Good Lasombra / Obtenebration cards since the 1st Sabbat set

This isn't a deck post per se, so if a Mod wants to relocate it, please do. I just thought this was the best place for it.

This past weekend I finally got to play VTES after a long hiatus. We've lost a lot of players but managed to cobble together a small table. A friend who hasn't played since the first Sabbat expansion brought a Lasombra deck to the table. He did OK, and while he doesn't want to overhaul his deck to bring in a dozen expansions of new Lasombra/Obten tech, I thought it would be helpful if I could point him towards some interesting / solid / cool cards that he might want to consider for updating his deck.

(I doubt he'd let me post the deck but I thought it was a decent toolboxy deck, especially considering how old it was. I was playing an Assamite Black Hand deck and I got the vibe that the untapping / intercept / bloat tech I was using probably seemed overpowered to him.)

Actually, OBT did not get über useful gadgets since the Sabbat era. Most lasombra players still use the staples that were available at that time, mainly the 2 Stealth cards (Shadow play & shroud of night) and for combat Entombment or shadow body depending if they want to hurt (trumping prevention) or flee.

The additions since Sabbat are mainly stealth cards (I recommend shroud of absence and tenebrous form which are terrific), and a series of barely playable combat cards like ahrimane's demesne and shadow parasite. Oubliette (from sabbat war) is nice though, it's a combat ends that makes the opponent burn one blood : perfect against the dreaded muddled vampire hunter.

Zaire river ferry from legacy of blood is a nice equipment that either give stealth or trumps a rush. It's a good addition in any lasombra deck, really.

You can check this by yourself on www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?lib

As for vampires, I can't think of a really awesomely good lasombra since the Domingo de polonia / Monçada duet from Sabbat Wars.

The more recent midcaps like Banjoko / ermenegildo etc are cheap and efficient though, plus they have the black hand trait for extra diversity and different choices in strategies.

In any case, tell him "welcome back in to the game, your old cards collection still rocks ! " on our behalf

Assuming he wants to use the group 2 still, Tobias Smith goes perfectly in with the PRE crowd, as does Marcus Vitel (the Ventrue version actually has votes too), and as mentioned above, Banjoko and Henri Lavenant are great midcaps to go in about any lasombra deck, even if you don't care about Black Hand.

If he wants to play with the new vampires, then group 3-4 has really solid midcap crypt, especially when you add in the Kiasyd support of Isanwayen and Dame Hollerton.

Thanks. I'm going to grab a few each of the library cards you guys mentioned, and then let him look at them. The deck held up reasonably well. He's not running with PRE vampires and I think he'd like to stick with his own cards, though. (He was playing with some Jyhad card - no problem since it's a casual game but it should give you an idea of the old-school nature of the deck).

Most important Obtenebration card printed since Sabbat? I'd have to go with Nocturn.

Shroud of Absence really should have been uncommon on first printing and more common afterwards.

Some other interesting obten cards:

Black Metamorphosis - permanent additional and press

Blanket of night - Block denial

Darkness within - maneaver and steals blood at the end of round/gives you the blood

Shroud of absence - +1 stealth/ can end combat as a strike

Nocturn - ally that bleeds for one

Descent into darkness - sends your minion out of play/adds blood until you bring him back into play (Silly, but interesting! )

I think these are all post Sabbat edition.