First one is the preferred card, and second will be a "common alternative". For those who read an old old article of mine "Best is not always better"  [http://vteswall.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-is-not-always-better.html], one can see that other cards are just as good with the appropriate adjustments.


-----

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 5 max: 10 average: 7.5
------------------------------------------------------------

1x Lucas Halton           10 AUS CEL DOM THA qui      prince   Tremere:3
1x Lille Haake            9  AUS DOM THA nec pre      primogen Tremere:3
1x Oliver Thrace          9  AUS DOM THA nec obf pot           Tremere:3
1x Anastasz di Zagreb     8  AUS THA ani cel dom      justicar Tremere:3
1x Ardan Lane             8  AUS THA dom obf pre      primogen Tremere:3
1x Erichtho               8  AUS DOM THA cel obf               Tremere:3
1x Carna, The Princes     7  AUS DOM THA              primogen Tremere:3
1x Muaziz, Archon of      7  THA aus dom for                   Tremere:2
1x Virstania, The Gre     7  AUS THA dom pre vic               Tremere:3
1x Eugenio Estevez        6  AUS THA dom for                   Tremere:3
1x Valois Sang, The W     6  AUS DOM nec tha                   Tremere:3
1x Aisling Sturbridge     5  AUS THA dom                       Tremere:2


Alot of people looking at this crypt would say that is needs to be more focused... but I like it! This looks like a fun deck to play. Each time you play it, it is highly likely that your crypt will be different, which makes it seem "new". But we need to consider some worse case scenarios so that the deck is not ousted before it gets to play.

A lot of big vampires. There is a chance that one would have to spend between 16-19 pool on just two vampires. Currently he has 8 wakes. I usually go by the following rule:

For every three capacity, each turn a vampire should be able to do an action OR reaction. So a 6 capacity should be able to act once, then wake and react. [The 3 capacity guideline I'm still thinking about, it may be every 4 capacity.] So according to this, his current deck with two minions, his vampires are acting to their full potential... for 3-4 turns. Since all his vampires are in play around turn 4-5, that gives us about up to turn 8-9. Since an average game goes to about 13 turns, there around about 4 turns where this deck will be starving for wakes.

But since this is a crypt discussion, lets get back to the vampires. So what about non-Tremere? Currently there are only 6 cards in the deck that require Tremere. Are there other vampires that can aid the problems we are talking about? If one does a search for group 2-3 for aus dom tha you get some interesting choices.

 - Hannigan (5 cap Tremere Anti AUS dom THA) - identical to Aisling Sturbringe, this is a fine "small" vampire.
 - Bryan Van Duesen (7 cap Tremere Anti aus DOM pre THA) +1 bleed -- while the inferior AUS is not ideal, the +1 Bleed is good since bleeding is an issue in this "Bleed deck."
 - Marino Reymundo Vasquez (9 cap Tremere Anti ani AUS DOM NEC THA  Archbishop) +1 bleed
BEST FOR LAST:
Sascha Vykos, The Angel of Caine (ADV)    8    ani dom AUS THA VIC    Tzimisce    Advanced, Sabbat Archbishop of Washington, D.C.: If Sascha is ready, you may draw a card from your library whenever another Methuselah plays a master card. [MERGE] Sabbat cardinal.  ---- This guy (make sure it's the Advanced!) is EXCELLENT for this deck*. The ability to draw a card every time someone plays a master card means that you can fix you hand appropriately! Some might not like the inferior dominate, but in the current deck list, you only have 4 Govern the Unaligned and 3 other vampires bigger then an 8 cap. A good swap for Ardan Lane (there is only 6 Theft of Vitae).

* Note that Lille Haake and Oliver Thrace also have minor abilities to adjust one's hand.


Honorable Mention: Selena, Ladislas Toth**, Kij Dansky**
**These two are especially good if you choose to try a vote theme instead of bleed.

Now, remember this IS a Tremere deck (which we will talk about below), so these guys are support vampires. No more then 4 out of your crypt I would make non-Tremere.

-----

Library Overview: Remember what I said about actions? Each turn, if your vampire is a 8-9 cap, he has to do an action and have 2 wakes ready to react to something. And as a 9 cap, "bleed for 1" is not going to cut it. This in conjunction with building your hand so you have a "good turn".

MASTER CARDS

Master [16]
  1x Academic Hunting Ground
  1x Arcane Library
  4x Blood Doll
  1x Chantry
  2x Dominate
  2x Haven Uncovered
  1x Information Highway
  1x Mob Connections
  2x Special Report
  1x Wasserschloss Anif, Austria

[Adam Notes:] So it is good you are not spending a lot of pool on this. With you large vampires and ally/equipment, you have to be careful. Still in order to handle some of the issues we mentioned we are going to have to make some cuts and changes.

Cards to add:
- Dreams of the Sphinx: It's that good for your deck, it allows you to get out your vampires quicker and it allows you to cycle through your hand. 1-2 copies. [Common alternative: The Barrens]
- The Barrens: Yes it is a common alternative, but it is that good. It can be played turn 1 and doubles your discard potential.
- Anarch Troublemaker: Given the lack of stealth and unable to handle things like Ivory Bow, this card is very useful.
- Erciyes Fragments: You are playing Auspex and Dominate (and some of your guys have obf or nec). The odds that you can play with your prey's ash heap is very likely. [Don't forget to spike it with a bad card if someone tries to take it!]
- Golconda: Inner Peace: In today's big vampire environment this card is always useful, and can give you a nice "reset" by getting rid of your own vampire.
- Sudden Reversal: This is for another article, but you would be surprised about how many decks are made much better by key master cards. Denying this is important!
- Villein : big vampires means you need to get the blood back to pool quickly. [Common alternative: Minion Tap]
- Metro Underground - I find it amazing that this card is not played more. Remember what I said about extra "actions/reactions", this allows you +1 "reaction" (you just untap earlier) for cost of a pool.
- Wider View: Even though you are playing with different 4 vampires each game, you may want to search for one of your relatively smaller guys

The above cards are all the "usual suspects". Here are some other cards that I think are viable options:
- Society of Leopold - an underused card. Strong in burning vampires. With theft and blocking if they try to put it back on you its pretty strong.
- Fear of Mekket - While this is considered a meta-game card, Justicar/Inner Circle is so common that is goes in almost all my decks.
- Dark Influences - While I'm not a fan of DI and this card, in today's meta game of 12 governs, or 12 KRC, this card can be quite useful. The fact that they can't play any more for the turn is pretty good.
- Pentex Subversion: I believe you could defend this with your current deck. But unless you increase your bleed its not a great lunge card.

I guess I would have something like:
Master [16]
  1x Academic Hunting Ground
  1x Arcane Library
  1x The Barrens
  2x Blood Doll
  1x Chantry
  2x Dreams of the Sphinx
  1x Erciyes Fragment (can be Metro Underground)
  1x Fear of Mekket (can be Anarch Troublemaker or another Heidlburg)
  2x Haven Uncovered
  2x Sudden Reversal
  2x Villein (can be Minion Tap)

--------

ACTION/ACTION MODIFIERS/ALLY/EQUIPMENT

Action [8]
  2x Dominate Kine
  4x Govern the Unaligned
  1x Magic of the Smith
  1x Rutor's Hand

Action Modifier [8]
  4x Bonding
  4x Seduction

Ally [1]
  1x Thadius Zho, Mage

Equipment [3]
  2x Leather Jacket
  1x Sword of Nuln

[Adam Notes:] Actions! Okay, so to recap. We need to take an action a turn with 1-2 minions (dependent on wakes left), and with such big fatty vampires, we don't want it to be a small bleed for 1. There are 13 turns in the game, but the first 3 no actions can be taken (no vampires), so you need about 15 or more actions (1.5 minions x 10 turns). This can be adjusted if your vampires have action abilities (+bleed or built in rush).

You currently have 12 actions, lets see if we can adjust this.

Your current action cards are fine I would say. Most people would say that you should add more dominate. [When they say that, they usually mean 8-10 Govern, 8-10 Conditioning, 8-10 deflection!] What they mean is that you need more what they call "payload". But your deck is a little different, you have a decent amount of combat and intercept. You don't have the room for all of that. This deck seems to be more of a "handle what is being thrown at me" deck. [Which is NOT wrong! Just different. :) ]

What being said, we do need to increase your bleed (being a bleed deck). Since you are playing 90 cards I would increase the Govern by 2, but also add simple cards like J.S Simmons, Tasha Morgan, Robert Carter. These are always great, especially with Heidlburg Castle. Also, you don't want to get into combat based only on the 2 Haven Uncovered. Rushes (Harass or Nose of the Hound) are good examples.

I increased the Rutor's Hand and would like to increase it even more! It's like a free wake but you need to draw it early!

While Sword of Nuln is interesting, its not really worth it unless you have +str. [There are a couple of Tremere who do but that is a different deck.] Better would be Ivory bow. And remember what we said about having to have the right hand for the job? Heart of Nizchetus is very good at that. While the leather jackets are useful, its your other combat that will really save you. I would add a .44 magnum (always part of a 'true' toolbox deck). You would be surprised how often that (or Sniper Rifle) just ends a potence deck game.

Ankara Citadel is a must for all Tremere decks.

Thadius Zho... so this is a great ally. But can you afford him? 4 pool is steep. This could be a Carlton van Wyck and/or a Ponticlus.

Seduction is good, but only if you are dealing with a lot of permament intercept (and it doesn't work on allies). If you have Mirror Walk I would use that. If you don't, just accept that you are going to get blocked and adjust your combat (which we will do). Also, don't discount the difference between 2 Bleed and 3-4 bleed. When you bleed for "1", your prey has to decide whether or not to block and maybe lose a minion, or maybe just taking a bleed of 1. In today's game of bloating, a bleed of 2 is a pitance. Switch Bonding to Conditioning and Threats. If you get deflected, well you are acting at zero stealth anyway.

OPTIONAL: If you really like Sword of Nuln, you should first put 2 copies in and maybe increase Magic of the Smith. Then drop some cards so that you can have 4 Biothaumaturgic Experiment (it's a common). The +1 strength and maneuver is quite good for this deck.

I would have something like:
Action [12]
  1x Dominate Kine
  6x Govern the Unaligned
  2x Magic of the Smith
  2x Rutor's Hand
  1x Nose of the Hound

Action Modifier [7]
  2x Threats
  2x Conditioning
  3x Mirror Walk

Ally [2] (These can be switched for Bowl of Convergence and Sport Bike, if so choose.)
  1x Carlton Van Wyck
  1x Ponticlus

Retainer [2]
  1x Tasha Morgan
  1x J.S Simmons

Equipment [4]
  1x .44 Magnum
  1x Ankara Citadel
  1x Ivory Bow
  1x Heart of Nizchetus

Total: 25 (20 actions)

-----

What next!?! So we have now used 41 cards (18 + 25) to cover everything but Reactions and Combat. Since this is a Reaction/Combat deck, (49 cards left)this seems just about right. We will have to cut a couple of cards from Osny's deck but is should be about the same

REACTIONS:

Reaction [24]
  4x Deflection
  2x Eagle's Sight
  2x Enhanced Senses
  6x Forced Awakening
  2x Precognition
  2x Spirit's Touch
  2x Telepathic Counter
  4x Telepathic Misdirection

[Adam's Notes:] So obviously, one would first ask "where are the Eyes of Argus"? Given the crypt, this seems to be a good switch Forced Awakening for Eyes of Argus. [If you have them.] Next is, is there enough wakes? Remember the beginning of this analysis. You will have at worse case 2 vampires around 8 caps. So you need an action, and 2 reactions, for about 8 turns. Erciyes Fragment / Metro Underground can account for some, and the Rutors Hand (x2) for others but you still seem a little short. I would switch the two Telepathic Counters for some On the Qui vi (or if you don't have, just Wake with Evening Freshness). Also, would perhaps switch on Telepathic Misdirection for a My Enemy's Enemy for stacking intercept.

I would have something like:
Reaction [23]
  4x Deflection
  2x Eagle's Sight
  2x Enhanced Senses
  6x Eyes of Argus
  2x My Enemy's Enemy
  2x On the Qui Vie
  1x Precognition
  2x Spirit's Touch
  2x Telepathic Misdirection

----

COMBAT:

Combat [30]
  10x Apportation
  2x Aura Reading
  2x Blood to Water
  6x Theft of Vitae
  4x Walk of Flame
  6x Wind Dance

[Adam's Notes:] Okay! So this combat package is all about "keep away". The trouble is, "keep away" decks is to make sure you survive long enough to oust your prey. But in this current deck, your forward ousting mechinic is slow. (And that's okay. There is a bunch of discussions about one should let one's prey "play their game" in order to weaken the table). But it seems that this deck is about suriviving but getting to that key second round. Let's play with that angle for a bit. Currently you have 6 cards (out of 90) that "mess people up" and 10 cards to activate them. There are a couple of other ways to do this:

Bond with the Mountain - at thaulm it is Strike: Dodge with a press (costing a blood). But this is a old rare.
Flames of the Netherworld - at thaulm is is strike 1 agg only at long range (costing a blood). No need to get into second round. The Apportation to long range (or using Biothaumaturgic Experiment for example)

And for your Wind Dance card - if celerity combat is an issue, by all means keep them. My metagame has to deal with Immortal Grapple and Majesty. Consider these three:
Read Intentions - [aus] Press, only usable to end combat. [AUS] Strike: dodge
Telepathic Tracking - (1 blood) [aus] Press, only usable to continue combat. If another round of combat occurs, this vampire gets an optional maneuver during that round. [AUS] Only usable when both combatants are still ready and combat is about to end (with no uncanceled press to continue). Combat does not end; another round starts. Primal Instincts - (1 blood) [aus] Strike: dodge. [AUS] Only usable by the acting vampire after the opposing minion has chosen his or her strike. Cancel this acting vampire`s strike and choose a new one.

It's my opinion, that at a slightly more blood cost, you can keep your "get out of trouble" theme and still punch back when appropriate. Since you don't have a lot of stealth you want them to not want to block you. This is important!

I would have something like:
Combat [26]**
  8x Apportation
  3x Aura Reading
  3x Blood to Water
  2x Bond with the Mountain
  3x Flames of the Netherworld (note that Spirit Touch and Nose of the Hound help in this)
  2x Read Intentions
  2x Walk of Flame
  2x Wind Dance
  1x Dodge   (you would be surprised how useful this is for your allies.)

**I have now added 8 cards that require blood from you vampires. But I've made it easier for you to hit for agg and to get to second round, while increasing your number of dodges. If you find that you blood loss is an issue, you should relook at your master card package (Perfectionist with Rutor's Hand is strong.) Ankara's Citadel is VERY important too for this. If you like the agg portion you may want cut some dodges, and increase your master package to include Rotschreck.


So in conclusion... your original deck is a fine deck. I just the potential of you nice big vampires (a) having the wrong hand for the job and (b) not having enough things to do. The deck doesn't run stealth, so you need to make them not want to block you.

THE DECK
Crypt [12 vampires]
------------------------------------------------------------

1x Lucas Halton           10 AUS CEL DOM THA qui      prince   Tremere:3
1x Lille Haake            9  AUS DOM THA nec pre      primogen Tremere:3
1x Oliver Thrace          9  AUS DOM THA nec obf pot           Tremere:3
1x Anastasz di Zagreb     8  AUS THA ani cel dom      justicar Tremere:3
2x Sascha Vykos (ADV)       8  AUS THA VIC ani dom    Archbishop Tzimisce:2
1x Erichtho               8  AUS DOM THA cel obf               Tremere:3
1x Carna, The Princes     7  AUS DOM THA              primogen Tremere:3
1x Eugenio Estevez        6  AUS THA dom for                   Tremere:3
1x Valois Sang, The W     6  AUS DOM nec tha                   Tremere:3
1x Aisling Sturbridge     5  AUS THA dom                       Tremere:2
1x Hannigan               5  AUS THA dom                Tremere Anti:2

Master [16]
  1x Academic Hunting Ground
  1x Arcane Library
  1x The Barrens
  2x Blood Doll
  1x Chantry
  2x Dreams of the Sphinx
  1x Erciyes Fragment (can be Metro Underground)
  1x Fear of Mekket (can be Anarch Troublemaker or Heidlburg Castle perhaps)
  2x Haven Uncovered
  2x Sudden Reversal
  2x Villein (can be Minion Tap)

Action [12]
  1x Dominate Kine
  6x Govern the Unaligned
  2x Magic of the Smith
  2x Rutor's Hand
  1x Nose of the Hound

Action Modifier [7]
  2x Threats
  2x Conditioning
  3x Mirror Walk

Ally [2] (These can be switched for Bowl of Convergence and Sport Bike, if so choose.)
  1x Carlton Van Wyck
  1x Ponticlus

Retainer [2]
  1x Tasha Morgan
  1x J.S Simmons

Equipment [4]
  1x .44 Magnum
  1x Ankara Citadel
  1x Ivory Bow
  1x Heart of Nizchetus

Reaction [23]
  4x Deflection
  2x Eagle's Sight
  2x Enhanced Senses
  6x Eyes of Argus
  2x My Enemy's Enemy
  2x On the Qui Vie
  1x Precognition
  2x Spirit's Touch
  2x Telepathic Misdirection

Combat [26]
  8x Apportation
  3x Aura Reading
  3x Blood to Water
  2x Bond with the Mountain
  3x Flames of the Netherworld   2x Read Intentions
  2x Walk of Flame
  2x Wind Dance
  1x Dodge  


So I know that this was a long analysis, thanks to all who read it! And thanks to Osny to giving me this opportunity to pick at his deck. Hopefully this will allow others to look at their own Tremere decks and come up with some changes for their decks.

Adam

Adam's NAC Deck 2 - Theo Beast Battle Royale

So I arrived at the NAC (Week of Nightmares) on a Wednesday morning. There were two tournaments scheduled for that day. For a while now I have been saying that everyone has been so "Master-card happy" (or dominate-happy I guess) that I wanted to make a Bruise Bleed deck that just rushed and made people cry when they are holding a hand of master cards.

So I decided that Wednesday would be my "combat" day. I will talk about my other deck ("Domingo's Signposts") in a future post. I actually like Domingo's Signposts better but this deck did surprising well so I wanted to post it as well. I was the first one out in the finals, due to my grand prey eagle-sighting my oust twice in the same turn (I died that next turn). My prey ended up winning the tournament. Rats! (but it was a good game :) )

Results: Finals on Wednesday's Week of Nightmares 2nd tournament. 2013

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Deck Name:   Theo Beast Battle Royale
Created By:  Adam Hulse
Description: A Theo + Beast Bruise bleed deck. Pick your fights to get your bleeds through.

At first I thought I would have to play wider view or effective management. But I realized that unless I drew 3 Theo or 3 Beast, I pretty much had the 3 vampires that I was going to play with for the game.
I decided to add a small deflection angle last minute. Only tried it once so not sold on it yet.

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 11, Max: 28, Avg: 5.08)
----------------------------------------------
  1  KoKo                             pot                       2  Nosferatu
  1  Lupo                               pot                       2  Brujah
  1  Cameron                         dom pot               3  Lasombra
  1  Agatha                            obf POT               4  Nosferatu Antitribu
  1  Hector Sosa                    pre POT               4  Brujah
  1  Hugo                               POT pre vic         4  Brujah Antitribu
  3  Theo Bell                         cel dom POT pre 7  Brujah
  3  Beast                               ani cel OBF POT 7  Nosferatu Antitribu

Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (14 cards)
  2  Fame
  1  Tension in the Ranks
  3  Haven Uncovered
  3  Blood Doll
  1  Retribution
  1  Powerbase: Montreal
  1  Anarch Troublemaker
  1  Dreams of the Sphinx
  1  Archon Investigation

Action (20 cards)
  11 Computer Hacking
  7  Bum`s Rush
  2  Preternatural Strength

Reaction (10 cards)
  3  On the Qui Vive
  3  Deflection
  3  Touch of Pain
  1  Delaying Tactics

Combat (43 cards)
  12 Torn Signpost
  12 Immortal Grapple
  4  Earthshock
  3  Slam
  3  Undead Strength
  6  Taste of Vitae
  2  Disarm
  1  Pulled Fangs

Retainer (2 cards)
  1  J. S. Simmons, Esq.
  1  Tasha Morgan

Event (1 cards)
  1  Dragonbound

------------

Lesson's Learned: 
What to change for this deck?
- Remarkably enough, not a huge fan of Dragonbound. Not because of the card itself, but the pool damage done does not seem to pay for the cost and if they have any combat, your weenie guys tend to hit torpor as well. And if it is your "lunge" card, meaning that you are holding it until you torpor many guys, chances are that that card could have just been another Fame or Tension and you can play before you start all the fights.

- More then one Anarch Troublemaker. Maybe even 3-4. You will always have a use for it. Tap down blockers and bleed and rush. Destroy pesky guns. Possible master cards to cut: Retribution (although I like the card a lot), Power Base Montreal. Can slightly increase master package, but then i would make sure The Barrens is in there.

- In the age of Villein, disarm is not worth it. Your regular punch will torpor them. Pulled Fangs is good though as it makes prey's cross table allies less likely to help them.

- Don't discount the power of... Storage Annex. There are many cards that one wants to save for a rainy day. This card helps this immensely. Find Master card slots is tricky though and it depends on personal preference.

- As stated in the description, not sold on the dominate angle. It will probably be a different deck with slightly bigger vampires with Potence Dominate. If I take out the dominate, Cameron becomes Jimmy Dunn.

- Touch of Pain is a great card. There is a different deck Potence + Followers of Set that I should make. Where you rush vampires, fight, do not torpor and then Temptation them. Touch of Pain with Crocodile Temple is pretty strong too.

- Consider Yawp Court as well. Best defense against vote decks really. But Master card slots are at a premium. Basically depends on personal preference.

What to do for a POT Bleed deck?
- Let your prey play his game. You need to let your prey go for his prey, let him take "beads" (i.e. pool or blood) off of your next prey. Sometimes its even okay to let him get a VP. Possible exception: If your prey is a bloat deck (Minion Tap - voter cap for example), that deck's goal is to put more beads on the table. You have to take it out quickly. Note: However, from my experience this may be to your own demise if your grand-predator is ineffectual against your predator. This dilemma bares further discussion. (future post)
- Your predator is going to lunge you. This is fact. Under the assumption that your combat trumps their meager combat, your predator's plan is to get about 3 minions (or 3 actions if you consider multi-act) and try to oust you in one turn. And if it doesn't oust you, gets you to low enough pool that even if you dunk one of their minions, it won't be enough to save you. Advice: Its amazing how many computer hack bleeds (or bleeds of one if you know they have bounce) you can get through on the promise that you won't rush that turn. Get your bleed in (getting not-combat cards out of hand), and then rush backwards. Remember, their goal is to kill you in one turn, so if you dunk 1-2 guys, they will rescue, do some hunts and get ready again. They may threaten to transfer out or ask their predator to go full-forward to "pay us back" for ruining their game. Ignore such statements. They are trying to oust you. If your defense is to make sure that they only have one minion, so be it.
-The number of minions your predator should have is dependent on your current pool. Its an easy way to determine whether you have to go backwards or not. People have different determinations, but I tend to do about 6 pool per dominate minion, or about 4-5 pool per voting minion.


Conclusion: 
Well, I'm glad I got around to posting this deck. I know that this type of deck is a "starter" for new players who just want to beat up things. Hopefully people use this deck as a template to see that you should add some bleed power to the deck to make it work.

From reviewing my post, I'm pretty sure I want to write a "Choosing your Master Package for POT Decks" article. But since I have a lot of NAC stuff to write, that will be have to be on the back burner. But I will get to it soon enough!

Thanks for reading guys!

Adam

Adam's NAC Deck 1 - Rule of Four

Deck Name:  Rule of Four
Created By:  Adam Hulse
Description: An AUS CEL PRE "four-card limit" deck (Obviously the name of the deck ruins the surprise)
The previous iteration ran concealed weapon and .44 magnums, but I figured the NAC would be much more cut-throat so I wanted to save on pool and card slots.

Results: Made into finals at DC Qualifier and Day 1 NAC, won a pick-up game.

Crypt: (12 cards)
----------------------------------------------

  1  Emerson Wilkershire III       pre              2  Toreador

  1  Michael Luther                   aus pre         4  Toreador

  1  Thomas De Lutrius             aus cel pre    4  Toreador         

  1  Barth                              aus cel PRE     5  Toreador
  1  Antoinette                       AUS cel obf PRE 6  Toreador

  1  Redbone McCray           cel pro AUS PRE 6  Toreador Antitribu
  1  Marguerite Foccart                 aus pot CEL PRE 6  Brujah

  2  Ira Rivers*                         ani AUS CEL pre 7  Toreador

  2  Kateline Nadasdy               AUS CEL PRE  7 Toreador

  1  Eugene                         AUS CEL FOR PRE 8    Toreador


Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (16 cards)

  3  Anarch Troublemaker
  1  Powerbase Montreal

  2  Dreams of the Sphinx
  1  Art Museum
  2  Perfectionist

  2  Vessel

  2  Villein

  2  Blood Doll
  2  Sudden Reversal

  1  Sunset Strip, Hollywood**

Action (18 cards)
  4  Enchant Kindred
  4  Legal Manipulations
  4  Public Trust

  4  Entrancement

  2  Mind Numb

 

Equipment (1 cards)
  1  .44 Magnum***

Action Modifier (4 cards)
  4  Aire of Elation

Reaction (24 cards)
  4  Eyes of Argus
  4  Forced Awakening
  4  Telepathic Misdirection
  4  My Enemy`s Enemy
  4  Quicken Sight
  4  On the Qui Vive

Combat (23 cards)

  4  Pursuit
  4  Side Strike

  4  Charsimatic Aura

  4  Target Vitals

  3  Weighted Walking Stick

Combo (4 cards)
  4  Resist Earth`s Grasp


-----------
* The focus of this version was Ira Rivers because I wanted to take advantage of his auspex special and the +1 in against political actions (with Marguerite Foccart!).

**This was a knee-jerk reaction to all my guys getting torpored due to Nephandi+Unmasking. Probably should be a Pentex or another Anarch Troublemaker. Or maybe Elysium: Sforzesco Castle if you want to make the metagame cry (that's a different article).

***An argument could be said to add the Big Three (Heart, Bowl, Ivory Bow), but I didn't want to take the actions.

I found this deck to be fun to play, very amusing and quite strong. Anarch Troublemaker with surprise power presence bleed is quite strong. Imagine that.  I received many comments (i.e. complaints from my opponents), that "it's a wall deck!", "it's a combat deck!", "its got a heavy payload!". Cracked me up. 

In truth, it's really what ever you want to make it (which is what makes it so much fun to play). To play this deck, you just have to play cards. Imagine that.  Play your reactions to draw your bleed. Play your bleed to draw your reactions. Play combat for both.

Possible changes:
There are a lot of ways to change this deck a little (besides what I mentioned above) and still keep to theme. I'll mention a couple of ideas that crossed my mind.
- Switching Mind Numb for Nose of the Hound pairs with Ira's Special
- Resplendent protector seems interesting. No one would block it and its useful all the time.
- Lot of different celerity combat to try (but keep to the 4x theme, its worth it in my opinion to test).*

- Instead of Delaying Tactics, between Kateline Nadasdy, Michael Luther and the few votes the deck has, I found myself actually wishing for some scalpel tongue. Making the second vampire TAP is very strong for this deck (will probably make the cut in the next iteration).

*So at first glance, Pulled Fangs looks good, but I wouldn't recommend it. You can never play it without some other card, and you actually want them to hunt. Them tapping is always a good thing for presence bleed. :-)




So that's the deck! Hope that this gives people some ideas for their own decks. Enjoy!

Adam

My (mini) Week of Nightmares (NAC 2013)

Hello everyone!

So I'm back from the NAC and it was a very fun time. Of the seven tournaments I played in, I managed to get into four of the finals. Not too bad, but no wins this year. Ah well.
However it was so much gaming that I decided I needed to take a week break from my city local gaming. But that doesn't count me out of the VTES world! I'm going to use this week (in my spare time) to write about some of my experiences and decks (mine and discussions about others) from the tournaments and pick up games.

Some of the topics I plan to cover in future posts:
The NAC Metagame - what to do?
Decks I played - Lesson's learned
Thoughts on "weaknesses in VTES" discussions I've had during that week. Very interesting.
Interesting decks (those I saw and ideas that game up)

And before I forget, it was great to see all the people at the NAC. Good times, good friends and good games. Thanks to everyone who hosted, and to those who managed to come play!

Stay tuned!
Adam

DECK CHALLENGE - Taking the Skin: Minion

Hello everyone, so this next blog is going to be a little different (and quite long!). A good friend of mine named Sonam has recently fallin' in love with the card "Taking the Skin: Minion" as it is the only card in the game that grants a minion the ability to bleed twice in a turn. And so he made a Hardestadt deck with the idea of Hardestadt getting one level of Abombwe, burning a minion and then bleeding twice (needing a freak drive if you burn minion first). Here is the card text below.

Taking the Skin: Minion    
Action Modifier/Combat      
Abombwe  
[abo] [REFLEX] Cancel a frenzy card played on this vampire as it is played.
[abo] Skin. Play when this vampire burns a minion. Put this card on this vampire and untap him or her. This vampire may bleed an additional time this turn and gets +1 bleed and +1 stealth when bleeding. Burn this card during your discard phase. A minion can have only one skin.

... Unfortunately Sonam's deck did not work so well. But we started talking and I remembered Martin's "Hardestadt Eats the World" deck. I showed him it and he asked me:

"How about adapting Martin's Hardestadt rush deck to include my idea of a rush deck that bleed lunges for a lot with Taking the Skin: Minion?"


Martin's deck in full glory can be found at

"http://hunfragment.blogspot.com/2010/04/tournament-report-martins-birthday.html"

First, here's Martin's decklist:

Deck Name: Hardestadt eats the world
Created By: Martin "Mephistopheles" Major
Description:
1. Kill titled vampires.
2. Kill everything else.
3. Try to oust with Ancient Influence for added fun.

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 22, Max: 44, Avg: 8,16)
----------------------------------------------
4 Hardestadt cel pro DOM FOR POT PRE11 Ventrue
4 Lodin (Olaf Holte) aus pro DOM FOR PRE8 Ventrue
1 Graham Gottesman obf pre tha DOM FOR7 Ventrue
1 Victor Donaldson for pre DOM 6 Ventrue
1 Emily Carson for pre DOM 5 Ventrue
1 Portia for pre pro 4 Ventrue

Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (16 cards)
1 Pentex Subversion
2 Wash
4 Dreams of the Sphinx
4 Villein
1 Giant`s Blood
1 Golconda: Inner Peace
1 Monster
1 Wider View
1 Ventrue Headquarters

Action (14 cards)
2 Abactor
3 Ambush
6 Bum`s Rush
3 Harass

Action Modifier (9 cards)
1 Enkil Cog
8 Freak Drive

Political Action (4 cards)
1 Ancient Influence
1 Reins of Power
2 Parity Shift

Reaction (5 cards)
5 Deflection

Combat (42 cards)
11 Immortal Grapple
11 Claws of the Dead
4 Hidden Strength
4 Unflinching Persistence
2 Rolling with the Punches
2 Superior Mettle
8 Amaranth

by: Mephistopheles


[Some notes via Sonam:]

NEXT, here's a rough idea of the package of cards I think needs to be fit into the deck to

make it a lunge bleed monster:
5x Taking the skin: Minion
5x Abombwe
5x Conditioning/Foreshadowing
5x Govern

Cards to maybe think about:
Path of Death and the soul instead of 1 or two abombwe... as it allows you to get abombwe + blood when you diablerize.
Devil Channel Throat for block fails to get to the right target... though it may be unnecessary.
If you don't fear AI, maybe Heart of the City.

"So fitting in the bleed + abombwe tech without watering his deck down too much is your challenge."

......... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

So let's get started!

The Good:
So 'Taking the Skin: Minion' is an interesting card. After burning a minion, you get a free untap, so its like a freak drive for a multi-rush deck. It's limited because your rush has to be successful, but you get the +1 bleed +1 stealth on both bleeds. NOTE 1: Take the extra untap into calculations.
An upside is that with Sonam's idea, Hardesdat can burn ANY minion (like predator's) and then continue bleeding prey twice.
There is an obvious higher payload in this version, so if a person draws a Secure Haven or pool sacks, this can be dealt with much better.
Abombwe is a trifle and it also helps with Ancient Influence and Reins of Power.

The Bad:
One issue is that all the cards Sonam suggested are not useful in the "burning minion action". So we have to figure out ways to make sure that flow is not affected. Also, the card flow is a more intensive - Martin's deck was IG - agg - amaranth. Now its IG - agg - amaranth - Skin + freak drive (for concept). And if one is trying to draw into cards, one is now more likely to draw "the other". Draw combat when need bleed, and visa versa. Also 5 cards are not usable if you don't draw an Abombwe.


Analysis -
So you can't make an omelet with breaking some eggs. By doing this deck design, we will obviously create other weaknesses. That doesn't make it worse the Martin's deck, just makes it different. [ See my old old article, http://vteswall.blogspot.com/2011/12/best-is-not-always-better.html ]. But what we have to is acknowledge those new weaknesses (and what new strengths) so there is awareness about them.


[Side note: I was actually given this challenge a while ago, and it stumped me for a bit. But when I started thinking about how the deck is made 'weaker', it also made me figure out how to play to its new Strengths!

Point 1:
So in Martin's deck, burn vampires to somewhat-clear (at least of the important guys) the table seems to be the idea. In this deck, burning ONE minion is in order to have a huge payload of bleed is the idea. So when you think about it a little further, this new deck is to burn a 'key minion' and prevent other minions from blocking/bouncing. Let's look at some cards that can help this.

Blind Spot - Either Blind Spot an annoying blocker, then burn other minion, then bleed and the blockers still can block or bounce.
Momentary Delay / Ambulance - this allows you to torpor (or maybe even burn!) and then still fight the minion you want to fight.
Approximation of Loyalty - Pretty strong - if you have it during the 'combat hand' its a seduction so you can fight the juicier targets. If you have it during the 'bleed hand' its also an anti-wake bounce.

Point 2:
In Martin's deck, he deals with card flow by having have many of the same cards and obvious ways of increasing hand size (Dreams of the Sphinx). Since our concept has to have the combat- then-bleed combo, we need to make more increase hand-size (for fix hand) and perhaps card search/storage ability.

Dreams of Sphinx - already in there.
Barrens / Fragment book of Nod - get the hand you need.
Heart of Nizchetus -  This means you don't lose the cards you might need later
Storage Annex - To store the "Taking of Skin: Minion for exmample.
Monestary of Shadows - The stealth and hand size.
Inconnu Tutelage - An underused card - in this case, its for getting the abombwe or Taking
the skin. However, in this deck, probably a mistake. Too many people will be searching for
those Pentex's...
Ashur Tablets - Always a possible option.
Path of Death and the Soul - since you are burning vampires. This card seems like a goodslot. Important to note that you can get the discipline card from the ashheap.


Point 3:
Since we will not always have a pure combat or pure bleed hand, we have to consider permaments to offset these issues.

Island of Yiaros* - punching for 7 agg I heard is good
Sengir dagger - perm agg - while doesn't go with IG, one doesn't always have a dodge or combat ends
Heart of the City - Perm bleed boost.
Prenatural Strength* - this is only necessary if we cut down on the amaranths. 5 agg burns better then 3 agg of course.
Kevlar vest - with all the IG, one can cut some fortitude as an option (unclear)
Learjet - An underplayed card but an interesting option. Should be used in big vampire decks with a lot of acceleration (which are not needed in mid-game).

*It should be noted that extra strength does NOT fit into Martin's module since you want that blood back for the amaranth. While Amaranth is still part of this new deck idea, we will have to make some card cuts, thus probably less Amaranths, the Island of Yiaros seems like a better fit, so we can use it if we don't have an Amaranth in hand.


REVIEW - So now we have discussed weaknesses and strengths of this new deck idea in comparison to Martin's deck. Have discuss possible cards to aid in this new deck idea. And looked at a couple of card ideas are options but might not make the cut, but could in your deck design!

So now lets get to the deck building! Below is my attempt at this challenge based on the analysis above.

Deck Name: Hardestadt Wears Your Face!
Created By: Adam Hulse
Description:
1. Burn minion(s)
2. Play Taking the skin to have Hardestadt bleed twice for about 6-8 each bleed lunge.


Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 22, Max: 44, Avg: 8,16)
----------------------------------------------
5 Hardestadt cel pro DOM FOR POT PRE11 Ventrue
3 Lodin (Olaf Holte) aus pro DOM FOR PRE8 Ventrue
1 Graham Gottesman obf pre tha DOM FOR7 Ventrue
1 Victor Donaldson for pre DOM 6 Ventrue
1 Emily Carson for pre DOM 5 Ventrue
1 Portia for pre pro 4 Ventrue

Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (18 cards)
1 Island of Yiaros
4 Abombwe
4 Dreams of the Sphinx
4 Villein
1 Giant`s Blood
1 Path of Death and the Soul
1 Monster
1 Storage Annex
1 Ventrue Headquarters

Action (13 cards)
3 Ambush
3 Bum`s Rush
2 Harass
5 Govern the Unaligned

Action Modifier (21 cards)
1 Enkil Cog
7 Freak Drive
5 Taking of the Skin: Minion
5 Conditioning
3 Approximation of Loyalty

Political Action (4 cards)
1 Ancient Influence
1 Reins of Power
2 Parity Shift

Reaction (2 cards)
2 Deflection

Combat (30 cards)
10 Immortal Grapple
9 Claws of the Dead
2 Hidden Strength
2 Unflinching Persistence
2 Rolling with the Punches
5 Amaranth

Equipment (2 cards)
1 Heart of Nizchetus
1 Sengir Dagger


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Whew! So that was a lot of writing! So obviously anyone who wishes to use this deck for ideas they are more then welcome. Just remember to take one's metagame into account.

So I hoped everyone enjoyed the little VTES road travelled here. Sonam, thanks for letting me try this challenge. It was actually harder then I thought but I had a good time analyzing it.

Adam Hulse

NEW YORK CITY VTES LEAGUE #4

NEW YORK CITY VTES LEAGUE RULES

Introduction: So what do you do when you have a small play group, not many tournaments and are trying to make things not stagnant for your players? You start up a league that's what! This is a description of what the New York City VTES league rules will be. Other people are free to use this idea, or hopefully use this idea to spice up this great game in other ways.

Disclaimer: This is not a "official" tournament in terms of VEKN records and rulings. This is an exercise to have fun while being competitive and hopefully to encourage my New York players to try out new decks.

Background: The New York VTES crew is about 8 consistent players and 6 inconsistent players. We play every Wednesday and Friday. It is a good group of people with interesting decks and varying play styles.  Okay, enough of this, on to the League!


LEAGUE RULES
The rules are simple.

OVERALL RULES
1) First person to Five Game Wins (GW) wins the league.
2) If someone gets a GW, THAT PERSON Victory Points (VP) in that game are NOT counted.
3) If someone gets VPs but does not get a GW, those points ARE COUNTED.
4) Half points (.5) are not counted.
5) If the is NO game win, then Victory Points (VP) are counted.
6) FIVE Victory Points equal one Game Win
7) In 6 player game (see below), X effects (ex: Conservative Agitation, Parity Shift, Slave Auction) are capped at 5.
8) When a deck has won a Game win (not due to 5VP = 1GW), that deck cannot be played again BY THAT PERSON for the rest of the League.

RULES IN TEST
1) No 3-player league games
2) 4 player - time limit: 1 hour 30 minutes
3) 5 player - time limit: 2 hours
4) 6 player - time limit: 2 hour 30 minutes
5) 1 League game per day per player


Common questions asked in development:

1) Q: Why have a league?
A: To add a bit of competitiveness with some actual prizes.

2) Q: Why only to 5 Game Wins?
A: I want the leagues to be short, to test out some League rules and to get prizes in the hands of the people who play. If someone wins early... okay next League! So far in the first two leagues we have averaged about 4 months, which for me this is just about right.

3) Doesn't the people who go to Wed and Fri games have an advantage?
A: Technically... yes. But the purpose of the League is to encourage people to play. And the person who plays the extra day still needs to win of course.

4) Q: Are you still going to have tournaments?
A: Yes. A smaller tournament is in the works but I want to try and get out-of-towners to come.
(setting one up soon, and there is a DC one in June!)

5) Q: What is the prize support?
A: Currently the prize support is 10 packs. In addition, for those who RSVP AND show up (obviously) for a night of gaming will get a bonus random pack. The winner of the league can choose to trade 1-pack for a rare (not-super rare) of my collection.

6) Q: Why allow 6 player games?
A: Because I don't want to penalize people for showing up. RULE: If we have 7 players, 1 person will play two games but can only win on one table (decided randomly and hidden to that player).

The House Of Sorrow

The House Of Sorrow
by Ethel Clifford - 1903

In the doorway of the House of Sorrow
  I stand, and Sorrow sits within.
Through the window of the House of Sorrow
  A measure from without came drifting in.

Like a strong beam of the sun, that through the window
  Points to a thing unseen, the song came in;
And, listening, I stole out, and in the doorway
  I stand, and Sorrow sits within.

In the doorway of the House of Sorrow
  I stand, and like one blind, I lift my face
And listen, and I hear the steps of Sorrow
  Who comes to seek me from the darkened place.

Like a child half-awakened, in the doorway
  I stand and listen, and I hear the rain
And, from behind, the swift, sure steps of Sorrow—
  O thou without, wilt thou not sing again?

------

First off, let me tell you that I take a bit of glee that anyone who Google searches for 'House of Sorrow' has a chance of coming to my analysis of this vampire card as opposed to the poem up above. But I like flavour for my posts so I started with this.

Let's start with the Card Text:

House of Sorrow
Master  
1 pool      
Master: Unique location. Tap to untap any card you control that is not a minion. If you do so, neither that card nor this location untap as normal on your next untap phase.

----

Why am I writing a Blog about this card?
Ever since this card came out, and people 'talk shop' about vtes. I heard that this is an interesting card to play... but with the exception of "Gather decks", I actually never see it in decks. It has the potential to double the output of any non-minion card, at the expense of not being able to use it the next turn.

The Good:
Excellent for lunge.
Throws the math off by doubling an effect

The Bad:
Can't use it or the affected card the following turn
Takes a master card slot

So why isn't it used? I'm going to make the assumption that most people feel that it is not worth the master card slot. So we are going to try an analyze what kind of decks it IS worth the card slot, and why.

We have to start with some generalizations here:
- Assume about 15-17 masters (dependent on trifles).
- A good portion of the master have to have a tap effect. This can be supplemented by other non-minion cards that have a tapping effect.
- The decks portion of pool gain should not come from masters, because that will take slots from the "tap masters" mentioned before.

I did some searches of cards that can be used with House of Sorrow and they are many!
So the first thing I did was look at clan cards, because non-clan cards can be shared by any clan. Here are the numbers:

Tap ability that House of Sorrow can affect
The number in ( ) is the 'real' number.

Clans:
Ahrimane - 0
Akunanse - 1
Assamite - 3
Baali - 0
Blood Brother - 0
Brujah - 2
Bruajah Antitribu - 2
Caitiff - 0
Daughters of Cacophony - 2 (3) [Bastille Opera House
]
Followers of Set - 4 (3) [Grand Temple of Set]
Gangrel - 3
Gangrel Antitribu - 1
Gargoyle - 0
Giovanni - 3
Guruhi - 0
Harbingers of Skulls - 3
Ishtarri - 1
Kiasyd - 0
Lasombra - 3
Malkavian - 1
Malkavian Antitribu - 0
Nagaraja - 0
Nosferatu - 5
Nosferatu Antitribu - 4 (3) [Steam Tunnels]
Osebo - 0
Pander - 1
Ravnos - 3
Salubri - 0
Salubri Antiribu - 0
Samedi - 0
Toreador - 2
Toreador Antitribu - 0
Tremere - 3 (2) [Wasserschloss Anif, Austria]
Tremere Antitribu - 1
True Brujah - 0
Tzimisce - 0
Ventrue - 3
ventrue Antitribu - 1
Imbued - 4*

*Imbued powers tap when used... you can't do some because of NRA but you can do the following 9 cards:
Abjure
Champion
Discern
Foresee
Hide
Project
PunishSurge
Vigilance

----

Now as the 'math' shows - Imbued wins by a long shot on cards that House of Sorrows can be used. But I'm not feeling an Imbued deck at the moment.

Instead, I'm going to take the second "winner" - i.e. Nosferatu and make a version of the TempleCon 2013 Champion deck by my NYC buddy Kymia Alishahi. Now I've playing against this deck dozens of times and I'm very pleased that it won - (even though it beat me in the finals!) and I'm not even going to say that the deck below is better. All that I say that it will 'use-and-abuse' House of Sorrows, thus increasing lunge potential and 'throw off the math' of opponents.


----

Deck Name:   Sorrowful Robin
Created By:  Adam Hulse
Description: Based on (what i guess) my buddies Kym's deck is, I never actually saw the decklist.
I have to sacrifice Sudden Reversals for House of Sorrows, but Bleeding the Vine is there now.
Monestary of Shadows and Helicopter will probably get tossed if you have any serious type of predator
and probably out of the deck all together, but it fits theme of this blog.


Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 18, Max: 40, Avg: 7.58)
----------------------------------------------
  2  Clarissa Steinburgen               ani obf        3  Nosferatu
  2  Alonzo Guillen                     ani for OBF pot6  Nosferatu
  2  Shahid                             ani for pro OBF POT7  Nosferatu
  1  Baron Dieudonne                    ANI OBF POT PRO9  Nosferatu
  5  Cock Robin                         ANI aus for OBF POT10 Nosferatu

Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Master (22 cards)
  2  Warsaw Station
  1  Storm Sewers
  1  Spawning Pool, The
  1  Labyrinth, The
  3  Dreams of the Sphinx
  3  House of Sorrow
  6  Villein
  1  Giant`s Blood
  1  Pentex Subversion
  1  Bleeding the Vine
  1  Fame
  1  Monastery of Shadows

Action (18 cards)
  1  SchreckNET
  1  Aranthebes, The Immortal
  3  Preternatural Strength
  1  Heroic Might
  12 Deep Song

Action Modifier (14 cards)
  3  Enkil Cog
  5  Freak Drive
  3  Faceless Night
  3  Lost in Crowds

Political Action (3 cards)
  3  Parity Shift

Reaction (14 cards)
  2  Lost in Translation
  6  Second Tradition: Domain, The
  6  Sense the Savage Way

Combat (11 cards)
  4  Hidden Strength
  6  Immortal Grapple
  1  Disarm

Equipment (1 cards)
  1  Helicopter

Event (2 cards)
  2  Scourge of the Enochians

Combo (5 cards)
  5  Swallowed by the Night


CONCLUSION

So, as we can see, House of Sorrow's is a very interesting card. A lot of the cards in the above deck are good and House of Sorrow is not necessary. But if you draw it, the possibilities are quite strong!
I hope that everyone enjoys this entry to my blog. It's an interesting card and I hope to hear others ideas and thoughts on it.

Adam

OPERATION DECK DECONSTRUCTION #4

OPERATION DECK DECONSTRUCTION #4
[Use Soundwave's voice for full effect!]

Hello everyone, this my fourth deck analysis. I enjoy doing the analysis and like the challenge. 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. My goal is for me to hone my deck analysis using what I have learned while playing and in previous blogs. Here is the deck below.


Name: Nadima Wall
Author: Ira Fay
Description: I noticed that Hatch the Viper isn’t in the TWDA. It seems like a really strong card, so I wanted to make a deck that used it well. I've also considered using Nehsi (with Trophies!) or Seterpenre, but I wanted to try the pure Gangrel angle due to lower capacity and nice Gangrel clan masters.

Crypt: (12)
5x Nadima(G3)
4x Mirembe Kabbada(G2)
1x Chandler Hungerford(G2)
1x Dr. Allan Woodstock(G3)
1x Ramona (advanced)(G2)

Library: (60)

Master: (13)
3x Blood Doll
1x Backways
1x Ecoterrorists
1x Fame
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
1x The Rack
1x Wider View

Action: (11)
4x Dark Mirror of the Mind
2x Shadow of the Beast
1x Form of Corruption
1x Nose of the Hound
1x Restoration
1x Set's Curse
1x Soul Scan

Retainer: (9)
6x Hatch the Viper
1x Dog Pack
1x Homunculus
1x Mr. Winthrop

Equipment: (3)
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Camera Phone
1x IR Goggles

Action Modifier: (7)
5x Freak Drive
2x Earth Control

Combat: (9)
5x Earth Meld
3x Form of Mist
1x Unflinching Persistence

Reaction: (8)
2x Eyes of Argus
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Wake with Evening's Freshness
1x Forced Awakening
1x Set's Call
-----------

WHO IS THE AUTHOR
Ira Fay is a strong vtes player who has been around the scene for some time now. I've met him at several tournaments and even traveled to one at the college where he works. He has an interesting grasp of how to table-talk and how to read a table. He asked me to review this untested deck and I agreed. Hopefully, my review will give him some advice and maybe we'll see this deck hit a tourney some day!

-----------

Name: Nadima Wall
Author: Ira Fay
Description: I noticed that Hatch the Viper isn’t in the TWDA. It seems like a really strong card, so I wanted to make a deck that used it well. I've also considered using Nehsi (with Trophies!) or Seterpenre, but I wanted to try the pure Gangrel angle due to lower capacity and nice Gangrel clan masters.

[Adam Notes:]
So here Ira wants to make a Tournament Winning Gangrel - Hatch the Viper deck. A tough challenge indeed! Well, I'm going to review this deck a little differently. If you read my previous blog "Deck Design and the Engine that Could", I am finding that by answering some key questions, one can find issues (in a general sense) very quickly. So below, I will repost the main questions, but then try to answer them (or fail to answer) has we go through different portions of the Crypt and Library.

[pick theme] - Answer: Gangrel-Hatch the Viper

1) Is my Machine a Bleed or Vote machine?
2) What is my Engine to make my machine work?
3a) What cards/decks, cause my Machine to fail?
3b) Does my Engine have an answer for it?
3c) Are those cards/decks likely to be seen?

Crypt: (12)
5x Nadima(G3)
4x Mirembe Kabbada(G2)
1x Chandler Hungerford(G2)
1x Dr. Allan Woodstock(G3)
1x Ramona (advanced)(G2)

[Adam Notes:]
1) Is my Machine a Bleed or Vote machine?
Answer: Well... it's obviously not a vote crpyt. So therefore, bleeding must be the main way to oust. There may be "Backup machines" (Smiling Jack, Fame) - but that should just be that, a backup machine if bleeding is not working out. As we go further down I can see that bleed tech is limited so this a limitation that we will have to try and correct.

Other interest options of crypt:
Antonino - the +1 stealth on undirected is great
Danielle Diron - Her ability is very useful and discipline spread fits the bill.
[for these two vamps, see comment on Book Going Forth by Night below]


Library: (60)

[Adam Notes:] 
So Ira made this as a 60 card deck. Typically small decks need to be one of three things. 1) Very aggressive and focused or 2) have a type of recusion 3) focus on permaments. It seems that for this deck (Hatch the Viper), this is #3. So let's keep that in mind.

Master: (13)
3x Blood Doll
1x Backways
1x Ecoterrorists
1x Fame
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
1x The Rack
1x Wider View

[Adam Notes:]
This is a fine set of master cards, even for a 90 card deck (and Ira has it a 60). Since this is such a small deck, it is very important to see if each Master card helps 1) the Machine (bleed) 2) The Engine (stealth? int? combat?) d) Answer the question 3a-b-c?

Even though this will make this analysis lengthy, we will go though each master card and try to answer the questions above.
Definite "Keeps":
Blood Doll - This helps question 3a "what causes my Machine to fail?" The answer "pool loss" is pretty straight foward. A good example why this is a staple in most decks.
Backways - Persistent stealth - minor Engine
Ecoterrorists - Persistent pool gain - Question 3a
Fame - A 'backup machine' oust mechanic to aid in bleeding
Heidelberg Castle - To aid in Engine - move retainers and bleed equipment around
Wider view - Indirectly helps machine - you need the correct vampires (limited choice) to make this work.

Questionable:
Pentex(TM) Subversion - A staple in most decks, however we have to ask - does this help Machine (bleed) or engine (toolbox, equip and hatch the viper). An argument could be made 'yes' by pentexing a blocker. But eventually one runs out of wakes to defend it. Lets put that in the 'maybe' category.
Perfectionist - Well, the idea is that it pays for the Hatch the Viper and allows blood gain faster. On the other hand, it doesn't help with bleed. And we need to make sure that we can oust.
Powerbase: Montreal - While this is a persistent pool gain - it can be used by others and the amount of actions this deck can take is limited. Bleeding will be difficult in the long run so keeping pool off the table is better.
The Rack - Same issue as Pentex, but in this case, it affects your game and not the table. So more likely to be left alone. A Strong Maybe
Smiling Jack - Again, a 'backup machine' oust mechanic so not bad.

All these questionable Master card slots allows us to consider other master cards that could be useful. Remember, the Machine is Bleeding and the Engine is permanents in terms of Hatch the Viper and bleed.

Intercept Location - The extra intercept can make the difference. People are playing with less and less stealth and relying on the built in stealth of actions to get through. Throws off the math with people trying to get by. With Nadima its even better.

Elysium: Sforzesco Castle - a underused card which in today's metagame might be worth considering. If your prey, pred OR grand predator (due to bounce) is play camarilla, then this card is excellent for such a deck that needs to stay untapped.

Carver`s Meat Packing and Storage - A strong combination with the Event Scourge of the Enochians (and even better with Aranthebes). All three stop a weakness of the deck of multiple minions overwhelming your wakes.

Creepshow Casino - If you look below, you can see the majority of actions are undirected. Thus this could be part of the engine. (Monastary of shadows is an option but only Nadima can use it).

Erciyes Fragments - Free. Usually not stolen and with auspex on Nadima, you have 3 of the 4 most common discipline to call upon (ani aus for but no dom). Consider it a resource for extra wakes.

Haven Uncovered - While not a Pentex this allows you to take out key minion and only that minion can remove the haven, which you can defend.

As a deck without bounce or votes, Archon Investigation, Direct Intervention, and Sudden Reversal are very important.

BONUS OPTION - Instead of that crypt, one can basically do the same but with Anarch Converts. This gives extra options of things like Anarch Railroad, Piper, Anarch Revolt, Club Illusion and even Smear Campaign to get rid of things like Enkil Cog. And that is just master card options. [And you don't have to play Wider view]

------------

Action: (11)
4x Dark Mirror of the Mind
2x Shadow of the Beast
1x Form of Corruption
1x Nose of the Hound
1x Restoration
1x Set's Curse
1x Soul Scan

[Adam Notes:]
Actions! Okay, so in a 60 card deck, each slot is important. So I think we can take the time to go more into detail here.
Dark Mirror of the Mind:
I happen to know that Ira is huge fan of Dark Mirror of the Mind (see TWD and Finals report: Member of the Entourage on www.vekn.net) but sorry Ira, I just think that you have more important actions to take (or not take and stay up to defend) with the one vamp (Nadima) who can play it. [So that give us 4 card slots]

Shadow of the Beast - These are permaments which are pretty good.
Form of Corruption - As a deck that cannot stop a forward motion prey too much, this is a fine card.
Nose of the Hound - Okay, a surprise rush. But only Nadima and Dr. Alllan can play it. A disciplineless rush or Taunt the Caged beast is good. Sense Death at animalism is okay if you want a stealth rush, but limited by capacity.
Resotration - Nice idea, but only Nadima can really use it. A funny thing about this card is that I've never seen it blocked. Ever. So maybe not for this deck, but something to consider. [1 card slot]
Set's Curse - Interesting card. I'd keep it as a surprise.
Soul Scan - So this card is draw Nadima. But only Dr. Allan can play it. If you don't draw Nadima, that means you are likely to draw Mirembe Kabbada. So will likely have Mirembe and Dr Allan in play, that is 10 pool. Bringing out Nadima is possible, but unclear. Better playing with the little guys in that situatino. [1 card slot]

So that's 6 card action card slots. We are going to hold on to those until we review the other actions (retainers and equipment).


Retainer: (9)
6x Hatch the Viper
1x Dog Pack
1x Homunculus
1x Mr. Winthrop

[Adam Notes:]
Not bad. But since this is a bleed deck, J.s Simmons and Tasha Morgan may be good here.


Equipment: (3)
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Camera Phone
1x IR Goggles

[Adam Notes:]
Bowl of Convergence can only be used by two minions. Perhaps Sport Bike or Phased Motion Detector if you want to save on pool. More bleed equipment and bleed retainers would be good.

Action Modifier: (7)
5x Freak Drive
2x Earth Control

[Adam Notes:]
Looks okay, I might steal an earth meld or two for more earth control. With so many permanents, you need to make sure they 'stick'.


[Adam's Notes: ACTION REVIEW]
So Ira has 23 actions. Should have 2-3 minions, assume 2 actions a turn. First vampire comes out around turn 2. And games end around turn 12-13. So the math seems correct about right there. So let's recap.

The deck is a bleed deck (cause its not vote), with some other minor attacking pool options, Fame and Smiling Jack. But just the fact that the "Backup Machine" is only two cards means that we have to increase the bleed option here. - Here is some thoughts:

Heidelberg will allow retainers and equipment to move around - A second copy is possible.
Even if HeidelBurg is not drawn, having each minion bleed for two is more forward. So J.S Simmons, Tasha Morgan, Camera phone(s). In a 60 card deck, having 6 bleed permaments is pretty good. Getting 3 in play doubles your oust potential.

OTHER ACTIONS -
Book of Going Forth by Night. Allows others to get Hatch the Viper as well as killing allies gives them to you.
Jack of Both Sides - While this probably won't make the cut in a 60 card deck, it works for the majority of the cards. And people tend not to block because it doesn't put the key action in the ashheap. (Works well with earth meld).
Aranthebes - you are limited by your wakes. This stops some actions.
Gather - When used with House of Sorrows (which works with Ecoterrorists, Backways, Heileberg, Aranthebes)
Ivory Bow - with 1-2 Hatch the Vipers, burning guys is not too hard.
Covenant of Blood - Independents have trouble getting permament rush. This is an option...

Combat: (9)
5x Earth Meld
3x Form of Mist
1x Unflinching Persistence

[Adam Notes:]
Ira seems to be trying to avoid the manuever-to-long issue. Instead of Unflinching Persistence, Drawing out the Beast seems strong.


Reaction: (8)
2x Eyes of Argus
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Wake with Evening's Freshness
1x Forced Awakening
1x Set's Call

[Adam Notes:] The Eyes of Argus can only be used at inferior here, which may have been Ira's point (+2 int for D actions), but Forced Vigilance is an option as is Steadfastness as well. Or just more other wakes.

OTHER CARDS
The Uncoiling - An excellent player by the name of Darby Keeney once stated that if you are not using Gehenna events, you should always play this card. Anthelios, Unmasking as examples are just too strong.
Scourge of the Enochians - You only have so many wakes. Get those 1-2 caps off the table.
Rapid Change - Instead of more Earth Control like I mentioned early, 1-2 of these for versatility.
Army of Rats - Another "Backup Machine" reduce pool effect.
Agg poke - If you don't have one in there, you can't keep 'em 'honest'. Burns vampires too with hatch the viper.


CONCLUSION -
So this deck is an interesting concept, but in my opinion it needs a bit of work. In the current version, it doesn't vote and it doesn't bleed, and has limited rush even. In the past, I made two votes versions of this. One was with the setites and gangrel. The Setites call KRC and Free State Rant (villien and voter cap for pool gain). Hatch the Viper for defence and torporing guys with low blood. The other was Group 4 starring Xendil, Gangrel anti bleed and vote. (cute tech is that the Path of Feral Heart makes Hatch the Viper free).

Thanks to Ira for letting me review his deck. I know I did not place it on laurels, but it was an interesting review and hopefully my input will help you in the future deck designs of it.


Adam

NEW YORK CITY VTES LEAGUE #3

NEW YORK CITY VTES LEAGUE RULES  (UPDATED for 2013!)

Introduction: So what do you do when you have a small play group, not many tournaments and are trying to make things not stagnant for your players? You start up a league that's what! This is a description of what the New York City VTES league rules will be. Other people are free to use this idea, or hopefully use this idea to spice up this great game in other ways.

Disclaimer: This is not a "official" tournament in terms of VEKN records and rulings. This is an exercise to have fun while being competitive and hopefully to encourage my New York players to try out new decks.

Background: The New York VTES crew is about 8 consistent players and 6 inconsistent players. We play every Wednesday and Friday. It is a good group of people with interesting decks and varying play styles.  Okay, enough of this, on to the League!


LEAGUE RULES
The rules are simple.

OVERALL RULES
1) First person to Five Game Wins (GW) wins the league.
2) If someone gets a GW, THAT PERSON Victory Points (VP) in that game are NOT counted.
3) If someone gets VPs but does not get a GW, those points ARE COUNTED.
4) Half points (.5) are not counted.
5) If the is NO game win, then Victory Points (VP) are counted.
6) FIVE Victory Points equal one Game Win
7) In 6 player game (see below), X effects (ex: Conservative Agitation, Parity Shift, Slave Auction) are capped at 5.
8) When a deck has won a Game win (not due to 5VP = 1GW), that deck cannot be played again BY THAT PERSON for the rest of the League.

RULES IN TEST
1) No 3-player league games
2) 4 player - time limit: 1 hour 30 minutes
3) 5 player - time limit: 2 hours
4) 6 player - time limit: 2 hour 30 minutes
5) 1 League game per day per player


Common questions asked in development:

1) Q: Why have a league?
A: To add a bit of competitiveness with some actual prizes.

2) Q: Why only to 5 Game Wins?
A: I want the leagues to be short, to test out some League rules and to get prizes in the hands of the people who play. If someone wins early... okay next League! So far in the first two leagues we have averaged about 4 months, which for me this is just about right.

3) Doesn't the people who go to Wed and Fri games have an advantage?
A: Technically... yes. But the purpose of the League is to encourage people to play. And the person who plays the extra day still needs to win of course.

4) Q: Are you still going to have tournaments?
A: Yes. A smaller tournament is in the works but I want to try and get out of towners to come.

5) Q: What is the prize support?
A: Currently the prize support is 10 packs. In addition, for those who RSVP AND show up (obviously) for a night of gaming will get a bonus random pack. The winner of the league can choose to trade 1-pack for a rare (not-super rare) of my collection.

6) Q: Why allow 6 player games?
A: Because I don't want to penalize people for showing up. RULE: If we have 7 players, 1 person will play two games but can only win on one table (decided randomly and hidden to that player).

Deck Design and the Engine that Could

Marching thus at night, a battalion is doubly impressive. The silent monster is full of restrained power; resolute in its onward sweep, impervious to danger, it looks a menacing engine of destruction, steady to its goal, and certain of its mission.
-- Patrick MacGill

Deck Design and the Engine that Could

Hello all, for this blog I decided to do something different. Over the last year (ever since the last NAC 2012) or so I have had many discussions with various excellent players about deck design. I have gone over many people decks and discussed their thought processes about their ideas.

I was holding off on writing this particular blog because I wanted to really solidify my thoughts on it. It wasn't until a recent conversation and how the core of a deck is really an "engine" (will get more into that below) that a lot of thoughts snapped into place and I wanted to share it with the rest of you.

We have to start off with a couple of premises and key terms in order for you to relate to my analogies.

- Your Deck (Library/Crypt) is your "Machine". It is the tool in which you play the game To Win.

- In order to win, you have to remove Pool from the table. After much discussion, the two main ways to do that is Bleed and Vote. So these are the Two types of Machines. Bleed Machine and Vote Machine. [As stated in previous blog, other methods of Pool loss (example: Fame) is a "Backup Machine"]

- In order for your machine to run, you need an Engine. The 3 classic Engines are Stealth, Intercept, and Combat Engine. Variations can usually fit under one of those categories (example: Tap and Bleed).


So to be put simply, the better your Engine, the better your Machine will run.


Examples:
Consider some of the decks that are popular but just struggle to work.

Stealthy decks - don't ever want to get caught. A common problem is that there is TOO much stealth and one cannot draw the cards needs to actually win.

Intercept Wall - Block it all! But games can go to time.

Rush Combat decks - your torpor your targets, but after a couple of rescues, you can run out of juice.

So what happens here? Here the designer focused so much on the Engine, that he didn't focus on the Machine idea that the deck was supposed to do, i.e. remove pool.


How can this help you?

There are many guidelines in order to have a good deck design. This is just another methodology that I think can aid some of you.

When making your deck, consider the following:
[After deciding "theme" (key vamp, clan, card, etc) of course]

1) Is my Machine* a Bleed or Vote machine?
2) What is my Engine to make my machine work?
3a) What cards/decks, cause my Machine to fail? 
3b) Does my Engine have an answer for it? 
3c) Are those cards/decks likely to be seen?


* Now, some of you are already asking, "but there are other ways to remove pool" This is true! Fame, Enticement, Anarch Revolt are just some examples. But I stand pretty strongly that these alternate methods are Supplements to the two main Machines. I call them a "Backup Machine" and they do have their place. For the price of a few card slots, one not has a smaller additional way to remove pool, in case there is a kink in the main machine. But a common problem for deck design is when someone tries to make the Backup Machine the main machine. The simple example is the rush combat decks with Fame and Tension in the Ranks. Those two cards might be enough to get a VP but no so well in getting a Game Win.


Conclusion:
So these are just my musings on how I'm going to treat deck design from now on. I already see flaws in some of my decks and I play to adjust them accordingly. Hopefully people reading this blog entry will take the same considerations into their decks. If anyone wishes to comment and discuss I would be happy to do so.

Adam  Hulse