Ian's Skin Condition

Basically, I got looking at the awesomeness of Under My Skin today, and thought the !Tremere could put it to really good use with Ian and friends. IMO that has to be one of the most efficient stealth cards ever. So this is a basic, toolboxy !Tremere (with a splash of Samedi) deck, with a bit more sneak than the average with the obfuscate and thanatosis angle, which also helps in combat a bit. Would love to get some feedback on this one - I just threw it together!

Deck Name : Ian's Skin Condition
Author : Jay Gannon
Description :

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 6 max: 9 average: 7.33333
3x Ian Forestal (8) Tremere antitribu (group 2)
2x Terrell Harding (7) Tremere antitribu (group 3)
2x Reverend Blackwood (6) bishop Tremere antitribu (group 2)
1x Baron, The (9) 2 votes Samedi (group 2)
1x Ethan Locke (9) archbishop Tremere antitribu (group 2)
1x Jorge De La Muerte, The Agent (7) Samedi (group 2)
1x Ladislas Toth, The Torch (7) archbishop Tremere antitribu (group 3)
1x Selena (6) Tremere antitribu (group 3)


Library [90 cards]

Action [12]
2x Bum's Rush
4x Govern the Unaligned
1x Graverobbing
1x Harass
2x Magic of the Smith
1x Rutor's Hand
1x Scouting Mission

Action Modifier [17]
2x Bonding
4x Conditioning
2x Freak Drive
2x Into Thin Air
1x Spying Mission
1x Threats
5x Under My Skin

Action Modifier/Reaction [1]
1x Murmur of the False Will

Combat [22]
3x Apportation
1x Ashes to Ashes
2x Blood Fury
2x Dust to Dust
8x Theft of Vitae
2x Trap
4x Walk of Flame

Equipment [7]
2x .44 Magnum
1x Bowl of Convergence
1x Ivory Bow
1x Laptop Computer
1x Leather Jacket
1x Ruins of Ceoris

Master [15]
3x Blood Doll
1x Dominate
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Giant's Blood
2x Infernal Pact
2x Obfuscate
1x Spontaneous Power
2x Sudden Reversal
1x University Hunting Ground
1x Vessel

Reaction [16]
4x Deflection
1x Enhanced Senses
2x Eyes of Argus
2x Forced Awakening
4x On the Qui Vive
2x Spirit's Touch
1x Telepathic Misdirection

Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Mon Jan 23 22:56:23 2012]

Originally had Forced Marches in here instead of Freak Drive (my mistake on the rules, see below.) Mylan Horseed is also another possible consideration, because I think there are enough diverse actions in there to justify multi-acting, and Rutor's Hand's a bit pricy to play. Hrm...

Another consideration I had was Domain of Evernight, considering how well it could work with my guns and such. Thoughts?

LunaSlave wrote:

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 6 max: 9 average: 7.33333
3x Ian Forestal (8) Tremere antitribu (group 2)
2x Terrell Harding (7) Tremere antitribu (group 3)
2x Reverend Blackwood (6) bishop Tremere antitribu (group 2)
1x Baron, The (9) 2 votes Samedi (group 2)
1x Ethan Locke (9) archbishop Tremere antitribu (group 2)
1x Jorge De La Muerte, The Agent (7) Samedi (group 2)
1x Ladislas Toth, The Torch (7) archbishop Tremere antitribu (group 3)
1x Selena (6) Tremere antitribu (group 3)

Really not sure about the Forced Marches, they're awesome because they're free, but the more I think about it, perhaps they should be Freak Drive, considering that more vamps in the crypt can actually use it and that I have no real practical way of using Forced March at superior. Mylan Horseed is also another possible consideration, because I think there are enough diverse actions in there to justify multi-acting, and Rutor's Hand's a bit pricy to play. Hrm...

Jorge is the only minion who can play Forced March without help. Ian can only fake one discipline at a time.

that's right forgot about that. I think that applies to Infernal familiar as well, right? thank you. will modify the original post accordingly

Feels like you're trying to do a lot of things at once - and I don't just mean play obf thn for dom aus tha!

A question I like to ask myself when deckbuilding is, "what is the preferred stance of this deck?" I mean, any deck can race forward or hold back when the time is right, can try to block or try not to, can pick fights or avoid them, etc, but a deck usually has something it would prefer to be doing. If the answer is "everything", that generally means I'm trying to do too much at once. And that means I won't be doing any of them well - at least not reliably.

I feel like that's going on here too. You can block, but you aren't great at it. And you can replace "block" in the last sentence with any of the following: start combat, bleed at stealth, avoid combat, bloat, tool up.

This isn't just being a toolbox deck. Even toolbox decks tend to be built around an overall approach, like blocking, multi-acting, or bleeding at stealth.

Overall, I think the deck here would be much better if you narrowed in on a particular strategy, like stealth bleed, building up equipment, or offensive combat. I think the basic idea of the Samedi/Ian alliance is sound and interesting, and there are plenty of ways you can go with it - I think you just need to narrow things down a bit.

Consider Seal of Veddartha. Terrell Harding and your Samedi will appreciate it.

finbury: a lot of my decks have that problem I tend to build very inconsistent piles of cards that masquerade as decks. I do enjoy the flexibility something like this offers, though, even if it's unfocused. You're right in that it's not particularly focused. I think a lot of the reason I'm able to do fairly well, at least in my local meta, with this sort of thing is because I'm able to table talk my way through the game with it. But I wouldn't want to play something like this in a big tournament, no. Actually that's a lie - i *would* want to play something like this in a big tournament, for fun, but it just wouldn't be the optimal choice for actually winning...

I play Magic as well, and I'm kinda infamous locally for building strange decks with a LOT of one-ofs in them. They're less consistent, but more flexible, in that they provide more options, with the right luck. I think my deckbuilding approach has sorta carried over to V:TES as well...heh.

As for what I'd prefer to be doing? Mostly going forward, I think, and untapping and bouncing/blocking enough to survive. I'd love to have even more copies of Under My Skin in there, but was afraid that they'd clog up my hand...and I have decided to include

Jeff: I love that suggestion! And I can fetch it with Magic of the Smith. What would you replace? And do you agree with finbury about the lack of focus?