TWD - ECQ PARIS 2012, Paris (France) (25 August 2012)

ECQ PARIS 2012
Paris, France
25 August 2012
3R + F
20 players
Winner: Vincent Ripoll
www.vekn.net/index.php/event-calendar/event/6814

Deck Name : Enkidu PRO CEL
Author : Vincent Ripoll
Description :
I got some inspiration from Aleksi Nuora's TWD to build this one. Protean and Celerity are great costless polyvalent combat disciplines (there are only 3 Claws that cost blood amongst the 60 combat cards). I playtested and tweaked it lots of time during our weekly session (thanks to my patient victims) and I'm quite happy about it.
Aleksi's version used some "bad" cards from my point of view and is quite vulnerable to many threats. I'm a safe player. So I included many countermeasures to make sure Enkidu's don't get crushed by some Warghouls, pentex of Tempted by Greater Powers... The deck handles almost everything in combat, so if you end up in torpor, it's likely a misplay.
As always, the deck is quite vulnerable during the first few turns until Enkidu gets out. Blood Dolls shouldn't be neglected in pool recovery, you don't have any other (apart from the Enkil's Cog trick to bleed during your predator's turn).
You can have a reliable multi-rush as soon as you get Enkil Cog. There's always a way to untap (Earth Meld, Sense the Savage Way or the permanent Monster/Homunculus) so it's MUCH more easier when you have the Enkil. Otherwise, try to draw your rush cards or block with Sense the Savage Way.

The oust power comes mainly from Andre's special and Enkil Cog. No Fame, no Dragonbound because they tend to slow the cardflow and aren't really necessary.

It won the final with GW3 after suffering a lot from an AAA predator (well, until he had his vampires sent to torpor) and won the duel against a Tremere deck played by Stone. The duel could have seemed quite unbalanced at the start: Enkidu at 3 blood with Andre at 2 blood vs. 5 Tremere at 4-6 blood with Ivory Bow, Sniper Rifle... The Guardian Angel was a real life saver because Enkidu's blood was no use, being Theft all the time, and the heavy combat module gave him the edge over a medium sized THA combat module.

Crypt [13 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 11 average: 6.30769

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6x Enkidu, The Noah 11 ANI CEL OBF POT PRO for !Gangrel:4
2x Andre LeRoux 3 aus Toreador:5
1x T.J. 3 cel for Gangrel:4
1x Clifton Derrik 2 cel Brujah:4
1x Leo Washington 2 cel pro !Gangrel:4
1x Sean Andrews 2 cel Toreador:4
1x Iris Bennett 1 pro Caitiff:5

Enkidu in 5 copies sometimes didn't show up. I added one copy (with a 13-crypt card to draw more side-kicks)

Library [90 cards]

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Action [8]
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal -> as always, to contest or to give me some protection against weenie decks (or even intercept... it's a great card)
1x Bum's Rush
1x Deep Song
1x Heroic Might -> makes some combat easier, but is not vital
2x Rumble
1x Sense Death
1x Taunt the Caged Beast

Action Modifier [2]
2x Enkil Cog -> allows permanent multirush and can give the edge during's your predator's turn. The +1 bleed is great also. Really a key card.

Combat [60]
3x Canine Horde -> why play Drawing when you can get rid of that Ivory Bow/.44 Magnum or Heart of Nizchetus?
3x Claws of the Dead -> should always be used to burn vampires. Can get rid of Ponticulus/Tye/Ambrosius
9x Earth Meld -> defensive, untap, works well with Psyche! and is free. Can't ask more
2x Flesh of Marble -> cycles easily, handles War Ghoul/Carrion/.44 blur etc.
1x Infernal Pursuit -> useful when you need to draw some key cards or discard master that clog the hand
16x Psyche! -> key card, even 16 are sometimes not enough
11x Pursuit
2x Skin of Steel
4x Stutter-Step -> saves slots, can be used by the sidekicks to dodge
9x Taste of Vitae

Equipment [1]
1x Gran Madre di Dio, Italy -> against Tupdogs, Nocturns...

Master [11]
4x Blood Doll -> slow pool gain and blood management to feed Enkidu.
1x Guardian Angel -> the permanent "prevent 1" is a real life saver.
1x Monster -> permanent untap
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion -> for contest or to lock an annoying minion (Ponticulus or the guy with the gun). Can also slow down your predator when you don't have Enkidu yet)
2x Sudden Reversal -> To be kept against Pentex, Temptation of Greater Power etc.
2x Wider View
Master come quite quickly because you cycle lots of cards. You can even jam with master even there are only 11 of them, but it's quite rare.

Reaction [6]
6x Sense the Savage Way -> to block of course, but protects also against Rötschreck/Mind Numb/Sensory Deprivation

Retainer [2]
1x Homunculus -> not vital, but useful once you have Enkil Cog
1x Raven Spy -> helpful, but not vital.

Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Sun Aug 26 23:55:40 2012]

Pascal wrote:

How ofter did you get blocked? Would Forced March be interesting in here?

I got blocked plenty of times, often to prevent me from playing Forced March (glad I didn't play any).

Ohlmann wrote:

Do you have contesting problem with the Enkil Cog ? It does not seem too easy to burn another vampire, and the other people do have a lot of incentive to keep on contesting.

The contesting situation never rose. I guess I'll probably contest the Enkil once I'm in a situation I would rush the vampire anyway, and probably diablerize it with a small vampire if I can't burn the vampire outright.