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[ AHRIMANES NEWSLETTER ]
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1.0 - Editorial
1.1 Word From the Editor
1.2 Next Issue
2.0 - Concepts
2.1 New Cards Focus
3.0 - Deck
3.1 - Ahrimanes No Muricia
3.2 Sign Off

--[1.1 - Word from the Editor]----------------------
Well it all seems to be good at the moment, two wins for the Ahrimanes so far in the Return of Nergal Event, and a load of new cards to play with from Legacies of Blood. The only problem is getting my hands on some, but soon enough!

--[1.2 -Next Issue]------------------------------------
Next issue will be a breakdown of the Return of Nergal Storyline event. It will cover the winning clan decks, and as such the usual format will be suspended again. At the moment there are two winning decks, but by the time all the results are gathered there could be more, we will have to see.

--[2.1 - New Cards Focus]--------------------------
Rather than cover one or two of the new cards, I have decided to briefly cover all of the new cards. This can then be built on in future issues, as the ideas start to formulate.

Aiyana, The Wolfcatcher
Clan: Ahrimanes (group 4)
Capacity: 3
Disciplines: pre spi
Sabbat: Aiyana gets an optional press each combat when opposing a werewolf, and she can burn a blood each round to prevent all damage a werewolf inflicts on her that round. Sterile. Rarity: LoB:U
A useful small cap, would be nice to have ani, but there is generally enough of those already. Unusual special, but works together well enough for her to be able put a dent in most werewolves.

Effie Lowery
Clan: Ahrimanes (group 4)
Capacity: 5
Disciplines: ANI SPI obf
Sabbat: Sterile.
Rarity: LoB:U
The new star! With both ANI and SPI, Effie will feature in a lot of Ahrimane decks. Also small enough for Atonement, Effie will be a lynchpin of Ahrimane wall decks.

Maria Stone Advanced
Clan: Ahrimanes (group 3)
Capacity: 5
Disciplines: FOR cel obf pre pro spi
Advanced. Sabbat: -1 strength. Sterile.
[MERGED] Maria doesn't suffer -1 strength from her special text, and she has superior Spiritus [SPI].
Rarity: LoB:U
Maria is a good anarch, but a poor Ahrimane. No ani, and -1 strength means that she will struggle in most traditional forms of Ahrimane combat. Plus unless you can merge her she only has two clan skills at basic, which then leads to comparisons with Nettie Hale who is better 'out of the box'. She does add a third pro vamp to group 2/3, which may prove its worth.

Gentha Shale
Clan: Ahrimanes (group 4)
Capacity: 6
Disciplines: ANI PRE pot spi
Sabbat: Gentha gets +1 bleed when bleeding a Methuselah who controls a ready Follower of Set. Sterile.
Rarity: LoB:U
She is solid, but nothing too exciting. Will fit nicely into Guruhi decks, and matches nicely with Sobayifa who is mentioned below. Can't imagine getting much use out of the special, but it is there.

Muricia
Clan: Ahrimanes (group 4)
Capacity: 7
Disciplines: ANI PRE SPI
Sabbat: During your untap phase, a Gangrel antitribu you control may burn 1 blood to become a sterile Ahrimane and gain 1 level of Spiritus. +1 strength. Sterile.
Rarity: LoB:U
Very interesting - she is featured in this month's deck. Also covered in detail in last month's newsletter.
Honourable mentions go to the Guruhi! With base skills of ANI POT PRE, they have two overlaps - and good for low cap fillers. Also gives the option to use Laibon cards, which will be looked at in depth in the future. Special Star award goes to:

Sobayifa
Clan: Guruhi (group 3)
Capacity: 8
Disciplines: ANI PRE aus pot pro spi
Laibon magaji.
Rarity: LoB:PG2
Who is group 3, so provides a solid bridging vampire - especially compared with Maria Stone. Sobayifa adds to the potential skill base with protean being a fourth 'clan dicipline', while still having the core skills. Of course she can't play any of the Ahrimane cards but as there is only four the rest is good.

Ahrimane Protectorate
Type: Action
Requires: Ahrimane
+1 stealth action. Unique.
Put this card in play, and this Ahrimane may burn 1 blood to untap at the end of this action. You may burn this card to cause a (D) action directed at an ally or location you control to fail. You may burn this card during a (D) action against you to give an Ahrimane you control +1 intercept. Rarity: LoB:C
Protect those essential allies/locations, such as Carlton Van Wyck, Mylan Horseed, Powerbase: Montreal and the various intercept locations. Also has the built in untap, which can even be used if the action is blocked, so great for wall decks.

Leapfrog
Type: Combat
Requires: Spiritus/Obfuscate
[obf] Maneuver, only usable to go to long range.
[spi] Maneuver.
[SPI] Strike: combat ends.
Rarity: LoB:C
Not ever so exciting, as both of the options are available in other cards playable by the Ahrimanes, but could help with a deck focussed on only two of the three in clan skills.

Ohoyo Hopoksia (Bastet)
Type: Ally
Requires: Ahrimane
Cost: 3 pool
Unique werewolf with 3 life. 3 strength, 0 bleed.
When a minion you control is about to enter combat with an acting minion, you may tap Ohoyo to cancel that combat; Ohoyo enters combat with the acting minion instead. She gets an optional maneuver each combat. If she has less than 3 life during your untap phase, she gains 1 life from the blood bank. Rarity: LoB:R
Oyoyo is about as good a High Top, in that in the right set up both can be quite useful, but neither can be just pushed into any Ahrimane deck. She might prove her worth in wall decks when she can use her special - could save a vampire or playing cards depending on the situation.

Squirrel Balance
Type: Action Modifier
Requires: Spiritus/Celerity
Cost: 1 blood
[cel] Only usable when the action is announced. If blocked, range in the first round of the resulting combat is automatically set to long. [spi] Minions without flight or Spiritus get -1 intercept when attempting to block this action.
[SPI] As [spi] above, but those minions get -2 intercept.
Rarity: LoB:C
I think this will be useful, as very few minions have flight/Spiritus, with only 25 out of 986 minions having one or the other. Unfortunately if I am being successful with these newsletters it will increase the SPI played. I have plans for a Mark V Ahrimane deck, as it has enough maneuvers to get to long, so could use this with Suppressing Fire!

Summon Spirit Beast
Type: Combat / Reaction
Requires: Spiritus/Animalism
Cost: X blood
[ani] [COMBAT] Discard X cards.
[spi] [COMBAT][REACTION] Move X animal retainers from your ash heap to this vampire, with life from the blood bank equal to their starting amounts. After this minion phase ends, burn those retainers.
[SPI] As [spi] above, but the retainers are not burned until after the end of your next minion phase. Rarity: LoB:R
All seems good with this card, as the wording say 'move' so the usual restrictions do not apply. So you can pull out Dog Pack, Elephant Guardian and Duma Rafiki! Can also combine with Pack Alpha to 'sacrifice' them back to your ashheap - what a shame! J Sadly it doesn't work with Wildebeest. You can of course use the ani part to ditch a chunk of your hand, so will also allow you to move past any hand jams that can happen.

Vulture's Buffet
Type: Action
Requires: Spiritus/Obfuscate
+1 stealth hunt action. If this hunt is successful, the acting vampire untaps.
[obf] Remove a minion or retainer in any Methuselah's ash heap from the game to move 1 blood to this vampire from the blood bank.
[spi] As [obf] above, but move 2 blood.
[SPI] As [spi] above, and you gain 1 pool.
Rarity: LoB:R
Another card to combine with Pack Alpha, as the retainer/minion can be in ANY players ashheap. Also when retainers burn due to Wildebeest - you can use them! Perhaps there is something here with Owl Retainer/Pack Alpha/Wildebeest?

--[3.1 - Deck: Ahrimanes No Muricia ]---------------------------------------
Building on from last months vampire focus, here is a deck that uses Muricia's special to create feral beasts to attack your prey. Not ever so solid, but should be able to build up into some fun, and still have an impact in the game.

Ahrimanes No Muricia
(designed on ARDB while LoB was incompatible - hence the name)

Crypt [13 vampires] Capacity min: 2 max: 7 average: 5.47

4x Muricia 7 ANI PRE SPI Ahrimanes:4
3x Janey Pickman 6 ANI PRO for !Gangrel:4
3x Célèste Lamontagne 5 ANI PRO for !Gangrel:4
2x Jezebelle 4 ani for pro Gangrel:4
1x Zip 2 ani Ravnos:3

Library [90 cards]

Action [18]
2x Army of Rats
6x Nose of the Hound
3x Shadow of the Beast
3x Tier of Souls
4x Wildebeest, The

Action Modifier [2]
2x Aire of Elation

Combat [28]
8x Carrion Crows
8x Flesh of Marble
6x Scorpion Sting
6x Taste of Vitae

Combat/Action Modifier [8]
8x Swiftness of the Stag

Master [16]
5x Blood Doll
1x Carver's Meat Packing and Storage
2x Depravity
3x Fame
1x Feral Spirit
1x Humanitas
1x Hungry Coyote, The
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Sociopath

Reaction [18]
4x Cats' Guidance
4x Falcon's Eye
4x Forced Awakening
2x Guard Dogs
4x Speak with Spirits

Think it is a little weak for tournaments, but with a pinch of luck could be very good. Having played it I think a few PRO aggravated hand cards would be useful, to help with Janey's special.

--[3.2 - Sign Off]-------------------------------------
Well the LoB cards are here, and the reaction to them is good. Again it is a set that will take a while to settle in, as there are various new concepts to play with - much like the original Bloodlines, but I think most players will take it to their heart. Of course we are left wondering what the next set might be, as there was no teaser advert on the rulebook - anyone have any ideas?

Sam
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