Keepers of Tradition spoilers

There was a recent Keepers of Tradition draft at the NAC in Montreal so some spoilers have surfaced. The contents of the Toreador starter and some rare cards from the Ventrue starter have been leaked.

I must say that theVentrue starter is going to be really sought after simply because of the few cards I saw. Freak Drive x3, Powerbase: Montreal and a Golconda! Talk about power cards in just one starter! In contrast the Toreador starter has a Bowl of Convergence, Ivory Bow, Mark V, and Sniper Rifle x3. Definitely an equipment heavy starter.

Much more interesting news about the set is that they seem to be giving disciplines more versatile cards like the new Auspex card: Eyes of Argus. It’s very similar to the Spiritus card Speak with Spirits which functions as intercept and also gives a “wake” effect.

This is definitely a set that will shake things up in Vtes. Expect to see some fun deck concepts from me in the future and of course old deck designs tweaked with the new cards!

Why Anarchs?

The anarch deck concept is a tricky one. The question one has to ask is: is it worth it to go anarch? Right now thanks to the new cards from Twilight Rebellion it’s now easier to make a vampire go anarch but what are the benefits of being an anarch?

Looking at the anarch library cards shows a strong selection of master cards, Baron themed votes and of course the different kinds of 3 ways. The keyword for playing anarchs: Versatility. Looking at my anarch decks and the other decks from the newsgroups and TWD shows that the majority of the decks tend to lean towards a toolbox approach. Jack of all trades decks who can bleed a little, vote with barons, fight a little and block some actions. I like the fact that it can adapt to many situations without much difficulty.

There are always exceptions to this such as Matt Morgan’s assamite barons deck which is purely political with no combat at all. Ben Peal recently won an NAC tourney with a modified version so that speaks well for the power of anarchs as a set.

Anarch master card support is really awesome. Take a look at The Anarch Free Press. Intercept for just one pool with a secondary use similar to a hunting ground. It’s an auto include in all my anarch decks. Hospital Food functions pretty much the same way as a means of blood gain. I consider it as the anarch version of a hunting ground. I don’t always include it in my decks but if I have space then it’s ok. Club Illusion can be a double edged sword since other methuselahs can turn anarch and use it too but I consider it only as a minor inconvinience since they basically spend one turn and a blood or two going anarch. Twilight Camp and Seattle Commitee offer ways to go anarch without spending an action and blood but it’s also important to draw them early. The additional hunting ground boost of Twilight Camp also makes it an auto include in most of my anarch decks usually replacing Hospital Food. Anarch Railroad is simply too good especially if your current playgroup is intercept heavy. This is also an auto include in most anarch decks most especially a Barons vote deck.

Politics

I really love the idea of the Baron concept. Getting a titled vampire only requires stealth and a minimum capacity of 5. This is a good thing for clans without any titles or inherent vote push disciplines like presence and melpominee. Fee Stakes are currently in the spotlight due to some strong tournament showings by Matt Morgan, Robin Tatu and Ben Peal. Assamite support using Alamut and weenie vampires such as Web of Knives Recruit have proven the power of anarch votes using the key card : Revolutionary Council.

Trying out my iphone

Writing this entry using my iPhone just to see how easy it is to blog during work!

The majority of my current deck ideas are anarch based hence the blog title but it won’t always be about anarchs.

I actually don’t have a preference for any single clan or sect so my decks change a lot. I try to stay away from stealth bleed unless the current tourney meta isn’t prepared for it.

Philippine metagame used to be all about combat. Everyone usually had a nasty combat package or some form of hit back but nowadays it’s changing to combat evasion. The current game environment is a little bit unpredictable now so toolbox decks have a slight advantage in terms of flexibility per table.

Current deck ideas stewing in my head:

Milliner anarchs with undue influence

Setite mind rape filth

Some version of anarch cry wolf since we surprisingly have 10 copies of cry wolf hehe

Crimethinc with !gangrel because the majority of them are weenies with PRO

First Tradition filth – try to put as many copies of first tradition on the table and allocate pool using parity shift

(TWD) Tourney Winning Deck analysis (sorta)

I just saw this posted on the vtes newsgroups and i must say the deck design is sheer brilliance! (if you happen to like cheese that is) It’s so cheesy it gives me goosebumps! I love it! I’ll post the decklist and tourney details first and then add some comments at the bottom.

Multi-Praxis: Marseille
19-Oct-08
Marseille, France
Constructed
15 Players
3R + F

Yannick Gibert’s Tournament Winning Deck.

Deck Name: Madness of the fun
Created By: Yannick Gibert
Description: Inspiration of an old Johannes’s deck

Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 20, Max: 40, Avg: 7,33)
———————————————-
3 Gilbert Duane AUS DOM OBF 7 Malkavian
4 Lucian cel tha AUS DOM OBF10 Malkavian
2 Victoria cel obf AUS 5 Malkavian
2 Greger Anderssen dom pro AUS OBF 7 Malkavian
1 Zoe cel obf AUS 3 Malkavian

Library: (80 cards)
——————-
Master (16 cards)
5 Madness Network
2 Vessel
2 Dreams of the Sphinx
3 Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1 Pentex Subversion
1 Metro Underground
1 Temptation of Greater Power
1 Asylum Hunting Ground

Action (7 cards)
6 Mind Rape
1 Far Mastery

Action Modifier (19 cards)
2 Cloak the Gathering
1 Faceless Night
4 Forgotten Labyrinth
2 Telepathic Vote Counting
3 Elder Impersonation
4 Lost in Crowds
3 Conditioning

Political Action (14 cards)
1 Ancilla Empowerment
6 Parity Shift
1 Reins of Power
1 Domain Challenge
2 First Tradition: The Masquerade, The
1 Anarchist Uprising
1 Ancient Influence
1 Banishment

Reaction (22 cards)
8 Second Tradition: Domain, The
2 Deflection
6 Obedience
4 Mental Maze
2 Telepathic Misdirection

Ally (1 cards)
1 Muddled Vampire Hunter

Event (1 cards)
1 Nightmares upon Nightmares

********************************************************************

Old school malks! It’s interesting to note that it varies from the usual Gilbert Duane deck design in the lack of DOM bleed. The concept is actually very different from the usual stealth-bleed group 1 malk deck. It basically throws in all the power cards of the Camarilla sect like: Temptation of Greater Power, 2nd Traditons, Parity Shifts and even a couple of First Traditions! Throw in some staple power cards of DOM like: Mind Rape, Conditioning, Obedience and Deflection and it turns into a really scary deck.

What’s the difference of this deck and a typical Ventrue Law Firm deck or a Toreador AAA (Anson, Anneke, Alexandra) grand ball deck?  Malkavian Madness Network. This card can really throw your opponents off balance. The ability to act during another meth’s turn is simply stunning. The OBF stealth package also helps to deliver the multiple payloads.

From Votes to Mind Rape to Conditioning the deck packs a lot of offensive power. Don’t let the lack of combat cards fool you. The deck includes multiple copies of Obedience and it has the power to block actions at 2-3 intercept from 2nd Tradition and Telepathic Misdirection.

Another beautiful thing about the deck design? Its an 80 card deck! I’m a firm believer of the David Tatu school: You don’t need a 90 card deck to win the table. Yes I’m in love with the deck design, i can’t rave enough about it haha.

More tricks: First Tradition + Malkavian Madness network, Mind Rape + Heidelburg Castle, Pentex, Nightmares upon Nightmares weenie hoser, I swear this deck can survive most tourney environments!

I want to build a copy of this deck and try it out! I always tweak a deck when i see a nice concept on the newsgroups or from The Lasombra’s TWD deck archive but this one is just fine as it is. (A first for me as i always modify stuff acording to the metagame)

I’ve been wanting to make a First Tradition deck for quite a while now, i think i’ll post a deck next week.

First Post!

I’ve decided to blog about my VTES thoughts and musings rather than bore the hell out of my poor wife hehe.

Hence this blog!

This blog will mainly be a site where i can post my deck ideas and concepts and hopefully add some insights and comments on other VTES decks floating around in the newsgroup as well.

I won’t be able to blog daily but the goal is to blog at least once a week or once a month to keep the deck ideas as fresh as possible.