While Keiser is in play, each player's alpha is chosen by the player to his/her left, and characters may not go to the Umbra.
| July 06, 1999 | |
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| Type: Enemy | Renown: 3 |
| Rage: 5 | |
| Gnosis: 4 | |
| Health: 2 | |
| Keywords: Wyrm Marauder · Mage · Unique Human Male | |
| Text: Sustained Rage: 1 While Keiser is in play, each player's alpha is chosen by the player to his/her left, and characters may not go to the Umbra. | |
| Quote: | |
| Phase: Garou Nation Promo | Artist: Kirby Keiser |
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Power: 17
This card fits the mold of putting powerful card text on a low Renown, low health target. In fact, most of the power resides there. Keiser isn't much of a combat powerhouse - the low health ensures he won't last all that long to a determined opponent, but the decent rage and sustained rage will make sure he doesn't fall over in a stiff wind. As far as text goes, you've got two pretty powerful effects. The first effect of putting the alpha selection in the hands of another player can be anywhere from mildly annoying to downright devastating. This can ruin rites, card conditions, or just nuke one of your support characters. This alone is pretty brutal if you protect yourself with something that forces you to have a particular alpha, or if you play with characters who all could be a viable alpha. The second effect of halting Umbra trips can shut down an Umbra strategy of any sort, as well as a fair number of card effects. Ouch.
Usability: 20
Like most enemies, anyone can put this one into play. You'd be silly to do so without adequate protection against his effects, though.
Limitations: 19
Well, one of the big balancing factors is the rather low health. Keiser dies rather easily. You've also got the double whammy of being both Wyrm and Mage. While some cards give benefits to such keywords, you're also looking at things like the Silent Strider tribe card (discard Wyrm Enemy) or the Gift Questioning (ignore the effects of Mages, +2 Rage versus). There's also the possibility that the effects will have no effect (er...) on your opponent(s), especially if they are already using the strategies above in the Power section. Overall, while Keiser is a kick in the keister if unexpected, there are plenty of ways to neutralize him. Good balancing act.
Decks: 16
This card screams for double-combat monster - a deck geared towards two big fighters who can both mop the floor with their opponents. Just be sure to prepare for non-Umbral combats. This card is sweet in Garou-hunter deck, too. Throw in some effect that forces your Bad Boy to be alpha, and you basically get to pick your target from the player on your right.
Oddly, this works rather nicely in a Cub War deck. The key is to pick Garou who are all equally rounded. Then watch as people pick the weakest cubs to go out and get their death certificates signed. Throw in some retribution Enemies and Victims, then pick an appropriate target from your opponent to be smacked. This card also works nicely in a Stargazer Umbra deck. Toss on Questionings, then head into the Umbra to clean up the place. Your opponents will probably not be able to follow you in, and you'll pretty much have your choice of Umbral targets.
Flavor: 16
Kirby Keiser does a pretty nice job on this card. The only thing that I would take points off for would be the pair of dice. First, they are way too big. I've never been to Vegas, but those dice seem excessively large compared to the mage's hand. Second, this was a perfect opportunity to tie back into the Snake Eyes theme, and instead, we've got what appears to be a eight showing (two on the closest die, and from the spacing of the pips, looks like a six on the furthest). Otherwise, nice image of a Marauder, with the lights of Las Vegas in the background. It's pretty obvious where the name of the card came from, of course, and I don't particularly object. One name is as good as another for a Unique human character.
No space for a quote, though I would like to have known what he's doing in Vegas besides stirring up trouble. Points granted, in any case. As far as fitting in, well, I'm not sure. The atmosphere is present in the artwork, and the card text matches the Marauder theme quite nicely. I just don't see where this fits in with the storyline. One would think a Marauder would be a bit more noticeable than other mages. Ah well - it's nice to see the World of Darkness fill out to include some other races, so not so big of a loss. Perhaps in Vegas Edition we'll learn what his agenda is?