This is a one-vampire turbo {{ stealth_bleed }} engine starring {{ nergal }}, an established classic that has been quietly winning tournaments for years. The crypt is a single vampire in two versions, the base and {{ nergal_adv }}, and the whole library exists to make him work overtime: bleed big at stealth, summon the Great Beast, and never spend a turn locked.
{{ call_the_great_beast }} is the signature card: it burns the acting Baali {{ baali }} to drop a fresh 9-capacity infernal into play, but only once it carries 11 ritual counters — and it enters with counters equal to the Baali {{ baali }}'s capacity. The {{ dementation_card }} skill card raises {{ nergal }} to capacity 11, so the Beast arrives fully loaded and fires in a single action. Give it {{ FOR }}, {{ PRE }} and {{ OBF }} and it can pilot almost every card in the deck, {{ visions_of_zapathasura }} included.
{{ soul_gem_of_etrius }}, fetched with {{ magic_of_the_smith }}, turns the sacrifice into pure profit: because the burned {{ nergal }} was raised to capacity 11, the base-10 copy the Gem pulls from the crypt counts as younger and comes back at full blood wearing the Gem. Milk him with {{ villein }} beforehand and the {{ leeching }} loop nets pool, blood, and a second heavy hitter.
The bleeds are brutal: the base {{ nergal }} bleeds for 3 unassisted, {{ legal_manipulations }} and {{ aire_of_elation }} push that to 5 or 7 while regaining pool, with {{ lost_in_crowds }}, {{ elder_impersonation }} and {{ daring_the_dawn }} to get through. Both {{ nergal }} and the Beast are infernal and do not unlock normally, which is why the deck runs a heavy {{ freak_drive }} engine: it is the unlock phase and the action multiplier rolled into one.
Defense is thin but sharp: {{ unleash_hell_s_fury }} intercepts one direct action, {{ visions_of_zapathasura }} and {{ touch_of_clarity }} blunt the predator's bleeds, {{ archon_investigation }} caps the big ones, and {{ majesty }} ends the odd combat. {{ antediluvian_awakening }} is a classical turbo deck trick: a way to destroy (and refresh) a torpored {{ nergal }} wearing the {{ soul_gem_of_etrius }}.
The deck is built to punch through the classic bleed defenses: {{ perfect_clarity }} makes an action immune to {{ dom }} and {{ pre }} reactions, {{ hide_the_mind }} and {{ i_am_legion }} cancel the {{ aus }} {{ bounces }}, and {{ narrow_minds }} taxes whatever remains. Do not spend these early — hold them for the {{ lunge }} that ousts.
The two versions play differently: the base {{ nergal }} discounts a card each turn, so a {{ freak_drive }} or {{ legal_manipulations }} is regularly free, while {{ nergal_adv }} taxes reactions and buys his own stealth. Keep a pool in reserve to unlock manually on turns when no {{ freak_drive }} shows up. Note that with the {{ dementation_card }} and the Gem in place, even an opposing {{ archon_investigation }} merely recycles {{ nergal }}.
A good third of the library is singletons and pairs, so hand management matters: {{ heart_of_nizchetus }} — the other {{ magic_of_the_smith }} target — filters the draw, backed by {{ visit_from_the_capuchin }}, {{ monastery_of_shadows }}, {{ dreams_of_the_sphinx }} and {{ the_bitter_and_sweet_story }} for hand size.
{{ society_of_leopold }} is a nasty gift for a problem blocker — a standing blood tax the bearer can only shed by passing it on, so expect it to travel. {{ enkil_cog }} gives {{ nergal }} +1 bleed and, more valuably, an action on other Methuselahs' turns — one more bleed every table round.
There are no strong variants, and the core never moves: an all-{{ nergal }} crypt, {{ call_the_great_beast }}, {{ soul_gem_of_etrius }} with {{ magic_of_the_smith }}, a capacity-raising skill card and a thick wad of {{ freak_drive }}. The list is remarkably stable: {{ jesper_bøje_s_2023_deck }} won with virtually the same seventy-eight cards two years earlier — a sixth {{ aire_of_elation }}, a third {{ soul_gem_of_etrius }} and a couple more {{ freak_drive }} being the main differences.
{{ christian_camara_s_deck }} shows the observed spread: {{ celerity_card }} replaces {{ dementation_card }} for the same capacity trick, and the economy gets greedier — {{ golconda_inner_peace }} cashes in a spent capacity-11 {{ nergal }} for 11 pool, with {{ the_parthenon }} providing the extra master phase actions and a 6/6 crypt split leaning on {{ nergal_adv }}'s bought stealth. {{ infernal_servitor }} adds disposable 3-bleed actions, and the bleed module trades {{ aire_of_elation }} for a heavier {{ OBF }} stealth package.
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