Good News!
3rd Edition is here, and it looks pretty good to me. But even better than new cards are the new trends: building vampires that can play otherwise cornercase commons. Yes, I'm writing about Soul Decoration, which prior to the release of this new set could only be played by Cyscek at the double-superior variant, and by only five other vampires at the inferior variant. To add insult to injury, Cyscek could only be in a crypt with Ana Rita Montana, the other four were group 2.

This trend sees another interesting development in the playability of Typhonic Beast at double-superior by three vampires post-Legavies of Blood. There is something similar in the card Quicksilver Contemplation, which can be played by zero vampires at the double-superior version without prior setup. Nu and Ian Forestal get the most out of the card, since they can use three versions of it, but I'm sure that should this trend continue there will be 6-8 vampires with some combination of Auspex and Temporis in an upcoming expansion. Sure, there is both an Auspex and Temporis "outferior", so i could be blowing smoke, but anything's possible.

New Goods!
There is all kind of goodness in this new set for the Trujah, despite the first glance, which shows zero new True Brujah and zero new Temporis cards. What the set lacks in direct new goods for the Trujah it more than makes up in new sidekicks and side-stars that can work with the Trujah.

Forger's Hammer
Action Modifier. Potence. Only usable when this vampire sucessfully equips with a non-unique melee weapon from your hand. [pot] Put this card on the weapon. This weapon inflicts +1 damage each strike. [POT] As above, and the cost of this weapon is reduced by 1 blood or 1 pool.
Sure, it's not a total groundbreaker, but it certainly helps in melee weapon-based combat decks. Which are, of course, sweeping the world with their efficiency. It's worth pointing out that permanents are pretty good all around, and that despite the fact that this card requires an action (Concealed Weapon + Forger's Hammer can't be done; no action modifiers can be played in combat) it is saving a pool for the equipping Methuselah. And saving pool is good. So that Meat Cleaver or Bastard Sword will cost one less, and do one more point of damage per strike. This can help to enable cards like Pulled Fangs and Disarm, and using those cards in conjunction with Fortitude makes things flow even smoother. So hit for three with that Cleaver and then prevent all the damage, tear off the opponent's arm, and drink the vitae. This also makes Lapse + Taste of Vitae in conjunction with Forger's Hammer and Meat Cleaver into a decent two-card combat scenario, since the Trujah in question spends two blood to get three back (prevention and such notwithstanding).

Dogs of War
Type: Political Action
Requires: Brujah antitribu
If this referendum passes, put this card in play. Any Brujah antitribu may enter combat with a ready minion as a (D) action. You may burn this card to cancel a blood hunt called on a Brujah antitribu. Any vampire may call a referendum to burn this card as a +1 stealth political action.
Now in the Role Playing Game the True Brujah, Brujah, and Brujah antitribu didn't work together that often due to ideological differences. Not so in the Jyhad. In fact, this card is totally awesome in a Trujah-supported bruise 'n' vote deck. Let's see if there's any synergy with the group 3 and 4 Brujah Antitribu...

Jayne Jonestown
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 2
Disciplines: PRE
Sabbat. Red List: Jayne gets an additional +1 stealth when hunting, but -1 stealth on any other actions. If Jayne is ready during your untap phase and the Society of Leopold is in play, you may move the Society to any ready vampire.
I'm a big fan of Jayne. He's got a lot going for him with the superior Presence and the Society of Leopold Special. He's great in combination with Trujah and Free States Rant. However, his Red List aspect and inherent squishiness (he can't afford many Majesty or worse, Disengage + Majesty) make him tough to hold onto in almost any environment. Even a low-combat environment may be able to afford a master phase action and three minion-actions to send him to the dirt. Be sure to include an untap/intercept/combat module of some kind or a Secure Haven (or similar tech; Trophy: Haven or even a Deer Rifle) to keep him whole. While he's not doing much else he makes a great Blood Doll/farmer.

Smash
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 3
Disciplines: pot pre
Sabbat.
Practically a True Brujah 3-cap, with no "wasted" disciplines in the form of celerity or disciplines that don't show up in the outferior form of Temporis cards.

Patrick
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 4
Disciplines: POT pre
Sabbat.
Again, a great 4-cap for inclusion in a Potence/Presence deck. True Brujah clan disciplines!

Wah Chun-Yuen
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 3)
Capacity: 5
Disciplines: POT cel dom pre
Sabbat. Black Hand.
Wah isn't bad for his cost, but can only use the specific Dominate outferiors of Clio's Kiss (for extra contest-pool loss) and Hall of Hades Court (for votes), neither of which are particularly synergistic with his superior Potence for the beat-down. Iron Glare + Hall of Hades Court will work in pinch, tho. And of course, Dominate gives access to the ubiquitous Deflection for bleed defense. He works well with Krassimir.

Axel Von Anders
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 5
Disciplines: PRE cel obf pot
Sabbat.
Superior Presence on a 5-cap is worth the investment in a vote-deck, and the inferior Obfuscate helps to get those votes through. Basic Potence doesn't hurt in a deck with True Brujah, and the "wasted" Celerity spot is forgivable. A decent support vampire.

Shawnda Dorrit
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 6
Disciplines: CEL obt pot pre
Sabbat priscus.
Her three votes make her difficult to ignore in a vote-deck, but she doesn't complement the standard Trujah Free States Rant deck because her Priscus title gets lost in the Rant. Her lack of superior Potence or Presence makes her pretty expensive for her cost, but the basic Obtenebration finds a mate in Nehemiah, so she still has her uses for the clan.

Father Juan Carlos
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 6
Disciplines: PRE aus cel pot tha
Sabbat: During a bleed action, Father Juan may burn a blood to get -1 bleed and +1 stealth.
I'm undecided on Father Juan. His cost only brings Presence, Potence, and the outferior Auspex power of Quicksilver Contemplation discipline-wise, and his plus-stealth special is only available on bleeds (and it lowers those bleeds). He could find some great use in a deck that contains many Heart of the City for permanent plus-bleed, and can play the useful Tangle Atropos' Hand as some bounce protection, so he's not entirely useless. However, the scope of his use for the True Brujah is fairly limited.

Jeremiah Noble
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 3)
Capacity: 6
Disciplines: CEL POT obt pre
Sabbat.
Not too bad for his cost, but the superior Celerity is largely useless in a Trujah/!Brujah build. Obtenebration again finds synergy with Nehemiah, but otherwise fairly blah.

Miguel Santo Domingo
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 3)
Capacity: 7
Disciplines: POT PRE cel for
Sabbat: Once each action, Miguel can burn 1 blood to give any other Sabbat vampire you control +1 bleed for the current action.
This guy is awesome. He's a bleed-pumper for all the Sabbat on his team, and he has superior Potence and Presence for the cheap, easy, and versatile Iron Glare. Not only that, but his Fortitude is found on two of the group 4 Trujah. Bonzo!

DeSalle
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 7
Disciplines: CEL POT PRE
Sabbat: When DeSalle is acting, a Sabbat vampire may burn 1 blood to get +1 intercept once that action. +1 stealth. I like her. The plus-stealth can only be circumvented by other Sabbat. However, she's a wee bit expensive for her cost since I won't be using Celerity for anything. Given the paucity of stealth generally available for the Trujah, she's still worth the investment.

Antonio Veradas
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 3)
Capacity: 8
Disciplines: CEL POT PRE obf
Sabbat bishop: Antonio gets +1 stealth when equipping with a weapon. During your discard phase, Antonio may burn 1 blood to untap.
Antonio could find a home in a Weapon/Forger's Hammer deck or a Dogs of War/Rush deck. To the Trujah, he's entirely worth his cost even if his equip-special and Celerity is ignored. That out-of-clan Obfuscate rears its head again, he'll work very well with Synesios or Al-Muntaquim (preferably in a weapon-deck with Forger's Hammers, but discipline-synergistic regardless).

Lord Aaron Wesley Wilkshire
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 8
Disciplines: CEL POT PRE ani obf
Sabbat. Black Hand: Frenzy cards played on Aaron cost an additional blood or pool.
Not nearly as useful as Antonio Veradas due to his lack of a personal Homonculous, Aaron still has that POT/PRE/obf combination that squeezes into Trujah decks so well. He's worth a single slot in a stealth-voter at the very least. He makes the weapon-deck cut because of his anti-frenzy tech.

Hektor
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 9
Disciplines: CEL POT PRE QUI for
Sabbat priscus: Damage from Hektor's hand strikes is aggravated. Baali get +1 bleed when bleeding you.
Ouch. This guy is murder on the furniture, what with the flaming hands and all. He's got votes, Potence, and Presence, which are excellent prerequisites for large-cap Iron Glare-supported vote/bleed decks. He's also got some Fortitude to use with the group 4 Trujah. His cost of nine and not-so-useful-to-the-Trujah Quietus and Celerity are a tad inefficient, but the aggravated hand damage can make up for these faults a certain percentage of the time.

Jacques Molay
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 9
Disciplines: CEL POT PRE obf val
Sabbat: Jacques may enter combat with an ally or younger vampire as a (D) action. +1 strength.
This guy is a bit on the expensive side for his kung-fu style, but minions with permanent rush and +1 strength have proven their effectiveness in tournaments time and time again (see: Beast, Taco Bell merged). Obfuscate is again a welcome side-discipline, since leftover Domain of Evernight can be used by Jacques as target-acquisition stealth. Valeren adds an interesting dimension, with weapon-based combat being the most obvious benefit. Also: +1 stealth rush, burn-a-blood-to-block, prevent/anti-frenzy, and cheap torpor rescue (Fame!). A solid choice in a combat deck or a combat hybrid.

Armin Brenner
Clan: Brujah antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 10
Disciplines: CEL FOR POT PRE ani obf
Sabbat Archbishop of Washington, D.C.: When a referendum Armin calls passes, you gain 1 pool.
This guy jams. He's got superior Potence and Presence in addition to the always-useful Obfuscate for the outferior version of some of the better Temporis cards (Clotho's Gift and Domain of Evernight), so he can party with Trujah all around. His superior Fortitude has some great synergy with the Fortitude of both Ibn Khaldun and Al-Muntaquim, and his title and vote special mix into any vote deck pretty well (that PRE doesn't hurt, of course).

Deck o' the Month
I have not yet acquired enough Forger's Hammer or Dogs of War (bad distribution and all, zero of either in 2.5 boxes) to build a deck utilizing them, and I'm not sure the Trujah even belong in a deck that uses Dogs of War as a central tactic (but I'll still probably try it when I get enough of 'em). Instead, this month I present a vote/bleed deck that uses Fortitude and Temporis to multiact and Presence to "govern down" to younger vampires. It can cause fits to decks with marginal vote or bleed defense, and even combat decks may run into some roadblocks against it. Its buildup is a little slow, however, and there may be need to include some Dreams of the Sphinx of other acceleration tech in there.

Deck Name :Power of the Dark Side
Author : Mark Merlin Petersen
Description :
This deck attempts to utilize the off-clan fortitude of group 4 True Brujah w/ off-clan fortitude and obfuscate on the Group 3 & 4 Brujah and new !Brujah.
At the last moment before the first playtest i rashly added another Armin Brenner and dropped the extra Jaroslav Pascek (which goes against my ideal of no more than five of a non-Trujah clan in a deck for TWD purposes and newsletter specificity). I got Jaro in the playtest opener crypt anyway, in addition to Munty, Axel Von Anders, and Antonio Verdaras. I got the first three up (not Antonio) with a comfortable pool cushion besides. The deck performed well, and i got one VP despite some aggressive predation on my right.
My first pred was a Taco Bell "Run for the Border" toss junk deck that never got off its feet. It was ousted by turn six or so by an Alan Sovereign-fueled Investment + Big Guns deck with a lot of Dominate on the sideline. I think Taco & crew bled me for one twice, and aside from that left me alone. I was sweating a little because i'd helped the Taco player build the deck and knew that it could devastate my game, especially since i was red-cardless in the first four turns of the game. I finally drew a Skin of Steel, but the Brujah were ousted before i needed to use it. In the meantime i was able to bleed/vote my weenie Ravnos prey for about 12 pool (Con Ag/KRC/KRC/Enchant forward) with the Casino in play for supplemental stealth, all while bloating via Tap/Cap.
Alan rounded the corner and bled me for four two turns in a row. The last player in the five-way (my grandprey) was Old Skool Malks, a deck built by a new player with a Malk starter, two anniversary tins, and the leftover Jyhad commons from the collective playgroup. This new player brought out Leandro (and no one had rush!) and proceeded to Pulse up. After convincing him to let me block a bounced bleed for five so as to not let Alan get his 2nd VP (he's new, he thought player elimination was good in general) Alan bled me for four again, then i pressed forward and finished off the Ravnos with my first Iron Glare (halfway through the deck and i drew ONE) and Majesty/Freakdrive/Tangle Atropos' Hand multiact shenanigans.
Leandro's next bleed (for six with a computer hacking) finished off Alan's crew, who had decided to invest a little too much in Assault Rifles, leaving us at the two-way. I played the crap out of the cards i drew and managed to get him to five pool while keeping my head above the water, but a Telepathic Counter sealed my fate in the end-game gambit i had planned: bleed with both minions (Axel was eaten by Greg Winter) to tap both blockers (blockers w/ a Sport Bike and an untapped Channel 10), Majesty to untap, then call the Anarchist Uprising w/ Jaroslav to win by a nose. I never got to the Majesty phase of that particular strategy, as my first bleed (with Jaro) was made unsuccessful by Zoe. Very close, tho.
This prompted me to revise the deck slightly; it has great survivability but since it got hit for _FIVE_ bleeds for more than three during the game i've decided to add Archon Investigations in lieu of Suddens (Suddened Alan's Ventrue HQ, tho).
Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 4 max: 10 average: 7.59
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3x Ibn Khaldun, Schol 7POT PRE TEM for True Bruj:4
2x Jaroslav Pascek 10 CEL POT PRE for obf justicar Brujah:3
2x Al-Muntaquim, The 8FOR POT TEM obf pre True Bruj:4
1x Armin Brenner 10 CEL FOR POT PRE ani obf archbishop !Brujah:4
1x Antonio Veradas 8CEL POT PRE obf bishop !Brujah:3
1x Miguel Santo Domin 7POT PRE cel for !Brujah:3
1x Axel Von Anders 5PRE cel obf pot !Brujah:4
1x Patrick 4POT pre !Brujah:4

Library [90 cards]
------------------------------------------------------------
Action [13]
4x Clotho's Gift
7x Enchant Kindred
2x Entrancement

Action Modifier [30]
7x Domain of Evernight
4x Freak Drive
9x Iron Glare
4x Tangle Atropos' Hand
6x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier / Reaction [5]
5x Hall of Hades' Court

Combat [12]
2x Disarm
5x Majesty
5x Skin of Steel

Equipment [2]
2x Sport Bike

Master [14]
2x Archon Investigation
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Gang Territory
7x Minion Tap
1x Presence
1x Tabriz Assembly
1x Waste Management Operation

Political Action [13]
1x Anarchist Uprising
1x Ancient Influence
1x Conservative Agitation
1x Disputed Territory
7x Kine Resources Contested
1x Political Stranglehold
1x Reins of Power

Retainer [1]
1x Mr. Winthrop

Crafted with : Anarch Revolt Deck Builder. [Mon Nov 13 14:53:24 2006]