The Effect of Imbued and why I think they're GOOD and BAD ..

Just my two cents on the much discussed imbued !

Why anyone could ever claim that imbued are only flavour and wouldn't
stand a chance of winning in tournaments is really beyond me !

Here's 5 reasons why I think that they are really good in tournament
play:

1) The ability to gain convictions in the untap and to choose from any
of 2 really good (Strike w. Conviction & 2nd Sight) and an ok
conviction (React w. Conviction) keeps focus (need stealth/intercept,
bleed/extra damage or a card to prevent sensory/entrancement etc.). The
risk of running out of forward motion is almost non-existing -
especially with Edge Explosion in play.

2) Determine has to be one of the most powerful cards in the game.
Since convictions almost have a life of their own outside the library
it is possible to stack up on determine (and play with as many as 10-15
in a deck w. 90 cards) without ending up not getting the convictions
you need.

3) Minions in a tournament deck will in most cases not be able to deal
a lot of damage in combat and often you will find that imbued actually
have an edge in combat vs. vampires especially if you play them with
stakes/gun or similar.

4) The simple fact that a lot of cards in other players decks cannot
target imbued, and you might end up with a predator that cannot use his
cards against you if you play an imbued deck. (even Seduction gets
nerf'ed on this account)

5) Two imbued w. cap 4 or less has +1 bleed, which gives quite an edge
(in more ways than one) in the beginning of the game.

6) Did I mention Determine ?

So far so good, now 5 reasons why I think they are BAD for the game:

1) The setup with the convictions in the untap-phase is too time
consuming - end of story.
A phase that would last 5-10 seconds (at most) takes from 15 sec. to a
couple of minutes each and every turn. Yaaaaaaaaawwwn !

2) Determine is just too good and too annoying. For a player that never
really liked D.I. having several actions cancelled a turn is really too
much. We're not playing Magic for God's sake. (Remember these are my
personal opinions, but feel free to flame me if you want)

3) Why on earth was one of the convictions made as a "prevent change of
controller" card ? Very few decks (if any) are focused on taking over
allies/minions from other players, why not just accept that this would
be the imbued decks downfall, since you hardly ever meet such a deck.
(And even without react with conviction they would still be able to try
to block an attempt to take over a minion)

4) In an already complex game the addition of even more rules just
tends to get people annoyed. Quote: "What did you say you gain an
additional conviction ? and another one from that one there, ok - and
you untap as well ? Hmm, just for doing one action, U sure you're right
about that ?"

5) Furthermore I find myself being a really insisting "play by the
rules" enforcer, when for the 5th time your prey with imbued in his
minion phase says" oh, I forgot to put a conviction on this one, is it
ok ?" - Normally I wouldn't mind a bit, but if it means a player has to
consider for 20 seconds which conviction he wants, I say no, even
though I don't like playing like that.

And Ok, the reasons why I think they're good for the game:

1) They really hose weenie/horde decks good, that's a plus !
(Being that weenie-decks are one of the strongest arch-types in the
game)

2) They are not that good against combat-decks, also a plus !
(Being that combat-decks is not the strongest arch-type in the game)

3) The versatility is nice, and combined with the fact that imbued
almost never play cards from the hand (hence you know they can do) it's
acceptable and not to overpowered.

4) All of a sudden when you play imbued decks you realize just how good
those discipline-less cards are and start playing them again ;o)

5) As an experienced player who has tried out almost every
game-mechanic it's nice to get new possibilities exploring other ways
to play the game we love so much. And all said I really like the
NoR-expansion except for a few unbalanced cards.

DJ Mik

djmikkel RemoveThis @hotmail.com wrote:
> Just my two cents on the much discussed imbued !
>
> Why anyone could ever claim that imbued are only flavour and wouldn't
> stand a chance of winning in tournaments is really beyond me !
>
> Here's 5 reasons why I think that they are really good in tournament
> play:
>
> 1) The ability to gain convictions in the untap and to choose from any
> of 2 really good (Strike w. Conviction & 2nd Sight) and an ok
> conviction (React w. Conviction) keeps focus (need stealth/intercept,
> bleed/extra damage or a card to prevent sensory/entrancement etc.). The
> risk of running out of forward motion is almost non-existing -
> especially with Edge Explosion in play.

Thats true they really become bleed monsters very fast. most decks cant
handle when they get bleed for 2 with 1 stealth by 4-5 minions each
turn-

>
> 2) Determine has to be one of the most powerful cards in the game.
> Since convictions almost have a life of their own outside the library
> it is possible to stack up on determine (and play with as many as 10-15
> in a deck w. 90 cards) without ending up not getting the convictions
> you need.

Indeed it is ultra-annoying. Just recently I had all 4 minions action
in a turn determined...that isnt fun. What also strikes me as odd
fluffwise is that I can't find a good explanation why a cost of 1
measly convictions gains this uber-effect. So the hunter can deflect or
cancel some Action by Saulot for just one conviction but is somehow
unable to deal with some human ally that gets itself a weapon...strange

> 3) Minions in a tournament deck will in most cases not be able to deal
> a lot of damage in combat and often you will find that imbued actually
> have an edge in combat vs. vampires especially if you play them with
> stakes/gun or similar.

true. they destroy you or you them there just doesnt seem to be an
inbetween.

> 4) The simple fact that a lot of cards in other players decks cannot
> target imbued, and you might end up with a predator that cannot use his
> cards against you if you play an imbued deck. (even Seduction gets
> nerf'ed on this account)

I find this ultra-annoying. You play that toolboxy setite deck instead
of some stupid stealth bleed option and suddenly find your deck
completely hosed because your cards simply have no effect...

> 5) Two imbued w. cap 4 or less has +1 bleed, which gives quite an edge
> (in more ways than one) in the beginning of the game.

bleed rush is a real strength of the imbued

> 6) Did I mention Determine ?
>
> So far so good, now 5 reasons why I think they are BAD for the game:
>
> 1) The setup with the convictions in the untap-phase is too time
> consuming - end of story.
> A phase that would last 5-10 seconds (at most) takes from 15 sec. to a
> couple of minutes each and every turn. Yaaaaaaaaawwwn !

+ stockpiling of cards and hard to decipher virtues add to the
time-consuming things

> 2) Determine is just too good and too annoying. For a player that never
> really liked D.I. having several actions cancelled a turn is really too
> much. We're not playing Magic for God's sake. (Remember these are my
> personal opinions, but feel free to flame me if you want)

yep as above

> 3) Why on earth was one of the convictions made as a "prevent change of
> controller" card ? Very few decks (if any) are focused on taking over
> allies/minions from other players, why not just accept that this would
> be the imbued decks downfall, since you hardly ever meet such a deck.
> (And even without react with conviction they would still be able to try
> to block an attempt to take over a minion)
>
> 4) In an already complex game the addition of even more rules just
> tends to get people annoyed. Quote: "What did you say you gain an
> additional conviction ? and another one from that one there, ok - and
> you untap as well ? Hmm, just for doing one action, U sure you're right
> about that ?"

Totally true. This is really annoying

> 5) Furthermore I find myself being a really insisting "play by the
> rules" enforcer, when for the 5th time your prey with imbued in his
> minion phase says" oh, I forgot to put a conviction on this one, is it
> ok ?" - Normally I wouldn't mind a bit, but if it means a player has to
> consider for 20 seconds which conviction he wants, I say no, even
> though I don't like playing like that.
>
> And Ok, the reasons why I think they're good for the game:
>
> 1) They really hose weenie/horde decks good, that's a plus !
> (Being that weenie-decks are one of the strongest arch-types in the
> game)
>
> 2) They are not that good against combat-decks, also a plus !
> (Being that combat-decks is not the strongest arch-type in the game)
>
> 3) The versatility is nice, and combined with the fact that imbued
> almost never play cards from the hand (hence you know they can do) it's
> acceptable and not to overpowered.
>
> 4) All of a sudden when you play imbued decks you realize just how good
> those discipline-less cards are and start playing them again ;o)
>
> 5) As an experienced player who has tried out almost every
> game-mechanic it's nice to get new possibilities exploring other ways
> to play the game we love so much. And all said I really like the
> NoR-expansion except for a few unbalanced cards.
>
> DJ Mik

A good choice is using the imbued with Marthe Dizier as support vamp.
She can Cloak the imbued and play constant block machine with here
special +1 bleed isnt too shabby neither