Monday, August 8, 2011

Sidekicks

According to Wikipedia a "sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies". In VtES you often have sidekicks, too, especially in decks where a star vampire is accompanied by several smaller vampires. They do the dirty work, the bloating & hunting, rescuing their masters from torpor or just throwing themselves before any threat.

But a different detail caught my attention lately. From time to time you see minions in the deck lists (usually the crypt), who don't seem to fit into the deck in terms of clan or disciplines. But their special ability is so good, that the lack of non-conformity is far outweighed.

Examples for these generic sidekicks are:
  • Beatrice 'Oracle171' Tremblay -- the built-in +1 bleed for only 3 pool and 1 to 3 Convictions make Beatrice a cheap, effective bleed module.
  • Andre LeRoux -- the latest sidekick worth of note, he's especially good in beat-down deck with lots of vampires, allowing Andre to bleed for large amounts once the opposing vampires have been subdued. So he's quite comparable to Codex of the Edenic Groundskeepers.
  • Michael Luther -- one of the first generic sidekick vampires; most often seen in vote decks he alone is able to swing a vote around. For some time now, Arishat and Kateline Nadasdy offer similar abilities, but Michael Luther is still the best of the lot.
  • Aksinya Daclau -- the only minion with a built-in bleed bounce ability; her capacity makes the sidekick status nearly ludicrous and some players claim that Aksinya is actually the real star in the "Girls will find ..." decks.
  • Mylan Horseed (Goblin) -- a cheap, yet robust ally who can successfully bleed. Therefore sometimes even seen in Camarilla decks or decks with no vampires with capacity of more than seven.
My question to you, dear readers, is what generic "sidekick" characters do you use or do you see in decks?
Hit Girl would make a terrific sidekick in any VtES deckPost Scriptum: Wikipedia also has the following information in the same article on Sidekicks:
"One of the earliest recorded sidekicks may be Enkidu, .."

14 comments:

Ossian said...

I am sad that you left out the GRReatest sidekick of them all, Ossian. He can put a little bit of cardless combat into every deck, for just the right situations.

Also, Carlton Van Wyk, general chump-blocker and diablerie deterrent.

Anonymous said...

Nicomedes for his shuffle special.
Luc in ever Obf with his Group.

Jake Washington for 1st turn recruits of Ossian or Carlton an for... dying ;)

Anonymous said...

My most prominent sidekick... that must be Eurayle.

http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=Eurayle%20Gelasia%20Mylonas

Untap my superstar?
Awesome.
Continuous refills with Renewed Vigor?
Nice.
Someone who can play Telepathic Misdirection at superior?
Convenient.
She's not cheap, but that's her only drawback.

Not a sidekick I use (only because I don't have the card), but one who would find a home in any G1-2 or 2-3 bleed deck, prominently with dominate:
Le Dinh Tho
http://www.secretlibrary.info/index.php?crypt=Le%20Dinh%20Tho

Le Dinh Tho: 5 pool.
Removing Bounce and Archon Investigation: Priceless.

Simidh said...

Cool post! Am going to have to have a think about this one and get back to you on my choice(s)... >;-)

Anonymous said...

Eurayle Gelasia Mylonas (Una) and Abdelsobek are pretty useful as sidekicks for big bad vampires that preferably act more than once each turn.

Anonymous said...

Anarch Convert is pretty common. it says right on the card, he can fit in "ANY" deck ;)

I'm surprised that I don't see the Imbued, Maman Boumba, as a sidekick to vampire decks as much as Beatrice. abilities to protect you from votes AND combat, plus the usual conviction tricks, she's very versatile.

floppyzedolfin said...

Kamel Senni played a Palla Grande deck, side-kicking Beast, the Leatherface of Detroit. The whole idea was to contest him and save the Embraces.

TorrancCircle said...

Well, another Toreador sidekick is Isabel De Leon. Three-cap with superior auspex for bouncing and can be used for Toreador Grand Ball.

TorrancCircle said...

Aisling Sturbridge makes a good sidekick in a Tremere Apportation/Walk of Flame deck.

Juggernaut1981 said...

My first sidekick had to be Alison Maller. She was always grabbing weapons and Sports Bikes and then being the frustrating wall of endless Wakes for my predator in my early Brujah Bleed'n'Smash.

But most popular:
Carlton
Mylan
Ossian
Eurayle
Watenda
Isabel de Leon...

Lagelous said...

Sean Rycek is a great dude to be added to a vote deck.

ModernGladiator said...

after a short while of pondering what to do with the knowledge of this article... I will try to include Anna "Dictatrix11" Suljic in a Shambler Deck... together with Houngan, Charisma and Perfectionist, this could work really well

Flarkit said...

Neighbour John's a cool sidey, as is Callirus

Jussi said...

Of course, there is Lorrie who is awesome Pentex remover and general threat to your predator.