Dropkick Murphy - Rex Combat

When you have luck of the Irish, you better be ready to scrap. Especially if the Irishman in question is Rex Murphy! This deck helps you mind your own arse against enemies, and even babysit other dedicated investigation or support decks.

Rex'll swing anything he can use Scavenging to get his hands on. Knife, Kukri, Medical Texts, Baseball Bat and Strange Solution each have icons to commit for tests, and Rex's high , supported by Flashlight, Dr. Milan Christopher, Working a Hunch, and Perception maximize his available icons with Scavenging.

Baseball Bat is a great weapon for this deck, boosting Rex to 4 and dealing +1 damage regardless of Rex's resources, and Scavenging makes its loss to a skull token less painful. As a 2-handed weapon, it also bounces empty Flashlights to discard for Scavenging to return to his hand with full batteries.

Rex has a few bonuses from other sources, such as the Beat Cop, Overpower and Unexpected Courage, but since he relies heavily on Scavenging to take on most enemies, this deck requires careful tempo play.

Alternate between enemies and investigation when possible to keep your hand up with Scavenging, and commit only the icons that maximize your advantage. It often isn't worth it to boost your just to flip a single -4 or -6 to a success, compared to saving that icon for another attack when it can flip three -2s and a couple skulls to successes. Don't forget to consider the significance of a check, though, such as whether success it makes the difference between taking an enemy out before it attacks, preventing a retaliate-enemy phase 1-2 punch, or even taking doom off the table to avoid flipping an agenda.

Rex's Curse makes this an even more delicate calculation, as committing high may ensure success, but leave Rex's Curse in play. Obviously, grabbing a few cards off an Elder Sign and shuffling Rex's Curse into your deck in the bargain is a nice, but you can manage the curse by making marginal attacks against insignificant enemies. Rex's Curse is indiscriminate, so it also helps on occasion, improving a simple success by 0 or 1 to a 2+ for Scavenging and a bonus clue, or turning a successful attack with a revealed skull into a numerical success to save your Baseball Bat.

Don't be afraid to eat an attack of opportunity to investigate for more discarded items, or take the miss on your Elder Sign ability to draw cards. It's better to come loaded for bear to each engagement, and Rex's high sanity and Medical Texts mean you can take a few shots and come out smiling. Staggering, but smiling.

In an emergency, Hyperawareness lets you slip away to fill your hand, and buffs Rex's so you can scrounge up a few more icons with Scavenging. It also buffs those pivotal "I've got a plan!" attacks, and Dr. Milan Christopher keeps you in resources to fund it.

If an agenda spawns an enemy and the encounter deck follows up with another, turn to "I've got a plan!" to even the odds, or Mind over Matter to get away. Working a Hunch's double icons help you hit an enemy's weak spot for massive damage, or just grab one of Rex's dropped weapons out of discard with a timely Scavenging. If you have the resources, playing it to scoop up a clue in the middle of an engagement for an extra point of "I've got a plan!" damage can score that all important final point of damage on an enemy.

ADJUSTMENTS FOR DIFFICULTY

Rex relies heavily on the chaos bag to fuel not only his attacks, but also his Scavenging for icons. Higher difficulty makes it harder to establish a steady tempo, and forces Rex down a different avenue.

Dr. Milan Christopher bonus resource is more consistent than Scavenging, which is important at higher difficulties, and makes up for the option to trigger 2 Scavengings on a success. This in mind, you may wish to drop Scavenging for Physical Training, which Dr. Milan Christopher can fund for you.

Baseball Bat's liability becomes a real problem for Rex without Scavenging. The higher bonus from Fire Axe is tempting, but because you'll be spending resources over time to ensure consistent attacks (just like the Scavenging build ensures a steady flow of icons), switching to Machete gives you a more consistent damage bonus if you can manage your engagements.

In either case, a well-timed Knife discard can take up the slack by scoring an extra point of damage on an attack before you spend your resources down to nothing for the Fire Axe, or by clearing a second enemy from your threat area so you gain Machete's damage bonus.

ADJUSTMENTS FOR PLAYER COUNT

Dropkick Murphy relies on Rex being able to refill his hand with Scavenging between brawls, so it functions best at lower player counts when a steadier flow of enemies allows Rex to establish a tempo. More players draw more encounter cards consecutively, creating a problem if enemies clump up in the encounter deck and spawn several in a turn.

Rex can certainly fend for himself at higher player counts, but if he also has to watch the back of dedicated investigation or support decks, he'll need to work a little harder.

His cross-class cards are central to the deck's engine, so he doesn't have much flexibility there, and Beat Cop directly buffs his .

Laboratory Assistants give you a couple of quick cards to commit, and with an increased hand size, you can bank a few more icons for the biggest rumbles. Barricade gives you a little breathing room to finish off tough or numerous enemies and refill a spent hand before you wade back in.

SPENDING EXPERIENCE

Disc of Itzamna is a great buy for Rex, especially in higher player counts, as it can mean the difference between a manageable engagement or being overwhelmed. Scavenging recovers it for multiple uses, though it lacks or icons to help you in a fight if you don't get it to the table in time.

Encyclopedia provides a great stat buff, and sometimes it's worth swallowing an attack of opportunity on your first action for a +2 for two attacks. It also buffs Rex's so you can trigger Scavenging more consistently. Its wild icon makes it a great swap for Strange Solution, just as soon as you have a bit of experience to spend -- though you may want to wait until Rex discovers the solution, if appropriate.

Combined with Pathfinder, Encyclopedia buffs Rex before you move into combat as a free trigger, and even on its own allows you to jump into a fight immediately after Scavenging up a few more icons.

Cryptic Research is great for raw card draw, and Fast so you can play it in combat without provoking an attack of opportunity, Depending on which cards you swap as you add higher level cards, though, its ability to fill your hand with icons can fade. Grabbing Deduction moves Rex more toward an investigation build, and those icons can be used on "I've got a plan!" and Mind over Matter skill checks, or to help trigger Scavenging, but the same principle applies. Those experience are better spent on cards that directly help you take enemies off the table.

Charisma is a great buy for this deck, benefiting you for both Dr. Milan Christopher and Beat Cop, or rotating Laboratory Assistants through your second, or even third, ally slot for card draw as your hand size needs fluctuate before and after engagements.

Bulletproof Vest is well worth its cost, as well, giving Rex a great damage sink that doesn't conflict with another card for its slot, and its / dual-icons are Scavenging gold.