{% extends "archetypes/_layout.html" %} {% import "archetypes/_layout-erratum.html" as erratum with context %} {% import "archetypes/runner-ups/helena-guns.json" as deck_json %} {% block meta %} {% endblock %} {% block archetype_name %}

{{ toreador }} Helena Guns

{% endblock %} {% block archetype %} {% trans trimmed antediluvian_awakening=card("Antediluvian Awakening"), ashur_tablets=card("Ashur Tablets"), blur=card("Blur"), bounce=link("/strategy/fundamentals", _("bounced"), _anchor="bounce"), bowl_of_convergence=card("Bowl of Convergence"), concealed_weapon=card("Concealed Weapon"), deflection=card("Deflection"), diabolic_lure=card("Diabolic Lure"), direct_intervention=card("Direct Intervention"), dragonbound=card("Dragonbound"), eagles_sight=card("Eagle's Sight"), enhanced_senses=card("Enhanced Senses"), eyes_of_argus=card("Eyes of Argus"), fame=card("Fame"), giants_blood=card("Giant's Blood"), haven_uncovered=card("Haven Uncovered"), helena=card("Helena"), helena_adv=card("Helena (ADV)"), ira_rivers=card("Ira Rivers"), joaquin_murietta=card("Joaquin Murietta"), krcg_news_radio=card("KRCG News Radio"), magnum=card(".44 Magnum"), massassi=card("Massassi"), millicent_smith=card("Millicent Smith, Puritan Vampire Hunter", "Millicent Smith"), my_enemys_enemy=card("My Enemy's Enemy"), nose_of_the_hound=card("Nose of the Hound"), obedience=card("Obedience"), pentex_subversion=card("Pentex™ Subversion", "Pentex Subversion"), powerbase_montreal=card("Powerbase: Montreal"), psyche=card("Psyche!"), pursuit=card("Pursuit"), quicken_sight=card("Quicken Sight"), rush=link("/strategy/archetype-categories", _("rush"), _anchor="rush"), sce=link("/strategy/combat", _("combat-ends"), _anchor="defence"), sideslip=card("Sideslip"), smiling_jack_the_anarch=card("Smiling Jack, The Anarch"), sniper_rifle=card("Sniper Rifle"), society_hunting_ground=card("Society Hunting Ground"), taste_of_vitae=card("Taste of Vitae"), telepathic_misdirection=card("Telepathic Misdirection"), the_erciyes_fragments=card("The Erciyes Fragments"), the_rack=card("The Rack"), themistocles=card("Themistocles"), vessel=card("Vessel"), villein=card("Villein"), wall=link("/strategy/archetype-categories", _("wall"), _anchor="wall"), wash=card("Wash"), yvette=card("Yvette, The Hopeless", "Yvette"), ricardo_nelson_s_deck=link("/deck-search", _("Ricardo Nelson's deck"), id="12698"), yuri_prange_s_deck=link("/deck-search", _("Yuri Prange's deck"), id="11638"), eduardo_mateus_deck=link("/deck-search", _("Eduardo Mateus' deck"), id="11487"), andrew_stott_s_deck=link("/deck-search", _("Andrew Stott's deck"), id="12487"), josé_barbosa_s_deck=link("/deck-search", _("José Barbosa's deck"), id="10886") %}

Highlights

This is a classic guns {{ wall }} on a Toreador {{ toreador }} {{ AUS }}{{ CEL }} crypt, starring {{ helena }}. The plan is straightforward: block everything that moves, shoot the blocked minion into torpor at long range, and let {{ fame }} and {{ smiling_jack_the_anarch }} convert those blocks into pool damage.

Every vampire in the crypt has both Auspex {{ AUS }} and Celerity {{ CEL }}, all at superior except the smallest, {{ yvette }}. {{ helena }} anchors the wall: even locked, a blood lets her block and play her Auspex {{ AUS }} reactions, so she is never really out of the game. {{ ira_rivers }} cycles the reaction pack at high speed, and {{ joaquin_murietta }} is the designated gunman.

More than a third of the library is reactions: {{ eagles_sight }}, {{ enhanced_senses }}, {{ eyes_of_argus }} and {{ quicken_sight }} pile up intercept, with {{ krcg_news_radio }} and {{ bowl_of_convergence }} as permanent support. What cannot be blocked gets {{ bounce }} by {{ telepathic_misdirection }} and {{ my_enemys_enemy }}.

Combat is guns and Celerity {{ CEL }}: {{ magnum }} and {{ sniper_rifle }}, often flashed mid-combat with {{ concealed_weapon }}, with {{ pursuit }} and {{ quicken_sight }} maneuvers to keep the fight at long range. {{ blur }} provides additional strikes and {{ psyche }} starts it all over again, while {{ sideslip }} dodges or prevents and {{ taste_of_vitae }} refills the blood spent along the way.

The pool engine is a spread of master cards: {{ vessel }}, {{ the_rack }} and {{ society_hunting_ground }} sustain the vampires, while {{ powerbase_montreal }} speeds up the influence of the star. The deck wins slowly — hold the table, torpor the troublemakers, and let {{ fame }} and {{ smiling_jack_the_anarch }} grind the pools down.

Tips & Tricks

{{ sniper_rifle }} shines on defense: as the blocker one can force long range, where most acting minions cannot shoot back, and {{ blur }} at superior adds two more shots for up to 6 ranged damage. Keep {{ psyche }} in hand against {{ sce }} cards: it counters them and queues a fresh combat, which is what makes this wall genuinely dangerous rather than merely annoying.

{{ millicent_smith }} is a wall's dream gift: pass her to the predator, and any of their minions one blocks burns outright, Millicent with it. Given {{ helena }}'s ability and the number of {{ eagles_sight }}, all opponents must ask permission when they have her on board. {{ wash }} plays a defensive role too, canceling a {{ pentex_subversion }} that would otherwise shut the star down, and {{ direct_intervention }} stops the one minion card the deck cannot afford to see resolve.

{{ the_erciyes_fragments }} can lift a bounce or a wake from the prey's ash heap. Do not block everything: the library is finite, and the deck applies little forward pressure of its own, so pick the actions that matter.

Variants

The main line is remarkably stable: {{ ricardo_nelson_s_deck }}, which won a 38-player event, is virtually the same list card for card. The Mariachi build of {{ yuri_prange_s_deck }} only tweaks the crypt and adds {{ giants_blood }} and a pair of {{ villein }} to the same skeleton.

The Downward Spiral variant of {{ eduardo_mateus_deck }} is built around {{ helena_adv }}, who pays no blood cost for her Auspex {{ AUS }} and Dominate {{ DOM }} reactions. It drops the guns entirely for a pure reaction game: 13 {{ obedience }} and 10 {{ deflection }} on her superior {{ DOM }}, plus {{ diabolic_lure }} enabled by her infernal Daimoinon {{ dai }}, with {{ antediluvian_awakening }} and {{ smiling_jack_the_anarch }} doing the ousting.

The Massassi variant of {{ andrew_stott_s_deck }} transplants the same guns and Celerity {{ CEL }} combat package onto an Osebo {{ osebo }} {{ AUS }}{{ CEL }}{{ POT }} crypt. {{ massassi }} can enter combat on her own, tilting the archetype from wall towards {{ rush }}, with {{ ashur_tablets }} recycling the combat cards and {{ dragonbound }} plus {{ fame }} turning each torpored vampire into pool damage.

The Themistocles variant of {{ josé_barbosa_s_deck }} leads with the Brujah {{ brujah }} {{ themistocles }} over a mixed Toreador {{ toreador }} and Osebo {{ osebo }} support crypt. It keeps the guns and the reaction wall but adds {{ nose_of_the_hound }} and {{ haven_uncovered }} to go pick fights with locked minions instead of waiting for something to block.

{% endtrans %} {% endblock %}