Preston - The Favoured Sun Over Succeeds

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet

bobblenator · 443

Introduction

Preston Fairmont is the Favoured Sun. Using his Inheritance he travelled to far away lands where he dabbled in the mystic, acquiring a strange artifact from a Djinn and signing an Ancient Covenant.

He may Tempt Fate but now he manipulates his own destiny to auto succeed huge all in plays, betting big and reaping the rewards. Expect giant power plays every round in which you'll hoover up clues, draw rapidly through you deck and have more money and actions than you know what to do with.

This deck is capable of being the primary/only clue getter in a multiplayer group. It's extremely strong, and at higher XP descends into degenerate play, be warned!

Pros

  • Latest taboo compatible (v1.9)
  • Extremely powerful at all difficulty levels including expert
  • Low XP required, at 8xp (this deck list) it has all its primary pieces in play
  • If required, can be teched with enemy management to make self-sufficient
  • Can easily manage signature weakness

Cons

  • Can be squishy to damage/horror
  • Multi-clue getting effects make it less suitable for true solo
  • Can be a little fiddly too keep track of all your card effects on your big all in actions
  • Teammates might resent your absurd power level
  • Quick cycling deck makes some basic weaknesses severely debilitating
  • Bypassing the chaos bag can rob you of the tension that fuels the joy of Arkham

Starting deck (0xp)

When you upgrade spend your first 4 xp on Ancient Covenant and 2 x Favor of the Sun. Then, spend your next 4 xp on Eye of the Djinn


Mulligan

Mulligan aggressively for the following:

  1. Eye of the Djinn
  2. Tempt Fate
  3. Favor of the Sun

Gameplay

Setup

  1. Play Eye of the Djinn
  2. Generate bless with Tempt Fate.
  3. Play Favor of the Sun to seal 3 bless tokens.

One "Favoured" action each turn

  1. Exhaust Eye of the Djinn to set base skill value to 5
  2. Exhaust and spend bless from Favor of the Sun to get +2
  3. Exhaust Ancient Covenant to stop drawing additional tokens so you have a skill value of 7 without additional boosts

On you Favoured skill you can commit your skill cards to boost your skill value, over succeed, and collect your success bonuses:

Ideally you'll be using your Favoured skill test with Pilfer for clue getting, e.g. using Pilfer, with Lucky Cigarette Case and 1 of each skill you'll be testing with a skill value of 12, so you could test against up to a shroud 9 location to succeed by 3+ and get:

  • +3 clues
  • +3 resources
  • +1 turn
  • +2 card draw
  • +1 card returned

You also get to refresh Eye of the Djinn (because a bless token was revealed) for another skill test at base 5 this turn.

Other actions

On your other actions of which you should have plenty with Leo De Luca, Quick Thinking and an occasional Eye of the Djinn curse draws you can use:

  • Eye of the Djinn base 5 skill to have a good chance at most tests e.g. basic investigate, evade, encounter card test, or basic fight action
  • Flashlight to clear 1/2 shroud locations
  • Intel Report to clear difficult locations
  • Track Shoes for additional movement

Tips

This deck is designed to rapidly thins itself and cycle quickly.

Get your assets down early so they're not clogging your hand.

Beloved could be commited to tests in hope of a "natural" bless token draw but is better used dumped on a "favoured" action just to thin your deck.

Tempt Fate is a cantrip, you'll rapidly max the chaos bag with bless and curses so you'll be playing this regularly just to replace itself.

Sometimes it's worth playing a new Favor of the Sun on top of an exhausted one even if it still has tokens on just to refresh it.


Defence and Mythos Protection

However, if needed you can also also use Favor of the Sun to protect against a particularly dangerous Mythos deck draws (though without the Eye of the Djinn benefits).


Upgrades

Lvl 1 - High priority

Pilfer (3) - don't wait until you draw Pilfer again, get it returned to your hand every turn (with enough draw, consider only 1 copy)

Lucky Cigarette Case (3) - don't draw the random card on top of your deck, instead search your entire deck for the card you want

Hot Streak (4) - generate cash for general setup, Intel Report, Well Connected, and to clear Lodge "Debts" (consider only 1 copy)

Lvl 2 - Endgame

Ace in the Hole (3) - 3 more actions and with Lucky Cigarette Case search and the general card draw of this deck you'll be seeing this many times a scenario

Relic Hunter (3) - double up on cigarette case search and draw

Chuck Fergus (5) + Charisma (3) - save an action and 2 resources every round. Pilfer, Intel Report, Hot Streak, and Backstab (if running it) all benefit

Lvl 3 - "I'm rich!"

Double, Double (4) - you'll be playing an event almost every round, why not double them up Pilfer and Backstab are great potential targets

All In (5) - even in tabooed form, gets you setup faster and thins your deck after

The Gold Pocket Watch (4) - just powerful, even more so at higher player counts

Lvl 4 - "What do I even do with all this money?"

Another Day, Another Dollar (3) - a little more consistency in setup

Leo De Luca (1) - he's Leo, but he's cheaper

Manual Dexterity (2) - more card draw

Lucky! (2) - more card draw

Opportunist (2) - unlikely, but if you ever only end up succeeding by 2

A Test of Will (1) - pay XP to skip mythos cards, also thins your deck


Alternative Deck Building Options

  • You've cleared all the clues and now you want to fight? Consider Backstab and Backstab (3) (which if you go this route becomes a high priority upgrade) - Use your favoured turn to guarantee 3 damage to an enemy, and get Backstab returned to your hand

  • Want to put your curses to work? Consider running Favor of the Moon (1) which can be exhausted before Favor of the Sun (1) so you only get +0 on your skill test (don't worry, you should still be over succeeding anyway), and in return you get +1 resource from Favor of the Moon (1) and +1 action from Eye of the Djinn (2)

  • Your teammates don't like you filling up wth bag with curses? Consider Keep Faith (0), Predestined (0) or Signum Crucis (2) to only generate tokens. Signum Crucis (2) with Preston Fairmont's base skill values of 1s works well and you can combine with Drawing Thin (0) for even more token generation.

  • You just prefer Survivor shenanigans? Consider commiting Unrelenting (1) to your favoured action for +2 card draw and then Butterfly Effect (1) to return it your hand after

  • You have too much time and not enough money? Consider Gregory Gry (0) in place of Leo De Luca (0)

  • Have more money than you know what to do with? Consider Streetwise (3)

  • Like to live dangerously? Consider Charon's Obol (1) for more XP to spend on future goodies

  • Need more horror soak? Consider Peter Sylvestre (2) as an alternative to Leo De Luca (0), or just run both with Charisma (3)

  • Need more damage soak? Consider slumming it with Leather Coat (0) or Leather Coat (1), or splashing out on Leather Jacket (0)


Taboo

Deck is fully compatible with the latest taboo (2020-10-15)

If you're not playing with the taboo then you can do absurdly degenerate things with:

Generating infinte actions and card draw every round. Be careful, this will break the game.

20 comments

Apr 27, 2021 SSW · 205

Why is there no bless generation in here? Two copies of Tempt Fate is not enough to ensure these combos. This deck looks like it just falls apart completely if you don't open with both Tempt Fate and Favour of the Sun.

I guess it could work if it's paired with a Sister Mary or something? But why would you not run Signum Crucis or Keep Faith anyway? At least that way you aren't completely dependant on a 2-3 card combo to be able to do anything.

Apr 27, 2021 bobblenator · 443

@SSW Short answer is that so far in testing I haven't found it to be necessary.

Either:

  1. Tempt Fate + Favor of the Sun for a guaranteed success vs up to a shroud 3 location (or more if you commit) or:
  2. Eye of the Djinn by itself for the base 5 skill test

is enough to get the deck moving quickly. Once you have them all in play you become a powerhouse but you don't need them both in play to be impactful.

Even without any of these pieces are in play you have Flashlight for 1/2 shroud locations. Intel Report to buy your way through locations with your Family Inheritance or commit skills aggressively on a Pilfer.

Draw is important for the deck though so you should be utilizing Lucky Cigarette Case and Manual Dexterity for draw, and extra actions from Leo De Luca and Quick Thinking for draw as well if required.

Tempt Fate is included because it's a cantrip and effectively shrinks your deck by 2. Once you get your first Tempt Fate the bless generation is more than enough to keep them up for the rest of the game. Like you mention there are loads of great generation cards in Survivor and these are easily subbable in or included in addition if preferred.

Consistency getting your power pieces does increase as you get more xp, especially with the search from Lucky Cigarette Case (3) but I have run test scenarios with this 8xp deck on Expert with great success.

Apr 28, 2021 unremb · 237

I've been testing a similar concept with William Yorick (2-handed with Trish Scarborough), with his ability to put Favor of the Sun back into play after offing a beast. What I've found is that even with Tempt Fate, Predestined and Keep Faith, it doesn't generate enough tokens for Favor of the Sun consistently.

Perhaps you play with a different team, or that you're just that Lucky!
Ultimately, you only have 2 (Tempt Fate) in your deck that generates tokens, 2 (Lucky Cigarette Case) that generates consistent draw and 2 (Manual Dexterity) that replaces itself (of 34 cards). Odds not great.
Not to mention the chances of getting your key piece Eye of the Djinn (2) on setup is not high!

Apr 28, 2021 unremb · 237

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed your concept, though with doubts over the consistency of your application. Personally, I would place more emphasis on card draw (e.g. Lucky Cigarette Case (3)) and transition in the tech later with Adaptable (1).

Apr 28, 2021 OrionJA · 1

Why is Well Connected in this deck? You pretty much have no way to actually get a big resource pool except using "Watch this!" once you have a Favor of the Sun in play. Also, why is "Watch this!" in here? It seems like your natural resource drip should be enough to play everything as you draw it, so there's not much point in resource generation unless you get your 1x Well Connected. Also, why Track Shoes You don't seem to have any failure-based effects. Finally: why Opportunist?

I'd suggest cutting all that to make room for Keep Faith, Take Heart, Predestined, and maybe Cornered or Level 0 Streetwise.

Apr 28, 2021 bobblenator · 443

@unrembInteresting! Was it the consistency of setup or were you running out of tokens later?

You can only have 1 x Favor of the Sun out a time so you can only use up its charges 1 per round, so once setup you only need to be generating a single per turn.

Based on the comments I've gotten I've now tried a 2 man expert The Midnight Masks run with a for purely enemy management where I removed all the combo pieces (Tempt Fate, Favor of the Sun, Eye of the Djinn) from my initial hand / mulligan draws and then stacked tham all on the bottom of my deck.

It definitely upped the challenge a lot as succeeding tests on Expert with Preston Fairmont isn't easy, so I had to rely upon Flashlight, Intel Report in my early turns and aggressively draw to get through the deck, but still successfully went 6/6.

I agree that Lucky Cigarette Case (3) is a high priority upgrade and any further card draw is great on top of that. Can also see argument the for including any of the great generation tools, though once setup I've never run out of tokens in the bag they would aid in consistency with setup.

So think the challenges on deck consistency are fair and you suggestion to prioritise draw or other tools for consistency before speccing into this combo very reasonable. However, I wanted to show the core deck pieces in action at an 8xp entry and I think the deck manages decently even if incredibly un-Lucky!

Apr 28, 2021 bobblenator · 443

@OrionJA Thanks for the feedback. Fair challenges to those cards.

Well Connected is the worst card in the deck, especially at this xp but does pick up with Hot Streak but I do end up swapping out at higher xp. Your Streetwise (0) suggestion could well be a better alternative, I'll give it a try!

Track Shoes are there to have a guaranteed test to trigger success effects rather than failure ones. All the skill cards in the deck are themed and if you don't have a Pilfer or an evade action you can commit skill cards for their effects to this test. The +1 and potential extra move action are also sometime relevant. It's another card that I swap out of at higher xp and I think any of your suggested alternatives are reasonable.

Opportunist is there as another deck thinner. Once you're setup you can commit it, and it stays in your hand, thinning your draw and discard pile for faster cycling. At higher xp it also helps trigger bigger Lucky Cigarette Case (3) searches, All In draws and Pilfer (3) returns. Perhaps it would be better swapped in later with Adaptable, or by later purchasing Opportunist (2)

"Watch this!" I do find useful at all xp levels. Your assets can be paid with your natural resource generation and Family Inheritance but Pilfer and Intel Report are expensive and you're aiming to play them a lot. Commiting "Watch this!" on a guaranteed Pilfer to then fund Intel Report for a guaranteed 5 clues for 2 actions on a single turn is the pinnacle of this deck.

As to your alternative suggestions I think they're all good. Particularly Take Heart which I have used in an alternative version of this deck with success and can definitely see it helping out with some of the consistency concerns.

Apr 28, 2021 unremb · 237

@bobblenator
How exactly did you aggressively draw though?
Taking draw actions?

What do you mean when you say you can only have 1x Favor of the Sun out at a time? AFAIK there's no such restriction (though probably not a good idea).
I also don't see how you can consistently generate 1x each turn, given that you only run 2x Tempt Fate as your generation.

Apr 28, 2021 endoviking · 20

@unremb Favor of the Sun is unique bruh

`@bobblenator

Thanks a lot, I will be checking this out!

Apr 28, 2021 unremb · 237

@endoviking
Huh, good point, did not notice that.
Regardless, my points still stand.

Apr 28, 2021 bobblenator · 443

@unremb Yes, I took plenty of draw actions. With Leo De Luca out it's usually possible to spare at least 1 a turn.

I also tried to trigger Lucky Cigarette Case every turn also. On Expert this was challenging to do reliably, Flashlight was great for this but I also took gambles on other tests with plenty of skill cards commited, though still ended with a couple of big fails. On standard this would be much easier.

Still each turn, 1 card from upkeep, 1 from Lucky Cigarette Case and 1+ from your base actions, Leo De Luca, and Quick Thinking and I was able to dig through my deck quickly while still able to grab clues with Intel Report and Flashlight.

I'll admit it was far from ideal, and it was behind the curve early game, but it did manage to catch up in the later game.

Consistency will certainly improve dramatically with higher xp cards but I'm going to experiment with some of the suggestions in the comments as to how to improve the starting deck to get to the combo pieces faster.

Apr 28, 2021 unremb · 237

@bobblenator
I'd also go with Rabbit's Foot instead of Lucky Cigarette Case and Old Keyring instead of Flashlight.
I find that I can more consistently trigger Rabbit's Foot with Preston's low stats and not feel as bummed with investigative fails, but YMMV.

Apr 28, 2021 bobblenator · 443

@unremb

Regards quantity of generation. This deck starts with 32 non permenant cards.

Once you're setup by playing 1 of each of your assets (7 of them), either have Lodge "Debts" in hand or cleared, and removed 2 x Beloved from the game have 22 cards that are in your hand/draw/discard.

Each cycle of these card will:

  • Generate 6 from 2 x Tempt Fate
  • Seal 6 from 2 x Favor of the Sun

And those 6 sealed will last 6 rounds if we exhaust Favor of the Sun every round.

So, depends whether we can cycle our deck in 6 rounds:

of those:

  • 2 x Opportunist stays in your hand (as they're always returned)
  • 2 x Tempt Fate are cantrips so they replace themselves
  • 2 x Manual Dexterity also replace themselves

That leaves you with 16 cards that don't draw.

Every turn you draw at least 2 cards, 1 from upkeep and 1 from Lucky Cigarette Case. So over 6 rounds you draw 12 cards.

Close, we have 16 non-drawing cards and draw 12 over the course of the 6 rounds. However, in practice you'll be keeping cards in hands or (depending on what it is) have your basic weakness in play then you'll have even less to cycle through.

e.g. If you keep a hand of 5 cards each turn (3 random non-drawing cards + 2 opportunist) and have your weakness in play you'll draw through your deck every 6 rounds for a perfect 6 generated and 6 used. That's assuming you use Favor of the Sun every round and take no draw actions.

Not saying more generation is bad, either for more consistency in setup or because you or your teammates are using it for other things but in my testing I've not found it necessary for maintaining after setup.

At higher xp with more card draw, deck thinning, and card returning you'll be cycling your deck much faster.

Apr 28, 2021 bobblenator · 443

@unremb Rabbit's Foot is certainly an option if you want to start out with a more fail orientated deck and move toward this deck direction at higher xp.

However this deck is built around success mechanics. Once you have the combo pieces Eye of the Djinn and Favor of the Sun you will be able to succeed almost any test.

Lucky Cigarette Case (0) and Lucky Cigarette Case (3) are far superior as a success gets you:

For Lucky Cigarette Case (3) that also means deep deck searches.

Apr 28, 2021 unremb · 237

@bobblenator
Once you're setup, draw is much less of an issue - the main question is getting to that state.

Success mechanics definitely has a higher ceiling than failure oriented for Preston, my concern is getting to that state.
Early campaign/scenario, I hardly see any use for over-success mechanics especially before Eye of the Djinn - especially since you don't play Streetwise, Trial by Fire, or Fight or Flight.
In fact, other than throwing the kitchen sink at a test, I hardly see enough boosts to reliably hit the 1-over for "Watch this!", 2-over for Lucky Cigarette Case, and the 3-over for Opportunist.

Apr 29, 2021 suika · 9254

Sometimes it's worth playing a new Favor of the Sun on top of an exhausted one even if it still has tokens on just to refresh it.

This is actually not legal, as Favor of the Sun is unique, and under the rules for unique cards players cannot bring into play a unique card if a copy of that card (by title) is already in play.

Apart from that there's a few things I don't quite understand:

  • Why Beloved when you already have Ancient Covenant? Just for the RFG deck thin effect?
  • How does opportunist staying in hand even help you, more than just keeping two random cards in hand? It's not like you're using the increased success margin for anything, and if you're guaranteeing the success anyway why not take Resourceful, or just Take Heart for draw?
  • Do you do actually perform enough evade checks that Manual Dexterity and Train Tracks become worth it? I would think that Perception and oversucceeding on Flashlight/Old Key Ring investigates would be easier.

May 08, 2021 LeFricC'estChic · 86

I think, in multiplayer, the failed-by suit would be better used by a partner, as he would take more tests, and thus be more likely to draw .

Jul 14, 2021 squidInc · 1

Such a cool deck. Very clever to figure this out. Thanks for posting it! Just a minor point, Chuck Fergus doesn't work with Intel report or hot streak as they are not trick or tactic events. Doesn't change the core mechanic, so not that important, but just a note.

Jul 15, 2021 bobblenator · 443

@squidIncThanks, much appreciated! Well pointed out regarding Chuck Fergus, I've now corrected the guide. Definitely some good ideas in the comments if you'd like to tinker with or optimize the deck.

Aug 04, 2022 Athanasius · 1

Sharpvision should be good here?