❄ 2 Packs Deck Guide : Norman the Miskatonic Tutor

Card draw simulator

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

5argon · 9342

(New! This deck was made when I was a lot less experienced. See my new take of 2 packs Norman which is simpler to understand without Forced Learning : Double Icons in the Stars)

This is the last night before Miskatonic University exam.

Looking at the deck list to see that a lot of folks from Miskatonic University is with Norman on this adventure, along with tons of dogs that happened to be living in the university. They must have heard raving reviews about improved exam score from those who had received his tutoring. He also has all types of draw-one Skill cards for his Skill shenanigans. Can you get this study group back alive for the upcoming exam?

► About "2 Packs Deck Guide"
　A series of decks made with the new distribution model in mind, requiring a Revised Core Set box + just 1 more Investigator Expansion box. ❄ character on the deck's name means the additional box it uses is Edge of the Earth Investigator Expansion.
　It maximizes the chance of newcomers being able to build and learn to play the game, enjoying the story on Standard difficulty ASAP. They can then get into deck-building later if they wished to do so. See other decks in the "2 Packs Deck Guide" series here.

　Cost 　Total
19 XP Deck 0 XP
　　 Old Book of Lore 　→　 Astronomical Atlas ••• 3 XP 3 XP
　　 Manual Dexterity 　→　 Blur • 1 XP 4 XP
　　 Manual Dexterity 　→　 Blur • 1 XP 5 XP
　　 　→　 Charisma ••• 3 XP 8 XP
　　 Overpower 　→　 Brand of Cthugha • 1 XP 9 XP
　　 Overpower 　→　 Brand of Cthugha • 1 XP 10 XP
　　 Blur • 　→　 Blur •••• 3 XP 13 XP
　　 Blur • 　→　 Blur •••• 3 XP 16 XP
　　 Brand of Cthugha • 　→　 Brand of Cthugha •••• 3 XP 19 XP
　
29 XP Deck 19 XP
　　 Barricade 　→　 Earthly Serenity • 1 XP 20 XP
　　 Heavy Furs 　→　 Foresight • 1 XP 21 XP
　　 Heavy Furs 　→　 Foresight • 1 XP 22 XP
　　 　→　 Charisma ••• 3 XP 25 XP
　　 Brand of Cthugha • 　→　 Brand of Cthugha •••• 3 XP 28 XP

(View at arkham-starter.com)

[CORRECTION] : There is only 1x Brand of Cthugha (4) in the side deck. Please add one more. Turns out he made it inside 29 XP to get an another copy! (I forgot upgrading Lv. 1 spells to Lv. 4 costs only 3.)

2 Packs Team Compositions

2 Packs Deck Guide : Edge of the Earth series is now complete with the following decks :

To help assembling a party made entirely from just 2 packs, I have a tool that let you browse team compositions for 2 players, 3 players, and 4 players, that has manageable amount of card overlaps or even none at all. The result is sorted from low to high overlaps. Click here to see all team comps.

Example benefits of Forced Learning

With this card your play start even earlier than Investigation Phase, you will be deciding in every Upkeep Phase based on 2 cards you see what you like to do in the upcoming Investigation Phase.

  • Throw away Pocket Telescope in scenario that you can't make use of the remote investigation.
  • Throw away Mind over Matter when you can already Blur.
  • With Charisma and 1 Ally down, you can look for synergistic allies and throw away what is not. For example, if you got 1 Sled Dog down early it is natural to look for more. But if you got Dr. Milan Christopher down early, it is natural to throw away all the dogs you found going forward since it would be too late to start collecting 2+ dogs later.
  • There are a lot of neutral skill cards here. Different campaign and scenario may not weight equally in required tests. Norman can pick what's matching the situation on Forced Learning to play with his commit techs.
  • Healing (Earthly Serenity, Medical Student) is widely regarded as not a good play in Arkham Horror, you are not moving towards the goal and the existence of healing card replaces some other cards that let you just sprint to victory. It is too situational. But sometimes you can't really continue without healing. With Forced Learning you can almost always throw away all the healings, until it is really, really needed.
  • Throw away Research Librarian if you already found your tomes naturally. (The is also not so relevant for Norman.)
  • Throw away Emergency Cache when you don't need the resource, this card has no commit icon and would be a truly dead draw without Forced Learning.
  • There are several one-offs in the deck : Old Book of Lore, Barricade, Jeremiah Kirby, Professor William Webb. The best example would be Barricade. Very rarely that Barricade is needed at the right moment, and if it comes up at wrong moment you feel like you wasted a draw. With Forced Learning, you can now throw it away most of the time and not feel bad. (And feel like a boss if you do pick it up on special occassion.
  • Not a direct usage but the increased deck size holds 4x Sled Dog. In other decks the dog will eat up a lot of deck space.
  • Throw away Overpower which is most of the time irrelevant for Norman, except when he gets 2x Sled Dog and want to deal 2 damage with . (You can also use Mind over Matter for Sled Dog hits.)

Example plays

  • Astronomical Atlas is the very core card of typical Norman deck, and yes this deck is typical. If you saw 2 commit icons on top of the deck or even a icon, just take those cards face down. After committing they will be back on your hand anyway (of course, if the test succeeds), and even could recycle again if you have Livre d'Eibon to put it back on top of the deck.
  • Livre d'Eibon, we mainly use the first ability to manage top deck card to combo with :
    • Astronomical Atlas to stock desired commit card.
    • Foresight to get 2 resources discount and save action (Fast meant you do not use action) when you draw it.
    • Written in the Stars after put strong commit card on top of deck.
    • Play any card for -1 cost with his innate ability.
  • Written in the Stars + commit skill cards with special effects other than draw-one, like Fearless or Deduction.
    • With Blur's extra actions, the star is aligned for him for extra long time to to trigger special effect multiple times.
  • Mind over Matter + Sled Dog attack. + of multiple dogs aren't enough to hit stuff but + damages are significant, so with Mind over Matter we gain high accuracy and the dog's damages.
  • Even though we have Charisma, you likely get only up to 2 Sled Dog stacking in a single slot, not the dream 4 Sled Dog. I think that is enough as the real benefit is once per round, but unlimited, 4 accuracy 2 damage attack, to help saving Brand of Cthugha charges. (And the health soaks.)

Kirby guide

This Miskatonic dude came from Arctic all the way to Antarctic to aid you. When deciding even or odd, at least you see 1 card on top of the deck. But what about the other 4?

Unfortunately, this deck has tons of Skill card which the cost is "none" and therefore not even and not odd. He is here because of Forced Learning and his +1 bonus, which combines with Dr. Milan Christopher into +2 when you have got enough Charisma. (You cannot put down 2 Dr. Milan Christopher, due to unique symbol.)

Anyway, here is a handy chance guide regarding even and odd for this deck. Decide based on your discard pile too what was already gone :

Even

(0 is an even number.)

Odd

Notably, this means if you want some spells, call for "even".

1 comments

Feb 03, 2022 ChantyKoolhoven · 1

Played it together with your 2 pack Lily deck and worked like a charm! Lots of fun. Really like the deck, thanks a lot for all the work!