As is customary with the release of a new expansion set, I will dedicate some space at the top of this month's edition to look at some of the cards from Legacies of Blood that I think might prove useful to Assamite players. Following that, I offer my thoughts on the topic of playing Assamite combat, which will hopefully compliment last month's topic.
Without further ado:

Olugbenga
Assamite (group 4)
7 Capacity: QUI OBF cel ani
Laibon Magaji. When contesting a vampire, you may use the blood on that vampire or on Olugbenga as pool to pay for the contest. Olugbenga gets +1 intercept against bleed actions. (The blood curse does not affect Olugbenga.)
Quality. Olugbenga provides an excellent OBF QUI assassin for groups 3 and 4. His [ani] puts him in your crypt with Yazid and Amaravati. This is enough animalism to include Raven Spies, Owl and Wolf Companions, and Song of Serenity's in your deck. The lack of CEL in your crypt is less of a concern given the boost QUI received from KMW. While you may not be dodging and taking additional strikes, you can now use Terror Frenzy and Scorpion Sting. Use a Selective Silence to block, and then Cat's Guidance to stay untapped. If you can manage a Skill card, Carrion Crows and Thin Blood will remove 4 blood from an opposing vampire outside of strikes.
Olugbena is Laibon, and a Magaji to boot. His two votes make him even MORE compatible with Amaravti. With Alamut in play, you would have the potential to be a political force at the table. While his Laibon status prevents him from using Haqim's Law: Judgment, it opens up your library to the many cards designed for that sect. Did you notice the part that says he's immune to the Blood Curse? In groups 3 and 4, we have Yazid, Joe Hill, Reza Fatir, Micheal DiCarlo, Olugbenga, and Kamau Jafari who all share that trait. I dare say you can now, for the first time, make an entire crypt of Assamites who can commit diablerie.
The extra intercept against bleeds is nice to have, though actually getting to use his ability to pay off the contesting penalty with his blood or the blood of your contested vampire probably won't happen before The Chaos Theory redistributes your cards' molecules randomly throughout the cosmos. But it might.

Kamau Jafari
Assamite (group 4)
4 Capacity: QUI obf
Laibon. (The blood curse does not affect Kamau.)
Kamau provides a very cost-effective Assamite to support our OBF QUI builds. His QUI makes him a legitimate combat threat, and he can still sneak past blockers or pull Flamethrowers out of thin air with Disguised Weapons. I can't think of a good reason not to give him Kduva's Mask for a base 2 bleed and 2 votes. Any deck that includes Olugbenga should also include Kamau. He also holds the distinction of the only 4 capacity Assamite in groups 3 and 4, which will make him an excellent support choice for just about any Assamite build.

Massassi
Osebo (group 4)
9 Capacity: AUS CEL QUI POT obf
Laibon. Massassi can enter combat with a ready vampire as a (D) action. If that action is successful, she gets an optional maneuver in the first round of the resulting combat.
While not an Assamite, it would only take a typo to make her name read "Assassin". Her QUI CEL obf and bolted Bum's Rush makes her excellent in any Bruise-and-Bruise Assamite build, or as the "Enforcer" element in more subtle deck types. She shares Auspex with Antara, but cannot find a compatible Assamite with whom to share her Potence until a Web of Knives Recruit comes into play. At nine capacity, I suspect we might be more likely to see Massassi surrounded by smaller Assamites, who serve to provide her with some of the clans toys while allowing her to carry the brunt of the deck's weight.

Yoruba Shrine
Master: unique location
Assamite, 1 Pool
When a ready Assamite you control is the target of a (D) action or is selected by the acting Methuselah in the terms of a referendum, you may tap this location to untap the acting minion and make the action or referendum fail. Only usable as the (D) action is announced or before any votes are cast in the referendum. Not usable on a referendum that is passing automatically.
One Pool isn't much to pay for protection from the dreaded PTO (or the new The Eldest Command Undeath), Banishment, and the myriad other referendums or minion-targeting (D) actions that can ruin your entire game. While it's effect requires another player to do one of a limited number of actions (and direct it at your Assamite), I have to believe there will be at least one situation in every game where you can say "I wish I had a Yoruba Shrine right now...". I suspect that just having it in play will change the target of a qualifying action or referendum often enough to cause you to not have to use it. No burn clause. Absolutely worth the Pool.

Truth of Blood
Action
[aus][qui] (D) Bleed at +1 bleed. If this action is blocked, the controller of the blocking minion discards two cards at random from his or her hand (before combat, if any). Those cards are not replaced until the end of this action. [AUS][QUI] As above, but bleed at +2 bleed.
A QUI bleed enhancer? If you are like me, you spent about twenty minutes rubbing your eyes and making sure you were reading this card properly when you first saw it. Yes, the acting vampire must have Auspex, too, but fret not. You have 6 crypt choices with access to the inferior (5 of them from group 2), and Tegyrius and Tariq can use it at superior. "But Tom," you might say, "that only leaves me one Assamite in groups 3 and 4 who can use this card!" While that is true, you make good use of the Truth when you include Massassi, Lucas Halton, Zayyat, Jaoquin Murietta, Muhandis, or Mata Hari in your crypt with Antara. Being able to generate transient +bleed without having to bolt on DOM will help increase the flow of your hand and provide your opponents with some difficult choices. The down side to this card is that now you have to go back and figure out what to take out of your Tariq/Draught of the Soul deck so that you can fit some of these in. The discard clause that comes with it is just plain gravy. Thick, creamy, beefy, steamy, succulent gravy. They don't even get to choose the cards that are discarded, which means their entire combat could get bushwhacked before you declare "No pre-maneuvers".

Kerrie
Melee weapon.
Requires a Laibon, 1 Pool
Strength+1 damage each strike. Alternatively, inflict strength ranged damage as a strike and, after strike resolution, turn this weapon face down (out of play) until the end of the action.
When a vampire uses Kerrie's alternate strike, it will be removed from play before Baal's Bloody Talons would burn it. When it comes back into play, the window for BBT has closed, and it is not burned. So... increase your strength any way you can, stock up on Mozambique Allures, and drop a big ol' surprise on any vampire who wants to maneuver to range to avoid your melee weapon combat. The alternate strike can be used at close range, though you inflict one less damage. For straight out ranged combat, though, I think Taste of Death is still your better option for aggravated damage. It's simply more card efficient, not to mention common. Massassi with an Enforcer and a Kerrie sounds like the basis of a deck already. Kerries are not unique, so pack a few extra for Olugbenga and Kamau.
Legacies of Blood was kind enough to give our Assamites a few new toys to play with, and the ability to participate in the politics of the new sect. There are certainly more cards from the set that will find their way into our libraries, and I'll be sure to take a look at some of them for next month. For now, let's step back a bit and get a broader look at a much larger subject.

Managing Assamite Combat, Part 1

Most players initially play Assamites to try their hand at running a combat deck. While it is not the only thing the Assamites can do successfully and consistently, it is certainly what their reputation is built upon, and for good reason. Playing a 'combat deck' is a little different than other deck types, though, and Assamite combat differs even from the combat styles of other clans. Still, you should be able to apply many of the following ideas to any combat-ousting strategy. It's not all about handing out beat-downs! It will take a bit of finesse on your part if you intend to be successful in the ways of brutality.
Note that I am not talking about "bruise and..." style decks. Those decks take actions geared toward ousting, and use combat to punish those who would block. When I refer to a "combat deck", I refer to a deck that is built to achieve a combat oust - that is, doing Pool damage through the act of sending to torpor/burning the minions of one's prey. Typically, this involves a combination of cards like Fame, Tension in the Ranks, Dragonbound, Leadership Vacuum, The Path of Lilith, etc, and various ways to directly enter combat with another minion.
In addition to a carefully selected crypt of ebony assassins and 80-90 slices of swift, silent death in your library, you will need to utilize a few of your own skills to be successful. As with any deck type, you need to manage the whole table. You must make sure your predator does not become too strong, while taking care not to make him too weak. You must balance your forward motion with defense. Whereas a bleed-based deck might only be able to consistently affect his prey, Assamite combat is an equal opportunity destroyer. Permanent contracts allow you to pose a threat to any player at any time, and give you an opportunity for total table control. You can place a Contract on a key vampire of your cross-table opponent and warn that you won't use it unless you have to. This is something that a weenie POT rusher just couldn't do. Your actions are designed to remove minions from the ready region, and if you are doing it right, you can have the most profound effect on the game - for better or worse.
Most importantly, you will have to pick the right time to make your play for the VP's, and have the tenacity to see it through. And you thought all you needed was Kali's Fang and a bunch of Blurs...

Still a Virtue

Perhaps your best tool when employing an Assamite combat deck is patience. You must know when to use it, and recognize the right time to throw it over your shoulder and take off the gloves. Patience will compensate you in many ways. Consider the following:
1. Things go wrong in combat. Despite your most careful preparations, despite your 52 combat cards to your prey's 10, and despite how vulnerable Magdalena Schaefer might look. An unlikely damage prevention, dodge, or even a miserable Lucky Blow could change everything if you go prancing into combat before you have a good idea about what your predator and prey are playing. Don't assume that a Ventrue means politics, and a Nosferatu means Carrion Crows six ways 'til Sunday. By taking the first few turns of the game to assess your surroundings, you will be much better prepared for the upcoming combats.
2. You need a blocker. Everyone knows the advantage of brining up a weenie and getting in the first bleed, especially when your predator decides to go for a larger vampire first. That free action is nice, when the opportunity presents itself. As our Assamites, specifically the ones built for combat superiority, tend to be on the large side, chances are you will not get the first action. You will want a minion up to defend your pool while you set up and influence your tag-team or triple combo of death-dealers. You can also use this time to cycle your hand into something resembling a wood chipper. It is important during this stage to not take that big bleed for 6, or put yourself in a combat that might leave you without a minion. (See #1 above)
3. Your prey needs to spend Pool. The less Pool your prey has, the easier it is to oust him. You might think me silly for stating such an obvious point, but that situation doesn't always apply. A Methuselah with six minions and multiple sources of permanent intercept playing bleed deflection and vote defense would be very hard to beat for most decks. Consider "Wall" style decks that seem to always have the resources to untap and block. When playing combat, you use your prey's resources - his vampires - against him. The more he has, the more opportunity you have to damage him. If you jump out of your crypt with both barrels blazing on turn two or three, your prey might figure you out and stop spending Pool. If he has only one or two minions out, you have less opportunity to do Pool damage, and bleeding for one is akin to doing him a favor. While you stall, your predator gains the time he might need to take you out.
4. If you build it, they will come. The right cards, that is. If your deck is all contracts and combat, with a few Pool damaging master cards thrown in, you won't put yourself in a position to be patient. The only way to move your cards will be to enter combat. Give yourself something else to do. I like to add a few permanents, whether for offense or defense, so that I have more options than 'rush or bleed for one'. Picking up a Sport Bike, a weapon, using card-in-play actions like Heartblood of the Clan, etc., can allow you to look non-aggressive while preparing your offensive push. Using Infernal Pursuit (superior), Learjet, and other card-flushing technology will help you keep those non-combat cards flowing to your ash heap when you are in the race for a VP. I try to keep my combat package between 35-45 cards. Be very selective when it comes to master cards, as they tend to cycle the slowest. My magic number for master cards in a combat deck is 12. Limiting your library to 80 cards will provide excellent card flow, though I usually take mine up to 85-90 with extra actions and reactions.

Still the Best (D) Action

Another thing to consider is the base bleed action. You will probably have to take it either because you don't have any rushes available, or somebody has been sitting on the edge too long. Your prey probably doesn't want to block an Assamite, especially if you've already shown him a little of your "Taste of Death Tango". Putting a single laptop or vampire with +1 bleed in your deck can make a great deal of difference. You will either get blocked more often (increasing your opportunities for combat) or oust your prey a little faster. I used to run a single copy of Conditioning in a build that featured Thetmes. When I drew it later in a game it was devastating, as my prey wasn't expecting it and wouldn't block a bleed for one from one of the most dangerous vampires in the game. When I was able to use it early, my prey would assume I had more of them and block the Caliph more often than he wanted to, thus furthering my actual ousting method. You should always look for opportunities to add a little bleed enhancement to your combat deck.

I Know Better
Using your first few turns to influence at least two vampires into play while moving your hand into combos that will counter your opponent's defense is an important part of reading the texture of the table. I offer the following (embarrassing) anecdote as a case-in-point:
Last month I brought my Assamite Contract deck to the weekly game. It is my variant of the concept discussed in last month's (November 2005) newsletter. I started the game in third position, and chose to maximize my transfers by bringing Tariq into play first. My prey influenced Emmerson Bridges to his ready region as his first minion. My hand was stoked for combat with a Disguised Weapon, Poker, Swallowed by the Night, Blur, Psyche!, Skin of Steel, and Shadow Feint. On my turn, I figured I could take an early advantage on what would obviously be a combat-avoiding, vote & bloat politics deck, and rushed Emmerson. My target did not end combat on me, however, instead preventing all the damage with Fortitude, thus breaking my Poker, and slapping me for one damage. Fearing a Pulled Fangs, I spent a blood to prevent the damage, and Blurred. Alas, Emmerson was able to prevent it all. Left with an empty Tariq, I was consigned to take my hunt action next turn. At least I had the Swallowed by the Night for an additional stealth, should I need it. I moved four Pool to Fatima and prepared for my predator to take the token bleed action. A minor setback, right?
On my next turn, Emmerson Bridges used Second Tradition to block Tariq's hunt, again doing hand damage. Though I was running prevent, none of it was in my hand at the time, and Tariq took a trip to torpor. I influenced Fatima into play, and tried to be content in the fact that at least I had a blocker. A significant setback, but once I get Tariq out of torpor I'll be in good shape, right?
I discarded, and informed my prey it was his turn. To my dismay, Emmerson played a Graverobbing with a Seduction. I was completely powerless to stop him. My other down vampires were another Fatima and Smudge, the Ignored. Add a cross-table Leandro to the bleeds I had to soak when I was without a minion, and I was left with only Fatima for the rest of the game. As you might suspect, I didn't get any VP's.
Had I waited until I had both Fatima and Tariq into play, I would have been able to take a rescue action, or perhaps my prey would have cycled those cards on his prey and the situation would have been avoided altogether. Deck Name : Patients, young Fida'i
Author : Tom Duncan
Description :
Using Patients when playing Assamite combat.
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 9 average: 6.09

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4x Qadir ul-Ghani 9 CEL OBF QUI nec tha Assamite:2
2x Zahir, Hand of the 6 CEL OBF qui tha Assamite:2
1x Jalal Sayad 6 CEL QUI pot Assamite:2
1x Abd al-Rashid 5 CEL QUI obf Assamite:2
1x Anwar 4 cel obf qui Assamite:2
1x Tansu Bekir 4 OBF cel Assamite:2
1x Ali Kar 3 obf qui Assamite:3
1x Harika Guljan 3 QUI Assamite:2

Library [90 cards]
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Action [9]
2x Ambush
1x Bum's Rush
4x Clandestine Contract
2x Sibyl's Tongue

Action Modifier [2]
2x Lost in Crowds

Action Modifier/Combat [4]
4x Swallowed by the Night

Action Modifier/Reaction [2]
2x Provision of the Silsila

Ally [5]
5x Escaped Mental Patient

Combat [38]
6x Blur
5x Disguised Weapon
6x Fake Out
6x Lucky Blow
4x Psyche!
4x Pursuit
5x Sideslip
2x Taste of Death

Equipment [9]
1x IR Goggles
1x Ivory Bow
1x Rowan Ring
1x Sport Bike
1x Starshell Grenade Launcher
4x Wooden Stake

Event [3]
1x Dragonbound
1x FBI Special Affairs Division
1x Unmasking, The

Master [12]
4x Blood Doll
1x Charisma
2x Contract
1x Elder Library
2x Fame
1x KRCG News Radio
1x Underworld Hunting Ground

Reaction [5]
5x Black Sunrise

Retainer [1]
1x Mr. Winthrop

The best part of this deck is probably the pun, I realize. The idea is, of course, to make Qadir a !Malkavian and recruit Escaped Mental Patients to thwart your Predator and eventually your Prey. With KRCG, The Unmasking, and the proper use of a Starshell Grenade Launcher, it is possible for a Patient to block a +3 stealth action. Combined with the FBISpecial Affairs Division, you can present an unpleasant proposition for your Predator. By blocking with a Patient, you get to see what the opposing minion chooses for a strike before you decide whether or not to use EMP's aggravated strike. Don't fling the Patients at your prey until you are ready to oust! They are too expensive to lose for naught. This deck could benefit from Left For Dead, perhaps at the expense of IR Goggles.
Next month: Managing Assamite Combat, Part 2. Until then, practice patience at the table and allow your opponents to reveal themselves to you. Don't over-extend yourself early, give your prey some confidence to spend his pool, and see if you can't put yourself in better position to get some VP's.
Find everything you need to know about playing Assamites at
www.thepathofblood.com!
Comments, Suggestions, and Submissions should be sent to:
veknpont...@yahoo.com
Special thanks to John Eno, Official Assamite Newsletter Editor.