Dynamic Duo - Nathaniel and Harvey

Nathaniel Cho and Harvey Walters

Dynamic duo!

This deck is part of a dynamic duo series, and is meant to be played together with Dynamic Duo - Harvey Walters. It works just fine when paired with other investigators too, of course, but some cards might be less effective.

Synergy

The synergy here is kinda one-sided, but I think it works. Nathaniel Cho is incredibly reliant on a full hand of cards. If he has cards, he's deadly. But when that hand runs dry, Cho will be reduced to single points of damage per attack. Boxing Gloves are nice, but they have an awful weakness in that they suck the deck dry of Spirit events, making Nathaniel weaker in the latter part of each game. He’s also really vulnerable to discard effects and loss of resources

The extra tempo from Harvey solves that problem. Nathaniel also tries his best to conserve his actions with Safeguard, pulling enemies to him, etc., so he can assist Harvey with healing, Stand Together, Leadership, etc. Cho also tries to have some card draw effects on his own, so he can trigger Harvey's ability.

And remember, there's no shame in simply taking a basic Draw action to trigger Harvey's ability.

In effect, two hyperspecialized investigators who helps each other out as best as they can. It's probably the least synergetic"of the bunch, but I still think it qualifies under my terms for what counts as a dynamic duo.

Weakness: Low agility and mediocre Willpower. They can walk off most of the damage and horror, but action-consuming events such as Frozen in Fear can sometimes impede even Harvey.

Upgrade path

Important upgrades, in my order of priority

• Brand of Cthugha This is a great, great card for Cho. It's cheap, works with Boxing Gloves, it's easy to use and it will save your bacon when you need to kill a 2 Hp enemy in one action without spending a card on it. Start with the level 1 and upgrade to level 4 when you have Xp to spare.
• Boxing Gloves are important. Not so much for the extra three cards to search, really, but for the extra . Cho's initial value of 5 seems like a lot, but it's just not cutting it in the latter half of most campaigns.
• Fight events. I've added a list over min favorites further down. Knowing when to upgrade and when to spend Xp on support cards can be tricky, and it depends a lot on the campaign.
• Beat Cop is amazing for Cho, since he can that last point of damage needed as a action. But the Brand of Cthughas can sometimes do that as well, so you might want to consider other allies instead. I'm leaving that one up to you. Grete Wagner is an option, but I always found 5 resources a bit too rich.
• Stick to the Plan is always good upgrade, and have a backup tactic Fight event at the ready. Feel to attach an Emergency Cache to it, for extra card draw (that can trigger Harvey's ability).
• Physical Training is a great way to bolster Cho's of 3 - and to buff his value when needed. You could go Prophetic instead since most of your Fight cards have the Spirit trait (and the Brand is a Spell). I still prefer the ability to test at 5 (or more) when needed.
• Empty Vessel - Healing and safety from special tokens - both great.

Other upgrades (in any order you’d like)

• Leadership is a way to help both Harvey and yourself. The same goes for Stand Together (which as that all-important Spirit trait).
• Dynamite Blast. Great backup card to have on Stick to the Plan. And have you ever noticed that Nathaniel Cho can toss dynamite sticks so hard that they explode for 4 damage?
• Mk 1 Grenades Nice in some campaigns, especially Dream-Eaters (A). Throwing grenades while wearing boxing Gloves is gutsy.
• Safeguard Level 0 Safeguard will often do nicely, but this is a nice luxury upgrade.
• Fang of Tyr'thrha is a combined teleport and +2 , 5 damage event. I prefer One-Two Punch. It's a bit overkill, especially when it ends up being used on your run-of-the-mill-Acolyte but it'a great fun. And you can use it on elite enemies (which "Get over here!" can't target for some reason).

Tips and advice

When you buy your Stick to the Plan, just attach whatever tactic card in your deck at the time. However, I recommend buying On the Hunt so you can find and kill monsters with Xp rewards. Taunt is another great source of card draw, free Engage plus an easy way to trigger your Investigator ability.

As the last card, I suggest Emergency Cache (2). Some scenarios have several effects that will drain your resources, and Cho doesn't work that well when he's broke. Plus it's a card!

You can add tactic-traited Fight events too the plan as well, but don't overdo it. That's what the Boxing Gloves and Harvey's card draw is for.

Fight events (xp version) ranked by me:

• 1: Mano a Mano 2 (or 3) damage and no test required, yes please.
• 2: Sweeping Kick +2 (for Cho), +1 damage, free evade if you hit. It's always useful.
• 3: Counterpunch It's great because you can time it to the Enemy phase. That will not only save you an action, it will let you use your +1 damage investigator ability a second time that round.
• 4: One-Two Punch Five damage; 1 (or 2) will always hit, 3 if you can pass a test - that will often be easy for you. It's a shotgun blast of a punch.
• 5: "Get over here!" is Fast. It's still only non-elites, however, but it's a great way to get to those doom-amassing cultists. Better in campaigns with cultists, of course.

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  Disclaimer

  Disclaimer - most of these "dynamic duo" decks are heavily inspired by other decks found here on Arkham. Thanks to everyone who shares the fruits of their labor - this is an amazing community . :)