Archived from groups: rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad (More info?)
It seems I always write a newsletter after some big event. Having just
come back from Gencon Indy 2005 I have once again felt compelled to
write a newsletter. It seems that there are now more game variants for
V:TES than ever before, and I had a chance to try out some of them.
Hella fun. I had more fun with Create a Clan
(http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/index.php?line=cac) than I was
expecting, and I had a blast playing clan Previcus as well as making
them.
You can read my quick synopsis of Gencon 2005 at
http://presence.vekn.org/viewtopic.php?t=24.
----------------
Vampire of the Month - Jessica (Advanced)
I think I've finally made the decision that Jessica (Advanced)
practically wallpapers the original Jessica. For basically one more
pool, you get all the same disciplines, titles, etc. with the addition
of +1 stealth on political actions. That's worth a pool! Unless you're
desperate for the Archbishop title I also don't think merging is really
necessary. Sure you can bring up the basic and then merge for a total
of 8 pool. But you could also just play with the advanced version for 8
pool and never need to merge. So unless you really need an archbishop,
or for some reason you absolutely must have a 7 cap in your crypt, I
see no reason to play with the basic version of Jessica anymore.
Now that she's an 8 cap as advanced, she has all the following
advantages over her basic version :
1. can be target of Zillah's Valley
2. can be target of Honor the Elders
3. can be target of Political Stranglehold
4. cannot be target of Hostile Takeover
5. can use Crocodile's Tongue, etc. on 7 cap vampires now
6. and many others which I'm sure are out there.
-------------------
Card of the Month - Powerbase: Rome
I love playing sealed/limited as it exposes me to potential cards I
normally wouldn't have bothered to use otherwise. Recently I was
playing in a league with the Ravnos starter and desperately needed vote
defense. Kelly Nine had a Powerbase: Rome that he was willing to trade
me, and we double checked the recent text (since we knew it was updated
in Final Nights) to confirm that I could use it. I put it in and played
a few games with it. I found that once in play I had several turns with
no masters, so rather than waste the master phase action I always
remembered to add counters. Over the course of the game I had vote lock
for at least one vote a turn, and in league it was enough. Fueled by
this success, I decided to splice Rome into some of my constructed vote
decks to give it a try.
I put in the usual Parthenon/Rumours to increase my master phases,
reasoning that even if opponents took the action to remove the
counters, I could still amass 2-3 counters after untap if I needed to.
What resulted was amazing success as I abused Rome with Voter
Captivations and bloated like mad, winning tables with several large
titled vampires.
With the updated text, Rome is now strong. Any clan can use it (and the
Giovanni actually get extra use out of it). Other than the fragility of
it being a location, it is now something that can stay in play. Much
like Madrid you don't need to defend the action to remove the counters
if it'll cost you too much. And most importantly, it's now a free card.
However the strongest value I didn't expect came from how the votes are
generated. It doesn't become associated with any vampires in play, nor
have any titled restriction. By card text, it appears that you the
Methuselah gain the votes. So all the new 'Vote Pull' cards that
negate/switch vampire votes do not affect the votes generated by Rome
at all. This fact makes those votes far more useful than those
generated by Madrid for example, and should be noted if intend to play
with both.
----------------
Vote Lock Module
So being a module whore, once I realized the utility of Powerbase: Rome
I set out to make a module that I could plug into vote decks. This
module assumes that you want to generate votes by using Rome rather
than the traditional vote push cards, so it should be easy to pull out
Bewitching Orations and Awe from existing decks to put in this module.
With the module's push on gaining more master phase actions, the
additional masters this module uses should be negligible for master
ratios of the deck you're bolting it onto.
Vote Lock Module
(5 cards) (By: Ethan Burrow)
2 Powerbase: Rome
1 Parthenon
2 Rumours of Gehenna
Not surprising, I tend to play Sabbat vote decks that also have
Powerbase: Madrid. This enhanced module accounts for this as well as
including the Church of the Order of St. Blaise which can be used for
either Powerbase to good effect. This is the module I use in all my
current Sabbat vote decks.
Sabbat Vote Lock Module:
(7 cards) (By: Ethan Burrow)
2 Powerbase: Rome
1 Parthenon
2 Rumours of Gehenna
1 Church of the Order of St. Blaise
1 Powerbase: Madrid
------------------
Deck : Vote Lock Test
Author : Ethan Burrow
Description : Deck built to take advantage of the vote gaining
powerbases.
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 6 max: 10 average: 8.17
2x Jessica 7 AUS CEL OBT PRE bishop !Toreador:2
2x Jessica Adv 8 AUS CEL OBT PRE bishop !Toreador:2
1x Donatien 9 AUS PRE cel pot cardinal !Toreador:2
1x Marcel de Breau 9 CEL POT PRE ani pro archbishop !Brujah:3
1x Salinger 9 CEL POT PRE tha archbishop !Brujah:2
1x Lachlan, Noddist 8 AUS CEL PRE dom archbishop !Toreador:2
1x Greta Kircher 7 AUS CEL PRE obf !Toreador:2
1x Sela 6 POT PRE cel obt bishop !Brujah:2
1x Bronwen 10 CEL POT PRE dom obt priscus !Brujah:2
1x Matteus, Flesh Scu 10 AUS CEL PRE VIC priscus !Toreador:2
Library [90 cards]
Action [2]
2x Eternal Vigilance
Action Modifier [9]
1x Under the Skin
8x Voter Captivation
Ally [1]
1x Goth Band
Combat [15]
7x Flash
4x Majesty
4x Staredown
Master [24]
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Information Highway
8x Minion Tap
1x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Loves You!
2x Powerbase: Madrid
2x Powerbase: Rome
1x Retribution
4x Sudden Reversal
3x Zillah's Valley
Political Action [29] 1x Ancient Influence
4x Banishment
3x Deploy the Hand
3x Disputed Territory
2x Finding the Path
7x Kine Resources Contested
2x National Guard Support
1x Political Stranglehold
2x Reinforcements
1x Reins of Power
2x Rumors of Gehenna
1x Year of Fortune
Reaction [10]
6x Telepathic Counter
4x Telepathic Misdirection
It seems I always write a newsletter after some big event. Having just
come back from Gencon Indy 2005 I have once again felt compelled to
write a newsletter. It seems that there are now more game variants for
V:TES than ever before, and I had a chance to try out some of them.
Hella fun. I had more fun with Create a Clan
(http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/index.php?line=cac) than I was
expecting, and I had a blast playing clan Previcus as well as making
them.
You can read my quick synopsis of Gencon 2005 at
http://presence.vekn.org/viewtopic.php?t=24.
----------------
Vampire of the Month - Jessica (Advanced)
I think I've finally made the decision that Jessica (Advanced)
practically wallpapers the original Jessica. For basically one more
pool, you get all the same disciplines, titles, etc. with the addition
of +1 stealth on political actions. That's worth a pool! Unless you're
desperate for the Archbishop title I also don't think merging is really
necessary. Sure you can bring up the basic and then merge for a total
of 8 pool. But you could also just play with the advanced version for 8
pool and never need to merge. So unless you really need an archbishop,
or for some reason you absolutely must have a 7 cap in your crypt, I
see no reason to play with the basic version of Jessica anymore.
Now that she's an 8 cap as advanced, she has all the following
advantages over her basic version :
1. can be target of Zillah's Valley
2. can be target of Honor the Elders
3. can be target of Political Stranglehold
4. cannot be target of Hostile Takeover
5. can use Crocodile's Tongue, etc. on 7 cap vampires now
6. and many others which I'm sure are out there.
-------------------
Card of the Month - Powerbase: Rome
I love playing sealed/limited as it exposes me to potential cards I
normally wouldn't have bothered to use otherwise. Recently I was
playing in a league with the Ravnos starter and desperately needed vote
defense. Kelly Nine had a Powerbase: Rome that he was willing to trade
me, and we double checked the recent text (since we knew it was updated
in Final Nights) to confirm that I could use it. I put it in and played
a few games with it. I found that once in play I had several turns with
no masters, so rather than waste the master phase action I always
remembered to add counters. Over the course of the game I had vote lock
for at least one vote a turn, and in league it was enough. Fueled by
this success, I decided to splice Rome into some of my constructed vote
decks to give it a try.
I put in the usual Parthenon/Rumours to increase my master phases,
reasoning that even if opponents took the action to remove the
counters, I could still amass 2-3 counters after untap if I needed to.
What resulted was amazing success as I abused Rome with Voter
Captivations and bloated like mad, winning tables with several large
titled vampires.
With the updated text, Rome is now strong. Any clan can use it (and the
Giovanni actually get extra use out of it). Other than the fragility of
it being a location, it is now something that can stay in play. Much
like Madrid you don't need to defend the action to remove the counters
if it'll cost you too much. And most importantly, it's now a free card.
However the strongest value I didn't expect came from how the votes are
generated. It doesn't become associated with any vampires in play, nor
have any titled restriction. By card text, it appears that you the
Methuselah gain the votes. So all the new 'Vote Pull' cards that
negate/switch vampire votes do not affect the votes generated by Rome
at all. This fact makes those votes far more useful than those
generated by Madrid for example, and should be noted if intend to play
with both.
----------------
Vote Lock Module
So being a module whore, once I realized the utility of Powerbase: Rome
I set out to make a module that I could plug into vote decks. This
module assumes that you want to generate votes by using Rome rather
than the traditional vote push cards, so it should be easy to pull out
Bewitching Orations and Awe from existing decks to put in this module.
With the module's push on gaining more master phase actions, the
additional masters this module uses should be negligible for master
ratios of the deck you're bolting it onto.
Vote Lock Module
(5 cards) (By: Ethan Burrow)
2 Powerbase: Rome
1 Parthenon
2 Rumours of Gehenna
Not surprising, I tend to play Sabbat vote decks that also have
Powerbase: Madrid. This enhanced module accounts for this as well as
including the Church of the Order of St. Blaise which can be used for
either Powerbase to good effect. This is the module I use in all my
current Sabbat vote decks.
Sabbat Vote Lock Module:
(7 cards) (By: Ethan Burrow)
2 Powerbase: Rome
1 Parthenon
2 Rumours of Gehenna
1 Church of the Order of St. Blaise
1 Powerbase: Madrid
------------------
Deck : Vote Lock Test
Author : Ethan Burrow
Description : Deck built to take advantage of the vote gaining
powerbases.
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 6 max: 10 average: 8.17
2x Jessica 7 AUS CEL OBT PRE bishop !Toreador:2
2x Jessica Adv 8 AUS CEL OBT PRE bishop !Toreador:2
1x Donatien 9 AUS PRE cel pot cardinal !Toreador:2
1x Marcel de Breau 9 CEL POT PRE ani pro archbishop !Brujah:3
1x Salinger 9 CEL POT PRE tha archbishop !Brujah:2
1x Lachlan, Noddist 8 AUS CEL PRE dom archbishop !Toreador:2
1x Greta Kircher 7 AUS CEL PRE obf !Toreador:2
1x Sela 6 POT PRE cel obt bishop !Brujah:2
1x Bronwen 10 CEL POT PRE dom obt priscus !Brujah:2
1x Matteus, Flesh Scu 10 AUS CEL PRE VIC priscus !Toreador:2
Library [90 cards]
Action [2]
2x Eternal Vigilance
Action Modifier [9]
1x Under the Skin
8x Voter Captivation
Ally [1]
1x Goth Band
Combat [15]
7x Flash
4x Majesty
4x Staredown
Master [24]
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Information Highway
8x Minion Tap
1x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Loves You!
2x Powerbase: Madrid
2x Powerbase: Rome
1x Retribution
4x Sudden Reversal
3x Zillah's Valley
Political Action [29] 1x Ancient Influence
4x Banishment
3x Deploy the Hand
3x Disputed Territory
2x Finding the Path
7x Kine Resources Contested
2x National Guard Support
1x Political Stranglehold
2x Reinforcements
1x Reins of Power
2x Rumors of Gehenna
1x Year of Fortune
Reaction [10]
6x Telepathic Counter
4x Telepathic Misdirection
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