Dread Gaze

About Dread Gaze

Dread Gaze, Reaction, designed by John Bridges, Hannibal King first released in August 1994 in the set Jyhad and was printed exactly in 7 different ways.

Dread Gaze is best in a Presence political deck that regularly participates in referenda with multiple untapped vampires, especially defensive vote decks or political wall decks that want to turn a referendum in their favor after another vampire starts it; because it costs 0 blood and grants +2 votes at PRE or an excellent +4 at superior PRE, it can provide a major surprise swing without consuming the acting vampire’s action modifiers. For an acting political vampire, Bewitching Oration is usually better because it provides comparable vote bonuses while supporting the vampire actually calling the referendum, and Awe is often better in decks that also value bleed or want a more generally useful modifier; Dread Gaze is therefore not an automatic inclusion, but it should see play in dedicated Presence vote decks with enough referendum opportunities and spare reacting vampires, while it is poor in ordinary combat, bleed, or low-crypt-capacity decks that cannot reliably exploit its timing.