VEKN Official Clan Tremere Newsletter June 2001Volume 2, Issue 5 June 8, 2001 Please direct all correspondence and commentary to Xian. Once again, I haven't been playing the Tremere much recently. Actually, I haven't had much time to play Jyhad since early May; just life getting in the way again. However, I had a great time playing with some of the Los Angeles crew in late April, and then I took second place in a constructed tournament here the next week (I wasn't playing the Tremere). This being said, this month's newsletter will feature someone else's deck (thank you, Michael), and I'll simply provide my own commentary on that and other stuff. I'm looking forward to the imminent release of Final Nights, much as the rest of you are, I'm sure. I'm hoping for maybe a new Dominate card, or the outside chance of a new Thaumaturgy card, as the Assamites, Giovanni, and Setites make some use of Thaumaturgy in the RPG...not as extensive use as the Tremere, obviously, but to some limited degree. Auspex is probably right out, as none of the Independent clans have it as a clan discipline, but there's always hope, what with the unveiling of a Ventrue antitribu among the teaser cards. Focus on a CardAside from largely disdaining intercept as a strategy, this month's card is one of (in my experience) the least used, but it has exciting possibilities. Compared to Eagle's Sight, Precognition, or Spirit's Touch, which are more often used because they offer other more tangible advantages relating to greater intercept capability, or combat options, Melange has the benefit of providing increased forward pressure. Some of the drawbacks are its relative scarcity (listed as a rare in Sabbat and Sabbat War) and the necessity of playing it at superior, which few low-capacity Tremere have. In fact, the smallest Tremere in the current cardset that have superior Auspex are Justine, Elder of Dallas, and Rebekka, Chantry Elder of Munich, both at 8 capacity. Including the Tremere antitribu, there is still only one vampire below 8 capacity with AUS, which is Richard Tauber, Ayelea's Puppet, a 4 capacity vampire. That being said, Melange is a card I will be investigating in the near future, for its added bleed ability. Melange If running a forward-moving intercept deck focusing on Auspex and Thaumaturgy, with Pulse of the Canaille, Eagle's Sight, some Enhanced Senses and Melange, you could quickly rack up significant bleeds, in addition to using Theft of Vitae to refill your vampires. (Note to self: create deck with Pulse, Melange, Ankara Citadel, Theft, and Telepathic Tracking. Heh.) Strategy CornerThis month's deck is fairly toolbox, at least more so than the ones I usually build, so perhaps I should talk about Tremere toolbox strategy, hmm? The Tremere are unusual in that they can excel in most areas of the game, the problem usually being that they end up as jack-of-all-trades, master of none. I'm sure you've seen this phenomenon in your local group; someone comes to the table with a "killer" Tremere deck that can do everything: bleed, intercept, combat, all that good stuff. The deck then falls over horribly when it doesn't get the right vampires out, or it falls over horribly when it runs into something that can bleed better, vote better, or survive combat better. Annoying, huh? The Tremere can bleed, but they don't have stealth or methods of making their actions unblockable. The Tremere can handle combat against weaker clans, but they fall over to potence combat or aggravated damage (typical Brujah, Gangrel, Nosferatu decks). The Tremere have some votes, but not enough to really get rolling with a proactive political deck, and they don't have Presence as a clan discipline to back it up. Intercept is useful, but it doesn't get them anywhere if the combat cards are at the bottom of the deck, or the acting minion can beat up the blocking minion. What to do, then? As always, "hit 'em where they ain't." Dawn Operation, Skin of Night, Weather Control is as good as, if not better than unblockable actions, when used judiciously. Unless the opposing minion has Skin of Night or a Heart of Darkness, it will go to torpor. Theft of Vitae isn't preventable either, nor is Blood to Water, and many of the other Thaumaturgy strikes aren't preventable by Fortitude. If you expect to be blocked a lot, playing a deck geared to take advantage of this is a good thing. If you expect to be Deflected a lot, play with Revelations. Intercept can shut down hostile voters, and you don't need combat against most vote decks (Lasombra and Nosferatu stealth vote being possible exceptions). By using a few permanents with the most effective transients for your style, and the absolutely critical Eagle's Sight, you can maximize your intercept capabilities. Be sure to intercept only the most critical actions, and know what they are. A bleed for two or three might hurt, but you can always Deflect it, whereas you must intercept the cross-table Kindred Restructure. Save it for when it counts. Bleeding should usually be your most effective method of going forward, as Dominate abounds among the Tremere; it's also the most direct method of getting at your prey's pool. Use whatever tricks you can think of to get there...the aforementioned Dawn Operation combo, Seduction, Bonding, threats of Walk of Flame, whatever works. From these recommendations, it seems that I've come full circle. Don't do everything, because you can't win if you do that...but do everything. What I recommend is a judicious application of your resources and tactics. In a toolbox deck, you still want to have some focus, you don't just throw in cards willy-nilly. As is becoming my standard for a "straight" Tremere deck, place your main emphasis on bleeding, and (in a toolbox deck) include enough combat and intercept to keep you out of trouble, but not so much that you jam on it. Easier said than done, I know...especially as it depends somewhat on your metagame. However, I think that no more than one third of your deck total should be intercept and combat, the remaining two thirds should be masters, stuff for bleeding, other toys, and probably Deflection or Delaying Tactics and the like, in order to keep your deck forward-focused enough to win. Sample DeckSample DeckFor this month, I'm presenting a deck that was submitted in two forms. I am only listing the revised version, as I think the revisions were astute and helpful to the deck. I'll add my own comments after the author's. Title: The Portsmouth "Tremere Suck!" Challenge Deck Author: Michael Eichler Crypt Library (90) Masters (16): Actions (11): Action Modifiers (13): Combat (25): Equipment (3): Reactions (19): Retainers (3): Michael comments: I decided to try and make a Tremere deck that didn't suck like a gaping chest wound within the Portsmouth environment. Combat seems to be the "watch word" over there at this time, coupled with Fortitude. To get around this limitation, I had to design the deck to get around the damage prevention capability of Fortitude and also reduce any collateral damage in return. As it stands, the Tremere are uniquely suited to meet this capability, with or without Fortitude (however, without Fortitude it is definitely more dangerous due to many minions being in torpor). Additionally, to try and cut off any Political decks within reach the deck has limited intercept. I had thought of some rush action but decided against it. The biggest failings of the deck so far are three things. Xian's comments: I think this deck is a pretty good example of a Tremere toolbox deck, with some Fortitude added in. I would make slight changes to the deck myself, probably adding some Govern the Unaligned and Conditioning to make people more inclined to block, and maybe add a few more Thaumaturgy strikes for a high-combat environment. Beyond that, I might add Iliana even though she's not a Tremere and doesn't have Auspex...I just can't argue with DOM FOR tha. Using Dominate is probably cheaper than Pulse of the Canaille in the short run, and can be used for pool management as well. That's it for this month...see you after Final Nights! Xian |