This is not a Ravnos Newsletter! - January 2009

Ravnos Newsletter
January 2009

This is not a Ravnos Newsletter!
by FVicentini

Just kidding, it is one. Touched by Lasombra's recent post regarding
Newsletters, i thought it would be a nice thing to write one oneday.
So here we are.

Well , Ravnos, Let me say first that i think theire one of the most
badass Clans available, if you build a Ravnos Deck , there will be
some characteristic Problems ,as you will have a hard time figuiring
out a good defense against being oustet , but they make up with a lot
of choices to create a strong offense, and there are of course a few
cards that can help you survive.

Note: This Newsletter will not go into much detail describing the
Cards and Minions created in Legacies of Blood and before, since there
is already much advice availible for this "golden" old age of Ravnos
(just check out the old Newsletters, hosted by Lasombra)

Well, if this old Age of Chimistry and Ravnos was golden, the recent
Lords of the night expansion definatly turned it into diamond since
the Ravnos got some new Weapons for their arsenal. Lets have a look at
the new Chimistry tools at disposal for the ambitious Ravnos player:

Heart's Desire
Type: Action Modifier
Requires: Auspex & Chimerstry
Cost: 1 blood
[aus][chi] +1 bleed. You cannot play another action modifier to
increase this bleed. If an ally or younger vampire is currently
attempting to block this action, that block fails and that minion
cannot block this action.
[AUS][CHI] As above, but with +2 bleed instead.

Which brings us to the big disadvantage of this card. The Disciplines you need
to combo are not very common, well there are at least some midcaps who can use
this card at inferior , but only three Vampires can use this card at Superior,
two of them being 11 caps. At least the bloodcost of one is more than reasonable
for this strong effect, and it can go into the same Deck that holds the other
AUS CHI card in this game (Nightmares Curse)
The Deck posted later will feature Heart`s Desire , so stay tuned.

False Resonance
Type: Action Modifier
Requires: Chimerstry
Cost: 1 blood
[chi] Cancel a reaction card that requires Auspex [aus] or Dementation
[dem] as it is played (no cost is paid).
[CHI] +1 stealth, and once this action, this vampire can burn 1 blood
to use the [chi] effect above.

I dont quite know what to make of this card, for me one of the real
advantages of chimistry was that your stealth action modifiers
(occlusion and mirror image) could double up as your Combat defense ,
relieving you of the need to play Combat Cards. So playing False
Resonance is really a Metagame choice for me , if Auspex and
Dementation is very common in your playround ,and you cant deal with
it with Occlusion and Mirror Image, it might be worth to include some
when building your Deck , but i never tested that, so if you find out
something new, please provide me with information.

Fantasy World
Type: Action
Requires: Chimerstry
Cost: 2 blood
[chi] (D) Put this card on a ready minion and tap that minion. This
minion cannot play cards or cast votes. This minion does not untap as
normal. During this minion's untap phase, he or she can burn 1 life or
1 blood to burn this card. Burn this card if this minion enters
combat.
[CHI] As above, but this is a +1 stealth action.

I think this is the worst addition to chimistry in Lords of the
Night , since for just one more blood you can already play sensory
deprivation, It might find its place in a Eldest are Kholo Vote Deck
to shut up one annoying inner circle Member for you , but even then
this card will mostly only be in play one turn , and cost you two
precious blood. So, for the moment its a no-go for me.

Will-o'-the-Wisp
Type: Action Modifier
Requires: Chimerstry
Cost: X blood
[chi] Allocate X+1 points among one or more minions. Each point
represents -1 intercept for that minion this action.
[CHI] Only usable as the action is announced. Choose X-1 allies or
younger vampires. The chosen minions cannot block or play reaction
cards this action.

If you ever have too much blood , this is the way to go. Easily the
strongest action modifier in the game if you can afford it. Good thing
Ravnos have a lot of possibilities to reduce their costs, so this card
can make its way into a highcap Chimistry powerbleed Deck with Fatuus
Mastery , the Path and Karavalanisha Vrana, and with the advent of
Enkil Cog you can even be immune to Archon Investigation. oh the
possibilities. One point worth noticing is that this card finally
gives some sense to including Permanency in your Decks , as Will o the
Wisp is Rare you might not have as many as you like in your Deck, but
with Permanency at basic , you can simply take the card (or something
else you would like) back to your hand after you played it. And
Permanency costs no blood (at least)

So , thats it for the Chimistry cards , lets have a look at two new
Ravnos Toys in the recent Edition:

Karavalanisha Vrana
Type: Equipment
Requires: Ravnos
Cost: 2 pool
Unique equipment.
The Ravnos with this equipment may move 2 blood from the blood bank to
a younger Ravnos in your uncontrolled region as a +1 stealth action
that costs 1 blood. Cards that require Chimerstry [chi] cost this
Ravnos 1 less blood.

When i first saw this Card , i thougth , wow, awesome. Now in cold
blood , realistic this Card is not too good for your Ravnos Deck. For
a Clan that has such a hard time defending his pool, spending two on
an equipment is already a critical choice , and this card simply dont
gives you an effect worth it, At first , there are easier ways to
reduce your chimistry cost with playing the Path or Gabrin, or recoup
blood with Patshiv, and the other effect is a weak Version of Scouting
mission, and while your Ravnos generates you two blood into the
uncontrolled (at the cost of one blood) he does not bleed your prey ,
creates a weenie , or plays Sensory Deprivation, so unless you play
Freakdrives (and can afford this additional bloodcost) Your Ravnos
have better things to do than using this. If you really want to bloat
into the uncontrolled , play Powerbase Zurich as your bleeders wont
have a too hard time holding this Card and the Action from it does not
cost a blood.

Kumpania
Type: Master
Requires: Ravnos
Cost: 1 pool
Unique master.
Put this card in play. Tap to give +1 intercept to a Ravnos with
capacity above 4 you control.

This card really is something, one of the best intercept permanents
available to the Ravnos and on par with the Market square. This card
is not a location , so you dont have to worry about Conceal, Arson or
Disputed Territory. Most usefull combined with Draba, your opponent
will at first need to have 2 stealth , then you can reduce him back to
Zero and he needs 2 Stealth again, not many Stealth based Decks can
pull this of very often , and then you still have other intercept
locations , Raven Spys and more Draba. On the other hand , since
weenie based Ravnos Decks are very common , this card is obviously not
something to include in every Ravnos Deck , but it definatly makes
Dedicated ANI CHI walls more playable.

Thats it for the Moment with the Cards your Ravnos use (or abuse),
lets have a look at the Undead flesh and bones of your Deck. Your
Vampires, i will pick some of the most intresting.

Ganesh
Clan: Ravnos (group 5)
Capacity: 6
Disciplines: CHI DEM FOR
Independent: Ganesh gets +1 bleed when bleeding a Methuselah who
controls a ready Giovanni.

A very good Midcap , and the Keystone of some of the recent
dementation/chimistry Decks. He shares his superiors with Kiradin and
Phaedyme , and Tsunda has at least basic dementation, so you can
combine the bleedpower of Kindred Sprirts with the terror of Chimistry
actions like Sensory Deprivation. This Selection makes up for the lack
of good bleed Actions that the Ravnos previously suffered, has some
additional means of pooldefense with wrong and crosswise and touch of
clarity, and with fortitude it is not as fragile in Combat as the
typical Antimalk deck.
AND theres Freak drive.....I think ive seen a decklist of such a Deck
around lately , but i dont have the link anymore , maybe a reader can
provide it.

Chavi Oraczko
Clan: Ravnos (group 5)
Capacity: 7
Disciplines: ANI CHI FOR nec
Independent. Red List: Once each action, Chavi may burn 1 blood to get
+1 stealth. While she is ready, you get +1 hand size.

Another Redlist Ravnos (seriously, whats up with that?) But also a
very good Midcap for your Ravnos Deck , All in Clan Disciplines at
Superior , a stealth special and a handsize bonus, this Vampire is a
number one choice for most Ravnos Decks if you already include Red
lists anyway (Mata Hari , Alexis Sorokin) or your Metagame is not so
Combatheavy that you would lose her quickly. Besides that theres not
much to say about her , the cardtext speaks for itself.

Vasiliy Vasilevich
Clan: Ravnos (group 5)
Capacity: 8
Disciplines: ANI CHI for pro
Independent: When Vasiliy successfully bleeds your prey, he untaps at
the end of the action. +1 bleed.

I realise that 8 pool is expensive , but this Engine of Destruction
can be worth it, if your not likely to encounter much bounce or play
False Resonance , this Vampire can bleed for 3 or more , and can
follow up with an untap and a embraced Tumnimos or a Sens. Dep. Just
be sure that you can afford the bloodcost, Svadharma, Ravnos Carneval
or the other choices already mentioned. His protean is intresting as
additional combat defense , but lacks cryptchoices to combine. (Unless
you are the first to build a really crazy Alexis Sorokin/Vasiliy
Vasilevich Dual Form Deck with week of Nightmares, if you do , mail me
the Decklist please)

There are a lot more Ravnos worth a look in Lords of the Night, (Gwen
Brand...) I promise they will be featured in upcomming newsletters.
And now last but not least a Deck i loved to play in my playgroup:


Sha-Ennu reigns Supreme!
________________________________________________

Crypt:
5* Sha-Ennu
Capacity: 11
Disciplines: ANI AUS CHI VIC obf tha
Sabbat regent: Vampires with capacity less than 4 cannot block Sha-
Ennu. +2 bleed.

2* Gwen Brand
Clan: Ravnos (group 5)
Capacity: 3
Disciplines: aus chi
Independent: During your untap phase, if any other Methuselah controls
a Gehenna card, put a founder counter on Gwen. If she has at least 4
founder counters, she has [ANI][AUS][CHI][FOR], +1 bleed, and she
gains 1 capacity.

1* Gharston Roland
Clan: Ravnos (group 4)
Capacity: 4
Disciplines: CHI ani pot
Sabbat: Gharston cannot act if any minion has already attempted an
action this turn.

1* Rain
Clan: Toreador antitribu (group 4)
Capacity: 7
Disciplines: AUS cel chi dem pot pre
Sabbat: Rain gets +1 stealth on actions directed at a Methuselah who
controls no ready titled vampires.

1* Brian Thompson
Clan: Ravnos (group 4)
Capacity: 4
Disciplines: ani chi for
Independent.

1* Vassily Taltos
Clan: Ravnos (group 4)
Capacity: 6
Disciplines: aus cel chi dom for obf
Independent: Vassily may burn a hunting ground or a Blood Doll card as
a (D) action.

1* Papa Legba
Clan: Ravnos (group 5)
Capacity: 5
Disciplines: ani chi for obt
Independent: Once each action, Legba can burn 1 blood to get +1 bleed.

62 Cards:

Master: 18 (6 triffle)
2* Giants blood
4* Blind Spot
2* The Coven
3* Legendary Vampire
4* wash
2* Dreams of the Sphinx
1* Secure Haven

Actions: 11
6* Fiendish Tounge
3* Nightmares Curse
2* Fatuus Mastery

Action Modifier: 16
5* Will-o-the-wisp
6* Heart`s Desire
5* Permanency
2* Enkil Cog

Reaction: 8
4* Army of Apparitions
4* Telepathic counter

Referendi: 3
1* Ancient Influence
1* Political Flux
1* Reinforcements

Combo: 7
3* Occlusion
4* Mirror Imgae

A power bleed that goes in unbouncable , unblockable for 8. Best at 4
player tables. The Enkil Cogs are a recent addition since they can
make you immune to archon investigation and allow you to bleed more
often with the untap provided by Fiendish Tounge. Bloodmanagement is a
big issue , but with 2 Giants blood in a 60 Card deck you should be
the first one to draw one. Permaneny is really strong because it
allows you to pick either a Hearts Desire or a WotW to keep on your
hand for the next bleed. 6 inherent Votes provide at least a solid
protection against some Vote Decks, in short: the shorter the game ,
the better for this Deck.


Good games and a Happy New Year!