Official VEKN Brujah Newsletter for July, 2004
Smiling Tom
Any suggestion, Murat?
Napoleon, asking his marshal, before calling a cuirassier's charge against
Russian 12lb batteries at Borodino
_______ Card of the Month: Brujah Deabte
_______ Building a deck around this card
_______ DECK: Debating under Gehenna
VEKN BRUJAH NEWSLETTER, JULY 2004
_______ Card of the Month: Brujah Debate
When Dark Sovereigns appeared, the Brujah gained lots of goodies. Princes
with DOM, burning wrath... Even Thoughts Betrayed. Very few considered, at
that time, this card. I collected it then, as a fetish card. Ever thought of
playing it seriously. a few years later, after sabbat war returned this game
to live, I found a dozen of this card in one of my several trash boxes, and
decided to build a deck around them. When I realized that this card was
stackable (by that time we didn't paid too much attention to this kind of
facts) during a casual game, I decided to build a banner of it, just for the
fun of seeing several copies of lazverinus in play. But it obviously forces
you to build your whole strategy around it, as it offers you a combat edge
at a significant cost.
Brujah Debate [DS:U]
Cardtype: Master
Clan: Brujah
Cost: 1 pool
Master.
Put this card in play. Each Methuselah with a ready Brujah must tap [(one
of)] the highest capacity Brujah he or she controls during his or her master
phase. Each Brujah gets +1 <strength> and an optional maneuver each combat.
This card may be burned by any minion who is not Ventrue as a (D) action.
So, what are the pros and cons of this card? If we want to build a deck (or
several) around it, we should no it in order to minimize its defects and
enforce it's strengths.
Pros:
- Combat management: A few copies of this card in play grants you both
strength and combat management; you can set the range of each combat almost
always.
- Stackable: Having multiple copies of it on the table is the key, achieve
it is the key of any deck build around Brujah Debates, and it's drawback
affects only one of your vamps.
- Permanent source: Once it's in play, if you can keep them, you get an
unlimited source of combat efficiency, so you can drop most of your combat
card slots in favour of other card type
- Swarming efficiency: Obviously, the more brujahs you got, better effect
you get from your debates. That grants you some extra points for this deck:
If you manage to put 7 o 8 brujahs in play, that's a bleed for lots each
turn, or else.
- Ventrue can not burn it. It is more important than you think, as, if there
is a ventrue player at the table; there is one player less whose minions
should remove your debates, so we could be able to drop them on the table
earlier in the game. We'll take care of it later.
Cons:
- 1 pool cost. Ok, not too much, but when we talk about having 3-5 on the
table, that's a considerable pool cost. If we stack over it the pool reserve
a deck without innate bleed bouncing, then we are talking about a need for
serious bloat
- Burnable: This is the key. The fact that this card can be burned as a 0
stealth D action performed by any minion demands for a good defence, mainly
untap, if you want to keep them in play OR a way to put 2 of them each turn.
- You loose one minion action: During your master phase, your biggest brujah
must be tapped. Note that it doesn't require you to tap a ready brujah.
Playing several brujahs with the same cap is usually a good way to alternate
between your vamps.
- Other brujah at the table also gain benefit from it. But it also forces
them to tap their eldest brujah each of their turns
- It's a master, thus you'll need to be able to play several copies at a
time and more than 15 masters per game, so rumors and/or parthenon are
compulsory.
Questions and answers
1) Will I ever care to defend my debates?
This is basic for the concept of the deck. If we don't plan to defend them
at all, then we are going to build a weenie rush deck with less potence
cards and more rushes. The fact is that this way, we'll depend a lot on
having at least one debate each master phase, as your opponents will be more
likely to burn them. The best way to build it seems a deck based on menele
and lots of weenies. Who cares if menele is tapped? In my experience, this
will be very unstable, though might be fun to try. Defending the debates
also means defending yourself, thus making it harder to oust you. Also it
helps adding some distortion to the game, and putting more permanents, even
burnable/stealable ones, is good. The more targets they have, the less "burn
a debate action" they attempt.
2) How may I get the best from them?
Quick answer: Lots of minions. How to influence them, then? You can go
either DOM (Governs) or PRE (Enchant kindred) or even Menele plus Honor the
Elders, though this option turns your crypt into a 8-10 cap. Everything that
helps influencing minions fast is ok, from info highway to powerbase
montreal, along with menele and effective managements. This also means lots
of pool, so a bunch of blood dolls and/or minion taps must come along. In my
experience with decks build around this card, being able to do so without
granting an opportunity to block is basic, otherwise you'll be obliged to
put a debate in play too early, and that surely means a debate burnt.
3) When can I start playing debates?
There are two ways usually: Early if your prey is putting pressure on you
(the rest of the table won't see it as immediate threat so they'll leave you
do your game) or when you have enough minions to defend yourself and do your
play (your predator's minions+prey's minions)/2+2, usually. The exception is
when a ventrue player is at your bay, since they can't remove them
4) And what do I use them for?
Well, the best of this card is that when you have some in play you'll decide
if there will be damage or not. So you block actions without sending vamps
to torpor if you don't want to. As the game goes on, simply stop running
away and hit for 5 because someone dared to block one of your consanguineous
boons.
Choosing a crypt
So we'll try to build a deck that gathers the best from it's pros and
minimizes (or even takes advantage) from its cons. The first thing we ought
to take care is to put in play the largest number of vampires, so we have
two options: Influencing a lot of vamps with cards (either dom or pre) or
lowering the overall crypt, using our smaller brothers. The first option
requires us to go for a slower development and some kind of punch/stealth to
avoid occasional blockers stop our governs/enchant kindreds. The second
option minimizes our opportunity to use the superior version of our
discipline based cards somehow, but with a quick search of our crypts 1-2
and 2-3 we found a reasonable number of vamps with CEL.
Both way, we have access to several titled vamps, and that "extra"
discipline can help us solve somehow some of our cons and needs. Via prince
based cards we have access to a fine amount of untap and intercept (2nd
trad) and an opportunity to call parity shifts and other political goodies.
As we will need the intercept to defend the debates and our pool, and this
can grant us some additional pool gaining other than blood dolls, we shall
enforce it.
If we go for the 1-2 crypt, we have 2 princes under 6, and 4 if we stack the
8 caps with dom.
If we go for the swarming way, rake and Volker are a nice start, but not
enough if we want to block with more than 2 vamps. Adding a bunch of praxis
seizures might help, and we have presence as a clan discipline, so with some
vote pushing might be possible to get some princes on the table, thus
granting us more votes and the ability to play second tradition with more
vamps, alas weenie presence vote decks. In this option, Brachah will be as
basic as Rake or Volker, as she is the smallest cap with PRE of the crypt,
and potence is a discipline that we want make large use of.
If we focus on DOM, then other goodies can help us build a solid crypt,
making use of our vamps disciplines better and granting some bleed power.
Also, under 8 capacity we can pack in Theo Bell and Anvil, and make some use
of POT and occasional rushes, and bleed bounce but the deck will be
seriously slower and if our earlier govern the unaligned get blocked, our
game might get crippled even before starting. As we won't pack a full combat
set (we want to rely our punch on the debates) if someone catches the bluff
we'll have problems. But anyone seeing Donal, Anvil and theo on the table
will not be really sure that you don't pack heavy combat, so if you play
some spicy cards (like immortals, disarms, etc) they'll think it twice
before blocking
What seems clear is that we plan to put in play the largest number of brujah
that we are available to, thus even vassillis, lupo and angel have their
place, doubling only those which we consider critical for the development of
the deck
Blood and Pool gain
This is another basic pillar of the game. Gaining blood seems quite plain
and simple when you can hit easily for 3-4 each combat, just pack a few
taste of vitae. As we plan to slow down the game to gain the most of the
debates, adding permanent sources of blood is also ok. Hunting ground, rack
and palatial state should kick in. Coven is not a bad option, as in the late
game we'll care little if our opponents are at 1 blood or at 5, but might be
a drawback when facing decks whose vamps are usually starving, like tzimisce
decks.
Gaining pool might come for the classic blood doll set, but as we already
plan to block with second trads, why not pack a bunch of consanguineous
boons? We'll have to ensure such votes get passed, but if we can call a boon
with 9 brujahs on the table. well; ask your predator what does he thinks
about it. And as we plan to use pre to some extend, we can add some voter
captivation, to refill our blockers and gain some extra pool.
Politics
Either way, it's clear that the use of political actions is a must. Other
than the classic set (kine resources contested, consanguineous boons, parity
shifts, even anathemas) there are rarely seen political cards that can help
us. One is National Guard Support, a political card that shall be burned
after a few turns and that gives -1 stealth to all direct actions. This
slows down most stealth bleed decks, along with some more effective defence
for our Brujah debates. The other is reinforcements, as we might want to
return to the deck some key cards that we've drawn or discarded earlier in
the game. This card has become somehow obsolete in this deck since Anthelios
has arrived, but if we plan to make good use of anthelios and we already
plan to play a large amount of master cards, adding rumors of Gehenna should
help too
Lots of consanguineous boons can help us during all stages of the game. Even
just to stay alive in the early game or do some favour cross table, or
exchange it for an ok to a praxis seizure vote call.
Passing the praxis seizures requires more guile or vote punch, but that's
something that you should have seen in most weenie political decks. Charming
lobby, brujah justicar, bewitching orations and even bribes are our friends
here.
Stacking more intercept
Any aid this way helps us staying alive - and entering combat. Even though,
it depends on our metagame. The stealthier one, then we'll need more bloat
and permanent intercept. The more combatant then more untaps and dodges.
With the 2nd trad and the National Guard we reach to 3 intercept. If we pack
enough 4-5 caps, then a few atonements might help a lot, along with some
sport bikes, Aranthebes, etc. Intercept locations are not a good option, as
we already pack lots of masters. More transient intercept (such as rooftop
shadow or legwork) would be ok if we plan to play medium to large sized
minions (cap 6 and above) as it's cost for smaller ones might be too much to
afford.
Even if you don't plan to play a serious amount of intercept, a large
quantity of untap cards are a need. There might come the time when the
remaining players at the table decide to burn your debates by sending their
combined efforts in a given turn. If you achieve to send some of the earlier
ones to torpor, the later might think twice before doing so. Seen it too
many times, reminding me of those Napoleonic war formations charging against
a bunch of rifles and muskets, and retreating as the third rank falls.
Combat
A nice suggestion for a Brujah debates deck is ranged combat. You'll save A
LOT of deck space as you'll need really few maneuvers. But after all, why?
You already hit them with your plain hand for a nice amount, without
spending cards. Use those card slots for damage prevention/avoidance. If you
build it purely political, then majesty and staredown are your friends. What
seems a must if you build any Brujah debate deck, is to pack taste of vitas.
You'll always make good use of them.
Other brujahs at the table.
Even though some might think it's good to have friends at the table. It's
not the case. Other Brujah means contesting. It means someone getting
annoyed because you force their vamps to tap. And worst, someone who can
beat your combat, as they surely pack more maneuvers than you so he will be
able to either run away or to hit your pals. It means that you should be
slowed down as you might not be able to put debates in play earlier, since
he might be more crippled than you want him to. Or empowered. My suggestion?
Use their vote support as soon as you can, but don't move an inch to help
them stay in play.
Deck Name: Debating under Gehenna
Description: Brujah debate deck, MK 4.0.1. This one tries to revamp the
Anthelios module, as it already plays lots of masters and rescuing your
debates should stop other players' attempts to remove them. In order to do
so, we have removed some killing capability such as KRC, and added some
other events that play in our favour, as we don't pack lots of cards
requiring discipline (12) both blood weakens and slow withering are ok.
Wormwood is another pain card for large crypt voters, but I'm not sure
packing so many events is a good idea. After all, some of them can really
hurt our game. Fall of the Camarilla and Recalled to the Founder, for
instance. Torpid Blood and Dragonbound if there are several combat decks,
etc.
Crypt: (14 cards, Min: 9, Max: 23, Avg: 4,21)
---------------------------------------------
2 Rake aus cel pot PRE 6, Brujah:1, Prince
1 Bianca CEL pot pre 6, Brujah:1
2 Volker CEL pot 5, Brujah:2, Prince
2 Brachah for CEL PRE 5, Brujah:2
1 Black Cat CEL pot pre 5, Brujah:1
1 Yuri cel pot pre 4, Brujah:1
1 Uma Hatch cel pre 3, Brujah:1
1 Dre cel pot 3, Brujah:1
1 Vasilis pre 2, Brujah:2
1 Lupo pot 2, Brujah:1
1 Angel cel 2, Brujah:1
Library: (90 cards)
-------------------
Event (5 cards)
2 Anthelios, the Red Star
1 Blood Weakens
1 Slow Withering, The
1 Wormwood
Master (28 cards)
1 Archon Investigation
6 Blood Doll
6 Brujah Debate
1 Dreams of the Sphinx
2 Emergency preparations
1 Fortschritt Library
4 Life in the City
1 Momentum's Edge
2 Parthenon, The
1 Pentex Subversion
1 Powerbase: Montreal
1 Rack, The
1 Warzone Hunting Ground
Action (7 cards)
1 Aranthebes, The Immortal
2 Atonement
2 Charming Lobby
2 Sanguine Instruction
Action Modifier (4 cards)
2 Bewitching Oration
2 Bribes
Political Action (16 cards)
1 Brujah Justicar
4 Consanguineous Boon
2 National Guard Support
2 Parity Shift
1 Praxis Seizure: Athens
1 Praxis Seizure: Barcelona
1 Praxis Seizure: Cairo
1 Praxis Seizure: Istanbul
1 Praxis Seizure: Monaco
1 Praxis Seizure: Rome
1 Rumors of Gehenna
Reaction (16 cards)
2 Delaying Tactics
6 Forced Awakening
8 Second Tradition: Domain, The
Combat (12 cards)
2 Majesty
2 Side Strike
2 Sideslip
2 Stutter-Step
4 Taste of Vitae
Equipment (2 cards)
2 Sport Bike
Epilogue
And that's all for this issue. If any of you want a different version of
this deck (relying on big caps, with dominate, or more combat oriented) don'
t hesitate asking me for it at:
tma...@almadrava.net
Might we see this card reprinted someday? Who knows. This card was uncommon
from an expansion already out of print, and people stopped buying this set
as the camarilla edition precons pack all the good vamps from it. Perhaps in
the 10th year edition? Hope so. Got 27 of them, but doesn't seem enough.
On the next one we'll see what can be done with auspex. After all, with
Advanced theo bell we have a fair team of four brujahs with aus, and some
outsiders who can join us.