I thought I'd just blog a little about our usual Monday Night playgroup.
Turning up were Paul Azzopardi, 'Sutekh23', Will Allison, James Fynan and myself of course. We also had a pair of Magic: The Fleecing players loitering around and we got a "buyers bite" from them both for next Monday. Woot.
Game 1
Myself (Harbingers Trochomancy)
Sutekh23 (A borrowed Theo Bell & Beast must Smash)
Paul (Malk/!Malk Auspex Bleed w/ stealth)
James (The unnamed + Hordes Bleed-zilla)
Will (A borrowed Martin Frankel says No)
My game was basically neutered, I didn't draw the cards I needed in the order I needed, I overspent on vampires, I didn't get the chance to really land many bleeds... it was just a slow death. Really need to tweak and reconfigure that deck; might post it later for commentary.
Sutekh23 got out Volker, then Theo Adv, then Beast and later Merged Theo. It was fairly brutal and nobody really stood a long-term chance against 2+ rushes per turn with a Tensions on the table and a Carvers Meat Packing & Storage. Lots of Earthshocks, hands for [buttload], Psyche!... you go to sleep now.
Paul's deck looks like it was designed after the Great Archon Investigation of 2006 (?). The Sydney Qualifier for that year's nationals was particularly rife with Powerbleed, Flick and Archon Investigations. On one table there were 5 vampires burned by Archon Investigation, 2 of those happened when a player brought out a vampire, bled for 4+ and was flicked around to his Predator who played the AI. Since then, the Sydney scene has had a lot more Bleed for 3 backed up with Rush or Intercept. This deck looks like a result of that event. Malk/!Malks get Pulse of the Canaille and bleed you for 3 at "LotsaStealth". Very much a by-the-numbers killer.
James has been toying for a while with this Baali deck. Partly he's needing to learn what it needs as much as getting used to how damned knife-edge a Baali deck can be. It's basically "Proper Baali" + Tend the Flock to get Hordes with Maleficia shennanigans. Bleeding with Greater Curses, using Barrenness, Evil Eyes, Psalm of the Damned and some Flames of the Netherworld for combat 'defence'. When he decides to lock'n'load a bleed they can come through at about 7-bleed with 3+ stealth and a Block Fails on top. Unfortunately for James, he tends not to play as aggressively as the deck probably needs to be; it really strikes me as a deck where the defence is... oust prey faster.
Will was using my crazy little Martin Frankel 'superstar' deck. It floats a number of Burst of Sunlight, Nose of the Hound and a lot of Auspex Reduce/Flick. If your predator is giving you issues, little Martin Noses somebody's Hound and then drops Burst of Sunlight sending everyone for a little holiday. You can then try Chantry Martin back out (if you have it) or fetch him the hard way so you can then use Martin to Reduce most bleeds down to sensible levels and back it up with some intercept. The other guys generally get to use the GtUs and the Blood Fury/Blood Rage (it was built at a time when Fortitude Combat was the norm in our playgroup).
James got Will before the Malks got James. Then it was basically a formality because a Rush deck with Red Cards in the tank should always crap over a 3-player table; and it did. Sutekh23 3VP, Paul 1VP, James 1VP.
Game 2
Myself (Guruhi Brutal Influence + Oruns)
Will (Szechenyi's Horrid Balloons, borrowed from me)
Paul (Ravnos miscellaneous shennanigans)
Sutekh23 (For-Pot-Cel Bundis & Pre bleed, borrowed from me)
James (Baali)
My Guruhi Brutal Influence deck is basically a wait and lunge type deck. You regularly make 1 bleeds, push them to 3 if you have the Iron Glares in hand and don't get blocked and if you do get blocked use Carrion Crows + Aid from Bats if you want to punish or Majesty if you want to wimp-out. Then when you have found out if your prey is wide open, smack the SNOT out of them with a Brutal Influence (last night had a Brutal Influence for 12 stick...). It utilises Nana Buruku, Nangila Were and has a support cast of Ngozi, Lumumba, Fish & Batsheva (basic & adv). If you get the right crypt, you'll have Nangila & Nana. Influence out Nana and load her up with Oruns, bring out Nangila and let her suck out blocks (using Rush + Majesty) before bleeding. Bloat out whole minions with BI & Oruns (you can bloat out a 7cap at most) and then when the time is right, BI for as much as you can, throw down an Iron Glare and if you kill toss an Edge of the World in for good measure (+4 pool, if this is the acting guruhi refill them & untap). It took out Will and died in front of the Ravnos.
Will was playing my Szechenyi Deck. It's a wall centred around Szechenyi Mother of Horrors, Corpse Balloons, Auspex/Animalism untap and Kraken's Kiss (it possibly should be DBRs, but I wanted to try bloat blood with Tzims...). Once you get a couple of Corpse Balloons it is nearly impossible to get a (D) action through against the deck. It ousts via Army of Rats and chump bleeds for 1 (+1 with a couple of Changelings). Problem for Will was Paul's Draba and prevent-type combat (with Guns and other Chi shennanigans).
Paul was playing Ravnos Shennanigans. Gabrin dropping Sense Deps, Ravnos bleeding for 2 at 3+ stealth, Drabas getting tossed around, Animalism allies, Dawn Ops and so on. It was moderately toolboxy but still had enough go-forward to make James feel a little pressured.
James was playing his Baali again and got Arishat instead of The Unnamed. It went okay but without the Unnamed's bloat it was spilling pool like crazy. He was considering doing all sorts of crazy stuff backwards, we as a group reminded him of the First Law of VTES: Prey & VP is LEFT. He found some courage part-way through the game and launched at Sutekh23 slamming him for a 5-bleed at the right moment to get the kill. He didn't get as many Tend the Flocks as usual and that hurt his bloat as well.
Sutekh23 had my slightly bizarro Bundi Fortitude Prevent, Forced March untap & Pre bleed Bruise'n'Bleed. It's got Count Germaine and almost everyone else w/ Cel, For, Pre... and Elihu. It could probably do with more Rush realistically... Note to self. He put some pressure on but spent a fair amount of time Enchant Kindred down. Didn't look like he got lots of the Forced Marches and certainly didn't get to unload combat. I didn't really punish him, but I didn't have to worry too much about him either.
End Results: Paul 3VP, James 1VP, Me 1VP
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