VEKN MALKAVIAN NEWSLETTER - MADDNESS NETWORK ISSUE - NOV. 2001
Ben Swainbank
THIS MONTH: INSIDE THE MADNESS NETWORK
Table of Contents:
I. Introduction to Madness
II. The Four Seasonings
A. The Rotschreck Effect
B. Regaining the Upper Hand
C. Getting Loopy
D. Charge!
III. Technical Difficulties
IV. Legend of the Flying Dutchman
V. Deck - Surfing the Net
VI. Deck - I Love Lucian!
VII. Next Month
I. Introduction to Madness
This month I'm zeroing in one particular uniquely Malkavian card: The
Madness Network. A single card, that's been with us from the
beginning, and opens up a host of Malkavians-only options and tactics.
Before we dive in too deep, lets look at the text:
Madness Network [Jyhad, V:TES]
Cardtype: Master
Clan: Malkavian
Unique Master.
Put this card in play. After another Methuselah has finished all of
his or her minion phase actions, any untapped Malkavian can take an
action (go clockwise if two or more attempt to take actions). Any
minion can burn this card as an action that any untapped Malkavian
<(in addition to the normally eligible blockers)> can attempt to block
(go clockwise if two or more attempt to block).
So, its free, and it lets ALL Malkavians on the table take actions
during someone else's turn. Good, kooky, anarchic, fun.
II. The Four Seasonings
The ability to act during another methuselah's turn may seem
interesting. But what good does it do you? Why not just take the same
action during your own turn? Well, it turns out there are a bunch of
good reasons to try it. In fact, the various advantages can be divided
into 4 categories:
* You can play out-of-turn masters while you are acting.
* You can snag the edge after everyone has had their chance to steal
it back.
* You can act more than once per turn round the table.
* You can "swarm" you actions to overwhelm an opponent.
Within each of these there are some subtleties and permutations. Lets
look at them.
A. The Rotschreck Effect
The most notorious OOT Master/Madness deck is the dreaded Malkavian
Rotschreck-Rush deck. Get the Madness Network in play. During someone
else’s turn, have a Malk ambush someone and whip out the Ivory
Bow. Rotschreck. Oh, yes. Everyone living in fear of being jumped by
Normal. Good stuff, and quite a savage combination -- if you can pull
it off.
Backing up your own actions with an out-of-turn master can generate
some other savage combinations. Consider:
Major Boon -- Bleed for 1. Your prey takes it. You play Major Boon.
There aren't gong to be any more bleed modifiers. And the next time
someone drops a monster bleed in your lap, you pass the hurtin' onto
your prey.
Direct Intervention -- If its not you turn, you can use DI to cancel
your prey's intercept. Or better still, her Deflection. How's that for
contingency planning? And remember if its your prey's turn, then he
CAN'T play his own OOT Master, like... say... Archon Investigation.
Bleed for 7. And do it without fear.
B. Regaining the Upper Hand
Another nice trick, when the Net is out, is to hold back your minions
and wait until the end of your predator's turn to act. This has the
nice psychological effect of appearing not very aggressive to your
prey -- since you didn't take any actions at all during your turn. And
your predator is looking at a wall of untapped minions with auspex,
which may put a crimp in his style (unless he's playing a combat
deck), and deter his forward progress.
Then when your predator is all done acting, every untapped minion can
leap forward. You can act with everyone without fear you'll need them
on defense. Your untap is coming up next.
The other obvious benefit is that if you snag the edge at the end of
your predator's turn, no one is going to steal it back before you gain
a pool. And, of course, if you've got Victoria out, you can toss the
edge for another 2. 3 pool per turn makes for a strong pool gain
mechanism -- thanks again to the Madness Network.
C. Getting Loopy
Acting during another Methuselah's turn is pretty cool. But to really
turn it on you want to be acting during EVERY Methuselah's turn. The
trick here is to find a way to act with your minions, and then be able
to untap then so they can act again during the NEXT player's turn.
Some untap tricks:
Metro Underground - Act during your turn. Untap. Act during your
prey's turn. Use in a fast deck, where the pool cost won't matter so
much.
Homunculus - Greger and Zebluon have protean. With a Homunculus they
can untap during anyone's turn for 1 blood, and create a deadly
barrage of bleeds. Heidelburg Castle can help to pass the Homunculus
to your other Malks and assist with the blood management. If they get
blocked you can even pop claws and Rotschreck.
2nd Tradition and Obedience - A nice little combo that shuts down an
action, gives you some defense, and leaves the Vampire untapped to
bleed again at the end of the current minion phase.
Other Possibilites - Guard Dogs? Rats Warning? Freak Drive? Masika and
Clan Impersonation? Anything that allows you be untapped at the end of
a methuselah's minion phase can give you that extra action with which
to hit your prey.
D. Charge!
Another benefit of the Madness Network is that it allows you to
"bundle" multiple turns worth of attacks together is a manner that is
likely to overwhelm your prey's defenses. This is works well for
delivering the coup de grace on a defensive deck.
Consider the card flow in a typical turn: A relatively balanced decks
will typically spend its turn expending its offensive cards against
its prey, use its master and discard phases, and try to draw into some
defensive cards to have in hand when their turn ends. Except for wall
decks and the like, most decks will pack enough defense to stop or
deter a few actions by its predator, but will typically let a few
things slide, and save their intercept etc... for those actions that
need to be stopped.
With Madness Network out, you can take no actions during your turn,
leaving everyone untapped. Also, minions you transfer out during your
turn can join the line-up and get ready for action. With a little
luck, your prey will assume you're waiting because you lack the
firepower to move forward and will extend himself a bit.
During your predator's turn, avoid the temptation to do anything that
would tap a minion. Deflect at superior if you can, but otherwise let
slide what you can. At the end his minion phase, jump.
Bleed with every minion and look for ways to drain defensive cards
from your prey's hand. Faceless Night is a strong card here as the
surprise-sit-down of a potential blocker can open the door for more
attackers. Hopefully, the attack does some damage, drains your prey of
blockers, and drains his hand of bounce, intercept, and wakes.
Then on your turn, untap everyone, and immediately surge forward
again, going for the kill. You've generated two turns of aggressive
attacks before your prey had had the opportunity to expend any
non-defensive card's he's drawn into. His pool should be yours for the
taking.
Here again Heidelberg Castle can help you out. By tapping it during
each of the two waves of attack you can 4 times with a single Laptop
Computer and/or Tasha Morgan for a lot of damage that requires few
cards in hand.
III. Technical Difficulties
In signing the praises of the Madness Network, I've glossed over its
major drawback. It can be burned with an action. And when you start
getting wacky with it you can be pretty sure the entire table is going
to be gunning for it. When that happens (and it will) you need to walk
the line between defending it when you can, and knowing when to let
go. The 2nd Trad-Obedience combo is nice for defending the Network
even as you exploit it. But eventually its going to go down. If you're
planning on using the Madness Network pack multiple copies. You'll
want it early and often. And pack enough defense to hold it for a
while.
Don't forget that ANY Malkavian on the table can attempt to block. So,
encourage other players to pitch in, take one for the team, and keep
the party going.
And you might even be able to get the table sufficiently fixated on
destroying the Madness Network that they forget that, even when it can
only act during its own turn, a Malkavian deck can be plenty deadly
:->=
IV. The Legend of the Flying Dutchman
Late at night, when players are gathered around the gaming tables of
Boston, when the playing is done and the cards and counters put away
-- it is then that the tale is told of the Flying Dutchman.
According to local legend, the mysterious Dutchman, and his Malkavian
servants, activate the Madness Network, incite the Anarchs to Revolt,
and call upon the 1st Tradition. Then the mad Malkavians fly about the
table calling forth Dramatic Upheavals and Restructuring their Fellow
Kindred, always acting during the turns of others, and always
rearranging the players in the great Jyhad so that his turn never
comes and he never has to face the wrath of the Anarchs. Around the
table he flies... until the Dutchman stands alone.
Some even say that he brings with him a stack of silver trays for his
fellow Methuselah to carry with them as they march about the table...
V. Deck - Surfing the Net
This is a deck I put together to try and exploit the Madness Network
as much as possible in a single deck. It is light on defense and has 0
pool gain. But it generates such quick kills that this hasn't been a
problem.
Also, since I only have 4 copies of the Madness Network, I've build
both of these decks with 60 cards to insure I keep seeing them. This
has given me a chance to experiment with small-library decks and I
will say that the flow has seemed quite good, and given the speed (and
lack of staying power) of these decks, running out of cards hasn't
been a problem.
The Crypt:
Zebulon x2 Malk 5 OBF aus dom pro
Greger Anderseen x2 Malk 7 OBF AUS dom pro *
Ozmo Malk 6 obf AUS dom *
Gilbert Duane x2 Malk 7 OBF AUS DOM *
Victoria x2 Malk 5 obf AUS cle *
Rolland Bishop Malk 4 obf aus dom
Didi Meyers Malk 6 obf aus DOM cel
Ohanna Malk 2 dom
Masters: 13
Madness Network x4
Major Boon
Rotschreck
Protean
Dominate
Heidelberg Castle, Germany
Direct Intervention
Metro Underground
Jake Washington
Giants Blood
Protean: 6
Homunculus x4
Claws of the Dead x2
Equipment/Retainers: 3
Laptop Computer
Tasha Morgan
JS Simmons Esq.
Auspex: 2
Telepathic Misdirection x2
Dominate: 17
Deflection x2
Obedience x3
Bonding x4
Conditioning x2
Govern the Unaligned x3
Scouting Mission x3
Obfuscate: 14
Lost in Crowds x5
Faceless Night x6
Swallowed by Night x3
Reaction: 3
2nd Tradition x3
Action: 2
5th Tradition x2
VI. Deck - I Love Lucian!
Playing the deck: Bring out Lucian. Play the Madness Network. Bleed
big with Lucian. During everyone else's turn - Lucian blocks with 2nd
Trad. Obedience to untap. Bleed.
Normal is just there to pull Lucian out of torpor after he plays
Rutor's Hand, and to perform odd jobs as needed.
Crypt:
Lucian x7
Normal x5
Masters: 11
Madness Network x4
Golconda
The Barrens
Fragment of the Book of Nod
Metro Underground
Direct Intervention x2
Giant's Blood
Thaumaturgy: 2
Rutor's Hand x2
Dominate: 24
Govern the Unaligned x6
Obedience x11
Conditioning x4
Deflection x3
Obfuscate: 12
Lost in Crowds x6
Swallowed By Night x4
Spying Mission x2
Reaction: 8
2nd Tradition x8
Action: 1
5th Tradition
Equipment/Retainers: 2
Tasha Morgan
Laptop Computer
VII. Next Month
Well, that's all for this month. Thanks for reading. And tune in next
month when we pay a visit to the 13th floor, explore fun things to do
with a Primogen, and generally take a look at those Unsung Heroes of
clan Malkavian.
Feel free to send along feedback, decks, or tales of Malkavian
Madness, and I'll see you in December.
-Ben Swainbank
The Lasombra
news:34307448.01103...@posting.google.com...
> VEKN MALKAVIAN NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 2001
> * You can play out-of-turn masters while you are acting.
> Major Boon -- Bleed for 1. Your prey takes it. You play Major Boon.
> There aren't gong to be any more bleed modifiers. And the next time
> someone drops a monster bleed in your lap, you pass the hurtin' onto
> your prey.
You cannot ever play Major Boon when you control the acting minion.
Current online card text follows:
Major Boon [Jyhad, V:TES]
Cardtype: Master
Master: out-of-turn.
<Play this card when another Methuselah is successfully bled>.
{Not usable if you control the acting minion}. Modifiers to the
bleed <amount> {may be played} after you play this card. <You burn
pool for the bleed instead of the target Methuselah (must be at
least 1 pool) and give this card to the target Methuselah. You may
burn this card to have that Methuselah burn pool instead of you
when you are successfully bled>.
Carpe noctem.
Lasombra
--
Posted from rr-163-54-196.atl.mediaone.net [24.163.54.196]
via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG
GreySeer
> Cardtype: Master
>
> Clan: Malkavian
>
> Unique Master.
> Put this card in play. After another Methuselah has finished all of
> his or her minion phase actions, any untapped Malkavian can take an
> action (go clockwise if two or more attempt to take actions). Any
> minion can burn this card as an action that any untapped Malkavian
> <(in addition to the normally eligible blockers)> can attempt to block
> (go clockwise if two or more attempt to block).
>
> So, its free, and it lets ALL Malkavians on the table take actions
> during someone else's turn. Good, kooky, anarchic, fun.
There is soooooo much fun to be had with the Madness Network. Put out
Millicent Smith and a Reversal of Fortunes and watch the fun as the Malks
are the only ones game enough to take actions because they're the only
people who can do it when they don't have Millicent in front of them. It
also keeps your Madnesss Network alive for sooo much longer because anyone
who tries to burn it will burn instead ( you know, Malks having Auspex 'n'
all ).
Then there's always the fact that the Archons can't investigate you when
it's your prey's turn......
J Bond
>
>Then there's always the fact that the Archons can't investigate you when
>it's your prey's turn......
Um, yes they can.
Same ruling that makes playing Major boon illegal.
GreySeer
"J Bond" <Bl...@home.com> wrote in message
news:5ef1uts4ei5bp80v1...@4ax.com...
Playing Major Boon when you are the acting minion is illegal by ( errataed )
card text. No such errata exists for Archon Invetsigation that is in the
offical card text list or the R/C/E archive, so where is ruling? If it does
exist can we have it in the R/C/E archive pls?
J Bond
I was under the opinion that the madness network makes it defacto your
turn, hence you cant play out of turns, and the person whos turn you
suprcede can.
Mike Ooi
> I was under the opinion that the madness network makes it defacto your
> turn, hence you cant play out of turns, and the person whos turn you
> suprcede can.
I can see how you might think that, but it just doesn't work that way.
Madness Network allows untapped Malkavians to take actions at the end of
another Methuselah's minion phase. It is still their turn. They have yet to
go through their Influence and Discard phases before the turn moves on.
So, if you are taking an action with an untapped Malkavian you control,
during the course of that action you may play an action card, action
modifiers, and even an out-of-turn Master card provided you can still
satisfy the card text on them.
If any other Methuselah's minion chooses to react to your action, they may
play reaction cards and out-of-turn Master cards UNLESS it is still their
turn and they cannot satisfy the required card text. For instance, some
out-of-turn Masters allow you to play them on your turn. Archon
Investigation is not one of them. Rottshreck can never be played on your
turn. But it doesn't stop you from using it when acting during someone
else's turn. And it will anger them.
Two other ancillary notes regarding Madness Network:
1. Only untapped Malkavians can take actions during its window. That means
no Force of Will (sorry Roxanne) and no Movement of the Slow Body (Greger &
Zebulon).
2. You use the Madness Network at the end of another Methuselah's minion
phase. That means they cannot decide to take more actions before the end of
their turn. Don't let them cheat.
In summary, careful reading of the cards in question will provide you with
the answers to questions like, "Can you play this during my turn?", "Can I
play this during your turn?", and "You Rottshreck me one more time and you
can walk home!"
P.S. Don't ask LSJ for the answers. He thinks you can play 2 Bondings on top
of each other! ; ^ P
-Mike Ooi
J Bond
>
>"J Bond" <Bl...@home.com> wrote in message
>news:afm1ut0neacp5kd03...@4ax.com...
>
>
>
LOL, yeah, this is a circumstance that hasnt come up, so i havent
researched it, sounds cheesy, but thats the malks for ya :)
GreySeer
There are so many dirty things that you can do w/ Madness Network I had to
check that they were legal. The Archon Invetigation thing, using the Madness
Network to Rotschreck when you're the acting minion and getting around the
NRA rule. Mind you, as soon as you start "abusing" the Net the whole table
will come after you ( or your Net ).
LSJ
No errata for AI. AI cannot be played on your own turn, including when you are
being bled on your turn by a Malk via the MadNet.
--
LSJ (vte...@white-wolf.com) V:TES Net.Rep for White Wolf, Inc.
Links to revised rulebook, rulings, errata, and tournament rules:
http://www.white-wolf.com/vtes/