[NEWSLETTER]Textbook Damnation: The VEKN Official Baali Clan Newsletter, March 2005
The_Baital
==================
VEKN Official Baali Clan Newsletter
Tome 1, Chapter 1
March, 2005
This Edition (the first true edition), includes:
- Introduction
- Fiction: Redemption, part II
- Vampire of the Month: Cybele
- Strategy of the Month: KMW Baali Starter Deck
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INTRODUCTION:
Well, what can I say? i just came back from my "Pre"- Release event
(which was delayed a week due to customs affairs), in which i managed
to play with our favorite starter ever, the Baali Starter. First I just
wanted to say that i felt really emotional on seeing "Baali" on the
starter´s lid. Somehow it made me feel good about the game and about
the event per se.
Then, the art to most of our vampires is awesome (even though Petaniqua
ADV and Elihu, the only Baali not in the Starter are under average in
this, imho).
The rest of it, well, is either great or lacking. The absence of a way
to teach thaumaturgy to some of the minions proved fatal in one of the
rounds I played, i could not take the aggro damage from other people´s
minions, but could not deal that myself, which cost me dearly at times.
Also, the Starter relies on five disciplines, and not all of them
evenly distributed through the crypt. at times you find yourself
without thaumaturgy, other, without presence. Obfuscate and Daimoinon
were there almost the entire time (though Valerius Maior felt the
difference between having a little stealth and getting burned, sadly by
being burned).
Please note that, even though the deck has its flaws, it´s still
great, and very competitive (of the nine players we had at the event, 2
Baali scored in the first 5 places, only losing for the !gangrel) - not
to mention the huge amount of goodies we get, Ruins of Chorazin, The
Great Beast and so on. But enough with this for the time being, as i
hope you are all anxious to check the development of "Redemption" (I´m
keeping each part very short ´cause i think it works better this way.
not everyone has enough time to read huge stories like that. I wish you
to enjoy it like this. a piece at a time).
Redemption
==========
"Isabel just sat there for a while, taking a deep breath - even though
not needed - to control her nerves. Being so close to damnation was
never a part of her plans, but the urge was to great. She could no
longer bear the weight - and risks - of all the secrets she garnered
throughout the few centuries of her unlife. Apparently, everything
happened always too fast to her. Her safety was now all that mattered,
and the monster in front of her was her best way to secure that safety.
- You already know why I come before you. - Defiance in her voice
- Indeed, I do know - the voice replied - but even so, I must be sure
you are aware of the terms to be set at this moment.
At this, Isabel shrugged, confident in herself as she´s always been
- Ah, yes. I wondered when you´d bring that up. What will it cost me?
What will I provide you with, in exchange for protection and haven?
- Protection and Haven? Is THAT all you want??? - the demon retorted
amusingly - You see, Isabel, that your needs are better provided by
your own? No one is ever safe if sided with us. We have been hunted
throughout millenia just because we are who we are. What exactly makes
you think we will secure you better than your own?
- Just that. If you´ve been hunted down for so long, and yet you sit
right before me, I´m quite confident you are capable of providing me
the means to be safe. Or should I just leave, and set arrangements with
someone else???
- You should not bluff like that, Isabel. You see, I´d not have set
this meeting between us if I was not sure of your real needs. Who would
help you, if not us??
Following the question, a buzz invaded the chapel..."
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VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH
====================
Cybele
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G4 / ANI DAI OBF PRE SER THA
Cap - 10
Independet. If Cybele is untapped during your master phase, you get an
additional master phase action. Cybele may bleed at
+2 bleed as a D action that costs 1 blood. Infernal.
I felt in love with this girl as soon as i opened the wrapping in the
deck. Thematically, I love her ´cause she´s the kind of Servant every
master would like to have, allowing you to further your agenda, as long
as she´s capable of performing her own schemes - if she´s untapped at
the beggining of your master phase, you get another master action. The
extra bleed is welcome, as usual, since the Infernal always look at
their prey with the "how fast can i get her" eyes. Cybele´s discipline
spread is awesome, specially in the Starter, where THA and SER were
extremely useful, and will allow for greater exchange between the Baali
and other clans - the traditional Setite connection is reinforced,
since lots of Setites in the set also have thaumaturgy in their
spreads, but OBF ANI get´s her in good terms with the nosferatu (who
can use conflagration´s outferior potence strike).
DECK OF THE MONTH
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KMW Baali Starter Deck
----------------------
As previously noted, the deck suffers from toolbox effect, attempting
to do a lot of things, and not doing everything perfectly. No matter
how well and or much i shuffled, i usually ended up with either a
handful of thaumaturgy strikes and no minion capable of using it or a
handful of presence bleeds without stealth to get them through (of
course, the rallying of the table against me in the last round probably
helped that, since the only vampire who wasn´t burned or torporized
was the harmless, dai-less Sahira Siraj).
Also, since there were only 5 Baali in the crypt, it was not uncommon
for us (any of the players with Baali starters, even I, who got Elihu
in the draft, and thus had 6 Baali in the Crypt) to have none of them
in the open draw, and that really slowed things down (specially when
you push the Priestess during Influence and have the Great Beast to
call in your hand). Combat was Bliss to the Infernal. if one managed to
get a DAI THA (or even DAI tha) minion soon (Valerius, Cybele and
Azaneal are my favourites to do so), you could just burst of daylight
through anything and anyone who got in your way, ignoring all flames
that headed towards you, and if you did not get such a minion, you
could always bloodstorm the opponent and leave him be. To receive
control of Samuel Haight through a Valerius Maior Going Forth By Night
was amazing, not to mention one of the reasons of the rally against the
Baali. The serpentis module of the deck is quite functional, and
amazingly worthy, with Temptation and Form of Corruption being it´s
base, but the most used cards of the module being Enticement and the
Skin of the Adder.
Bloating mechanics are the usual for the Baali: Legal Manipulations
(though i´d rather use Social Charms, for better blood management),
with the addition of the Priestess´s special and, imho, the best card
the Baali received in this expansion: Ruins of Chorazin, which, since
you did not have the Path to spend less pool on your infernal minions,
you could at least make an even better use of the same pool you paid so
they could untap. You reduce the bleeds you get! Amazing against your
fellows Baali that insist you´re not the true Shaitan.
The Standard deck is as follows:
1 Sahira Siraj obf ser tha 4, Follower of Set
1 Seren Sukardi pre OBF SER THA 7, Followers of Set
1 Ardan Lane dom obf pre AUS THA 8, Tremere, primogen
1 Valerius Maior nec pre AUS DAI DOM THA 7, Tremere
1 Valerius Maior nec pre AUS DAI DOM THA 7, Tremere Antitribu
1 Cohn Rose aus dom pre THA 5, Tremere
1 Petaniqua chi AUS DAI DEM OBF THA 9, Malkavian
1 Petaniqua (ADV) chi AUS DAI DEM OBF THA 9, Baali
2 Maureen dom obf DAI PRE 6, Baali
1 Cybele ANI DAI OBF PRE SER THA 10, Baali
1 Azaneal pre tha DAI OBF OBT 7, Baali
-->This is the first thing: out of 12 vampires, we get only 5 baali
(maureen is doubled, and since she´s starter only, i don´t have
anything against that.). Of 12 vampires, 10 have [tha] in some level,
and 3 have [ser] at some level. See?? Not good to have so few
serpentine vampires, specially since the deck carries extreme serpentis
goodness. In regards to [obf], 8 out of 12, and the almost the same
ratio (9/12) applies to [pre].
Library: (77 cards)
Master (10 cards)
3 Blood Doll
2 Dummy Corporation
1 Obfuscate
1 Rotschreck
1 Ruins of Charizel
2 Serpentis
-->Here things are fine, but a thaumaturgy skill wouldn´t hurt (what
to take out, though, is an entire other issue). During the Pre-release
event I played in, Dummy Corporation and Ruins of Charizel proved to be
a clever insert in this deck. :D
Action (18 cards)
1 Call the Great Beast
2 Concordance
2 Consignment to Duat
1 Enticement
1 Form of Corruption
2 Heart of Darkness
5 Legal Manipulations
3 Rutor`s Hand
1 Temptation
-->The cream of the cream. Through Concordance + Rutor´s Hand, the new
infernal rule was not so harsh on the infernal lot. Manipulating the
law against our foes also proved useful, and I never had a Consignment
to Duat in my hand throughout the entire event. Form of Corruption was
not all that useful since I did not play as prey to any !Gangrel as
well.
Action Modifier (12 cards)
2 Elder Impersonation
3 Faceless Night
2 Mask of a Thousand Faces
3 Psychomachia
2 Spying Mission
-->Stealth. Block denial. A little extra bleed. nothing more to be
said, as this is exactly what a Baali deck needs (in this
configuration, at least)
Political Action (2 cards)
2 Finding the Path
-->Only 2 votes in the deck, a Primogen and Maureen. these two PAs
proved most useful to have a say in a Diablerie (and save one of my
minions from burning after diablerizing a Red List minion (but nobody
gave a trophy for that. :P).
Reaction (9 cards)
2 Bloodstorm of Chorazin
2 Ecstasy
5 Wake with Evening`s Freshness
-->GOODNESS!!!! that´s what I get to say about Chorazin, after
blocking a few Alastors. (i had 4 of those in my deck due to drafting)
Combat (20 cards)
1 Apportation
3 Blood Fury
3 Burst of Sunlight
3 Conflagration
1 Fear of the Void Below
2 Ignore the Searing Flames
1 Skin of the Adder
6 Theft of Vitae
-->Also a good section of the deck. I had a different setup though,
without the apportation, without the skin of the adder and several
backsteps for maneuvers. And a few extra Ignoring the Searing Flames,
which granted my bursts of Sunlight to be more effective.
Ally (1 cards)
1 Mylan Horseed (Goblin)
-->As always, Mylan is key in a deck that cannot untap normally. I´m
all too glad she got into this deck.
Retainer (1 cards)
1 D`habi Revenant
-->Up to now, I failed to see a real worth in this little fellow here.
But with the new Infernal Rule, it might become a bit more useful,
specially with the whole THA connection allowing for him to be used the
same turn he enters play through
Rutor´s Hand.
Equipment (1 cards)
1 Book of Going Forth by Night, The
-->Great equipment - giving me Samuel Haight once - and probably could
be used instead of one of the Serpentis skills (which could be replaced
in turn by a thaumaturgy skill)
Combo (3 cards)
3 Sense the Sin
-->Intercept + Extra bleed??? all I ever wanted. still one of the best
cards available to daimoinon users.
Overall, the deck is pretty solid, with more than enough forward
pressure, even though lacking a bit in speed. Also, it´s not what
could be called a focused deck, since it relies on 5 different
disciplines to work out fine, and of those, Daimoinon, Presence and
Thaumaturgy were only available through minions. Even though there were
enough minions with at least some of these at all times in the
uncontrolled area, more often than desirable they were the big boys,
the ones you think twice before actually influencing them out. That´s
not to say the deck doesn´t work. I repeat, the deck is pretty solid.
some minor tweaking (either to focus on Tha or SER, keeping the other 3
disciplines, for example) will give you a very nice idea of the full
potential the Baali have.
Thanks guys, for reading this far in my thoughts about KMW and a bit of
what we got from it. Next volume, we´ll deal with a different approach
to the Infernal, looking further into the dedication of our new
vampires to the art of war, and take a look at how the G4 Baali relate
to the roles we used to see in the G3 Baali. Also, Redemption will keep
it´s pace, bringing
a bit more about Isabel and her quest into safety amongst the
Twice-Damned.
Cheers
Luciano "The Baital" de Sampaio
VEKN Anarch Baron de Curitiba
VEKN Official Baali Clan Newsletter Editor