Ethan Burrow#
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, don't forget to check out
http://whitestar.ddg.com/vtes/TorA02012000.html if you have web access.
The web version is more spiffy than this plain-text version :-)
2/1/2000 Editors Corner - Ethan Burrow, Prince of Austin
Expansions, playtest, and new possibilities. That is one of the main
goals of the V:EKN letter writing campaign. If you haven't yet signed
the form letter and sent it to Wizards of the Coast, please do so.
Letting Wizards know that there is still a solid player base for V:TES
is the first step in encouraging more support. While there should be a
mini-expansion forthcoming, our goal is to ensure more expansions and
more card availability for the future.
There have been several home-grown expansions created across the
world, and a couple of domains have actually posted them to the web for
all to enjoy. While I agree with the spirit of the cards, unfortunately
posting them has ensured that Wizards will never use them - company
policy. But they are fun to read and play with until we get our hands on
the sanctioned expansion. So in the spirit of new possibilities, I am
focusing this newsletter on Justin Fang's reknown JOL expansion cards.
Vampire of the Month -
Bane from Justin Fang's Playtest Vampires
7 AUS CEL FOR
Sabbat Bishop : When Bane is brought into play, you may search
through your ash heap, library, or hand to find an Art of Pain Master
card and place it on him. Pay the cost for the card as normal.
Ohmigod. I smell a combat/intercept deck with fortitude bleed
capability with this guy. There are 2 other Toreador-Antitribu with
fortitude : Lolita and Shelia. Build combat around AUS/CEL using Art of
Pain and Depravity to give your vamps sizeable hand damage (and melee
weapons if you wish), and you're gonna do some serious damage to anyone
you block. Mixing up intercept with Spirit's Touch, Precognition, My
Enemy's Enemy, Melange, etc. will give you extra abilities depending on
the situation. When your prey is weak you can follow up with a Force of
Will or Laptop and make it unblockable using any flavor of Fortitude
action modifier.
I want to note, that technically Bane will be a 9 cost vampire. 7 to
bring out, and then you have to pay 2 for the Art Of Pain. While you can
bring him out without playing Art of Pain, why would you want to. Due to
his special, you only need to really pack one Art of Pain since you can
always play it on him if don't already have Art of Pain on another
vampire. Just make sure you put 2-3 of Bane in your crypt to get him in
your opening crypt.
Any way you slice it, Bane is going to be deadly in combat. Putting him
into a deck not focusing on combat, while may be certainly useful, isn't
using him to his full advantage. I think he might be undercosted at 7
capacity, but certainly not broken.
Card of the Month -
Sydney Opera House from Justin Fang's Playtest Clan Cards
Toreador-Antitribu
Master : Unique Location
1 pool
Tap Sydney Opera House to untap a Toreador-Antitribu with
capacity greater than 4.
Better than a Metro Underground (which this is loosly based after I
gather). While the Metro Underground is free, you need to pay a pool
each time you untap a minion which can only happen at the end of your
turn. The Sydney Opera House for an initial investment of 1 pool, will
let you untap one minion - AT ANY TIME. Granted it requires the
Toreador-Antitrbu to play, and it has to target older vamps, but with
this card our clan could do some serious damage.
You could untap minions after they complete actions, whether successful
or not. You can untap blockers after blocking. You can untap minions
which could not otherwise untap during their minion phase. And I'm sure
there are a few other surprise uses to make this well worth putting into
any Toreador-Antitribu deck.
For example, using Bane above, he could rush opposing minions. And using
Sydney Opera House in combination with Freak Drive and weeine AUS vamps
playing Precognizant Mobility, he can continue rushing opposing vampires
for possibly several times a turn. Bane and Sydney Opera House would
definitely make the Toreador-Antitribu a fighting force to be feared
in the meta-game.
What's your favorite Drafting Style?
I am hosting an online poll to determine what everyone's favorite
drafting style is. Please visit
http://whitestar.ddg.com/vtes/TorA02012000.html to vote.
Deck Medic/Strategy Corner
The following deck is based on the two cards we reviewed in this
newsletter. Remember, that we included only 2 new cards that are not in
the basic set...and already we have quite a different focus of cards and
options for our Clan than previously seen. Imagine what a 30-50 card
mini expansion will do to the metagame, if we are blessed with it this
year.
"Don't Do It....."
Toreador Antitribu Combat/Intercept Deck
Vampires
3 Bane
1 Carter
1 Ian Wallingford
1 Jessica
1 Lachlan, Noddist
1 Lolita
2 Remilliard, Devout Crusader
2 Sheila Mezarin
Library
5 Acrobatics
2 Blur
6 Flash
5 Pulled Fangs
6 Sideslip
4 Taste of Vitae
4 Leather Jacket
2 Day Operation
2 Laptop Computer
2 Sport Bike
3 Force of Will
4 Social Charm
1 Art of Pain
1 Barrens
4 Blood Doll
1 Depravity
1 Fetish Club H. G.
1 Information Highway
2 Sydney Opera House
2 Enhanced Senses
5 Fast Reaction
7 Forced Awakening
3 Melange
2 My Enemy's Enemy
5 Precognition
5 Spirit's Touch
5 Telepathic Misdirection
90 Total library cards
Aggressively block your prey's actions and kill his vampires. The
use of the Sydney Opera House will help to offset the Fast
Reactions, so you can handle S:CE, dodgers, and high hitting potence
decks. When your prey's pool is low, bleed them out using your
fortitude cards.
--------
Ethan Burrow - Prince of Austin
et...@ddg.com
http://whitestar.ddg.com/vtes/
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Before you buy.