Past experiences with my old Rachel Brandywine deck showed me the power of Victoria/Madness Network/Instability. With Victoria in play, having the Edge at the start of your turn allows a steady pool gain of 3. Throw in an Instability and you'll net 5 (and your prey gains the Edge).
Ensure that happens through Madness Network and obf Malks acting during your predator's turn, (bleeding for 1 at +3 stealth with Night Moves is the simplest choice). During your turn, Night Moves again by another obf weenie to take the Edge away from your prey (effectively bleeding for 2).
This pool gain strategy has two vulnerable linchpins, Madness Network (burnable) and Victoria (not exactly tough with AUS cel obf). Thus weenie auspex becomes the defence of choice. Synergistically, there are plenty of Malkavians that have obf and/or aus.
Actual ousting strategy would then be through Smiling Jack, defended by said weenie auspex vampires.
Thoughts?
Crypt: (12)
3x Victoria 5 AUS cel obf Malkavian:2
1x Aleph 4 AUS dom Malkavian:1
1x Dorian Strack 4 AUS pre Toreador:1
1x Zöe 3 AUS cel obf Malkavian:2
1x Dollface 3 aus obf Malkavian:1
1x Isabel de Leon 3 AUS Toreador:1
1x Lena Rowe 3 aus obf pre Pander:2
1x Watenda 3 obf Malkavian:2
1x Normal 2 obf Malkavian:1
1x Brazil 2 aus Malkavian:1
Library: (90)
Master: (16)
7x Instability
2x Madness Network
2x Smiling Jack, The Anarch
1x Asylum Hunting Ground
1x Millicent Smith, Puritan Vampire Hunter
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x The Rack
Action: (16)
12x Night Moves
2x Atonement
2x Clotho's Gift
Combat: (10)
5x Fake Out
3x Concealed Weapon
2x Disguised Weapon
Equipment: (7)
4x Sniper Rifle
2x Bowl of Convergence
1x Ivory Bow
Reaction: (41)
14x Eyes of Argus
7x Eagle's Sight
6x On the Qui Vive
4x Precognition
4x Spirit's Touch
3x Enhanced Senses
3x Wake with Evening's Freshness
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
1st Standard Tournament win with Brujah Royalty
Won a Bloodlines "Battle Lines" storyline tourney before, with my Kiaysd/Lilith's Blessing stealth-bleed deck, but starting out with Lilith's Blessing is broken anyways. Incidentally, I got a WoW CCG playmat (don't play that game) as 1st place prize.
My first standard tournament win; pretty pumped about it. Come on, getting my name in the Holy Grail, Lasombra's TWDA? AND getting an autographed Brujah Debate card as an extra prize when I played Brujah!?
Folks came from all over the Bay, with the South Bay playgroup all showing up in force (Ian Lee, Brandon, Andy, Jeff, myself) . 16 players meant 4x4player tables; making for faster, less table-talky games (supposedly). Overall, the tourney was very well run by the Castro Valley people, shout-out to Joel, Brandyn etc etc.
I played my Dmitra-Alastor deck; completely re"vamp"ed since the last incarnation. Tested it out during the summer in Singapore with Gee Hwan. Read Martin's NAC 2010 post. Ditched every superflous distraction from my old deck and made it flow.
Ideas are simple. Influence out Dmitra Ilyanova, call Alastor on herself for an Assault Rifle. Into Thin Air, Perfect Paragon, Resist Earth's Grasp, Forced March for stealth. Perfect Paragon, Iron Glare for vote lock. Forced March for untap and rush on same turn.
Next turn call Anathema/Parity Shift (depending on needing pool or ousting prey), Forced March (for stealth AND untap), then rush. Bring out more Brujah princes and repeat. Oust with New Carthage, Iron Glares and Fame.
Resist Earth's Grasp, Psyche!, Armor of Vitality and Taste of Vitae for combat; 2nd Traditions for wake/intercept. Pentex Subversion, Sudden Reversal, Villein, Giant's Blood, Dreams, Info Highway as std Master card package. Lost in Translation for surprise bounce.
Deck Name: Dmitra Alastor v. 3 - Always Bring a Gun to a Bloodfeud
Decklist:
Crypt: (12)
5x Dmitra Ilyanova(G5)
3x Karen Suadela(G5)
2x Carlak(G5)
2x Tara(G5)
Library: (80)
Master: (13)
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Fame
2x Information Highway
2x Villein
1x Fortitude
1x Giant's Blood
1x New Carthage
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Sudden Reversal
Action Modifier: (18)
8x Forced March
4x Iron Glare
4x Perfect Paragon
2x Into Thin Air
Action Modifier/Combat: (6)
6x Resist Earth's Grasp
Combat: (16)
7x Psyche!
6x Taste of Vitae
3x Armor of Vitality
Equipment: (3)
3x Assault Rifle
Political Action: (13)
7x Alastor
3x Anathema
3x Parity Shift
Reaction: (11)
9x Second Tradition: Domain
2x Lost in Translation
1st Game: Kellen (G3 Tremere wall/theft deck) -> Jeff Yin (G5/6 !Sal combat) -> Peta-guy (Petaniqua Soul Gem) -> me (G5 Dmitra Alastor)
c.f. I am terrible at remembering names, so I make up names for them based on their decks.
Dmitra came out early enough, while Kellen brought out Anastasz di Zagreb (-1 vote to Anastasz booyea), Jeff brought out Qawiyya, Peta-guy brought out well, Petaniqua. Alastor was successful (Forced March overcame Anastasz's block attempts) and Dmitra rushed Petaniqua to torpor. Kellen fended off further attempts by Dmitra to rush Fame-d Anastasz, and brought out Smiling Jack and Carna. ugh.
Jeff brought out 2 more !Sal and proceeded to ghetto bleed Peta-guy. My predator pulls off a Soul-gem trick for a new Peta, bleeds me moderately. I starve off the pool loss by Parity Shift-ing Kellen; I bring out Tara AND Karen Suadela, Alastor Tara also gets an Assault Rifle. Jeff has free-reign, but bleeds for 1 per guy, hm. He also brings out Tension in the Ranks (this is important for later).
Smiling Jack reaches obscene # of counters, slowly strangling the table. Peta-guy is on the ropes, no bounce and little intercept with a nearly bloodless infernal vampire. I offer him a deal by giving him blood via Dmitra's special in return for not bleeding me for 1 turn. He declines, even though I am at 8 pool. That move killed him, which was completely avoidable. The ENTIRE table advised him to take that deal (yep, even Jeff his predator), but he thinks he can bleed me out with a 1 blood vampire, hokay.
His turn comes around, losing all but 1 pool and 1 blood. Soul-gem Peta wants to diablerize his other torpored vamp and burn during the bloodhunt for a new Peta, but Tensions will kill him. Decided to go out in a blaze of self-immolation by bleeding me a little. He died after that.
I made a deal with Jeff to collectively try to burn Jack in exchange for not rushing backwards. I spent 2-3 minutes agonizing over whether to rush Anastasz or burn Jack; in the end it didn't matter; Carna blocked and Burst of Sunlight/Rotschrek Dmitra to torpor.
Rescued Dmitra, while Kellen brought his pool down to dangerous levels to trying to bring out a 3rd minion. Carna got torpored by the !Sal.
Drew Giant's Blood; this is the critical turn. Burned all the blood off Dmitra to pay for Jack, and played it; now we're back in business. Burned Jack, while Jeff managed to bring me down to 1 pool. Rushed Anastasz for 3+1=4 pool (Wind Dancing was overcome by Psyche!), while bleeding with Tara+Iron Glare for 3, just enough to oust Kellen. Jeff's !Sal fell soon afterwards.
This game went down to the wire. Game winning move was Giant's Blood AND getting my predator to spend actions burning Jack. By holding on to Giant's Blood until the last possible turn, Jeff thought that he had the game wrapped up and torpored Carna, allowing me to burn Jack. That also lured Kellen into transferring for a new vampire, allowing me to off him in 1 turn.
me 3VPs GW, Jeff's !Sal 1VP
2nd Game: Ian Lee (DoC Choir/Con. Boon/whatever Ian does) -> me (G5 Dmitra Alastor) -> Joel (G2/3 Ravnos Breed/WoN) -> Las-guy (G2/3 Lasombra Stealth/Bleed)
Despite having 7 Alastors in an 80 card deck, I had to hard-cast Assault Rifle after 5-7 turns of discarding. Ian Consang. Boon to survive the DOM bleeding, while Joel dinkered around with Tumnimos. I kept a 2nd Traditions in my hand, waiting for that inevitable Sensory Deprivation from Joel (heard from the other players he 2x Sense Dep.-ed Andy's vampires).
Ian bloated, while calling Con. Boon for Abominations and Voter Capping for 2 (I had Dmitra and Karen, while Las-guy had Gratiano). Choir/Harmony hijinks and Lily Preludes by Ian forced me to keep my pool high and avoid alpha-strikes. Once he got Conductor and Bastile Opera House, more bloating. In response, I Parity Shift-ed him for pool.
Las-guy brought himself down to <10 pool (against 5 Ravnos with CHI and endless Fata Morganas?), when Joel played Week of Nightmares and ousted him in 1 turn. Ian tried bloating his way out of his new predator but fell quickly. I could not rush fast enough to torp. Joel's minions and fell shortly after.
I should have Pentex-ed Gabrin 2-3 turns earlier before he could bring out too many Tumnimos; and should have made a deal with Ian so that I could bring out more vampires.
me 0VP, Joel Ravnos WoN 4VP GW
I managed to get into the finals table, tying with Cassie (G5/6 Kiaysd) for 4th place. That meant zero say in table seating, followed by Dan (Tup/Malgozata), Joel (Ravnos) and finally Andy (G4/5 Malk bleed/vote). Being in the same South Bay playgroup, Andy knew my deck and decided to be my predator, i suppose by Lutz-ing me with my own votes.
Final Table: Cassie (G5/6 Kiaysd) -> Andy (G4/5 Malk bleed/vote) -> me (G5 Dmitra Alastor) -> Dan (Tup/Mal) -> Joel (Ravnos WoN)
Info Highway in my opening hand, followed by a New Carthage AND a Dreams of the Sphinx ensured I had Dmitra by the 2nd turn with vote lock, followed up by Karen in the 3rd turn. Dan brought out Mal for votes and some Tup dogs. Joel brought out 2 Ravnos mid-caps. Cassie brought out The Arcadian. Unfortunately Andy did not get Lutz or Tryphosa in his opening crypt, and settled for Sean Rycek, followed by Bloody Mary. Malgorzata got Fame-d; ensuring genteel relations between myself and my prey.
My incredible opening start was completely stalled by an abject lack of Alastor (AGAIN); discarding furiously did not help. A hilarious block by Dmitra against Malgorzata's special resulted in a dozen combat cards played for 1 hand damage strikes, resulting in only ~4-5 blood loss on both vampires. Still no Alastor. A Villein + Giant's Blood on Dmitra ensured a healthy pool, allowing me to hardcast Assault Rifle again on Karen. This and Dan not wanting me to die to the Malks ensured theTomahawk Cruise Missiles Tupdogs went forwards, not back.
Managed to table talk my way into getting Dan torporing Ravnos with his Tup dogs and leaving me alone. Dmitra used her special to fill up a Tupdog so he? she? it? can rush forwards more. Ravnos 2-3 bleeders get bounced by the Kiaysd to the poor Malks. Cassie Riddle Phantastique-d a couple of Ravnos to try and stay alive.
Finally getting Alastor on Karen when Andy fell to the rampaging Kiaysd with a Song of Pan that incidentally killed off Draeven Softfoot AND burned a blood off Arcadian. 2nd Traditions and a surprise Lost in Translation bounce to Dan (in turn bounced to the Ravnos) kept me alive against Cassie.
With my Ravnos grandprey on <5 pool against and Dan not influencing any more Tupdogs, I strike the killing blow. Pentex on Malgorzata ensured he could not oust Joel, while Karen Suadela Anathema-ed the 1 blood Arcadian and rushed him. The Arcadian's attempt to end combat with an Oubliette triggered Anathema, netting me 8 pool.
Dan could not influence out any vampires while Joel ousted Cassie, and having his Ravnos starving for blood. Rushing Fame-d Malgorzata with a 2xbleeds of 2 by the two Brujah ousted Dan, giving me the pool to fend off the Ravnos hordes. Multiple rushes and blocks with 2nd Traditions left Joel with 1 Ravnos and he conceded.
me 3VP GW, Cassie 1VP, Joel 1VP
This was another down-to-the-wire game; Pentex and Giant's Blood were the clutch winners (held them for all game), while Forced Marching ensuring alpha strikes were possible. Table talking also ensured I did not die to my prey's Tup dogs (usually the case against tuppies); Guess i can claim the fame of surviving a Tup dog prey. Joel was stalled long enough by Riddle Phantastiques and Tup dog agg rushes.
Final Thoughts:
Forced March makes all the card combos possible; +1 stealth and an untap? Alastor+Rush; Anathema+Rush; Rush+Bleed? all these made it possible to lunge in 1 turn when my prey least expects it.
I am fortunate to not meet any serious combat or Fortitude decks; held on to at least 1 Armor of Vitality every game but never used them, not even against the Raking Talons Tupdogs, DAI Baali, or THA Tremere. Also, no wall decks apart from the Tremere (don't think they ever blocked a vote).
I love the G5 Brujah Royalty; goes without saying Dmitra is by far the MVP.
My first standard tournament win; pretty pumped about it. Come on, getting my name in the Holy Grail, Lasombra's TWDA? AND getting an autographed Brujah Debate card as an extra prize when I played Brujah!?
Folks came from all over the Bay, with the South Bay playgroup all showing up in force (Ian Lee, Brandon, Andy, Jeff, myself) . 16 players meant 4x4player tables; making for faster, less table-talky games (supposedly). Overall, the tourney was very well run by the Castro Valley people, shout-out to Joel, Brandyn etc etc.
I played my Dmitra-Alastor deck; completely re"vamp"ed since the last incarnation. Tested it out during the summer in Singapore with Gee Hwan. Read Martin's NAC 2010 post. Ditched every superflous distraction from my old deck and made it flow.
Ideas are simple. Influence out Dmitra Ilyanova, call Alastor on herself for an Assault Rifle. Into Thin Air, Perfect Paragon, Resist Earth's Grasp, Forced March for stealth. Perfect Paragon, Iron Glare for vote lock. Forced March for untap and rush on same turn.
Next turn call Anathema/Parity Shift (depending on needing pool or ousting prey), Forced March (for stealth AND untap), then rush. Bring out more Brujah princes and repeat. Oust with New Carthage, Iron Glares and Fame.
Resist Earth's Grasp, Psyche!, Armor of Vitality and Taste of Vitae for combat; 2nd Traditions for wake/intercept. Pentex Subversion, Sudden Reversal, Villein, Giant's Blood, Dreams, Info Highway as std Master card package. Lost in Translation for surprise bounce.
Deck Name: Dmitra Alastor v. 3 - Always Bring a Gun to a Bloodfeud
Decklist:
Crypt: (12)
5x Dmitra Ilyanova(G5)
3x Karen Suadela(G5)
2x Carlak(G5)
2x Tara(G5)
Library: (80)
Master: (13)
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
2x Fame
2x Information Highway
2x Villein
1x Fortitude
1x Giant's Blood
1x New Carthage
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Sudden Reversal
Action Modifier: (18)
8x Forced March
4x Iron Glare
4x Perfect Paragon
2x Into Thin Air
Action Modifier/Combat: (6)
6x Resist Earth's Grasp
Combat: (16)
7x Psyche!
6x Taste of Vitae
3x Armor of Vitality
Equipment: (3)
3x Assault Rifle
Political Action: (13)
7x Alastor
3x Anathema
3x Parity Shift
Reaction: (11)
9x Second Tradition: Domain
2x Lost in Translation
1st Game: Kellen (G3 Tremere wall/theft deck) -> Jeff Yin (G5/6 !Sal combat) -> Peta-guy (Petaniqua Soul Gem) -> me (G5 Dmitra Alastor)
c.f. I am terrible at remembering names, so I make up names for them based on their decks.
Dmitra came out early enough, while Kellen brought out Anastasz di Zagreb (-1 vote to Anastasz booyea), Jeff brought out Qawiyya, Peta-guy brought out well, Petaniqua. Alastor was successful (Forced March overcame Anastasz's block attempts) and Dmitra rushed Petaniqua to torpor. Kellen fended off further attempts by Dmitra to rush Fame-d Anastasz, and brought out Smiling Jack and Carna. ugh.
Jeff brought out 2 more !Sal and proceeded to ghetto bleed Peta-guy. My predator pulls off a Soul-gem trick for a new Peta, bleeds me moderately. I starve off the pool loss by Parity Shift-ing Kellen; I bring out Tara AND Karen Suadela, Alastor Tara also gets an Assault Rifle. Jeff has free-reign, but bleeds for 1 per guy, hm. He also brings out Tension in the Ranks (this is important for later).
Smiling Jack reaches obscene # of counters, slowly strangling the table. Peta-guy is on the ropes, no bounce and little intercept with a nearly bloodless infernal vampire. I offer him a deal by giving him blood via Dmitra's special in return for not bleeding me for 1 turn. He declines, even though I am at 8 pool. That move killed him, which was completely avoidable. The ENTIRE table advised him to take that deal (yep, even Jeff his predator), but he thinks he can bleed me out with a 1 blood vampire, hokay.
His turn comes around, losing all but 1 pool and 1 blood. Soul-gem Peta wants to diablerize his other torpored vamp and burn during the bloodhunt for a new Peta, but Tensions will kill him. Decided to go out in a blaze of self-immolation by bleeding me a little. He died after that.
I made a deal with Jeff to collectively try to burn Jack in exchange for not rushing backwards. I spent 2-3 minutes agonizing over whether to rush Anastasz or burn Jack; in the end it didn't matter; Carna blocked and Burst of Sunlight/Rotschrek Dmitra to torpor.
Rescued Dmitra, while Kellen brought his pool down to dangerous levels to trying to bring out a 3rd minion. Carna got torpored by the !Sal.
Drew Giant's Blood; this is the critical turn. Burned all the blood off Dmitra to pay for Jack, and played it; now we're back in business. Burned Jack, while Jeff managed to bring me down to 1 pool. Rushed Anastasz for 3+1=4 pool (Wind Dancing was overcome by Psyche!), while bleeding with Tara+Iron Glare for 3, just enough to oust Kellen. Jeff's !Sal fell soon afterwards.
This game went down to the wire. Game winning move was Giant's Blood AND getting my predator to spend actions burning Jack. By holding on to Giant's Blood until the last possible turn, Jeff thought that he had the game wrapped up and torpored Carna, allowing me to burn Jack. That also lured Kellen into transferring for a new vampire, allowing me to off him in 1 turn.
me 3VPs GW, Jeff's !Sal 1VP
2nd Game: Ian Lee (DoC Choir/Con. Boon/whatever Ian does) -> me (G5 Dmitra Alastor) -> Joel (G2/3 Ravnos Breed/WoN) -> Las-guy (G2/3 Lasombra Stealth/Bleed)
Despite having 7 Alastors in an 80 card deck, I had to hard-cast Assault Rifle after 5-7 turns of discarding. Ian Consang. Boon to survive the DOM bleeding, while Joel dinkered around with Tumnimos. I kept a 2nd Traditions in my hand, waiting for that inevitable Sensory Deprivation from Joel (heard from the other players he 2x Sense Dep.-ed Andy's vampires).
Ian bloated, while calling Con. Boon for Abominations and Voter Capping for 2 (I had Dmitra and Karen, while Las-guy had Gratiano). Choir/Harmony hijinks and Lily Preludes by Ian forced me to keep my pool high and avoid alpha-strikes. Once he got Conductor and Bastile Opera House, more bloating. In response, I Parity Shift-ed him for pool.
Las-guy brought himself down to <10 pool (against 5 Ravnos with CHI and endless Fata Morganas?), when Joel played Week of Nightmares and ousted him in 1 turn. Ian tried bloating his way out of his new predator but fell quickly. I could not rush fast enough to torp. Joel's minions and fell shortly after.
I should have Pentex-ed Gabrin 2-3 turns earlier before he could bring out too many Tumnimos; and should have made a deal with Ian so that I could bring out more vampires.
me 0VP, Joel Ravnos WoN 4VP GW
I managed to get into the finals table, tying with Cassie (G5/6 Kiaysd) for 4th place. That meant zero say in table seating, followed by Dan (Tup/Malgozata), Joel (Ravnos) and finally Andy (G4/5 Malk bleed/vote). Being in the same South Bay playgroup, Andy knew my deck and decided to be my predator, i suppose by Lutz-ing me with my own votes.
Final Table: Cassie (G5/6 Kiaysd) -> Andy (G4/5 Malk bleed/vote) -> me (G5 Dmitra Alastor) -> Dan (Tup/Mal) -> Joel (Ravnos WoN)
Info Highway in my opening hand, followed by a New Carthage AND a Dreams of the Sphinx ensured I had Dmitra by the 2nd turn with vote lock, followed up by Karen in the 3rd turn. Dan brought out Mal for votes and some Tup dogs. Joel brought out 2 Ravnos mid-caps. Cassie brought out The Arcadian. Unfortunately Andy did not get Lutz or Tryphosa in his opening crypt, and settled for Sean Rycek, followed by Bloody Mary. Malgorzata got Fame-d; ensuring genteel relations between myself and my prey.
My incredible opening start was completely stalled by an abject lack of Alastor (AGAIN); discarding furiously did not help. A hilarious block by Dmitra against Malgorzata's special resulted in a dozen combat cards played for 1 hand damage strikes, resulting in only ~4-5 blood loss on both vampires. Still no Alastor. A Villein + Giant's Blood on Dmitra ensured a healthy pool, allowing me to hardcast Assault Rifle again on Karen. This and Dan not wanting me to die to the Malks ensured the
Managed to table talk my way into getting Dan torporing Ravnos with his Tup dogs and leaving me alone. Dmitra used her special to fill up a Tupdog so he? she? it? can rush forwards more. Ravnos 2-3 bleeders get bounced by the Kiaysd to the poor Malks. Cassie Riddle Phantastique-d a couple of Ravnos to try and stay alive.
Finally getting Alastor on Karen when Andy fell to the rampaging Kiaysd with a Song of Pan that incidentally killed off Draeven Softfoot AND burned a blood off Arcadian. 2nd Traditions and a surprise Lost in Translation bounce to Dan (in turn bounced to the Ravnos) kept me alive against Cassie.
With my Ravnos grandprey on <5 pool against and Dan not influencing any more Tupdogs, I strike the killing blow. Pentex on Malgorzata ensured he could not oust Joel, while Karen Suadela Anathema-ed the 1 blood Arcadian and rushed him. The Arcadian's attempt to end combat with an Oubliette triggered Anathema, netting me 8 pool.
Dan could not influence out any vampires while Joel ousted Cassie, and having his Ravnos starving for blood. Rushing Fame-d Malgorzata with a 2xbleeds of 2 by the two Brujah ousted Dan, giving me the pool to fend off the Ravnos hordes. Multiple rushes and blocks with 2nd Traditions left Joel with 1 Ravnos and he conceded.
me 3VP GW, Cassie 1VP, Joel 1VP
This was another down-to-the-wire game; Pentex and Giant's Blood were the clutch winners (held them for all game), while Forced Marching ensuring alpha strikes were possible. Table talking also ensured I did not die to my prey's Tup dogs (usually the case against tuppies); Guess i can claim the fame of surviving a Tup dog prey. Joel was stalled long enough by Riddle Phantastiques and Tup dog agg rushes.
Final Thoughts:
Forced March makes all the card combos possible; +1 stealth and an untap? Alastor+Rush; Anathema+Rush; Rush+Bleed? all these made it possible to lunge in 1 turn when my prey least expects it.
I am fortunate to not meet any serious combat or Fortitude decks; held on to at least 1 Armor of Vitality every game but never used them, not even against the Raking Talons Tupdogs, DAI Baali, or THA Tremere. Also, no wall decks apart from the Tremere (don't think they ever blocked a vote).
I love the G5 Brujah Royalty; goes without saying Dmitra is by far the MVP.
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