j Shalmath
Highlights
This is a one-man toolbox built around Shalmath, a capacity 10 True Brujah j with the ability to unlock once each turn. He fetches whatever tool the situation calls for, grinding the whole table down with one of the most punishing combat modules in the game — fresh from a win at the 2025 European Championship.
Summon History is the engine: it drops a tool — an ally, retainer or equipment — into play, or summons one of the seven singleton sidekicks straight from the crypt at no influence cost. Ashur Tablets then recycle the histories and the combat cards over and over, while providing the deck's main pool income.
The combat module is brutal in its simplicity. Superior Outside the Hourglass inflicts 2 damage before range is even determined, so Shalmath almost always ends the round having inflicted more damage, even if he just uses Majesty. Disarm sends the opposing vampire to torpor, and superior Decapitate burns them outright on the way down. Taste of Vitae refills him when needed.
Action economy is the other pillar: between his native unlock, superior Domain of Evernight and superior Majesty, Shalmath chains several actions a turn and still ends it unlocked, able to block with Mr. Winthrop's intercept. Enkil Cog — legal on him at capacity 10 — adds +1 bleed and lets him take actions during other Methuselahs' turns.
There is not a single reaction card in the deck. Defense is Shalmath standing unlocked and fearsome, and Archon Investigation and Direct Intervention as emergency exits. Ousting is a patient affair: Eye of Hazimel and Enkil Cog take his bleeds to 3, and the summoned sidekicks add their bleeds of 1 once the opposition lies in torpor.
Tips & Tricks
Blocking Shalmath is a trap. With inferior Domain of Evernight, all combat damage on vampires becomes aggravated when the action is blocked, turning superior Outside the Hourglass into 2 aggravated damage that neither a dodge nor a combat ends can avoid — with Disarm and Decapitate looming behind. Most tables quickly learn to let him act, which is exactly what the deck wants.
Fetch Heart of Nizchetus early: with most tools as one-ofs, card filtering decides how fast the deck comes online, and Hourglass of the Mind serves the same purpose. Talbot's Chainsaw provides the rush, and its unlock phase damage goes on a summoned Tye Cooper, who is immune to non-aggravated damage, while Omael Kuman keeps combats at the close range Disarm requires. Against ally decks, The Book of Going Forth by Night steals every ally Shalmath would otherwise burn. Secure Haven is only there to contest a copy just in case.
Summon History costs X blood, so Shalmath runs through his blood quickly. Tabriz Assembly feeds him one blood every unlock phase, Taste of Vitae refuels him after each kill, and Gregory Winter and Nephandus feed on the torpored victims, denying any rescue in the process. Powerbase: Montreal is there for the opening turns, bringing the capacity 10 star out one turn earlier.
Andre LeRoux is a subtle one: shaving 1 off a successful Shalmath bleed grants him +2 bleed for the turn, one more point of pressure split across two minions. More generally, this is an attrition deck: rush the dangerous minions first, keep control of the whole table, and keep an eye on the clock — the oust often comes late.
Variants
The archetype descends from the older build depicted in Shalmath History, which fetched Ankara Citadel first to discount everything else and leaned on heavy blood regeneration; modern lists replaced that engine with Ashur Tablets recursion.
The list above is a light tuning of Bram Van Stappen's deck, which had already won a 31-player event a few months prior — the additions are mostly defensive: Secure Haven, Direct Intervention and Archon Investigation.
The Reactive variant swaps Ashur Tablets for a full reaction suite — ten Deflection carried by small sidekicks, Rewind Time to cancel key cards, and no less than sixteen Outside the Hourglass — as in Sebestyen Balazs' deck.
The Presence variant forgoes Summon History entirely: it keeps the Outside the Hourglass and Disarm core, but ousts with Legal Manipulations backed by Force of Personality, with Vaticination for hand disruption, as in Federico Ferrarini's deck.