Deck Archetypes: Palla Grande

The "Palla Grande" deck has won numerous VtES tournaments in the past and the essence of this deck archetype is still untouched since the early tournament wins. The deck is basically a Breed & Bleed deck based on "Toreador antitribu" vampires and the master card "Palla Grande", which gives all "Toreador antribu" in play +1 bleed while the card is in play (which is usually three turns). Early on the deck tries to build up, generating pool and bringing new vampires via "The Embrace" into play. After the initial build-up which can last several turns, the deck then brings a "Palla Grande" into play, giving all of its "Toreador antitribu" vampires the above mentioned extra +1 bleed, and tries to overwhelm its prey with a superior number of vampires.

How to win with them
The deck is best summarized by the label "Breed & Bleed". At first it brings out a few vampires and plays a number of "Embraces" and occasionally a subsequent "Thin Blooded Seer". In addition the deck bloats with "Art Scam" and "Tribute to the Master" and/or "Blood Dolls" in the build-up phase. In the early and sometimes mid-game the deck tries to appear inconspicuos, all the while waiting for having enough minions (in comparison to its prey) and (hopefully) its prey going down lower on pool (e.g. by spending for equipment, locations or new minions).

If the deck has build up enough momentum a "Palla Grande" is played, often preceded by "Anarch Troublemaker" in the turn before. So in the best case, the "Anarch Troublemaker" can be used to tap two potential blocker of its prey. Then the bleeding starts, this can be solely based on the "Palla Grande", but the bleeds can also be enhanced by using "Enchant Kindred", "Entrancement" or other cards requiring "Presence". To avoid damage to the bleeding vampires usually a "Dodge" is often used instead of "Majesty", since "Majesty" (although generally is the better card) cannot be played by the "Embraces" or the "Thin Blooded Seers". More importantly the deck usually packs some "Change of Target" to protect key vampires like "Jost Werner" from being caught in combat or to draw out "On the Qui Vive" and the like.

The deck archetype uses extensively cards requiring "Toreador Antitribu". The above mentioned cards "Palla Grande" for boosting bleeds and "Art Scam" to generate extra pool as well as "Patronage" for untapping (actively) its own vampires.

The deck can also take the bloat direction by playing "Foundation Exhibit" (another card requiring and "Consanguineous Boon". The first card to give all untitled "Toreador Antitribu" an additional vote, which the helps to pass the "Consanguineous Boon" to gain larger amounts of pool.

Bleed defense
The deck always tries to spend on vampires (brought into play from the crypt) as little as possible, since it has other ways of bringing a whole lot of minions into play. This leaves the deck a comfortable pool cushion to start with. Also the bloating done by "Tribute to the Master" and "Blood Dolls" is used as defensive provision. Surprisingly not all of the different variants of the deck archetype pack "Auspex" based bleed bounce ("Telepathic Misdirection") or bleed reduction ("Telepathic Counter") into their decks, not wanting to dilute the offensive capability of the deck and relying solely on their bloat capabilities.

Vote defense
As with bleed defense the deck relies on bloating in the first place. "Delaying Tactics" is also seen in some of these decks, but not as widely spread as one would expect in deck with no inherent votes/titles. Decks featuring "Consanguineous Boon" also rely on "Foundation Exhibit", but this is rather weak defense since the card be removed so easily.

Combat defense
Combat defense is very weak, only offering a handful of either "Dodges" or "Majesties". Only the variant which sports "Vicissitude" has some pretty hefty hitback with "Chiropteran Marauder" and "Breath of the Dragon". The deck usually tries to withstand the onslaught of a combat deck by its minion's number, but faced with "Tension in the Ranks" or "Dragonbound" it's hard to survive for the "Toreador antitribu".

How to win against them
The first directive for stopping this kind of deck is, that you have to stop it before the wave (read: weenie horde) has been built up. One of the main weaknesses of the deck is the lack of stealth. All actions are at +1 stealth only, so persistent blocking is the way to go. If faced with blocking only a few of the actions, I would recommend to block either block the recruit or the hunt actions after the block in the early game, but this only makes sense if you put the acting minion to torpor.

Playing "Aranthebes, the Immortal" helps to a certain degree, but usually the bigger vampires will then try to remove the "Aranthebes" first, before the horde of smaller vampires bleed then. If if the "Aranthebes" stays in the game the weenies still bleed for one when the "Palla Grande" is in play.

The real killer is "Atonement", although it can be removed similar to removing an "Aranthebes", the ability not tap for blocking younger vampires is helping a lot. Give the minion with the "Atonement" a ".44 Magnum" or "Sniper Rifle" and the "Toreador antitribu" will have a hard time.

What also slows the deck down is packing a number of "Washes" or "Sudden Reversals". When played against the "Anarch Troublemaker" or the "Palla Grande" it does not stop the horde of vampires from bleeding you, but they do it less effectively.

Key Cards

• "Palla Grande" -- the name giver of the deck, adding +1 bleed to all "Toreador antritribu" while the card is in play.
  
• "Embrace" -- a way to recruit more "Toreador antribu" vampires, albeit not a cheap one.
  
• "Change of Target" -- the key for acting without stealth, though it does not make the action succesful, the card at least prevents a subsequent combat.
  
• "Art Scam" -- basic pool generation for the deck.
  

Notable Examples & Variations
There are several variants to this deck. all adding a specific flavour to the basic deck archetype, ranging from stealth enhanced variants to those adding the "War Ghoul" ally.

• Basic variant "Bleed & Breed" variant -- see description above.
  
• "Jost on GHB" by Bram Vink -- see complete decklist below.
  
• "Second Chance to Embrace" by Christian Chenard -- the NAQ 2006 winning deck.
  
• "Baratas '07" by David Magri da Silva -- adds Gehenna Events to slow down other decks, since the deck itself plays no cards requiring disciplines.
  
• "Palla Grande" by César Brera -- adds more reaction cards to have some defensive capabilties.
  
• "Simply Irresistible" by Gines Quinonero-Santiago -- also has some defensive capabilties, but added a large number of "Entrancement" doubling as bleed cards as well as offensive against the popular ally decks in general and Imbued decks in particular.
  
• "Palla Grande" by James Messer -- adds some allies (most notably a number of "Procurers").
  
• Variant w/ "Foundation Exhbit" and "Consanguineous Boon" -- uses these two cards for generating vast amounts of pool.
  
• "ExhibitBoon" by François Morand.
  
• Variant w/ "Vicissitude" -- adds stealth modifiers as well as combat cards based on "Vicissitude".
  
• "Orgy of Flesh" by Ethan Burrow.
  
• Variant w/ "Vicissitude" & "War Ghouls" -- mixes the "Palla Grande" with the "War Ghoul" deck archetype to remove any blockers/bouncers before starting to bleed for real.
  
• "Paella y Tortilla de Patata" by Iñaki Puigdollers.
  
• "Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Marko Saari.

Sample Decklist

Gather: Utrecht
Utrecht, Netherlands
September 6th, 2003
29 players

Deckname: Jost on GHB
Created by: Bram Vink

Crypt (12 cards) - [avg=4.83]
4 Jost Werner
1 Ian Wallingford
1 Sheila Mezarin
1 Creamy Jade
1 Mercy, Knight Inquisitor
2 Remilliard, Devout Crusader
2 Carter

Liberary (90 cards)
Master (32 cards)
4 Anarch Troublemaker
1 The Coven
1 Fetish Club Hunting Ground
8 Life in the City
5 Misdirection
5 Palla Grande
4 The Parthenon
4 Tribute to the Master

Action (19 cards)
1 Art Scam
9 The Embrace
4 Mind Numb
3 Revelation
2 Entrancement

Action Modifier (9 cards)
9 Change of Target

Combat (12 cards)
5 Fake Out
7 Majesty

Reaction (18 cards)
7 Telepathic Misderection
8 WwEF
3 Delaying Tactics