Okay, here's a combo three sets in the making. Start with a character who is super pumped with Butt-Kicking, like Super Spike or Kakistos. Now look at Stake 'em High (PP #125). Since it allows you to play two actions immediately, you can combo a talent changer (like Testosterone or Creep Factor) with Crushing Blow (Co99 #164). It allows for the quick change of resolving talents and then ends the fight before your foe can react. The only catches are that you have to have twice you opponent's Butt-Kicking (before Talent Stacks, of course) and you have to both have a card in a talent stack. It's not the most reliable of combos, but if this is an indication of things to come, Stake 'em High will find more and more use as combos like this rear their heads.
Group Support from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Group Support (Co99 # 44). Not only does this card have a name that goes with the image in such a funny way, but its veeerrrry useful for Bizzaro Land Buffy, Faith and Xander Decks. Mainly because Buffy gets major bonuses for completing challenges by herself and Xander & Faith have challenges that get beefy when they go solo. However, Group Support is not only useful for those three characters, but it�s also a subtle defense against popular fighting strategies. If you have six characters with Cordelia, guess what, Cordy gets +6 Butt-Kicking while her Compound Bow wielding opponent probably only has 4. You can also get through a Day of Ascension in better shape because one of your dudes gets a combined beefiness and the rest are fatigued, so they don�t have to start fights of their own. It�s a card that�s busting with goodness!
Tucker Wells and Hellhound from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Here's one that I'm sure some of you have already seen. Now that the "Resurrection Loop" is gone, (new players can check the message boards for the gory details,) we still need free fuel for our Empty Puppet Cases. Enter Tucker Wells (Co99 #82) and his Hellhounds (Co99 #4). Each turn, Tucker can snag a Hellhound from the Resource Deck or discard pile and stick it in your hand. Then, you can toss the Hellhound to the Puppet Case for another card that could be of more use! Then just repeat it each turn. Free cards are good... :) (Plus, the process helps pace your plays without passing, allowing you to control when things get played...)
Slayer's Handiwork from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Slayer's Handiwork (Co99 #175) is really nice for taking your opponent's Vamps out of their next hand, but its real power is actually against non-Vamp foes in setting up their next draw for a fight or challenge. Picture this: you're Buffy Bizarro Land and you want to take out Demonic Smackdown (PP #145) all by yourself for the extra 2 Destiny from your Essence, but you're worried about Smarts. You know basically what your opponent has in hand (by either using Manacles, using Video Camera, or they're just plain out of cards), but what they're about to draw is going to make the difference. Throw down a Slayer's Handiwork and set their hand to as little Smarts as possible. Even if they are chock full of intelligence enhancers, you'll at least know that now is probably not the right time to try the challenge. And knowing is half the battle... ;)
Chaperone and Please, Not in the Face from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Here's a naughty little Promo combo, since the Promos for Co99 have been added to the checklist: Take Wesley and slap the Chaperone (Co99 P2) Skill on him. Then, play Please, Not in the Face (Co99 P8). Chaperone makes it so you can fight no one at Wes' location but him, as long as he's refreshed. Then the Please, Not in the Face keeps anyone from starting a fight with him! Result: All of your characters at Wes' location cannot be attacked until the end of the turn, sounds like a perfect counter to Day of Ascension. Unless they're packing Lounging About With Imbeciles...
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
The "Manacles Loop" was slightly "Nerf"-ed when the St. du Lac Mausoleum was errataed to only work in the Resource Step, but it's still viable and powerful. Especially with the addition of Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Co99 #83). The "Loop" as it stands now involves using St. du Lac to fetch a Manacles, and then using the Manacles to toast one of your opponent's yummiest cards in hand. Follow that with using a character at the 50's Time Capsule to put the item back in your deck, so it can be fished out next turn again. Solid denial. Wesley adds to it by cutting out the Time Capsule. He can get Manacles back in the deck just by fatiguing himself (or any other Wuss), and it doesn't matter where he is, so you don't have to spread yourself thin, manning multiple locations just for the "Loop".
Cut From the Same Cloth and Stake & Crossbow from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Here's a bit more beef for all those Angel fighting decks out there! Use the card Cut From the Same Cloth (AC #26) with your Stake & Crossbow (PP #107) to send those non-Vampire Minions to the great beyond. Cut From the Same Cloth makes people like Coach Marin into a Vampire, so the Angel's Curse Angel Level 1, with 2 Stake and Crossbow [or even just one with a Weapons Expert], would have 7 Butt-Kicking! I feel a Superior Fighting coming on!
Octarus from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Ready for some full on fighting in a single-serving package? Octarus (AC P2) doesn't have the ASSASSIN trait for nothing. He starts with a beefy 3 Butt-Kicking, which gives him a nice edge against all your opponent's Minions or Companions, but if he wins the fight, you can simply discard two action cards and he doesn't fatigue. He's ready to take out another of your opponent's fodder. In an action heavy fighting deck, Octarus may never fatigue for anything but to add the skills he needs to be even beefier. But watch out for those "Talent Changers" like Hair Flip...
Clumsy Fingers, Tattoo Remover (Acid) and more No More Soul from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Okay, so everyone knows that the St. du Lac Mausoleum (AC #120) is beef, so let's talk a little about denial! Not only can you get rid of the item your opponent snagged from St. du Lac by simply wasting the item's carrier, there are plenty of cards to tighten up your denial tech: Clumsy Fingers (PP #128) is an obvious choice - quick and easy during the Resource Step, though no it gives you no talent boosts; Tattoo Remover (Acid) (AC #57) is nice and reusable, plus has the bonus of being an item itself, so it can be used to boost, but you have to be at the same location to use it; and then there's No More Soul (AC #77)- denial and yummy boosts on the same card, but you have to be Angelus. Denial abounds, you just have to know how to work it.
Competition Appraisal from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Competition Appraisal (AC #68) is a "must-have" for almost any Spike deck. When the blonde wonder uses a Skill as a boost to the Talent Stack, and he wins, he can take that Skill and attach it! You can add 1 to your Butt-Kicking for the fight against Buffy by discarding that Watcher Training, and when you thrash her within an inch of her life, you get to slip it onto Spike for free, giving him a beefy additional +3 BK! Come get some, Slayer!!!
No More Soul from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Angelus has never been more vicious. No More Soul (AC #77) allows Angelus, who is regarded by many to be the best of the "Big Bads," to pick and choose what to turn extra crispy: A skill, an item, or even his heroic counterpart! "Oh? You needed that skill to complete a challenge? I'm sorry..." (Insert evil chuckling here...)
Confrontation from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Need a beefy card for your Buffy fighting deck? Confrontation (AC #25) is perfect! In addition to a Butt-Kicking bonus of two to your Talent Stack, which could well win you the fight, it could instead be used to refresh Buffy after the fight. This will leave her fresh to slay again! Add to that the bonus of a free card draw, and you're showing just what a Slayer is truly capable of!
A Fervent Wish from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Our favorite Vampiric mental case, Drusilla, has a great ability at her first level, but when A Fervent Wish (AC #61) is in play, the card draw isn't so keen. Yeah, you get to draw a card, but so does your opponent, and it leaves Dru fatigued! By bumping her to her second level from Pergamum Prophecy, you can avoid giving your opponent cards when you use her. Her new card power has her "look" at cards, "choose" a card, and "place" a card, but never actually "draw" a card. So, you get a bonus card, cycle through your deck faster, and deny your opponent. Ahh, the benefits of Ascension.
Full Moon from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Are all you bloodsuckers sick of your opponents immobilizing your vamps with Sunset? Full Moon (AC, #P7) forces the gloom of Night upon them for a turn, allowing the carnage to reign freely. Top that with a lessened cost for Ascending, and you could have amazingly powerful vamps hunting Slayers by the light of the moon. You will be able to get your hands on this card by participating in and winning a Patrol in the not-too-distant future.
Join the Pep Squad/Circle of Kayless from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Join the Circle. Are Companions and Minions giving you a tough time? Are you tired of watching swarms of supporting characters defeat challenge after challenge whilst you sit there with a stake up your nose? Well, you CAN say no to Companions and Minions. If one of your characters has 3 Charm, you can play Join the Pep Squad (PP #178), which discards all Minions in play. If one of your Characters has 3 Weirdness, you can play Circle of Kayless (PP #172), which discards all Companions in play. Some decks can even get away with playing both of them, as long as your Main Character can hold his own without added character back-up. The answers are out there....
New Kid On The Block from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Is your opponent's Spike deck blowing through challenges way too easily? New Kid On The Block (PP #33) is perfect for giving peroxide-boy a serious reality check. Those Watcher Trainings, Fire Axes, and such, now give him exactly squat, and, unless he's played some Supernatural Boosts, denies him the ability to use the Butt-Kicking overkill card known as Superior Fighting. Serious denial in one teeny-tiny card.
Studying from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Drawing cards = good! If you like to draw cards when you play the Buffy CCG, then take a look at the new tournament promo, Studying (PP #P6). When you play Studying, you draw a card, and then discard two cards. If the two cards you discard are action cards, you draw another card! Two for two may not always seem like a good deal, but playing Studying allows you to play cards that have limited usefulness. It also allows you to play cards that have no icons to add to a talent stack during a fight/challenge or helping you cycle through your deck for a certain something... all without worry. If you don't need some of your action cards when you draw them, just pitch them to Studying and draw more cards! And, if all else fails, you can discard Studying during a fight/challenge to add 2 Charm to your talent stack. A little Studying never hurt... or does it?
Total Lecture Overload from BTVSCCG Inner Circle Newsletter. TOP
Total Lecture Overload (AC #30) is an amazing utility card. Not only does it keep the character from refreshing, but because the character stays fatigued, it keeps the character from moving, attaching Skills, starting fights, and facing challenges for the rest of the entire turn!
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Revised 19-Jan-2003
