Card draw simulator
| Derived from |
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| None. Self-made deck here. |
| Inspiration for | ||||
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| Tony Feasts with Friends | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 |
HungryColquhoun · 7188
Lessons in Ghoul Seduction
I'm continuing my series with a deck each Sunday and using the new Hemlock Vale cards. Here sexy Bewitching Tony has an Ace in the Hole, giving him more than enough actions to teach those ghouls a thing or two...
Overview
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With Ace in the Hole on Bewitching, you can have a 12 action turn when you use it combined with Haste, Quick Thinking, Leo De Luca, Honed Instinct and Tony's ability. With Switchblade that means you can deal up to 24 damage - obviously you're unlikely to succeed by two or more on all of those, but you might! Ace in the Hole should sit on Bewitching for most of the scenario so it doesn't get discarded by a treachery, drawing it through enemy engagement near to when you think it'll be needed (remember a lot of bosses are Massive, and so can't trigger Bewitching themselves). Your single copy of Kicking the Hornet's Nest can be used to force timely enemy engagement and so draw Ace in the Hole.
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Knight of Swords was chosen as both Switchblade ••, Lucky Cigarette Case and Honed Instinct rely on over-success. I had Timeworn Brand on this deck for a while, but the cheaper resource cost of Switchblade means you can get important assets like Leo into play more easily. Of note, you can discard Knight of Swords on success to trigger Honed Instinct without fail.
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The other Tricks on Bewitching are "You handle this one!" and Easy Mark. The former lets you pass off a nasty encounter to a fellow investigator, while the latter with Bewitching allows you to queue up 3 altogether. Once all Easy Marks are drawn this gives a +6 resource +3 card action (or otherwise some icons to commit). The added benefit of Bewitching is of course deck thinning, making your mulligan more potent. Lucky Cigarette Case and Overpower provide card draw in addition to Easy Mark - letting you mill your deck and find key assets.
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Clue-finding is modest - Working a Hunch and Kicking the Hornet's Nest are testless clues, while Deduction combos with Flashlight for some compression. The humble Flashlight makes Tony adequate at investigating, allowing you to test at an effective 5 on locations with a shroud of 2 or higher. The deck does at least have 19 to commit, so that helps to flex.
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Resource generation is Easy Mark, Another Day, Another Dollar, Kicking the Hornet's Nest, Bank Job, Bounty Contracts and a smidge of "You handle this one!". Pay Day was avoided because it's icon-less, and the tokens from Faustian Bargain do not help with over-success. Resources can be spent on soak, with Lonnie Ritter combined with Heavy Furs providing its usual healing combo, and Leo giving more soak at a push. Lonnie is already good soak without the Furs, so only one copy of the latter is taken as a result (play your second Lonnie if she dies!).
Campaign starter and planned progression
In the Thick of It makes this a 30 XP deck. 0 XP deck is below (and link here). I've taken Knuckleduster in the campaign starter because (a) it does consistent damage unlike level 0 Switchblade and (b) you have soak for the Retaliate procs. Remember, you don't need to do Knuckleduster attacks all the time if Retaliate would be risky - you can do basic fight actions. Depending on the campaign, a lot of enemies can have Retaliate anyway.
A recommended order of purchases/upgrades is:
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Bewitching (load with "You handle this one!", Easy Mark and "I'm outta here!")
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1 x "I'm outta here!" → 1 x Ace in the Hole (load onto Bewitching)
Side deck considerations: Instead of Knight of Swords and Honed Instinct: Force of Habit, you can take a second Charisma, Delilah O'Rourke and then possibly Leo De Luca •. If you're making this change then Honed Instinct's inclusion is dubious without the upgrade, so you can swap it for Perception. Given that I'd remove Honed Instinct, the choice then is between 1 damage in a few turns or up to 4 damage in a burst - for me the latter deck fits the deck more (and the soak isn't really needed, and Knight of Swords functions like Delilah for when you're already passing tests the majority of the time). Overall, there's not much in it though - use what you'd prefer! Alternative deck found here (upgrade path included).
Final thoughts
Are 12 actions in a turn necessary? No. Is it fun? Hell yes! I've always wanted to push the limits of how many actions Tony can have in a single turn. While he could definitely have even more, 12 seemed like an appropriate stopping point - plus it makes it competitive with the likes of The Gold Pocket Watch. Bewitching is the key enabler here and boasts a lot more utility than just Ace in the Hole extra actions - I'd say this approach overall gives more bang for your buck when you're going action-heavy. Knight of Swords giving a much better chance to trigger Honed Instinct was the last piece of the puzzle, having great synergy with Switchblade and making the deck gel nicely.
Hope you like it, for me this is one of those decks that brings a smile to my face! It definitely was a treat doing Longest Night with this, Ace in the Hole came in very handy. I guess doing anything new with Tony is a challenge, so instead this deck is doing the same things but more often - which is new enough for me!
| 14 comments |
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Apr 22, 2024 |
Apr 22, 2024
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Apr 23, 2024Hey this is an amazing deck and I'm having a lot of fun playing it solo. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing! |
Apr 23, 2024One other thing, would you consider adding Streetwise? |
Apr 23, 2024Thanks I had thought about Streetwise, but as it's a bit of a costly deck to setup I think Another Day, Another Dollar is a slightly (v. slightly) better fit for two player. However for solo as you are playing, seeing as you need to do everything off your own back, I think having pay-to-win for would be better. You could consider dropping Honed Instinct altogether in that case and replacing with Perception, and using the XP saving for Streetwise (up to 10 actions is still pretty damn good). You should take "I'm outta here!" on Bewitching too in the final deck rather than "You handle this one!" for obvious reasons! |
Apr 23, 2024Sorry for a newbie question, could you explain why Bewitching cannot be triggered by a massive enemy? According to FAQ 2.2: When an investigator engages an enemy, that enemy has also engaged that investigator, and vice-versa. There is no difference between engaging an enemy and being engaged by an enemy. Effects that trigger “after an enemy engages you” will trigger at the same time as effects that trigger “after you engage an enemy.” According to Rules Reference: Massive is a keyword ability. A ready enemy with the massive keyword is considered to be engaged with each investigator at the same location as it. An exhausted enemy with the massive keyword is not considered to be engaged with any investigators. So when you enter a location with a massive enemy or the enemy becomes ready, doesn't it count as the enemy engaging you? |
Apr 23, 2024
A copy and paste of the ruling from the card's page: 'If Zoey Samaras is dealing with a Massive enemy, the enemy is “considered” engaged with you, so it will enable abilities – like the Machete’s – that require you to be engaged with an enemy. However, there is no timing point of engagement, you’re just “considered” engaged with it, so you can’t really trigger reactions to becoming engaged with the enemy, like Zoey Samaras or Zoey's Cross.' |
Apr 23, 2024
Rules Reference about Enemy Engagement: "While an enemy card is in play, it is either engaged with an investigator (and placed in that investigator’s threat area), or it is unengaged and at a location (and placed at that location)." So maybe it's implied that if an enemy is at a location, then it's unengaged. It would be nice though if Massive keyword definition directly stated that a massive enemy in reality is not engaged with investigators. However it raises a question: can you even disengage a massive enemy if it's only "considered" engaged? If you evade it and it becomes exhausted, then sure. But if you use something like Elusive? There is no rule that a massive enemy stops being "considered" engaged if you disengage it. It was unengaged before, it remains unengaged after. And it's "considered" engaged despite the fact that it actually isn't (as long as it's not exhausted). I'm sure it's intended that you can disengage massive enemies, I'm just trying to interpret rules as they are written. |
Apr 23, 2024
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Apr 23, 2024
I think the easier way to think about it is stuff that enters your threat area satisfies the engagement trigger - but any enemies that don't, won't. I believe Elusive does qualify as you say, as other than that trigger moment they are considered engaged for all other interactions (e.g. Flamethrower, Machete, Elusive, etc.). |
Apr 23, 2024
The only card I've found where disengagement from a massive creature is somewhat relevant is Stealth, and, as I understand the ruling, you don't become disengaged from a massive creature either. |
Apr 23, 2024Yes you're right, as Elusive is fast it makes no difference either way as Massive enemies can't move with you as you say and fast actions don't trigger AoOs. Stealth is an interesting one but I think fits thematically - I've always thought it's because Massive monsters occupy so much of their immediate vicinity that they're considered engaged with everyone, and so I think that also extends to them leaving no where left to hide. Anyway, good to chat through the finer points of engagement with you! |
Apr 26, 2024I despise this image |
Apr 26, 2024
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Another fantastick deck, thanks for sharing! I think Tonys low sanity screams for logical reasoning though.