I always enjoy finding time to play VTES, although with work, family and life generally behaving like an overzealous predator, those opportunities are rarer than drawing Giant's Blood exactly when you need it. So when Cristina invited us over for a game, I was genuinely excited. That excitement briefly turned into disappointment when I checked the family calendar and realised I was already committed elsewhere. Fortunately, some careful diplomacy worthy of a Ventrue elder took place at home, plans were rearranged and before long I was packing my cards. This time it would just be the four of us: Cristina, Manuel, Aaron and myself.
The game was particularly interesting for me because of Aaron's deck. About six months ago, when he first started playing, he told me the idea of sword-wielding Salubri marching into combat sounded incredibly cool. So I built exactly that: a deck full of rushes, weapons and opportunities to introduce vampires to the pointy end of medieval technology. Over the following months, however, I noticed something. Aaron was improving every game, but combat was still asking a lot of him. Between strikes, presses, maneuvers, prevention, additional strikes and all the timing windows, every combat felt a bit like assembling IKEA furniture without the instructions. Before our game at Cristina's, I decided it was time for an experiment. Inspired by the terrifying Salubri power bleed deck I had faced at the Scottish Nationals, I stripped away most of the combat package, kept only the damage prevention and replaced the swords with bleed modifiers, reaction denial and block denial. The crypt barely changed (there simply aren't that many Salubri to choose from) but the deck's personality changed completely. My hope was simple: if Aaron could focus on bleeding instead of remembering the entire combat sequence, the deck would become much easier to pilot.
As it turned out... I may have created a monster.
Cristina brought her ever-improving Path of Death deck, Manuel arrived with an Antonio d'Erlette + Nephandus swarm deck that I had been curious about for ages and I continued testing my trusty Hecata. My undead workforce was ready for another performance review.
The seating ended up as Cristina (Path of Death) > Aaron (Salubri Power Bleed) > Me (Hecata) > Manuel (Nephandus Swarm).
My opening crypt couldn't have been much better. Seeing Mora there immediately made me happy, knowing I could influence her out at the end of turn two. Cristina started with Sakura, Manuel brought out Antonio and Aaron introduced Abaddon. Every time I read that name I smile. Whether the Warhammer reference is intentional or not, my inner nerd chooses to believe it absolutely is.
Very early in the game I discovered something about Manuel's deck. Antonio is good at recruiting Nephandus. Very, very good. One moment there was one cultist. The next moment there seemed to be enough of them to start applying for planning permission. Worse still, they proved remarkably efficient at dismantling my carefully recruited zombies. Apparently every Nephandus attended the same anatomy classes because they consistently knew exactly where to hit (Target Vitals baby!). Meanwhile Manuel's extended master package kept his deck cycling at an astonishing pace. Every turn felt like watching a well-oiled machine quietly become more terrifying.
Unfortunately, my own problems didn't stop there.
My predator had become... enthusiastic. Aaron wasted no time putting the redesigned deck to work. One particularly brutal turn combined block denial with heavy bleed and removed six of my pool in one go. Watching your own deck modifications being used against you is a surprisingly educational experience. Somewhere, Frankenstein was probably nodding sympathetically.
Cristina quietly did what Path of Death does best. While the rest of us were busy trying not to die, she steadily built an impressive board using Freakish Conglomerations, constantly threatening the table and reminding me why I find that archetype so fascinating. I genuinely can't wait for the Path of Death New Blood deck later this year. (No pressure, Black Chantry. None whatsoever.)
To make matters worse, several of Cristina's bleeds were politely redirected in my direction. Apparently my domain had become the table's preferred forwarding address. With around twenty minutes left on the clock, Aaron launched another devastating turn. More block denial. More bleed. This time there was no surviving it. My Hecata became the first casualty of the evening, handing Aaron a victory point and the extra pool that comes with it. The remaining three players continued their struggle until time was called, each finishing with half a victory point.
So the experiment was a success.
Aaron finished the evening with 1.5 VP and looked more comfortable with the Salubri than ever before. That alone made the experiment worthwhile. Sometimes the best optimisation isn't squeezing out another point of bleed, but reducing the player's mental load so the deck can shine. The project met every design goal... except one rather important KPI: don't get ousted by your own creation. Task failed successfully. Next time, I'll try to conduct my experiments from the other side of the table.
The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.
Custodian Hargrave
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