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Harbingers of Skulls Newsletter |
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The Lazarene and The Imbued
The Nights of Reckoning expansion introduced the Imbued of Hunter: The Reckoning as mortal ally crypt cards in Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. Let's take a look at how they interact with the Harbingers of Skulls, as adversaries and as co-minions.
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Because conviction cards can be retrieved from the ash heap every untap phase, an Imbued deck is partially immune to the library-depleting effect of The Slaughterhouse. In fact, moving cards from your prey's library to their ash heap lets them get to their conviction faster. Powers and other cards the Imbued will want to use are harder to retrieve from the ash heap, but the Visionary creed does have Unity.
Unity [NoR:R]
Cardtype: Master
Creed: Visionary
Master: unique hunter-list.
Tap this card and burn 1 pool to move two cards that require an imbued (or a creed or a virtue) from your ash heap to the top of your library. You may then cut your library once.
There are a couple of cards that let you mess with your prey's ash heap, and these were always worth considering in a Slaughterhouse deck.
The Erciyes Fragments [Promo-20040301]
Cardtype: Master
Unique master.
Put this card in play. Tap this card to move a library card from your prey's ash heap to this card, face down. You may look at that card at any time. You may play the card from the Fragments as if playing it from your hand (requirements and cost, if any, apply as normal). When that card is burned, remove it from the game instead. Only 1 card can be on this card at a time. Any vampire with a capacity above 4 can steal the Fragments (and any card on it) for his or her controller as a (D) action
Victim of Habit [KMW:R]
Cardtype: Action
Cost: 1 blood
+1 stealth action.
Put this card in play and choose a card in your prey's ash heap by name. During any Methuselah's untap phase, you may tap this card to remove three copies of the chosen card in your prey's ash heap from the game to cause your prey to burn 1 pool.
With Hunters around, these are even more valuable for getting rid of your prey's conviction, especially Victim of Habit. You'd prefer to use the Fragments to get cards you can play yourself, but using a master phase action to remove one of your prey's conviction is not a bad worst-case scenario.
Mercy for Seth is a very strong strike versus mortal allies. It's not as strong against vampires, but if you've got fortitude damage prevention your Harbingers can afford to use it.
Mercy for Seth [KMW:C]
Cardtype: Combat
Cost: 1 blood
Discipline: Necromancy
[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.
Release of the Shackled Soul is a nasty action. Before NoR its opportunity cost was too high unless you knew someone who played a lot of allies. Imbued are pretty good at getting one or two intercept, so you'll want a little extra stealth or block denial to get the action through. Don't forget to follow it up with Daemonic Possession. Once you control some Imbued, you'll have a way to use the conviction you're stealing with your Ericyes Fragments.
Release of the Shackled Soul [DS:U2]
Cardtype: Action
Cost: 1 blood
Discipline: Necromancy
[nec] (D) Burn an ally or retainer controlled by your prey.
[NEC] As above, with +1 stealth
Daemonic Possession [FN:C2]
Cardtype: Action
Cost: 2 blood
Discipline: Necromancy
[nec] Only usable when a minion controlled by another Methuselah has been burned since your last turn. Move that minion from his owner's ash heap to your ready region, put 1 blood or life from the blood bank on the minion and tap the minion. You now control the minion.
[NEC] As above, but the minion is untapped.
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What about Harbingers working side-by-side with Imbued? You can do something about your allies' combat fragility with Martyr's Resilience.
Martyr's Resilience [BL:R1]
Cardtype: Combat
Discipline: Auspex & Fortitude
Only usable by an untapped vampire not involved in the current combat.
[aus][for] Prevent 1 damage to a minion or retainer in combat.
[AUS][FOR] Burn X blood to prevent X+1 damage to a minion or retainer in combat.
There must be some way to make a Harbinger/Hunter 'twister' deck where you use Liquidation to sell your library for pool, getting fast access to your conviction cards, then use Unity, Maabara and various necromantic tricks to retrieve the non-conviction cards that you need. A good crypt for this might be 4x Solomon Batanea 8x various Imbued including Paul Moreton and Travis Miller.
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Deck of the Month
This month's deck is an old-school (Bloodlines era) Harbingers of Skulls 'starter' deck. It's meant to be easy for a new player to manage, and its contents are partly determined by which cards I have enough of to spare (whence, for example, no Eagle's Sight). The only subtleties are when to use Martyr's Resilience (you can prevent damage cross-table) and knowing that you should normally discard the first ally you draw, to seed you ash heap for the Shambling Hordes.
CRYPT (12)
1x Unre 9 HoS Bishop [AUS FOR NEC dom ser thn]
1x Anisa Marianna Lopez 8 HoS [FOR NEC QUI aus]
2x Egotha 7 HoS [AUS FOR NEC obf]
2x Gisela Harden 7 HoS Priscus [FOR NEC aus dem]
1x Matthias 7 Sal [AUS FOR OBE nec]
2x Agaitas 6 Hos [AUS NEC for]
1x Le Dinh Tho 5 Nag [NEC aus dom]
1x Juan Cali 3 !Ven [aus for]
1x Rudolpho Giovanni 3 Gio [NEC]
LIBRARY (80)
Master (12)
4x Minion Tap
1x Anachronism
1x Archon Investigation
1x Barrens
1x Charisma
1x Fame
1x Lazarene Inquisitor
1x Metro Underground
1x The Stranger Among Us
Ally (9)
6x Shambling Hordes
1x Akhenaten, the Sun Pharaoh
1x Arcanum Investigator
1x Puppeteer
Equipment (11)
3x Leather Jacket
2x Garotte
2x Meat Hook
1x Baleful Doll
1x Erebus Mask
1x Palatial Estate
1x Poker
Action (13)
3x Renewed Vigor
3x Restoration
3x Summon Soul
2x Pulse of the Canaille
1x Arson
1x Daemonic Possession
Action Modifier (3)
3x Call of the Hungry Dead
Action Modifier/Reaction combo (2)
2x Spectral Divination
Reaction (11)
3x Forced Awakening
3x Telepathic Counter
2x Enhanced Senses
2x Spirit's Touch
1x Precognition
Combat (19)
4x Fake Out
3x Martyr's Resilience
2x Boxed In
2x Dodge
2x Lucky Blow
2x Superior Mettle
1x Pulled Fangs
1x Rolling with the Punches
1x Skin of Steel
1x Unflinching Persistence