By Eric Chiang
Halcyan2@aol.com
[Legal stuff to the tune of: I wrote all this, so please give credit where it’s due, etc.]
Contents
4.1 — Editor’s Note
4.2 — I’m a Slave 4 U: The Slave Mechanic Revisited
4.3 — Tricks with Fustuk: Just the Special Please!
4.4 — Tricks with Fustuk: Unexpected Untapping
4.5 — Battle Lines Storyline
4.6 — Featured Vampire: Fustuk
4.7 — Featured Card: Potio Martyrium
4.8 — Featured Deck: Tupdog by Hugh Angseesing
[4.1 — Editor’s Note]
Welcome back! This time around the focus is on Gargoyles — our lovable pets (and slaves). Let’s see what we can do by adding the Gargoyle angle to our Tremere Antitribu decks.
Since our last issue I have had a few additional stray thoughts on Heirs. Although Temporis, Maleficia, and Striga are not specifically Tremere Antitribu focused, our clan is in an excellent position to take advantage of them.
Many players have been excited over the new Temporis cards (especially Summon History). Other than the True Brujah, the Tremere Antitribu is still the best clan to access Temporis, with Infernal Pact, Infernal Familiar, Ian Forestal, and possibly Nickolai. The !Tremere can also play Magic of the Smith to quickly equip with the new Amulet of Temporal Perception, which lets any vampire use basic Temporis cards.
Remember that Maleficia and Striga are not actually disciplines, so Ian Forestal, Infernal Pact, and Infernal Familiar can’t fulfill that requirement. However, you can use Valerius Maior and Barbaro Lucchese, who are both Infernal (and can also use the new Daimoinon cards). Plus, you can always use Magic of the Smith to grab the Textbook Damnation, after which you can then lay on the Maleficia and Striga.
Regarding Gargoyle Grouping, right now the trend seems to be about one Gargoyle of each type per Grouping. Groups 4, 5, and 6 each have one Tremere Slave. Groups 4 and 5 each have one Tremere Antitribu Slave. And Groups 4 and 6 each have one non-slave. The problem is that the three Gargoyle types are largely incompatible with each other. Having only one Gargoyle in each Group is too harsh and restrictive since any given Grouping only gives you effectively two Gargoyle options. In Group 2, Tremere/Gargoyle decks were viable because there were four distinct choices for Tremere Slaves. Four is probably too much to maintain over the long term for every grouping, but three seems like a more reasonable number. Maybe you could alternate with 2 Tremere Slaves in the Even Groupings and 1 Tremere Slave in the Odd Groupings while having the reverse for the Tremere Antitribu Slaves — 1 in the Even Groupings and 2 in the Odd Groupings. That might work out better in improving deck-building options while still preserving play balance.
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