Coming late to the party, I felt like I wanted a Diana deck. I am not sure if it is a good idea now, when people are trying out new Sabbat politics decks everywhere, and there are tons of votes on tables because everyone is a Baron, but still. Toreador voting decks are a classic; they have good offense through Camarilla politics, good crypt that, in modern times, gives them multi-act capability, and efficient defense against many types of offense, plus bloat.

Not being a great deck builder, I usually scour TWDA for inspiration. I skipped entries using the Toreador Grand Ball, which I am not a big fan of. I find it hard to play well because it adds a game sub-objective to efficiently maintain the TGB in play, which is not a problem in some games but is hard in others.

I liked the tap-and-bleed offensive element in the Girl walks into PoG deck by Ben Szymkow, who won the 2025 Oceania Continental Championship with it and decided to steal get inspired by it.

Decklist

Deck Name: Girl walks into PoG
Author: Ben Szymkow / Petr Muller (modded)

Crypt (12 cards, min=25 max=36 avg=7.67)
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4x Diana Iadanza      9 AUS CEL FOR PRE   justicar   Toreador:7
3x Catalina Vega      8 AUS CEL PRE for   prince     Toreador:6
2x Flávio Gonçalves   7 CEL PRE aus for   prince     Toreador:6
2x Mkhokheli          6 PRE aus cel for   prince     Toreador:6
1x Maila              6 AUS PRE cel       primogen   Toreador:6

Library (90 cards)
==================
Master (16)
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1x Anarch Troublemaker
2x Art Museum
1x Camarilla Conclave
1x Creepshow Casino
1x Direct Intervention
1x Dreams of the Sphinx
1x Fortitude
5x Grooming the Protégé
1x Monastery of Shadows
2x Visit from the Capuchin

Action (9)
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7x Enchant Kindred
2x Entrancement

Political Action (17)
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1x Anarchist Uprising
2x Ancilla Empowerment
2x Banishment
3x Camarilla's Iron Fist
1x Disputed Territory
1x First Tradition: The Masquerade
1x Kine Resources Contested
6x Parity Shift

Action Modifier (30)
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2x Aire of Elation
6x Forced March
3x Freak Drive
5x Loup
4x Perfect Paragon
3x Under the Skin
7x Voter Captivation

Action Modifier/Combat (4)
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4x Resist Earth's Grasp

Action Modifier/Reaction (4)
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4x Scalpel Tongue

Reaction (4)
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2x Second Tradition: Domain
2x Telepathic Misdirection

Combat (6)
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2x Charismatic Aura
4x Majesty

I only modified the original deck very lightly, adding Disputed Territory instead of Expulsion and Kine Resources Contested instead of Neonate Breach. I am somewhat skeptical about the ratio of Parity Shift against Camarilla Iron Fist because I dislike how hard it sometimes is to oust. The amount of bleed bounces and S:CE also seems low, but I did not want to modify the deck too heavily before getting some games with it.

Ousting

The combination of Grooming the Protege, Enchant Kindred, and bloat from politics should allow us to have three vampires out consistently. Each has the ability to play politics, pass the vote with negotiation or forced abstentions, and sometimes tap a blocker in the process. Most vampires can then unlock and bleed afterward. The deck has a wide range of stealth increase effects, but many are situational, so proper sequencing is essential. Diana should call important politics because of her ability. It is harder to oust with Parity Shift than with Camarilla's Iron Fist or KRC, so it should primarily be used to reduce the pool, setting up an oust with another vote or bleed. Per-minion damage votes can be set up to collapse tables.

It is not realistic to expect having a vote lock with three minions on most tables nowadays, so pushes through effects like Perfect Paragon, Camarilla Conclave, or forced abstentions may help, but negotiation is often preferable to save the unconditional resources. Sometimes a pesky voter may be removed through Banishment, which is most effective against prey’s barons low on blood.

Survivability

Under most circumstances, the deck should bloat pool rather well through Enchant Kindred, Voter Captivation, and Parity Shift, and also save pool to influence vampires via Grooming the Protege. Predators will expect bounces, and sometimes I will indulge them, although I am generally nervous about their low amount and the lack of wakes because I think, at most times, my vampires will be tapped doing actions. Problematic actions can be blocked with the Second Tradition, but given the low amount, I would not rely on it too much.

Likes

It obviously thrives on tables where it can achieve a vote lock on its own, but that is rare nowadays. But the common state where people randomly have titled vampires is not the end of the world. Many votes can be negotiated with someone, either by offering some direct benefit from the vote (like pool gain from Parity Shift when its primary purpose is the damage done) or trading for another favor in the game.

Risks

The main threat is another dedicated political deck at the table, especially when that deck is running more or stronger titles (two Inner Circles beat a Justicar with a pair of Princes support). This situation can still be carefully navigated through forced abstentions, but they are a precious resource in such cases. Very often, there will be a kingmaking third player with a voter or two who may help either side. They usually do so and benefit from that; the situation where two players ally and hold a lock together must be avoided at all costs.

Combat

Combat-wise, some S:CE should help occasionally, but not against a dedicated rushing deck. Majesty should be used with awareness of its necessity for combat defense. Without a threat, they can be used as another multi-act enabler or to enable a single minion to block two actions, but at other times, it is essential to save them to survive combats. As a secondary combat defense, Charismatic Aura can protect against Immortal Grapple. Flávio Gonçalves has a built-in dodge, which can be surprisingly effective against some combats, and the maneuver from Resist Earth's Grasp may protect a vampire from a close-range combat, if needed. It may be helpful to keep vampires with enough blood to survive combat. It is not hard to replenish blood with a Voter Captivation.

Backbone Cards

• Diana Iadanza is basically a star vampire of the deck, providing three votes and the ability to force an essential vote through a Delaying Tactics or Poison Pill. She has FOR so she can use Forced March for stealth increase. The built-in bleed bonus is not too shabby either.
• Enchant Kindred provides early acceleration and pool gain because the crypt forms a rather nice capacity chain. They can be used offensively later.
• Camarilla's Iron Fist / Parity Shift are the primary pool damage delivery mechanisms with broad negotiation options. They need a bit of game bookkeeping; Parity Shift may be hard to oust with and requires careful pool management, while Camarilla's Iron Fist is useless in the final duel.
• Forced March provides the crucial ability to multi-act, giving the deck the budget to four or five actions per turn, which matters a lot because most actions have a high impact.
• Under the Skin / Scalpel Tongue not only provides high swings in voting power but can also lock a blocker (Under the Skin does not require them to even participate in voting)

Early Game

The early game is dedicated to building resources through the likes of Grooming the Protege or Enchant Kindred, and only opportunistically getting through a bleed or a vote if the situation allows. Building up should always have priority, and wasting resources on an early damage vote that would need to be pushed through with modifiers is rarely worth it. I do not want to give my prey any reason not to overextend and dedicate their resources to defense. Let them spend the pool themselves; every pool they pay for does not need to be forcibly removed. At the same time, I want to manage my predator so that I do not need to engage in an offensive race. Aggressive decks may be slowed down with a Banishment or even by removing enough of their pool so they cannot afford a third or fourth minion.

Late Game

Sometimes the table can be bulldozed by sheer power, but that usually results from being lucky with seating or opponents without counterplay against voting decks. The politics offer a lot of control over the table, so it is essential to avoid missing opportunities to win the game by helping someone get a VP or two (usually they would otherwise gain none and be screwed). I need to be aware of how many copies of Parity Shift and Camarilla's Iron Fist I have played, because the former is tricky to play from being forward, and the latter is outright unplayable in final duels.

Experience and Ideas

• Anarch Troublemaker, Dreams of the Sphinx, and Direct Intervention seem auto-included. They are not highly synergistic with what the deck is doing, beyond simply being good cards. I can see them traded for something that supports the decks more strongly.
• Fortitude seems a bit cute; it will either enable a superior Forced March or Freak Drive for the Princes, or an inferior one for Maila. This may have value, but I wonder if it is worth a master slot.
• Annabelle Triabell has a powerful special and even inferior fortitude, but for that capacity, I would need her to be a Prince or have a bleed bonus.
• I am generally pessimistic about the low number of bleed bounces and zero wakes, and I do not see a high value for two copies of Second Tradition. I am tempted to use a much more traditional reaction module: more bounces and wakes, maybe Eyes of Argus, but I am not sure what to cut.
• Unholy Penance could be a good S:CE alternative that supports the bleed theme.
• Heart of the City could be a nice support for the bleed theme, as the action cost is mitigated by multi-act and Voter Captivation mitigates the blood cost. It is a bit clunky with Diana and Catalina, who both already have a bonus, making them permanently vulnerable to Archon Investigation.