Clans, Disciplines, and Strategies
This is a guide on the basic clan/discipline combinations and some
suggestions for strategies and deck types with them. This is primarily for
people newer to Jyhad as there are many, many, possible strategies within
each group. I'm also only talking about basic combinations of clans, and
relying on uses of their "natural" disciplines. There are ways to use
out-of-clan disciplines or to design decks based on combinations of
disciplines not "naturally" available within the clan structure, but that's
beyond the scope of this article.
I use some terminology from my 2 clan decks.
Clan Combinations
In Jyhad, when matching crypt and library, a critical goal is to ensure that
most of your cards can be used by most of your vampires. Now with many cards
(equipment, disciplineless actions) this simply isn't a problem. But the
core of most Jyhad decks is their disciplines, so you need to be sure that
your disciplinary cards match well with your vampire Disciplines. This puts
some contraints on you. Potence and Protean can be a really cool
combination, but not many vampires have both. To keep things reliable and
simple, stick to combinations of disciplines where you can find many smaller
vampires combining the disciplines. These combinations are largely dictated
by clan disciplines.
Abbreviations
- ANI Animalism
- AUS Auspex
- CEL Celerity
- DOM Dominate
- FOR Fortitude
- OBF Obfuscate
- POT Potence
- PRE Presence
- PRO Protean
- THA Thaumaturgy
Here are the basic clan combinations. For each combination, there are primary
disciplines (available to most of the available vampires), and secondary
disciplines (available to a significant minority). If you use a secondary
discipline, you should pump it up a bit with the appropriate skill card, but
always focus on your primary disciplines. Disciplines in all caps are
primary disciplines, those in lowercase are secondary. * after a lowercase
discipline indicates it's a little easier to use than usual.
- Ventrue DOM, FOR, PRE
- Malkavian AUS, DOM, OBF
- Tremere AUS, DOM, THA
- Toreador AUS, CEL, PRE
- Brujah CEL, PRE, POT
- Nosferatu ANI, OBF, POT
- Gangrel ANI, FOR, PRO
And the combinations:
- Vent-Malk DOM for pre aus obf
- Vent-Trem DOM for pre aus tha
- Vent-Tor PRE dom for aus cel
- Vent-Bru PRE dom for cel pot*
- Vent-Gang FOR dom pre ani pro
- Malk-Trem AUS DOM obf tha
- Malk-Tor AUS dom obj cel pre
- Malk-Nos OBF aus dom ani pot
- Trem-Tor AUS dom tha cel* pre
- Tor-Bru CEL PRE aus pot
- Bru-Nos POT cel pre ani obf
- Nos-Gang ANI obf pot* for* pro
There is also the disciplineless deck.
Now, comments on the clans and combinations, with an outline of a playable
deck for each.
- Ventrue: DOM, FOR, PRE "We're the Boss"
- Offense: Prince Vote. Ventrue are superlative voters, with 3 Princes,
the Ventrue Headquarters, and the Presence displine.
- Bleed defense: Bleed bounce with Deflection.
- Combat defense: Survive combat with Fortitude or avoid combat with
Majesty.
- Vote defense: Debate. You'll have votes galore.
- Malkavian: AUS, DOM, OBF "Night Stalkers"
- Offense: Sneak and Bleed. Malkavians are superb bleeders, combining
dominate + bleed cards with Obfuscate stealth.
- Bleed defense: Intercept with Auspex
- Combat defense: Fight back: guns, dodges, and Disguised Weapon
- Vote defense: Intercept with Auspex
- Tremere: AUS, DOM, THA "The Coven"
- Offense: Bruise and Bleed. Tremere run a classic Bruise and Bleed.
Use the Dominate + bleed cards with Thaumaturgy strikes and
disciplineless presses.
- Bleed defense: Intercept with Auspex
- Combat defense: Fight back: Thaumaturgy strikes and Movement of the Mind.
- Vote defense: Intercept with Auspex.
- Toreador AUS, CEL, PRE "Let's talk about this"
- Offense: Negotiated Vote. Toreador are good voters, with access to 2
princes, Bewitching Oration, Scorn of Adonis, and Telepathic Vote Counting.
- Bleed Defense: Bleed Bounce
- Combat Defence: Survive with Celeritous Dodges, Flashes, and Majesty
- Vote defense: Debate: lots of voters and a few Dread Gazes.
- Brujah CEL, PRE, POT "At least I'll kill you quickly"
- Offense: Rush Combat. Brujah form the ultimate rush combat deck. They
fight like demons with Celeritous Dodges, Celeritous Additional Strikes, and
Potence Damage.
- Bleed defense: Rush 'em first
- Combat defense: Fight Back plus Survive via Dodge
- Vote Defense: Rush the voters.
- Nosferatu ANI, OBF, POT "Assassins"
- Offense: Rush Combat. Nosferatu are a sneaky combat deck. Most rush
decks will end up fighting the vampire of the target's choice. Nosferatu,
however, fight the vampire of their choice with the stealth;
effectively they are assassins. Use disguised weapons and Potence strikes,
augmented by Hidden Lurker when necessary.
- Bleed defense: Rush.
- Combat Defense: Fight back. Guns, Flack Jackets, and IR goggles are
necessary.
- Vote defense: Rush
- Gangrel ANI, FOR, PRO "Earth First Enforcers"
The main Gangrel shtick is, of course, aggro Claw damage. They generally
need some intercept as torporization is of only moderate benefit unless you
can stop them from being hauled out. At the same time they just can't get
enough intercept for an adequate defence by itself.
- Offense: Combat (Mixed Rush and intercept)
- Bleed defense: Rush/intercept
- Combat defense: Survive (fortitude) (most good combat decks can deal with the
Claws)
- Vote defense: Rush/intercept
- Vent-Malk DOM for pre aus obf "The Star Chamber"
- Offense: Sneaky Prince Vote. The primary issue with vote decks is getting
the votes passed. However, if you face an opponent with good intercept, you
may also have trouble calling the vote. With this deck, Malkavians call
votes, under stealth, while permanent Ventrue votes make them pass.
- Bleed defense: Bleed Bounce
- Combat defense: Mix survive (Dodges, Majesty, and Fortitude) with No combat
(obedience, Elysium)
- Vote defense: Debate. Add Pulling Strings if necessary.
- Vent-Trem DOM for pre aus tha "You'll die with a smile on your face"
- Offense: Seductive Bleed. Seductive bleed is a Sneak & Bleed variant.
Use Seduction and Blood Bond to prevent vampires with intercept from blocking,
and Bonding at Superior to get past the rest. This combo has very good
Dominate, a must for Seductive Bleed.
- Bleed defense: Bleed Bounce
- Combat defense: Mix survive (Dodges, Majesty, and Fortitude) with No combat
(obedience, Elysium)
- Vote defense: Debate. Add Pulling Strings if necessary.
- Vent-Tor PRE dom for aus cel "Congress is in Session"
- Offense: Prince vote. This combination has the most powerful voting. 5
of the 9 princes are members of these clans, plus lots of Presence and access
to all the +vote/vote influence cards. You'll need some Praxis Solomon.
- Bleed defense: Bleed Bounce
- Combat defense: A problem. Should be No Combat via Majesty, but in that
quantity it gets abusive. Combine No Combat via Majesty with Survive via
Dodges (both Celeritous and disciplineless)
- Vote defense: Debate. Ask people to call votes so you can Elder Kindred
Network them.
- Vent-Bru PRE dom for cel pot* "Sicilian Politics"
- Offense: Prince vote. This combination is best described as "vote for me
or I'll beat you up". Use mostly Brujah smaller vampires and Brujah skills
(heavy on Presence). Use all the Ventrue with Potence or Celerity. A little
rush (including Archon and Bloodhunt) helps you get combat cards out of your
hand if necessary.
- Bleed defense: Rush and Bounce
- Combat defense: A mix of all three, Torn Signpost, Celeritous Dodges and
Majesty.
- Vote defense: Debate. Ask people to call votes so you can Elder Kindred
Network them.
- Vent-Gang FOR dom pre ani pro "Go to Hell"
- Offense: Rush Combat. This is a diablerization deck. Gangrel rush,
torporize, and diablerize. Ventrue make the bloodhunts fail. Throw in some
votes for spice.
- Bleed defense: Rush and Bounce
- Combat defense: Survive via Fortitude.
- Vote defense: Rush the voters, then Debate
- Malk-Trem AUS DOM obf tha "Mata Hari"
- Offense: Sneak and Bleed (heavy on bonding, add Seduction). This is very
much like a Malkavian deck.
- Bleed defense: Bleed Bounce, plus a little intercept
- Combat defense: Survive/Fight Back with combat equipment (mostly guns)
- Vote defense: Debate (add Pulling Strings), plus a little intercept
- Malk-Tor AUS dom obj cel pre "The Cops"
- Offense: Intercept Combat (with a little Bleed Bounce). This is a serious
gun intercept deck. Use lots of Auspex defensive cards. Malkavian Obfuscate
lets you count on getting guns. Toreador Celerity can really make them hurt.
- Bleed Defense: Intercept combat
- Combat Defense: Survive/Fight Back with guns.
- Vote defense: Intercept combat
- Malk-Nos OBF aus dom ani pot "Things that go Bump in the Night"
- Offense: Tap and Bleed. Add a number of smaller vampires (without much
regard to discipline), plus biggies with superior Obfuscate. Send the weenies
in to bleed, and if they get intercepted, Hidden Lurker the interceptor and
squash him with nasty Disguised Weapons.
- Bleed Defense: Rush and Bleed Bounce
- Combat Defense: Fight Back with Hidden Lurker and nasty surprises
- Vote Defense: Rush and Debate
- Trem-Tor AUS dom tha cel* pre "Mages on Speed"
- Offense: Intercept combat. In an exception to my usual suggestion, put in
a number of Thaumaturgy and Celerity skill cards. Go heavy on the Tremere.
The goal is additional strikes and presses plus Thaumaturgy cards or guns.
- Bleed defense: Intercept (with a little Bleed Bounce)
- Combat defense: Survive (Dodges) or Fight Back (additional strikes)
- Vote defense: Intercept
- Tor-Bru CEL PRE aus pot "Let's try that again"
- Offense: Tap and Bleed. The trick here is to tap vampires with Anarch
Troublemakers, Consangious Condemnations, Distractions, whatever. Charge in
to bleed with Social Charm/Legal Manipulations.
- Bleed defense: Bleed Bounce (mostly Telepathic Counter)
- Combat defense: Survive (Flash/Sideslip/Vampiric Speed)
- Vote defense: Debate
- Bru-Nos POT cel pre ani obf "Demon Rush"
- Offense: Rush combat. Lots of little vampires lets you get off the ground
in a hurry. Rush 'em, trap 'em, pound 'em. With small vampires, you can
afford the time to get equipment.
- Bleed defense: Rush
- Combat defense: Fight back (you will need Flak Jackets/IR Goggles)
- Vote defense: Rush
- Nos-Gang ANI obf pot* for* pro "The Wild Kingdom"
- Offense: Combat (mixed Rush and Intercept). The idea here is to pop out
your animal retainers and then untap to block. Potence and Fortitude will
enhance your combat.
- Bleed defense: Rush and intercept.
- Combat defense: Survive (Fortitude/Dodge) or Fight Back
- Vote defense: Rush and intercept.
- Disciplineless "The Swarm"
- Offense: Tap and Bleed. Fill your crypt with all 6 Caitiff (Uriah is
optional, tho) and about 12 2 blood vampires. Put in Effective Management,
Change of Target, lots of Dodges and some defensive combat equipment (small
guns, IR goggles, Flak Jackets). (Computer Hacking optional). Bleed like
crazy - he can't block 'em all! This is a Jyhad equivalent to the weenie
deck-it has weak defenses and simply tries to oust its prey first.
- Bleed defense: None really.
- Combat Defense: Survive (Dodges and combat equipment)
- Vote defense: Debate (Surprise Influence and Delaying Tactics)