... the Crimson Sentinel?
> Unique melee weapon.
> Strength+1 damage as a strike. If this weapon successfully inflicts damage on an opponent in combat, add a soul counter to it at the end of that round. This weapon does one additional point of damage each strike for each soul counter on this card. Remove all soul counters from this card if another minion gains control of it.
>
Cost: 2 pool.
Ok.. I'm new on this, so I might not understand everything and I am trying more combat-oriented decks. I love that card but can only find it in few tournament decks.
With an ambush + trap against a fat Ventrue Inner Circle, is it me or this weapon can easily become very powerful?
So, why is there no love for the Crimson Sentinel?
I've already seen it played as a kinder in some decks relying more on fortitude than potence, for instance.
Prince of Paris, France
Ratings Coordinator, Rules Director
(Mostly pure) combat decks often have quite little leeway in terms of not being ousted so they quite often need to "go backstream" and neutralize the treat from the Predator.
Also they need to act forward in order to oust the Prey.
Because of this there is seldom time for non-vital actions like fetching non-vital equipment.
BTW P_A, do you guys play the game with unlimited time or use two hour timelimits (as are used in the official tournaments)? Changed A LOT of my way of deck designing and playing...
Finnish Politics!
It's a special kind of Beautiful with Sword of the Righteous.
It's also a special fun with Ossian... Nothing like a Werewolf with a Lightsabre.
Retired Baron of Sydney, Australia, 418
Melee weapons suck. The best one is weighted walking stick, sadly.
Now, decks that use WWS could use CS to good effect, since "prevent n press" is a purpetual bead adding mechanism here. But, wws being equipped ad a pre iw why its good, and there are cheaper options for melee weapons in those builds, like meat hook, argent baton, cleaver, bat, or Js axe.
CS is a carx that becomes great if melee sucks less. Strike at the true flesh with cool melees is a deck ive thought about building for awhile, but its still bad when you get grappled, or your beast is draw out, or whatever.
Sentinel isnt terrible, melee weapon based anything is. Baseline stuff is that you will be taking damage up close, you only may be taking damage at range, so just like the real world, shooting someone is more efficient than trying to achieve the same goal with a 3 foot long piece of metal, regardless of how much cooler it looks.
Add in the rock paper scissors of Ani Guns Grapple that is the good dedicated combat stuff ALL having an answer to melee, and melee not having a non-psyche, non blessings of chaos, non-death seeker, non-watenda, non Asguresh(did i getcall the corner case stuff?) Answer to "i end combat, you wasted cards", its bleak.
Talbots chaimsaw (not a "melee" weapon, btw, hust uniwue weapon) has an additional drawback, but due to its auto rush, press, and one prevent, it is "worth" playing if its used.
Costless melee makes you die slower than if you spend pool too.
I hope ive answered some of the basics here. Sentinel is one of the best melee weapons with a cost, but its still a melee weapon.
Sarah brando with a 44 moves 3 cards to get a 44 as a pre, then go to long, shoot, and blur. 6 damage, no worry or hands or whatever, possibly sideslip to stop bow agg, whatever.
Rico loco or that 3 cap guruhi with POT have to take equip action, hit, press, hit to do 5-7 with one carx played, and its two rounds, only the fortutude 3 cap negates hitback, and they could get grappled.
Even anarch Harry Reese (anyone with FOR obf really) needs CS, disguised, swing, prevent n press, swing to do 5.
Its not as efficient ever. Laibon !Salubri can at least throw sword of the righteous Kerrie, most melee cries to everything..
Combat is rough to win with, so unless you trump other combat or do more winning/not dying than other combat, you have it twice as hard.
There are just two many things that don't work with Crimson Sentinel.
First, it is unique. If you want to base your combat on it, then you must play a superstar deck, and that is already a big default.
Seoncd, it is self-defeating. You need presses to feed it, then it grows, and what do you do with your hand full of presses?
Third it goes against the pace of the game. It is weak at the beginning of the game, which is when combat decks need heavy damage to empty full vampires. Then it grows by the end of the game, but what is the point of inflicting 6 damage per strike when all the opposing vampires only have 3 blood?