Φ 2 Packs Deck Guide : Basic Fence Deck

Card draw simulator

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Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
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5argon · 7915

In this deck I try to use Fence to the fullest with what I have inside Revised Core Set and The Forgotten Age Investigator Expansion. The role is enemy management and investigation.

I'm pleased to see this deck performs much better than such small card pool it uses in The Path to Carcosa campaign I am testing this deck right now. Revised Core Set's additional Illicit cards (.41 Derringer (2) and Lockpicks (1)) that weren't included in old core set really make all the differences for Finn!

► 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. Φ character on the deck's name means the additional box it uses is The Forgotten Age 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
   Flashlight  →  Lockpicks 1 XP 1 XP
   Flashlight  →  Lockpicks 1 XP 2 XP
   Burglary  →  Fence 1 XP 3 XP
   Pickpocketing  →  Fence 1 XP 4 XP
   .41 Derringer    .41 Derringer •• 2 XP 6 XP
   .41 Derringer    .41 Derringer •• 2 XP 8 XP
   Slip Away  →  Borrowed Time ••• 6 XP 14 XP
   Eavesdrop  →  Pay Day 1 XP 15 XP
   Eavesdrop  →  Pay Day 1 XP 16 XP
   Slip Away  →  Elder Sign Amulet ••• 3 XP 19 XP
 
29 XP Deck 19 XP
   Perception  →  The Skeleton Key •• 4 XP 23 XP
   Perception  →  Sure Gamble ••• 3 XP 26 XP
   Leo De Luca    Leo De Luca 1 XP 27 XP
   Leo De Luca    Leo De Luca 1 XP 28 XP

(View at arkham-starter.com)

Lockpicks comes before Fence, so we have more Illicit things to Fence. Try go for 8 XP total for 1st and 2nd scenario and you will be much more badass starting from 3rd scenario.

Got even more XP? I would remove one more Colt Vest Pocket for an another Elder Sign Amulet. This thing melts really fast on Finn. With even more XP, you can remove the final copy of Colt Vest Pocket for anything you like (like 1x more Sure Gamble). If you have Carcosa Investigator Expansion, upgrading Pickpocketing (2) should be solid choice.

Splash

  • Survival Instinct : Don't underestimate this humble card. Potentially let you work for a lot of clues in an unlikely situation, since the Evade you use for this card is also free and you get a free Move to where you want to go get clues anyway. You will have 5 to make this work. To play strategically, you may intentionally wait next to the work location and setup to end your turn. If you draws an enemy, your free Evade will propel you to the destination as well as exhausting the enemy.
  • Dumb Luck : This can be used plan the enemy draw & free Evade sprint I mentioned above with the Survival Instinct, but Finn has to be the lead investigator to draw that enemy you just put back on top. Finn would rather draw an enemy than some test, so basically this card utilize an enemy to postpone Finn's Mythos Phase draw for a round! (In addition to "You handle this one!".) It is also a Lucky!-like insurance when evading when the chaos bag is harsh, since you play after failing the test, so his unboosted 4 works even against 4 enemy.
  • Winging It : 1 copy. Finn has the to succeed with just -1 difficulty helping. Ultimately this combo with The Skeleton Key, since shroud 1 reduces to 0 then the only thing in your way of 2 clues is the .

Fence : How it works

Fence plays .41 Derringer (2) and Colt Vest Pocket Fast. Fast weapons are useful because you are never caught off-guard without a weapon since you skips AoO, and you have more actions to unload the guns. (Though you have the free Evade as well.)

Colt Vest Pocket in particular need Fence to work. You don't want to play this gun normally, move in, shoot once, and throw it away. You must be caught off-guard by a just-spawned enemy (intentionally) then Fence it down Fast skipping AoO, to be able to unload 3 consecutive shots.

Finn has 4 to continuously work on clues, hoarding Fence-able cards on hand never having to waste action playing them while they are not needed yet. For example, Pickpocketing does nothing without an enemy. Keep 2 resources and Pickpocketing right until you get an enemy allow you to use that 2 resources for something else that came up, or committing Pickpocketing in a pinch.

It saves action for Illicit card that you brought up with Smuggled Goods that you are aiming to play it next, like Lockpicks. It also works with Smuggled Goods itself to make it Fast.

Illicit Talent Burglary and Pickpocketing are left 1x both in the deck, which Fence can save action to set them up. Finn has both and free Evade to gain advantage from both.

It improves Pay Day. This card normally costs an action, likely your final action, and get paid. By adding Fast, you are now allowed to take all the actions you want (including from Leo De Luca, Borrowed Time) and get paid using the window after your final action, before going to the next investigator's turn. (You don't get +1 resource for action you spent for Pay Day, since Fast does not use the Play action.) Don't forget that your free Evade count as an action too.

Finn's Trusty .38 is already Fast, so it gets the special privilege of -1 cost. (Card which is not Fast cannot choose the -1 cost, it must became Fast.)

You can use Fence to play an another Fence. With 2 Fence, it is possible to apply Fast then apply the -1 cost next to the same card as a combo! (Or even -2 cost for Finn's Trusty .38.)

Limited fighting

Finn has limited fighting of up to around 5 with .41 Derringer (2) and Finn's Trusty .38. Since Overpower are all removed, the only thing that push this limit is 1x Hard Knocks in the deck.

Though Hatchet Man is kind of Vicious Blow to Finn since you have free Evade, unlike Vicious Blow, it does not help with accuracy when you are actually attacking it next. The effect also expires on your turn, you can't transfer the attack up to the next investigator. But you can commit it for your friend's Evade to get the attack up in their turn. If your team has an another 3+ investigator it could make a good combo with Hatchet Man. It is also good to amp up automatic damage like Beat Cop.

Even if you don't have any more "main" fighter in the deck, Finn can keep evading enemies with his free Evade. Since he can investigate just fine, you maybe able to win before you are overrun by more enemies. He has 2x Survival Instinct and 2x Dumb Luck to keep doing it.

If you know the scenario is walled by having to defeat high enemy, Hard Knocks and Burglary are valuable pair of Asset. This deck is not made to fight like a Guardian, but at least if the situation calls for, he could with some effort. Use Pay Day to fuel Hard Knocks.

The final card that could land an unlikely hit for you is 1x Sure Gamble. I add this at the end expecting high minus token in the bag around that point.

With extended fighting and you are running out of guns in the deck, remember that Smuggled Goods can also grab a gun from discard pile though Smuggled Goods will be gone for good.

Pay Day

  • Remember that if you perform free Evade that count as an action.
  • With Fence you don't have to dedicate your final action to play it and end your turn, you can just use window after your final action.
  • Leo De Luca, of course improves the payout.
  • Smuggled Goods is one way to make Pay Day appear at the right moment.
  • .41 Derringer (2) can get you an action too, but likely need Hard Knocks or Overpower to get that +3 over success.

Dealing with 1

  • "You handle this one!" : Find other friends to take the horror or something like Frozen in Fear. If you have scenario knowledge that Striking Fear set is in, mulligan for this card might be a good idea. You don't want a quick 3 horror out of nowhere.
  • Dumb Luck : You be the lead investigator then you know it is the enemy you are getting on your draw, not some dumb tests.
  • Elder Sign Amulet ••• : Added at 19 XP to use his Accessory slot. Boring but indispensable to virtually "skip" horror willpower tests for about 1-2 times.
  • Sure Gamble ••• : One glimmer of hope for Finn to fix Frozen in Fear that lands on him while he don't have "You handle this one!" is this card. I wish I can add an another copy inside 29 XP. (In fact you can if you don't upgrade Leo De Luca, an another copy lands at exactly 29 XP.)

How to borrow time

Of course, put Leo De Luca down!

Keep forwarding clicks from Borrowed Time in anticipation to draw Pay Day, then you can get massive payout. Note that clicking is an action, so you even not need to stop forwarding clicks to use Pay Day.

You can keep extra action from .41 Derringer (2) hitting low combat enemy in Borrowed Time for later.

If you are stuck with sticky treachery that makes you unproductive, with a healing condition of testing at the end of your turn or simply wait til the end of round, clicking Borrowed Time to forward your turn might be helpful.

Since Finn has free Evade every turn, Borrowed Time sometimes let you organize actions in an attempt to use more of the "future" free Evade to handle multiple enemies. For example, if you have 2 engaged enemy (A and B), you use free Evade for A. Since B prevent you from resuming in getting clues and you would rather leave fighting for the fighter, you don't want to waste your "real" Evade too since the next turn you would get one more fore free, you click Borrowed Time 3 times and end your turn. The fighter kills B that is engaging with you. Enemy A came back ready and engage you. Now you use free Evade again on A for the fighter, and now you have 6 actions this turn for productive work!

Same concept as Finn's free Evade, anything that exhausts like Lockpicks (1) works once per turn. If your location is so difficult nothing except Lockpicks can beat, you can use Lockpicks and clicks to end your turn. Keep doing this and when the location is finally finished, you will have all the "waiting for Lockpicks actions" gathered from the past ready for use!

With 3 clicks on Borrowed Time and Fence, sometimes you can be a hero in combat. Adding Fast works wonder in the mess of fighting. I once achieved very efficient turn unloading all ammo from .41 Derringer (2), one of them gets an extra action, Fence Finn's Trusty .38 into play, free Evade with Hatchet Man to add damage and activate +1 dmg on Finn's Trusty .38, continue shooting with some Hard Knocks sprinkled in. It was so much fun!

No solo tag?

I really wanted to say this deck is ready for true solo play : He can investigate, fight and evade. But! Without someone to use "You handle this one!" on, and it will be such long ride until you get to add that 1x Elder Sign Amulet, I'm afraid the solo experience might be too swingy.

You can try your luck and hope not too many tests lands on you, though! Leo De Luca's built-in 2 sanity might be able to push the limit of horror you can take and you may need to lose him more often than in multiplayers. But nothing can save you from something like Frozen in Fear except Sure Gamble I added very late, maybe move that earlier in the plan? Make sure to replace multiplayer card "You handle this one!" with something else.

If you have The Path to Carcosa player cards, change some splashes to Logical Reasoning might be good idea. Don't remove any Dumb Luck, it is a 2 cost ticket to free Mythos Phase since recurring enemy can get handled by your free Evade.

2 comments

Jun 03, 2023 jsadams4 · 1

If I want to run this with your 2 sets Calvin deck, what should I do with the overlapping elder sign amulets? I’ve got all sets except TCU.

Jun 04, 2023 5argon · 7915

@jsadams4 If you got all packs then you can let Calvin use 2x Cherished Keepsake from The Path to Carcosa from the start. Perhaps in place of 1x Ward of Protection and 1x Lucky!. ("Look what I found!", Live and Learn, Take Heart are all fail package and I don't want to touch them, and Perception can't be removed due to Scavenging relying on it.)