This is a one-man {{ toolbox }} built around {{ shalmath }}, a capacity 10 True Brujah {{ true_brujah }} with the ability to unlock once each turn. He fetches whatever tool the situation calls for, {{ grinding }} the whole table down with one of the most punishing combat modules in the game — fresh from a win at the 2025 European Championship.
{{ summon_history }} is the engine: it drops a tool — an ally, retainer or equipment — into play, or summons one of the seven singleton sidekicks straight from the crypt at no influence cost. {{ ashur_tablets }} then recycle the histories and the combat cards over and over, while providing the deck's main pool income.
The combat module is brutal in its simplicity. Superior {{ outside_the_hourglass }} inflicts 2 damage before range is even determined, so {{ shalmath }} almost always ends the round having inflicted more damage, even if he just uses {{ majesty }}. {{ disarm }} sends the opposing vampire to torpor, and superior {{ decapitate }} burns them outright on the way down. {{ taste_of_vitae }} refills him when needed.
Action economy is the other pillar: between his native unlock, superior {{ domain_of_evernight }} and superior {{ majesty }}, {{ shalmath }} chains several actions a turn and still ends it unlocked, able to block with {{ mr_winthrop }}'s intercept. {{ enkil_cog }} — legal on him at capacity 10 — adds +1 bleed and lets him take actions during other Methuselahs' turns.
There is not a single reaction card in the deck. Defense is {{ shalmath }} standing unlocked and fearsome, and {{ archon_investigation }} and {{ direct_intervention }} as emergency exits. Ousting is a patient affair: {{ eye_of_hazimel }} and {{ enkil_cog }} take his bleeds to 3, and the summoned sidekicks add their bleeds of 1 once the opposition lies in torpor.
Blocking {{ shalmath }} is a trap. With inferior {{ domain_of_evernight }}, all combat damage on vampires becomes aggravated when the action is blocked, turning superior {{ outside_the_hourglass }} into 2 aggravated damage that neither a dodge nor a {{ combat_ends }} can avoid — with {{ disarm }} and {{ decapitate }} looming behind. Most tables quickly learn to let him act, which is exactly what the deck wants.
Fetch {{ heart_of_nizchetus }} early: with most tools as one-ofs, card filtering decides how fast the deck comes online, and {{ hourglass_of_the_mind }} serves the same purpose. {{ talbot_s_chainsaw }} provides the rush, and its unlock phase damage goes on a summoned {{ tye_cooper }}, who is immune to non-aggravated damage, while {{ omael_kuman }} keeps combats at the close range {{ disarm }} requires. Against ally decks, {{ the_book_of_going_forth_by_night }} steals every ally {{ shalmath }} would otherwise burn. {{ secure_haven }} is only there to contest a copy just in case.
{{ summon_history }} costs X blood, so {{ shalmath }} runs through his blood quickly. {{ tabriz_assembly }} feeds him one blood every unlock phase, {{ taste_of_vitae }} refuels him after each kill, and {{ gregory_winter }} and {{ nephandus }} feed on the torpored victims, denying any rescue in the process. {{ powerbase_montreal }} is there for the opening turns, bringing the capacity 10 star out one turn earlier.
{{ andre_leroux }} is a subtle one: shaving 1 off a successful {{ shalmath }} bleed grants him +2 bleed for the turn, one more point of pressure split across two minions. More generally, this is an attrition deck: rush the dangerous minions first, keep control of the whole table, and keep an eye on the clock — the oust often comes late.
The archetype descends from the older build depicted in {{ shalmath_history }}, which fetched {{ ankara_citadel }} first to discount everything else and leaned on heavy blood regeneration; modern lists replaced that engine with {{ ashur_tablets }} recursion.
The list above is a light tuning of {{ bram_van_stappen_s_deck }}, which had already won a 31-player event a few months prior — the additions are mostly defensive: {{ secure_haven }}, {{ direct_intervention }} and {{ archon_investigation }}.
The Reactive variant swaps {{ ashur_tablets }} for a full reaction suite — ten {{ deflection }} carried by small {{ dom }} sidekicks, {{ rewind_time }} to cancel key cards, and no less than sixteen {{ outside_the_hourglass }} — as in {{ sebestyen_balazs_deck }}.
The Presence {{ PRE }} variant forgoes {{ summon_history }} entirely: it keeps the {{ outside_the_hourglass }} and {{ disarm }} core, but ousts with {{ legal_manipulations }} backed by {{ force_of_personality }}, with {{ vaticination }} for hand disruption, as in {{ federico_ferrarini_s_deck }}.
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