Blood brother - what can be done ?

Hello.

I have received a significative bunch of mixed bloodlines cards. The one who I believe easier to use seem to be the blood brothers one. I still have quite a bit of interrogation.

If you "simply" have a good blog entry or article about them, I would gladly read it.

* crypt : I can choose between the Mexico Circle and the Kiev circle (no Angelo, no Torrence, no Chicago). Does the Mexico circle really have an interest or should it be let for experiment ? Because I can't see it work too well, especially since they don't have sup' sanguinis.

* library card :
* Since Blood brother main oust way seem to be walk of caine, what can be done about bleed redirection ? Brick laying does not seem to mesh too well with the low capacity of blood brother. So, change of target (while still having paid the heavy cost of Walk of caine, and maybe Shell game in addition), or rushing the would-be redirector vampires ? Or something else that I does not have thought of ?
* For defense, I suppose Tribute to the master + Vessel or blood doll is the way to go, with some Slack the thirst to refill everyone. Am I right ?
* are the Blood brother efficient in combat ? I don't think so (because Sanguinis does not seem too efficient, and they have low disciplines compared to weenies Nosferatu or Brujah), especially with the Kiev Circle (that often have Protean that as a combat discipline does not mesh well with Blood-brother only card)

And, lastly, are blood brother deck difficult to create and / or play ? I does not recoil from "difficult" deck, but it's better to know if it's supposed to create direct and relatively simple S&B deck or somewhat complicated toolboxy decks.

Ohlmann wrote:

Does the Mexico circle really have an interest or should it be let for experiment ? Because I can't see it work too well, especially since they don't have sup' sanguinis.

Some cards are insanely good even at inferior: Walk of Caine, Gestalt,...

You can make a weenie based on the Hermana menor and Lilith's blessing. Since they enter play empty, you can Lilith them on the next turn to give them , and once they are 3 cap they can influence other copies with Street Cred.

Mexico circle swarm bleed something fierce. Kiev I have no experience with.
I personally play Torrence circle.

Bleed reduction. Not much. BB is more "my bleed reduction is reducing the amount of people bleeding me" AND/OR "my bleed defense is the 6 pool from ousting my prey".

Defense. I usually stack up on many, many Unwholesome Bond. But if all you have access to is then it's not as good. Tribute is always good in BB decks.

Effective in combat?
Oh yeah. Nothing says "oh, this is going to hurt me" when the opposing player throws down Three's A Crowd + Torn Signpost, because you know there's an Immortal Grapple coming up.

I find they're harder to create than play. Blood Brothers have a synergy feel over their cards that really tempt you to include a lot of different things. I play 90 cards and I've been in many situations where my deck doesn't flow good at all. My hope is that I one day will be able to make a 75-ish deck that works well. One day...
As for making decisions in-game and playing to the strengths of the deck, that's the easy part.

Remember, Blood Brothers unlike most other clans/bloodlines get exponentially better the more members they get out, not linearly.
All decks benefit from having more minions, but many cards get better and better the more minions there are out there. Walk with Elvis, Unwholesome Bond, Gestalt etc.
Blood Brothers thrive on minion advantage.

hi Ohlmann-

Extrala mentioned a Kiev circle deck he saw at the EC 2010.

extrala.blogspot.com/2010/11/vtes-ec-2010-decks-of-interest.html


he writes a little about it and gives a link to secret library deck list.

I have a Mexico Circle Deck.

Weaknesses:
- Blood drains off them hard and you spend a LOT of time trying to keep them alive. I tend to lean to than because then I can consider multi-acting with them. Makes them VERY fragile.

- Can't block a bus in an alley with a marching band. (At least I don't have the Gestalts to make that even a consideration).

- Any lunge you plan comes with flashing lights, sirens, and a parade out front. All of the bleed-useful cards at are "as announced".

- No . It really blows monkey bollocks and I've been tempted to graft in Agent of Power + Sanguine... but it seems like just another "not killing people" action.

Positives:
- Cheap, Cheap, Cheap
- does some BAAAAAAD things. Walk of Elvis for LOTS + LOTS of stealth from Shell Game. I've previously landed two bleeds of 8 in a single turn from 2 caps (Computer Hack + Walk of Elvis for 6 + Shell Game for 3 stealth). That ruins most people's games.

Tricks:
- Zip Gun + Suppressing Fire. There was a lot of Draba played at one stage and this trick was my way to get around it. Suppressing Fire is -ve intercept, which can neuter star block decks.

- Redistribution. Lose a weenie with stuff you want to sleep? Play Redistribution... it's like a Nod but BETTER (even at )

- can give you some light combat defence (Thrown Gates are handy)