Ahrimanes Newsletter #32 20.12.07
Jazzbeaux
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[ AHRIMANES NEWSLETTER ]
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1.0 - Editorial
1.1 Word From the Editor
1.2 Next Issue
2.0 - Interview
3.0 - Deck
3.1
3.2 Sign Off
--[1.1 - Word from the Editor]----------------------
It seems that the next release will be Blood Shadowed Court, a reprint
of the Camarilla Edition vampires. This is a very good idea, as they
are quite difficult to get at the moment, and keeps Vtes visible on
the shelf. I wonder if we will see similar releases for other vampire
sets - Bloodlines, Final Nights or Sabbat War? Any of those would be
useful for new players, and the last two fit in with the most recent
releases and it is something that can be released between new sets -
appeasing new players, while not annoying older players.
--[1.2 -Next Issue]------------------------------------
Another tournament winning deck, go Ahrimanes! Other than that I am
not sure yet.
--[2.0 - WES Weston interview]--------------------------
Q) What interests you in the Ahrimanes?
A) I have fun every time I play with them. Each game feels very
different from
every other game, which I cannot say about other decks.
Q) What are their strengths?
A) Strength +1
Oh, you mean Ahrimanes other than Howler? Wait; there are Ahrimanes
other
than Howler?
Although not immediately apparent, the clan's three signature
disciplines
have some good synergy together.
Spiritus, though limited in number compared to the main disciplines,
has
access to some very versatile cards: untap, stealth, maneuvers,
presses,
"eagles sight". Not only do these provide a useful arsenal, they are
also
difficult for other players to predict. They're also very easy to
cycle.
Animalism also provides some good choices, combining permanent
retainers
with transient combat cards. Raven Spy and Speak with Spirits alone
provides
a very good defence against all but the most persistent stealth decks.
I tend not to use a lot of Presence. While a great discipline, its
cards
tend to go counter to a lot of my deck decisions. For example, Majesty
is
great for avoiding combat, but I don't usually want to run away with
Howler
(and maneuvers are often good enough, if needed).
I think Ahrimanes excel at the endgame. Once they are established they
can
be very difficult to shut down. So, if a table is going to time-out,
you'll
probably be in one of the better positions. Since my deck tends to be
somewhat wallish, with lots of permanents, it usually does well in
those
situations. Also, because of the slow build-up, it has an "under-the-
radar"
effect that other decks do not enjoy.
Q) What are their weaknesses?
A) They can take a long time to establish a table presence. When I
lose games,
it's usually because a much quicker deck is behind me. Weenies or
sneak-bleed decks tend to get the upper hand much of the time,
despite
access to Speak with Spirits. Of course, I also consider the slow
build-up
to be a strength, as the true threat of the deck is not apparent until
it is
too late.
Q) What sparks your initial ideas?
A) Well, I don't build a lot of different Ahrimanes decks, so I can't
claim
that I have too many original ideas with them. The Howler deck that I
use is
pretty close to the one I built when I playtested Bloodlines so many
years
ago. It changes a little bit when new sets are released, but never
very
radically. Often, I add some of the new Ahrimanes/Spiritus cards, just
to
try them out, but they end up coming back out pretty quickly. If it
ain't
broke...
Q) Which decklist is your favourite to play?
A) The current configuration, i.e. the deck you printed in a previous
newsletter (Ahrimanes Newsletter #27). I have not yet added any new
cards from the last few sets, I don't think. I probably should...
Q) How many drafts did it go through?
A) Well, considering how old the deck is, probably several dozen, but
again, it
hasn't changed by very much. It's the only deck I never take apart.
Q) Which cards didn't quite make it into the deck? (Cards 91-100?)
A) I always struggle with those last few cards. I've never understood
how
people can build decks with less than 90 cards, but then, I do often
go
through my entire library with this deck. I tend to try to pare down
some of
the action cards whenever possible, as there always seem to be a lot
of
them, and with limited minions to use them. Transient PRE bleed cards
other
than Entrancement have been replaced with Heart of the City. Can't
think of
what else has been taken out recently...
I did add Break the Code for the most recent tournament in Toronto,
because
I was concerned with all of the Imbued wins of late. Predictably,
nobody
played Imbued that day.
Q) Do you play them in lots of friendly games - real or JOL?
A) At this time I play almost exclusively on JOL. There are no other
players
local to me, and I am no longer willing to cross the border into the
US,
where the nearest players to me are. I have occasionally played at
tournaments in distant cities, in which case I do often play my
Ahrimanes
deck, but that seems to happen less and less often, sadly. Over the
years,
I've probably played an iteration of the deck in at least half a
dozen
Toronto tournaments and about the same in Detroit, winning at least
four of
them, including a qualifier and at one or two storylines.
Q) Are there any other clans that you like to play?
A) I play most of them, but I do avoid a lot of the "standard" clan
deck
archetypes. I loathe Malkavian S&B decks, for example; they may be
effective, but I find them boring and simplistic. I'd rather lose
with
something interesting and fun than win with a deck like that. Just a
personal preference, I guess.
My decks are usually based around individual vampires, or interesting
combinations of disciplines, rather than clans. Whenever a new set
comes
out, I like looking for those oddball vampires that have SER and PRO,
or
whatever, and building an interesting -- and hopefully effective --
deck
around them.
Q) What card would you like to see for the Ahrimanes? (crypt or
library)
A) Oh, I don't know... I don't think they really need much right now.
If they
did, it would be even more difficult to pare cards 91-100 from the
deck.
--[3.1 - Deck: Czech Nationals 2007
Winner]---------------------------------------
Name of Tourney: Czech Nationals 2007
Place: Prague, Czech Republic
No. of Players: 41
Format: 3+F
Winning Player:Tomas Vomacka (aka Vomicz)
Winning decklist:
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 1 max: 8 average 5.25
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3x Howler 8 ANI PRE SPI obf Ahrimane:2
2x Siamese 7 PRE SPI ani pro Ahrimane:2
1x Cynthia Ingold 6 SPI ani for pre Ahrimane:2
1x Nettie Hale 5 ani cel pre pro spi Ahrimane:2
1x Bobby Lemon 4 ANI pro Gangrel: 3
1x Juanita Santiago 4 ani pre spi Ahrimane:2
1x Dani 2 ani Nosferatu Antitirbu: 2
1x Gillian Krader 2 ani dem Pander: 2
1x Zip 2 ani Ravnos: 3
Library [90 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action [14]
1x Aranthebes
1x Army of rats
4x Enchant Kindred
2x Engling Fury
2x Entracement
2x Muricias Call
2x Nose of the Hound
Action Modifier [2]
1x Aire of elation
1x Squirrel Balance
Ally [2]
1x Mylan, Horseed
1x Ossian
Combat [26]
4x Aid from the bats
2x Canine Horde
8x Carrion Crows
2x Leapfrog
2x Majesty
2x Staredown
2x Target: Vitals
4x Taste of Vitae
Combat/Action Modifier [6]
6x Swiftness of the stag
Event [1]
1x Narrow Minds
Master [14]
2x Animalism
1x Archon investigation
1x Blood doll
1x Direct intervention
1x Dreams of the sphinx
1x Fame
1x Jake Washington
1x Pentex
1x Powerbase: Montreal
1x Rack
1x Smiling Jack
2x Vessel
Reaction [21]
4x Cats guidance
3x Falcons Eye
2x Keep it simple
2x On the Qui vive
1x Sense the savage ways
9x Speak with spirits
Retainer [4]
1x Murder of crows
3x Raven spy
A fairly straightforward Ahrimane Deck with added ani weenies. I like
the variety of cards, which gives a multi pronged attacking strategy.
--[3.2 - Sign Off]-------------------------------------
Well 2007 has been a good year for the Ahrimanes, with five tournament
winning decks listing in the NLs, and I managed to qualify for the
Continentals, and place highly in all of the tournaments I entered.
Hopefully some of you out there have been doing just as well, and you
have been inspired by the NLs.
Either way have a very happy Christmas, and a merry New Year, when I
will return with more NLs for you all to read.
Sam
*