Xian#
VEKN Official Clan Tremere Newsletter February 2001
Volume 2, Issue 3 February 5, 2001
Please direct all correspondence and commentary to Xian (xi...@waste.org).
[Legal stuff to the tune of: I wrote all this, so give credit where it's due,
etc.]
I apologize for the long delay between newsletters. I had been busy
experimenting with different deck concepts, and had gotten away from playing
Tremere enough to offer detailed commentary on the decks I was playing. I
have, however, rectified this situation and have rededicated myself to playing
the Tremere consistently. I hope that the deck in this issue proves
noteworthy, as it may be the best Tremere deck I have ever built. It is, so
far, the most consistently successful against a wide range of decks.
Focus on a Card
Machine Blitz
Combat
Thaumaturgy
Inf: Choose a weapon possessed by the opposing minion. Strike: ranged; X
damage, where X is the amount of damage [the chosen weapon would inflict as a
strike].
Sup: As above, with +1R damage.
I have trouble thinking of much of a use for this card. It is more useful, I
guess, than Up Yours! or Twisting the Knife, but only marginally. The best use
I can think of for this card is if you see the Crimson Sentinel a lot in your
group. Even then, I'm not entirely certain that this combination will work,
due to the whole weirdness of counters. Anyway, throw a couple in your deck,
wait until the Crimson Sentinel has a pile of counters on it, then get into
combat, maneuver away to long, and hit the vampire weilding that evil
toothpick for a pile of damage. Otherwise, I suspect this card, like most
weapon hosers, is still pretty useless. Unless you manage to maneuver away
from the Talbot's Chainsaw weilding maniac. Of course, if it's Ambrosius,
you're screwed anyway. Unless you Theft or press to second round. I can't
decide if this card is better or worse than Drain Essence, and that's really
sad.
Strategy Corner
Hmm. I'm not sure what to say this month. I think it would be most appropriate
to focus on bruise-bleed strategy, as that is what the deck of the month does.
With the Tremere, you have a couple of options on how to go about destroying
your prey. The most common options are:
*tap and bleed
*stealth and bleed
*seduce and bleed
*straight bruise and bleed
I think most beginning players are most comfortable with the limited stealth
and bleed that the Tremere can acquire with Bonding, and supplement this with
Seduction or Blood Bond, as well as Misdirection. Not bad, but there are a lot
of decks that you won't get past with that. Not to mention, unless you get the
Govern the Unaligned as well, a bleed for 2 at +1 stealth doesn't go too far.
Seduce and bleed and tap and bleed improve upon this, but tapping with
Misdirection has gotten a lot harder, and Seduction only takes care of one
vamipre. I am considering adding a few Seduction into the deck of the month,
but I am looking to do a little more testing of the deck as is before I add
anything.
My recommendation is to use the Tremere for straight bruise and bleed, with no
fancy tricks. Throw down big bleeds, let your prey block with whichever
vampire he is able to, and then render that vampire useless. Eventually, you
will be able to punch through a few big bleeds in a row, and that should
finish your prey off. By using some of the smaller clan members, you will
maximize your investment. Sarah Cobbler, Merrill Molitor, and Jing Wei are
extremely useful, as is Astrid Thomas, though she becomes more expensive to
influence out. Among the Sabbat, Kurt Strauss and Reverend Blackwood are
notably useful for this sort of work, and Brooke is pretty good as well.
By focusing on bleeding and combat, adding a little defense as necessary, with
a little practice, you should be able to figure out what proprotions of each
card you require to have the correct balance for your playstyle. Straight
bruise and bleed without any additional tricks is one of the more difficult
strategies to employ, but it can also be highly efficient at attaining your
goal of ousting multiple prey. The most difficult part, I find, is knowing how
to best bluff your prey into blocking or not blocking, as necessary. One of
the most useful methods, when you know they can only block a limited number of
your minions, yet you don't have enough combat in hand, is to bleed with the
smaller (less threatening) minions first, and then take an unrelated action
with the more threatening minion. For example, if you have Sarah Cobbler, Jing
Wei, and Reverend Blackwood available, and your prey appears to only be able
to block one minion, use Sarah and Jing Wei to bleed first, then have the Rev
hunt or just sit and wait to deflect. This will frustrate your prey to no end,
knowing that he let a few large bleeds through in anticipation of a successful
block against a seemingly more threatening minion. On the other hand, if you
have a lot of combat available, you may find it more useful to bleed with the
most threatening minion first, in hopes that your prey blocks, walking into
your trap. There are a number of variations you can pull on this basic tactic,
just make sure to do your best to draw out your prey's bleed bounce as soon as
possible...that may be the most important tactic to surviving and winning with
this style of deck.
Sample Deck
Title: Rededication
Author: Xian
Crypt
1x Astrid Thomas
1x Brooke
1x Bryan Van Duesen
1x Cardano
1x Jing Wei
2x Kurt Strauss
1x Lydia Van Cuelen
1x Merrill Molitor
1x Reverend Blackwood
2x Sarah Cobbler
Average: 5.33, Best: 14, Worst: 29
Library(90)
Masters (16):
2x Arcane Library
2x Barrens
4x Blood Doll
1x Chantry
1x Dominate
4x Haven Uncovered
2x Thaumaturgy
Actions (20):
6x Bum's Rush
12x Govern the Unaligned
2x Rutor's Hand
Action Modifiers (10):
10x Conditioning
Combat (35):
12x Apportation
12x Theft of Vitae
6x Thoughts Betrayed
5x Walk of Flame
Reactions (9):
4x Deflection
2x Pulling Strings
3x Wake with Evening's Freshness
This deck may be the best Tremere deck I have ever created and by that, I mean
most effective. In 5 games, I have not failed to gain a victory point, I have
swept 3 times, and in only one game did I not win the table. That game is
being discounted, as my predator was playing a Nosferatu Antitribu rush deck
with more than 120 cards in a 5-player game. I feel that he likely would have
run out of combat and stalled if the deck had been at a tournament-legal size.
If it isn't obvious, the deck is meant to bleed lots, and if it enters combat,
to be able to survive, but also be able to take out an opposing minion if
required. I have been thinking about throwing in some Blood Fury or Soul Burn,
as I've encountered a few weapons (Flamethrowers), but I think this may be
premature. I admit that this may not work as well in a metagame with heavy or
smart bleed bounce. It seems to work in the extend groups I play with, as once
a bleed reaches 3, they tend to bounce it, and not wait for a Conditioning.
Also, I am relatively safe laying down the Conditioning after they have failed
to bounce the Govern. So far this deck has had the most trouble with
aggravated damage, but it hasn't proved a huge problem. Against the Tzimisce,
I seem to have enough maneuvers, and against Flamethrowers, I have been able
to whittle the minions away, keeping them busy hunting and such. I have had
Sarah Cobbler burnt with Anarch Investigation after a Govern & Conditioning
bleed, but it hardly slowed me down.
This deck won't work in every metagame, but even a deck with heavy bleed
bounce can't continue to bounce bleeds of 3 or more every single turn.
Eventually you will get through. Also, if your prey has one vampire that is
the primary bouncer, there are enough Bum's Rushes in this deck to virtually
guarantee that you will pull one by the time the bouncer is active. You should
be able to enter combat and drain enough blood off the bouncer to keep him
ineffective for a few turns, possibly even torporize him, rendering that
vampire useless for even longer. With the exception of the Arcane Library,
this deck uses mostly common cards and should be relatively easy to build for
most anyone.
Have fun trying it out, and good luck!
Next month: Stuff that I've been promising for ages, and decks other than
mine.
Xian
Chronicler of Clan Tremere
--
I'd tell the world and save my soul, But rain falls down and I feel cold.
A cold that sleeps within my heart, It tears the earth and sun apart.
--_Shellshock_, New Order
www.waste.org/~xian