Official release: April 16, 2015
Legal for Tournament Play: May 16, 2015
This is the final card from the Storyline Rewards 2015 mini-set. It was held from the main release as we were still waiting for its artwork. The previous artist assigned to this card ran to unforseen complications, so Ginés Quiñonero stepped up and got the artwork done.
As for the card itself, it is the Advanced version of Masika. The card's origins start in a storyline event in Lisbon, Portugal in May of 2009, regarding the conflict in the power vacuum that appeared after Monçada's final death:
sites.google.com/site/storylinelisboa/home/aftermath
This storyline continued in the Friday 13th Storyline at the 2009 EC, where Masika was rewarded for his assistance of the Tremere by being granted the domain of Lisbon:
sites.google.com/site/friday13storyline/home/aftermath
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Masika Advanced . Size: 2,04 MB
V:EKN Website Coordinator
Easy to compare with Nakhtorheb and Shalmath.
In fact, he gets the short short stick compared to most other 10-caps imo.
Overkill is highly underrated. You know, like in computor games and such.
> agzocgud wrote:
> Easy to compare with Nakhtorheb and Shalmath.
> In fact, he gets the short short stick compared to most other 10-caps imo.
>
Like most vamps in this set, this one sucks. Sad. Just sad.
"My strategy? Luck is my strategy, of course."
Because his special says "+1 intercept to a minion you control".
Think of a (Toreador) vote deck, where vampires without a specific intercept-discipline gain some board control, or imagine some helpful/nasty allies, that get +2 intercept with Unmasking.
Of course, it is not a broken mechanism, but it allows you to build some unexpected decks -- at least I will give him a try ... B-)
National Coordinator Germany nc [dot] germany [at] magenta [dot] de
I think Toreador group 1-2 didn't need more options. I hope no one ever wins a storyline with Arika as the main vampire. That being said, it looks fun to play.
> Hakuron wrote:
> Of course, it is not a broken mechanism, but it allows you to build some unexpected decks -- at least I will give him a try ... B-)
>
Prince of Dallas
Toreador Grand Ball: Dallas
August 13, 2022
> Hakuron wrote:
> Because his special says "+1 intercept to a minion you control".
>
> Think of a (Toreador) vote deck, where vampires without a specific intercept-discipline gain some board control, or imagine some helpful/nasty allies, that get +2 intercept with Unmasking.
>
This comes from a guy who likes Baltimore Purge-decks?!
"My strategy? Luck is my strategy, of course."
> Ashur wrote:
>
> > Hakuron wrote:
> > Because his special says "+1 intercept to a minion you control".
> >
> > Think of a (Toreador) vote deck, where vampires without a specific intercept-discipline gain some board control, or imagine some helpful/nasty allies, that get +2 intercept with Unmasking.
> >
> This comes from a guy who likes Baltimore Purge-decks?!
>
I consider it wise not to brute-force every game of V:tES ... B-)
Plus, I like to have many different decks!
National Coordinator Germany nc [dot] germany [at] magenta [dot] de
Masika Adv is not very good compared to basic. Merging is not so special, either. I guess the idea is that you can flush all of the useless Parity Shifts out of your hand until you make him prince? Oh boy!
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
Masika as a Prince is really damned good. Cornerstone of a Solid defensive Princes deck. Plus because he's Toreador you can easily swap it into a heavy voting deck.
So you play any of the non-2nd Trad solid Prince Cards... (Parity Shift? I heard its not bad) and then he untap in your prey's turn and you lay down those 2nds with some Gun Combat or Majesty.
Clearly terrible.
The burning to get intercept from political actions is an interesting way to 'pray to the Card Gods' for intercept.
Retired Baron of Sydney, Australia, 418
> Juggernaut1981 wrote:
> Masika as a Prince is really damned good. Cornerstone of a Solid defensive Princes deck. Plus because he's Toreador you can easily swap it into a heavy voting deck.
>
> So you play any of the non-2nd Trad solid Prince Cards... (Parity Shift? I heard its not bad) and then he untap in your prey's turn and you lay down those 2nds with some Gun Combat or Majesty.
>
> Clearly terrible.
>
> The burning to get intercept from political actions is an interesting way to 'pray to the Card Gods' for intercept.
>
Masika adv is not a prince. MERGED Masika adv is a prince. The merging makes a big difference.
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
> brandonsantacruz wrote:
> Masika adv is not a prince. MERGED Masika adv is a prince. The merging makes a big difference.
>
I could not have said it better myself.
"My strategy? Luck is my strategy, of course."
I like synergies between base and advanced.
IMO, a more interesting design would have been:
When Masiska (A) is untapped, (some actions) gets -1 stealth or (some cards) cost more.
And another bonus for merging, like a title, discipline or a stat boost. But perhaps the design comes from the tournamnet, where his team blocked a lot in a political game.
In any case, he is underpowered for a 10-cost.
Overkill is highly underrated. You know, like in computor games and such.
What if the only word that changed was from "intercept" to "stealth?" I think the advanced version would be much better.
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
brandonsantacruz.blogspot.com/
> brandonsantacruz wrote:
> What if the only word that changed was from "intercept" to "stealth?" I think the advanced version would be much better.
>
Of course that would make it easier to build a deck around it, but I doubt it would be "better" for the game to create an additional source of "free" stealth not based on a stealth-giving discipline.
(Plus, it would be a special similar to Montano's one.)
National Coordinator Germany nc [dot] germany [at] magenta [dot] de
Masika advanced seems really weak, his ability is so much worse than the basic ones that he really should have had the prince title right away without needing merging, and have some other more interesting merged ability instead on top of what he does now.
> Nac wrote:
> you are being too harsh, adding raw power to toreador group 1 will never be a good idea.
>
So you rather they make completely useless wallpaper card? Might as well not print one at all then.
> Klaital wrote:
>
> > Nac wrote:
> > you are being too harsh, adding raw power to toreador group 1 will never be a good idea.
> >
> So you rather they make completely useless wallpaper card? Might as well not print one at all then.
>
Many people have shown interest in the new decks that could spring from Masika as a star, which is a good thing considering AAA. I first and foremost thank them for keep trying to offer us new things even if they are not my cup of tea. You dislike it, that's fine, but there is a long distance between that and it being the most asbolute and completely and buthurting wallpaper on the whole universal universe of universes.
I think card flushing mechanisms are generally underestimated. It is not only the +1 intercept to any minion but also the fact that it can get rid of a momentarily useless card that counts. Yes, this is not a no-brainer power vampire but it is hardly useless, even without merging.
Also there is a significant design challenge here. The basic Masika has quite a powerful special, if you make the advanced version to good it will become a monster. I think the merged Masika is as powerful as a merged 10 cap should be.
> johannes wrote:
> I think card flushing mechanisms are generally underestimated. It is not only the +1 intercept to any minion but also the fact that it can get rid of a momentarily useless card that counts. Yes, this is not a no-brainer power vampire but it is hardly useless, even without merging.
>
> Also there is a significant design challenge here. The basic Masika has quite a powerful special, if you make the advanced version to good it will become a monster. I think the merged Masika is as powerful as a merged 10 cap should be.
>
Agreed. Also, given the way that Epiphany works, you're going to have four copies of the base version and only one of the advanced in your crypt anyway, so the non-merged advanced version being less potent than the base version isn't going to be an issue very often.
(And you're not going to try to build a merged vampire deck without using Epiphany, right?)
The question proper is:
Why would you try and build a merged-Masika deck at all?
Where does he fit in?
1. AAA
I guess one could try and squeeze in 1 copy of Masika ADV (never merged). He has all the vital disciplines, after all, and could work as a Marciana in a deck otherwise devoid of intercept (apart from TM, perchance). However, I would still prefer Dorian or Isabel de Leon as possible targets for TGB.
2. Anneke Wall
With Anson, Francois and Marcellus, I absolutely doubt there is any space left. And if there is, I would, again, prefer Dorian or Isabel to Masika ADV. Plenty of vamps who can play 2nd Traditions without experiencing Epiphany.
3. Masika Wall / CEL-AUS
This deck does not use 2nd Traditions anyway, and has access to a vast selection of intercept providers. The deck does not run political cards. Absolutely no point in inserting Masika ADV.
When planning for Masika ADV you can well plan for a single one, and waste the library shelves for a copy of Epiphany... Wait. One copy bain't enough. You need like three? Damn. Let me think of cards I'd rather have multiple copies of.... Dreams of the... Second Tradition.... Parity Shift.... Ashur Tablets. They are all better provided that you are not running a Masika star deck. And... Is Masika good enough to make him a star? Yes, the 1994 one. Sadly enough, there is no synergy between the two. Adding the ADV one is like saying: 'I need a challenge. A way to make my game more difficult'. Well, I don't. Not into it. Sorry.
An intercepty malkavian that acts every turn with madness network? And can potentially call 5 PS in one loop around the table? Yup, that sure sounds crap to me. Ofc, dropping 5 first traditions is much weaker too. Dear lord, how dare they make such worthless wallpaper. After all, he doesn't have DOM OBF FOR PRE, how could he possibly be of any use t anyone ever in any deck whatsoever?
> Blooded wrote:
> An intercepty malkavian that acts every turn with madness network? And can potentially call 5 PS in one loop around the table?
>
There are a great many decks that start out with "First, I play Clan Impersonation..." which stumble - playing enough Clan Impersonation in a deck that one is reliably playable early can do funky things with hand jam later.
I believe you're confusing discussion of the power of Masika-Advanced with the power of Masika-Merged. People already know that Masika-Base is good, so anything you add on top is likely to make it better - unless you were to make some text on the Advanced or Merged vampire counteract the base somehow. (Possible, but difficult to do elegantly, and in a way that makes the Merged still interesting, given you have maybe three lines of card text at a push.)
For the same capacity, you get:
- the same disciplines
- the same title
- no +1 bleed
- no out of turn acting facility
- an intercept/card cycling facility where you need to be a political deck to use it well.
Losing +1 bleed is fairly hefty. Losing the out of turn acting facility is also fairly hefty. Does the intercept make up for it? Some people think not.
Thing is, as things stand, group 1/2 Toreador already has a fairly good set of political decks available to it. Anneke, Anson, Alexandra, maybe a splash of Francois Villon - three Princes/Justicars, and Alexandra who has a powerful special and 4 votes, which reasonably counteracts her inability to play Traditions. Maybe you think about tossing in Rake, who isn't Toreador(*) but has PRE/cel/aus and is cheaper, so isn't altogether terrible for the deck.
Such decks often don't include Masika-Base.(**) He's far from a terrible vampire, but he's not a Prince or Justicar, and his special ability is fairly orthogonal to the whole issue of passing votes. So for that style of deck, he's quite expensive. You need a fair amount of tech to make his out-of-turn acting really good - such as Madness Networks, Clan Impersonations, and methods of protecting him. It's not that he's a bad vampire, it's just not usually the most appropriate deck for him.
Most of the same problems apply to Masika-Advanced. Same Primogen problem. Loses out on the +1 bleed which is fairly tasty as a thing to have. But you do get the intercept cycling ability, which might be a good way of thinning cards out of your hand, and you're a political deck. But you're probably not stacking lots of copies of Masika-Advanced in the deck because you still want lots of tasty Princes out, so it's not like you would reasonably rely on it, so you're probably not tweaking your deck to have more political actions, knowing you can throw them away if you need to.
So then you come to playing a star deck - you want Masika-Merged out at a brisk pace to ensure you can capitalize on his utility. Leaving aside any issues about merging(***), which would you prefer to have out while you're waiting? If you're making the most of his untaporama, you probably want the base version? So then you're putting in, what, 4-5 copies of Masika-Base, and one copy of Masika-Advanced, and a clutch of Epiphany? Masika-Advanced still isn't looking great.
But stop and take a look at that star deck that you're suggesting. You have a lot of untap from somewhere (his ability, but also things like Alexandra are possible), and vote push tech. Take the Epiphany action and swap it for a few titles instead - Toreador Justicar, Praxis Seizure: Wherever. Play one with Masika, cycle the others on your other vampires. In play, all you're doing is swapping Epiphany for a title. Epiphany has an untap, but since you can call 4-5 votes using out-of-turn actions, you have a lot of untap from somewhere, so that's not too hard to counterbalance. So... you could play a very similar deck now, most likely.
(*) If you like Toreador Grand Ball, Art Museum, Aching Beauty tech, this is a downer. But it doesn't have to be the end of the world.
(**) There are four decks showing up in the TWDA with Masika and Parity Shift. There are 45 with Alexandra and Parity Shift. There are 72 with Anson and Parity Shift.
(***) In particular, that Epiphany can currently only be played by his base version.