OFFICIAL VEKN GANGREL-ANTITRIBU NEWSLETTER VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 MARCH 2004 In this in-like-a-lion-and-out-like-a-lamb issue ....... ************** FICTION: Prophecies EDITORIAL AND DECK: There's unlife in the old game yet ************** FICTION: Prophecies An icy wind whistles across the island as Anklebiter and i make our way back to the mansion after another night of scheming and plotting and insane violence. i'm in a good mood, having won the latest two rounds of the Jyhad, but Anklebiter is not - he lost, and furthermore, when we emerged from the conclave it was to find Jacqui Therman arranging to have a controlled explosion performed on the limo. Hence the footslog, quite a long one up to Legbiter Hall. Suddenly we hear a great murmuring and shuffling: turning round, we see a HUGE horde of gloomy figures behind us. "You hold them off! i'll go and get help!" we cry, simultaneously, but it is no use - they are all around us, several hundred of them at least. i give myself up to despair. "This is the End of Everything! Or at least it is the End of the Career of Legbiter, which amounts to the same thing. O wise prophets! O Sensible seers! O Clever and Intelligent futures analysts!" Anklebiter gives a non-Chiliastic cough. "Actually, respected Sire, i think they may not be that interested in your Lordship's career at all." And sure enough, now that they are closer we see that what we took to be rotting folds of flesh are football scarves and discarded programmes, and it all becomes clear, even the smell. A large bristly-jawed fan pauses beside us and gives way to despair. "This is the End of Everything! Or at least it is the end of the FA cup for Portsmouth FC, which amounts to the same thing. O cruel, cruel fate, and even crueller Woolwich Arsenal!" i pat him awkwardly on the arm. "There, there, old chap, things aren't that bad. Or at least, not as bad as they are going to be really soon. i mean all this will look like pretty small beer when your own liver is frying inside you, round about the end of the football season. i know because of all the portents, you see, Foolish Kings and Inane Babble sorta thing, plus a whole BUNCH of weird lights in the sky. So cheer up and cheerio!" We stroll on, happy to have consoled a fellow hu-, erm, well, happy, anyhow. Out of earshot the bristly fan turns to his equally tearful mate. "Did you hear that?" "Yeah, do you think we have time to get a kebab in before the End of the World?" ************************ EDITORIAL AND DECK: There's unlife in the old game yet Jyhad/VTES will be ten years old on August the 16th 2004, and in this month's Inquest it receives the award for best multiplayer CCG. As further proof both of the strength of its original design and the good development work of the design team, i made the finals of BloodBath 2004 with an all-Jyhad deck [and scored a VP in the final]. As proof of its continuing vitality, this last couple of months has seen an explosion of new and interesting deck ideas, amongst which Joshua Duffin's Agaitas/[Huitzilopochtli] Great Beast deck, and Ben Peal's tournament-legal 40-card deck [based on using the burn option on Tracker's mark] should be singled out. Here, however, i wish to focus on two !Gangrel deck ideas, one of which [reproduced below] is due to Smiling Tom, and the other of which is, erm, not out yet. This latter still-at-the-concept-stage deck is the Sebastien Goulet allies deck, using Memories of Mortality, Rafastio Ghouls and Shadow Court Satyr [both with Burst of Sunlight], plus the Black Spiral Buddy/Rave/multi-blood doll combo as a pool engine; plus a sprinkling of intercept and Rotshreck. Burst of Sunlight [we are happy to note] has in the most recent text revision been restored to playability by thaumaturgic allies [and the Shadow Court Satyr], through the simple expedient of making it do 1R aggravated damage to all minions in combat [not just to vampires]. Smiling Tom's deck is very much real and on the planet, but before giving it in his own words i want to point out the clever trick here: Tom has actually READ the text of Ritual of the Bitter Rose and NOTICED that it has changed [this is something i personally am very bad at]. i think his idea is fabulously good and that there is considerable mileage in it, by which i mean that, fine as the deck is, there could be room for improvement. "Ok, since BH came out, I realized there were lots of pot/pro vampires that weren't 9+ cap. And then I stopped on the amazing Henry Taylor. His recycling ability granted a non-stop combat capacity, if the deck has enough combat decks. Also, the POT pro is not much used, nor seen, but carries one of the nastiest combat tricks: immortal, claws, decapitate, Ritual of the bitter rose. If you suspect someone might prevent your aggro poke, then just hit with a decapitate at inferior. I've added 2 Death of my conscience since it is my last discovery. This card not only allows you to turn every card in your deck into a fist of death, but allows you a really easy way to cycle those cards that you don't need at this very moment. Need to make room for a few minion taps/more blood dolls, though. Comments wellcome, as usual Deck Name: Death Cocktails Created By: Tom Crypt: (12 cards, Min: 16, Max: 29, Avg: 5,75) ---------------------------------------------- 1 Jalan-Aajav ani CEL FOR POT PRO 9, Gangrel antitribu:3 2 Soldat cel dom obf POT PRO 7, Gangrel antitribu:3 1 Lisette Vizquel DOM POT pro 6, Lasombra:2, Bishop 1 Ilse for POT pro SAN 6, Blood Brother:2 3 Henry Taylor cel pre pro POT 6, Brujah antitribu:3 1 Steve Booth CEL pot pre pro 5, Brujah:3 1 Skryta Zyleta obf pot pro CEL 5, Gangrel antitribu:3 1 Tabitha Fisk obt pot pro 4, Lasombra:3 1 Sadie pro 2, Gangrel Antitribu:2 Library: (90 cards) ------------------- Master (18 cards) 5 Blood Doll 2 Celerity 1 Depravity 2 Path of Death and the Soul 2 Potence 2 Protean 1 Secure Haven 1 Shakar 2 Tension in the Ranks Action (12 cards) 10 Bum's Rush 2 Shadow of the Beast Reaction (8 cards) 4 Deflection 4 Wake with Evening's Freshness Combat (41 cards) 2 Adaptability 8 Claws of the Dead 2 Death of My Conscience, The 8 Decapitate 5 Flesh of Marble 8 Immortal Grapple 6 Pursuit 2 Quick Meld Retainer (2 cards) 2 Homunculus Equipment (2 cards) 2 Eye of Hazimel Combo (7 cards) 7 Ritual of the Bitter Rose Smiling Tom" **************** And that's it for March! See you all in April! Address for correspondence: "legbiter"at"talk21"dot"com"