Tony Morgan likes a Good Gamble [Multiplayer; Hard; Fighter]

This is an action-intensive, fighter-oriented deck for Tony Morgan based around passing skills tests at sub-optimal values, reaping benefit from low value chaos tokens and minimizing or nullifying impact of higher negative value chaos tokens. Essentially: it'll shine if you're lucky, and if you aren't, it ensures you have an ace up your sleeve so you don't fail the skill test.

Objectives and Deck Overview

• You will be fulfilling the role of a quite unique fighter with 5 actions per turn using Leo De Luca and Bounty Contracts.
• The deck is based around being able to profit from triggers for succeeding fight skill tests by 2 or more whenever you draw low value tokens, thus gaining momentum.
• Let's face it: it sucks when you overcommit for a skill test to cover the dreadful -5 or -6 tokens, only to draw a "0" and losing valuable cards you didn't need to commit in the first place. By having access to Daring Maneuver, Lucky! and Live and Learn, you can see what chaos token you draw and react accordingly.
  • Drew a 0 or -1 and suceeded by 2? Sweet, you probably triggered your extra damage .41 Derringer and drew a card with Lucky Cigarette Case.
  • Drew a -3 or -4? Perhaps your Daring Maneuver might still make you pull through. Or if you didn't fail and can afford spending another action, just test again!
  • Drew a -5, -6 or ? Perhaps you get to Live and Learn, or just maybe you ended up getting both Lucky! and Daring.

Mulligan

Hard mulligan for Leo De Luca, Lucky Cigarette Case and (of course) a weapon of your choice.

Strategies

Rack up those combos:

That's a big 4 fight, 4 HP monster right there. With your trusty .41 Derringer you're testing at 7 fight value. Eh, not too shabby, but even a -2 token will ruin the extra damage. "Watch this!": I'll just rely on my Quick Thinking to improve my chances and now I'm testing 9 to 4. What are the odds of drawing -4 or -5 right and missing on this bounty, my extra action, the extra damage and possibly a card draw? If I get lucky, I don't need anything. And if all goes bad, there's always a fallback plan, right?

Or perhaps I'm getting a 6-7 action turn thanks to Leo De Luca, Bounty Contracts, .41 Derringer, Quick Thinking and I might crown it off at the end by playing a Pay Day.

Make good use of your arsenal:

• Stunning Blow is there for crowd control. Perhaps you can just come back to that enemy next turn.
• "You handle this one!" and Smoking Pipe are there to survive Mythos. (edit: I know it says "Painkillers" in the deck... my bad)
• Take Heart is there because because of its sheer draw power.
• Save Overpower for big guys.

Pros and Cons

• + Consistent 5 or 6 action turns
• + Affordable deck, even if playing Leo De Luca
• + Fun to play
• - Unreliable and possible pitfall if you get unlucky
• - Lower damage output than classic guardian decks
• - Suffers Mythos, especially card-discarding treacheries and horror

Upgrades

Priorities:

• .41 Derringer .41 Derringer: sweet extra action if I get lucky? Oh yeah.
• Switchblade Switchblade: Taboo made it a bit costlier, but an additional, ammo-less option is nice to have.
• Emergency Cache/Lone Wolf Easy Mark/Pay Day (I'm inclined towards Pay Day, but I'm yet to test these).

Next in store:

• Lucky! Sure Gamble: syngergizes well with the deck logic.
• Lucky Dice (I suggest a Relic Hunter so as not to replace Lucky Cigarette Case); you can remove either Lone Wolf or Emergency Cache if you didn't.
• Another Day, Another Dollar to play early Leo De Luca
• Adaptable if you need it.

Oh, so you decided to play Charon's Obol perhaps? We've got you covered:

• Smoking Pipe/Live and Learn/"You handle this one!" A Test of Will or Devil's Luck.
• Contraband to make your guns last longer.
• Ace in the Hole will synergize with Pay Day.

Parting Words

I did say it's about gambling in the title, didn't I? We still haven't seen all of this cycle's cards, so maybe going Survivor was a mistake. I'm willing to take my chances.

Perhaps you will draw all enemies, 0 and -1 tokens. Or perhaps you draw willpower tests, -5s, and tokens. What does Lady Fortune have in store for you?