Card draw simulator
| Derived from |
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| None. Self-made deck here. |
| Inspiration for |
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| None yet |
VanyelAshke · 178
DECK CONCEPT
Primary fighter. Paired with Marie Lambeau, who is the duo's clue gatherer. Since his partner is such a good clue gatherer, he can specialize as a fighter.
Primary weapon kit is Switchblade with copies of Reliable attached. This becomes an almost "Timeworn Brand", but only costing 8xp for the set instead of 10xp. Having an attack at 8-9 means generally guaranteed hits, and deep digs from Lucky Cigarette Case to search for key cards.
The reason we chose single-handed weapons is because Tony's .38 Long Colt allow Tony to replenish his Bounty Contracts. And bounties equals extra actions! With a powerful melee weapon in one hand and a Colt in the other, Tony can be guaranteed enough bounties to gain him extra actions throughout the entire scenario and some drip economy.
How to manage your bounties? In my experience and based on other reviews, use up to 2 bounties on your first enemy. Use your melee weapon to get the enemy down to it's last 1-2 hit points, then shoot it with your Tony's .38 Long Colt. This will net you 1 resource and 1 bounty. For the rest of the scenario, place only 1 bounty on an enemy when it enters play. Rinse, repeat.
Clue-gathering happens with Intel Report and Scene of the Crime. In my play through, Intel Report performs better because you can get the clues when you need, without needing to be at a location with an enemy and it being your first turn (Scene of the Crime). Tony can usually afford to play Intel Report one or twice later in the scenario, after he's set up.
Sanity 5 and 2 is a weakness. This is mitigated by having allies to soak up horror and "You handle this one!" to offshore dangerous treacheries. Paired with an investigator who can play cards like Ward of Protection and "Let me handle this!" is helpful in keeping Tony alive.
STRENGTHS:
- good fighter; comparable to a Guardian. Able to get 8 or higher relatively easily.
- good economy; access to Rogue's money cards
- good card draw/filter; access to Lucky Cigarette Case
Tony is a great fighter; equal to a Guardian in his capacity to reach 8-9 and is capable of almost always doing 2 damage per attack. The Rogue card pool has Chicago Typewriter which can deliver 3 damage.
1st Hand ....... Switchblade + Reliable + Reliable
2nd Hand ...... Tony's .38 Long Colt
Accessory ..... Lucky Cigarette Case
Body .............. Backpack
1st Arcane .... Unused
2nd Arcane ... Unused
Tarot .............. Unused
Ally ................. Lonnie or Delilah + Leo de Luca
CORE CARDS
Enemy management: Primary weapon is Switchblade with Reliable stacked on. In the other hand, Tony's .38 Long Colt get Tony a new bounty so that he can keep getting extra actions. I like running 5 weapons in a fighter deck to boost the consistency of having a weapon in hand on turn 1, so that's the only purpose of the .41 Derringer.
Clue gathering cards: Intel Report and Scene of the Crime. If you draw all 4 cards, Tony is able to gather 6-8 clues in a scenario. Pretty good in a duo team.
Will boosts: Tennessee Sour Mash, Take the Initiative. Steadfast is almost always used for willpower tests, but can be used for combat against a high attack enemy.
Economy: Emergency Cache, Gregory Gry. These are your money cards in the beginning. Tony's .38 Long Colt also acts as a pseudo-money maker because it gives Tony more bounties. With Backpack (eventually upgraded to Backpack), Emergency Cache becomes an economy card to keep because they can be attached to Backpack searches.
Later in the campaign, Pay Day becomes a good card, gaining 5 resources when Tony attacks a bountied-enemy and has Leo De Luca in play. If you choose to play other action-gaining cards (.41 Derringer, Quick Thinking, Borrowed Time, Ace in the Hole) then Pay Day can give more.
Card Draw: Lucky Cigarette Case is AMAZING! I frequently searched the top 3-5 cards of my deck. This helps dig out the key cards you want (Reliable, Switchblade, combat ally, economy).
I played a few scenarios with a Tony Crystallizer of Dreams deck. Playing events is expensive. Also, many Rogue events have and icons, which Tony doesn't care too much about. It also doesn't help get you out of a poor opening hand situation compared to actual card draw.
Health & Sanity management: Allies! They will soak the horror that Tony struggles to take. His health of 9 is high, so will very rarely be an issue. "You handle this one!" helps give away nasty treacheries to other players.
Utility: "Let me handle this!" is here to take an enemy from your non-fighter when they draw during the Mythos phase. Prepared for the Worst helps you find a weapon if you have a bad opening hand, or helps find the Switchblade specifically. Never leave home without one copy.
OPENING HAND / MULLIGAN GUIDE
You MUST have a weapon. If you don't have one, ditch everything that is not weapon. Keep at least one card that can search for one (Backpack, Prepared for the Worst).
Next, prioritize +1 attack boosts (Lonnie Ritter, Delilah O'Rourke, Reliable for Switchblade). Lucky Cigarette Case is also a keep if you have a weapon in hand.
UPGRADES
Here is how I upgraded my deck over a Return to Dunwich Legacy campaign.3xp -> Charisma. Extend damage and horror soak pool, while getting +1 and resources to pay for setting up assets.
6xp -> Switchblade OUT: Kukri x2. +2 to fight, with a good chance of +1 damage. Cheaper than Timeworn Brand. I am keeping a Derringer because The Dunwich Legacy has some anti-melee enemies.
2xp -> Reliable x2 OUT: Vicious Blow x2. Stack these on Switchblade for "guarantee" +1 damage effect, and will trigger Lucky Cigarette Case. Reliable converts a Switchblade into a "Timeworn Brand" (+2 attack, 2 damage, but saving you 4xp).
3xp -> Lucky Cigarette Case x1 OUT: [Lucky Cigarette Case](/card/04107 x1). Allows Tony to dig for key cards (Leather Jacket, Smoking Pipe, Economy, a weapon, an xp card, etc). Very useful card; better than Crystallizer of Dreams in my experimentation.
1xp -> Leo De Luca OUT: "Let me handle this!". Saving 1 resource is useful in the early turns when setting up your board. 33% more actions in a turn; always good. In future decks, I might play the level 0 version at the start of the campaign.
3xp -> Delilah O'Rourke OUT: Overpower. +1 combat pump, helping with succeed by 2. Also allows for 1 damage to finish 1 or 3 health enemies, OR deal 2 damage after enemy attacks during Enemy Phase, but before it untaps during Upkeep Phase. Only got one copy because her ability is very expensive! You mainly care about the +1 boost.
3xp -> Lucky Cigarette Case x1 OUT: [Lucky Cigarette Case](/card/04107 x1).
2xp -> Backpack OUT: Backpack: Digs through twice the amount of cards, and is 1 resource less. Best case scenario: it helps me find Switchblade + Emergency Cache + Lucky Cigarette Case. Worse Case scenario: I already had all these cards in my opening hand, so I had a strong start. Yay! Then I can play Backpack to fetch Emergency Cache + Tennessee Sour Mash + Long Colt. Still good.
2xp -> Pay Day x2 OUT: Gregory Gry x2. Pairs well with Leo de Luca and Tony's extra fight action per turn. Can usually gain 5 resources from this card.
1xp -> Leo De Luca OUT: Overpower.
Cards I'm intrigued by:
Opportunist: facilitates "succeed by 2+" easier, and comes back to my hand (repeatedly played). Pairs very well with Lucky Cigarette Case because it increases the amount of cards you can dig.
Another Day, Another Dollar: Considering I don't have other cards that I want to cut out of my deck for additional economy cards, this gives me 2 resources at the start, helping to setup quickly on turn 1. It's the same resources return as replacing Emergency Cache with Pay Day (for 5 actions) or Hot Streak; bonus +2 resources, except with ADAD, you don't need to draw it and it doesn't cost an action. It's guaranteed and instant.
Borrowed Time: Stash non-essential actions for later use. Also pairs well with Pay Day for larger economy boost. This card strikes me as a "nice" to have, rather than a "need" to have.
Ace in the Hole: Similar to Borrowed Time, it's a nice way to finish a campaign, by giving Tony a bonus 3 actions on the last scenario. I don't think it's a necessity, compared to the rest of the upgraded cards in this deck that came first.
"Fool me once...": Treachery management seems important for Tony, considering he has a low willpower and sanity. In my experience, using allies, Take the Initiative and Steadfast was sufficient. Tennessee Sour Mash was helpful too at times.
Haste: I think it's better in Chicago Typewriter deck. How often are you taking 2 of the same action, and wishing you had a third? attacking 5+ health enemies...
Cards that are under-performing:
["Let me handle this!"](/card/03022): useful to get an drawn enemy to engage with Tony instead of your squishy clue gatherer. Useful, but maybe could be replaced with a better card at start of campaign.
[Delilah O'Rourke](/card/06281): Her ability to damage an enemy is expensive! It's nice to have a [Small Favor](/card/05277) effect always available, but since Tony is a fighter, 9/10 he's just going to kill the enemy in combat. I never once used Delilah's ability because I either didn't have the money for it, or Tony had enough turns to kill the enemies using his actions. The +1 is not particularly helpful either. I think I still recommend having just 1 copy of this card in future decks because it's a 3rd copy of a +1 ally, with a [Small Favor](/card/05277) effect in case it's ever needed. No need for two copies; save the xp.