Card draw simulator
Derived from |
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None. Self-made deck here. |
Inspiration for |
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None yet |
matt88 · 3005
SPOILER ALERT!!!
This deck uses the upgraded version of Grisly Totem. If you do not wish to be spoiled do not continue reading.
The spoiled and upgraded versions of Grisly Totem can be seen here: https://imgur.com/a/4tBu4kw?fbclid=IwAR2xWnlVKwc1h0GFZ0V_G8C6ws3QKuC_7rlSXP_Kd7Pwjg7H3KJqf6Sv_88
General Idea
Grisly Totem is generally good with Minh Thi Phan. We already know that. But what I haven't seen so far is a deck that abuses it. That's what I'm trying to do with this deck, and its upgraded version can create a very strong deck archetype in my opinion. And that's the Grisly Totem (3) + Archaic Glyphs: Guiding Stones + Ancient Stone.
So, what does Grisly Totem do? It adds icons to cards. Minh's ability does the same. So, why not take advantage of those extra icons to make them count?? That's where Guiding Stones gets in. We have a total of 10 skill cards in this deck (and Truth from Fiction can count as an eleventh) and all of these can be abused with Grisly Totem and Guiding Stones to get additional clues. Higher Education can help of course, but when you 're adding 4 or 5 icons to the test I'm not quite sure it's that necessary.
The general plan is to upgrade to Archaic Glyphs: Guiding Stones, Ancient Stone: Minds in Harmony and Grisly Totem (3), get them all down asap (and Analytical Mind if possible) and start wrecking. This means you get multiple clues each turn while abusing the card draw you get from Perception/Eureka!, Grisly Totem (3) and Analytical Mind in order to heal horror from your allies (or yourself). The damage dealing version of Ancient Stone would work here as well of course, but that version is used on a slightly different deck I 've created that has been tinkered to better suit that version. I'll talk more about it a little later.
General Utility
Mr. "Rook" helps get your key cards faster. He also helps getting The King in Yellow out of the way before it becomes a nuisance. Dr. Milan Christopher and Drawing Thin are your main sources of income. Drawing Thin also has the added utility of getting you a card draw occasionally and it can increase the number of secrets on Ancient Stone by using it when trying to identify the initial version (also combos with Higher Education). Truth from Fiction can either extend the lifitime of your Ancient Stone or add more uses to Mr. "Rook", but -honestly- it's mostly in the deck for its juicy double icons. Fine Clothes is a card I like in the early scenarios both in Path to Carcosa and Forgotten Age. You can swap it out for anything else you like (second Logical Reasoning, "Look what I found!" for more icons, etc.). Mind over Matter is for enemy protection. I generally like having defensive tools in my Seeker decks. You can drop it as well if you don't want it.
Upgrade Path
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Fine Clothes --> Ancient Stone --> Ancient Stone: Minds in Harmony
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Grisly Totem --> Grisly Totem (3)
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Preposterous Sketches --> Preposterous Sketches (2)/Cryptic Research
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Logical Reasoning --> Any card you feel confident with (my personal preference is Eidetic Memory/No Stone Unturned (5))
The damage-dealing version
As I said earlier, this deck would be just as good with the damage-dealing version of Ancient Stone. However, I think a few changes should be made in order to make that version work better. The following is a list of changes I recommend doing to the deck in order to adapt it to that version:
The altered version of the deck can be seen here: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/371997
These changes are made to ensure the deck doesn't run into hand management problems as well as to enchance its damage-dealing capabilities. Let's talk about these changes:
We lose Mr. "Rook" and his ability to get our key cards sooner, which is quite a hit I must admit, but, in return, we get Laboratory Assistant which will manage our hand and help us not overdraw when we 're abusing Ancient Stone, as we will need to draw a lot of cards when trying to kill an enemy. We also get Scavenging to recur the Stones and the Lantern, so that our damage-dealing capabilities become endless. Mind over Matter and Cryptic Research also become mandatory here, as they are key components for enemy management. Lastly, there are a few combos that will allow you kill some enemies all by yourslef, without any help from your teammates at all. These combos are:
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Lantern + Drawing Thin + Ancient Stone: Kill a 1-or-2-health enemy by attacking it and using Drawing Thin to draw a card and deal it 1 damage, then use Lantern to kill it if it has 2 health.
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Overpower + Ancient Stone + Grisly Totem (3) (+Analytical Mind + Lantern): Kill almost any enemy by attacking it, commiting Overpower and using Grisly Totem (3) (and Analytical Mind if you have it). Combined with Ancient Stone this can deal a total of up to 4 damage in one action if the attack succeeds (which is very likely because you get 4 icons). If the enemy is still not dead, you can finish it off with Lantern.
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Mind over Matter + Perception/Eureka! + Ancient Stone + Grisly Totem (3) (+Analytical Mind + Lantern): This case is basically identical to the above with the difference that instead of attacking and using Overpower, you play Mind over Matter before attacking and commit Perception/Eureka! instead of Overpower for the exact same effect. As previously, this combo can deal a total of 5 damage when all mentioned cards are involved, with the difference that this time your success rate is dramatically increased because you use and boost your instead of .
The fully upgraded deck that uses this version can be seen here: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/371991
Conclusion
Overall, I think this is a very strong and fun deck to play, but it has a significant disadvantage and that is that it is very XP-hungry. I generally recommend it for both PTC and TFA and not for TDL. The reason is that both in PTC and TFA you get enough XP to make it work and, in TDL, not only you probably won't get enough XP until the latest scenarios, but you are also in danger of getting hit by Beyond the Veil.
Generally, the idea is that you are the main cluever of your party from the beginning of the campaign and as you get more XP, not only you enchance your clueving capabilities, but you also become a strong support, as you gain more tools to deal with what the Mythos throws at your team.