Deck Archetypes: Nephandus Mage

Mage Ally decks have been around in the VtES scene for quite some time, either featuring "Nephandus", "Talaq, The Immortal" or "Thadius Zho", or all in one deck, since these are cards from earlier expansions like "Ancient Hearts" or "Sabbat", but with 3rd Edition's "Antonio d'Erlette" and his special ability this decktype got quite boost. The deck is a toolboxy deck, since it can rush & intercept and bleed & block deck, and has later in the game excels with strong permanents, with which it can dominate the table.

How to win with them
The deck is a somewhat typical ally deck, but with a twist due to "Antonio D'Erlette's" special ability. Since the recruitment of the "Nephandi" is happening quite fast and cannot be blocked (if Antonio's special ability is used) the deck is usually quite fast from the start.

Basicially none of your vampire need to act, since recruiting the allies is not an action, and all of the work could be done by the "Nephandi". Nonetheless you should either bring out two vampires at first, and then using Antonion's special ability, since you need a mixture of both vampires and some "Nephandi". If the chance of being blocked is low, you should (also) try to recruit the "Nephandus" manually. Either to save transfers early in the game, or to bring out two (or more) "Nephandi" later in the game.

The "Nephandus" is one of the most versatile allies in VtES. As for the basics, he can bleed (not a default for allies!), can strike for 1R and has 2 life. But then the specials kick in! Most importantly, he can reduce the damage from each source by 1, so a vampire using a ".44 Magnum" inflicts only one damage to the mage, and would need an additional strike to kill him in the same round. In addition he has a built-in press and finally the ability to gain life when burning a vampire in torpor (as a (D) action).

The same versatilty can be found in the deck, which makes it quite strong:

• One of the offensive capabilities include a Rush combat package with several (D) actions to enter combat, and the use of "Trap" to torporize opposing vampires. Some deck variants even pack "Molotov Cocktails" to be equipped with in round 1, if no trap is played in the first round, or in a later round when a "Trap" has been played. This is done in order to first empty the opposing vampire from as much blood as possible, and then trying to burn him with a final strike using "Molotov Cocktails".
• The second, equally important part is the bleed component which uses "Computer Hacking" for the allies, and if the path is cleared for unopposed bleed actions, the Tremere antitribu vampires bleed using "Conditioning". Other versions of the deck replace the "Computer Hackings" by "Empowering the Puppet King", which makes the damage done by bleed more unpredicatable for your prey.
  
• The deck has some permacept with the "Unmasking" and usually one or two intercept locations, so it can block a number of +1 stealth actions per turn.
  
• Also the deck uses "Magic of the Smith" to (more or less) safely equip with a number of the strongest equipment cards in play, namely "Heart of Nizchetus", "Bowl of Convergence", "Palatial Estate" or sometimes "Sniper Rifle", and even if the action is intercepted, the "Mirror Walk" (at superior "Thaumaturgy") prevents that combat occurs.
• Later in the game, the "Nephandi" will do most of the work, while the vampires (supplied with a "Blood Doll" or "Vessel") are mostly hunting, preferably while the "Hungry Coyote" is out, to establish a constant pool gain.
  

Another nifty trick is the combination of Antonio's special ability and "Heart of Nizchetus". While the "Heart of Nizchetus" puts cards under the library (in other decks then never to be seen again), "Antonio's" search for a "Nephandus" let's you shuffle your library afterwards and thereby puts the cards you might need in a turn or two back to the top of your library.

Prior to 2008 one of the deck's strength was the ability to utilize "Memories of Mortality". Either to bypass a potential blocker, when a "Nephandus" was bleeding w/ "Computer Hacking" or to attack the vampire with the "Memories of Mortality" and torporizing him in the subsequent combat. With the official ban of "Memories of Mortality" the decktype is considerably weakend. It is now much harder to withstand the onslaugt of an opposing combat deck, for example a Rush Combat deck with "Beast, the Leatherface" or "Enkidu, The Noah".

As alternatives to "Memories of Mortality", the deck could use "Pentex Subversion" or "Anarch Troublemaker", but still that's a rather inadequate replacement.

Bleed defense
"Deflection" and other bleed bouncing cards based on "Dominate" are the decks primary defense. In need the deck can also rush it's predator's minions and try to put them down with the "Nephandus" & "Trap" combo.

Vote defense
This is to some degree the deck's weak point, this deck archetype plays a few "Delaying Tactics" and can intercept political actions if the stealth is not increased, but if the opposing deck is capable of reiterating political actions at +3 stealth this deck archetype is in trouble.

Combat defense
In the past times the deck relied on the "Nephandus" special abílity to reduce damage and ultimately on "Memories of Mortality", With the "Memories of Mortality" the deck has to reconside its combat defense "Pentex Subversion" only partially helps since it is unique. Possibilities for adding extra value to the combat capabilities are "Target Vitals" and/or "Glancing Blow".

How to win against them
There are several weaknesses in the deck you can exploit. Due to the toolboxy nature of this deck archetype, it's generally not doing extraordinarily strong in each of the three departments (combat/vote/bleed), so any dedicated deck shouldn't encounter problem in its area. Decks on the other hand, which deliberately missed either bleed or combat defense will have trouble against the "Nephandi".

For combat decks decks it is the first goal to kill "Antonio d`Erlette" early in the game, since he's the heart of the deck. Without him recruiting the "Nephandi" takes considerable more time and effort. This task is more easily accomplished by rush combat than by intercept combat decks; since either "Antonio d`Erlette" uses his special ability for actions or uses "Mirror Walk", he's quite hard to battle when reacting only.

Stealing allies is always a good idea against ally decks, though you will usually need to perform the action at +2 stealth to be successful due the deck's permacept. Overall, you a need a way to get rid or bypass the "Nephandi", since they provide the muscles of the deck. This can be by combat dealing more 2 (or preferable 3 damage) per strike (or other damaging effect), by stealing allies or by making the player "paying" for the allies using "Anarchist Uprising", "Kindred Segregation", or the new "Permanent Vacation".

Key Cards

• "Antonio d`Erlette" -- the heart (and start) of the deck as he's enabling the reliable recruitment of Nephandi.
  
• "Nephandus (Mage)" -- the muscles of the deck fighting, bleeding and intercepting the opponents.
  
• "Magic of the Smith" -- used for getting reliably the equipment.
  
• "Memories of Mortality" -- after the ban of the card the deck has to find a somewhat adequate replacement, which will be hard to come by.
  

Notable Examples & Variations
Usually the deck variants differ in how much combat and how much bleed cards the deck actually has.

• "Mage Mafia" by Emiliano Imeroni -- basic bruise and bleed variant.
  
• "The Alchemists" by Paul Reid-Bowen -- of the above deck with extensive use of "Empowering the Puppet King" and "Molotov Cocktails".
• "Drunken Mages" by Hugh Angseesing -- similar to Emiliano's/Paul's deck.
• "D'erlette Fans" by Jah -- streamlined version of the above decks.
• "Mage Power" by Michel-Étienne Fortin -- pure combat variant, without any bleed actions/modifiers.
  
• "Nephandus' Club" by Mirko Anconitani -- pure combat variant w/ Saturday-Night Specials and Dragon's Breath Rounds, again no bleed actions/modifiers.
  

Sample Decklist

Deck Name: Mage Mafia
Author: Emiliano Imeroni
Description: Nephandus deck based on Antonio d'Erlette (BloodBath 2006 version).

Crypt [12 vampires] Capacity min: 3 max: 5 average: 4

4x Antonio d'Erlette 5 THA dom for pot !Tremere:4
1x Esoara 5 DOM aus for pot !Tremere:4
1x Janine 4 aus dom tha !Tremere:4
1x Mosfair 4 cel dom tha !Tremere:4
1x Ehrich Weiss 3 dom tha Tremere:3
1x Ember Wright 3 aus dom !Tremere:3
1x Keith Moody 3 DOM !Tremere:4
1x Lectora 3 aus tha !Tremere:4
1x Saiz 3 aus dom !Tremere:3


Library [80 cards]

Action [10]
1x Aranthebes, The Immortal
4x Bum's Rush
5x Computer Hacking

Action Modifier [6]
1x Conditioning
5x Mirror Walk

Ally [11]
1x Carlton Van Wyk (Hunter)
9x Nephandus (Mage)
1x Ossian

Combat [15]
3x Dodge
2x High Ground
4x Molotov Cocktail
6x Trap

Equipment [2]
1x Heart of Nizchetus
1x Sport Bike

Event [2]
2x Unmasking, The

Master [20]
4x Blood Doll
2x Direct Intervention
2x Frontal Assault
2x Information Highway
1x KRCG News Radio
5x Memories of Mortality
1x University Hunting Ground
1x WMRH Talk Radio
2x Wash

Reaction [14]
6x Deflection
7x On the Qui Vive
1x Poison Pill