Luis Duarte and I conversed several times since last month's Newsletter, and in 
those meetings Luis was kind enough to share with me one of his Gangrel wall 
decks.  Although Luis doesn?t recommend it for tournament play, he's had a lot 
of fun and a lot of success playing this deck in his local playgroup.  I 
haven't had a chance to play it myself, but I am dying to sink my fangs into 
it.  I now present to you Luis?s "The Scorpion Deck."

"The Scorpion Deck"
Gangrel Combat (Animalism/Protean)

Name                    Clan /Cap.      Disciplines     
(2x) Gitane St. Claire  Gangrel, 7      ANI PRO FOR     
(3x) Gunther            Gangrel, 7      ANI for pro aus 
(3x) Bear Paw           Gangrel, 5      ANI for pro pre 
Roman Alexander         Gangrel, 4      ani pro for     
Anastasia Grey          Gangrel, 3      ani pro         
Luther                  Gangrel-A, 6    ANI pro for obt 
Caitlin                 Gangrel-A, 5    ANI PRO dom aus

Average Vampire age: 5.67
Average opening crypt draw: 22.67 
Maximum draw: 28
Minimum draw: 17

Total Library Size: 90 cards

Action: 9
· Bum?s Rush (4)
· Ambush (2)
· Army of Rats (1) 
· Atonement (2)

Combat: 38
· Flesh of Marble (7)
· Drawing Out the Beast (7)
· Carrion Crows (4)
· Scorpion Sting (8)
· Claws of the Dead (5)
· Wolf Claws (3)
· Skin of Rock (4)

Equipment: 3
· Flak Jacket 
· Sport Bike (2)

Master: 16
· Haven Uncovered (3)
· Blood Doll (3)
· Vulnerability (2)
· Protean (2)
· Unnatural Disaster 
· Dreams of the Sphynx
· Zoo HG
· KRCG News Radio
· Ecoterrorits
· Archon Investigation

Reaction: 18
· Forced Awakening (10) 
· Cat's Guidance (8) 

Retainer: 6
· Mr. Winthrop 
· Dog Pack (3) 
· Raven Spy (2) 

Strategy: Get 2 or 3 vampires out, especially Gunther and/or Gitane.  Gunther 
is important for his ability to untap at the end of the turn.  Bear Paw can be 
very useful in stopping Weenie decks (especially with the Atonement).  Start 
equipping and hiring Raven Spies to get permanent intercept, since Cats 
Guidance will be needed to untap later in the game.  Initiate combat, trusting 
Flesh of Marble to prevent massive amounts of damage.  Aggravate the Scorpion 
Sting strikes to send opponents to torpor as soon as possible. Try to block 
their way out from torpor without diablerizing them; use Vulnerability to burn 
them instead.  Use Dog Pack's to kill S:CE decks (Vote decks), and Scorpion 
Sting to kill dodge decks (Stealth & Bleed, Weenie Dominate, etc.).  Remember 
10 of the 12 crypt vampires have superior Animalism.  You shouldn?t need any 
more than 3 vampires ready to raise a mighty aggro-wall!

Result: An effective deck against almost kind of decks, since:
1.  It has intercept that increases during the course of  the game, as your 
minions will have access to Raven Spy, Sport Bike, Mr. Winthrop, Atonement, 
KRCG News Radio and of course Cats Guidance!
2.  It prevents massive damage using Flesh of Marble.
3.  It inflicts aggravated damage, and damage can get up to 5 points in the 
first round through other environmental factors (DotB, Carrion Corws).
4.  It has a nice pool-gaining engine, through Zoo HG/Blood Doll, Ecoterrorists 
and Dreams of the Sphynx.
5.  Dodges are totally inefficient, and S:CE can be stopped using Dog Pack.
6.  Worry about rush combat? From who? The guy in torpor? ;)
7.  After the wall is raised, most players will turn against you in anger, 
since you're the major threat on the table!

Bleed defense: It relies in permanent intercept and untap capability, but more 
importantly it relies on its aggressiveness.  Initiate combat against the bleed 
decks.  Dominate bleed decks are shutdown down by the Scorpion Sting.  Presence 
bleed decks are killed by the Dog Pack.

Vote defense: Intercept and Dog Pack in combat (or Atonement).

Combat defense: Flesh of Marble, Skin of Rock, Flak Jacket. Tell your opponents 
after you play Flesh of Marble, that you will also be playing: superior Drawing 
Out the Beast, superior Carrion Crows, Scorpion Sting, and Claws of the Dead. 
On second thought, they?ll figure it out after one or two demoralizing defeats.

Weakness: A bad hand in this deck can be your major threat.  Heavy Stealth and 
Bleed can be faster sometimes, and will cause you serious pool damage, in the 
initial rounds until your wall is raised.  Cross-table votes (such as Parity 
Shifts and KRC) can easily destroy your pool (this is a social game and 
everyone will hate you!).  Some weenie-type decks can kill you very quickly if 
you have a bad hand and no
Atonements in play.

Possible Changes: Add 2 more Atonements and 1 more Dog Pack, to increase its 
efficiency against weenies and vote decks.  Guardian Angel might be useful 
against the stealth bleed.  Sudden Reversal is always handy.  If you are short 
7 Flesh of Marble cards (it is rare), then you could replace them with Skin of 
Steel.

Rules: Official DCI-rules.

Deck by: Luis Duarte