This is a {{ vote }} & {{ bleed }} deck built on the legacy group 2 titled Lasombra {{ lasombra }}, one of the oldest shells in the game and still a quiet, regular winner. The crypt stacks Sabbat titles — {{ moncada }} the cardinal, the archbishops {{ antonio_delgado }}, {{ alvaro }} and {{ francisco }}, plus {{ gratiano }} and his extra ballot — and pops pool off the whole table with a thick pack of political actions. All of them opt for the Path of Power and the Inner Voice the moment they get influenced out.
As usual with {{ DOM }}, the plan is to get {{ moncada }} out first — {{ information_highway }} helps — and let him use {{ govern_the_unaligned }} at superior to build the second vampire. The real engine is blood cycling: {{ villein }} turns a fat Lasombra {{ lasombra }} into pool, and {{ unholy_sacrament }} and {{ magnetic_authority }} feed it back into the uncontrolled crypt, so the second big vampire hits the table in a couple of turns without the pool ever really dropping.
The votes do the ousting. {{ kine_resources_contested }} spreads damage and opens {{ negotiation }}, {{ cold_war }} pairs pool damage with location removal, and {{ empires_fall }} punishes big-capacity tables. A {{ toolbox }} of one-ofs — {{ banishment }}, {{ anarchist_uprising }}, {{ ancilla_empowerment }}, {{ war_of_ages }} — covers the rest. The native titles often lock the table on their own, with {{ power_structure }} and {{ powerbase_madrid }} on top.
Referendums get through on {{ shadow_play }}, reliable at superior since every crypt member carries superior {{ OBT }}, backed by {{ shroud_of_absence }} and a locked {{ elysian_fields }}. The same stealth serves the bleeds: {{ govern_the_unaligned }} on its inferior is a bleed, and the titled {{ gratiano }}, {{ alvaro }} and {{ francisco }} all bleed at a bonus. Once the game goes heads-up, those bleeds, on top of the votes, are what closes it.
Defense is {{ deflection }}, usually lock-free given all the superior {{ DOM }}, propped up by the crypt's own unlocks: {{ moncada }} frees another ready Lasombra {{ lasombra }} every discard phase and {{ antonio_delgado }} readies himself after a passed vote, so holding {{ deflection }} open and acting the same turn rarely compete. Combat is a token {{ sce }} package of {{ shadow_body }} and {{ oubliette }}.
Everything hinges on opening with {{ moncada }}: he is the vote lock, and his discard phase unlock is what lets the deck act every turn and still hold {{ deflection }} open. Joscha Düll's own post-mortem is that four copies in a 12 card crypt was one too few — play 5 in 13.
{{ regent }} won this deck its final: 4 votes on a second minion, who then gets the double choice on {{ cold_war }}. But the title paints a target — Sabbat vampires can rush the regent as a directed action — so it goes to the ash heap against combat-heavy Sabbat tables.
Pick the votes by the seating. {{ empires_fall }} is brutal into other big-cap decks and nearly blank into weenies — {{ neonate_breach }} is its mirror image — while {{ cold_war }} doubles as location removal in a location-heavy {{ meta }}. {{ alvaro }} banks 2 blood whenever he sits out a referendum, a small but steady income on wide tables.
The stealth package is deliberately lean and works in a tolerant meta; against dedicated blockers, more {{ shadow_play }} is the first tweak. Mind the crypt spread on the Potence {{ POT }} / Presence {{ PRE }} modifiers: {{ gratiano }} can only play {{ dominant_personality }} at inferior.
The archetype is decades old — it lived a long life as {{ parliament_of_shadows }}, described in the archive — and the 2025 Sabbat V5 set gave it its current shape, with {{ cold_war }}, {{ empires_fall }}, {{ magnetic_authority }} and {{ unholy_sacrament }} replacing the older vote and refill packages. Recent winning lists are remarkably close to one another, and the differences sit at the margins.
{{ nikica_novakovic_s_deck }}, winner of a 40-player event in 2026, runs the same five vampires in slightly different ratios but cuts combat cards entirely for five {{ obedience }}, goes deeper on {{ cold_war }} and {{ banishment }}, and adds {{ unthinkable_humiliation }} and {{ voter_captivation }} to tax blockers and refill after referendums.
{{ robert_dvoran_s_deck }} from 2024 shows the pre-Sabbat V5 shape, leaning on Presence {{ PRE }}: {{ marcus_vitel }} splits the crypt, {{ minion_tap }} stands in for {{ villein }}, and the ousting adds {{ iron_glare }} bleeds with {{ voter_captivation }} bloat, {{ freak_drive }} double actions and {{ majesty }} to walk out of combat. It is essentially the old Vitel build described on the {{ parliament_of_shadows }} page.
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