Scrooge McDuke (upgraded)

This deck is dedicated to my playgroup, who served as the partial inspiration for it. Many have been the times I've looked over at the play areas of my Arkham partners and marveled at the huge pile of resources they've built up over the course of the scenario. I ask, "You planning on spending any of that cash anytime soon?" They say, "Of course, just waiting for the right moment." They then proceed to end the scenario with a huge pile of resources. Well, "Ashcan" Pete is here to show them what real resource hoarding looks like. (I kid because I love, guys!)

For the level-0 version of this deck, click here.

When it comes to Arkham deckbuilding, I often get intrigued by a specific build-around card and pick an investigator who can abuse it, rather than picking an investigator and then looking for good combos. This happened recently with the Permanent version of On Your Own. Play lots of events for free, without having to dig through your deck to find the card that gives you the discount? Sign me up! There were only two questions: which Survivor would struggle the least with the no-allies limitation? And what would I do with all those resources I was saving?

The first question was easy to answer. "Ashcan" Pete already begins the game with his faithful doggo in play; who needs ally friends when you can have man's best friend? The second question was answered when I stumbled across @AceRowings' deck Wall Street Pete. What if Pete didn't bother spending all the money he was saving but just kept hoarding it all for himself?

The goal of this deck is to be the best miser you can be, accumulating as many resources as possible while spending as little as possible. By the end of the campaign, almost every card in your deck will be free, allowing Pete to swan-dive into his piles of unspent resources when he isn't acing any and all tests with Well Connected.

The Assets

Ashcan is the perfect investigator for this style of deck because he requires so little setup to begin with. Thanks to Duke, he doesn't need to spend resources getting investigation/combat tools into play; he begins turn 1 with his investigation/combat tool wagging his tail and ready to go! Once you upgrade, all of your assets will either get you money for Well Connected or draw you into the stuff that does. At level 0, though, you'll have to settle until you can get some XP.

• Well Connected: The most important card you have. Without this, you're just playing a subpar Ashcan deck. Once you're rich enough, WC frees you from relying solely on Duke to get things done, which mitigates one of Ashcan's main weaknesses. Note that you can activate this twice for a single skill test using Ashcan's signature ability.
• Investments: There are arguments to be made that there are better options than this for boosting Pete's resource hoard. Some of them are valid (Faustian Bargain is particularly tempting), but I'm sticking with Investments. First of all, it's more on-theme for a "Scrooge" build. Second of all, it's an asset that can serve as a meat shield for your two most important assets, Duke and WC. You don't want a random Crypt Chill or Pushed Into the Beyond to ruin your whole scenario. Finally, Pete's ability to ready assets at will (typically used to feed Duke doggie treats) can help your Investments pay off faster.
• Rabbit's Foot: You need to dig for WC, and this helps you do it.
• Track Shoes: The 3-resource cost means that this asset will eventually get cut, but it's nice to have at the beginning. Coupled with Duke's fetch ability, the shoes can help Pete zip around the map like Sonic the Hedgehog. They also combo nicely with Drawing Thin, which you will be buying early (curse you, taboo list!).
• Peter Sylvestre/David Renfield (level 0 only): Renfield can net insane bursts of resources thanks to Ashcan's ability and then be thrown under the bus to preserve Duke's health and get rid of the doom. Football Boyfriend is just generically good, which is all you need from him before you're ready to strike out on your own.

The Events

Most of these are self-explanatory; you don't need me to tell you why "Look What I Found!" is good. Let's just say that playing LWIF for free with On Your Own is even better. I will say that Perseverance could become something different, depending on your tastes and the campaign. I like it because it helps you keep Duke in play, is free with On Your Own, and can always be used as a Guts or a doggie treat if you don't need the damage/horror cushion. Meanwhile, Winging It loves becoming a doggie treat so you can play it from discard later.

The Skills

Again, pretty self-explanatory for the most part. The neutral skills help Duke consistently do his thing and replace themselves (an important feature in a deck that burns through your hand as fast as this one). Last Chance frequently boosts for 3 or 4 in this deck. And the best thing about skill cards in this deck is, of course, that they're free. (Sensing a theme here?)

Upgrades

This is the fun part. This deck has a bit of a hump to get over at the beginning of a campaign because its most important upgrades are XP-intensive, but it really starts to hum after you purchase them. I've listed the XP buys below in order of priority.

• Drawing Thin: Anyone who's ever played with this card can tell you how nutty of an economy card it is; its place on the taboo list is deserved. Even though On Your Own is a centerpiece of the deck, your first 6 XP should always be reserved for two Drawing Thin - that's how good it is. It gets you resources if you didn't draw Investments, it draws you cards if you need to dig for WC, and - say it with me - it's free. (replaces Peter Sylvestre and 1x Track Shoes)
• On Your Own: The card that started it all. Ironically, even though this is the centerpiece upgrade, it's not all that exciting at first because so many of your events cost 0 resources anyway. Things will get more exciting, though...
• Inspiring Presence: Wait, weren't we at Ashcan's limit for off-class cards? The nice thing about the permanent version of On Your Own is that it changes your deckbuilding restrictions, making David Renfield an illegal card that must be immediately removed and replaced with another level 0 card. I prefer Inspiring Presence because it heals Duke and readies him without having to use Ashcan's ability or spend resources, so it's a nice role-player. Random goodstuff cards like Ward of Protection or Vicious Blow are also fine.
• Eucatastrophe: If there's one thing I love to do in Arkham Horror, it's ignoring the chaos bag. Eucatastrophe is one of only a handful of cards that let you outright say "no" to the auto-fail. Plus, it's another way to ready Duke without having to use Ashcan's once-per-turn ability, and it helps you gather clues by hand if Duke is exhausted and you're not able to use your connections to succeed. (replaces 1x Track Shoes and 1x Last Chance)
• Brute Force: Once Ashcan is rich enough, he's happy to start fistfights and then ask his connections to finish the job. (replaces Overpower)
• Alter Fate(1): Normally, the downgrade is a bit too expensive for what it does, but not when you get the OYO discount! You can always upgrade to the 3-XP version late in the campaign when you're looking for luxury buys. (replaces Perseverance and Scrounge for Supplies)
• Oops!: Essentially, this functions as copies 3 and 4 of Lucky! Duke usually only gets to fight twice per turn, so you want to make sure that his hits land. (replaces 1x Last Chance and 1x Live and Learn)
• Nothing Left to Lose: You probably need only a singleton copy, as the primary use for this is as a first-turn play to gain back resources spent on your few assets or a one-shot mid-scenario play to refill your hand after going nuts with Ashcan's signature ability. (replaces 1x Perception)

These upgrades will take you up to about 30 XP, a reasonable amount for any campaign. Any XP on top of this is just gravy; use it to upgrade your Lucky's, LWIFs, and Alter Fates. If you prefer, you can also go for cards like Flare and A Chance Encounter that will help you cheat allies into play and/or rescue Duke from the discard pile. Will to Survive is always nice, though not strictly necessary for this deck since WC and Eucatastrophe allow you to ignore the chaos bag anyway.

Playing the Deck

This deck will not be making flashy plays. You're not going to hoover up 4 clues with a single action; you don't have the ability to kick down a door and one-shot a boss monster. The deck's true strength lies in its consistency. WC allows you to pass just about any test, and Duke lets you fight or gather clues as warranted by the situation. You also enjoy a fair amount of action compression thanks to Duke's move+investigate ability.

Mulligan decisions are straightforward. Mulligan aggressively for WC and cards that either help you find WC (Rabbit's Foot), hoard resources to fuel WC (Investments), or both (Drawing Thin/Take Heart). Everything else can be tossed back.

During the scenario, don't be afraid to use Ashcan's signature ability aggressively to load up Investments or abuse WC. You have to be careful to keep Duke alive, as you'll be "failing forward" quite a bit to make use of Rabbit's Foot, Drawing Thin, and Take Heart. Once you're sitting on at least 10 resources, the rest of the scenario is usually smooth sailing, as you can get +2 on any test with WC (+4 with Ashcan's ability), and you can actually start to gather clues without Duke's help, freeing up the good doggo to focus on fighting enemies.

I playtested the deck through Dunwich with Roland, and it performed quite well. On Where Doom Awaits, Roland ended up getting defeated before we reached the top of the hill, and Ashcan was still able to close the deal all by himself. Sadly, Pete is far too traumatized by the campaign to enjoy his mountains of cash in retirement, but that's what he gets for storing up all his treasures on earth. In the meantime, though, it's fun to be a money-grubbing bastard. Enjoy it while it lasts!