Drawing Thinh

Mr. Rook recursion with Minh, I like it.

Damn that's a good deck name!

I have to ask: why no Eureka! ? As a skill card with selective draw, it seems tailor made for the build. You could probably switch it for True Understanding; I tried that card with my last Minh deck and was very underwhelmed. The stars never quite seemed to align frequently enough, and mostly I was just frustrated by the limitations on what tests I could use it on.

Love the podcast! Keep up the good work!

I've always got good value from True Understanding, and with Minh it's a wild icon (which she likes more anyway) and it works with Analytical Mind to really increase the viable targets. Still, you do make a good point about Eureka!, and it was actually in for True Understanding before I started to tweak the decks to improve the cluepower. I think either will serve you fine!

I think Guts could easily be Overpower instead. Fits great in the deck and can deal bonus damage with Ancient Stone + Grisly Totem (3)/Analytical Mind

Also, why not Scavenging to recure the Stones?

I've been tinkering around with a very similar looking Minh deck, here's my thoughts:

I don't think I like Truth from Fiction. After 3 Mr. "Rook" activations, in addition to all the other card draw, you should have most of the important pieces of your engine (Analytical Mind/Drawing Thin/Grisly Totem/Ancient Stone), or failing that, the next copy of Mr. "Rook". If you want to refill your Ancient Stone, I would probably opt for Scavenging or simply reshuffling your deck and using Rook to find it again. If you do go for Scavenging, then it would make sense to run Fingerprint Kit instead of Magnifying Glass. I would not play a card that costs 2, requires a different card to already be in play, and does 2 damage to an enemy at your location if you draw 2 cards that turn. It just seems like a much worse Sneak Attack. It's okay as 2/3s of a Mr. Rook for 2/3s of the price, but again, there is an ordering problem that may come up, and 6 Mr. Rook activations should be sufficient to find all you need the first time through your deck, especially when you start drawing at least 3 cards per turn.

I'm not sure about the inclusion of Crack the Case, since you don't have particularly high running costs (paying for Higher Education is the only main, or many expensive cards after you have your important cards down. A card is already worth ~2 resources with Drawing Thin. The conversion becomes very clear obvious if you opt for Cornered, as you can discard a card along with using Drawing Thin for 2 resources to stay even on the skill test. Unfortunately, Cornered has some anti-synergy with Grisly Totem, but it's still worth considering. I suppose Crack the Case can work as a support card to donate resources to allies. Overall, I think you will average 2.5 resources from this card as a fast action if you can play it early in the scenario, but it's much less flexible than other cards (since it only makes money, or provides a single icon).

I think instead of trying to fit Fingerprint Kit, running Winging It is a good alternative, especially if you go for Cornered as well. Winging It also gives you better control over when you reshuffle your deck, and you can look like Rex Murphy for a few turns if you need to dig up clues. It also doesn't take up a hand slot. Also, if you overdraw, you can just discard Winging It (since it's a pretty terrible card when it's in your hand).

Cornered can also allow you to skip/delay buying an 8 XP Higher Education.

As mentioned above, I think Eureka! can fit. I do think that it is better than Guts. It loses an icon, but the improved card selection aspect of it is more powerful, and it can also be committed in more skill tests.

I still think it is worth mentioning Lucky! still. While it doesn't pair well with Fire Axe, it allows you to play tighter with cards (running at a +2 when expecting to need a +3. One of Drawing Thin's advantages with Minh is that you can almost always choose by exactly how much you are making the test before you draw a token. Having a Lucky! means that you can run at about 1 icon less without getting punished by the bag.

I put up my list here: arkhamdb.com

Thank you @matt88for the response and to @Pushover for the comprehensive notes! I agree with a lot of what you've said, but... ;)

Economy is the big one; originally I had a Working a Hunch in over Crack the Case, and I felt it was just a little bit tight on cash as you had three medium cost assets you really wanted down early (Analytic Mind, Mr Rook and Grisly Totem), where Drawing Thin might be better used for card advantage. Crack the Case over Emergency Cache means you can throw money to another Gator if you're already stacked... I dunno, like you say, Minh more than anyone can run pretty cash light as she doesn't need too much money to boost (and Higher Education is massively efficient anyway).

I think maybe the better place to get card slots is breaking into the ACE and CiF engine, both of which are maybe more pet cards for me rather than being really GOOD cards. If you tech more into the classic academic army style and grab multiple Charisma and Art Student, they make more sense, but as is... Hmm.

That all said, I really like the idea of Winging it in the deck. Minh's draw, especially in this build, is outright bonkers so I can imagine being able to play it 4+ times over a scenario? Bonus points if committing a card to the investigate lets you draw into another Winging It.

That said, I'm still giving serious side-eye to Cornered in the deck. I know quite a few people have mentioned using it with her, her draw, as discussed, is good, and it lets you continue to pitch in cards through the KiY. My gut feel is it's just so anti-synergistic with her ability! Maybe I just need to knuckle down and try it, thinking on it you can do a play like: commit a card, cornered a single icon card, and still fire Minh, Totem, Analytic Mind, all for an effective +3 icons over a regular card and 1/2 draw depending.

A couple of people have said Scavenging, and I can see it (also makes spare Fire Axes into Overpowers with Minh). Ancient Stone is one of those annoying cards which doesn't die when it runs out of charges, and I think Minh can cycle her deck pretty quickly, so it might turn out you can just overwrite the stone with another stone, but it's absolutely a good call.

Finally, don't take the dream of a viable Truth or Fiction away from me. Please :'(

(Actually I think Logical Reasoning could be a legit slot here depending on campaign, those double-icon niche cards are real nice in Minh. Plus she needs horror healing for drawing through her deck twice...)

Maybe I tweak the deck like:

• -2 Crack the Case, +2 Winging It
• -2 Guts, +2 Eureka
• -2 Chance Encounter, +2 Lucky! (Lucky! ii is yet more card draw, bonus points if you turn a fail into a success so you also trigger the totem iii)

@unitled Can you please explain the ACE, CiF and KiY initials?? Because I don't understand what you are refering to. Thanks.

@matt88Sorry! Here they are:

• ACE = A Chance Encounter
• CiF = Calling in Favors
• KiY = The King in Yellow

On the subject of economy, one thing I'm still wondering is if Grisly Totem actually deserves a slot in the initial list. The upgrade looks awesome, but you can always cut a different card (such as Laboratory Assistant), although without the CiF/Lab assistant combo, I'm just suggesting my deck to you...

I do like the idea of ACE into CiF, but I think it makes better sense when you have more allies with an enter play trigger. As you say, I can see it if you run Charisma and Art Students. A single use out of Rook is not great when you already have had 3, but drawing 2 cards for 1 is a pretty good deal.

As far as getting the initial 9 resources to set everything up, you can always throw an investigation with Drawing Thin, it's an action for 2 resources, and the failure is usually not the worst thing early in a scenario. Drawing Thin should be used to get economy set up first, and then for cards. It takes 2 actions to get 2 resources, but 1 action to draw a card. The action compression is easier if you get the money.

I would not want to run Cornered without Winging It. You can spam Winging It when at the bottom of your deck if you have Cornered, and it makes it a solid 2 action combo:

• Play Winging it from discard.
  • Discard 2nd Winging It to Cornered.
  • Commit any number of cards that don't draw a card when committed/successful.
  • 1st WI goes in deck as only card.
• Play 2nd WI.
  • Commit single card.
  • Trigger Analytical Mind to draw a card.
  • Use Cornered to discard the newly drawn WI.
• Draw WI during upkeep phase.
• Repeat in following turn (possibly move - WI - WI).

Cornered also serves as a defense against Treacheries that test Agility, otherwise you are reliant on ? icons, which while you have a lot, can get thrown over to other investigators.

That said, adding Cornered is another 2 cost card that you need to set up

How about Track Shoes? You can either use it to avoid enemies, or as a free action to use Drawing Thin.