What do you get?
For $9.95 you get 89 cards a rulebook and a reference card. For an exact list of the contents of the deck, please check out http://www.thelasombra.com/decks/malkavian_antitribu_precon.txt.
Personally, when I look at a preconstructed deck it has to fulfil three functions.
First, it has to be a good entry point for a new player. Second, it has to be worth buying for the veteran player. Third, it has to capture the feel of the clan.
I'll come back to these at the end...
The Vampires
You get 12 Vampires, with a good spread of vampire sizes (total capacity 73). Of these, a fair number are from the Sabbat War expansion but a good number are new as well. They are all well-tooled up with disciplines, but their special abilities are of varying quality. In other words, typical Sabbat. Nothing here will wow you, but you won't be disappointed if you're lookign for a solid base crypt.
The Library
The deck itself is like a Malkavian - completely schizophrenic.
Liek many preconstructed decks its purpose seems to be to show off the various functions of the new expansion rather than to attempt a coherent game plan. This, admittedly, is good sense economically for White Wolf, but may result in disappointment for players who are looking to be competitive.
There is a splash of Malkavian combat tricks, a small commitment to Sabbat-style politics, a little bleed, a little stealth and a little inercept. In short, the deck tries to do lots of things and succeeds at none.
Of the Library, many of the cards are not fromt he Black Hand set, but are instead from the base set or the Sabbat War set. This, I think, is actually a good thing as it is almost impossible to make a workable deck from such a small expansion on its own.
Great! I got a...
Cards I was pleased to see included Forgotten Labyrinth and Kine Resources Contested. Though neither is a rare card, these are vital cards to so many deck archetypes, and useful in large numbers.
I was also happy to find a Cardinal Sin: Insubordination (just need 10 more now...) and thought Random Patterns was an excellent and versatile card.
I was not so overjoyed to find more Spirit's Touch and Enhanced Senses. I must have a good fifty or sixty of these now, as do most of my friends.
For me, it was a shame that there were not more dementation or Malkavian antitribu specific cards. Basic auspex cards are easy to come by as they have turned up in so many preconstructed decks, but dementation cards are harder to find.
A good set?
The deck is a fairly good entry point for a new player. It is fun to play and covers most of the main concepts in the CCG: combat, bleed, bleed defence, stealth-intercept and politics. It is balanced, though obviously not competitive as it stands. It may also be a little too complicated for a new player: this isn't as easy to play as Malkavian sneaky-bleed, for example.
For the veteran player, it may be useful if you are short of some of the commons or uncommons the deck has. Otherwise you're better off with booster packs.
Is it a Malkavian deck? Well... the deck unfortunately has to fulfil the duel function of showing what the Black Hand expansion is about (hence Blooding and Circumspect Revelation) whilst simultaneously showing the nastiness of the Malkavian antitribu (hence Coma and the Haunting.) I get the feeling that a precon deck released at the time of Sabbat War may have been more in character of the clan. I also object to "wacky" cards like Malkavian Game. Hardcore gamers will never take a card to a tournament when it involves coin flips: especially when it is not even weighted towards the player who plays it.
Should you buy it?
This is a deck for completists only, IMHO. The money is better spent on booster packs.
