There are some doors in the World of Darkness that sensible vampires never open. Behind them lie old promises, forgotten names and spirits that should probably be left undisturbed. The members of Hecata, of course, looked at those doors centuries ago and thought, "I wonder what's behind this one?" Then they opened every single one. That, in a nutshell, is why I find them so fascinating (plus I have always loved the Giovanni and the Cappadocians before).
For some time now I have wanted to build my Hecata deck. This is very much an experiment, so please don't mistake it for a tournament guide. Some of the cards I include will be there because they fit the atmosphere rather than because they are mathematically optimal. If I wanted to optimize everything, I would probably end up playing another Ventrue political deck. This project is about something different. It is about building a deck that feels like the Hecata should feel: mysterious, patient and always one whispered ritual away from something very disturbing.
My Hecata collection currently consists of two starter decks and three New Blood decks, which gives me enough pieces to begin assembling something interesting. Before touching a single card, however, I wanted to decide on the deck's identity. To me, the Hecata are vampires who operate just beyond the veil separating life and death. Their greatest strength isn't raw violence or explosive bleeds, it is their relationship with things that refuse to stay dead. Naturally, that means zombies, wraiths and enough Oblivion rituals to make the local priest reconsider his career.
The first challenge appeared immediately in the crypt. I absolutely love Hel-Blá. In a calmer world, one with fewer anarchs carrying Torn Signposts and anger issues, I would happily build the deck around her. Unfortunately, my recent tournament experiences have taught me that investing nine pool into a superstar vampire can sometimes feel like buying an expensive new car only to have someone reverse a truck into it before you've left the dealership. This time I decided to stay with lower-cap vampires. Losing one still hurts, but at least it doesn't require a minute of silence.
The crypt almost built itself after that. Mora, the Death Seer immediately became the centrepiece. Her ability to recover cards from the ash heap feels very much Hecata, as if death itself were simply another filing cabinet to browse through. Lenelle, Mambo of Birmingham joins her because exchanging cards between your hand and the ash heap sounds incredibly useful once the rituals start flowing. Alek König deserves a mention simply because every deck appreciates a three-cap vampire with superior Oblivion. He also reminds me of a fantasy dwarf, which means every time I see him I expect him to complain about tunnels rather than haunt them. Monica Giovanni was an automatic inclusion as well. Superior disciplines across the board, an excellent capacity and artwork that perfectly captures the cold confidence of someone who could negotiate your inheritance before arranging your funeral. I still secretly wish she had Dominate and Potence like the old Giovanni, but one can only dream right? Gebeyehu Abdu brings superior Auspex for those all-important Telepathic Misdirections, while Peter St. John, Hiromitsu Asano, and Holliday "Burgundy" Hall round out the lower end of the crypt with cheap access to Oblivion and useful utility. I would certainly have liked one or two more small-cap vampires, but compromises are part of deck building. Even necromancers have budgets.
The library almost wrote its own ghost story. Rotting Behemoths are simply too thematic to ignore. If you're a clan of necromancers, eventually you should probably animate something large enough to make your prey reconsider combat. Spectral Servitors are another favourite, quietly drifting across the table to deliver those irritating little bleeds or help with defense. Since Behemoths are quite costly, Split the Veil felt like an obvious inclusion to keep the undead workforce growing without constantly paying premium prices. Shroud of Decay provides both bleed enhancement and unavoidable pool damage, while Psychophagia should help replenish the blood inevitably spent on rituals, or lost after some overly enthusiastic Brujah mistakes my vampire for a punching bag. To make sure those rituals actually resolve, I included the familiar Oblivion stealth package of Shadow Cast, Shadow Cloak, and Stygian Shroud. Add Telepathic Misdirection and a few wake effects and suddenly the deck starts feeling like less of a failure and more of a functioning strategy.
The first version of the deck looks something like this:
Crypt:
2x Mora, the Death Seer
2x Lenelle, Mambo of Birmingham
2x Monica Giovanni
2x Gebeyehu Abdu
1x Alek König
1x Hiromitsu Asano
1x Holliday "Burgundy" Hall
1x Peter St. John
Library:
1x Biotech Company Hunting Ground
1x Cappadocian Crypt
6x Family Gathering
1x Giant's Blood
2x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Munich
3x Villein
2x Psychophagia
8x Shroud of Decay
4x Split the Veil
8x Spectral Servitor
8x Rotting Behemoth
2x Freak Drive
5x Shadow Cast
5x Shadow Cloak
2x Stygian Shroud
2x Where the Veil Thins
2x Eyes of Argus
3x Shadow Sentinel
7x Telepathic Misdirection
The overall game plan is refreshingly different from what I normally play. There are no explosive Govern chains, no overwhelming vote lock and no grand speeches from impeccably dressed Princes. Instead, the deck wants to take its time. Family Gatherings should help bring vampires out steadily, Spectral Servitors begin applying early pressure, and once enough allies find their way into the ash heap, the Rotting Behemoths can emerge to deal with problematic vampires. It feels less like sprinting toward victory and more like watching fog slowly roll across a cemetery. Nothing dramatic happens at first. Then, eventually, you realize you are completely surrounded.
Whether this turns out to be brilliant or completely misguided remains to be seen. Like most of my deck-building adventures, it is based on equal parts curiosity, atmosphere and optimism. I'll be testing the deck over the coming weeks, and I'm genuinely excited to discover whether the Hecata reward careful planning... or whether the dead decide they have plans of their own.
The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.
Custodian Hargrave
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