Zoey Whets Her Blade

Card draw simulator

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Derived from
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Ektheleon · 192

The goal of this deck is to get The Hungering Blade out ASAP, and then to use it to stab anything and everything in your way. Having a consistent 2-damage attack without needing to spend actions on replacing or reloading your weapons allows you to spend less time on busywork and maintenance, and more time on what really matters (stabbing).

This deck runs Geared Up, so the mulligan approach is fairly straightforward. Most non-Item cards can be tossed, and as long as you have at least one weapon in hand, it's even okay to toss other items in hopes of getting a Backpack or Catalogue to help smooth out setup.

A good opening hand should leave you set up and ready to hit the ground running, either with a backup weapon (boo, hiss) or with Hungering Blade. If you've got Hungering Blade, you do need to be a little more cautious about how and when you draw, since enough Bloodlust can deplete your low sanity quite rapidly, though you can take a few hits if committing Daring or Overpower means the difference between getting an offering and not making the kill.

Similarly, make sure you're thinking about how many offerings you have on hand when shuffling a Bloodlust away. The damage boost is good, obviously, but not if it comes at the expense of your life and sanity. The balancing act is part of what makes the deck so much fun to pilot.


Card Choices:

Money Outlets:

Between Zoey's innate economic power and the boost you get from Geared Up and Catalogue, you are very likely to get very rich. Leaving that money on the table is a waste, so this list runs Physical Training as a way to boost those early non-Bloodlust attacks, as well as offering a way to defend yourself against the Mythos. Some other options include

Combat Training - The static boost is great, and at 3 plus the ability to pay for more, it's possible (though still not easy) for Zoey to pass some of those tests as well, if that's important to you.

Keen Eye - More expensive per boost, but if you've got the money it's hard to complain about a boost that lasts for the whole turn

Teamwork - For more of a support direction, hand all those stacks of cash to your friends.

Dynamite Blast - "No!" you cry, "Why would you allow anything other than Hungering Blade to kill things!", and I mostly agree. But especially in higher counts, having the option to simply nuke the board can be helpful if things get out of hand. Especially useful if you take Stick to the Plan and attach Dynamite to it.

Items:

Geared Up can give you a lot of value, but the tradeoff is that you can't go too low on items, or you risk getting stuck with a lost turn right out of the gate for no benefit. This deck starts at 12, and I really wouldn't suggest going any lower. Some specific notes:

Backpack - This card is nuts. It makes your Geared Up turn so much more consistent and powerful. Upgrade the other copy ASAP, mulligan hard for it. I've experimented with spending the remaining experience from In the Thick of It on Ace of Swords or some other utility cards, but Backpack is really too good to put off.

Hallowed Mirror - At level 0, this is a great emergency button when you've gotten a little unlucky with your Bloodlust, or just beaten down generally. And if you aren't in trouble, use it on your friends instead. Recommend picking up a Relic Hunter so you don't need to choose between this and your Cross.

Enchanted Blade and Machete - Backups for if you can't find your real weapon. It's not really safe to cut all of them, but once you've got a second Backpack (2), you can probably switch a couple of these for other items. The upgrade for Enchanted Blade is good as well, but is lower-priority here, since it fights with Hungering Blade for kills.

When it comes to upgrades, Zoey's limited access means there aren't a ton of options to choose from, but there's still some good picks, like

Empty Vessel/Wish Eater - Basically requires another Relic Hunter, but it's a really strong effect. You already want to be killing things, this pays you for doing that by radically increasing your odds of passing tests, and healing you to boot.

Survival Knife - A solid offhand pick, the ability to react to attacks in the enemy phase can help mop up things you couldn't quite finish, or help soften them up for the next round.

Mk 1 Grenades - As with Dynamite Blast, sometimes the situation calls for a good area-of-effect attack.

Splash Slots:

The flip side of the limited selection for your item upgrades is the immense level 0 flexibility the Dunwich splash gives you. This deck runs

Schoffner's Catalogue - Obvious Geared Up synergy, not a lot more to say here. The fact that you can pass whatever you don't use over to your teammates is the icing on the cake here.

Mr. "Rook" - People already say that one of the best things about Rook is the free weakness draw, and in a deck where you can get positive value from a controlled draw of the weaknesses you've shuffled into your deck, it's better yet. Even under the current taboo, one action is a perfectly acceptable price to pay for what it gives you. That said, he's by no means essential to the deck, if you wanted to spend the splash on something else, Guardian has good ally options as well.

Scroll of Secrets - A solid card, an item to get your numbers up, and as with a lot of the stuff in the deck, if you don't need the draw you can give it away. That said, this is definitely a flex slot, if you feel like swapping it for something else, go for it.

Other Notable Cards:

On the Hunt - Definitely a luxury upgrade, but obviously works very well to get offerings while also avoiding worse things in the deck.

Stick to the Plan - A weaker pick in a Geared Up deck, since you don't get as much value from the traditional "Stick Ever Vigilant" play. But still has enough targets to make it worth a look.

Underworld Support - In some ways, this is an obvious fit for the deck. Hungering Blade, Zoey's Cross, Hallowed Mirror, Empty Vessel, you have a lot of one-ofs, and a lot of your doubled cards have acceptable near-substitutes. That said, in testing, I found I missed the ability to run a second Backpack or On the Hunt more than I enjoyed the increased consistency. It won't ruin the deck if you run it, feel free to give it a go if it strikes your fancy.


Campaign Tips:

The Dunwich Legacy:

Don't really recommend running this in Dunwich. Getting too many Bloodlust milled can really hamper your ability to use Hungering Blade at all, and unless somebody else on your team is willing to take point on all the anti-melee enemies the campaign offers, you'll have a really hard time just doing your job.

The Path to Carcosa:

Carcosa's horror pressure might make the self-inflicted horror a little dicier, but not so much that it's unmanageable. One note, you absolutely cannot afford to play Hungering Blade in Unspeakable Oath, or else an ill-timed Straitjacket could leave you unable to re-play the Blade, while the Bloodlusts left in your deck wear you down.

The Forgotten Age:

Could work if you're trying to do a high-vengeance run, but in general a deck that has to keep doing murders to stay alive is a bad fit for a campaign that encourages you to avoid doing too many murders.

The Circle Undone:

Solidly doable. Zoey's good willpower gives her a solid defense against the very biased encounter deck, On the Hunt and Smite the Wicked can create some cute plays in the second scenario (pulling monsters out of the deck during the opening so they don't create doom), and you never need to worry about not having enough stabs for all the rats or wasting ammo on the Watcher. Just be careful if siding with the Lodge, Smite the Wicked into a Keeper of Secrets is a great way to accelerate Greater Good to a close.

The Dream Eaters:

Absolutely bananas. Swarms bury you in money and potential offerings, you get a lot of freedom to do what you want without worrying about being hit with something you can't handle. Dark Side of the Moon has a lot of quite unpleasant tests, so if you're doing the waking side, it's worth considering going for a Combat Training/Track Shoes build.

The Innsmouth Conspiracy:

Yes, Deep Ones punish you for engaging, but it's not like you have a choice about when to engage most of the time. And the survivability of this deck really blunts the threat of all the mandatory damage/horror.

Edge of the Earth:

More of a challenge, there's more enemies that you can't defeat, that punish you for defeating them, or that encourage you to avoid fighting. And the single-minded enemy focus of the deck can leave you in the dust on City of the Elder Things.

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