Then It Multiplied - Control Jim

Then it Multiplied

Control Jim

This is my take on a control deck aimed at the Then it Multiplied developer challenge.

The basic strategy of the deck is to use attack cancellation effects to survive up until you get the Esoteric Formula, then to rely on the synergy between the deck's various assets to help lower the difficulty curve battling the many Brood of Yog-Sothoths.

I've played the deck a few times now and while it can just flat out lose in certain situations I've been able to take down three or four broods fairly consistently. The main places where it probably needs shoring up are the inability to handle more than one of the Abomination enemy coming out of the encounter deck at the same time, or having a stack of broods land on you and having to take multiple hits from them all at once.

Short of those situations where it doesn't perform, it does quite admirably at actually dealing with the broods themselves. If you're able to advance act 1 and take down your first brood on turn 4 (leaning into Blood Pact), then the rest of the game is mostly about positioning and trying to play out an asset every turn you're not poised to attack.

Jim Culver seems like he is probably one of, if not the, best investigator for this challenge given that he basically removes two tokens from the bag in the form of s. Other card choices mostly revolved around three main features:

Modifier Manipulation: Having cards that work together to lower the difficulty of attacking the broods. Grotesque Statue, Spirit Athame, Protective Incantation, David Renfield, and Recall the Future all work together to help mitigate the negative four and five modifiers.

Of special note, using Protective Incantation to seal the token pays for itself in spades. Usually I want to hold off playing it until I'm mostly setup. I've found that at about half way through the game resources stop mattering so you can just set net 0 between an incantation and your upkeep and not mind one bit.

Free Clues: Not much to say here other than try and ensure you have one of Drawn to the Flame, "Look what I found!", or Flashlight in your opening hand.

Attack Avoidance: You don't need to evade broods if you can just cancel their attacks. I opted to import 4/5 OoF cards revolving around this and it helps. If you're able to cancel taking one or two attacks early, you're usually able to use board positioning to keep yourself safe as things open up. Ultimately, you have to usually take a few attacks, but these cards are key to your long term survival.

All in all, this was a fun deck to play. It certainly doesn't look like any other deck I would build during a campaign. Looking forward to the next time Matt decides to throw down the gauntlet.