VVini, Vidi, Vici|Deck Guide

Card draw simulator

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Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
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Valentin1331 · 68453

Wini is a Vamp who Pickpockets you first and then Snitches to a Muckraker.

As always, please don't forget to press the ♥ if you like the Deck and the work that has been put into making it :)

Wini-Vamp.png

Credit: Christine Mitzuk and Aleksander Karcz


Introduction

As I participated in Shadows over Scotland, I put together some decks to explore a few concepts I had in my backlog, and this one blew my mind. So, I thought I'd make a short guide to share the build with everyone.

Disclaimer: This deck can quickly start to take up a lot of space at the table as you resolve 4 tests in one action. And it can become far worse when you start adding Double, Double and Ace in the Hole in the equation. While being on the very strong side of the spectrum, I wouldn't consider this deck to be pushing too far on what is acceptable at a playing table, but make sure the people you play with are on board with this type of playstyle.


Table of Contents:
  • Overview

  • Main Strategy

  • Vamp, Snitch

  • Other Cards

  • Upgrade Path

  • Make Your Own Deck!


Overview:
 
Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Enemy Management: ★★★☆☆
Clue-getting: ★★★★★
Encounter protection: ★★★★☆
Survivability: ★★☆☆☆
Economy: ★★★★★
Card Drawing: ★★★★★

Main Strategy:
  • Cycle your deck quickly to have Vamp (3) and Snitch available almost every turn.

  • The skill cards, the commits from the Crystallizer of Dreams and Pickpocketing will turn each Vamp (3) into a "draw half of your deck" kind of situation.

  • I publish the deck at 12xp, because many Random Basic Weaknesses can hinder fast cycling decks, and so the fewer, the better. Plus, the more I play, the more I appreciate a lean, low-requirement concept.


Vamp, Snitch:
  • Each time you play Vamp (3), you will have the opportunity to test 4 skills:

    • : the least important test, but it can be nice when you have Counterespionage placed under the Crystallizer of Dreams and can be useful if you have a doom on the enemy.

    • : a difficulty 0 clue is always appreciated. Based on whether you chose to perform this test before or after the test, you can discover the clue at your location or any connecting location where you chose to move the enemy.

    • : the most important test, since it triggers both Pickpocketing (though when you upgrade it, you can't have both the draw and the resource since it's a Parley action).

    • Being forced to move the enemy if it is non-elite is actually a bit annoying and prevents us from doing Dirty Fighting or .25 Automatic (2) shenanigans, but hey, we can't have it all...

    • : 2 Damage is surprisingly useful to chip some health off enemies. You are mainly a cluever, but this will come in handy more than it seems.

    • Don't do this one first if it would kill the enemy.

  • As you succeed in a Parley skill test, you can trigger Snitch, which adds 2 clues to the result of your action.

  • Outcome of 1 action: 3 clues, potentially 6 cards plus any draw from the cantrips, up to 13 resources from "Watch this!" and Gregory Gry (15 minus 2 resources to pay for the events).

  • Don't forget that all this is at difficulty 0 thanks to Fine Clothes, and therefore is basically all or pass.

  • To increase the chances of having an enemy on the board and be able to use Vamp (3), we chose the Crystallizer of Dreams instead of Lucky Cigarette Case, so we have the Guardian of the Crystallizer to parley. And since it arrives in play exhausted, the danger is rather limited in a high-draw deck.


Other cards:
  • Lockpicks are great for getting clues during turns when there are no enemies on the board.

    • The oversucceed is useful to use Opportunist reliably and trigger Wini's ability.
  • Crystallizer of Dreams is amazing in this deck to provide an enemy and store events for more regular use of Winifred Habbamock's ability.

    • It offers another less obvious advantage: when pulling an while committing your events from the Crystallizer of Dreams, you will draw them immediately!

    • On the other hand, make sure that you don't keep your events under the Crystallizer of Dreams when you re-shuffle your deck, especially Vamp (3), but with its 2 icons, that shouldn't be an issue.

  • Gregory Gry and Hit and Run are here for 2 reasons:

    • Paying for Counterespionage.

    • Soaking the Horror every time you re-shuffle your deck.

  • "I'll take that!" is amazing in this deck:

    • It speeds up your setup.

    • It stays in play, and therefore, it doesn't become a dead draw later in the scenario, thinning your deck.

  • Small Favor is here to use some of that leftover cash to snipe enemies.

    • With 6 resources, you can deal 2 damage to an enemy that was moved by Vamp (3). 4 total damage is not perfect, but since the enemy is moved and evaded, I think it's decent enough to cover the majority of situations when you would need it.
  • "Watch this!" is obvious in Wini and in this deck: you'll overcommit regularly, and the income will help pay for events.

  • Manual Dexterity, Overpower and Perception are fantastic since committing them, and another skill gets you to draw 2 cards if you succeed.

  • Perception can be committed to Lockpicks tests even when you can't Vamp (3).

  • Nimble is a free move when you need to, either on a basic evade or during the test of Vamp (3) to follow the enemy and save 2 resources on Small Favor.

  • Opportunist is a staple in Wini since it will very often come back to your hand to be committed to many tests, significantly increasing the chances of triggering her ability.

    • Careful that Winifred's ability says 2 different non-weakness cards. This means the second copy of Opportunist, as well as Arrogance, don't count for the 2 commits.
  • Quick Thinking is also great for getting a little bit more juice out of each turn. Even if the deck doesn't really need many more actions, it always finds a way to be helpful.


Upgrades:

Upgrade Path:

[Link to the 0xp deck](https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/4249509)

 Cost  Total
   In the Thick of It  →  Lockpicks 1 XP 1 XP
   In the Thick of It  →  Lockpicks 1 XP 2 XP
   "You handle this one!"  →  Vamp ••• 3 XP 5 XP
   Small Favor  →  Vamp ••• 3 XP 8 XP
   Crystallizer of Dreams  →  Snitch •• 2 XP 10 XP
   Gregory Gry  →  Snitch •• 2 XP 12 XP
   "You handle this one!"  →  Counterespionage 1 XP 13 XP
   Pickpocketing    Pickpocketing •• 2 XP 15 XP
   Pickpocketing    Pickpocketing •• 2 XP 17 XP
   Opportunist    Opportunist •• 2 XP 19 XP
   Opportunist    Opportunist •• 2 XP 21 XP
   Manual Dexterity    Manual Dexterity •• 2 XP 23 XP
   Manual Dexterity    Manual Dexterity •• 2 XP 25 XP
   Quick Thinking  →  Double, Double •••• 8 XP 33 XP
   Quick Thinking  →  Ace in the Hole ••• 6 XP 39 XP
    +  Streetwise ••• 3 XP 42 XP
    +  Observed •••• 4 XP 46 XP
    +  Another Day, Another Dollar ••• 3 XP 49 XP
    +  Another Day, Another Dollar ••• 3 XP 52 XP

(View at arkham-starter.com)


[Link to the full xp deck](https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/4249563)

Make Your Own Deck!

To create your own guides, find the template here.

368 comments

Sep 29, 2024 mattastrophic · 3240

But how do we make this go infinite? Untaboo the Quick Thinkings and Ace in the Hole? Versatile for a Seeker card? Run it in Lola with Will to Survive?

There must be a way.

Sep 29, 2024 Codayus · 1

This looks really fun.

I'm thinking of running this in my next campaign but one of the other players is already planning on playing a deck with Gregory Gry.

I could swap Gregory out for Moxie as you suggested for the simple version of the deck which would help with soak, but wouldn't help with resources. Do you have any suggestions? Or should I just save this for a run when I can get Gregory all to myself?

Sep 29, 2024 SikoSC · 625

Oh, Wini landed his plane at Alessandra's party! I'll try this deck for sure, it seems so funny!

Sep 29, 2024 Valentin1331 · 68453

@mattastrophic Yeah if we'd want to go infinite with this deck, ignoring taboo on Quick Thinking and/or Ace in the Hole, and most importantly, ignoring the RFG from All In. Since you test more or less everything at difficulty 0, Will to Survive is not so relevant here.

@Codayus good to know, let me know how it went! Indeed if you can't access the Muckraker, you could use the "simpler" version of the deck, that plays without any allies, and doesn't need that much resources, so "Watch this!" is enough!

@SikoSC I know! Wini does Parley better than Alessandra; who would have thought?! Let me know how it goes for you!

Sep 29, 2024 Eudaimonea · 5

Doesn’t +2 Swift Reflexes make it infinite?

Sep 30, 2024 Rastafarium · 1

Hey! just a couple of thoughts. Do you really prefer small favour over Intel report? And in case the damage is really needed, would clean sneak or backstab be good upgrades?

Also, would easy marks or three aces make sense here? i guess you have enough money and draw that you dont need them no?

Anywhos, another banger it is, good job

Sep 30, 2024 sergeyvpopov · 91

As the person who played at the same table, can confirm that the deck is a bit finicky and attracts a LOT of tentacles but still better than even the best Mandy decks.

Oct 02, 2024 toothball · 76

On the 12xp, I was under the impression that In the Thick of It didn't affect the number of Random Basic Weaknesses you have to take in Standalone mode, so 12xp would still mean one additional weakness plus some Trauma for your troubles. Did that change at some point?

Oct 02, 2024 toothball · 76

Oh, now I see the rules response on the card page. It hadn't made it to the FAQ yet. Good to know!

Oct 18, 2024 ChrisSF · 1

I think I just don't get Winifred. I can never seem to get the card draw engine going. Commit 2 cards to draw one card? The math doesn't work with that unless one of those cards is a cantrip or Opportunist or you happen to draw the Elder Sign. I can see how Crystallizer of Dreams would help, but what if it's not in play? That said, just having 2 Lockpicks in play gets you pretty far, and Vamp (3) is a truly great card. This is not the first high-draw Winifred deck that I've tried and (so far) failed to make work very well. There must be some secret I am missing.

Oct 20, 2024 Valaaisvala · 1

I was about to ask the same: I must be missing something with these high-cycle Winifred decks, how am I supposed to be drawing my whole deck multiple times in a scenario? I can get once through, but I don't seem to ever get much more than that. What am I doing wrong? How do you guys play these decks?

Oct 21, 2024 Valentin1331 · 68453

Hey @ChrisSF and @Valaaisvala, sorry to hear it didn't work so well for you!

First thing, bear in mind that this is a 9xp friendly deck and gets better as you get more experience, but nevertheless, let's look at the ways to pilot this deck so you hopefully can find out how satisfying it can be!

  1. Play your assets as soon as you have the chance. The beginning will be a little slower and that's ok. Don't wait to play Pickpocketing or Fine Clothes even if you haven't found "I'll take that!" yet, you can always use this on Lockpicks and Crystallizer of Dreams.
  2. Opportunist is instrumental. With 2 in hand and your weakness, you have +1 at every test and it counts for 1 of your ability cards.
  3. The Neutral Cantrips are your best friends. One of these and Opportunist and you net +1 card. You can also use Quick Thinking's extra action as an additional card at the beginning to get your engine going.
  4. Crystallizer of Dreams offers you extra commits so you are sure to have 2 cards to commit to most tests. It is also helpful to throw at a test so you are sure not to lose your Opportunist.
  5. Evasion of course. Every time you have the opportunity to evade, you get 2 cards with Pickpocketing. Your main way to evade hopefully is with Vamp (3), but even if you have to land on a location with an enemy and end your turn by evading, it will bring fuel to your engine.

Overall, I would say that Winifred is a momentum deck, and taking an action that doesn't bring the game forward but draws you 4 cards (evading while comitting Opportunist and Manual Dexterity) should be seen as fueling your engine. And the payoffs will come every time you manage to do a Vamp (3) turn with Snitch. The rest of the deck is here to make sure that this happens as often as possible without you dying in the process.

If you want to try an alternative, there is also the deck with 2 Lucky Cigarette Case and Hidden Pocket which offers the benefit of triggering +2 draw on your Lockpicks turns. It is also more simple as you don't have to pay attention to the cards on the Crystallizer, but you need enemies on the map to really kick off, so better with more players.

Finally, it could be an option to explore the deck at more experience to maybe find the tipping point that will unlock this archetype for you. Maybe upgrading Manual Dexterity for an extra card, or Ace in the Hole that can be used to draw 3 cards every cycle. You could get all these for the cost of an extra weakness, so maybe it's worth trying!

Oct 21, 2024 Valaaisvala · 1

So I guess I should mulligan hard for the key assets here, and expect to draw into the relevant skills/events afterwards, setting up for a big turn down the line to get the engine running?

Oct 21, 2024 ChrisSF · 1

Thanks Val! This deck did improve with XP, and Wini and Skids ended up winning a FHV run, including saving all but 2 in The Longest Night! It turns out having 2 investigators with high and decent is really good for that campaign. Opportunist and the neutral skills are so critical for Wini, and eventually I started just committing any card I didn't immediately want to play to get some draw going. We probably should have paid more attention to the fact that other investigators can commit cards to trigger Wini's card draw, too.

I never got much use out of the Crystallizer. I think if I were doing it again I would go the Lucky Cigarette Case route just to get some more consistent card draw. Thanks again for all the great decks and for being so generous with your time to respond to comments!

Oct 22, 2024 atowncalledmalus · 8

How about adding Charisma and Chuck Fergus in there? Getting a +2 on the tests makes many of them super reliable for hitting the "succeed by" targets on your skill cards even if you pull higher negative tokens, and fast frees up an action from playing a card, which you can use to draw cards to refill your hand and cycle the deck faster, or perform environmental actions if needed.

Oct 22, 2024 Valaaisvala · 1

@atowncalledmalus: Chuck doesn’t do that much here I think; while there are many Trick events, they won’t benefit that much from his abilities. Either already Fast, not involving a skill test, or costing only 1 or 0. The skill tests on Vamp don’t need the help either, starting at difficulty 0 and with several card commits incoming for draw.

@ChrisSF: other investigators’ committed cards won’t trigger Wini’s ability, but she can trigger it committing to their tests. That is, unless there’s some weird ruling on who controls committee skill cards that I am unaware of?

Oct 22, 2024 ChrisSF · 1

@Valaaisvala You are totally right -- only Wini's committed cards count. And since an investigator can only commit one card to another investigator's skill test, that means Wini's ability can never trigger on someone else's test. We were accidentally playing it correctly, it turns out.

Oct 26, 2024 Eebsee · 1

Heyo, new player here trying this as my second deck as we play a 4 player FHV campaign. 26 xp into the Lucky cigarette case version adn managed to almost cycle it 3 times last scenario (Bertie side q) before I (Kinda) had to resign. Enjoying the deck, starting to get a feel for the decision-making, so thank you ^^

Got a lil question about vamp(3), if I am engaged with an enemy as I play it, I have ruled it that I get an atk of oppurtunity on me even though it is Parley, cuz the action of playing a card still triggres an atk of oppurtunity, am I right?

Oct 26, 2024 ChrisSF · 1

@Eebsee You don't take an attack of opportunity when playing an event card that gives you a Parley action (or one that gives you a Fight, Evade, or Resign action). This is clarified in the official FAQ. That's one of the reasons Vamp is so good!

Oct 26, 2024 Eebsee · 1

oo Nice, thanks @ChrisSF ^^ Akways sacced Moxie, but this will defo make things smoother.

Nov 02, 2024 Valaaisvala · 1

Ok, I tried the deck again, this time knowing what to do for early setup: that worked a whole lot better. Getting those Pickpocketings in to play early is huge, and as soon as I could play a Vamp with a full grip of cards (even without Fine Clothes!) it was off to the races. I’ll definitely be trying this for a full campaign at some point, it’s mad fun when it gets going. The only question I still have is what on earth an I supposed to do with all the money I get off Greg?

Nov 03, 2024 ChrisSF · 1

@Valaaisvala You could add in Pilfer!

Nov 30, 2024 agnurak · 1

I'm enjoying this deck and getting good cycling of cards, but three episodes in intend to swap out Hit and Run with Stir the Pot. I don't see how with 1-2 low cost ally cards how Hit and Run gets any consistent play for its intended purpose. I have yet to use it once. Thoughts or feedback?

Dec 01, 2024 Valaaisvala · 1

The idea is you put Gregory Gry into play with Hit and Run, then play your Vamp(3), do lots of skill checks and empty him of money, then he goes back into your hand again at the end of the turn. This does two things for you: your net gain is +8 resources instead of +6, and he's ready to go again next turn, instead of having to play him, get him killed, and cycling the deck to find him again. Ideally you manage to time it so that Greg is in play when you draw from an empty deck, meaning he can take the horror, and then bounce back into your hand.