Overview
The First Blood: Nosferatu introductory deck for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle is a control deck that is also capable of occasionally bleeding your prey at stealth and has the power to crush any vampires that get in your way.
In the early game, use your transfers wisely in order to get at least two vampires out who have superior Animalism, because your combat module entirely relies on that discipline.
Ideally, once you control any ready vampires, it is important for you to build up first and try to have them take actions to get permanent intercept retainers (Raven Spy) and permanent bleed enhancers (J. S. Simmons, Esq. or Laptop Computer). Later on, have them take either the Computer Hacking bleed actions or your vampires’ inherent bleed actions to bleed your prey.
If your prey attempts to block you, either play stealth action modifiers to get through, or try to send the blocking vampire to torpor in the resulting combat.
Additionally, there are other ways to make your prey burn pool:
· Army of Rats: Your prey burns 1 pool during each of your unlock phases.
· Fame: Play this master card on a ready vampire controlled by your prey, and try to enter combat with that vampire (either using Ambush or Gustaph Brunelle’s special ability), and send them to torpor to make your prey burn 3 pool.
Since this is a slow deck, your primary concern will be staying alive while setting up until you are ready to go for the oust. For this reason, this deck contains several cards that can make you gain pool:
· Blood Doll: You can gain 1 pool per turn for each Blood Doll you control.
· Powerbase: Montreal: You can use it to gain 1 pool per turn.
Naturally, another way of gaining pool is once your prey is ousted (you gain 6 pool!).
As to the defensive angle, blocking any action that deals pool damage to you (for example, bleed or political actions) will keep you in the game. Your deck contains many reaction cards that will allow your vampires to either block as if unlocked or unlock to block.
Should you find that there are any specific vampires controlled by your predator that systematically get through your intercept wall, you will have to attack such dangerous vampires and send them to torpor.
Your combat module is powerful indeed. Play Carrion Crows before range is determined. Then play Aid from Bats to maneuver to long range and strike for one. If both cards have been played at superior Animalism, the opposing minion will take a total of 3 damage, and you will get a press you can use to continue combat or to cancel a press played by the opposing minion.
Strategy tips
You should block any action that gives any advantage in combat to your predator or prey (for example, Ivory Bow or .44 Magnum) or that deals pool damage to you (for example, bleed or political actions).
In addition, it is highly advisable to block any action that moves blood to an uncontrolled vampire of your predator and, to a lesser extent, of your prey, because you do not want your predator to control a horde of minions.
If your predator is playing the First Blood: Malkavian deck and you have an unlocked vampire with permanent intercept, have that vampire attempt to block any action your predator takes, so that they run out of stealth action modifier cards.
On the other hand, if your predator is playing the First Blood: Malkavian deck and you do not have any vampire with permanent intercept, do not attempt to block any actions taken by your predator, so that they cannot play any stealth cards in hand and get their hand clogged with them.
You will rarely have a perfect hand, so good hand management is essential to increase your odds of winning. Therefore, always use a discard phase action to discard a card you do not need (usually stealth action modifier or combat cards).
And finally, make sure everything you do brings you one step closer to victory. Be patient, and do not let your emotions interfere.
How to build a competitive deck with two First Blood: Nosferatu decks
Since tournament legal Vampire: The Eternal Struggle decks consist of a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 90 library cards and a minimum of 12 crypt cards, you could combine two First Blood: Nosferatu decks in order to build a competitive deck meeting both requirements. It could look like this:
Crypt: (12 cards)
2 Beetleman
2 Benjamin Rose
2 Gustaphe Brunnelle
2 Harold Tanner
2 Jeremy ‘Wix’ Wyzchovsky
2 Petra
Library: (86 cards)
2 Animalism
6 Blood Doll
2 Fame
1 Labyrinth, The
1 Powerbase: Montreal
1 Slum Hunting Ground
4 Ambush
2 Army of Rats
4 Computer Hacking
1 J. S. Simmons, Esq.
2 Laptop Computer
4 Raven Spy
6 Cloak the Gathering
6 Lost in Crowds
12 Aid from Bats
10 Carrion Crows
4 Cats’ Guidance
6 Forced Awakening
4 Guard Dogs
4 Instinctive Reaction
4 On the Qui Vive
Good luck playing the First Blood: Nosferatu deck!
Note: This article can be downloaded with additional graphics in PDF format: How to play the First Blood Nosferatu deck
RELATED: How to play the First Blood: Malkavian deck
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