[Deck] Silent Assasins

Crypt -------- 2x Parnassus 2x Kanya Akhtar 2x Kalinda 2x Abd al-Rashid Husamettin Tansu Bekir Melek Harika Guljan Library --------- Masters (14/90): 4x Contract 2x Heartblood of the Clan 2x Path of Blood 3x Blood Doll Underworld HG Celerity Quietus Actions (12/90): 7x Bums Rush 2x Arson 3x Sacrificial Lamb Equipment (10/90): 4x Bang Nakh 4x Wooden Stake 2x Crimson Sentinal // all I own Combat (50/90): 5x The Khabar: Honor 6x Disguised Weapon 6x Blood Sweat 4x Blood Agony // all I own 6x Silence of Death // all I own 6x Psyche 4x Blur 3x Flash 4x Pursuit 3x Rapid Thought // all I own 3x Sidestrike Reaction (4/90): 4x Foul Blood Comments: My main source of pool gain is the Blood Dolls and using the weenies to feed blood the Heartblood of the Clan. There are 11 "get into combat" cards in this deck. 2 more if you count the Arsons (I never play a combat deck w/o either Arson or Rampage; they are incredibly useful). I didn't want to go overboard with the Contracts because I don't see them as overly useful. I'm almost tempted to replace them with Havens, but I don't want to lose some of the flavor. I may end up switching them out in the future though, depending on how the help or hinder the deck. I'm pretty sure that the appearance of Wooden Stakes here has raised some eyebrows. The reasoning I have in putting them in here is that they are *free* (of huge importance because I really don't have that great a pool management plan) and with all the additional strikes I have, the victim is sure to go to Torpor. The fact that the victim can't untap in torpor can be an advantage to me if the meth doesn't have many other vamps available to rescue. Plus, it might give me an extra turn or two to pull my Sacrificial Lamb. All the Celerity combat cards I put in the deck are all dual use. They either give me a maneuver, a press, a dodge or an additional strike depending on the card. I put the Rapid Thought in here because the superior can be really useful. Also, I'm thinking of changing the Sidestrike out for Sideslip. Suggestions? Most of the combat will be at close, but since I have so many maneuvers, it can also be at long if I have a Blood Sweat in hand. The Disguised Weapon and Khabar: Honor are in there for obvious reasons. The only thing that I didn't put in the deck (because a lack of space) was Taste of Vitae. They weren't included initially when I constructed this deck because all I own are in another deck I have. I know I need them in here, but I don't know what to take out. Suggestions? Lastly, the Foul Blood is in there to put recently rescued vamps back into Torpor. I'd most likely leave Harika untapped to use it. Comments/suggestions/advice/flames? a0

In article <7a9fr2$fhq$1...@oak.prod.itd.earthlink.net>, "AgentZero" <agen...@my-dejanews.com> wrote: > Crypt > -------- > 2x Parnassus - QUI, CEL, aus, tha > 2x Kanya Akhtar - cel > 2x Kalinda - CEL, OBF, tha > 2x Abd al-Rashid - CEL, QUI, obf > Husamettin - QUI, CEL, OBF, pot, pre > Tansu Bekir - OBF, cel > Melek - QUI, OBF, cel, pre > Harika Guljan - QUI Interesting selection. You have 5 vampires with superior OBF. I've often found Al Ashrad's special ability and +1 bleed to be well worth the extra 1 cost over Husamettin. > Library > --------- > Masters (14/90): > 4x Contract > 2x Heartblood of the Clan Without stealth, I've found these to be better replaced. In your case, I'd swap for 2 Havens. > 2x Path of Blood If stealth shows up at all in your group, I'd ditch these for a couple Racks, Blood Dolls, or Havens. You just aren't going to be able to defend them. > 3x Blood Doll > Underworld HG Go for two HG. > Celerity > Quietus You have 4 vampires with inferior Cel. You have 5 with Qui or none at all. Celerity is obviously more important, so either remove both, or make them both Celerity. > Actions (12/90): > 7x Bums Rush > 2x Arson Good. > 3x Sacrificial Lamb You only have 4 different vampires with OBF. And you're not going to be doing this with obf. I'd ditch them for other, more generally useful cards. Perhaps more Bum's Rushes. > Equipment (10/90): > 4x Bang Nakh > 4x Wooden Stake > 2x Crimson Sentinal // all I own Why would you want more Sentinel's? Two is good. I'd question the Wooden Stakes as you have no way of getting them back. Of course, if combat is VERY rare in your group, I'd consider it. Otherwise, these will just backfire on you. > Combat (50/90): > 5x The Khabar: Honor Note: Not usable with a weapon. > 6x Disguised Weapon > 6x Blood Sweat Good, although, you're 6 Blood Sweats are all you have for long range. Either add more or plan on getting to and staying at short range. > 4x Blood Agony // all I own Personally, I think this card sucks. It's not usable until second round. Of course, being that you appear to want to fight at close range, you might want to try it. > 6x Silence of Death // all I own I'm on the fense with SoD. First strike just isn't all that useful where I play (they'll either prevent, S:CE or hit you back much harder). The only vampire who will seriously hurt others with First Strike is perhaps Parnassus with the Stake. > 6x Psyche > 4x Blur > 3x Flash > 4x Pursuit > 3x Rapid Thought // all I own > 3x Sidestrike I'd get some Acrobatics in here somehow and possibly more Blurs. For the Assamites, it's best to take care of the opposition in the first round. > Reaction (4/90): > 4x Foul Blood The jury is still out on this card with me. It's great for what you say (sending rescued vampires back to torpor). With your deck, it would appear that you'll almost always have the cards for combat that you want. In other words, you're vampires will all almost always be tapped, especially if you keep and get out a Heartblood. My current Assamite deck relies on long range combat, so I can hand jam quite easily which makes Foul Blood useful. > My main source of pool gain is the Blood Dolls and using the > weenies to feed blood the Heartblood of the Clan. Without stealth, feeding the Heartblood with weenies will be blocked. They probably won't fear the weenies much. It's the bigger guys with Celerity and Quietus that scare people. And they should be killing. :) > There are 11 "get into combat" cards in this deck. 2 more if > you count the Arsons (I never play a combat deck w/o either > Arson or Rampage; they are incredibly useful). I didn't want > to go overboard with the Contracts because I don't see them > as overly useful. Not being burnable except with what amounts to a clan hoser is a pretty good use. I use Contracts for vampires that are likely to S:CE. Four is plenty though. > I'm pretty sure that the appearance of Wooden Stakes here > has raised some eyebrows. The reasoning I have in putting > them in here is that they are *free* (of huge importance because > I really don't have that great a pool management plan) and > with all the additional strikes I have, the victim is sure to go to > Torpor. The fact that the victim can't untap in torpor can be > an advantage to me if the meth doesn't have many other vamps > available to rescue. Plus, it might give me an extra turn or two > to pull my Sacrificial Lamb. Are you depending on the Sacrificial Lambs to get your Stakes back? That's pretty risky. They could be useful late game, but in the early game, not so much. > All the Celerity combat cards I put in the deck are all dual use. > They either give me a maneuver, a press, a dodge or an > additional strike depending on the card. I put the Rapid Thought > in here because the superior can be really useful. Also, I'm > thinking of changing the Sidestrike out for Sideslip. Suggestions? More additional strikes! You can't go wrong here. Sideslip is useful for Gangrel. So if you see Gangrel often, you might consider swapping them in. > Most of the combat will be at close, but since I have so many > maneuvers, it can also be at long if I have a Blood Sweat in hand. So are you just putting in the Blood Sweats for the sake of it, in case you're at long range? I'd say take them out if that's the case. Add more Pursuits or Flashes to make sure you stay at close. Very few decks will outmaneuver you. > The Disguised Weapon and Khabar: Honor are in there for > obvious reasons. The only thing that I didn't put in the deck > (because a lack of space) was Taste of Vitae. They weren't > included initially when I constructed this deck because all I own > are in another deck I have. I know I need them in here, but I don't > know what to take out. Suggestions? Well, with only 1 HG and Blood Dolls, you either aren't going to be gaining any pool with the Blood Dolls or you're vampires will be eternally low. Swap the Blood Agony's for the Tastes. > Lastly, the Foul Blood is in there to put recently rescued vamps > back into Torpor. I'd most likely leave Harika untapped to use > it. Like I said, the jury's still out with me on this card. > Comments/suggestions/advice/flames? The only Assamite incarnation I've managed to have a good degree of success with has been my Assamite Sniper deck. Disguised Deer Rifles, Blur, Blood Sweat, Taste of Death. Usually effective except against heavy S:CE or bad hands. They're a really tough clan, mainly because of vampire selection. Good luck! Mike -- Mike Bohlmann, MAIP - Prince of Urbana-Champaign http://www.shout.net/~mbohlman/ -----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own

In article <7aar7i$prk$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, <mboh...@shout.net> wrote: >In article <7a9fr2$fhq$1...@oak.prod.itd.earthlink.net>, > "AgentZero" <agen...@my-dejanews.com> wrote: > >> 3x Sacrificial Lamb > >You only have 4 different vampires with OBF. And you're not going >to be doing this with obf. I'd ditch them for other, more generally >useful cards. Perhaps more Bum's Rushes. It's not that bad, since 4/12 gives you ~75% chance of drawing at least one OBF vamp at the start. You probably could find something better though; Pulled Fangs would probably be better. >The only Assamite incarnation I've managed to have a good degree of >success with has been my Assamite Sniper deck. Disguised Deer Rifles, >Blur, Blood Sweat, Taste of Death. Usually effective except against >heavy S:CE or bad hands. They're a really tough clan, mainly because >of vampire selection. Good luck! Huh. That's exactly the experience I had. I always wanted to at least try the close range approach, but the cards are just too rare. The Deer Rifle thing is pretty mean, provided no one has S:CE. I've felt that the Assamites were a good clan to play in a post heavy combat Metagame, when people have decided that S:CE isn't worth playing with. -- /\ Jasper Phillips /VVVVVVVVVVVVVV|~"~"~"~"~"~"----------........____ jaz j^^^^^^^^^^^^^\/"~"~"~"~-----------........._____ ~"~--. * http://www.engr.orst.edu/~philljas/ "~"~'--`

In article <7a9fr2$fhq$1...@oak.prod.itd.earthlink.net>, AgentZero <agen...@my-dejanews.com> writes >Crypt >-------- >2x Parnassus >2x Kanya Akhtar >2x Kalinda >2x Abd al-Rashid >Husamettin >Tansu Bekir >Melek >Harika Guljan > Pretty much fine. I'd be tempted, myself, to maybe throw a Julius or two in there. He's got the Quietus and he's Camarilla and he's capable of committing diablerie. >Library >--------- >Masters (14/90): >4x Contract >2x Heartblood of the Clan Reasonable, though I might go for more Contracts than you have. >2x Path of Blood >3x Blood Doll >Underworld HG >Celerity >Quietus All seems reasonable here too. I'd be tempted to add Obfuscate, simply for the Sacrificials, but they aren't really the focus of your deck, so maybe not. The only problem I ever see with the paths is their fragility. You don't have intercept really (perhaps a token Market Square?) so you'd find it difficult to defend them. If you think the damage is a big enough defence factor then maybe, but I'm still dubious about them. They *are* good though, if you can keep them. > >Actions (12/90): >7x Bums Rush >2x Arson >3x Sacrificial Lamb Arson depends on your metagame, I guess. You only have 11 sources of rush, and your average Brujah rush deck has 14 (1O rush and 4 Haven). Perhaps something to address? 3 sacrificial lambs is possibly too few, since you can't guarantee them, but you'll be fighting to play them when you've got them, I guess, especially since you have no stealth. > >Equipment (10/90): Yikes! >4x Bang Nakh >4x Wooden Stake >2x Crimson Sentinal // all I own > I see your point with the Wooden Stakes. Worth keeping, I guess, especially with your additional strikes. I question the usefulness of Bang Nakh and Nuclear Bomb (Crimson Sentinel), though, simply because they are quite expensive, even though they do do a fair amount of damage. Also, will you always be able to get your Wooden Stakes back, given that you don't have many Sacrificial Lambs. And another vampire transferring it off with an action would be hellish. I guess you could hope to burn them outright, but that's difficult, of course, because you would normally only be doing 1 aggravated damage at a time. If, when you dealt that, they weren't wounded, they would simply go to torpor. And it'd be difficult for you to deal it when they were wounded, because of your reliance on additional strikes rather than big strikes. >Combat (50/90): >5x The Khabar: Honor Useful., especially with Blood Agony in later rounds. >6x Disguised Weapon Well, I'd be tempted to drop these or slim them down but if the equipment is working for you, run with it. I'd probably go down to three, tops, and only have the Stakes in the deck. >6x Blood Sweat Useful. Very good anti-Fortitude card. >4x Blood Agony // all I own >6x Silence of Death // all I own More of both wouldn't hurt, but you're probably trading for both anyway. >6x Psyche Good. You need it versus S:CE. >4x Blur >3x Flash Your Blood Agony needs second round. You probably need more presses. >4x Pursuit Hmm.... *stares at card text* You know, that's pretty good. Will have to look at for the future. (I always value maneuver above press (well, normally, anyway) and the additional strike might tempt me away from Flash). >3x Rapid Thought // all I own For Maneuver/Press, Flash is just as good. How often will you want to cancel your strike, or have something else you could do with it instead? I note the "all I own" and presume it means "want to get more". Three is probably fine, IMHO. >3x Sidestrike Not really my cup of tea. As you say, I'd be tempted to go for Sideslip, which I like because of the Prevent Damage. Hurrah! > >Reaction (4/90): >4x Foul Blood Again, not my cup of tea. The problem is, as I see it, you're planning for people to rescue vampires, when a combat deck shouldn't be dealing with that - burn, diablerise and kill, NOW. You can't afford to waste two sets of cards on the same vampire, because he's rescued himself, if you can really, really help it. > >Comments: >There are 11 "get into combat" cards in this deck. 2 more if >you count the Arsons (I never play a combat deck w/o either >Arson or Rampage; they are incredibly useful). I've been tending to find them decrease in utility, because the Tournament Metagame in Portsmouth has been shifting away from locquipment and master: locations. And you can't guarantee the combat. Some people might think the burning of the location better than the torporising of their vampire. >I didn't want >to go overboard with the Contracts because I don't see them >as overly useful. The Khabar: Honor is a great card, though. If you can hold it till second round and Blood Agony it...... *boom* > I'm almost tempted to replace them with >Havens, but I don't want to lose some of the flavor. Flavour is good, but don't let it override your feelings. I do think they're good, though, if for nothing other than the Khabar. >I'm pretty sure that the appearance of Wooden Stakes here >has raised some eyebrows. Perhaps. I question the *other* equipment mostly though. > The reasoning I have in putting >them in here is that they are *free* (of huge importance because >I really don't have that great a pool management plan) Indeed. Free = not quite so bad. > and >with all the additional strikes I have, the victim is sure to go to >Torpor. But not burned. Not burned = bad :( And, unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do about it. > The fact that the victim can't untap in torpor can be >an advantage to me if the meth doesn't have many other vamps >available to rescue. The big problem is if they yank it out of them. Then they can leave torpor, or use the Stake against you (in another combat deck :( ) >Plus, it might give me an extra turn or two >to pull my Sacrificial Lamb. It's possible, but you only have three. >All the Celerity combat cards I put in the deck are all dual use. Actually, Blur isn't. But it's a good call having the flexibility. >They either give me a maneuver, a press, a dodge or an >additional strike depending on the card. Dodge isn't really my cup of tea. A heavy combat deck will stop you doing it (Scorpion Sting, Immortal Grapple) and you should be able to stand up against light/no combat. > I put the Rapid Thought >in here because the superior can be really useful. It can be, but I would counsel against putting more in. > Also, I'm >thinking of changing the Sidestrike out for Sideslip. Suggestions? Go for it, IMHO. Sideslip is a heavily underrated card, I think. >The only thing that I didn't put in the deck >(because a lack of space) was Taste of Vitae. They weren't >included initially when I constructed this deck because all I own >are in another deck I have. I know I need them in here, but I don't >know what to take out. Suggestions? The Disguised Weapons being thinned down might help, as would the non- Stake equipment. >Lastly, the Foul Blood is in there to put recently rescued vamps >back into Torpor. I'd most likely leave Harika untapped to use >it. I guess. But what happens if you don't have it in your hand, and then draw it after she's taken an action? Are you going to leave her untapped anyway, just in case you draw it? You only have one anyway, so perhaps a tad optimistic of you. > >Comments/suggestions/advice/flames? Hmmm... flames. Well, a Flamethrower would probably be too expensive for this deck. You just haven't got the pool gain. ;) -- James Coupe (Prince of Mercia, England) Vampire: Elder Kindred Network http://madnessnetwork.hexagon.net

In article <7ab7c4$161$1...@news.NERO.NET>, phil...@tx.ENGR.ORST.EDU (Jasper Phillips) wrote: > In article <7aar7i$prk$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, <mboh...@shout.net> wrote: > >The only Assamite incarnation I've managed to have a good degree of > >success with has been my Assamite Sniper deck. Disguised Deer Rifles, > >Blur, Blood Sweat, Taste of Death. Usually effective except against > >heavy S:CE or bad hands. They're a really tough clan, mainly because > >of vampire selection. Good luck! > > Huh. That's exactly the experience I had. I always wanted to at least > try the close range approach, but the cards are just too rare. > The Deer Rifle thing is pretty mean, provided no one has S:CE. I've > felt that the Assamites were a good clan to play in a post heavy > combat Metagame, when people have decided that S:CE isn't worth > playing with. Note that I said heavy S:CE. Haven Uncovered is good against a S:CE opponent. That combined with Psyche requires them to have multiples in their hand when the first attack starts as S:CE doesn't get much card turnover in combat. Granted, S:CE at any level will slow them down. That's why I finally happened upon trying the Deer Rifle approach - you don't waste cards aka maneuvers setting up for what you really want to do. [ quoted text not captured ]

On Tue, 16 Feb 1999 10:40:16 +0000, James Coupe <ve...@nospam.demon.co.uk> said: >> 4x Pursuit James> Hmm.... *stares at card text* You know, that's pretty good. James> Will have to look at for the future. (I always value maneuver James> above press (well, normally, anyway) and the additional strike James> might tempt me away from Flash). Yeah, Pursuit has been a staple of my own ranged-attack Assamite decks for quite a while now. I'm currently constructing a (mainly) close-range Assamite deck, don't know how viable that is yet. //Petri

James Coupe wrote: >Your Blood Agony needs second round. You probably need more presses. Mike Bohlmann wrote: >I'd get some Acrobatics in here somehow and possibly more Blurs. >For the Assamites, it's best to take care of the opposition in the >first round. Well, in either case, I recommend a few Nimble Feet if you're looking for more presses/additional strikes. John Baker

In article <7a9fr2$fhq$1...@oak.prod.itd.earthlink.net>, "AgentZero" <agen...@my-dejanews.com> wrote: The Assamites, supposedly one of the most feared (RPG) combat clans, and yet they are incredibly difficult to make into a valid combat clan (even using the playtest set :( ) > Crypt > -------- > 2x Parnassus > 2x Kanya Akhtar > 2x Kalinda > 2x Abd al-Rashid > Husamettin > Tansu Bekir > Melek > Harika Guljan Where is Abd Al-Rashid? He is a must for any Assamite deck. Otherwise, pretty solid. Unfortunately, there are not as many suitable smaller vamps for inclusion in an assamite deck as there are for any other combat clans - which means you must focus on a few bigger vamps to do your killing. Sometimes that Brujah with the built in Psyche is worthwhile. > > Library > --------- > Masters (14/90): > 4x Contract Good but Havens for dogpile action. > 2x Heartblood of the Clan These are hard to use, even with feeding weenies, because weenies tend to get stepped on, and can't fight at all well. > 2x Path of Blood Useful, but risky. Depends on your environment. If you can make other meths worried about losing enough minions without taking damaging actions, go for it. > 3x Blood Doll > Underworld HG I'd go for the MTap/ToV with your assmaites for pool gain rather than the Doll/HG. Particularly if you stick with the Paths, as your combat costs should be minimal. > Celerity > Quietus Build up these a little. Double, perhaps? > > Actions (12/90): > 7x Bums Rush > 2x Arson > 3x Sacrificial Lamb See later comments, but Assamites have an easier time burning opponents in combat cheaply than any other clan. You might want to drop the obfuscate angle all together. > > Equipment (10/90): > 4x Bang Nakh > 4x Wooden Stake > 2x Crimson Sentinal // all I own Assamites really do better at long range combat than short. With Deer Rifles and Psyche! (and some card management - suggest Dreams/Deal), you can hang out at long range, suck any S:CE out of the opponent and continue with Blood Sweat/ Taste of Death and Taste of Vitae to finish. > > Combat (50/90): > 5x The Khabar: Honor Strange choice, to have more Khabar than contract. > 6x Disguised Weapon > 6x Blood Sweat > 4x Blood Agony // all I own Assamites aren't good at the second round combat schtick unless you are playing cel-tha-qui. I'd head back to celeritous first round combat. > 6x Silence of Death // all I own First strike isn't a particularly useful ability, but this card is thematic. > 6x Psyche Good. More? > 4x Blur > 3x Flash Good. Definitely more, particularly if you go after the long range thang. > 4x Pursuit excellent. > 3x Rapid Thought // all I own Replace with flash/pursuit. > 3x Sidestrike > > Reaction (4/90): > 4x Foul Blood No. Burn them all! You need to be rushing _every_ turn with _everyone_. [ quoted text not captured ]

> Pretty much fine. I'd be tempted, myself, to maybe throw a Julius or > two in there. He's got the Quietus and he's Camarilla and he's capable > of committing diablerie. True, but he's a 1 and all my Quietus cost. Even with the Path of Blood, it'll cost him. > >4x Contract > >2x Heartblood of the Clan > Reasonable, though I might go for more Contracts than you have. Why? > All seems reasonable here too. I'd be tempted to add Obfuscate, simply > for the Sacrificials, but they aren't really the focus of your deck, so > maybe not. They are in there as prayer cards. If I don't get them, no worries. If I do, I can use, say, Tansu to perform the Sacrificial Lamb. > The only problem I ever see with the paths is their fragility. You > don't have intercept really (perhaps a token Market Square?) so you'd > find it difficult to defend them. If you think the damage is a big > enough defence factor then maybe, but I'm still dubious about them. > They *are* good though, if you can keep them. I find that they aren't hot targets. Generally, the other players have more to worry about than to burn a card that only reduces the cost of Quietus (combat) cards by 1. They are either rescuing themselves from torpor or trying to oust me. Burning the Path is usually a wasted action. > Arson depends on your metagame, I guess. Arson is great for getting rid of the Elysium or Secure Haven. I'm a big proponant for using Arson. > Perhaps something to address? 3 sacrificial lambs is possibly too few, > since you can't guarantee them, but you'll be fighting to play them when > you've got them, I guess, especially since you have no stealth. Again, it is more of a prayer card. If it works, great. If they block it, it'll be another vamp in torpor (or at least, that's the plan. :p) > I see your point with the Wooden Stakes. Worth keeping, I guess, > especially with your additional strikes. I question the usefulness of > Bang Nakh and Nuclear Bomb (Crimson Sentinel), though, simply because > they are quite expensive, even though they do do a fair amount of > damage. They aren't *overly expensive* though. Usually made up by the Blood Bolls or Heartblood. > Also, will you always be able to get your Wooden Stakes back, > given that you don't have many Sacrificial Lambs. I'm not to worried about getting them back. They were pretty much in there for a one time use. But in reviewing some of the comments here, I may have to rethink this strategy. While I've not had to worry about having them used against me (yet), it is a valid point. I just generally keep the other guys in torpor so they can't use it. > >Combat (50/90): > >5x The Khabar: Honor > Useful., especially with Blood Agony in later rounds. Yup. :p > >6x Blood Sweat > Useful. Very good anti-Fortitude card. That's why it's in here and not Taste of Death. > >4x Blood Agony // all I own > >6x Silence of Death // all I own > More of both wouldn't hurt, but you're probably trading for both anyway. Actually, I buy them from Mark Korshavn. Noone around here owns any for me to trade with. > >6x Psyche > Good. You need it versus S:CE. Obviously. :) > >4x Blur > >3x Flash > Your Blood Agony needs second round. You probably need more presses. Flash offers a press. Psyche offers a press. Rapid Though offers a press. I've got lots of presses. > >4x Pursuit > Hmm.... *stares at card text* You know, that's pretty good. Will have > to look at for the future. Pursuit rules. I use it in all my celeritous combat decks. > >3x Rapid Thought // all I own > For Maneuver/Press, Flash is just as good. How often will you want to > cancel your strike, or have something else you could do with it instead? I've found it useful. Particularly if I'm low on blood, long range, have a Blood Sweat in hand against a Ventrue. It's in there more for the Maneuver/Press, but the superior can be very helpful > I note the "all I own" and presume it means "want to get more". Three > is probably fine, IMHO. I do, but even if I did I wouldn't put them in this deck. I agree that 3 is fine. :) > >3x Sidestrike > Not really my cup of tea. As you say, I'd be tempted to go for > Sideslip, which I like because of the Prevent Damage. Hurrah! I'm really leaning in the direction of Sideslip for that very reason. I do like Sidestrike's additional strike at superior, though. > >Reaction (4/90): > >4x Foul Blood > Again, not my cup of tea. The problem is, as I see it, you're planning > for people to rescue vampires, when a combat deck shouldn't be dealing > with that - burn, diablerise and kill, NOW. You can't afford to waste > two sets of cards on the same vampire, because he's rescued himself, if > you can really, really help it. True. It's only been marginally useful. I'll most likely trade them out for Taste of Vitae. > I've been tending to find them decrease in utility, because the > Tournament Metagame in Portsmouth has been shifting away from > locquipment and master: locations. And you can't guarantee the combat. > Some people might think the burning of the location better than the > torporising of their vampire. Oftentimes that is indeed the case. But an Elysium or Secure Haven can really ruin your day. > The Khabar: Honor is a great card, though. If you can hold it till > second round and Blood Agony it...... *boom* This is the ideal combo. :) > >with all the additional strikes I have, the victim is sure to go to > >Torpor. > But not burned. Not burned = bad :( And, unfortunately, there's not a > lot you can do about it. Not with Assamites. I've found that it's nearly impossible for an Assamite to burn it's opponent in combat. Especially now with the new agg rules. > The big problem is if they yank it out of them. Then they can leave > torpor, or use the Stake against you (in another combat deck :( ) True, but I try to keep them busy on other things - like survival. > >They either give me a maneuver, a press, a dodge or an > >additional strike depending on the card. > Dodge isn't really my cup of tea. A heavy combat deck will stop you > doing it (Scorpion Sting, Immortal Grapple) and you should be able to > stand up against light/no combat. True, but that's why the dual use. I'll almost definately switch to Sideslip, though. > The Disguised Weapons being thinned down might help, as would the non- > Stake equipment. The more I trim out, the less liklihood that I'll draw it. It is the DW that is saving me an equip action and allowing me to keep the pressure on. a0 [ quoted text not captured ]

> Where is Abd Al-Rashid? He is a must for any Assamite deck. Otherwise, > pretty solid. Unfortunately, there are not as many suitable smaller > vamps for inclusion in an assamite deck as there are for any other combat > clans - which means you must focus on a few bigger vamps to do your > killing. Sometimes that Brujah with the built in Psyche is worthwhile. Very true. I had forgotten about him. Although he is kind of expensive as is Abd Al-Rashid. > > 2x Heartblood of the Clan > These are hard to use, even with feeding weenies, because weenies > tend to get stepped on, and can't fight at all well. True, but my predator/prey generlaly has other things to worry about than blocking the move to the Heartblood. > > 3x Blood Doll > > Underworld HG > I'd go for the MTap/ToV with your assmaites for pool gain rather > than the Doll/HG. That's a good strategy, but I wouldn't think so in this deck. I need to keep the number of masters low. If I just replace the BDs and HG with MTap, they may not hit my hand until late. I'd rather have a (somewhat) steady stream of blood coming in than alot of pool at one time that may come too late. > Assamites really do better at long range combat than short. With Deer Rifles > and Psyche! (and some card management - suggest Dreams/Deal), you can hang > out at long range, suck any S:CE out of the opponent and continue with Blood > Sweat/ Taste of Death and Taste of Vitae to finish. Except that ToD can be prevented by Fortitude. Also, I didn't think you could use ToV at long range? [ quoted text not captured ]

agen...@my-dejanews.com wrote: > [snip] > Also, I didn't think you > could use ToV at long range? You can. Taste of Vitae can be used at any range. -- L. Scott Johnson (vte...@wizards.com) VTES Net.Rep for Wizards of the Coast. Links to revised rulebook, rulings, errata, and DCI (tournament) rules: http://www.wizards.com/VTES/VTES_Rules.html [ quoted text not captured ]

In article <7aepcm$6b6$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, agen...@my-dejanews.com wrote: > > Where is Abd Al-Rashid? He is a must for any Assamite deck. Otherwise, > > pretty solid. Unfortunately, there are not as many suitable smaller > > vamps for inclusion in an assamite deck as there are for any other combat > > clans - which means you must focus on a few bigger vamps to do your > > killing. Sometimes that Brujah with the built in Psyche is worthwhile. > > Very true. I had forgotten about him. Although he is kind of expensive > as is Abd Al-Rashid. With Quietus not being a huge part of your deck, you might be able to get by without Abd. He isn't expensive except by the Sabbat's apparent lack of cost to abilities ratio. Al Ashrad is definitely worth the extra pool over Husamettin. I couldn't recommend him enough. :) Plus he looks so much cooler than Husamettin. > > > 2x Heartblood of the Clan > > These are hard to use, even with feeding weenies, because weenies > > tend to get stepped on, and can't fight at all well. > > True, but my predator/prey generlaly has other things to worry about > than blocking the move to the Heartblood. Generally, yes, but if they are a combat deck, you could be hosed. > > Assamites really do better at long range combat than short. With Deer Rifles > > and Psyche! (and some card management - suggest Dreams/Deal), you can hang > > out at long range, suck any S:CE out of the opponent and continue with Blood > > Sweat/ Taste of Death and Taste of Vitae to finish. > > Except that ToD can be prevented by Fortitude. Also, I didn't think you > could use ToV at long range? If you've done two Blood Sweats and then ToD, most likely they aren't going to be able to pay for a Skin of Steal or Rolling with the Punches. By itself, ToD isn't so great, but preceded by Blood Sweat it's great. Taste of Vitae works at both long and short range. Yes, seems weird, but there is no restriction in card text and no errata to add such text. Mike -- Mike Bohlmann, MAIP - Prince of Urbana-Champaign http://www.shout.net/~mbohlman/ -----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- [ quoted text not captured ]

>Interesting selection. You have 5 vampires with superior OBF. >I've often found Al Ashrad's special ability and +1 bleed to be well >worth the extra 1 cost over Husamettin. I dunno. I've got my eye on pool management. 1 may not seem like alot, but there's not alot of pool gain in this deck... >> 2x Heartblood of the Clan >Without stealth, I've found these to be better replaced. In your case, >I'd swap for 2 Havens. I've not had a problem using these. I find the the actions to move blood aren't really blocked. My pred/prey has other things to worry about. >> 2x Path of Blood >If stealth shows up at all in your group, I'd ditch these for a couple >Racks, Blood Dolls, or Havens. You just aren't going to be able to >defend them. See above and another post in this thread. The Heartblood and Path don't seem to be huge targets. >> Celerity >> Quietus >You have 4 vampires with inferior Cel. You have 5 with Qui or none at >all. Celerity is obviously more important, so either remove both, or >make them both Celerity. Good point. >You only have 4 different vampires with OBF. And you're not going >to be doing this with obf. I'd ditch them for other, more generally >useful cards. Perhaps more Bum's Rushes. They are prayer cards. If they work, cool. If not, another combat. wheeee! :) >Why would you want more Sentinel's? Two is good. I'd question the >Wooden Stakes as you have no way of getting them back. Of course, if >combat is VERY rare in your group, I'd consider it. Otherwise, these >will just backfire on you. Good point and it seems to a fairly prevelant one at that. While it hasn't been an issue up to this point, I see how it could. I'll have to rethink that angle. >> Combat (50/90): >> 5x The Khabar: Honor >Note: Not usable with a weapon. I know. >> 4x Blood Agony // all I own >Personally, I think this card sucks. It's not usable until second >round. Of course, being that you appear to want to fight at close >range, you might want to try it. This is a great card at close. I just wish I had more. >> 6x Silence of Death // all I own >I'm on the fense with SoD. First strike just isn't all that useful >where I play (they'll either prevent, S:CE or hit you back much >harder). Can't do much about the first two, but with regards to the last, if you are hitting with Agg damage and FS, no matter if they try to hit you for 11, they're going to torpor first. I really would like more Blood Agony. >> Reaction (4/90): >> 4x Foul Blood >The jury is still out on this card with me. It's great for what >you say (sending rescued vampires back to torpor). With your deck, I'm going to switch them out for ToV. >> My main source of pool gain is the Blood Dolls and using the >> weenies to feed blood the Heartblood of the Clan. >Without stealth, feeding the Heartblood with weenies will be >blocked. They probably won't fear the weenies much. It's the >bigger guys with Celerity and Quietus that scare people. And >they should be killing. :) Right. Do the killing first then feed the Heartblood. Take out their interceptors. :p >> to go overboard with the Contracts because I don't see them >> as overly useful. >Not being burnable except with what amounts to a clan hoser is >a pretty good use. Good point. I dunno, it still is fairly limited in use. >Are you depending on the Sacrificial Lambs to get your Stakes back? No. >So are you just putting in the Blood Sweats for the sake of it, in >case you're at long range? Or against Fortitude. a0

>It's not that bad, since 4/12 gives you ~75% chance of drawing at >least one OBF vamp at the start. You probably could find something >better though; Pulled Fangs would probably be better. I've found the new PF to be wallpaper, at least in my playgroup (and IMO in general). My turn - combat: hit 'em hard enough to send them to torpor w/Pulled Fangs. Their turn - remove PF action #1, remove PF action #2, rescue. All of which I can't stop because I've no intercept and noone else generally stops it because by that time, they view me as the *threat*(tm). Sure, it keeps your prey/pred tied up a round (or less if they have lots of minions), but that's not worth the card slots PF takes up. IMO. a0

In article <7aer53$cer$1...@birch.prod.itd.earthlink.net>, "AgentZero" <agen...@my-dejanews.com> wrote: > I've found the new PF to be wallpaper, at least in my playgroup (and > IMO in general). My turn - combat: hit 'em hard enough to send them > to torpor w/Pulled Fangs. Their turn - remove PF action #1, remove > PF action #2, rescue. All of which I can't stop because I've no intercept > and noone else generally stops it because by that time, they view me > as the *threat*(tm). Sure, it keeps your prey/pred tied up a round > (or less if they have lots of minions), but that's not worth the card > slots PF takes up. > IMO. So a single card that can keep four minions busy for one turn or 3 minions busy for two turns or for all intents and purposes make a vampire useless is wallpaper? Actually, as you're at close range with your combats, I'd definitely swap the PF for the Foul Blood. Here's why. Foul Blood requires two minions if the send to torpor with 0 blood and the keep in torpor are done in the same turn around the table. It won't work if the torpored vampire doesn't come out with 0 blood. One vampire sends to torpor with a rush. The other send back to torpor after a rescued vampire hunts. Net effect - you've kept two minions busy for two turns with one losing 2 blood by using two of your own minions, one of which loses a blood to pay for FB. With Pulled Fangs, you need one minion to send to torpor. Then what happens next is up to the target. Option A - The vampire is equivalent of burned because they don't want to take the actions to burn the Pulled Fangs or the vampire would have to hunt right away or soon. Option B - Use two minions taking actions to burn the PF, use another to rescue (pays 2 blood), torpored vampire now has to hunt. Option C - Use two minions to burn PF, on next turn rescue and hunt. Net effect - you've effectively burned one vampire or you've kept _at least_ two vampires busy for one or two turns while only using one of your own minions with no extra blood cost. Pulled Fangs would make a perfect replacement for FB in your deck because you are going to be fighting at close range anyway. [ quoted text not captured ]

In article <7aerql$d3a$1...@birch.prod.itd.earthlink.net>, "AgentZero" <agen...@my-dejanews.com> wrote: > >Interesting selection. You have 5 vampires with superior OBF. > >I've often found Al Ashrad's special ability and +1 bleed to be well > >worth the extra 1 cost over Husamettin. > > I dunno. I've got my eye on pool management. 1 may not seem like > alot, but there's not alot of pool gain in this deck... Ok, you're willing to give up on a much better vampire for 1 pool when you've got two locations that cost 1 pool and are easily burned with 1 stealth? If the 1 extra pool for Al Ashrad (+1 bleed, Arson type action on Camarilla locations) isn't worth having one less pool, how is the Path of Blood? [ quoted text not captured ]

In article <7aepcm$6b6$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, agen...@my-dejanews.com wrote: > > > Where is Abd Al-Rashid? He is a must for any Assamite deck. Otherwise, > > pretty solid. Unfortunately, there are not as many suitable smaller > > vamps for inclusion in an assamite deck as there are for any other combat > > clans - which means you must focus on a few bigger vamps to do your > > killing. Sometimes that Brujah with the built in Psyche is worthwhile. > > Very true. I had forgotten about him. Although he is kind of expensive > as is Abd Al-Rashid. Abd is a little expensive, but gives you the two core disciplines of the deck at superior - an immediate advantage. And as for the-brujah-with-built-in-pysche, if you are in an S:CE heavy environment, the value of his SA increases incredibly, since it counts as a free hand slot with a guaranteed pysche every combat. > > > 3x Blood Doll > > > Underworld HG > > I'd go for the MTap/ToV with your assmaites for pool gain rather > > than the Doll/HG. > > That's a good strategy, but I wouldn't think so in this deck. I > need to keep the number of masters low. If I just replace the > BDs and HG with MTap, they may not hit my hand until late. I'd > rather have a (somewhat) steady stream of blood coming in than > alot of pool at one time that may come too late. I find that over the course of a game, Mtaps provide more blood overall than Bdolls, and since you are working with larger vamps this is even more true. Besides, sucking 6/7 off Ashrad, getting into combat and burning a minion and refilling is great for putting terror into opponent meths :) > > > Assamites really do better at long range combat than short. With Deer Rifles > > and Psyche! (and some card management - suggest Dreams/Deal), you can hang > > out at long range, suck any S:CE out of the opponent and continue with Blood > > Sweat/ Taste of Death and Taste of Vitae to finish. > > Except that ToD can be prevented by Fortitude. Also, I didn't think you > could use ToV at long range? You can. Great, innit? [ quoted text not captured ]

>Ok, you're willing to give up on a much better vampire for 1 pool when >you've got two locations that cost 1 pool and are easily burned with >1 stealth? If the 1 extra pool for Al Ashrad (+1 bleed, Arson type >action on Camarilla locations) isn't worth having one less pool, how >is the Path of Blood? 1 word: metagame. Alot of the decks here don't really use Cam clans and as such won't be bringing out Cam locations. So that part of his special is not useful to me at this time. While his +1 bleed is all well and good, the only time it would be useful is towards endgame where I've got my prey's vamps eliminated and I'm going in for the oust. He's not offering me anything *extra* for early and midgame when pool matters the most in determining who and/or what .you can put into play. As for the Path of Blood, it offers me blood management where I have very little. The ToV's after I put them in will help alot, but so does the PoB. So far the PoB hasn't been a target because it is of little consequence to my prey/pred. They have other actions to take like rescuing, hunting or trying to oust me. a0

In article <7af4u7$h4s$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, <mboh...@shout.net> wrote: [snip] >Pulled Fangs would make a perfect replacement for FB in your >deck because you are going to be fighting at close range anyway. And on top of all that, it's an extra point of damage. PF Fangs is very usefull. It can give you the extra time you need to get going with a rush deck, and often the vamp with his teeth knocked out stays in torpor. It's also a decent method of hurting your predator quite a bit, without making him really easy bait for his predator. Hell, it's also usefull to deal with people using blood dolls to bring their vamps out of torpor. [ quoted text not captured ]

In article <7aeotk$5q7$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, agen...@my-dejanews.com writes >> >4x Contract >> >2x Heartblood of the Clan >> Reasonable, though I might go for more Contracts than you have. > >Why? > Because I like The Khabar: Honor. I'd probably move towards that as a basis for striking for the deck, rather than, say, Bang Nakh. >> All seems reasonable here too. I'd be tempted to add Obfuscate, simply >> for the Sacrificials, but they aren't really the focus of your deck, so >> maybe not. > >They are in there as prayer cards. If I don't get them, no worries. >If I do, I can use, say, Tansu to perform the Sacrificial Lamb. > This *is* a worry though. Your combat seems to be based around merely torporising people. You need to burn them, because a torporised vampire can come back to haunt you. In combat would be preferable, but SL would be a possibility. <Path of Blood> >I find that they aren't hot targets. Burning the Path is usually a >wasted action. > I guess. Depends on your game. >> Arson depends on your metagame, I guess. > >Arson is great for getting rid of the Elysium or Secure Haven. I'm >a big proponant for using Arson. I like Arson a lot, but, as I said, I've been tending to drop it, simply because I've been finding fewer people playing locations. Actually, though you haven't got anywhere near enough pool for it, the best way to deal with Elysium is to contest it. A burned Elysium is one which can be replaced. A contested one isn't. >Again, it is more of a prayer card. If it works, great. If they block >it, it'll be another vamp in torpor (or at least, that's the plan. :p) > Like I say, I'd rather see a vampire in the ash-heap than in torpor any day of the week. >> I see your point with the Wooden Stakes. Worth keeping, I guess, >> especially with your additional strikes. I question the usefulness of >> Bang Nakh and Nuclear Bomb (Crimson Sentinel), though, simply because >> they are quite expensive, even though they do do a fair amount of >> damage. > >They aren't *overly expensive* though. Usually made up by the >Blood Bolls or Heartblood. Well, you were complaining about a 1 pool upgrade to/from Husamettin elsewhere in the thread. These are for two, and only potentially useful. I'd steer clear of these two, myself. Vulnerable to an IG deck (again, up to your play environment), and take an action or two cards in your hand at once. My instincts tell me to go for Khabar: Honor, but it is, of course, up to you. >> >6x Blood Sweat >> Useful. Very good anti-Fortitude card. > >That's why it's in here and not Taste of Death. > One or two wouldn't be bad. Aggro damage is good, and flexibility is also good. >> >4x Blood Agony // all I own >> >6x Silence of Death // all I own >> More of both wouldn't hurt, but you're probably trading for both anyway. > >Actually, I buy them from Mark Korshavn. Noone around here owns any >for me to trade with. Ick. I know that feeling! Apart from the Mark Korshavn bit. >> >4x Blur >> >3x Flash >> Your Blood Agony needs second round. You probably need more presses. > >Flash offers a press. Psyche offers a press. Rapid Though offers a >press. I've got lots of presses. Oh, I forgot about Psyche. Sorry. > >> >4x Pursuit >> Hmm.... *stares at card text* You know, that's pretty good. Will have >> to look at for the future. > >Pursuit rules. I use it in all my celeritous combat decks. > Yeah, I'll have to look it out of my collection. >> >3x Sidestrike >> Not really my cup of tea. As you say, I'd be tempted to go for >> Sideslip, which I like because of the Prevent Damage. Hurrah! > >I'm really leaning in the direction of Sideslip for that very reason. >I do like Sidestrike's additional strike at superior, though. > I *like* Prevent Damage. It's cool, because you can whack someone down into torpor and not take damage yourself. Good for the Gangrel too, with their 1 point pokes (watch out for Scorpion Sting). I'd maybe try the deck with it, at least. Maybe add two, and drop 1 or two of others. As you say, flexibility is a great asset of celerity. >> >Reaction (4/90): >> >4x Foul Blood >True. It's only been marginally useful. I'll most likely trade them >out for Taste of Vitae. > Not a bad idea at all. Or something else, of course. Trading them out would probably be good though. >> The Khabar: Honor is a great card, though. If you can hold it till >> second round and Blood Agony it...... *boom* > >This is the ideal combo. :) Yeah. I'd add more Khabar: Honor. That card r00lz. ;) > >> >with all the additional strikes I have, the victim is sure to go to >> >Torpor. >> But not burned. Not burned = bad :( And, unfortunately, there's not a >> lot you can do about it. > >Not with Assamites. I've found that it's nearly impossible for an >Assamite to burn it's opponent in combat. Especially now with the new >agg rules. Well, Khabar: Honor and Blood Agony is possible. A weather control if you were focusing on the tha Assamites would help you wound them, too - then you only need 1 point of aggro damage, because they're already wounded. Hmm.... environmental damage with Assamites and how to get it. *cogs grind and whirr* >> The Disguised Weapons being thinned down might help, as would the non- >> Stake equipment. > >The more I trim out, the less liklihood that I'll draw it. It is the >DW that is saving me an equip action and allowing me to keep the pressure >on. Indeed. Of course, you'd need fewer if you had fewer weapons, which I'd advocate. Still, if they work for you.... [ quoted text not captured ]

> >> Reasonable, though I might go for more Contracts than you have. > >Why? > Because I like The Khabar: Honor. I'd probably move towards that as a > basis for striking for the deck, rather than, say, Bang Nakh. K:H is indeed a great card. However, it can only be used in conjunction with a Contract and I've only got 4 in there. The *most* I'd be willing to go up to is maybe 6, but that would require me to get rid of some of the other masters I have. It would suck alot if I had a K:H in hand but no Contract in play. > This *is* a worry though. Your combat seems to be based around merely > torporising people. You need to burn them, because a torporised vampire > can come back to haunt you. In combat would be preferable, but SL would > be a possibility. I totally agree, but as I pointed out before, it's *really* difficult to reliably burn vamps with Assamites. > Like I say, I'd rather see a vampire in the ash-heap than in torpor any > day of the week. Agreed. And I definately play my POT combat decks to that end. > >Not with Assamites. I've found that it's nearly impossible for an > >Assamite to burn it's opponent in combat. Especially now with the new > >agg rules. > Well, Khabar: Honor and Blood Agony is possible. But I need more blood Agony. Perhaps when I buy more from Mark I'll switch to more K:H, but right now I'd rather have something more permanent. And IG isn't that prevelant in my group. Noone other than me really has the number needed to be useful. And mine are tied up in my POT combat decks. [ quoted text not captured ]

Has anybody thought about including Hidden Lurker in this deck? Feed the Heartblood of the Clan with a weenie. Weenie gets blocked, happens what has to happen. Hidden Lurker with a big guy, no S:CE => Terror in opponent's eyes. "You're playing with that???!!!???" I think a couple of Hidden Lurker would not destroy the theme as well, Assamites lurking outside your home are pretty common, aren't they? About Julius, ok he's weak, ok he's likely to go to torpor (burned even) if in combat but I tend to see him as cannon fodder mostly, he costs one (no big deal). If he's killed then though, but if he gets through to diablerize then it's all the better and again a Meth who just has one of his big guy diablerize by Julius is pretty fun to watch :) Till next time... P.

In article <01be5b55$80605fe0$0814...@B12A-04.sucs.soton.ac.uk>, %?fullname% <%?username%@soton.ac.uk> wrote: >Has anybody thought about including Hidden Lurker in this deck? Feed the >Heartblood of the Clan with a weenie. Weenie gets blocked, happens what has >to happen. Hidden Lurker with a big guy, no S:CE => Terror in opponent's >eyes. "You're playing with that???!!!???" I think a couple of Hidden Lurker >would not destroy the theme as well, Assamites lurking outside your home >are pretty common, aren't they? That might actually be a good use for HL, although you'd have to actually play with Heartblood of the Clan. Personaly, I'd rather play with a few Blood Dolls. I suppose the Heartblood is less Master intensive if you have alot of weenies though. [ quoted text not captured ]