Lazarus

There are quite a number of social decks in Blacktown at the moment with 2+ Archon Investigations. In slightly-distant (about 5 years) time there was a Qualifier Game where 7 vampires were burned by Archon Investigation between 5 players. Twice the acting vampire's PREDATOR burned the vampire with Archon Investigation (after making a flick-trip around the table).

So feel free to bring your 4+ bleeders to Blacktown, expect to get Archoned.

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

So feel free to bring your 4+ bleeders to Blacktown, expect to get Archoned.

Does the fact that you often play AI make AI better ?

I still stand by my observation that AI is not alway playable in a game, burning outright a vampire from your predator is not alway a good move (the opposite, often), and it still don't save too many pool.

Usually, when you are on the receiving end of a 4+ bleed, you are within oust range. And unlike a block or a redirect, Archon still allow the action to significantly lower your pool. So it does not protect you well in thoses moment were you really need it. A On the qui vive will more often save the day than an AI in my opinion.

But that's beside the point, since the proposed Lazarus is not in any way immune to redirect, who are really much more of a problem when you bleed for 4+.

AI's strength, is in the threat of AIing more than actually doing it.

Jerkface wrote:

AI's strength, is in the threat of AIing more than actually doing it.

That is so true... By the way, in our meta, I rarely see AI altogether, and most of the time, it's discarded. I don't even see it as a silver bullet, as said before, it mainly saves only 1-2 pool and can easily give the whole table to the player's grand-predator. Mostly a waste of cardspace, in my opinion.

Actually, we rarely have it 'give away tables'. Sometimes 'throwing' a VP can get you enough time for you to take your own VP and get some momentum of your own. Again, the threat of AI (even cross table) can be enough to limit people's tendency to bleed overly agressively.

The number of times when a vampire has been flicked to a position where it is advantageous to burn the vampire with AI occurs often in games (e.g. your PREY ends up in a position where they might be bleeding you, and then you burn them with AI).

Juggernaut1981 wrote:

Again, the threat of AI (even cross table) can be enough to limit people's tendency to bleed overly agressively.

Don't forget that AI can't be played cross table without a lot of deflection or My ennemy's ennemy (or some strange Malkavien shenanigans). I stand on the fact that playing AI for the off-chance of a redirection of your prey on you is more a prayer than anything else.

You may play AI if you have neither intercept nor redirect. It's not as bad as Eye of the dead or tortured confession. But if you commonly play AI in 2+, it mean you are doing it wrong and you incorrectly believe it's a good solution against aggressive bleeding.

(don't forget that the minion that bleed you for 4+ can be a Bima, or one of three 4-cap vampire that will be paid again with the 6 pool gained ; making your predator lose the game usually don't help you in the slightest)

Also, AI is a solution only against heavy bleed. It don't help against political action at all, or against horde bleeding, or even halfway big bleed. So, saying it's very specific is an understatement.