I Love this serie. I wait every week for your new deck like when I was a kid waiting for the weekly episode of Dragon Ball :-) Thanks for the work you do!

The tabooed version of the Eon Chart (that this deck uses) does not work with Unearth the Ancients, as it only let's you take basic actions.

@drassain that dragon ball comparison is the funkiest I’ve had since I started but also somehow the nicest! Thank you so much, and hopefully, like Goku, it’s only getting stronger!

@heppu you are right, Eon Chart is not used here to play Unearth the Ancients directly but rather in between playing it, to move mostly, but also sometimes to get another clue.

I would like to try this deck in the next campaign I play. Is it possible that it would be a good idea to add Custom Modifications with Extended Magazine? I'm just saying this so that I don't run out of combat in a scenario with too many enemies.

@drassain That is a good call to do more fighting! To be fully transparent, I didn't think about it, as I was more focused on clues. But that's a really good idea to make the fighting more consistent, especially before you purchase the core elements of your draw engine.

I really like this low-asset, event driven style of play, good job!

This is a really cool deck! I absolutely love Unearth the Ancients and have used it to great effect in an asset driven Ursula. It's cool to see it doing different work here. I'm notorious for playing with enormous tableau's, so I really like seeing a take on a deck that's so focused on skills and events.

I might also look to find some room for Ancestral Knowledge...probably less practical than the Studios, but maybe more fun!

Have you thought about Farsight and Ever Vigilant? Many events are already fast, but it's basically a synonym for Cryptic Research when playing a Preposterous Sketches from the hunch deck. It does contest the arcane slot. Ever Vigilant being there to play more fast and cheaper with Farsight.

Hey @Weges, thanks for the comment!

I have to admit I didn’t look at Ever Vigilant, but I did look at Farsight.

The reason why it is not here is a bit the same principle as Minhfinite, effects that exhaust are inherently weaker in this type of deck that goes really fast and achieves a lot in a turn. It is the same with otherwise excellent cards like Pathfinder. One action/turn is not enough to justify the card slot and experience.

The deck goes big hand yet doesn’t use any of the advantages of doing so, which is a shame, but it is the current state of the card pool.

@Semiotics that’s a good call for Ancestral Knowledge, I actually play tested it in this deck and I took it out for 3 reasons:

1. I didn’t really need the 5 additional card slots.
2. It is an absolute challenge to stay on the Standalone 19xp threshold and Ancestral Knowledge didn’t fit in this.
3. It actually anti-synergises with Practice Makes Perfect by taking some Practiced skills out of your deck.

Of course it won’t ruin the deck, but I thin you could do better with that XP

This is why you're my favorite publisher on the site. I've played quite a bit of Joe Diamond(I've always said he's underrated, effectively having 3 extra actions per turn is crazy good), and you still somehow managed to show me some new tricks and a new perspective I hadn't considered before. Your understanding of the game is top notch, and you come up with some really creative stuff.

As for the deck, I think upgraded backpack could be really good here. It's effectively card draw, while also helping to ensure you get some of your important assets out early (and it'll help you pull off unearth the ancients combos early on more reliably). Ice picks (given how fast this deck cycles) with upgraded magnifying glass, emergency cache (including upgraded versions), and ever vigilant could all be good options if going this route. I could also see a more item-heavy deck being good with cards like strange solution and heavy furs.

In regards to insights, I personally think scene of the crime and logical reasoning are worth considering. 1-2 testless clues for an action is really strong, and I find logical reasoning will usually remove terror reliably in multiplayer (although if worst comes to worst, healing yourself for 2 horror for an action can also at times be useful due to Joe's low sanity and willpower). The upgraded versions of logical reasoning and no stone unturned can also make for some pretty worthy considerations (depending on player count and campaign).

I also think lvl 3 scientific theory is really strong on Joe Diamond and definitely worthy of consideration for pretty much any Joe Diamond deck.

Fool me once... does not effect Unsolved Case

@Ghostleader: It does affect Case. Fool Me Once doesn't specify 'non-weakness'... and weakness events do indeed count as treacheries.

Oh wait, you mean because it's not discarded and FMO can only be played if the treachery would be discarded. My bad, you might be right actually.

@Scientiavore first of all, thanks a lot; that is really appreciated :)

• I considered Backpack, but the reason why it didn't make the cut is that it would become a wasted card once you find your items, which happens relatively fast anyways because of the massive draw power. The criteria to make it to the main deck (excluding the Hunch Deck) was to:

  • Have a card that would either stay in play and bring long lasting value
  • Or bring value at every single cycle
  • This excludes for instance Backpack, but also good cards like Grisly Totem (3) or Farsight for instance.

• As weird as it may sound, as I added it in probably every investigator, I didn't think of Ice Pick (3)... It makes perfect sense in the upgrade path as an alternative to Magnifying Glass as it is a tool, really good catch on this one!!

• For other items, that's exactly what I was trying to prevent in this deck, which is what I would always end up with in Joe: an overloaded, slow, clunky deck. Instead, I prioritised less flashy yet tempo-worthy events with a limited number of high-impact assets.

• For events, you are right, Scene of the Crime is probably one of the best insights for Joe's Hunch Deck, but this deck took a different approach. It is not about the strongest cards, but rather about which one would be the easiest to take out of the hunch deck to empty it as fast as possible, and place the best back with your gun/.

• In regards to Logical Reasoning, I actually considered adding one copy and one copy of Bizarre Diagnosis to be able to also support your team through the Mythos, but I didn't opt for it because of deck space (it's too hard to cut OP cards), but it would make perfect sense in the deck.

• For Scientific Theory (3), you are absolutely right, it is a really strong card in Joe, yet again I didn't feel like I needed it because of the fast draw, all the skill cards and the Magnifying Glass/bonus on the One in the Chamber. I am also a bit constrained by the experience threshold. But again, it's still a really strong card and would fit in the upgrade path easily.

@Ghostleader you are right, and Unsolved Case case kindly removes itself from the game already, so no need for "Fool me once...", but it works like a charm on Random Basic Weakness.

@DerBK Also, while Fool me once works on weakness treacheries, Unsolved case is not a treachery. Not all weaknesses are treacheries. for example Abandoned and Alone is, but Unsolved case has no "treachery" tag type.

Running this deck now and it is totally sick. You are such a huge resource for all of us who play but are mediocre deckbuilders!

Just completed Forgotten Age with a very similar deck (I don’t have full collection yet) and it worked really well. The level 0 deck was tough for the first scenarios: not that good to deal with enemies or getting clues and no drawing power yet. But after around 15xp the engine started to work well!

At some point in the campaign because of too many thraumas I went with 2x scientific theory for soak but also helpfull to pass difficult tests and burn unused ressources.

I am playing this deck in Insmouth and is very incredible and very funny. Thanks for this serie of decks.

Amazing deck and very fun to play, thanks! I've been testing it in true solo with Circle Undone and.I've experienced some trouble when dealing with Willpower and Agility tests... besides adding Criptic Research, Forewarned or "Fool me once...", any ideas? thanks!

Hi, I'm trying your deck in Carcosa in combo with Akachi. I wanted to ask you how you manage cards like Forewarned and "Fool me once..." (except for the investigator weakness), given that during the Mythos Phase the card from the foreboding deck is never face up. In general, I find them inconvenient in the foreboding deck, I can't use them... maybe I'm doing something wrong, could you help me please?

Hey @Flazzy I hope you'll have fun with both decks, let me know how it went!

I guess you are referring to the Hunch deck? If that is the case, Forewarned and "Fool me once..." are not placed in there.

Not every insight is placed in the Hunch deck, only 10 of them. Disregard ArkhamDB which treats all insights as "Hunches". Simply follow the guide to build the Hunch deck.

Here is the composition of the Hunch deck, as per the deck guide:

• Deep Knowledge x2 (replaced later by Cryptic Research x2)
• No Stone Unturned x2
• Preposterous Sketches x2
• Shortcut x2
• Working a Hunch x2

This way, you prevent the awkward cases that you have been mentioning :)

I hope that helps!

Hi @Valentin1331 I'll tell you right away that... yes, we're having a lot of fun and I'm happy to tell you that I've used your guides for years, so I personally thank you for the work you've done :) And, again, yes… I meant the Hunck Deck (translator problem, sorry).

Do you know what the problem was? I trusted ArkhamDB so much, that I thought the 11 events I needed to enter into the Hunch Deck were "by name", not "by number of cards". You have no idea how much I have damaged myself haha It's the problem of starting to play again after a 2 year break. A thousand thanks :)

Hi! I've never used Joe, but your deck sounds a lot of fun, so I'm gonna give it a try. Thanks for making it and for the tutorial! I have 2 questions if you don't mind. I don't get how the dream enhance serum works with the hunch deck, can you explain please?. Also, I'm a bit worried about the ammo on the colt (we're gonna go 2 players both flex), I thought about adding machete while the colt cicles itself (also custom modifications), not sure how fast the colt cicles, also I don't get how you would make it leave play once it runs out of ammo so that it can cycle. Thanks!

@Miausus happy to know you are interested in this deck!

1. Dream-Enhancing Serum does not work with the Hunch Deck per say, but what I meant in the guide is that since only 1 copy count for your hand count, once you emptied your Hunch Deck, you can store in your hand all the cards that you do not want to cycle. Let's take Preposterous Sketches for example. Once you've taken it out of the Hunch Deck, you will not want to play it again because it would slow you down. And the Dream-Enhancing Serum allows you to store both copies in your hand at the cost of 1!
2. I think the safe way to go is to count this deck as a primary cluever, with some self-defense abilities. Ideally you never empty your Detective's Colt 1911s unless you can play at least one copy (or both) of One in the Chamber. Since you will cycle your deck more or less once every turn once you are setup, your cycle will be as follows: 2 bullets on the colt - shoot them both - play 2x One in the Chamber when using the last ammo, adding 2 ammo - shoot a 3rd time, leaving 1 ammo in the gun, and for your next cycle, you'll be ready again to shoot your last bullet and refill. With 2 Vicious Blow, that gives you the possibility to deal 6 damage per loop, to which you can add Practice Makes Perfect for even more juice out of Vicious Blow!