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Intro to Deckbuilding

In updating my website, and thanks to a reminder from Nightfall (at Rustwurk), I have taken up the project of updating my Beginner's Guide to Deckbuilding. Feel free to view the old guide to compare, if you like. The original guide was compiled from some even older guides to deckbuilding, and written during the time between the Sabbat and Sabbat War expansions, and left out a lot of detail on the Independent clans, primarily because they were pretty useless. Since the Final Nights expansion, the Independent clans have started to win tournaments with some frequency, in a large part due to some of the new cards that provide options that they were previously lacking. Hopefully, this new version of this guide will provide useful information for both the beginning player, players returning to the game, and maybe a nugget or two of insight for veteran players as well. Most of the discussion will address tournament-style deck construction and play, as that is what rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad tends to focus on. Additionally, as tournament rules and the official rules are merging ever closer together, it becomes less useful to address house rules such as card limits and the like. Except where specifically noted, reference to a Camarilla clan will also include the Antitribu version of the clan. Also, thanks to Peter Bakija for help with the original article and constant inspiration.

There are three "standard" styles to deckbuilding. Generally, beginning players start off with the simplest method, building a deck around a single clan and utilizing all of the clan disciplines (i.e. Ventrue, using Dominate, Fortitude and Presence), or focus on two of the clan disciplines (i.e. Brujah Celerity & Potence or Malkavian Obfuscate & Dominate). By far the best place to find clan-based decks is The Lasombra's Clan Pages.

After clan-based decks, the next most common decks attempt to combine two or more disciplines, while recruiting the most useful and efficient vampires for the deck. Some fairly classic examples of this are the Thaumaturgy and Celerity deck, focusing on Anvil, Thomas Thorne, Parnassus, and others; another good example would be the long sought-after (working) Potence & Protean deck.

As an aside, There are a few crypt tools available on the net which can allow you to select the smallest vampires possible with the disciplines you are interested in, or by other criteria; as well, you could construct your own database. (Of the choices, I prefer Ethan Burrow's Crypt Monger -- mainly because it has the full text of all the vampires and an intuitive interface. Other options include Tobias' Discipline Calculator, and Jukka Lindstrom's Self-Organizing Map.) Additionally, if you prefer to do this sort of work offline, you can download ELDB, which can also keep an inventory of your cards.

The final common method of deckbuilding is building a deck around a "theme". What a theme is varies widely between players, but it can be something as common as "European Brujah", or something a little more obscure, such as a deck built around all the vampires with art by a certain artist, or an all-female vampire deck. Other possible "themes" include specific tricks (generally referred to as one-trick-pony decks) like The Combo, which revolves around Baron Samedi burning and getting Possessed again and again, or a deck built around Ambrosius, The Ferryman and Talbot's Chainsaw.

Another major consideration in building your deck is whether you plan to prepare for all concievable options, or if you plan to focus your deck on one particular aspect and leave a hole in your defenses, hoping that no one will exploit it. There is no evidence one way or the other which is better, but many players (especially newer ones) feel more comfortable trying to prepare for every outcome. This is generally referred to as a "toolbox" style of deckbuilding. Aiming your deck at one specific tactic is usually called building a "focused" deck. Generally speaking, Rob Treasure builds excellent toolbox decks, and Peter Bakija builds focused decks, but both are highly skilled and respected players.

The first consideration in building a deck (after you have figured out what sort of deck you plan to build) is to determine what strategy you plan to oust your prey with. Although a fair amount of decks rely on other methods to hassle their prey, the three major tactics in V:tES are Bleed, Vote, and Combat. There are a few major sub-types of each, and many more variations available than there is space to list. No tactic is inherently more valid or likely to win than any other (assuming you play the game as intended by the designers, without card limits; if you care to read more about why card limits are unnecessary in V:tES, see Mark Langsdorf's superb page), though in general, Bleed is the most efficient method of ousting your prey. Certain disciplines lend themseleves to one tactic or another, thus influencing which vampires will make up your crypt. Dominate and Presence are the best disciplines for bleeding when paired with another discipline or gimmick to ensure that the bleeds go through. Celerity, Potence, Protean, and Fortitude are largely combat disciplines. Vote decks are generally based around Presence, as each Methuselah can only play one vote card to support a vote during a political action.

Each of the tactics (as mentioned) has a number of standard sub-types. These will be briefly listed, along with the most common versions.

Bleed

Stealth & Bleed: The ubiquitous Malkavian Obfuscate & Dominate bleed deck is the primary example of this. Throw in a lot of bleed, some stealth, and many bleed modifiers. Largely tries to avoid combat. Short, brutish, and nasty. Dementation or Presence can substitute for Dominate, and add more combat defense. Stealth & Bleed can be incredibly hampered if the prey stops trying to block, and the bleeder gets a hand full of stealth (known as "hand-jam"). Most Stealth & Bleed decks are also highly susceptible to Rush combat.

Bruise & Bleed: Most frequently represented by a simple Brujah clan-based deck, using Presence to bleed, and beating up anyone unfortunate enough to block them. Obviously quite at home with combat. This style can often get into a similar hand-jam situation as Stealth & Bleed if the prey doesn't end up blocking, thereby not allowing the Bruise & Bleed-er to use up the combat cards in their hand. This deck can be incredibly useful as a tool to get people out of the habit of reflexively blocking every single action.

Tap & Bleed: Generally, this is Toreador, Ventrue, or Giovanni using Presence or Necromancy to tap out their prey's minions, and then pushing through one or two big bleeds. The Dominate card Seduction is also used at times. Generally tries to avoid combat, but Giovanni versions have some potential for destroying opposing minions. The Toreador and Ventrue versions frequently have good vote defense available. In many ways, this deck archetype is more robust than a standard Stealth & Bleed deck, simply because it has more options when it comes to combat defense, and it doesn't need to waste as many cards getting by its prey's minions. This deck will run into trouble against decks with copious amounts of untap, though.

Weenie Bleed: Get a pile of cheap minions out and start bleeding. Continue to churn out the minions. Ignore your losses and keep moving. This deck (and variants) is quick, dirty, and will not win you many friends. The typical versions are based around Computer Hacking or Presence bleed actions or Dominate bleed actions. In tournament situations, this style of deck can do well, but many times will simply oust its prey and then get destroyed by the rest of the table that has had a chance to prepare.

Vote

Straight Presence Vote: The most dedicated version of a vote deck, this is based around small-to-mid-capacity minions with presence (from any clan). Some combat defense in the form of S:CE (Strike: Combat Ends), and uses hostile votes (Kine Resources Contested, Conservative Agitation, Domain Challenge) to oust its prey. The deck does not fare well against reliable +1 intercept.

Titled vote: Ventrue and Toreador provide typical examples of titled vote decks. As with most Toreador and Ventrue decks, they run into trouble against intercept, but have more space available to devote to other cards since they have ready access to titles and do not need to add many action modifiers to the mix. This sort of deck can also usually gain alot of pool with Minion Tap and 5th Tradition, but has to watch out that it doesn't slow the game down unnecessarily by not doing enough to oust its prey.

Stealth Vote: Nosferatu, Followers of Set, and the Lasombra are all examples of clans that can reliably gain enough stealth and enough votes (through titles or the use of Presence) to pass said votes. Each variant has its own methods of combat defense and pool gain, but again, they all rely on hostile votes to oust their prey. With access to Forgotten Labyrinth and Elder Impersonation, the Nosferatu and Followers of Set generally have to devote less space to stealth than other clans might.

Weenie Vote: This archetype has been rendered much less effective since the days when vote pushing was legal, but it can still work at times, simply by virtue of being able to take the first action or two, gain the Edge, and pass a Praxis Seizure or Crusade. Once again, it uses hostile votes to oust its prey (and sometimes Anarch Revolts), and tries to ignore losses due to combat.

Combat

Rush Combat: Generally uses Brujah, Nosferatu, or sometimes Lasombra, Assamites, or Gangrel. The primary method of ousting prey is to put their minions in torpor (or burn them) and make them spend more on further minions. This is not as direct as other methods of ousting, but can cause quite a stir in a group unprepared for it. By using directed "get-into-combat" actions it can defend against hostile voters or bleeders. Rush decks must be totally focused and incredibly consistent to work well, so there is little room for bleed, intercept, untap, or votes. This style is not for the faint of heart.

Intercept Combat: This is most frequently Tzimisce or Tremere (and more frequently, Ravnos) using effective combat to shut down their prey. Somewhat less reliable than Rush, due to relying on intercepting the actions of other minions, rather than actively seeking combat. A common failing of this type of deck is not being able to do much if their prey simply bleeds forward. Large amounts of Eagle's Sight (or its equivalent) are often required. Another problem arises due to needing intercept cards in addition to the combat cards to deal with the opposing minion.

Defenses

As mentioned, none of these strategies is inherently dominant of the game. Thus, there are basic defenses to consider when building every deck. In general, most combat decks already have their defense against Vote and Bleed decks decided...either attack the minions before they can hurt you, or intercept their actions. Other decks have more choices.

Against bleeding, there are a few defenses aside from destroying all of the bleeder's minions. The most effective is known as Bleed Bounce. By using cards like Deflection, Redirection, and Telepathic Misdirection, a predator's bleeds are redirected (generally to the original victim's prey). This will frequently put a Bleed deck in a deep, deep hole, as the deck is not only failing to affect its prey, but it is actually helping the prey come closer to ousting his own prey. Intercepting bleeds is a valid tactic, but can often be harder to pull off than any other method (you must have enough minions available or enough Wakes as well as enough intercept if there is any stealth). Finally, bleeding can be ignored by either gaining more pool than is removed, or by racing the bleeder to oust your own prey.

Voting defense usually involves either intercepting the votes, or countering with enough votes to make the referendum fail (Debate). Again, the tactic you use will likely depend on what your deck concept is. If you're already building a vote deck, Debate is probably the most convenient defense. Some bleed decks go with Debate as well, using Presence or Dominate to influence the voting. Others can manage to intercept the votes, and then either hope to get out of combat unscathed, or hurt the opposing vampire as they are able. Another common defense against vote decks is to simply pack many Delaying Tactics.

Combat defense is usually categorized as Avoidance, Survival, or Fighting Back. Avoidance consists of using Strike: Combat Ends to end combat (generally Presence-based), or cards that stop combat utterly (Living Manse; Mariel, Lady Thunder; Obedience; etc.). Survival is dodging the opposing minion's strikes or preventing the damage (usually with Fortitude). Fighting Back is, obviously, beating up the opposing minion so severely that opponents do not want to be in combat with you again. Good disciplines to use for Fight Back are Potence and Protean.

Deckbuilding

Crypt selection depends on your concept, as a Weenie Bleed deck will not work if you select vampires that are all 8, 9, or 10 capacity. As well, it is common for most decks that do not rely on titles for voting power or defense to try to find the smallest available vampires with acceptable levels of the required disciplines. Many rush decks strive for an average crypt size of 3 to 4. Minimum crypt size, as you probably know, is 12 vampires. There is no restriction against multiple copies, though having a crypt consisting of 12 or more copies of one vampire is really the stuff of theme decks (and only very rare ones at that). Whether or not you decide to have vampires that have all of the disciplines your deck is structured around, or if you choose to accept some shortcomings in the discipline selection due to the other abilities that those vampires possess is one of the most critical crypt choices. You can compensate for somewhat less than ideal disciplines with Master: Discipline cards, but the abilities cannot frequently be duplicated. Whether or not the abilities make up for what might be seen as lost efficiency is completely up to you.

Libraries are allowed (in tournament play) to be between 60 and 90 cards. Some decks need as many cards as they are allowed to have; the most typical example of this is the Rush Combat deck, which will run out of steam as soon as it runs out of cards. Other decks can continue on without much card support, especially decks with lots of minions (such as a Weenie Swarm Bleed deck) or useful permanents in play (perhaps a Tzimisce Intercept deck). Ideally, you should have just used up all of your cards as you win the game, but this does not frequently happen in practice. If your deck only needs 70 cards, do not feel obliged to make it 90 "just in case". If you have just the right amount of cards for your deck, your cardflow will be better, and you will less frequently experience handjam. Finding the right amount of cards for a deck takes time, though, and I personally have trouble cutting any of my decks below 90 cards. (Out of about 12 currently built decks at the time of writing, I believe that 1 is at 80 cards or less.)

Libraries, on average, contain between 10-20% master cards, with 15% being fairly standard. There is an ongoing debate about the right number to include, with many groups reporting that most games rarely last beyond 12 turns, so you should plan your master phase actions accordingly. In general, Short Term Investment, Protracted Investment, and Secret Horde (and other master cards that take up future master phase actions) should be avoided, unless you specifically plan for them (possibly by making use of Rumors of Gehenna or The Parthenon). You should be very careful about the proportions of each card that is placed in a deck, though...too much of the wrong thing can leave you with nothing in your hand to use at exactly the wrong time. The ability to gain more pool is important to most decks, and should be considered when constructing the deck as well. Typically, pool gain involves master cards, votes, or possessing the Edge over multiple turns, and is likely to be a problem for many newly-constructed decks.

Summarization

As a quick summary, I'll try to organize the single-clan decks and their major variants as they relate to the archetypes and the typical spread of clan disciplines. (!Clan means the Antitribu (or Sabbat) version of that clan, and will only be noted where different from the main clan. Bloodlines will be mentioned as appropriate.)

Bleed

Stealth & Bleed:
Followers of Set, Kiasyd, Lasombra, Malkavian, !Malkavian

Bruise & Bleed:
Brujah, Giovanni, Lasombra, !Toreador, Tremere

Tap & Bleed:
Giovanni, Toreador, Ventrue

Vote

Titled Vote:
Lasombra, Toreador, Ventrue

Presence Vote:
Daughters of Cacophany, Followers of Set, Toreador, Ventrue

Stealth Vote:
Followers of Set, Lasombra, Nosferatu

Combat

Rush Combat:
Assamite, Blood Brothers, Brujah, Gangrel, Nosferatu

Intercept Combat:
Ahrimanes, Ravnos, !Salubri, Tremere, Tzimisce

Other clans or bloodlines not listed do not have a particular style that complements their in-clan disciplines well. They are by no means useless, but it takes more work to find something that they do well. Beyond all of this, much of what you need to know as a starting player can be found at the official V:EKN web site run by White Wolf.