p Gangrel Barons
Highlights
This is a wall deck using Gangrel p barons.
The idea is to build a strong defense thanks to the Anarch and Baron cards for unlock and intercept, Organized Resistance and Deep Ecology, coupled with Bait and Switch for bounces. Using Thing, the deck can steadily influence more and more vampires, often ending up with 4 to 6 vampires in play. Influencing a Baron quickly is very important, but it can be the second vampire if a low capacity can be put in play first to speed up the Baron with a Thing, depending on your opening hand.
The number of vampires allows for a decent forward pressure of naked bleed actions, and the Barons open the possibility of voting to speed things up or finish the endgame duel turns with a Revolutionary Council. This completes more standard wall payload cards Smiling Jack and Constant Revolution, and offers a welcome adaptability to the deck.
The list presented here makes use of Shattering as a way to put minions in torpor opportunistically, but that's merely one of the many options that can be used on top of the solid wall foundations this clan offers.
Tips & Tricks
The Anarch specific master cards are especially strong here: Garibaldi‑Meucci Museum is incredibly versatile, from ending troublesome combats with aggressive Anarchs to fetching the required unlock or bounce. It can also let you play Revolutionary Council turn after turn if you need it. Powerbase: Los Angeles acts as cycling device as well as an additional unlock, since there are so many Anarch cards (note cards requiring Barons implicitly count as cards requiring Anarch). Anarch Railroad and The Anarch Free Press provide permanent stealth and intercept.
Society of Leopold is an inclusion specifically linked to the use of Shattering here, allowing for a potential destruction of a cumbersome vampire anywhere on the table after it's been emptied. Rewilding can be used to damage the prey's influence if they play locations, but can also be a good way to get rid of other problematic locations, the prime targets being permanent stealth like Opium Den or Creepshow Casino, and hunting grounds that go against the grinding strategy of the deck.
The combat module here is very focused on using Earth Meld for additional unlocks, but at some point it also aims at equipping someone with a Sniper Rifle to begin to grind beads out of all the blocked minions.
The stealth module is particularily interesting, with a lot of versatiliy. Of course Earth Meld provides steady stealth when needed (to get this Revolutionary Council or Constant Revolution through for example), but Form of Mist and Form of the Bat can both be used either as stealth complement or as additional combat avoidance or intercept if needed.
Variants
The use of Shattering is very specific to this version, but it's a great control device. Monkey Wrench or Stolen Police Cruiser can be included for a bit more bleed, Reckless Agitation often finds a spot, and sometimes even more political actions like Domain Challenge or Kine Resources Contested. On the equipments side, of course, Heart of Nizchetus and Ivory Bow are often included.
There are wild variations in the combat module. The use of weapons like Sniper Rifle in here is common, but can also be dismissed in favor of aggravated damage with Donnybrook or Claws of the Dead. Depending on the combat module, Rötschreck or Gangrel Revel can find a spot in the master module. A couple of anarch combat cards can find their place too, like Groundfighting or Hell For Leather, and Flesh of Marble makes some appearances as a tool against damage-heavy decks.
Finally, Protection Racket is often included in the intercept mix: it is very effective against high stealth votes like the ones or can display. Some versions don't bother to include Earth Control or Anarch Railroad for stealth, relying on Form of the Bat and Form of Mist, plus the dissuading effect of the combat module.