Gangrel trouble

Hey suckers,

So I hosted our VTES group over the weekend and ended up dismantling all of my Gangrel decks. I've been trying to construct a functional combat deck using basic Gangrel or !Gangrel elements for a while now. I can't seem to pull it off.

Maybe it was just the table environment, but NOTHING worked.
Either they ran themselves out of blood or none of their strikes landed or did damage. They just stopped being a viable combat option.

I checked the deck archives, but I can't seem to find anything I like.
Can anybody suggest a few combat decks using just the "traditional" in-clan builds?

Is it possible the Gangrel get the short end of the combat stick and I just realized it?

have you tried some ANI combat with some support from Pro - depending on how gangrel v !Gangrel you want to be Celeste-Janey-Bobby can do a lot of damage just with some Carrion Crows, Aid from Bats and a few Claws of the Dead/Earth Melds for emergencies.

It's not very exciting but reasonably reliable and adds some twists to straight ANI short chain combat.

This decks is really toolboxy but has all the right elements to build a comabt deck out of:
www.thelasombra.com/decks/twd.htm#2k9scotteq

yesferatu wrote:

Is it possible the Gangrel get the short end of the combat stick and I just realized it?

If you try too much to use Claw of the dead and other aggro poke, yes. The reall good combat card in Protean tend to be the free one, like Flesh of Marble ; in most case, aggravated damage is something good in 1-3 spot for specific case, while being weak in most other cases.

If you use carrion crow / aid from the bat (or WWS), you can do wonder however, and Flesh of marble is gold against a lot of combat types while being cyclable easily.

Another traditional and working thing is using allies, like Renegade Garou.

Torvus decks are ok. I've had the same problem you are trying to run gangrel combat. I'm working on using standing + strength and ritual challenge with revel and shadow of the beast, so that once you have a dog pack your pretty much set. crows and prevent are solid, but I can't make the gangrel what I want them to be for combat.

Mic from g5 and torvus/brunhilde in3 are close to where I want. they can bleed for 3 with deep song and tier, plus some ani intercept but they still aren't on par with Cock robin, hardestadt, Ignazio , or g56 !salubri with Q, path, aofcainesfury , trap etc.

I'd be more than happy to send you lists of what I've tried and why they failed if you want them. our meta is full of hall of famers and combat, so you may get other results.

I'm trying a big gangrel with tham next, and that looks more promising.

I was mainly having trouble with damage prevention and avoidance.
Every time I popped claws, my target was able to prevent the damage. Every time I tried the Bats/Crows route, I saw a dodge or combat-ends. Admittedly, I haven't played the decks in a while, but the damage output just wasn't there.

Playing Brujah or even Nosferatu combat worked just fine.
I looked all over the Secret Library - in clan Gangrel disciplines just seem to get the shaft. They were all really expensive or ineffective.

What's bugging me is that I seem to remember a time when Gangrel combat was a threat and not just a giant earth meld fest.

Thanks for the link, Squidalot but it looks like the majority of the combat is 13 Earth Melds.
I see lots of intercept and untap, but when you get into combat...it's just untap wall. I'm sure it works, it's just not what I had in mind.