Vincent Goes Goonin'

Vincent Goes Goonin'

This is a dedicated fighter deck built around Vincent's unique simultaneous and native access to Geared Up, Studious, and At a Crossroads. By taking advantage of all three effects, and with a little luck, its possible to have a very wild first turn. In Magical Christmas Land, it is possible to have a hand of up to 11 cards on turn 1. While this strategy can undoubtedly be used to facilitate a clue-oriented deck just as well, the aim of this deck is to get Runic Axe and other assets in play on the first turn for efficient gooning.

Mulligan Strategy: Like any weapon-based fighter, Vincent needs his weapon to function properly. Runic Axe is the ideal target, but both Backpack and, if no Axe is present, Baseball Bat should be kept as well, as should At a Crossroads*. After those, any item is a win. Jessica Hyde is of course welcome, but unplayable until at least turn 2.

*At a Crossroads in opening hand: This card will, per dilemma rules, trigger when the game begins (after opening mulligan), but before players take their turn, meaning players can elect to give Vincent an additional 3 cards (and lose an action) before his Geared Up turn (his "next turn"), on which he effectively has zero actions anyway. TLDR: At a Crossroads in an opening hand is 3 free cards, with the only downside being the potential for turn 1 for weakness(es).

Geared Up Turn: Simple Priority order: Schoffner's Catalogue > Backpack > Runic Axe > Only if no Axe so far: Baseball Bat or Bonesaw > Bandages > Hallowed Mirror > Surgical Kit > Grisly Totem > Hiking Boots > Smoking Pipe

Wounded Bystander notes: Quite often, this is a weakness with little impact. Point in fact, if it's a standalone scenario, it's nothing but free soak. When that isn't the case, a good strategy is to reserve a set of bandages (or at least a charge or 2) for the Bystander, to avoid it having a spontaneous accident. I find it typically not worth the actions or resources necessary to clear, but if the situation allows, Surgical Kit's can be used to clear it instantly.

Campaign mode and In the Thick of It's 3 xp at deck creation: Easy choices are 2 Jessica Hydes and Runic Axe's Inscription of Glory, which is necessary to take in order to both remove the axe from counting against Vincent's splash, as well as allow him to level it up past 1(or 2 upgrade boxes).

Runic Axe: This is the deck's primary means of killin'. With 2 inscriptions per charge, the inscription picks will almost always +2, bringing Vincent up to a respectable 6 fists, and +1 damage. However, the aforementioned inscription of glory can be invoked against 1 health enemies, or to finish off other odd-health enemies to trigger Vincent's ability. Or heal horror/draw a card. Those are nice, too. With additional xp beyond the scope of this 29-ish guide, it might be useful to take Inscription of the Hunt to deal with pesky aloof enemies. Heirloom is also an useful option to lower the cost of the Axe to 2 during Geared Up, and also be able to kill spookies.

Starting Campaign deck: See here for a deck to use.

Beyond those tidbits, this deck is rather straightforward in play. You use the axe to kill things. When there is nothing to swing the axe against use that 4 book to help investigate, or heal yourself and/or teammates. Very exciting stuff.