Ariadne Combat

If you really need Ariadne in your starting crypt, then play 5 copies in a crypt of 13. Best way to maximise your chances.

the1andonlime wrote:

Ariadne can just diablarise the vamps in torpor?

She can, if she could get through. Later in the game I got depravity on her whic helped, but in the early stages I didn't have the action to get through, or the combat to win repeated combats thoroughly.

In terms of her appearance in my opening crypt, I only have 4 copies. If the dech shows some promise I'll get another.

Yeah so I have no idea why you'd do this combat deck instead of Minion Tap, Abactor, and stealth.

But to address your problems: your opponents aren't afraid to block you. Make them afraid - play more Amaranth. The bulk of your combat should be:

• Carrion Crows - wrecks allies and burns vampires
• Claws of the Dead - counter maneuvers!
• Amaranth

Everything else is gravy. Fit in 1-2 Canine Horde, as much damage prevention as you feel you need, and give the deck a spin. And if your opponents stuff their decks with Strike: Combat Ends... add more Dog Packs and maybe Pack Alpha to get around blockers?

Thanks, I'll give that a try and see how it goes

I'm thinking to try something else with this deck - drop the deep songs and freak drives, add in a bunch of pack alpha + retainers (raptors, ravens, owls, another dog pack) plus a Rack and a couple of Army of Rats.

The actions just aren't dangerous enough, and freak drive for weak actions is a waste. By transitioning it to more of a wall deck I get to influence the game a bit more through my choices of intercept, and the slower pace will assist in getting the high impact cards like Dragonbound out, as well as Heidelberg which will have a lot of utility with the retainers.

The pack alphas should make the cards flow a bit better, and I should have enough blood generation to pay for the more expensive raptors.

Any thoughts?

Dragar wrote:

Deck Name: Ariadne Combat
Author: Dragar
Description:
Toolboxy combat deck using the excellent Group 5 gangrels capitalising on Ariadne\'s specials.

Crypt (12 cards; Capacity min=6 max=9 avg=7.17)
===============================================
1x Aksinya Daclau 9 cel tha ANI FOR PRE PRO !Gangrel:4
4x Ariadne 8 chi ANI FOR PRO Gangrel:5
1x Janey Pickman 6 for ANI PRO !Gangrel:4
1x Lisé 6 pot pro ANI FOR Gangrel:5
2x Ryder 7 ani pot FOR PRO Gangrel:4
2x Shiloh Marie, Vengeance 6 ANI FOR PRO Gangrel:5
1x Talbot 7 for ANI NEC PRO Gangrel:5

Library (90 cards)
==================
Master (19)
1x Backways
2x Blood Doll
1x Depravity
1x Ecoterrorists
1x Fame
1x Haven Uncovered
1x Heidelberg Castle, Germany
1x Leadership Vacuum
4x Minion Tap
2x Rötschreck
1x Tension in the Ranks
2x Vessel
1x Wider View

Event (2)
1x Dragonbound
1x NSA Trio

Action (13)
4x Abactor
8x Deep Song
1x Ritual Challenge

Equipment (2)
1x Aaron's Feeding Razor
1x Unlicensed Taxicab

Retainer (3)
1x Dog Pack
1x Homunculus
1x Raven Spy

Action Modifier (6)
6x Freak Drive

Reaction (8)
1x Cats' Guidance
2x Rat's Warning
5x Sense the Savage Way

Combat (36)
2x Aid from Bats
1x Amaranth
3x Bone Spur
4x Carrion Crows
1x Claws of the Dead
2x Conquer the Beast
3x Drawing Out the Beast
3x Flesh of Marble
2x Form of Mist
2x Indomitability
4x Rolling with the Punches
3x Scorpion Sting
2x Superior Mettle
2x Terror Frenzy
2x Wolf Claws

Combo (1)
1x Ritual of the Bitter Rose

Created with Secret Library v0.9.4a. (Dec 6, 2012 07:30:53)


How do you intend to oust?
Slowly.. deep song bleeds, dragonboound/fame/TITR.

How do you intend to keep from being ousted?
Ariadne bloat. Rush as required.

What do you want your ready region to look like (ie, how many guys are you planning on getting out)?
Ariadne + 1 or 2 other. Ryder preferred

What do you want your average turn to look like?
Ariadne hunt. 1-2 vamps act, bleed or rush.

What's your metagame like? How do your opponents play?
Varied, lots of intercept, occasional brutal combat.

What problems have you observed with the deck in play?
Played it twice - first game had Ahrimane predator intercepting all my hunts. Held my own and hurt his vamps, but stalled and my prey ran away with it. Second game drew no Ariadne, had a predator intercepting with lots of combat ends.

Critiques and opinions welcomed!

If your goal is to make a combat deck out of Ariadne (or any gangrel, for that matter) you need to streamline your combat way more. The problem with gangrel ANI PRO combat is that you normally waste 2-3 cards before you get to strike, and then the enemy can just S:CE before you can torporize him. 1 dog pack and 1 NSA trio in a 90 card deck won't be enough to deal with this problem. So, you have two alternatives IMHO

1- get meaner actions and mix combat avoidance with aggro poke. Abactor giving 6 blood to Ariadne is enough, you don't need feeding razor or loki's gift to further enhace this package. Get some Tier of Souls and once you are bleeding for 3 with them and Deep Songs if you get blocked and they try to fight you, you aggro poke them... if they don't, you form of mist away and continue with your now threatening action.

A combat package for this strategy could be something like this

6x Claws of the Dead
8x Form of Mist
8x Flesh of Marble
4x Earth Meld
4x Scorpion Sting


2- Go full combat, but make it so that S:CE don't complete ruin your day. In most gangrel decks this is done by adding a discipline that has cards that can stop S:CE, like Torvus and friends with Immortal. Since Ariadne can't do this, I'd run heavy on permanet damage retainers, pack alphas and aggro poke, so if you get into combat you don't need to play 3-4 animalism cards just to see them S:CE when you don't have your Dog Pack yet. Also, capitalize more on Amaranth and the fear it causes on enemies. Once you diablerized an Inner Circle scot free people will think twice about entering combat with you, letting your bloating engine run more smothly.

for this I would use something like this:

8x Claws of the Dead
8x Pack Alpha
6x Amaranth
4x Flesh of Marble
4x Rolling with the Punches

1x Dog Pack
3x Murder of Crows
2x Owl Companion
2x Wolf Companion (asuming here tou can't get your hands in 5 Murder of Crows)


anyway, your deck seems more toolboxy than really a combat focused deck. If you wanna go toolbox (the first combat package I posted is suited for toolboxiness) you should really make use of the great stealth options protean have. When you got 1 or 2 of each key action you can't afford to have them blocked.