Barbed Wire Decks and getting new players into the game

Here's a reference to the ' Barbed Wire Decks '.

What kind of deck package would you build to give newer players a leg up on getting started?

Would you simply go with half a box of starters instead?

Adonai wrote:

Here's a reference to the ' Barbed Wire Decks '.

What kind of deck package would you build to give newer players a leg up on getting started?

Would you simply go with half a box of starters instead?

I've stated many times that I believe the best way for new players to get into the game is for the more experienced player(s) to build a simple, straightforward deck (such as stealth-bleed) for the new player(s) so that the new player can see if they enjoy the game. If they do enjoy it and want to buy a few things, what they should do is to buy half a starter box, doubling-up on the clans and/or concepts that they enjoy the most, along with half a box of boosters from the most appropriate set. It'll only be $50 and it'll give them the best chance of success for their dollar.

If two new players do this, it's still only $50 per player (or $100 for one player) and from that they will get two (or four, for one player) strong, playable, tournament-quality decks, and can probably make 1-2 other "fun" decks, as well as likely having a few cards to trade to the long-time players in exchange for probably dozens of staple cards which the long-time players have in abundance.

Adonai wrote:

Here's a reference to the ' Barbed Wire Decks '.

What kind of deck package would you build to give newer players a leg up on getting started?

Would you simply go with half a box of starters instead?

2 * 3ed Malkavian Starters.

I currently have a small handful of reasonably competitive decks that don't have too many moving parts or strange tricks. I have an S&B, a Push-Voter, a Ven Bleeder and a Gangrel Deck (that needs more work realistically).

They're all set up to basically compete with a moderately tuned social deck and have enough grunt that a new player can compete effectively even with inexperienced play.

KevinM wrote:

Adonai wrote:

Here's a reference to the ' Barbed Wire Decks '.

What kind of deck package would you build to give newer players a leg up on getting started?

Would you simply go with half a box of starters instead?

I've stated many times that I believe the best way for new players to get into the game is for the more experienced player(s) to build a simple, straightforward deck (such as stealth-bleed) for the new player(s) so that the new player can see if they enjoy the game. If they do enjoy it and want to buy a few things, what they should do is to buy half a starter box, doubling-up on the clans and/or concepts that they enjoy the most, along with half a box of boosters from the most appropriate set. It'll only be $50 and it'll give them the best chance of success for their dollar.

If two new players do this, it's still only $50 per player (or $100 for one player) and from that they will get two (or four, for one player) strong, playable, tournament-quality decks, and can probably make 1-2 other "fun" decks, as well as likely having a few cards to trade to the long-time players in exchange for probably dozens of staple cards which the long-time players have in abundance.

I partly agree with Kevin here. Play before you buy. Once you know what you like(at least to start with), then enlist an experienced player to help you get started. Some suggestions I might have would be along the lines of starter decks(i.e. 1x 3rd ed !Malk + 1x KoT Malk), getting cards you need from experienced players(blood dolls, anarch troublemaker, pentex, deflection, whatever), buy some cards online, etc. I do NOT agree with Kevin on the half booster box idea. More than likely, you will get a bunch of unrelated crap and a handful of cards that are somewhat useful. Staples are really what you are looking for.

Boston VtES has a poor box with loads of Jyhad, VtES, and Third Edition. It's a great way to get basic cards you need... except for Deflections the last time I checked.

I played my first game with the Camarilla Brujah starter which was a pretty rough way to learn, but Matt gave me a weenie obfuscate deck to tinker with and that showed me a basics of deck construction and let me be more competitive in my next game.

I've played around with some ideas of making a 4 player demo table where the newbie plays a Malkavian stealth/bleed and experienced players take Brujah bruise/bleed, Ventrue political, and Nosferatu rush.