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Textbook Damnation
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VEKN Official Baali Clan Newsletter
January, 2010
This Edition includes:
- Introduction
- Fiction: A plan coming together
- Vampire of the Month: Cybele (again)
- Strategy of the Month: Girls will find inner peace
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INTRODUCTION:
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I enjoyed the Baali ever since the excellent Darg Ages Clanbook for them. Although they are no player characters by nature they still have their charm as super-villains :)
Naturally I tried to be successful with Baali decks. From simple presence stealth bleed over Sargon gets the edge for an Enticement and Call the Great Beast strategies, even Nergal wall decks to the newest Gem which features Cybele.
So just before the rise of Heirs to the Blood and with it new Baali, Daimoinon, Maleficia and Striga cards I want to shed light upon this wonderful Bloodline created by ze man himsel Saulot.
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A PLAN COMING TOGETHER:
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Seldomly had they met in such a rush, but even the deranged Lutz von Hohenzollern seemed speechless at the events that had unfolded during the past months. As he now sat around the table with Adana de Sforza, Mistress Fanchon and Rafael de Corazon they were discussing frantically about the reasons or whatever lay behind the motivations of this Gangrel Antitribu and the other events that had happend surrounding here.
"This cannot be coincidence", Fanchon snarled, "First the reappearance of the Red Star, then some of the Ashur Tablets and now the liquidation of our own Ashur assets". "Indeed it binds in perfectly timed with assaults on our resources from the anarch whom we had thought being a non-problem at the moment", replied Rafael.
Lutz was having none of it though: "I can see no pattern at all to that. It just looks like coincidence when I peer at the omens. Though I heard news of our foe Ossian turning to the infernal side, entranced by the powers they offered to him.". "That weakish cub will pose no threat to us my friends", Adana countered," he is nothing than a meatball in our hands, what is estranging me is that a Gangrel Antitribu is supposed to have reached Golconda and is now residing in Switzerland, just months after attacking our resources. From Evil to Good in a month?!? That cannot be..."
"This is madness, why that Daclau women? She has been a mischieveous thorn in our side for some time. To mischieveous to attain such a high moral for sure. You cannot be true!!!", Lutz screamed. But the others fell silent as they too had heard this rumor and more than a rumor it was.
"It is true!", Fanchon replied in an unnaturally silent tone. "Several Ghouls of Troius have seen her strolling around during mid-day in Geneva. When confronted she did not even try to harm them, but just vanished. Behaved as if she were mindwashed somehow they said. But we must be wary, we don't know nearly enough about this state of mind, she might as well just return and pose an ever bigger threat."
"Yeah with a Vengeance...", De Sforza uttered, "What we'll now have to do is too muster our resources and influences to increase our standing and leverage in this situation, so we will be ready when she ressurges, we must not let it get out of hand!!!".
"Agreed!", replied the other three.
If only her master could see it, it was the sweetest smile of all, that of a perfect plan coming perfectly together. Cybele looked into the mirror that was so beneficial in showing her this meeting. Even that preposterous witch Fanchon could not fathom the powerful magic that was woven into it by herself...what a foolish woman.
Aksinya's actions worked out just as planned. After putting the anarchs up onto the camarilla her mind was relieved to such an extent and putten on the right path to be actually one of the chosen few. None of the others doubted her for a bit. Praise to the dark lord and his influence in her.
Those camarilla snobs weren't half-wrong though about her coming back, as she was as they now say...a sleeper, but that too was already anticipated.
Cybele watched as the four disassembled to summon up their mighty politics. Good they did not know, she too would benefit from it and above it her master who lined out this masterful plan which started aeons ago in Zillah's Valley and the Parthenons of old...
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VAMPIRE OF THE MONTH (AGAIN)
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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.
She already was Vampire of the month in the last newsletter, although that was a while ago. She has been most famous for her use in Call the Great Beast decks, where her Thaumaturgy and Serpentis where key.
In the Girls will find inner peace deck, it's mostly only Presence and Obfuscate with a sprinkle of Animalism and Thaumaturgy. It is her master ability and bleed action that make her so worthwile, easily offsetting the infernal trait.
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DECK OF THE MONTH
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Adam Esbjörnsson's Tournament Winning Deck
Deck Name : Girls will find inner peace
Author : Adam Esbjörnsson and friends
Description : Thanks to Teemu Sainomaa, Erik Torstensson, Isak Bjärmark Esbjörnsson and Alex Ek for perfecting and evolving the original deck by Teemu.
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 9 max: 11 average: 10
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4x Cybele 10 ANI DAI OBF PRE SER THA Baali:4
4x Aksinya Daclau 9 ANI FOR PRE PRO cel tha !Gangrel:4
1x Adana de Sforza 11 CEL OBF POT PRE PRO aus inner circle Brujah:4
1x Lutz von Hohenzoll 11 AUS DEM OBF PRE pot inner circle Malkavian:4
1x Mistress Fanchon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF THA VIC inner circle Tremere:4
1x Rafael de Corazon 11 AUS CEL DOM OBF PRE inner circle Toreador:4
Cybele and Aksinya are the main engine here. They are key to getting much pool with Villein+Golconda (or even better Giants Blood). This usually leads into bringin out the inner circle members. Coincidentally all vampired in this deck that can bleed for 3 have superior obfuscate and presence.
Once setup most decks will find it troublesome to survive a barrage of stealthed bleeds for 3 while under a vote lock. All in all a difficult to play deck with huge poolgain and damage potential. As soon as others will get what is going on you will be the table threat, so table politics need to be played as well to stay alive.
Library [77 cards]
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Action [4]
2x Entrancement
2x Intimidation
Intimidation is supposedly there for it's cost effectiveness, allowing to bleed for 3 without costing a blood, while Entrancement's versatility as bleed and Ally steal is always well liked by presence users.
Action Modifier [16]
2x Aire of Elation
2x Approximation of Loyalty
1x Cloak the Gathering
2x Elder Impersonation
1x Enkil Cog
2x Faceless Night
1x Into Thin Air
1x Lost in Crowds
2x Mirror Walk
2x Perfect Paragon
A nice rounded mix of stealth effects, with some bleed push and the obligatory Enkil Cog.
Combat [4]
4x Majesty
As is obvious this deck is prone to some combat strategies, but for the occasional rumble this package usually suffices.
Event [4]
2x Anthelios, The Red Star
1x Nightmares upon Nightmares
1x Scourge of the Enochians
Mastercard recursion is obviously a main strategy in this deck, so the 2 Anthelios ar warraanted. Scourge of the Enochians and Nightmares upon Nightmares provide defense against weenie decks which too can be troublesome.
Master [41]
1x Anarch Troublemaker
6x Ashur Tablets
1x Blind Spot
1x Coven, The
1x Direct Intervention
2x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fortschritt Library
1x Giant's Blood
2x Golconda: Inner Peace
3x Information Highway
1x Jake Washington (Hunter)
4x Liquidation
1x Metro Underground
1x Misdirection
1x Monastery of Shadows
2x Parthenon, The
1x Pentex(TM) Subversion
6x Villein
1x Wash
4x Zillah's Valley
There are several poolgain strategy in the deck. Villein (best paired with Golconda or Giants Blood), Liquidation and the Ashur Tablets. The Tablet recursion is key to getting they cards move by the liquidation. Also there are lots of other great masters to fuel Anthelios and Aksinya or just to be played. Note that Zillah's Valley, Information Highway and Dreams of the Sphinx make up almost 12% of the deck which should mean that 1 is bound to be in the first 10 cards.
Political Action [4]
1x Ancient Influence
1x Ancilla Empowerment
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power
Just 4 votes of which 3 only can be played once in the game, but they have a hefty result in this deck. Ancient Influence and Political Stranglehold will usually gain 6 pool (with the Stranglehold even more potentially), while Reins of Power and Ancilla Empowerment put on the hurt to plow down any resistance that is left.
Reaction [4]
1x Guard Dogs
2x Lost in Translation
1x Rat's Warning
The dogs and rats compliment Aksinyas bounce ability as she needs to be untapped to use it, while Lost in Translation enables the other vampires to bounce all but just a few vampires.
Cheers
Bernd Schwabe
VEKN Prince of Hanau