Under the Reigns of Dracula

Some points:


-You don't need crypt accelerators, since people normally influence till they get 2-3 vamps. So when Vlad comes out he can just play his Chameleon.
-10 and 11-caps are only problematic in early game. If you take a look at my decklist, there are 2 Abombwe skills to make Vlad 12-cap. You can Mind Rape them and Banish with them if you feel like it.
-Again, if you check my decklist, there are 4 Heidelberg Castle in 60 cards, + other means of refilling him. Blood is not an issue (unless you get contested your HC, that's why i packed in a Dominate Kine).

Anyway, you're going to get all the hate in the world with this deck, I agree with that. They key to success is knowing which vampires you need to steal to survive. There are going to obviously be tables were you're not going to be able to do nothing (as it matters to happen with every deck).


PD: Brainwash is a good idea, the problem are the slots. Anyway, it's better that they influence, that they don't do it, because you need them to spend pool.

-You don't need crypt accelerators, since people normally influence till they get 2-3 vamps. So when Vlad comes out he can just play his Chameleon.

Right, normally they do, but playing against chameleon deck is not normal situation. That only works if they don't know what you're playing. If they know they will play around it. Influence vampires before you can play chameleon, then kicking your butt (as you said it's one of the biggest hate magnet in vtes) and influencing other vampires only when you're not able to steal them.
We were playing with chameleon deck in our local meta for a long time and crypt acceleration was single most important factor that was deciding for a success of the deck. I can't see any reason not to use it.

I can imagine the table hate if you run loads of Chameleon, better tool up before they come for you

Anyway, Vlad opens up a lot of new combinations to try.
Let's see if he is strong enough to make it to the TWDA this year

Given Vlad's abilities he can also play magic of the smith to get the Ankhara Citadel to offset some of the early chameleon use.
For votes all he can probably do is kindred manipulation and loki's gift. Lack of sup. Auspex lost him telepathic vote counting. Voting will be tricky. Another way could be to magic of the smith Lyndhurst estate, New York and agate talisman.

Ankara citadel is a Tremere location so Vlad can not play it, but of course Clan Impersonation is your friend
But if you go that road it is probably easier to make a Tremere like Gerald Windham )+1 stealth) Anarch/Baron, as he has fortitude for multi-acting and making actions unblockable without blood cost.

Damn..i got it into my head his special was like Mata Hari's. Oh well scratch that idea off. Guess Mind rape/chameleon/heidelberg combo it js then.