El Pulpo Poli (Los Archivos Deck Name Competition Winner)

SO, WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO ACTUALLY START WITH A DECKS NAME?

(Well It doesnt fix my photoshopping skills... lets move on)

The Spanish AHLCG community are a fantastic bunch that I have had the privilege of getting to know over the last year or two via my friends at Los Archivos de Arkham. Unfortunately I dont actually speak Spanish. This makes for a relationship a little slow and over reliant on google Translate, but one I cherish nonetheless. The flipside of this is that when the Spanish players read my decklist and write ups, the puns and nonsense I thread through them to amuse myself hasn't always translated. For a while this has felt like a missed opportunity given how kind they have all been to me and got me wondering what Spanish deck name puns look like...

... ok, stop judging me. Lockdown was really long and everyone else had already done banana bread...

Anyway, back in February, I asked Los Archivos if they would be interested in running a competition where people suggested prospective Spanish deck name puns that hint at a deck concept, and I would have a bash at making one.

Full details of the competition and all the entries can be found AT THIS LINK

Because I wouldnt have a grasp on what qualifies as a good pun in Spanish, the Los Archivos guys picked out a few for me to look through and find one i thought I could build well.

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WHICH BRINGS US TO OUR WINNER!

"El Pulpo Poli". by @kortatukuo

"Mazo de Tommy Muldoon con 8 manos:

• 2x Mano a mano
• 2x Mano a Mano (1)
• 2x La Mano del destino
• 2x HerMano Xavier"

(Original ENTRY AT THIS LINK)

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OH, MANO A MANO (English Translation)

If, like me, your primary way of reading Spanish puns is to ask @Turbinisimo of Los Archivos to explain it in English between games, I'll save you the trip to Edinburgh because this is what he'll tell you:

"El Pulpo means The Octopus, and Poli means police, but here it is also a pun on "Paulie" as in Paul the Octopus who famously predicted Spain to win the 2010 World Cup. The word "Mano" means "Hand", hence they are asking for Tommy Muldoon with 8 Mano Cards, namely (Name in Spanish):

• 2x Hand of Fate (La Mano del destino)
• 2x Mano a Mano (Mano a Mano)
• 2x Toe to Toe (Mano a Mano)*, and
• 2x Brother Xavier (HerMano Xavier)"

*: Yes.... FFG actually translated Toe to Toe into "Mano a Mano", despite there already being a card with that name....

incidentally, Paul's ability to predict victors was based on correctly selecting the food container with a matching flag for the winning side before each match. Further Proof if we needed it that the only guarantees in life involve tentacle draws...Anyway...

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ALL HANDS ON DECK (The Deck)

So, why this deck? Aside from just appreciating a layered pun, and great use of the "Toe a Mano" incident, it felt like there was at least a playable deck concept there.

Tommy is a natural home to detonate Brother Xavier into a shower of coins with an attack from Toe a Mano. Guard Dogs also work here (more on these later). Plus when building to an upgraded Becky as primary weapon, I prefer events over hand slot assets as backup damage, See this deck for example. This is because they can fill in until Becky is played, or spare ammo on her after. Hand slot assets require Bandoliers to be found first, or risk discarding Becky when you could just reload her later. Mk 1 Grenades and now Brand of Cthugha do a similar thing.

And....Yes I realise the Irony of having then included Bandolier (2) anyway, but hear me out!

I cant base a deck around and Octopus Cop without at least trying to get 8 hands in play, which gives him:

• 2x standard hand slots
• 2x from Bandolier (2)
• 2x from Brand of Cthugha - (Something must be holding those blades), and,
• 2x from Boxing Gloves (ok, but work with me...).

Boxing Gloves made me look at spirit tech to fit with Mano a Mano (spirit) and Toe a Mano (spirit). Original Mano a Mano really wants "Let me handle this!" (spirit) to be sure you have an enemy engaged first action. "Get over here!" (2) (spirit) can do a similar thing and has a satisfying mental image in the context of an Octopus.... "Oh, Glory (spirit) gives us some card draw"...

.... "Hmmm, what other spirit tech can I find?" ... "Oh you must be Squidding me!":

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POLI CAN BE PROPHETIC!

Prophetic even covers fortune cards like "Look what I found in this box with a flag on it!", and spells like Mano of Fate! and Brand of Cthugha!

If I had the space there were tons of great options, some thematic, some mechanics, many both:

• One-Two Punch
• Blood Eclipse
• Lucky!
• Fortuitous Discovery
• "Hit me!"

The fortune cards read like someone slowly coming to terms with Pauls predictive track record back in 2010...

• Dumb Luck
• Lucky!
• Against All Odds
• Fortune or Fate!?
• A Glimmer of Hope
• Keep Faith! ... Keep Faith! ... Keep Faith!

Tommy simply has a great intersect with Prophetics target traits and as they say - A penny saved is a bullet in Becky!...

...Ok no one says that, but they should....

Eitherway, I can see many of these being substituted in to taste. The obvious slots probably being to lose the Bandolier, Boxing Gloves, and/or maybe one of the Mano a Manos, depending on your preferred ratio of Puns to Productivity (yes Im judging you!).

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GETTING THE OCTOPUS OUT OF THE GARAGE (Rounding Out the Deck)

(English only speakers, feel free to look up the phrase "Más perdido que un pulpo en un garaje". #PunResearchIsAValidPassTime)

The deck didnt have to be strong, but i wanted to make it at least playable. This meant I needed make a few compromises, mainly to balance the draw and economy. In Tommy I usually want 6-10 actionless draws in the deck to compensate for all the assets being played and returned to the deck. In order to keep on theme, Ive compromised for 4:

• Unrelenting is just a great draw card and sometimes benefits from Mano of Fate
• Glory is spirit traited, and at least on theme for a Spanish world cup victory. Its pips can also get tommy to a respectable 5 for a clue in a pinch.

Boxing Gloves might also get a card here and there, but because they take a lot of set up, I wouldnt consider them reliable without a lucky opening hand. If I had had the space, i would have also liked to have Darings and Take Hearts in there at least, and probably a Guts and/or Perception to increase clue potential.

The other big compromises were:

• 1x Combat Training, which is just too good to overlook in Tommy as a zero cost fast 3/1 soak that turns into cash and bullets even if you ignore the stat boosts. In any other build Id want 2 copies. A similar argument can be made for Cherished Keepsake/Leather Coat but again no slots (or Scavenging (2) /Well Prepared/Grete Wagner set up which makes them really shine!), and
• Stick to the Plan with Ever Vigilant, Prepared for the Worst and Custom Ammunition, which are needed to make Upgraded Becky reliable.

Finally I have no Tarrot due to space, but if i didnt have the Prophetic theming and economy going, i would have gone for The Fool • 0 for the ally cost reduction. I much prefer this to The Star • XVII because I want the allies to cycle fast for Tempo reasons rather than max pay off. Plus youd get more Brother Xavier detonations.

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CHUCHO A MANO (Dogs!)

The Guard Dogs could really be any recurable ally, though they do have a little synergy with Toe a Mano. There are probably better options here like Grete Wagner, The Black Cat (3/3 soak for 2 resources is a lot), or just Good old Tetsuo.

The dogs here are a bit of a shout out to a runner up entry by @Laerthes which amused me. They had proposed a Cruella de Vil Jenny deck using lots of Sled Dogs, other Creature tech, and a Wide variety of Options for Coats. This leans in Jennys just generally being a deva, and her backstory which involves selling clothes...

My mind then went to cards like "You owe me one!" and Black Market, to let her steal puppies from other decks! The problem was I wasnt sure the deck would be playable, and if im honest, I think Dexter Drake might do the concept better but he lacks the theme. That said he can play Black Market on another player, steal their dogs then Sacrifice them or use his to literally turn them into Heavy Furs!

But anyway - if anyone ever makes the Cruella deck, there will be some Doggies available in this list to steal :)

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OTHER LINKS (Stealth Self-Promotion)

More from Los Archivos de Arkham can be found at these links:

• Website: https://archivosarkham.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArchivosArkham

A little discussion on the deck and competition can be found in this episode along with what i am sure is a load of other fascinating banter, or at least pleasant cadences if like me you dont speak Spanish. (Section about the deck (English and Spanish) around 61:44)

• Podcast Link

And there are some wonderful articles in English including some by a mystery guess author that I highly recommend here:

• Los Archivos Articles in English

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Huge Thanks to everyone who entered the competition, Ive had a ton of fun theorycrafting around the translated entries. Thanks also to Los Archivos for letting me do this and @turbanisimo in particular for translating and explaining so many Spanish puns! Finally, thanks to you all for reading.