Hello everyone,

I don't know if this is general knowledge or new, but anyway I think it is worth sharing it, since it is a nice combination to cycle trough the entire deck for free.

The two characters involved are:

• Elena Belskaia
Always Prepared
Type: Character Faction: The Agency
Cost: 3 Skill: 3 Icon: (A)(I)
Government.
Action: Discard 2 cards from your hand. Then, draw 1 card.
It was not luck or a sixth sense that kept Elena from ever being taken by surprise. She calculated every possible outcome and developed a contingency play to match.
Illustrator: Melissa Findley
Set: TbtA

• Professor Rice
Stocky and Iron Grey
Type: Character Faction: Miskatonic University
Cost: 3 Skill: 2 Icon: (A)(I)
Investigator. Faculty.
Any time a triggered effect would cause a player to draw a card, that player draws an additional card.
Illustrator: Patrick McEvoy
Set: DD

Together, the net effect is discard two cards, draw two cards.

Now, I have no idea if there is a way to make it really useful, but I guess that a more experienced player than me might find a nice way to use (I found the combo this afternoon, so I haven't really thought of anything yet). As we all know, drawing = very good in almost all card games

I hope that if you find some nice way to use it, you won't keep it secret

bye

Konx

COCLCG posted a Jamie Winthrop deck ("Response: After you draw one or more cards, choose character. That character loses all printed icons until the end of the phase.") awhile ago, this would guarantee Jamie Winthrop could use his ability during the story phase, which is cool.

On a more ridiculous note with lots of 0 cost characters (beings of Ib, Crazy Eddie, Hapless Grad Student, Dedicated Butler, Servant Out of Time, Doppelganger on a 0 coster) in a deck you could potentially make great use of Norm Grzbowski, the Football Coach (who allows you to win a story if you commit 11 characters to it) because you could get all the zero costers you'd need as soon as Norm hit the table. It'd be totally ridiculous and hard to pull off but at least it'd be a cool way of winning.

EDIT. On second thought it'd probably take a few turns to get all the right people, but the cycling combo would insure you draw lots of cheap characters (0 and 1 cost) quickly to be used by Norm

Thanks for the suggestions, but it doesn't really work like that

If you play a bunch of cheap char and the coach, you are NOT drawing. The "combo" works that you discard 2 cards and then draw 2 cards. If you don't have the two cards to discard (because you played them), then there is no drawing.

It might work better with professor Peaslee: discard-draw-discard until you have a certain number of guys in the discard pile, sac/destroy peaslee, return everyone back. This might be worth trying.

Peaslee is in the "right" faction (miska) and you can use night class to put it into play in a cheaper way. Sounds at least fun

The real problem is to arrive to the situation where you have both characters to enable the combo in play. When they are there, then we can discuss how to win. First problem first

Konx

Interesting combo!

You could even create an infinite loop by using Forgotten Shoggoth. If you have the shoggoth, Elena Belskaia and Prof. Rice in play, you can cycle through your deck until you have the card in hand that you want to Although the advantage of Jamie Winthrop + Elena + Rice is seems to be even bigger, and also they are not spread over 3 factions. Your opponent will have no icons on his characters anymore (as long as you have cards in your deck)…. I'd guess we'll see an "once per phase/round" erratum in the future, like Jenica Capra. That loop doesn't feel right, at least for me.

On a side note, you could increase chances of having those 3 characters in play drastically by using A Vörös Hal’l Jön with A Small Price to Pay, and transient resources (all 3 cards that have them are Agency, MU or neutral and would therefore fit into this deck)… I think this would feel quite devestating if you had to play against such a deck and the combo is established.

Yep, Forgotten Shoggoth was the first thing I thought too. Too easy

I hope they will wait putting errata or anything. Right now is nothing more than a nice interaction.

The Miska card is really nice, could be a cool addiction.

Jamie Winthrop is really not my thing. Ok, you blank icons, but it's not SO powerful. Remember that you are "wasting" quite a lot of cards to do the trick, so in my opinion it has to give you a big advantage…otherwise you kill yourself

Thanks for the help, keep going with the ideas

Konx

Interesting. So you can get the cards you want, but at the cost of maybe dumping a lot of cards into discard as the "cost". Over-use could end up in decking yourself. Neither of these two factions have much recursion either and that's already 2 factions in the deck.

Jaime Winthrop adds a little more power to it. Although now you need 3 specific characters in play, the deck ought to be good at finding the characters you want - that's what the combo does! So, you can do a fair bit of icon blanking now but you're effectively discarding 2 cards off your deck to pay for it (with an option to substitute hand cards instead).

It's a nice maneuver, but it doesn't seem like something that's overpowered, at least without trying it. It needs some setup to get going, and overuse has negative effect. It'll probably lose badly to discard decks too

Theoretically you could put in only 3-6 Yog cards including Forgotten Shoggoth so that you'd be guaranteed to get it into play pretty much as soon as Elena and Dr. Rice hit the field and thus avoid decking yourself. Then as long as Forgotten Shoggoth stayed out you'd have infinite Jamie Miles ability. Cards like Dr. Shrewsbury and Professor Morgan would be pretty helpful, too.

This probably wouldn't be fast or destruction resistant enough to be a super competitive deck, but it could add some degree of staying power to an Agency Miskatonic rush deck, since you could fish out solution cards as soon as your opponents scary cards hit the table.

I'd try adding Yog. This makes it much less stable and harder to pull of, but also considerably more powerfull.

And i dont think yog should be just a splash, a fractions that are less needed are actually miskatonic and agency IMO, just 3x of combo cards and some generally good cards that can be resourced. Its not like this combo really needs MU or Agency. And Winthrop is fine, but i think the real power of such find/recycle engine lies elsewhere.

Forgotten Shoggoth eliminates the main drawback, and creates an engine that is crazy powerfull. Any event you play goes to the bottom of the deck, and you can mill through deck to get it back. Essentialy you can play any card in your deck including any event just played…

The problem is getting this on table and not loosing key cards. Hideous Guardian can help a lot here, also negotium to keep characters limited to 3+ ones and buy time. Then you need some events or sth to make this engine worth it, but with that engine im sure there is something good enough. Even stuff like Curse of stone 3x each turn might be enough. Some stalling cards like Flush them Out to negotium :> and you're home. Each turn Flush them out and double Curse of stone. And im sure there are some more broken things with that setup.

Might be too slow so rest of the deck needs to help survive to the point where it fires. Especially early turns with less resources, but as you'll be able to find anything when combo is in place and need no sucesses at the stories when you intend to mill you can have really many early game characters in the deck.

Hmm forgot internant scholar, no negotium here, but you can use all opponents domains for free, if he cant kill him with event. Than play any milling card over and over. Or some destruction to clear the board.

The main concerns are: can you get it on board in time and can you protect it while its there. Not sure here.

On the board: Elena Belskaia and Professor Rice. In the deck: three copies of Professor Nathaniel Peaslee.

Discard, draw. Discard, draw. Discard, draw. Repeat until the third and last copy of Peaslee comes out of the deck and goes into the discard pile, then pay 2 and spring nearly your entire deck full of characters out of the discard pile at once.

Norm Grzbowski would just be icing on the cake.

I have the feeling Elena has a "limit once per turn" errata headed her way . . .

That would be pretty powerful! But it doesn't work this way ;-) Peaslee's effect requires him having been in play, so he still has to be put into play (and into the discard pile) somehow.

just read the thread and first thing that comes to mind is ritual of the construct i think it is. where when you discard cards you stack up successess for opponent sacrificing. but then it's a misk / agency / ST deck. i suppose satchel of the void could come in handy. its a tricky idea, but destruction decks i can see making piecemeal of it.

i reckon i'd tear my hair out if i finally got to the card i wanted and played just for BAM!! opponent plays power drain or burrowing beneath or the like. ouch.