A gambling based blasting demolition solution 2.0 (S)

Continuing with the previous deck, this is the tertiary deck of the 21 or Bust nuke system. Unlike the secondary deck which relys on Spirit of Humanity + Honed Instinct and thus is only available to a few investigator, this deck is fully functional for anyone with 0~4 access; but on the other hand, this version is more reliant on the chaos bag and can sometimes misfire, thus making it the tertiary deck.

I strongly recommand you take a look of the previous decks to have an idea of how the system works and why I build around it. Here are the links:

https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/49409/a-gambling-based-blasting-demolition-solution-1.0

https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/51854/a-gambling-based-blasting-demolition-solution-2-0-ru-1.0

• A Quick Guide to Demolition

• A drawing based demolition preparation

• Nuking down trouble

• Burning the Ritual Candle

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The basic idea of this deck is that you find a way to play 21 or Bust during a skill test, empty the bag with it (since you draw "until you choose to stop", you can always choose not to until there's nothing more in the bag). and trigger any effect that requires a specific tokoen revealed during the skill test.

is definitively the most token-oriented class in the game, but somehow Dawn Star is a neutral card. Thus, even though usually don't play with token effects, they still has the potential to throw a mini-nuke to the enemy.

However, since no has a traditional sub-class (i.e. 0~2), we still need a generator to replace Geas, and this brings us to Esoteric Method

does have a trick or two to flood the bag with , such as Stirring Up Trouble. But, when you compare them to Geas, none of them is satisfactory. The only card with enough potential to throw full 10 curses into the bag is Esoteric Method, but it still requires a test that's both easy (since we need to succeed by 10), and controled (again, we need to succeed by 10).

For the easy test part, we have Feed the Mind. This is a difficulty 1 test, so to succeed by 10 we'll need 11, while the static boost of the deck alone is already 12 (Daisy, Milan, Tarot, Mag Glass, Esoteric Method). Note that you do NOT use the upgraded version, since drawing 10+ cards will cost you 2+ sanity each use, a very big ask if you are playing a hard-hitting scenario.

For the controled test part, we have Premonition, and this is where the chaos bag reliant comes in: if we can handle the token, then everything is fine; if not, then you'll have to waste an action on getting rid of Premonition, and then going blindly into Feed the Mind with the hope that the bag have mercy on you. I do not like any bit of this randomness, but alas that's the best card pool can offer.

Realistically, any token that gives a -8 or less is acceptable: base 12, Promise of Power is effectively +5 since it'll throw a into the bag, Perception or any other 2 event/skill is another +2, which adds up to 19. Yes the is always lurking, but you can't really do anything about that.

On a side note, Olive McBride could be used to mitigate , but that adds another card and 2 resources to the already bloating 3+ card combo. so my thought is no thanks.

Compare to the Ru version which can be summed up to a single action, the version will cost you 2 actions, and one of them WILL trigger an AoA, so think twice before you execute it.

• Setup: Feed the Mind and Farsight on the table; Esoteric Method, Premonition, 21 or Bust, 2 copies of Dawn Star and 3 other random cards in the hand (and resources to play them)

• Premonition.

• Feed the Mind:

  • Commit Esoteric Method
  • Commit other boosts appropriate; the final aim is 11 + Premonition token modifier (in absolute value)
  • Feed the Mind resolve, draw 3 card to replace those committed during the test; Esoteric Method throws 10 tokens into the bag.

• Do anything that triggers a skill check (preferably something that don't cause AoO). During the skill check player window of ST.2:

  • Farsight: play 21 or Bust
  • Go through with 21 or Bust's effect until you have revealed all 10
  • play 2 copies of Dawn Star to ignore each and every revealed, dealing a total of 20 damage (in 2 instances) to enemies at your location.
  • Finish with 21 or Bust's effect; since Dawn Star ignores all . you might even make a profit.
  • Continue to ST.3 of the skill check.

Now, I did say anyone with 0~4 can run this build, Daisy Walker does have an edge thanks to her off-class for Premonition and Promise of Power. Another good candidate is Monterey Jack who doesn't even need Versatile to take 21 or Bust. but then he still faces the randomness of the bag.

I know some of you will say, "hey, why don't you throw Cryptic Grimoire (or other card) into the mix?" and the answer is the same to why I don't use Olive McBride: this is already a 7 card combo which is bloated enough, adding more dedicated combo pieces will only make things worse. Remeber, part of the strength of the Dexter deck is that it only sacrifices 4 slots to create a 32 damage burst, while the other 26 cards still makes a fully functional deck.

Due to the lack of token interaction in , there's very little in what you can cheat from 21 or Bust other then a mini-nuke per deck cycle. On the other hand, AHC's card pool is still constantly growing, so maybe sometime in the future we'll have a dedicated (or other token related) card suite for to fully utilize the potential of 21 or Bust. But until then, Keep Faith and carry on.

To create your own guides, find the template that @Valentin1331 have created here