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Divine Sign: the Giovanni Newsletter |
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CONTENUTO
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0. What the f***?
I. Edition's Quote
II. New Cousins
III. New Assets
IV. Bitch's Last Words
0. CHE CAZZO?
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Other Giovanni newsletter... Again? That soon? I was planning on first using thoroughly the new cards released in Kindred Most Wanted before writing about them, so to avoid harsh first impressions... But after a good talk with this newsletters' *Consiliere*, it was inevitable to do a quick, dirty "what's up?" edition to contend with what was introduced for Necromancy and the clan itself. That said, most Giovanni players out there should be careful before considering any idea on what to do with those cards. Some obvious uses could've been overlooked, for instance. After extensive copy+paste to publish the spoiler list for the V:TES Brasil site, I doubt most details of these cards' texts could have escaped attention, though. Last but not least, I do not share with Orpheus the exact same opinions about some of the new cards, which seems reason enough to do a special edition instead of just pointing out his comments published in the Necrosite. Again, have you browsed through it yet? If you want to play Giovanni, you better do: http://necrobones.free.fr.
That said, let's go straight to the point. If you liked the *mafioso* overall tone of this newsletter's last edition, don't panic (or should I say be relieved?): it'll be back next month. How could I ditch out the best part of writing it?
I. CITAZIONE DELL'EDIZIONE
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"Happiness is an angel with a serious face." Amedeo Modigliani, famous italian artist
II. NUOVI CUGINI
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In bland, no-nonsense alphabetical order:
Almodo Giovanni (grupo 4)
Giovanni (Uncommon)
Capacity: 3
[dom] [pot]
Independent.
- No new tale to tell, but a good addition to bruise n' bleed decks based on group pair 3/4. I won't dabble on perceived "suckiness" to that strategy, since it is still somewhat popular anyway. Note that Almodo is (or already was?) a very good candidate to be Proxy Kissed. You can influence him out in one turn, which is paramount for using this card wisely (no hand jam, please!), and he goes [POT] [for] at 4 capacity - sort of a Lorrie Dunsirn with no special text. Nice enough.
Ambrogino Giovanni ADV (grupo 2)
Giovanni (Uncommon)
Capacity: 9
DOM NEC POT THA aus
Independent, Red List: During your untap phase, Ambrogino may remove 7 cards in your ash heap from the game to gain 2 blood. +1 bleed. [Merge] +1 stealth.
- Getting Red List status seems to be something frightening at first, but let's try to get it straight. Every minion with built-in +bleed or +stealth is already a target from the get go, or should be. Of course that does not mean you would want to ease things for rushers, but if you didn't include a good combat defense module or some Secure Haven for your cheesy bleeder, being Red List is not the major reason for your doom. So forget about and use Ambrogino Giovanni ADV as he was meant to be used: merged. Permanent 3 bleed at 1 stealth (not to mention 1 vote!) is too tempting to pass by, specially when considering the multitude of options he already had as a skillful sorcerer: Rutor's Hand, Wind Dance, Apportation to avoid grapples and such. There are even a couple of disciplineless cards that provide maneuvers in Kindred Most Wanted. Or you can save combat card slots by slapping him Proxy Kissed; add a Rutor's Hand and he's able to act, untap and command rushers below 10-cap for Obedience. I see Ambrogino as one of the easiest Red Listers to defend. Just don't bother about Priority Shift since it's too specific a card (meaning you'll need multiple copies and good cycling ability to get the card as soon as possible without hassle) and requires Regina to be played in an all-out Giovanni crypt. Maybe if he teams up with other Red Listers and some titled midcaps... His ability to gain blood introduces a new insight on what necromancy/Giovannis can do in V:tES. It is nice to see the Giovanni not only fetching resources back, but also burning them until they're gone for good as fodder for more blood or +bleed (see Dis Pater below). The bad side of using his ADV version alone is risking Red List status to implode on you and thereby commiting many slots for defense - good when you have a astonishing vampire with permableed and permastealth, but too much work for just a couple of blood here and there. But it's thematically appropriate nonetheless, and you shouldn't worry to see an empty Ambrogino being torporized by a random weenie just because you don't have some defense in hand at the wrong moment.
Benedict Giovanni, Agent (grupo 4)
Giovanni (Uncommon)
Capacity: 6
[FOR] [POT] [cel] [dom] [nec]
Independent: During your untap phase, any Giovanni older than the oldest ready Giovanni you control can burn 1 blood to take control of Benedict. Benedict cannot block undirected actions.
- A tough guy to join Ignazio and Baldesar and consolidate the "let's bash them" angle given to group pair 3/4 Giovanni. The best part of him is getting one extra discipline for two easily ignored disadvantages. The restriction on blocking is not a big issue since none of his disciplines grant immediate access to intercept unless he goes anarch - most undirected actions are at +1 stealth anyway. And for that matter, why one would influence him out if not for attempting actions, since he's such a good (multi)rusher? Benedict is also a good anarch, completely ready to use The Mole, Friend of Mine and Diversion for at least two different effects each. If you do worry about other Giovanni players showing up, just influence out Ignazio first and you'll keep Benedict under your nose in almost all games since only 4 *cuginos* are able to steal him from Ignazio's grasp. Maybe a highly focused Corruption deck or a Clan Impersonated elder could raise your chances of losing Benedict, but they're easier to control if you've built a good rush module. If you're TOO much worried, give the Proxy Kiss or some skill card to Ignazio and only uncle Auggie would have some say in the matter. Who would've thought of that?
Carmine Giovanni (grupo 4)
Giovanni (Uncommon)
Capacity: 10
[DOM] [NEC] [POT] [PRO] [ani] [pre]
Independent: Carmine has 2 votes (titled). Whenever a wraith enters play, that wraith gains 1 additional life from the blood bank. Carmine may tap to give an acting ally +1 stealth.
- A decent addition, if not an outright incentive to play big caps in itself. The main reason to play Carmine is provided, of course, by his own card text. If you're not into wraith allies decks, it's difficult to recommend Carmine over Ignazio or even Baldesar, but let's try: Carmine is one of the three Giovanni in groups 3 and 4 to have [pre], and he also has a title. He's able to call a Distant Friend, for instance, which helps a lot since the clan is still not that solid at voting, just a little better. About the wraith-related ability... Brigitte Gebauer with 4 life is neat, specially considering her burn-life-if-action-fails problem. Ambrosius with 3 life gets even more difficult to kill. Come to think of it: now the ferrymen can survive against a handful of situations, like +1 strength minions with [pro], Femur of Toomler and Khali's Fang users (additional strikes and presses aside, of course), Blow Torch or Sengir Dagger with Lucky Blow, Ivory Bow with Pursuit and many others. Not impressive, but not bad also. Even the Masquer employed at [nec] requires an Ivory Bow user to generate additionals if he wants to get rid of the poor wraith. Tapping a big cap to give +1 stealth to an ally sounds too much of a cost, but note that he has [PRO], so there are some pretty nice uses for this. Homunculus helps a lot. But is it worth the setup? I think so. No matter how better it seems to just use Shroud Mastery, +1 stealth is not enough sometimes - that's not even considering how intercept had a good boost in recent expansions, KMW included. So think about using Carmine's special *and* Shroud Mastery: getting the Puppeteer to steal weenies at 2 stealth or Felix to destroy locations at 3 stealth is neat, and compensating Carmine's blood losses for multiple untaps is not that difficult with the good old Giovanni master Acquired Ventrue Assets. Let's not forget that [PRO] alone opens a lot of options. Chill of Oblivion and Flesh of Marble go a long way on protecting Carmine from harm and it's way easier to pull off (if a little too card-intensive) than the "you don't hit me!" combo with Ex Nihilo. It also means access to the best S:CE card available: Earth Meld. The usefulness of this discipline in proactive combat need not to be reassured, specially combined with Potence, and Dead Hand just makes it better. And what's to say on getting actions through? From Earth Control to Form of Mist combined with old necromancy staples and Seduction, Carmine can achieve obscene amounts of stealth and tapping/block fails ability. He can even use Approximation of Loyalty! It's a pity he doesn't know any other [nec]/[pro] users yet, but that's what Sanguine Instruction is for.
Cristobal Ghiberti (grupo 4)
Giovanni (Uncommon)
Capacity: 2
[nec]
Independent.
- As this newsletter's *Consiliere* pointed out in the Necrosite, Cristobal is the smallest necromancer in the game to date. But what good is this? First, in an anarch crypt, he's the cheapest Gear-grabber one can find - and you can use him to Jar the opponents' Souls immediately after retrieving it. As Almodo, he's a good candidate for the Proxy Kiss, though not an impressive one; as such he can Dead Hand, prevent and Disarm, something Proxy Kissed Almodo can't, for instance. Otherwise he seems to be just another crypt-filler for focused necromancy decks, something we need for this grouping pair anyway. A thematical note: the Ghiberti are the only Giovanni mortal family to bear some presence in Africa. Does it have something to be with next expansion, Legacies of Blood? Time will tell.
Don Michael Antonio Giovanni (grupo 4)
Giovanni (Uncommon)
Capacity: 7
[DOM] [NEC] [POT]
Independent: Michael has 2 votes (titled). He cannot strike to end combat and cannot use presses to end combat. He gets +1 strength on any combat round after the first.
- The smallest titled Giovanni released to date, Don Michael seems like a dream coming true; a 7-cap with all in-clan disciplines at superior and 2 votes. That's until you read his text. But it just means that he's not suited for no-brainer inclusion on any random voting deck. After all, he's a Don, right? Put him to bash blockers and rushers! Escaping combat is a shame! Being the smallest group 4 vampire to bear [NEC] and [POT], he could lead an army of Proxy Kissed midcaps/weenies bashers. Include Rafaela Giovanni and some copies of Distant Friend and you can even generate/cancel enough votes to save your weenies' unlives if they feel the need for diablerie. He gets better if you can generate some presses, an easy thing for [POT]. If you're too bound on the vote/combat defense angle, you'll need some Secure Haven or skill cards to take full advantage of Obedience, but it's also a matter of metagaming. If you don't see that many rushers, he's worth a try; blocking him when calling a vote should not be that easy anyway considering his [DOM] [NEC] prowess. Carmine, Raphaela and Donatello could help with titles and/or [pre] if the need arises. And depending on what type of combat you'll face, note that Don Michael's disadvantage does not restrict him from dodging; some disciplineless maneuvers, like High Ground and Backstep, combined with Absorb the Mind and Backflip could suffice. As a side note, it's curious how an hypotethical Don Michael without his specials wouldn't be underpriced, but since we've already seen a 6-cap Ventrue Prince and a 7-cap Caitiff Prince with disadvantages in both, it seems that titles are meant to be hard to get in group 4. Don Michael is fine.
Lorrie Dunsirn (grupo 4)
Abomination (Uncommon)
Capacity: 4
[POT] [for] [nec]
Independent: Lorrie cannot play reaction cards, have equipment or retainers, maneuver to long, or press to end. She gets an additional strike each round and a press each combat. Non-hunt actions cost her an additional pool. +1 strength. Scarce. Sterile.
- What, didn't you notice that she's a Giovanni? She has two in-clan disciplines and the remaining one is well-spread in her grouping pair. Of course she's got the longest set of restrictions any vampire ever had in this game, but if you want +1 strength, built-in additional and press, all this in a [POT] [for] damn tough 4-cap, it strikes as fair game. Lorrie alone is a disincentive for any predator to bleed unless he has stealth or block-failing effects. Using her as a blocker, you also save pool. She cannot play reaction cards or get Bikes, but she's free to receive extra intercept from any media location available. With her extra combat abilities and [for], you shouldn't have any desire to maneuver to long - if you find yourself in that situation, something must be wrong from deckbuilding, a few special situations aside (like an opponent with Rowan Ring or access to Coma/Entombment/Blood Fury). The same applies for pressing to end. If you *do* plan on acting with her, it's recommended to pack a good poolgain module, which just make the Giovanni even more suitable as her companions. How better poolgain/poolsaving you can get other than Govern the Unaligned? How better can you get in defending your precious pool than using Deflection? Ignazio, Baldesar and Benedict could use this little fella well, the first two completely ready to Govern down as much as you need. Not to mention the old, non-threatening Blood Doll/Morgue HG/Acquired Ventrue Assets joy of steady incoming pool. If you somehow want to use her with [nec] weenies, you *do* have a problem to solve, but maybe you can sort something out of Summon Souls, Tower of London and Blood Dolls to keep her acting. Do it at your own risk, though.
Raphaela Giovanni (grupo 4)
Giovanni (Uncommon)
Capacity: 6
[DOM] [NEC] [pot] [pre]
Independent.
- Isabel's older sister just a little more charming, Raphaela seems to be nothing more than another crypt-filler, but look at her again. She has [pre], and that's enough. Again, she's able to call Distant Friends alongside Donatello and Carmine. She's a 6-cap, and like Donatello, is meant to become a Baron in an anarch deck, not to mention being able to get double benefit from Gear Up. Both can defend their titles well with [DOM]. Of course, Raphaela can do everything Isabel could (even drink from severed heads, you'd ask?), so we need not to emphasize how good she is at bleeding.
III. NUOVI BENEFICI
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This section includes new Necromancy cards, the new clan Masters and Actions and a few other disciplineless or dual discipline cards that could be of use to the clan.
# First, Necromancy stuff:
Breath of Thanatos
Action Modifier / Combat (Common)
Necromancy
Cost: 1 blood
[nec] +2 stealth. Only usable on an action to employ or to recruit a wraith.
[NEC] Strike: 1 aggravated damage.
- Two very different effects for the same card, which means variety. The inferior version speaks for itself. Any wraith-based deck will use this card in multiples. Getting a total of 3 stealth when recruiting Brigitte, Felix or Ambrosius - actions that most players would like to block if they can - helps a lot. It makes a nice combo with Shroud Mastery at superior, increasing dramatically your chances of untapping. It is another card that can have its cost reduced with the Path of Bone, and given how necromancy has gained some intercept lately, maybe we'll see the Path actually being played and defended. About employing poor Masquer... With the Path in play, getting some "permacept" with 3 stealth for a total cost of 1 blood sounds nice, and I can see even some sort of Puppeteer deck based on Carmine and this card showing up; could be a fun idea if you're too worried about weenie decks blocking your way. The beauty of this card is how you need not to worry about extra copies you draw after you've already recruited the wraiths you wanted to. Striking for 1 aggravated damage helps in getting rid of those pesky S:CE, dodges or prevention cards around, provided you can pack some Potence to bash opponents when they're unprepared. Otherwise it can be cycled in any given combat where you don't fear hitback. Note, however, that this strike provided at superior is not strenght-based, which means you can't play it under grapples; you can circumvent this by using Disengage ot Groundfighting to cancel a given opponent's grasp, but since it will cost you blood and can be easily dodged or prevented, I see the superior version alone more suitable for some sort of Necro-Rotschreck wall deck. Most players will take some time to remember that being blocked by a skilled necromancer now means that they *risk* going to torpor, no matter how many blood they have. This strike is also not ranged, but we'll adress some new disciplineless maneuvers available below.
Dead Hand
Combat (Common)
Necromancy
[nec] Strike: make a hand strike at +1 damage.
[NEC] As above, and the damage from this strike cannot be prevented by cards that require Fortitude.
- Necromancy has never been that good in proactive combat, but since it had a free S:CE card, nobody seemed to be that worried about that. The issue is clearly being adressed now. From Chill of Oblivion's protection from aggropoke to Breath of Thanatos' easier source of aggropoke itself, now the Giovanni necromancers can do something to make your prey's blocking attempts less likely. Dead Hand provides even more disincentive for them in that regard. [POT] [NEC] becomes a scary thing for Fortitude-lovers, and given how groups 3 and 4 provide a good splash of Fortitude (and the ever-present Proxy Kissed possibilities), you can use prevention yourself. The "Dead Hand Disarms You" combo has already been suggested, but you can always try other things. I won't restrain myself to obvious choices - like how good it is to deal a lot of not-easily-preventable damage when you already have Potence. Basically, Dead Hand is also good in any strategy where you plan to strip opponents out of blood by dealing more damage than you'll suffer yourself. Benedict (or any Proxy Kissed clanmate who reaches [FOR]) can combine it with some all-strikes-this-round prevention to Pull the opponents' Fangs. If you can generate presses, the better (isn't Mob Connections too thematically appropriate to ignore?): slap some Mercy for Seth to make the poor fang-lacking vampire more miserable. It's always good to give opponents some non-expected actions to take, specially when you couldn't send them to torpor in the first place.
Lifeless Tongues
Action (Rare)
Necromancy
+1 stealth action.
[nec] (D) Remove a vampire in any Methuselah's ash heap from the game and give this card to that Methuselah.
During this acting vampire's untap phase, this acting vampire's controller may look at the hand of the Methuselah with this card. Any minion may burn this card as a +1 stealth action.
[NEC] As above, but during any untap phase.
- This is some of these cards that one could easily overlook, and for good reasons. It has a sometimes useful effect that requires too much setup to actually work, which always strikes players as weak enough to consider inclusion in any deck, but let's try. First, this is not a card to be used in proactive decks unless... 1, you just want to look your prey's hand once; 2, you are capable of burning/diablerizing minions; 3, you have easy access to [NEC]. In that regard, Lifeless Tongues becomes pretty much like a delayed Revelations at inferior that does not cost blood and does not provide the chance to discard a card you don't want to face. Combined with Le Dihn Tho, this is nothing to sneeze at as long as you have a few slots to spare. The difficult part is obviously burning minions, but Ambrogino ADV and a few Rebirths could take care of that. On the other hand, you can try to put this in a "necrowall" deck. Spectral Divination's flexibilty becomes paramount in saving card slots in this case, since you can intercept opponents and send him to torpor with Breath of Thanatos or Dead Hand + Disarm, or use the stealth to pass Lifeless Tongues at the right moment. Again, the difficult part is being able to burn or diablerize torporized minions when you're a wall deck. It strikes me as easier to use with the Harbingers, specially if you're going for Unre, Gisela Harden and Anisa Marianna Lopez. You can always try some Cardinal Benedictions for Anisa and achieve enough votes to block and play Breath of Thanatos + Amaranth safely; call Lifeless Tongues next and watch your prey beg for help from cross table allies if he does not have a good amount of stealth or block-failing cards. You can simply use Anisa to burn weenies - provided your prey has them - and put Lifeless Tongues in play, which seems to be a little sketchy (Uriah Winter combos aside). Even if this card still strikes you as too much difficult to actually use, remember that it has some cornercase side benefits when it comes in play besides allowing you to spy on other player's cards. First, you'll force your prey to waste actions he didn't planned on taking - maybe you can combine it with Pulled Fangs (see above) or Seeds of Corruption? There are plenty of [nec]/[tha] users out there. Second, it removes a burned vampire from the game, so other Necromancy users cannot Possess it back, Daemonically or not. Third, you can always use Lifeless Tongues as part of a bargain, specially if a cross-table ally playing intercept wants to force his prey to attempt undirected actions (again, he or she should've been able to burn some of his prey's minions, but still...). Fourth and most cornercase possibility is removing a cross-table ally's burned vampires to avoid his predator's Yong-Sun ADV getting inherent +bleed. Of course, you can use *base* Yong-Sun yourself to burn crypt cards and get some mileage from Lifeless Tongues. Yong-Sun can team with Ambrogino for [aus]/[POT]/[THA] or even with the Harbingers if the need arises, though I'd say that is too big a crypt to handle - so be prepared and pack extra Forced Awakenings and a good poolgain/bounce module.
Mercy for Seth
Combat (Common)
Necromancy
Cost: 1 blood
[nec] Strike: put this card on the opposing minion. If this minion is a mortal, he or she is burned. During his or her untap phase, the minion with this card takes 1 unpreventable damage. The minion with this card may burn it as a +1 stealth action.
[NEC] As above, and this strike inflicts 1 damage as well.
- This is another card not to be left aside based on first impressions, like Lifeless Tongues. Most people can overlook the fact that Necromancy had a recent boost in its capacity to provide intercept, and how easier it is now for the necromancers to Pull other's Fangs. Mercy for Seth combos nicely with Divine Sign; place the latter in minion X, untap and wait for him to try to remove it (or just use the granted +2 intercept at the right moment) and slap the former in his or her face. If you had managed to deal more damage than him or her did, place a Pulled Fangs just to make sure his minions will be occupied for some time. Since the card requires some blocking abilities to stay around for at least a few turns, maybe it's better to include some of them in a Harbingers wall deck. Breath of Thanatos and access to Auspex also help. Otherwise Mercy for Seth is neat defensive tech to use sparingly on a predator's dabbling minion. At the worst you'll force that minion to waste an action (one less big bleed?) unless his or her controller has some good blood-gaining tech; even in these cases, a smart player won't risk Mercy of Seth's continuing pressure - it is unpreventable damage every untap phase, after all. The worst part of Mercy for Seth is placing it at all. Of course, blocking strategies again benefit the most since you're supposed to wait for the opponent to strike and then choose yours. You could end up standing there with the card in your hand for too long, but at least you didn't lose a blood and a strike for nothing. Other option to counter dodge or S:CE is to include the expensive Thoughts Betrayed, which I personally don't recommend. To add up, Mercy for Seth can't be played under a grapple, won't be effective at long range, so everything *really* leads to using it when blocking. The upsides: it is effective against combat defense based on prevention, it burns mortal allies, and has a good chance to send to torpor a minion caught while hunting. Funny and very unlikely scenario: Kherebutu or Akhenaten using Mercy for Seth to kill a Kyasid playing the Grandest Trick... (if the Kyasid player is distracted enough to notice he CAN be blocked by them... who knows?)
# Now, the Giovanni cards:
Dis Pater
Master (Rare)
Giovanni
Unique master.
Put this card in play. Once each action, when a Giovanni you control successfully bleeds your prey, you may remove seven cards in your ash heap from the game to give that action +1 bleed.
- This is as good as it gets. It can help any Giovanni deck, but I find it to be better in any strategy that implies constant card flow and do not rely heavily on dominate bleed to win. It is a sure choice if you're playing [pot]/[for] rush weenies/midcaps (via Proxy Kissed or not): you cycle a handful of cards per combat and voila, burn them to get +1 bleed with the remaining minions. You also may want to save your copies of Dis Pater for other deck if you're playing some sort of card recursion, of course, unless you like to feel nervous on what to ditch out to get that extra bleed. But otherwise it saves card slots to bruise n' bleed decks. It is the one of the few forms of permableed that the Giovanni can get, other than a couple of vampire's specials and the disciplineless retainers. And it's not a location. You can use it when the bleed was already successful, much like Spying Mission's superior. And it's free! It also has a side benefit: you can negate other players the chance to get or benefit from certain cards you've already used by removing them from your ash heap. This includes Kiss of Lachesis, the Ercyies Fragments, the Holds, Yong-Sun and Filchware's Pawn Shop, not to mention new ones like Victim of Habit. You can even combine it with Ambrogino ADV if you're really THAT worried about other players messing with your precious burned resources. All in all, certainly the best card the clan got from KMW, which is kinda thematically appropriate since Dis Pater (or Father Wealth) is a powerful entity who serves as some sort of "patron saint" for the clan, and it is one of a selected few wraithly entities our uncle Auggie *really* respects.
Glass Walker Pact
Unique Master (Rare)
Giovanni
Cost: 2 pool
Unique master. Put this card in play. During your untap phase, you may burn the top card of your library to move a blood from any ready tapped vampire to a ready Giovanni. If the card you burned is a master card, burn this card as well. Burn this card if another Methuselah controls a werewolf.
- This is another one of those cards that need careful planning. To start, I won't be using it for a while since I know there's a good chance of seeing more werewolves in play; I *know* my colleagues are going to freak out over the new three allies released, not to mention Black Spiral Buddy's reprinting. Second, it needs a very trim master module if you want to get some benefit in the end, and Proxy Kissed strikes me as a card to use in multiples to be effective so the two won't match well. I'll try Proxy Kissed first. That said, it's not that difficult to use it. There are plenty of strategies that aim at stripping blood off minions, and this card fits nicely. One can use it in some sort of Free States Rant deck featuring the new Giovanni with [pre]. Or you can go for an anarch crypt with some Giovanni and use Gear Up or Carlotta to fetch it back once it's burned, or Pochtli to return the burned cards to your library. In any event, the best use to this is determined by your own perception. Without direct experience, I'd say that you should not try to steal a blood every turn unless you build some reliable way to see which card is going to be on top. Maybe the Nosferatu Tusk the Talebearer combined with Carlotta and Pochtli for [pot]/[obf]? Could that result in a reasonable anarch deck? Who knows. No matter how hard it seems for Glass Walker Pact to be used for good profit, I'm sure someone will find it to be helpful without too much setup. If you do so, please feel free to e-mail me and share your experience. Certainly I'll be glad to publish new ideas... In the meantime, I'll wait for the "werewolf fever" to pass and then try something with Tusk the *Anarch* Talebearer.
Proxy Kissed
Master (Common)
Giovanni
Master: out-of-turn.
Put this card on a Giovanni when you move that Giovanni from your uncontrolled region to your ready region during your influence phase. This Giovanni gains one level of Potence and one level of Fortitude. His or her capacity is increased by 1. Move 1 blood from the blood bank to this Giovanni.
- Did you notice how many times Proxy Kissed was mentioned in this newsletter? The reasons are obvious; who wouldn't like to turn [pot] minions into [POT] [for] with an extra blood? Or even turn Vittorio in a fearful Don? That said, notice that Proxy Kissed is not a card to be used as a no-brainer. First, it has a very narrow window of opportunity. At first it seems to be similar to Legendary Vampire in this regard, but it's a little more restricted: you must it have it at hand *right now*, while you're influencing some vampire out; you're wasting your next master phase action, meaning you have to focus too much on it and use just a few other masters; and you'll be prevented from playing Direct Intervention, Sudden Reversal or any other out-of-turn master you have in hand right after that window "opens". Of course there are plenty of ways to circumvent these situations. Unlike Legendary Vampire, it can be used on low-caps, so Proxy Kissed is highly recommended if you want to build any given Giovanni low crypt and have some spare slots for Freak Drives, damage prevention or whatever effect Fortitude can provide. Govern the Unaligned and Scouting Mission help a lot on accelerating the process of influence, as other general cards like Dream of the Sphinx, Information Highway and Zillah's Valley. If you're going the anarch way, Undue Influence at [pre] could be used by Raphaela and Donatello. Did you notice that both also have [DOM]? Wasting a master phase action too early can be avoided many ways. Baldesar and Parthenon are good choices: you pay 1 less pool for the thing, and he also has [DOM] and [for]. Or you can simply trim your master module and avoid other out-of-turn cards. Of course, going to tournaments with no Suddens and Direct Interventions may sound scary depending on the metagame, but Proxy Kissed provides enough incentive to do that.
Sudario Refraction
Action (Rare)
Giovanni
+1 stealth action.
Choose three cards in your ash heap and move them to the top of your library. Then, discard three cards at random from your hand (and draw up to your hand size afterward).
- New heights, new risks. Sudario Refraction is pretty much straightforward: get three cards back to your library and then to your hand at once, but you don't get to choose which ones you'll discard. If you're not impressed by this, remember that it doesn't cost blood (unlike Carlotta's special), it starts at 1 stealth (unlike the Sargon Fragment), and the most important part: it requires a *Giovanni*. Even non-necromancers like Almodo or Chas can attempt it. If you're one of these players that are too concerned about hand jam, Sudario is your choice of card recursion. You can always save one copy on the Storage Annex to shift a bad hand for a completely fresh and desired one at the right moment. I'd be tempted to include at least one spare copy in each Giovanni deck I build.
# Now Dominate's new effect:
Tranquility
Combat (Rare)
Dominate
Only usable by a ready vampire not involved in combat.
[dom] Cancel a frenzy card as it is played (no cost is paid).
[DOM] As above, and the target of the frenzy card gets an optional press, only usable to end combat.
- Fear of Rostchreck? No more. Your weenie Proxy Kissed minions can rush anyone if they're next to Baldesar, Don Michael, Ignazio or Donatello, thanks to this card. Your long-range flung junk strategy is not that hindered by Drawing Out of the Beast anymore. You need not pay more for cards you use against a Terror Frenzy. Also note that this most desired effect is available at inferior, so even poor Almodo can save Carmine's ass if needed. The superior just adds up. Of course, Tranquility is most needed in combat defense modules, but bear in mind that the card is completely useless if you're not facing any of the aforementioned tech. So no matter how good it is, there's no need to include more than a few copies in any given deck - again, unless you're using some Storage Annexes...
# Potence combat getting better:
Earthshock
Combat (Common)
Costs: 1 blood
[pot] Strike: strength ranged damage. This strike cannot be dodged. Not usable against a minion with Flight.
[POT] As above, but for strength +1 ranged damage.
- Every Giovanni player who tried to build a rush deck knows how hard it is to just punch people for lots of damage when you don't have easy access to maneuvers. How many times have you played one of the three Torn Signposts in your hand just to cycle, knowing that your opponent probably has a maneuver and won't suffer a thing? Of course, you can always Throw a Gate or a Sewer Lid on them, but not only these are easily avoided by dodging, they mean you've already spent a precious resource for nothing. Earthshock comes to resolve that issue, or at least to give some more mileage to your Signposts. It is also precious to +1 strength minions like Ignazio and Baldesar. You can safely rely on Thoughts Betrayed + Earthshock to deal 3 damage no matter what range is set, even against inherent-dodgy minions, and you can always Taste the Vitae back to recoup the high blood cost of this combo. Just remember: don't try to pull this against anyone capable of preventing damage unless you see some benefit in losing 3 blood at once. The Flight clausule is a nice, thematically feature that won't get in your way 99,9% of the time (of course, I'm being deliberately inaccurate on that estimate ;-)
# A dual-discipline card relatively easy to use:
Distant Friend
Action (Rare)
Dominate/Presence
+1 stealth action.
[dom] [pre] (D) Choose a vampire and put this card in play. If this action is successful, untap the acting vampire at the end of the turn. You may burn this card during a referendum to change the votes of the chosen vampire to votes of your choice.
[DOM] [PRE] As above, and you can force the chosen vampire to cast his or her votes when you burn this card.
- This is another card already mentioned multiple times in this newsletter. Though you won't find a single Giovanni capable of using it at superior, most of the time you won't need to, and that's what skill cards are for anyway. The clan has two minions in group 2 and three others in group 4 that can use it at inferior. Distant Friend's caveat is that it is an action. If you build a crypt that can use some other action modifiers to enhance your votes or cancel opposing ones - from Bewitching Oration to Telepathic Vote Counting - it seems counterproductive to use Distant Friend. But note that Distant Friend can be used in *any* referendum, blood hunts included. It is a card suitable for any Giovanni combat deck that uses Don Michael (for some votes) and Donatello or Raphaela (for actually calling for "the friend"). If you're ready to cope with a higher crypt, there's always Carmine. Now you have a chance to diablerize someone who crossed your path and bit the dust. And even if you're stuck on the "old clan"... ahem, I mean, group 2 *cuginos*, you have three titled options, two minions with [pre], and could even spare some Telepathic Vote Countings for Augustus. Ungle Auggie and Stefano with a Presence skill card can do wonders: Stefano calls his "long forgotten friend" Arika, Augustus calls any given vote, Counts the votes of some Prince Telepathically, Stephano burns a blood and the Distant Friend and voilá - you have 8 votes against zero when your target previously had 6 and you only 3. At worst (Stefano does not burn a blood and still has inferior presence), you'll achieve 3 votes against zero. Add some Powerbase: Rome goodness, The Mausoleum and you're ready to go. Yeah, now the Giovanni can vote without going anarch, although it still needs some work...
# More anarch goodness:
Groundfighting
Combat (Common)
Requires a ready anarch. Do not replace until after combat. Maneuver or press, or burn 1 blood to cancel a combat card played by the opposing minion that would restrict this anarch's choice of strikes this round as it is played.
- Though this card strikes at first as a nice grapple and Thoughts Betrayed countermeasure, it is even better than that. First, it provides a disciplineless maneuver OR press - Fake Out and Boxed In in just one card. It does save slots and widens the options available when considering anarch combat; you don't *need* [cel] that much anymore, though it certainly helps. Second, the card also cancels Drawing Out the Beast and Terror Frenzy when your anarch already wields a weapon. Combine all these possibilities and you're ready to go Beretta! Baldesar's goodness with the new gun has been already addressed in this newsletter's last edition. Groundfighting adds up either way, for maneuvers or presses or just "let me use my weapon, you moron!" bravado. Finally, having such flexibility is good for combat defense also. You can make Don Michael go for Anarch Secession, maintain his votes and build a reasonable combat defense using Groundfighting and dodges. It also can be used in conjunction to High Ground to ensure your Spiritual Interventions will be free from grapples. Finally, anarch Ambrogino ADV can use it to supplement a combat module based on Thaumaturgy. Go to the ground!
# If you want to remove Ambrogino ADV from the Red List:
Priority Shift
Action (Rare)
+1 stealth action. Requires a ready, titled, non-Red List vampire. Choose a Red List minion. The chosen minion is no longer Red List.
- Unfortunately this is a Rare, meaning it won't be easy to get 10 to put in a deck. Granted, you don't want to have 9 copies of it showing up and clogging your hand once you have Ambrogino's ass saved. But you won't get it early if you don't use at least 8, and in the meantime, you are subjected to the same risks you'd have if you put just one or two in your deck - namely, getting rushed when you don't have proper combat defense. But this is a card to think about anyway. As pointed before, merged Ambrogino will become a target no matter if he's Red List or not. The card can also be used to save cross-table minions if they asses get in the line of Alastors and Archons' fire. If you expect people to use Red List strategies (namely trophies) in their rush decks, you can count on extra copies to save other minions you control too - bear in mind that no "red list hunter" will be able to invoke the Red List rule the same turn they put a minion of yours in the dreadful list, so you have one full turn to shift priorities and make them go back to ground zero again.
# If you want Don Michael Giovanni or Carmine to doom someone:
Red List
Action (Common)
Requires a ready, titled, non-Red List vampire.
(D) Choose a ready ally or a ready younger vampire. The chosen minion becomes Red List. That minion may not attempt to block this action.
- This is a card somewhat easier to use with NEC DOM titled vampires. Combine it with Seduction and Call of the Hungry Dead, and you get THREE potential blockers out of the way, no questions asked. Of course, you still have to be able to beat down the Red Listers. Since we're talking about Carmine, maybe it's not a bad idea to include some Red List module within a Shambling Hordes deck. Pack the usual stuff - Memories of Mortality, Trap, Lucky Blow and stuff - and go beating that marked wretches to torpor. Make sure to have someone other than Carmine to do the diablerizing job. This is the tough part, I guess. There are 5 vampires within groups 3 and 4 with [OBF] and [nec] to get something out of Sacrificial Lamb, but that adds to much to the archetype, I guess. Anyway, once you've find a reliable way to survive diablerie, go make them Red List! At worst, you can rely on Trophy: Diablerie, if you own one. Trophies Hunting Ground and Domain are very usable for the clan too.
# Ambrogino is better as a Red Lister? So here's something to support that theory:
Rebirth
Action Modifier (Rare)
Requires a Red List minion. Only usable when a diablerie action is successful. No blood hunt may be called, and this vampire untaps. A vampire can only play one Rebirth each turn.
- Of course, this is not an easy card to be played. It requires a Red List minion, has a very narrow window of opportunity, and sends a Red (List?) Flag to the rest of the table. Though it is probably more suited to combat-heavy decks, there are a few ways our *cugino* Ambrogino can abuse this. The most usual is to team him with Tremere and !Tremere and use an old Thaumaturgy combo: Trap, Thoughts Betrayed, a lot of Thefts. This has the added benefit that you'll get to cycle your deck easily (provided you packed a good number of rush actions) and will quickly fill your ash heap with enough cards to give merged Ambrogino some blood if he somehow gets low on it (who knows, Theft is not always that efficient). Once you have torporized someone, send the old necromancer to have some lunch and play Rebirth. The worst part is actually torporizing someone, but I'll let it for you to figure out. Just don't forget that cards so difficult to use scream to be Storaged. Really, Storage Annex is your friend.
# One more disciplineless maneuver to add to High Ground:
Backstep
Combat (Common)
Maneuver, only usable to go to long range. If the opposing minion's strike succcessfully inflicts any damage on this minion this round, the opposing minion gets an optional press.
- If you somehow don't rely on Disengage to avoid grapples, or are too worried about how this card becomes almost useless when *not* facing grapples, maybe Backstep is a good choice to team up with your Spiritual Interventions. Combined with High Ground, you can have a reasonable defense module that requires grapple players to pack a lot of maneuvers. And even if you don't have a S:CE in hand, it can save your minion's ass in many situations. Other than that, Backstep is a card that helps a lot if you're using guns with the Giovanni. As noted in this newsletter's previous edition, Baldesar makes it easier for the clan to pack cheaper guns, and Backstep combined with Groundfighting provides too much flexibility to ignore: two potential maneuvers, ability to cancel grapples and frenzy cards (the latter assuming you already have a gun) and a potential press, all this with only two cards and some go-anarch module. I think I'll try something on this angle for the next newsletter.
# Some ally/equipments to deal with specific metagame issues or simply make your life easier:
Procurer
Ally (Common)
Cost: 2 blood
Ghoul with 1 life, 1 strength, 0 bleed.
Procurer may move 1 blood from the blood bank to a ready vampire you control as a +2 stealth action.
- What? Leonardo is worried about the sudden competition in the market, but let's pay some attention to this new guy. First, he cannot serve any other master but you - so forget about using him as part of any deal, as you could do with old good Leo. Second, he has only 1 life, meaning that he's not as good a casual blocker as Leo is. Third, he is already a ghoul, so you can't play Ghouled on him to get more life or the ability to play Potence strikes. And last but not least, don't let blood cost x pool cost comparations fool you. If you're using enough Blood Dolls, it is actually easier to recoup 1 pool lost than it is to gain 2 blood back on a vampire. It means that Procurer will require three turns to actually pay off. You can recoup Leonardo's cost in one turn with a single Blood Doll, and he can return the blood on a given vampire in the same turn. The only reason why Procurer is here is that nothing prevents our clan from being double-served by allies that provide blood ;-) Procurer also does that at +2 stealth, meaning he has a little advantage to Leo after all. Use him when you're worried about casual intercept and save Leo for deals.
Powder of Rigidity
Equipment (Starter Alastor)
If the action to equip with the Powder of Rigidity is successful, untap the acting minion at the end of the turn. The bearer may burn this equipment before range is chosen in a round of combat. If he or she does so, the opposing minion cannot use cards that require Protean or Vicissitude for the remainder of combat. If the opposing minion is a werewolf, he has -2 strength for the remainder of combat.
- This is a personal favorite. No matter how cornercase it seem to be, note that it foils two most common disciplines used to empower Rotschreck. The problem is getting the equipment in the first place - those annoying Gangrel and Tzimisce will certainly try to block you. Depending on how your fellow players deal with it, Vast Wealth can be a solution. Other one is to save spare Call of the Hungry Dead and Seduction copies for these actions. But anyway, sometimes I wish I had one of these in each minion I put in play. Once you're protected from aggropoke, maybe it's time to punch them for lots with Dead Hand to show them the power of the Giovanni fighters!... Also note that this is an equipment that untaps you, so it can be an option in a rush deck where you usually woudn't have that many available room for equip actions.
# And finally an event suitable for "necroallies" decks...
FBI Special Affairs Division
Event (Rare)
Government.
When an ally is burned in combat with an acting vampire, put a counter on this card, and that acting vampire takes 2 unpreventable damage (after combat ends). Burn this card when it has 4 counters.
- What we were talking about... Procurer has only one life? Play this event with Unmasking and see any vampire with less than two blood and no stealth available despair. Of course it will damage, at the most, four vampires in the whole game, since you just can't fetch it back with necromancy (events can be played only once per game, remember?). But why would you need more than that for a free card that you immediately replace, unlike most other events? Combined with Dr. Marisa Fletcher, CDC and a good bunch of Jar the Souls at superior, you can get some deck archetypes to writhe in agony. Just don't forget to pack many Acquired Ventrue Assets and a few clanless Hunting Grounds, like the new Threestar Cab Company, to avoid hunting as much as possible... The Cab Company has the added benefit of providing direct extra pool to help paying those allies' costs. And now you can save your allies for casual blocking! Of course, you risk losing them, but note that they're still eligible for Left for Dead. If you run enough of these babies, your predator will get tired of getting slapped with two unpreventable damage for nothing all the time. And getting in combat with a Shambling Horde with Trap or a Meat Hook becomes a little more frightening if you're an acting vampire and cannot S:CE or press to end at the moment, or if you can't prevent anything during combat in first place.
IV. ULTIME PAROLE DELLA PUTTANA
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"Isabel? What, *accursed* Isabel? Now, does she have well-placed friends that can at least abstain from stepping in our clan's goals? I do."
- Raphaela Giovanni
That's all, folks. Hope this serves as an introduction to the new options our clan has, or at least some food for thought. No matter how much the "old clan faction" (i.e., group 2) is still bigger and apparently a sure shot, this game needs refreshing as any other CCG. Try them! Raphaela is waiting for you - just don't touch her below the waist, m'kay? That, only after marriage!...
Fabio "Sooner" Macedo
V:TES National Coordinator for Brazil
Giovanni Clan Newsletter Editor
Overseen by Orpheus, Giovanni *Consiliere*
http://necrobones.free.fr
Fabio "Sooner" Macedo
V:TES National Coordinator for Brazil
Giovanni Newsletter Editor
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V:tES Brasil Site (only in Portuguese for now) http://planeta.terra.com.br/lazer/vtesbrasil/