Assamite Newsletter, January 2005
Otto Koskinen
Otto Koskinen
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Badabing.
Happy new year, folks.
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NUISANCE
Nothing is worse than active ignorance
-Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Deck Name: Nuisance
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 14, Max: 24, Avg: 4,75)
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2 Badr al-Budur cel dom OBF qui 5, Assamite:2
1 Melek cel OBF pre QUI 7, Assamite:2
2 Abd al-Rashid CEL obf QUI 5, Assamite:2
2 Anwar cel obf qui 4, Assamite:2
1 Ali Kar obf qui 3, Assamite:3
1 Harika Guljan QUI 3, Assamite:2
2 Jalal Sayad CEL pot QUI 6, Assamite:2
1 Tansu Bekir cel OBF 4, Assamite:2
Library: (90 cards)
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Master (19 cards)
2 Alamut
1 Barrens, The
4 Blood Doll
1 Contract
1 Market Square
1 Life in the City
1 Powerbase: Los Angeles
2 Quietus
2 Secret Passage
2 Society of Leopold
1 Strained Vitae Supply
1 Underworld Hunting Ground
Action (15 cards)
2 Arson
1 Clandestine Contract
4 Flurry of Action
4 Khabar: Loyalty
3 Night Moves
1 Sanguine Instruction
Action Modifier (10 cards)
5 Cloak the Gathering
5 Lost in Crowds
Political Action (7 cards)
7 Free States Rant
Reaction (6 cards)
2 Foul Blood
4 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Combat (21 cards)
5 Flash
4 Pulled Fangs
2 Side Strike
2 Taste of Death
3 Thin Blood
5 Weighted Walking Stick
Ally (3 cards)
1 Carlton van Wyk (Hunter)
1 Ghouls of Plaza Moreria, The
1 Gregory Winter
Retainer (2 cards)
1 J. S. Simmons, Esq.
1 Tasha Morgan
Equipment (2 cards)
1 Aaron's Feeding Razor
1 Ivory Bow
Combo (5 cards)
5 Swallowed by the Night
<<>>
It's an old theme, and an old deck with some facelifting for it. The
basic idea being to bleed a little with Flurry and stealth / Night
Moves for the edge and Alamut, then pass a small FSR with those,
hopefully finishing the minion with Society of Leopold played
previously. Hopes for a lot, and may not achieve all that much, but
it's a nice soothing deck to play in the midst of all the combat and
bleed-o-rama metagames can sometimes be. At least, those are my
feelings.
Combat is very light, aiming mainly on getting to pull out some fangs,
or a Flash+Taste of Death, both which work for the big plan quite
well.
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NEW OLD TOYS
10th Anniversary set and Assamites
So, they reprinted Silence of Death. This card had completely eluded
my collections before this joyous event, but rather than concentrate
on that one card alone, or to be more precise; it got reprinted,
moving on.
Lots of other, more interesting reprints and new cards in the set,
than Silence of Death, at least for me.
Now, it has been said before by me, and I'll say it again. Blood
denial is a strategy close to my heart. And Vampiric Disease being
reprinted is something I dont mind one bit. Also couple new cards
which immediately caught my attention as well were Carlton van Wyk,
the new hunter, and the also new Powerbase:La, a master which provides
you with an additional discard phase and additionally has provides
some anarch-love with it as well. Mainly the additional discard phase
what caught my eye.
Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
Ally
2 pool
Unique mortal with 2 life. 0 strength, 0 bleed.
Carlton can strike for 1R damage, and he may dodge as a strike once
each combat. Carlton has +1 intercept when blocking vampires. During
your discard phase, you may burn Carlton to burn a vampire who has
committed diablerie since your last turn.
He cant bleed, he cant fight, but boy he sure knows how to block.
Notice his special also, for the occasion someone makes a judgment
error and decides to go against the rules. Send in Carlton and bam,
ashes.
More than his special of burning the diablerist, his special in being
able to block most vampires and survive the encounter with a good
chance as well is just golden.
Many many decks will benefit from his addition.
Powerbase: Los Angeles
Master: unique location.
Tap during your discard phase to gain a discard phase action. If you
use that discard phase action to discard a card that requires an
anarch or a card that makes a vampire an anarch, you may untap a ready
anarch. Any anarch controlled by another Methuselah may steal this
location for his or her controller as a (D) action.
It's like having another Barrens, in a sense. Barrens is a lot better
than L.A for obvious reasons, but even so, it's yet another card
cycler which isnt too easily gotten rid of. So, your prey/predator
decides to go anarch to steal your powerbase. More power to them.
That's two actions they aint "bleeding you for 7 or rushing your
minions" to coin a phrase. And to boot it is a zero stealth action,
which can be blocked by most minions by default.
Ofcourse if they are anyhow playing anarchs, then you might want to
consider about playing the Powerbase in the first place, naturally.
Now, as for Vampiric Disease, I have yet to build a deck which would
HEAVILY concentrate on using it. But I have dabbled with it.
And since the theme for this months newsletter seems to - yet again -
lie in blood denial, might as well print that deck as well.
Vampiric Disease
Master.
Put a disease counter on any vampire. Each time a vampire with a
disease counter is in combat at close range with another vampire, the
second vampire gets a counter as well. An afflicted vampire cannot
gain blood by hunting. When an afflicted vampire untaps, he or she
burns a blood or, if unable, burns the disease counter. A vampire can
have only one disease counter.
Note, that it is *any* time a vampire untaps. Freak, Majesty, getting
inferior Obedience played on them. You name it.
Also of note, that they contract the disease even if they Strike:
Combat end. Definitely requires some pre-planning to get most bang out
of it, but very effective in the course of events nevertheless.
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Deck Name: Foul play in the Sabbat
Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 19, Max: 36, Avg: 7,25)
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4 Owain Evans cel pre AUS DOM FOR 8, Ventrue antitribu:3
4 Tegyrius AUS CEL FOR pre QUI 9, Assamite:2
1 Parnassus aus CEL QUI tha 7, Assamite:2
1 Juan Cali aus for 3, Ventrue Antitribu:2
1 Peter Blaine aus dom for 4, Ventrue Antitribu:2
1 Billy AUS dom for 5, Ventrue Antitribu:2
Library: (90 cards)
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Master (17 cards)
1 Barrens, The
4 Blood Doll
2 Contract
1 Corporate Hunting Ground
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
1 Fame
3 Life in the City
1 Market Square
1 Underworld Hunting Ground
2 Vampiric Disease
Action (12 cards)
2 Clandestine Contract
6 Govern the Unaligned
1 Pulse of the Canaille
3 Restoration
Action Modifier (4 cards)
4 Freak Drive
Reaction (17 cards)
4 Forced Awakening
1 Foul Blood
2 My Enemy's Enemy
2 Quicken Sight
4 Telepathic Misdirection
4 Wake with Evening's Freshness
Combat (33 cards)
2 Aura Reading
2 Psyche!
7 Pulled Fangs
6 Rolling with the Punches
4 Scorpion's Touch
6 Thin Blood
6 Unflinching Persistence
Ally (4 cards)
1 Carlton van Wyk (Hunter)
1 Ghouls of Plaza Moreria
2 Neighborhood Watch Commander (Hunter)
Retainer (1 cards)
1 Mr. Winthrop
Equipment (2 cards)
1 Palatial Estate
1 Sport Bike
<<>>
So, a little use of Vampiric Disease, but that's how the idea got
rolling. To play severe blood denial using the Quietus cards which not
only cost blood to the one who plays them, but also for the opposing
minion as well, and to mitigate the blood loss to one's own minions
via Owain Evain's special and not using the Path of Blood.
It has some issues in getting out a 3rd minion due to crypt being
filled with multiple copies of the two star vampires, and their big
cost overall, but with a little building can become quite resilient.
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PATH OF BLOOD
Have you heard of it?
No, I am not talking about the card anymore.
The Path of Blood is the best on-line site dealing with Vampire: The
Eternal Struggle.
Mainly dealing with Assamites, naturally.
So, come join us, and see the lates in whipping ass of the snotty
Ventrues, making the pathetic Tremere whine to our tune,
and the Setites hiss in the corner playing with their snakes. Freaks..
If you are interested more closely in Assamites, visit the site at:
http://www.thepathofblood.com/
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