Ishtarri Bamba Rush

Thanks guys, this was exactly what I needed . All your comments were really useful. It is my point exactly that this deck lacks oomph, thus sports some challenge to make it viable (yeah, it is terrible as it is).

I will synthesize the ideas, and try to make possibly two versions: one more with 8 Bambas and one with pre bleed and few Bambas.

Dawn Op is really significant in this deck as it terrifies people who get sucked in. It has proved to have much more significant fear factor than Coma or Entombment from my personal experience.

I have added Projectile firstly because of undodgeable clause and secondly for those sad cases when you lack that .44 in first 10 or so cards. Adding more .44 for Bamba's pretty much solves latter, and the first is more of a party trick, so can be cut down to 1-2.

Ok, so this is PRE-bleed version. In esence, Ubende and Ganhuru are the tag team, Undele is a backup Magaji with an ability useful towards lategame (6 votes should be on tabel by the time you would use it). Otherwise, lack of speed and defence should be a bit mitigated by poolgain from bleeding until blocky part is set up. In combat this is somewhat grinder-type package, which Bambas can use as well. Their role is blocking rushers and helping with bleed if no such threat is present. They still carry threat of agg damage so their bleeds should come through without much fuss mostly.

Any comments on this?

Deck Name: Ishtarri Stickmen
Author:
Description:
A dawn operation here and there should keep people from blocking. Influencing vamps should be done with caution, as defences have to be built up.

Crypt (Capacity min=5 max=9 avg=7; 12 cards)
===============================================
4x Ganhuru 7 cel pro FOR PRE Ishtarri:4
2x Shasa Abu Badr 5 cel for PRE Ishtarri:4
4x Ubende 7 for obf qui CEL PRE Ishtarri:4
2x Undele 9 obf pre ser CEL FOR Ishtarri:5

Library (75 cards)
=====================
Master (24 cards)
1x Barrens, The
1x Direct Intervention
4x Fortitude
1x Giant's Blood
2x Glutton
1x Guardian Angel
2x Ishtarri Warlord
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
1x Port Hunting Ground
1x Powerbase: Tshwane
1x Rack, The
1x Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper, The
2x Sudden Reversal
4x Vessel
1x Wider View

Action (18 cards)
4x Bamba
2x Entrancement
2x No Secrets From the Magaji
4x Public Trust
4x Social Charm
1x Summoning, The
1x Well-Marked

Ally (1 cards)
1x Informant

Retainer (3 cards)
2x Marijava Ghoul
1x Shaman

Action Modifier (12 cards)
4x Dawn Operation
4x Forced March
1x Kiss of Ra, The
1x Strange Day
2x Uncontrolled Impulse

Combat (16 cards)
4x Hidden Strength
4x Rolling with the Punches
2x Unholy Penance
6x Weighted Walking Stick

Combo (1 cards)
1x Ishtarri Kholo

Created with Secret Library v0.9.4a. (Sep 29, 2013 17:09:19)

There is a bad habit of too many Superstar! copies in a crypt, and it is often followed by the other bad habit of Fantastic Four! crypt spread. Hyper-focused does you no favors here.

You are investing too heavily in a tight mix of vampires here, but you are not playing them for all they are worth, and in the end they are still expendable. I''m sure at the least you can go 3+3 on Ubende and Ganhuru, and you really don't need 2 copies of Undele here -- that's 3 crypt slots to spread among other mid to low caps. Each 4 or under cap you bring out is a saved Bamba action at best to your crypt focus.

Your masters are too damn high. It's a third of your deck and, outside of Vessel, little accelerant. You get maybe 13 or less turns in an average game, and yet you easily have about twice as many masters as you'd likely have turns.

Speaking of taking advantage of your turns, you have zero reactions. The vast majority of every player's time is watching the rest of the table play -- you should have some potential responses to their stuff. Instead you are relying on PRE bloat, Rumor Mill, Guardian Angel, and 2 No Secrets to save you. To say the least, you're not bloating enough.

It's like you're fighting against your inner desire for a rush deck in the face of trying to create a breed deck or PRE bleed bloat deck. What exactly is the core desire for you choosing Ishtarri? Breed is card intensive, rush is card intensive, and bleed can be card intensive (esp. w/ transients v. permanents).

Give us your ideal turn and we might be able to address where you need to go in order to get where you want to be.

There is a bad habit of too many Superstar! copies in a crypt, and it is often followed by the other bad habit of Fantastic Four! crypt spread. Hyper-focused does you no favors here.

You are investing too heavily in a tight mix of vampires here, but you are not playing them for all they are worth, and in the end they are still expendable. I''m sure at the least you can go 3+3 on Ubende and Ganhuru, and you really don't need 2 copies of Undele here -- that's 3 crypt slots to spread among other mid to low caps. Each 4 or under cap you bring out is a saved Bamba action at best to your crypt focus.

True, however there is 1 point to the deck, which is critical: having a Magaji as your first vampire. Who, does not matter really, and Ubende has a nice synergy with Ganhuru, therefore they are tagged, however I agree, that 4 might be too much for a non-critical vampire and Shasa's ability is not critical at the point she would see play.

Your masters are too damn high.

Triffles I don't count towards that limit, skill cards as well, because Bambas can get them from the ash heap, however 15 solid masters were a bit on a high side.

Speaking of taking advantage of your turns, you have zero reactions.

Spot on. I did not include any to test the engine. I have added some, which are even playable by Bambas. Familial Bond is quite good as it gives either combat or action fails. Although the combat is nowhere scary, Bamba with a stick and Undead Persistence gives a good value for its worth.

This is a grinder deck featuring Bambas. I have only vague idea on breeding mechanics, therefore they are here to add flexibility and protect the fatter guys and die horribly attempting to eat someone hit by Dawn Op.

Ideal setup would be to have a Magaji and a supporting vamp. Magaji puts Bamba/whatever minion action 1, stealths/dawn ops if needed (and it is rarely needed due to Dawn Op factor). Untaps (read Glutton), bleeds. Second vamp bleeds. Bamba stays vigilant to potential threats, Magaji doubles up for defence if needed.

Below is an updated 90 card version of the deck. And thanks for the points made!

Deck Name: Ishtarri Stickmen
Author:
Description:
A dawn operation here and there should keep people from blocking. Influencing vamps should be done with caution, as defences have to be built up.

Crypt (Capacity min=3 max=9 avg=6.5; 12 cards)
=================================================
1x Abu Nuwasi 3 cel for Ishtarri:4
3x Ganhuru 7 cel pro FOR PRE Ishtarri:4
2x Kenyatta 4 cel for pre Ishtarri:4
4x Ubende 7 for obf qui CEL PRE Ishtarri:4
2x Undele 9 obf pre ser CEL FOR Ishtarri:5

Library (90 cards)
=====================
Master (24 cards)
1x Barrens, The
4x Fortitude
1x Giant's Blood
2x Glutton
1x Guardian Angel
2x Ishtarri Warlord
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
2x Perfectionist
1x Port Hunting Ground
1x Powerbase: Tshwane
1x Rack, The
4x Vessel
2x Wash
1x Wider View

Action (19 cards)
4x Bamba
2x Entrancement
2x No Secrets From the Magaji
9x Social Charm
1x Summoning, The
1x Well-Marked

Ally (1 cards)
1x Informant

Retainer (3 cards)
2x Marijava Ghoul
1x Shaman

Action Modifier (12 cards)
4x Dawn Operation
4x Forced March
1x Kiss of Ra, The
1x Strange Day
2x Uncontrolled Impulse

Reaction (8 cards)
4x Familial Bond
4x Terra Incognita

Combat (22 cards)
4x Hidden Strength
2x Projectile
4x Rolling with the Punches
4x Undead Persistence
2x Unholy Penance
6x Weighted Walking Stick

Combo (1 cards)
1x Ishtarri Kholo

Created with Secret Library v0.9.4a. (Oct 1, 2013 22:52:53)