Legbiter's Halloweenies .... a Setite/GioVanni deck which DOESN'T suck. This is a deck I've been playing with over a period of some months, and it is now at a stage where it can do quite well in social play against good players. In a previous incarnation it was good enough that when David Tatu [runner-up in Atlanta last year, and all-round Good Chap] was my prey, he felt it necessary to help his grand-predator [Lunar Moon] to oust me ... but I've tweaked it some more since then [mainly to improve its pool gain], and now it wins, regularly. The combination of insane chainsaw-wielding violence, HORDES of weenie minions, Deathless Allies and corruption is a difficult one for people to deal with but it kinda appeals to me, for some odd reason ..remarkable, doncha think, for such a sweet mild-mannered chap as m'self? Here is the deck: CRYPT [12 vampires] 4 GIOVANNI [i LOVE these guys. If ONLY the Giovanni girlies could've fitted into this deck]. Cristofero Giovanni 3 pot nec Mario Giovanni 3 pot nec 2 x Rudolpho Giovanni 3 NEC 8 SETITES [and these. Sigh. My two favourite clans, and my favourite combo]. Dedefra 5 obf nec SER +1 hand damage against Camarilla Vampires [Lady Legbiterin a bad mood] 2 x Hadrian Garrick 4 pre obf +1 hand damage Khalil Anvari 3 pre ser 2 x Lalitha 2 ser 2 x Nepata 4 obf pre ser [a former Bride of Legbiter in a time-for-a-li'l-recreation mood ... sigh .. scene fades to reverie of white lacy lingerie and unbridled passion .....] [Average 2.83, High draw 17, low draw 10]. LIBRARY [90 cards] 20 MASTER CARDS [22%] No particular comment, except forGiant's Blood .... an unusual card for a weeny deck, you might think, and so in a way it is. But, of course, the idea is to play it BEFORE the heavy-hitter does, thus really pissing him/her off. No real skin off your nose, if s/he plays it first. Also, it's probable that one of these cards [SC, GB or one of the THGs] would have to be a Barrens, if you wanted to play this deck in a tourney. 4 x Blood Doll Giant's Blood Heidelburg Castle,Germany [o alright, ONE other comment ...use this to move the chainsaw around, and to rescue minions from the Talbot's Chainsaw trap [no blood, and can't hunt]. DO NOT cheat by trying to move the chainsaw to/from Ambrosius using this card. He is NOT a vampire.] KRCG News Radio Morgue Hunting Ground 5 x Obfuscate Opium Den Succubus Club [Sigh, OK, ONE more. Michael Beer told me to put this in. i am not sure why. But Michael is DEFINITELY a better player than me, so he is probably right.] 2 x Temple Hunting Ground 3 xTribute to the Master MINION CARDS 32 ACTIONS [36%] No Comment, except to point out that Corruption will ONLY work in an No-Card-Limits environment. As a play-for-fun kinda guy i usually find myself in SPIRITUAL agreement withthe Card-Limits people. But this deck demonstrates why, nevertheless, i personally am adamantly of the No-Card-Limits camp. 18 x Corruption 10 x The Embrace Form of Corruption Lure of the Serpent [War ghoul, Succubus, Muddles and somebody else acquiring/ playing Ambrosius are BAAAD for this deck]. 3 xTemptation [Two of these i swapped off Pierre Rebstock for the new [Urza'sSaga] versions of Timetwister and City of Brass. Silly ol' Pierre, huh? He even threw in a Vampiric Embrace .... hehehehe]. 18 ACTION MODIFIERS [20%] A heavy intercept deck can piss off most people, but not this deck. Also, the unexpected stealth-bleed for two of Kherebutu is GREAT fun. 4 x Cloak the Gathering 3 x Forgotten Labyrinth 3 x Lost in Crowds 5 x Spectral Divination [with the KRCG and Rudolpho, this is enough for +2 Intercept, but you won't get many of these. Keep them for the important blocks!] 3 x Spying Mission 7 ALLIES [8%] Allies and Equipment benefit IMMENSELY from the mantra: "Allies and Equipment Suck". Keep it up, News-Group Comrades! It's true that simple-minded ally/equipment strategies suggested in the VTES literature ARE easy to spot and easy to counter, and it's also true that a deck BASED SOLELY on either is likely to fail. It DOESN'T follow that allies and equipment in GENERAL suck. 5 x Ambrosius the Ferryman, Wraith 2 x Kherebutu (Bane Mummy) 6 COMBAT CARDS [7%] ALWAYS have SOME combat is article I of the Legbiter Code. When i am feeling romantic this extends to, Combat is Good In and Of Itself. But, alas, that is not really true ..... [debate to be continued on the NewsGroup, ad infinitum]. 4 x Fake Out 2 x Lucky Blow 6 EQUIPMENT [7%] 6x Talbot's Chainsaw [This is the ONLY thing in the current Newsletter that has anything to do with the Gangrel antitribu - for why, see the last issue. Hey, I''m feeling guilty, alright? So I'm TRYING to construct a Gangrel-anticombatty sorta deck for the next Portsmouth tournament. Happy now????]. Clearly this is a rare-heavy deck so it's unlikely to achieve wide circulation. But i think it does make the point that apparently-sucky clans and cards CAN be made to work in unexpectedly-powerful ways in a No-Card-Limits environment. A deck that brings out little itty-bitty Setites and Giovanni and plays a few Corruptions lulls people into a false sense of security .... then WHAM! Embrace! Embrace! 4-5 Corruptions a turn! WHAM! Ambrosius plus Talbot's Chainsaw! All of a sudden things are looking BAAAAD.