Defiant Scavenging Jim

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
Jim the Lucky, Altruistic, Scavenger 6 3 0 2.0
Inspiration for
None yet

N146 · 49

This deck is primarily a clue gathering deck, it can do some combat with Shriveling but that's not what this is for.

This deck aims to be very good at scavenging things, it does this by leveraging Jim's ability, using Ritual Candles, and Defiance, to effectively turn your bullshit tokens into +1's. Later on, Grotesque Statue further aids this by letting you choose your tokens, and on top of that it's an item so you can recur it.

Defiance is like a better Unexpected Courage for mystics. Bullshit tokens tend to be -3's or -5 if not worse, so defiance is effectively a worth x+1 wild icons, where X is the value of the token you're canceling. Throw ritual candles and that's X+2 (or +3 if you decide to use double ritual candles). On top of that, the question of "which bullshit token do I choose" is made a bit simpler because Jim already defies Skull tokens naturally.

Throw in Dr. Milan and Arcane Studies and you should be able to pass any willpower or Intellect test by 2 or more fairly easily once you're set up.

This deck is great once it's upgraded, but it's really expensive to upgrade. Delve too Deep should be used liberally.

KEY UPGRADES 2x Grotesque Statue IV 2x Elder Sign Amulet III

OTHER UPGRADES

1x Shriveling III

1x or 2x Charisma & Peter Sylvester II (or a campaign ally)

5 comments

Jun 22, 2017 FBones · 18053

I think this is the way to go, except I wouldn't use Ritual candles with Jim. Half the time Ritual Candles make a difference will be on a skull, and any time Jim pulls a skull he is likely to win anyway.

But I do think the Grotesque Statue + Scavenging combo is the way to go... Iwas just checking in to see if anyone else had thought of it.

I would suggest using Charisma and Alyssa Graham. If you are playing Dunwich and have 2x Alyssa Graham, 1 x Milan & 1 x Warren Rice, you should get two +1 intellects out among your allies to help you score the scavenging +2.

Jun 30, 2017 N146 · 49

@FBonesI hadn't thought about Alyssa Graham + Charisma! That's definitely a staple for this archetype in my book.

Also your scavenging deck was the one to convince me that Jim could be good - so I basically just copied your idea :V

I'm not sure if I completely agree with you on the ritual candles, on hard they turn those skulls into +1's that you wouldnt have had (which are so important for scavenging, it's not about passing the test it's about passing by 2 or more), and with defiance you can basically add more +1's to the bag on your most important tests. In addition to that, it makes it so you can replace your used flashlights by overfilling your hands, there's not really another option in-faction to do that, and flashlight recycling is such an important part of scavenging decks.

Jun 30, 2017 FBones · 18053

@N146 I don't see how ritual candles help you scavenge in typical situations. Wouldn't you rather have Magnifying glass, flashlight, or grotesque statues in your hand slots?? For purposes of scavenging from an investigation, a magnifying glass is always going to be better for you than a ritual candle---the magnifying glass gives you +1 for any investigation.

I've been playing a variation of this through Dunwich, and any time I get a skull it is essentially an auto-scavenge. I basically always have either a magnifying glass or flashlight, and I always have at least one ally, so my investigation is generally a base of 5 at least... before any use of perception or my partner throwing in Inquiring mind, etc. Since a skull = 0, I'm always winning by two unless the shroud is 4, in which case I'm likely pumping my intellect up.

So, ritual candles are no better than magnifying glasses (which are fast) for the purposes of scavenging, and when Jim does a willpower test, he is already a 4, (5 with Holy Rosary), so a skull is likely going to succeed anyway, no need for the +1 from ritual candles there.

Once you get grotesque statue out and are recycling it through scavenging, you almost never fail a skill test, so I'm preferring magnifying glass to rabbit's foot [of course, before Laura graham and without grotesque statue, rabbit foot is great for Jim.]

Jun 30, 2017 FBones · 18053

@N146 here is the sort of deck I'm running. arkhamdb.com

Jun 30, 2017 N146 · 49

@FBones I very much like that deck, I haven't gotten a chance to use the JoA yet, but it looks like a great in-faction replacement for the Rabbit's foot, which gives me 2 extra out-of-faction slots. In your deck you used those for a 2nd copy of Milan and a Magnifying glass. But I think I would rather use them for 2 copies of Lucky, keep the ritual candles, and then replace them later with my first copy of Grotesque statue. This makes it so jim can be a bit less reliant on Shriveling, and more capable for weird tests that make you use your other stats.

Its not so much about the magnifying glass being better than the ritual candles (I completely agree), it's about other out-of-faction cards being better than magnifying glass.