Secret HQ
art (c) Mike Trap
Author: Glen Murie
I don't use Shadowy Mentors in this deck because if it's working right I'm
blowing all of my power on characters with Explosives and Grenade Launchers.
If the cards are aligned correctly my opponent is down and stays there. No
Shadowy Mentor is going to matter. I also try to use the Operation Killdeers to
goad an opponent into attacking with lots of characters on an unrevealed Grove
of Willows.
I don't use Bite of the Jellyfish because everyone expects it. When the
gold is on the table people in my area just don't burn for power. However,
one of the fun new things about Nine Dragon
Temple is that you can burn it for victory, and then mole network the power that
your opponent gained because it's still your turn. Hee Hee.
Naturally any three of the anti-ascended tactic cards would shut this deck down
entirely. [See the Beat the
Ascended strategy article]
Feng Shui - 12
3 Grove of Willows
3 Inner Sanctum
3 City Park
3 [Whatever you need - 2 Moebius Gardens and 1 Gambling Hall]
Foundation - 10 (Discard Aggressively at start of game)
5 Student of the Bear
5 The Pledged
[Add 2-3 Student of the Shark if you must]
The Pump
4 Family Estates
The Bilge
5 Gruff Lieutenant
4 Explosives
3 Grenade Launcher [
I would go with Pump-Action Shotguns here]
The Hitters - For those damn Curio Shops
3 Just a Rat
3 Might of the Elephant (discard aggressively)
3 Blue Cardinals Guards
1 Shinobu Yashida
1 Adrienne Hart
1 Phillipe Benoit
The screws (events)
4 Mole Network
5 Operation Killdeer
5 Cry of the Forgotten Ancestor (for Larcenous Mist and Discerning Fire)
:
This is a real nice alternative to the Pedged.deck variety of Ascended speed
deck.
To which Glen follows up:
I don't use the Shotguns because I don't generally go after other characters.
I only Attack Sites. A variant of this deck that I haven't gotten to work
predictably yet is Cheesy Ascended. Use Ancient Groves and Golden Candle
Societies for Chi resources to get Fortune of the Turtle and Fortuitous Chi (I
can then scrap the Cry of Forgotten Ancestors). This makes all of those
characters with the common designators of Pledged and Lodge immune to events
that smoke or damage characters. Adrienne with Fortune of the Turtle on her
cannot be Shifting Loyalties, nor can Might of the elephant be Larcenous Misted.
I have another variant of this with the Hand called Auspicious Bomb Shelter that
doesn't work so well either. Still in the testing stage.
