Wagner's Wet Dream

I want to bring out Brunhilde and a few Valkyries, then bleed with Undue Influence. Build power slowly and ideally let the prey overextend by not doing too many aggressive actions. Let others fear protean combat and +1 strength Valkyries. Bloat with Thing and build power by placing Propaganda of the Deed cards on board. Eventually, fire the big killing politics in three-player games.

This deck is a post-V5 version of my earlier Valkyrie deck. In this new version, I replaced some cards with their better alternatives released for Ministry, who have Presence and Protean in V5. The new version is also supposed to defend better because V5 brought some exciting reaction cards for Gangrel (Deep Ecology, Eyes of the Wild) and Anarchs (Bait and Switch, Organized Resistance).

I had some moderate success playing this deck (even the previous version, which I think was weaker, spending more blood and having worse defense), and it is a fun deck to play, but I would not take it to a high-stakes tournament, it is too janky and vulnerable for that.

Decklist

Deck Name: Wagner's Wet Dream
Author: Petr Muller
Description: Bring out Brunhilde and few Valkyries and bleed with Undue Influence.
             Build power slowly and ideally let the prey overextend by not doing
             too many aggressive actions. Let others fear protean combat
             and +1 strength Valkyries. Bloat with Things and build power by placing
             Propagandas on board. Eventually, fire the big killing politics in
             three-player games.

Crypt (12 cards, min=7 max=28 avg=4.25)
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6x Valkyrie 4 for pre pro Gangrel:3
3x Brunhilde (ADV)   8 pre ANI FOR PRO baron Gangrel:3
3x Anarch Convert 1 Caitiff:ANY

Library (76 cards)
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Master (13)
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1x Anarch Railroad
1x Carfax Abbey
2x Club Illusion
1x Coven, The
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Ecoterrorists
1x Ennoia's Theater
1x Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
1x Perfectionist
1x Powerbase: Los Angeles
1x Secure Haven
1x Sudden Reversal

Action (15)
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1x Rewilding
6x Thing
8x Undue Influence

Political Action (4)
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1x Consanguineous Boon
1x Reckless Agitation
2x Revolutionary Council

Action Modifier (19)
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4x Earth Control
3x Enchanting Gaze
2x Freak Drive
6x Propaganda of the Deed
4x Revelation of the Serpent

Reaction (16)
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6x Bait and Switch
2x Deep Ecology
2x Delaying Tactics
2x Eyes of the Wild
2x On the Qui Vive
2x Organized Resistance

Combat (9)
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4x Earth Meld
3x Form of Mist
2x Soak

Ousting

I want to chip away prey’s pool with Undue Influence, increase pressure with Club Illusion, and a few anarch +bleeds. Opportunistically, I can hit big with Revolutionary Council or Reckless Agitation, voted through by Brunhilde and Propagandas. These politics can be easily discarded when the situation is not right; Garibaldi-Meucci Museum can recur them later when needed.

The deck can semi-consistently bleed with multiple minions for 2-3 with stealth. Still, it cannot consistently stealth-deliver multiple actions through permanently intercepting minions such as allies with The Unmasking or wall decks. In that case, I want to try grinding the defenders down with Valkyries.

Survivability

The deck alone is not too pool-hungry. The basic functioning squad of Brunhilde and two Valkyries costs just 16 pool. The deck can bloat reasonably with Undue Influence and Thing, and when things go well politically, one Consanguineous Boon. Larger bleeds should be bounced with Bait and Switch. I have a modest untap/intercept module that I want to use to block important or annoying actions. A few Propagandas on board, together with Brunhilde’s Baron title, help avoid becoming the dumping ground for political collateral damage and slow down outright political predators.

The deck packs a lot of blood-gain masters because it tends to be quite blood-hungry, primarily when Club Illusion is used a lot. The blood-gain tech also allows the Valkyries to engage in combat, utilizing their +1 strength.

Likes

Low-pressure predators (who doesn’t, though, right?) and smaller amounts of bleeds that can be blocked and/or bounced.

Risks

The deck depends on Brunhilde, which can be beaten down (Secure Haven is there to help with that), preventing me from doing anything forward with Valkyries. Playing only three copies also means there’s a risk of missing one in the crypt, but I like the version with just three copies because a crypt without Brunhilde will usually have Anarch Convert copies that help to dig.

Ousting survival-oriented decks which never overextend is hard, especially when they bloat a lot. Except for the political actions, the deck has a modest upper limit on the damage it can do in a single turn, so heavy bloaters are problematic.

Another interesting weak spot is getting significant pool damage early. This can prevent the deck from smoothly playing some expensive masters that help maintain momentum, like Ecoterrorists or Carfax Abbey. The deck only regains pool slowly via Thing and Undue Influence.

Combat

The deck does not want to engage in combat too much. Of course, Brunhilde needs to be protected at all costs, and in the presence of a combat deck somewhere around, all available defense should be used to protect her: especially Earth Meld . Do not forget that Garibaldi-Meucci Museum is also an elysium for Anarchs (can end combat between two anarchs), not just recursion tech.

The Valkyries should not fear getting into combat in most cases. Their increased hand strike damage, combined with being semi-expendable and a reasonable amount of blood gain tech, should grant me a blood advantage against non-combat decks in a long game.

Backbone Cards

  • Carfax Abbey: efficiently replenishes the blood spent for Club Illusion and lost in combat
  • Club Illusion: basically doubles the ousting power
  • Garibaldi-Meucci Museum: allows drawing high-impact cards like Reckless Agitation or Revolutionary Council in a late game. I usually do not hesitate to recurse an Undue Influence copy to get the capability to bleed on stealth, basically for free.
  • Undue Influence: main bleed delivery card, combined with bloat
  • Earth Meld: primary combat defense
  • Revolutionary Council and Reckless Agitation with Propaganda of the Deed: hard-hitting politics for late-game with a good deal-making potential

Early Game

I want to bring out two Valkyries and a Brunhilde, depending on seating and availability of Things. With enough Things, bring a Valkyrie first, then start running Things to get out Brunhilde. Having a Valkyrie soon also allows to play Gangrel masters, so this sequence is usually preferable. In the absence of Things, it may be better to influence Brunhilde first, but that should be rare. Continue to influence as many Valkyries as possible while keeping above 10 pool. Try to smoothly and efficiently use my cards: try to land a bleed to put the Propaganda to the table, or play the Things to get more vampires out.

End Game

In the ideal case, I want to have at least three Valkyries (but more is better) and Brunhilde, with enough blood and a way to get more (ideally, Carfax Abbey). The deck has multiple ways how to close games, depending on the opponents, so I want to adapt accordingly (especially keep this in mind when selecting what to bring back with Garibaldi-Meucci Museum):

  • Some opponents will be most vulnerable to repeated bleeds for 2+ with stealth by multiple Valkyries.
  • Some opponents will be most vulnerable to a recursed Revolutionary Council.
  • Lastly, it is possible to outgrind opposing minions with Valkyries’ increased strength and good blood gain