Card draw simulator
| Derived from |
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| None. Self-made deck here. |
| Inspiration for |
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| None yet |
Toastrunner · 902
The main idea for this deck leans into Ursula's Relic access to make a strong cluever, who can help with enemy management if needed and play with the chaos bag to hedge your bets for big tests. And we look cool doing it.
Sound interesting?...
Ornate Bow and Disc of Itzamna are our enemy management tools. The Bow goes great with Ursula's 4 AG and is just really freaking cool and thematic for her. The Disc is more of a flex spot, but its done some serious work for me. Getting rid of an spawning enemy for a free action is pretty sweet, but YMMV.
Grotesque Statue is going to be our main hand item. This card is still awesome 5 cycles later. I'm not a math guy, but I do know it makes taking those scenario changing tests so much safer, especially on Hard+. It also has great synergy with the bow, you don't want to be failing that 3 damage attack.
We use Dr. Elli Horowitz and Calling in Favors to get these expensive relics into play for free and solve our hand slot issues.
Pathfinder & Shortcut gives us free moves which means great action compression with Ursula's ability.
Mr. "Rook" & Eureka! give us solid card draw and let us get our good cards out quickly.
Crack the Case & Emergency Cache are the econ engine. Nothing fancy, but keeps you in enough cash to play your cards.
Fieldwork , Inquiring Mind and Unexpected Courage serve to pump Ursula's strong stat line to do just about anything required of her. Combined with the statue, you have some great odds to beat any test but strength you may come across.
Magnifying Glass , Death • XIII , Deduction are just solid tools to help with your primary job.
Charisma lets us use our 5 allies and calling in favors without worry. Another card that is gold standard 5 cycles later.
Charon's Obol gets us to the final form quicker. I have been screwed by it once, 5 scenarios into a different campaign, but I still just can't resist. Great flavor with Ursula too.
Level up guide
Rough Priority:
Pathfinder for Shortcut
Ornate Bow for "I've got a plan!" (IGAP isn't great, but it does damage and subs in decently for the bow for a couple of scenarios)
The Chthonian Stone for Grotesque Statue (The stone is mediocre, but its a relic and takes up a hand slot so the transition is smooth.
Magnifying Glass for Magnifying Glass
Disc of Itzamna for Tooth of Eztli (I like the tooth for encounter deck protection and draw, and its also a relic so can go on Eli)
Shortcut for Unexpected Courage (Flex slot for sure, this card can just dominate certain scenarios though)
Piloting:
This deck is pretty basic. Do what your good at, keep doing it and shoot anyone who wants to stop you. Ideal set up is to get the bow on Eli and a grotesque statue in hand, but take any relic you can get on Eli. You can always Calling in Favors to ditch used up relics or take a shot at a different one. I like to Mulligan for a Mr. "Rook" because he makes life so easy. Pathfinder and Dr. Elli Horowitz are also high priority.
Move fast, take advantage of your ability and don't be afraid to shoot a snake in the face!
| 4 comments |
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Mar 12, 2020 |
Mar 12, 2020I do like the deck a good bit, but it forgoes non-enemy encounters too much for the sake of making Ursula Downs do something she's not that great at. A quick looksie at Ornate Bow, against 3 HP enemies, it fairs just as well in terms of action economy as a weapon with a +1 damage boost. (Ornate bow is damage, and re-bow whereas the +1 weapon is 2 shots). However, with a dedicated enemy management character, you can achieve similar results by simply using your Grotesque Statue to get through critical evade tests. Things I like about the deck are the way you use Dr. Elli Horowitz. Disc of Itzamna and Grotesque Statue both get discarded at the end of their effects, letting you re-use Elli's tutoring via Calling in Favors. Things I feel are lacking in the deck are treachery answers. Particularly in TFA, a lot of treacheries will immobilize your character and prevent movement during failures. This can be extremely detrimental considering Call of the Unknown and Ursula's ability both quest the player to do her primary job. Furthermore, Mr. "Rook" while being a great search/tutor card, is sometimes a risky thing to put into Ursula's deck. Much like Rex's Curse, Ursula's weakness will constantly come back. It also isn't a weakness that gets discarded ever. I think playing Ursula requires more finessing of searching/drawing cards (like Elli) as to not force yourself to constantly get hit by -2 horror. Another aspect of the deck that isn't as thought out is Death • XIII. This deck has some fragile mulligans. You want to start with Elli in your hand, and try to throw Relics back into the deck to increase the chances of using Elli. Attempting to see Death • XIII in your opening hand would potentially cause you to make less optimal plays via Elli and Calling in Favors. Especially since you aren't taking 2 Studious to help start with the tarot card. This is a minor issue of course, you can easily sub back in that Magnifying Glass if I've convinced you that the tarot card isn't consistent enough in this deck. I would definitely add in a few Forewarned, Logical Reasoning, Seeking Answers, as well as and boosters back into the deck. Potentially, take out the 2 copies of Ornate Bow and put back in the 2 copies of Tooth of Eztli |
Mar 12, 2020Oh i forgot to add! Charles Ross, Esq. seems like a decent replacement for Rook in the deck. The deck runs lots of assets (relics!) so I feel like you could get some good use out of him for the relics you do draw. Maybe one of him...? Ursula also sometimes gets lackluster triggers so you could consider putting in a The Black Cat in for the other spot freed up by Rook. Soak, heal, treachery answer, Calling in Favors resets it, gives Ursula her very own familiar. Just great. |
Mar 12, 2020@chirubime - I like playing characters that can both clue and fight if called upon. 6 base for combat with the bow is nothing to sneeze at, and remember we are trying to look cool too! I mostly found myself using the bow for VP enemies or boss fights in the campaign (Forgotten Age, so vengeance did factor into this). I also never really had issues with her weakness. It usually came out early due to heavy Rooking, but its pretty easy to play around if you just do Ursula things (move and investigate). The 5 allies provide pretty good soak too if you do end up taking the horror. The Black Cat looks really cool and I would definitely include it in the deck. Great synergy with Grotesque Statue! I would cut Death • XIII and the Disc of Itzamnas to keep the build at 29xp. Thanks for the suggestion! |
Wish I would have had this build when I first went through The Forgotten Age with Ursula. I am not very confident using a Seeker. What I mean to say is I don't really enjoy playing as one despite the fact that they are straight forward & incredibly handy to have. I am also not a huge fan of duplicate cards in my hand as I think it cuts down on the versatility of many characters, but I realize its purpose. Personally I'm obsessed with extra actions, and I think this particular build would have made things more thematic, fun, and daring (Charon's Obol, STILL scares me to this day, but I must start using it.)