Mavwick · 32
Jinkies!
Ashcan Pete as a beater. Scooby Duke goes hard and requires no setup to start fighting or investigating.
Some red cards are actually fantastic for a combat-focused character. Lucky! is a great backup plan for a combat-heavy character. Duke and Fire Axe make consistent 2-damage attacks that can be buffed by Vicious Blow. Rabbit's Foot provides a little draw engine for Scooby Duke's discards. Duke investigates or fail it and play "Look what I found!" followed by Rabbit's Foot.
I still believe in taking a lot of the "+2 Skill" cards until the card pool gets bigger. Ditch Manual Dexterity once you start adding cards to the deck.
Throw money into the Fire Axe and it's more efficient than the Skill assets. A lot of the cards here can be tossed into skill checks for more combat or to ready Scooby Duke, so redundancy is key.
Iffy card choices at the moment:
Baseball Bat - This is there in case the Axes aren't drawn early enough or if something takes away the Axes. I considered a Baseball Bat/Scavenging build for when the bat breaks, but I'd hate to rely on Scavenging when enemies need to be killed.
Beat Cop - no red allies I wanted and 2 card slots were available. I'd consider Guard Dog for damage but the buff on Beat Cops may be what you need here.
Ward of Protection - I think this is a solid 1-of card for anyone who can take level zero cards. Cancel the events you can't pass and ones that would likely deal 1+ horror anyway.
Upgrades to consider:
Will to Survive - Get this first. Consistent combat or investigating on demand.
Elder Sign Amulet - Might be necessary if he's stuck in combat a lot or ever takes a Mental Trauma.
Lucky! - Lucky2 will always get use.
Aquinnah - Could be amazing if enough enemies arrive.