file My 1st Deck (Having Never Played VTES)

12 Mar 2018 22:21 #85699 by LivesByProxy
So I've never played VTES before, but I'm interested in the game and it looks pretty fun. Here is the deck I was thinking about playing (assume I could acquire the cards and find a group...):

Crypt (14 cards; Capacity min=3 max=9 avg=6.454545)
==================
2x Henry Taylor | 6 cel pre pro POT | Brujah antitribu:3
1x Icarus, The Manchurian | 7 ani for pro OBF POT | Nosferatu antitribu:4
2x Nails | 5 ani obf pro POT | Nosferatu antitribu:4
1x Ryder | 7 ani pot FOR PRO | Gangrel:4
1x Baron Dieudonne | 9 ANI OBF POT PRO | Nosferatu:4
1x Skryta Zyleta | 5 obf pot pro CEL | Gangrel antitribu:3
1x Soldat | 7 cel dom obf POT PRO | Gangrel antitribu:3
2x Bill Butler | 3 pot pro | Gangrel antitribu:4
1x Black Annis | 9 ani pro OBF POT | Nosferatu antitribu:4
1x Aeron | 9 aus pro ANI OBF POT | Nosferatu antitribu:3
1x Alessandro Garcia | 4 pot pre pro | Brujah antitribu:4

Library: 70 cards

Master (16 cards)
==================
1x Arcanum Chapterhouse, Alexandria
1x Major Boon
1x Momentum's Edge
1x Not to Be
1x Ashur Tablets
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Shanty Town Hunting Ground
3x Villein
1x Wash
1x Wider View
1x Brainwash
1x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx

Action (9 cards)
==================
3x Ambush
3x Bum's Rush
3x Computer Hacking

Combat (27 cards)
==================
4x Gleam of Red Eyes
3x Immortal Grapple
7x Pushing the Limit
4x Slam
3x Wolf Claws
3x Claws of the Dead
3x Disarm

Reaction (18 cards)
==================
6x Eyes of the Beast
3x Forced Awakening
4x On the Qui Vive
2x Sonar
3x Wake with Evening's Freshness


So the goal is to be so threatening in combat that my prey lets me bleed them for 1-3 pool repeatedly with 1-3 vamps and/or the occasional Computer Hacking. The deck is built around Protean and Potence as a combo package of sorts, letting me hit an opposing vampire in combat for 3+ agg damage, torpor'ing them or outright threatening to burn them (especially weenies). To defend against my predator, I've got plenty of wakes (Forced Awakening, Qui Vive, Evening's Freshness, Baron Dieudonne's special ability) and intercept bonuses (Eyes of the Beast, Sonar, Ryder's special ability). I can also rush across-table or my predator (with Bum's Rush, Ambush, and Black Annis' special ability) but importantly, my goal here is not to completely crater (assuming I'm using that term correctly?) my prey or another player, but only threaten to set them back sufficiently. I want my prey to be able to wound his prey, so I make 0 stealth bleeds and dare them to block, applying pressure but not too much. Likewise, I'm not trying to make my predator powerless against his prey, only punishing them when they try big bleeds or other direct actions or political actions against me and my minions.

I'm not really a fan of the Sabbat, but Group 3-4 had the best capacity range of vamps for my PRO-PO strategy.
* Dieudonne, has his built-in wake and can offer some vote protection,
* Annis has built-in rush and +1 strength,
* Aeron has built-in bonus damage and an optional press and offers some vote protection,
* Bill Butler and Alessandro Garcia are just weenies, so they come out early, that I can bleed with for cheap or throw in the way of my predator or intercept some other action; they aren't the heaviest hitters but they can still threaten, which is the point,
* Skyreta Zyleta is there for the same reasons Butler and Garcia are, but she's also a Black Hand member so that is nice.
* Icarus, the Manchurian is another great vamp to bleed / threaten with. Do you block and get beat-down by him? Or do you take the bleed and show me your hand?
* Ryder can also peek at my prey's hand, which is great for avoiding S:CE and Dodges, and has his +1 intercept on {D} actions.
* Soldat is solid with his superior Protean and Potence, and his special ability to burn the Edge to give a Black Hand vamp a maneuver (including himself) could be relevant sometimes.
* Henry Taylor has POT meaning he can hit hard and Pro so he can do agg damage, but his special ability lets him recover a combat cards he uses, which is why he is a 2-of in my crypt.
* Last but not least is Nails who is the inspiration for this deck. I love her. I love her artwork, I love her discipline set, I only wish she had a special ability or maybe a +1 bleed or something. Still, she's got POT and pro and is only a 5-cap, so she comes out early and fits nicely into my 0 stealth "I dare you to block" / "I dare you to try to bleed me" plan.

So what do you think? I've got a bunch of Master cards that I included because they're just kinda staple / powerful cards, but I'm open to suggestions.

:gang: :CEL: :FOR: :PRO: :cap6: Gangrel. Noddist. Camarilla. Once each turn, LivesByProxy may burn 1 blood to lose Protean :PRO: until the end of the turn and gain your choice of superior Auspex :AUS:, Obfuscate :OBF:, or Potence :POT: for the current action.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
13 Mar 2018 02:21 #85703 by self biased
Your Crypt doesn't look too bad overall, but G3-4 Gangrel anti-tribu are also not exactly hot commodities. you could probably condense this down to 6-7 vampires from 11, and hit the minimum of 12 vampires in your crypt. Look to maximize what disciplines are the most important to get off

It looks like you want to run a bruise/bleed deck; you want to hit hard, and for Agg. Bruise/Bleed can be super fun to play, but your bleed package is almost non-existent. Consider Laptop Computers or Camera Phones for permanent bleed bonuses. You're going to need to bleed for 2-3 consistently with each of your minions, and lunge for 5-6 when needed. Archon investigation is absolutely a thing (I played two in the finals at the last Temple-con), but is really meta dependent. Potence and Protean are generally not good at Bleeding. Though there are a few Anarch cards that could be interesting to use.

But 3 Computer Hackings ain't gonna cut it. You've got no real way to do pool damage to your prey consistently. Consider Army of Rats: if you get it out early and your prey ignores it, you can burn 4-5 pool easily; but the real strength is forcing your prey to choose between taking an action to do what it wants, or taking an action to burn Army of Rats. unless they're packing stealth, you can easily block and hopefully torpor or even burn the minion in combat. Taking Actions is the best way to get blocked and into combat. Consider adding 5-9 Computer Hacking if nothing else.

Speaking of Combat, Potence is great for dishing out the pain, but you didn't include any increased strength, torn signposts, or even melee weapons. If you only plan on making one strike, you really should make it count. Protean is expensive, and paying two blood to swing for five Agg is on the high side, especially since you could play Torn Signpost and/or increased strength to bump those numbers up. Honestly, Torn Signpost and Claws is probably more efficient of a combo.

I see you've got Immortal Grapple, and boy howdy is that a good thing, because Strike: Combat Ends or even a humble Strike: Dodge will ruin your day. There is a very glaring flaw in your combat module: What on earth are you going to do to a deck that packs Fortitude? "Prevent all damage from the opposing minion's strike" is pretty common on damage prevention cards. You'll also fold to Celerity Guns, as they'll probably. Have way more maneuvers than you'll be able to generate. On the other side, you're going to find that decks that don't want to be in combat will have ways of staying outside your Hand's reach.

For Reactions, Forced Awakening is probably better if you are actually trying to block. At best you've got +2 intercept, and in very specific cases +3 intercept. You'll catch casual stealth but serious stealth will leave you behind. Also, you don't have much in the way of vote defense. Consider delaying tactics.

Last but not least, your Master card selection is all over the place. Why only one copy of Ashur Tablets? is it your hope that you'll have opponents bringing more copies and you'll be able to snipe them away? Ashur Tablets are popular, but they're not Pentex Subversion levels of popular. I don't really think this strategy is viable, if that's what you're going for. I'm not sure where you're going with the Major Boon either. You've got some solid choices and a number of Trifles, but three Villeins, a Hunting Ground, and Dreams of the Sphinx isn't much in the way of blood management. Honestly, I'd use Minion Taps, as you're not really going for MMPA. I'd also throw in some Blood Dolls (or Vessels if you're feeling cheeky). Also, I'm utterly shocked you didn't include Fame in your master selections, as part of your plan seems to be to throw aggravated damage.

all-in-all, i feel that you've got a solid concept, but given the depth of the card pool and your lack of experience in playing the game, you're making several sub-optimal choices.

I'd be interested in exchanging further contact info, so that we might be able to arrange a game on Lackey, or depending on geography, in person.

As a follow-up I'll put together a Bruise/bleed deck using potence and protean and we can compare notes.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
13 Mar 2018 02:43 #85704 by Ezra


Why only one copy of Ashur Tablets? is it your hope that you'll have opponents bringing more copies and you'll be able to snipe them away? Ashur Tablets are popular, but they're not Pentex Subversion levels of popular. I don't really think this strategy is viable


Read the cardtext from Ashur Tablets again please. This is not how it work.

Maxime Socroun, 3200321
The following user(s) said Thank You: LivesByProxy

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
13 Mar 2018 02:44 #85705 by self biased
Deck Name: POT/PRO bruise bleed
Author: Christopher Malec
Description:

Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=4 max=11 avg=7.4)
==================
1x Hardestadt 11 cel pro DOM FOR POT PRE Ventrue:4
3x Henry Taylor 6 cel pre pro POT Brujah antitribu:3
3x Adana de Sforza 11 aus CEL OBF POT PRE PRO Brujah:4
2x Steve Booth 5 pot pre pro CEL Brujah:3
3x Alessandro Garcia 4 pot pre pro Brujah antitribu:4

Library: 80 cards

Master (17 cards)
==================
3x Fame
2x Giant's Blood
2x Minion Tap
2x Protean
4x Zillah's Valley
2x Blood Doll
2x Dreams of the Sphinx

Action (15 cards)
==================
2x Shadow of the Beast
10x Show of Force
3x Dream World

Action Modifier (9 cards)
==================
9x Iron Glare

Combat (22 cards)
==================
6x Form of Mist
2x Form of the Ghost
2x Fractured Armament
6x Torn Signpost
6x Claws of the Dead

Equipment (5 cards)
==================
2x Heart of Nizchetus
3x Laptop Computer

Reaction (12 cards)
==================
3x Eyes of the Beast
4x Forced Awakening
3x Sonar
2x Delaying Tactics

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
13 Mar 2018 02:47 #85706 by self biased


Why only one copy of Ashur Tablets? is it your hope that you'll have opponents bringing more copies and you'll be able to snipe them away? Ashur Tablets are popular, but they're not Pentex Subversion levels of popular. I don't really think this strategy is viable


Read the cardtext from Ashur Tablets again please. This is not how it work.


you're right. it's worse than that:

Put this card in play. If you control three copies, remove all copies in play (even controlled by other Methuselahs) from the game to gain 3 pool and choose up to thirteen cards from your ash heap. Move one of those cards to your hand and shuffle the others into your library.


so there's literally no reason to include only one in a deck.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
13 Mar 2018 06:02 #85707 by brandonsantacruz
If you have never built a deck before I would start by playing a precon or using someone else's deck to get a feel for what goes in them. Efficiency is a big deal in VTES, so sticking to smaller capacity vampires with one or two disciplines in common, preferably in-clan like potence and presence, can reduce what you need to pay to field your minions.

As currently constructed you will get around 2 minions in play and largely be ignored by people with strike: combat ends. You may stop your predator, but that would mostly leave your prey with a stronger hand.

Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche

brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
The following user(s) said Thank You: LivesByProxy

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
Moderators: AnkhaKraus
Time to create page: 0.087 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum