
Pentex Subversion w/ pre-2019 cardtext.
Inside the announcement of the contents of the upcoming VTES 25th anniversary set, is the information “hidden”, that both the card text of Parity Shift and Pentex Subversion is changed! Big news indeed, since both cards have quite powerful effects and are therefore staple cards in many decks. Unfortunately the announcement does not contain the exact new card text, but only the general information about what the change is about.
The card changes according to the announcement are:
- Parity Shift does no longer takes a variable amount pool (1-5) from the target of the vote, but rather a fixed amount of pool, namely 3 (three) pool regardless of the number of players at the table. This makes the card considerably weaker in early to mid-game.
- Pentex Subversion no longer prevents a vampire from being able to block and act, but rather only prevents a vampire from blocking actions.
Both changes have quite considerable impact for future (tournament) deck building, but I think that these changes are reasonable considering that a single Pentex Subversion could shut down certain decks completely, and early Parity Shifts a huge pool swing of ten pool towards the player playing the Parity Shift. Both cards are still viable for both casual and tournament deck buildings in my humble opinion.Alongside with these two changes are three other card changes that have a lesser impact on (most) tournament deck building:
- Una‘s special ability has changed, so that only Fortitude combat cards cost her one less blood. (This is basically the death of Una Freakshow decks!)
- The cost reduction provided by Ankara Citadel no longer applies to action modifiers.
- The Black Metamorphosis action now has +1 stealth.
Some explanation about these card changes and the reasoning behind it are given in the announcement by Black Chantry (see link above).