¤ What makes good play : a Summary
(a compilation by Orpheus)

This started as a thread on the Usenet forum, with a simple constation : some players play better than others, even if given the exact same decks. I've tried to understand why, and have found the answers proposed to me very enlightening. Here is the "substantifique moëlle" that I extracted from it. And if I had done all that is advised below, I know a game or ten that I would have won. Thanks again to all the guys who contributed to that thread.

What should you do, once at a game table, in order to win ?

- Be Consistent. Chose what you want to do, and do it thoroughly. Do you want to oust your prey first ? Destroy your predator ? Resist and wait until you're installed before acting ? Chose, and stick to it.

- Chose your cards well. This can of course be done with discarding, which is often a tough choice (not hesitating to discard good cards when necessary, or on the contrary to keep cards until they come into use). And some decks have added flexibility on that account (with Carlotta, Reinforcements, Magic of the Smith etc.).

- Play Unemotionally. Vampires are cold-blooded predators. Play what is necessary, not what you want to do in the heat of the moment. Vengeance is a dish best eaten cold...

- Handle your ressources. Jyhad narrows down to a game where you have 2 type of "life counters" : your pool and the blood on your vampires. They can communicate pretty often, and the choices you will make concerning how much blood you take from one to the other, or how much blood you leave on your vampires (by hunting, stacking expensive cards, blocking or not etc.) and the consequences on your pool and your prey's, will be decisive.

- Know and understand your deck. It is the only way to know if you should discard or not, what may come next, what you can expect to be doing in the following turns, etc.

- Know what your opponent can do. This could be a Sun Tzu quote ! Will you block someone who can Kiss your Râ ? Will you let this !Salubri equip with a weapon ? This obviously includes : know the various cards in the game.

- Know your metagame. 'Nuff said.

- Read and play the table. Don't focus only on your prey and predator, everything that happens can have its importance. See who is in a position to win and act accordingly. Included : know or quickly get to know the players at the table. "Put another way, you want to have the skills of a good gambler." Speaking
of which :

- Bluff. And if you don't, I'll bleed you for 8 and destroy your minion in the process. Don't believe me ? Are you really sure you want me to show you how ?

- Influence your peers. It has been established that, no matter the local attitude, there is an influence of sorts going on in every game. Deal to the extent allowed locally without disrupting the uses of the playgroup.

- Adapt yourself. Always. To the metagame, to the table sitting, to the current situation. Adapt, period.

- Plan your timing. "Know when to hold off on that oust so that your prey can set your grandprey up for a double oust. Know when to just let that bleed through your defenses because the vampire you REALLY want to bounce over to your grandprey (the combat monster) is going to bleed next".

- Be Unobtrusive. If everyone know YOU are the enemy, you will seldom go farther than the first VP. Convince everyone you're no threat, either by sweet-talking, or by acting slowly but surely. Play defensively at least for the first couple of rounds. If you don't follow this advice, your deck has better be fast and efficient !!

- Be Simple. Play what you're able to understand better. Why complicate matters when you can do what you want to the easy way ? When you have mastered the basics, you can go on to more complicated matters if you feel like it.

- Do what you like. In the end, if you don't get any fun with a deck, and you don't understand or want to apply the necessary strategy with this deck, you shouldn't be playing it in the first place.

- Don't make mistakes. Easier said than done. That means : think twice about making choices, even the apparently most innocuous ones. In what order will you bleed ? Should you really burn that Anarch Revolt or Revoke that Archon ? Should you allow this vote to pass ? We all tend to make at least one big mistake per game, and sometimes many more. Let's not.

- Be Lucky. Ask your girlfriend to sleep with someone else prior to the game : unlucky at love, lucky at the game, they say... By the way, I can sacrifice myself and sleep with your girlfriend, I don't need all that extra luck... ;-)

That's a lot of things, ain't it ? Well, I guess that what makes our game complex enough that we love it. Hope these will be useful.

Orpheus