Jacqueline looking for the golden skull

Card draw simulator

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Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Jacqueline looking for the golden skull 2.0 4 4 0 2.0

JordiC · 90

Jacqueline looking for the golden skull

This is a deck built for a multiplayer event, so it is expected to be player in a four players game and looking for having a support role. Note also that you will have to add 2 extra weaknesses (29xp) as required by the stand alone scenarios rules.

Jacqueline Fine has a huge potential for chaos bag fishing with her unique ability, so I decided to create a "flex" deck for multiplayer that works around it.

The deck is built around the new ally appearing in EoE: Nkosi Mabati, which allows to name a "sigil" that will replace one of the nasty tokens into the sigil (note that it can be used for others investigators also!).

The most important advantage of this strategy is that the nasty modifications and effects of the others tokens are cancelled and taken to the usual safe ground that skull provides (from 0 to -3) and that you will know in advance.

The idea is to choose the skull and fish in the chaos bag for it with Jacqueline Fine special ability and signature card. Depending on the scenario, this will allow you to have around 5 tokens over 15 that will be a skull or could become a skull. And you are drawing three, so statistic, for once is with you!

Unleashing the power of death

So which cards can take advantage of the golden skull?

Song of the Dead is the most evident and powerful. A cheap spell with five charges that deliver three damage when a skull is drawn. Add an eldritch inspiration and you will make five damage in one action...

Crystal Pendulum will allow you to draw extra cards easily, as you will be able to calculate easily the success

Sixth Sense is another evident choice, more even in multiplayer. Let your friends reveal locations and you can gather these clues from safe place and low veil without worrying about nasty effects.

Wither is another card where it can be helpful, more in multiplayer, as you will be able to chose that nasty token, replace it by a skull (allowing you to succeed the attack) and weaken the monster for your friends.

Ritual Candles can allow you to reduce the impact of negative modifier delivered by the skull token. I just put one copy as it will be useful mainly at the mid or end game, when you will probably already draw it.

Prescient is much more powerful with this strategy. Fish for that symbol without failing the test and get the spell you need.

Azure Flame is another card that have some synergy with the golden skull, as you can bypass the damage provided by the 0, +1 an arcane symbol.

Dark Prophecy is a card that complements the strategy, commit it and you are almost sure of getting that skull.

Recall the Future becomes ridiculous good with this strategy. You can use it for making sure that you are going to succeed an extra difficult test (even one that involves agility or force) or you can just name one of the negative tokens that will make you fail. And suddenly, without committing cards, you have and almost auto-pass test.

The multiplayer choices

Logically, I have done some concessions for the team!

With the 2xp Ward of Protection I expect to help time to time my fellow investigators from nasty treachery cards. The Earthly Serenity could be useful in these multiplayer event scenarios that are very long.

Premonition is a card that I do not like too much, the timing for using this card is too limiting. However I can find myself using it at the middle of my phase in order to see if I fish one of that nasty tokens that are annoying for my friends but wonderfully good for me. Just note that I will do it only IF I do not have an urgent test to pass AND I have still the option to do one that can send back the token to the chaos bag.

Finally, Parallel Fates is a card that I feel it is not very strong, however in some situations could be really helpful, at least for Jacqueline that have more probabilities of getting that special symbol.

Sign Magick

A card too good to not include it. The upgraded Sign Magick allow action compression, something that I realized this deck needs desperately. Reason also why I have 6 different spells.

The perfect combo breaker, would be to deliver 5 damage with the golden skull Song of the Dead plus Eldritch Inspiration, then deliver 2 additional damage with Wither or Azure Flame. Repeating this in the second action (it would be possible by having Arbiter of Fates in play and recurring Eldritch Inspiration through Prescient) and finish your third action by another 2+2 attack for a total 16 damage which is feasible as only a couple of tokens (the auto-fail and high negative modifiers) can get in your way... or failing the search for the golden skull.

Weaknesses

The deck is expensive and slow to set-up. Reason why you have these two copies of Voice of Ra there. You will have to be supported by the rest of the table the first turns until you will be the one supporting them.

Good luck with your search for the golden skull!!

2 comments

Feb 27, 2022 Valentin1331 · 67437

I like the idea a lot! Making every symbol token a skull to then overuse Jacqueline Fine's ability.

Olive McBride would definitely help to fish tokens.

I would replace here Storm of Spirits with for example True Magick so that you do not need to put your other spells on the table to use them.

Mar 08, 2022 JordiC · 90

Thanks! I see the interest of adding Olive McBride and True Magick, but after testing a lot the deck, it will make worse the two main issues I have found playing it:

Slow and expensive set-up: the optimal set-up of Jaqueline with this deck would be: Crystal pendulum: 2 resources Nkosi: 4 resources Song of dead: 2 resources Sixth sense or divination: 3 resources Sign magick: 3 resources (fast) Arbiter of fates: 3 resources

So 17 resources and 5 actions (Probably 6 or 7 as you will have to use Voice of Ra once at least). And you will like to potentially put in the table also a third spell like Wither or Earthly Serenity (2 resources) and Recall the Future (2 resources).

At the end, after testing, I realized that I do not get to do the set-up totally ever. However, the deck is still quite good and balanced with only part of the set-up, but leave me with a bad taste. I reviewed it to have a better economy and tempo, which implied to do some sacrifices. One has been not including True Magick, that looks like it could have a nice interaction with the rest of deck, but it is expensive in terms of experience and cost, and I prefer the action compression that gives Sign Magick.

The other problem is the negative modifier for the skull: depending on the scenario this could become painful (they have told me that in the Blob this could become a -5!! Time to review my strategy of using this deck in this scenario?). Nevertheless, even if the negative modifier is important, looking actively for the skull at least allows you to anticipate how much will you need to commit to pass the test and even overpass the problem through other ways, like the use of Recall the Future (or Ritual Candles).

Adding Olive McBride to the mix has a problem: you have to keep two of the tokens of the three that she allows you to reveal. By the end game, depending of the scenario you will sweat a bit to pass the test with the negative modifier of the skull token. If you add a -1 / -2 token to it, you will have to over commit. Also, you don't know how much will your second token penalize, which erase the advantage of knowing how much the skull token modifier is.

In any case, interesting ideas. I will think how can this be applied, but probably implies to rebuilt largely the deck... and I am lazy!! :)