Time for the Flamethrower, Baby! - Very simple, very strong

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Harrigan Flamethrower build 1 1 0 1.0

Lord Triloth · 1890

This is a Mark Harrigan deck through and through. I've made it to showcase his strength to a buddy of mine a while ago, and even I was astounded who well the new tools increased the strength of the a well-known, eternal Flamethrower archetype.

I'm going to say upfront that this deck is a fight, fight, fight deck. It is very, very good at doing and is also at handling that role alone quite well. The damage that flame-thing outputs every turn, even without paring it with Vicious Blow, is quite astonishing. I'll get a bit more into it later though.

Let's start with some charts though:

Role: Surprisingly versatile fighter that handles pretty much any enemy.
Draw & Resources: Huge in-built draw. Resources a bit lacking at low level.
Horror/Sanity: Allot of healing due to his ability that is thus also draw, and decent soak.
Encounter Protection: Sophie is your main tool here. Get's you up to 5 on both & . Plus Initiative for +3.
Action Compression: Insane damage compression with Flamethrower, paired with tricks for engagement.

Slots:

We don't have much rivalry after Relic Hunter. The other weapons kinda become icons or Act fuel, after you've got Flamethrower done, but there still worth it imo, for their crazy upgrades and so that you always have a weapon from the get-go and are safe from annoying asset blockers/removers.a

Gameplan and General flow

The macro here is pretty straightforward. Get a weapon and start choppin'. Passing fight tests with a +4 on Flamethrower or a +2 on your other weapons shouldn't be that hard even on higher difficulties. Additionally you also have Sophie, PMP into Skills and allot of to commit, so you should be fine.
This deck uses the SttP/Versatile/AR combo, which is just amazing, because you should be taking SttP in a Guardian deck and starting with more resources is generally very good. The downside of Versatile gets negated as well and this deck actually likes having more cards to have all its tools.
What do we put on SttP though? Well, that's more or less up to you. Extra Ammunition should go there, because it's good to use your tutors on higher-level cards. I personally like having more situational cards on it, like Act and "LGsto", but if you like early game tempo cards, like PMP and Emergency Cache, those are also great options. Once you get Ever Vigilant, that should go there too.

Let's talk a bit about Flamethrower though. Personally, even after the nerf, I think Flamethrower is still the best of the big weapons. Flamethrower is number-wise the best, but it has the most downsides as well. These downsides can be fairly easily built-around though and I figure when you build a deck with a 5-6 exp card, you want to build around it as much as possible. And Flamethrower just allows the most building around.
Those build-arounds are mainly Riot Whistle and "Get over here!"(2), replacing Taunt in the old version, both stand-alone already quite strong, but in this deck at their full potential.
To keep the thing burning we have Extra Ammunition and Venturer. I figure he's still the ally choice for this deck, because those Flamethrower charges are just so valuable, plus he adds decent soak. Tetsuo Mori may also be an option though, if you knock out your Flamethrower with another weapon or Act.

Then, because we're Mark, we have the healing package (Mirror/Melody, Aid & Second Wind). Offers stat boost, card draw and general healing.

The rest is mainly good stuff. Safeguard, because you shouldn't go without that. PMP, an auto-include in Mark, for the odd-point of damage, more card draw/icons. Act to throw your flamethrower/other gun after using it up, as a general tempo/effciency card. Note that you can also yeet a card from hand, preferably a .45 to kill occasional high-fight/low-health enemies.

Upgrades + Campaign-Play + Considerations

This deck also works very well in campaign play. The lvl zero does nothing hugely special, just drops your big weapon and your permanents together with your Flamethrower support package (Whistle, Got).
From lvl-0 on you should upgrade all your permanents first, then go for Flamethrower, because they provide you with much needed tempo.

From here on you should probably go for Ever Vigilant over Emergency Cache. This is a standalone and I didn't want to waste the exp, so this deck goes for an additional Get over here over that. With many low-cost assets and 7 starting resources the card is great.
Upgraded .45 Thompson and Enchanted Blade are both pretty dubs, so you should probably take them. Upgraded .32 Colt is also a consideration, if you want to be taking that back.
Like I already said, using tutors on high-level cards is good, so Vicious Blow(2)/Overpower(2) are good. The damage and draw these two offer is also pretty strong.
Safeguard(2) is potential also strong, if you are paired with someone who moves allot, but the lvl-0 usually outclasses it, because the up-side the upgrade offers is not that big.

This list is already quite teched out, so there isn't much to consider.
.32 Colt > Enchanted Blade is definitely something though. Some people may prefer more damage > over the boost, considering this deck rocks so much boosts.
Like I said Tetsuo Mori over Venturer is an option. It combos with all the weapons and Act, but don't undervalue those charges, 4 damage per attack is not nothing.
"Let God sort them out..."/Act of Desperation are also flex-slots. Options are whatever you like, "I've had worse…" for more resources or things like First Watch.

Theme:

This deck actually fits Mark quite well theme-wise. A very experienced fighter, that has knows the firepower of Flamethrower, which also fits his flavour text.
He has sudden power-outbursts that come from his year-long training and are fuelled by his rage and grief over his lost love. He has a strategic brain, good supply and a touch of mystic flavour.
The .45 is also on his art.

Anyway, thanks for reading and cheers!

1 comments

Jun 18, 2021 Lord Triloth · 1890

I'll add a list of all the shorts I've used, just in case, if someone is confused.

Act = Act of Desperation.
macro = plan for the game in general, if everything goes like plan.
PMP = Practice Makes Perfect.
Melody = Soothing Melody.
Got = "Get over here!".
LGsto = "Let God sort them out...".