Salubri antitribu newsletter June 2008
The Lasombra
June 2008
By: Aidan Knight
Introduction
It has been quite some time since the last newsletter for Anti Salubri
appeared. Things have not changed much since (concerning new cards in
new editions); however, this bloodline clan deserves to be mentioned
once again...
Deck of the Month
There are several ways of how to use this interesting clan of knights.
You can probably imagine the bruise 'n' bleed deck with camera phones,
laptops and/or Pulses of the Canaille, wall deck with many Eagle's
Sights and other intercept cards, or rush deck with Fames and direct
enter-combat cards such as Sense Death.
Nevertheless, there can be something fresh. As far as I can remember,
the Anti Sal decks were always built around Adonai and his group 2
weenie assistants. Now it is time to take a look at groups 3 and 4...
The best thing to do at the moment is to compare these groups. Let us
get started from the youngest...
G2 Doris Mc Millon is a standard 2-capacity vampire with inferior
Valeren and no special.
G3&4 does not have a 2-capacity vampire.
G2 vampire with capacity of 3 is Kervos, the Lieutenant with inferior
Auspex and Valeren.
In comparison G3&4 has Rashiel with inferior Fortitude and Valeren.
Which one is better? Well, I prefer Rashiel. The reason is simple. If
I want a weenie vampire, he/she has to have either one superior
discipline or the best combination of the clan's disciplines at
inferior. Auspex is about blocks and deflections, Fortitude about
damage prevention and Valeren is a combat winning one. To deflect, one
needs to have superior Auspex. Thus, for combat-heavy deck, I find the
combination of Fortitude and Valeren as the best for the 3-capacity
vampire.
There are 2 vampires in G2 with capacity of 4: Wolf Valentine and
Thomas Steed, the Angry. Neither of them has all 3 clan disciplines.
Valentine's special is very selective and nearly off use. Thomas'
special, on the other hand, is great but it must not get blocked.
Unfortunately, he lacks Fortitude.
G3&4 has Nkechi, a 4-cap vampire with innate clan disciplines at
inferior and a useful special... Moreover, she is Laibon, which can
give you more cards to consider when building such deck.
No 5-cap vampire for Anti Salubri in G2...
G3&4, well, well, one good vampire and one superstar… Though Langa has
only Fortitude at inferior and Valeren at superior, his special is
worth noticing. Enter combat with ANY other vampire in play... Pity
this action has no stealth and will be often blocked. But then, if I
cannot kick the butt of the vampire I want to, why not kick someone
else's butt (especially a vampire of the same Methuselah)....? And the
superstar? Here goes.... Aredhel, a 5-cap vampire with inferior Auspex
and (!!!) superior Fortitude and Valeren. And she is even Black Hand,
interesting...
The capacity of 7 is represented by Adonai, the G2 top vampire and
honestly, probably the best Anti Sal ever printed yet. He lacks
superior Fortitude, but he can enter combat with a Camarilla vampire
and has innate +1 bleed. Cool guy.
Last but not least, Dela Eden, the only Anti Sal to have all three
clan disciplines at superior. Being Laibon and having +1 strength
makes Dela a fantastic vampire for both G2 and G4 crypt, since she is
G3.
In my opinion, the comparison is a little in favor of groups 2 & 3,
but group 3 & 4 vampires have better choice to find perfect friends
and library cards for Laibon. More to the point, since each of G3&4
vampires has Fortitude, prevent cards come to consideration.
Solomon Batanea is my first choice when looking for a suitable
addition with superior Auspex and Fortitude. Right behind him in line
is Neighbor John with only inferior Fortitude but with +1 intercept,
what makes him the best blocker and a worthy deflector.
The worst fact that I found out is that there is no suitable 6-cap
vampire around, best choice being Mariel St. John, which is worse than
both John and Solomon. Some of you may already have tested Blackhorse
Tanner, a 7-capacity anti Ventrue with one of the coolest specials...
As to the library cards, there is one master providing huge advantage
as long as you play Laibon: Powerbase: Tshwane.
More to the point, Laibon is the only sect to have a melee weapon that
may be used as ranged one... yes, you know it, too... Kerrie. Until
Kerrie appeared there was no possibility to deal with long range. Now,
there is Kerrie and Eye of the Unforgiving Heaven as well.
To give my thoughts a halt, here is the deck.
Crypt
12 vampires, capacity min. 3, max. 8, average 5.42
3x Dela Eden cap 8 cel dom AUS FOR VAL Salubri antitribu
2x Aredhel cap 5 aus FOR VAL Salubri antitribu
1x Langa cap 5 for VAL Salubri antitribu
2x Solomon Batanea cap 5 nec AUS FOR Harbingers of Skull
1x Neighbor John cap 5 dom for AUS Ventrue antitribu
2x Nkechi cap 4 aus for val Salubri antitribu
1x Rashiel cap 3 for val Salubri antitribu
Library (90)
Master (14)
1x Auspex
1x Fortitude
1x Blooding by the Code
2x Path of Retribution
2x Vessel
3x Blood Doll
1x Powerbase: Tshwane
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x WMRH Talk Radio
1x KRCG News Radio
Action (10)
3x Sense Death
Enter combat, one of the best around.
3x Brother in Arms
Weenie deck may profit from these little soldiers...
2x Sense Vitality
2x Blessing of the Name
Ousting-your-prey card. Use wisely, it will pay off.
Action Modifier (2)
2x Gift of Bellona
If your prey and predator are smart enough, they will try to block
your equip actions. Gift is the way to avoid wasting your precious
weapons...
Combat (31)
2x Armor of Caine's Fury
Sorry, dude, no Rotschreck...
1x Concealed Weapon
One copy in addition to 2 Gifts should be enough...
3x Sword of the Righteous
2x Eye of the Unforgiving Heaven
6x Vengeance of Samiel
Combat winning cards. You need to stay alive though, thus...
3x Skin of Rock
3x Unflinching Persistence
2x Soak
3x Rolling with the Punches
...I opted for cheaper prevent cards.
3x Taste of Vitae
3x Telepathic Tracking
None will escape...
Reaction (24)
5x On the Qui Vive
2x Forced Awakening
3x My Enemy's Enemy
4x Telepathic Misdirection
4x Eagle's Sight
4x Spirit's Touch
2x Enhanced Senses
Equipment (9)
1x Kduva's Mask
Cool thing for Laibon...
1x Pier 13, Port of Baltimore
So the equips are easier...
2x Camera Phone
In such deck, I consider the Camera to be better than Laptop...
1x Crimson Sentinel
1x Nightstick
1x Bang Nakh - Tiger's Claws
2x Kerrie
Well, eight out of our twelve vampires are Laibon, Kerrie rules...
Sign off
Well, there it is. The alpha version. Comments and your experience
with this clan are welcome. Feel free to send me an e-mail:
aidan...@seznam.cz
Hodgestar
> Salubri antitribu newsletter
> 3x Telepathic Tracking
So what do !Salubri do about S:CE? :/
Schiavo
Simon
aidan...@seznam.cz
Well, S:CE is a tough problem for any combat heavy deck, however, this
is only an alpha version. If it proves to be ineffective, it will have
to be changed.
On the other hand, each player knows the circumstances and the field
they play in. Thus, the metagame I attend is S:CE light, therefore, 3
copies of Tracking seem to be enough. It may vary, you may have
different experience
Aidan