Thrift Store Tommy

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Return to Dunwhich Crime Scene 0 0 0 1.0

Clinkcraft · 79

Your Thrift Store items: Cherished Keepsake and Leather Coat are your bread and butter—with double damage as soak, net profit of 2 money each, 0 cost so you can always play them (and don't have to lament their loss to your weakness), and they don't take up ally slots.

Guard Dog is really the only ally you need, since you're all about fighting and damage. Give horror to your other cards and max out that dog damage. Beat Cop could also be considered, but for my money, Guard Dog is where it's at.

Something Worth Fighting For and True Grit are nice-to-haves that basically allow you to split damage away from guard dog, so you can max his passive damage ability. But they're expensive and prey to your weakness. Solemn Vow lets other investigators play into your ability, but it limits your planning to being int he same location and trying to tie logistics together. Only splashed here to save someone's life in a pinch, but more often used as a pseudo-Guts

With the exception of Guard Dog, you want one of your Thrift Store assets to take all of its damage and be defeated each turn to keep your cash engine flowing. This is why Tommy is one of the few investigators who can use Dynamite Blast effectively with consistent damage and a potential windfall for blowing up your assets. Your ability isn't limited to once per round, or really limited in any way, so there's no reason not to kill your assets again and again, recurring them more and more often as your deck dwindles late game.

Save Resourceful for putting one of your Thrift Store assets back into circulation after getting hit with your weakness.

You should have plenty of resources piling up for Dig Deep and Physical Training to pass most checks, and you have a ton of survivor pips (the best of all pips) to throw at checks as well.

Mulligan for your Thrift Store assets first and a weapon or Prepared for the Worst so you can get hunting.

BUY MORE JUNK! (Upgrades)
Ever Vigilant may be a must-buy for Tommy. It will increase your efficiency, since you can install batches of assets to keep your machine running, get you back on your feet immediately after your weakness hits, and make all of your paid assets more profitable (especially True Grit and Something Worth Fighting For). It also compresses your install actions to a single action, which is crucial for freeing you up to focus on what Tommy wants to do most—kill, kill, kill!

I also think it would also be pretty amazing to run Stick to the Plan. It combos beautifully with Ever Vigilant, which qould guarantee early economy and action compression, and it would combo with most of your events, which means you could also start with a Dynamite Blast at the ready.

You can't have an antiques store without a Timeworn Brand! But if you want to keep that economy flexible, then upgrading to .45 Thompson can keep that cash recycling. You could also go full ham with a Flamethrower, because who wouldn't buy an old flamethrower if they saw it at a Thrift Store?

If you can keep your economy flowing, Agency Backupis a great card for this deck and automatically synthesizes with your passive ability. But you could also swap Guard Dog for Brother Xavier or Beat Cop. OR you could just keep your Guard Dogs.

Upgrading Prepared for the Worst into Flare can incentivize you to include higher-cost allies, like making your Backup cost only 2 to install! MADNESS!

I have mixed feelings about subbing out your main Thrift Store items for Elder Sign Amulet and Bulletproof Vest. There's a slightly higher barrier for putting them down (2-cost), but there's an argument that they'd still be a net 2 gain AND you'd be able to fire them off with Ever Vigilant for bonus cash. I would argue AGAINST Armor of Ardennes as it delays the asset from being defeated, which means it gums up your engine, rather than propelling it.

8 comments

Oct 22, 2019 DigitalAgeHermit · 24

I think Ever Vigilant may end up being a key early buy in Tommy decks. Gaining resources from continually losing your assets is an amazing ability, but those Assets take actions to play, and with Tommy's primary gun only doing two damage against the swarms and three health enemies that are more prevalent in scenarios today, your actions are likely to be at a premium.

A side note about Ever Vigilant is that it also improves the economy ratio of a lot of Tommy's soaks (making True Grit and Something Worth Fighting For income-positive, for example).

I've yet to play Tommy (though I've been theorycrafting the deck since just after his deckbuilding was spoiled).

Oct 22, 2019 Clinkcraft · 79

@TipsyGamerI think that's an excellent point. and completely agree. Added to recommended upgrades. And yeah, True Grit, Something Worth, Guard Dog, Beat Coop all net even or worse, so this would be incredible :)

Oct 25, 2019 DigitalAgeHermit · 24

I've been working on two variants of a Tommy deck. One is running Guard Dog/Bandolier/Survival Knife. The other is running Leather Coat/Venturer. I think Venturer is another underrated card in Tommy, as you can use the supplies to reload Becky, freeing you up to take more resources from your ability, and can be used if you are running low on ammo but without an asset to trigger your ability. Between this, and the fact that he still cashes in for your 4 resources back when he's defeated, he is almost an economy card in his own right.

Oct 28, 2019 Clinkcraft · 79

@TipsyGamerSurvival knife is definitely interesting, but for cost efficiency, I can't see dropping leather coat for Bandolier, even though that's basically like adding Spiked Armor, hahaha. Venturer is also interesting, but in my experience with Arkham, I rarely get hit for both 2 sanity and 2 health, so I'm doubtful about recouping his full cost each time. Plus, if you only have one damage on him when your weakness hits, that 4 cost install is gonna sting a lot more than a free install. BUT I agree that adding more ammo to Becky is pretty crucial...
In general though, this deck is more about quicker, cheaper recursion, more often... like a Thrift Store :D

Oct 28, 2019 Clinkcraft · 79

@TipsyGamer you know what, though... Flare would be an EXCELLENT tutor for Venturer and a great upgrade in general that would also allow you to run Brother Xavier and Beat Cop, installing any of them for a cost of 2...

Oct 29, 2019 DigitalAgeHermit · 24

I agree, they're totally different decks/loadouts for Tommy. With the Bandolier build, you lose out on using Leather Armor for Tommy's ability, as you say. I just like the synergy of Guard Dog/Survival Knife, and you repeatedly play Guard Dog & Keepsake for Health & Sanity instead of Leather Coat/Keepsake.

Tommy usually shouldn't have a hard time killing the Venturer fully, since he has plenty of soaks (even his own health/sanity) to make sure he can. Venturer is no more vulnerable to rookie mistake than Guard Dog or Beat Cop though, as long as he can get the supply tokens off it ASAP.

I really like your deck, guess I should avoid hijacking your comment section to theorycraft, lol

Flare is a card I hadn't really considered in Tommy, and might be especially potent in one of those Tommy decks some have talked about that run Agency Backup

Dec 16, 2019 BubbaAristotle · 1

"Save Resourceful for getting either your gun back.." Becky isn't a survivor card so that won't get it back

Dec 16, 2019 Clinkcraft · 79

@BubbaAristotleGreat catch. Edited :)