Finklestein's Lab - Decks & Strategies

Deck Designs

"Mrs. Claus's Pie Factory"
by Manny O'Donnell

Locales
Oogie's Lair (Starting Locale)
Town Square
The Courtyard
The Bakery
Cookie Factory
Elven Bedchamber

Halloween Characters
Jack Skellington, Motivational Spooker
The Bass
Accordion Player
Bass Player
Sax Player
Corpse Kid (X2)
Corpse Dad (X2)
Corpse Mom
The Mayor, Lugubrious Leader (X2)
Monster Under the Bed
Sally, Restless Spirit
Dr. Finklestein, Desperate Lover
Black Cat
Decomposing Guy
Hanging Tree

Christmas Characters
Mrs. Claus (X2)
Eddy the Elf (X2)
Suzy the Elf (X2)
Nelly the Elf (X2)
Languid Larry
Weary Willy
Barry the Elf
Chucky the Elf
Iggy the Elf
Pauly the Elf
Timmy the Elf

Creations
Christmas Tree Bats
Road Kill
Jingle Bells
Here Comes Sandy Claws
Eager Anaconda
Takeoff Ramp
Sandy Claws Outfit
Christmas Casket

Surprises
Halloweentown Gates
Bone Daddy
Christmas Town Gates
Choo Choo Train
Subordinate Claus (X3)
How Dare You!
Sound the Alarms!

Mrs. ClausTotal Non-Locale Cards: 50

Total Possible Points: 63 (+ what you snag with How Dare You!)

Search Power: Weak (and avoid searching if possible!)

Point Engines: Corpse Kid, Monster Under the Bed

Draw Engines: Mrs. Claus at the Bakery, Elven Bedchamber, Subordinate Claus, Finky chasing Sally

Draw Power: Very Strong

Interaction: Some Defense Only

Strategy

This deck may seem inefficient at 50 cards, but a non-interactive points deck needs a lot of point cards, and all the Christmas Town Characters are necessary to set up one of the strongest draw strategies ever created for Nightmare Before Christmas.

Eventually, you'll want The Mayor, the Players, and The Bass at Town Square, but if you need to play some to Oogie's Lair early, Jack can help you discard from hand to move them there later. You'll want Mrs. Claus at The Bakery, so you can send Elves to her with Subordinate Claus to draw two cards, and then discard them to draw one more card (or two more, when Elven Bedchamber is activated). Have Finky chase Sally around turn after turn for MORE cards, and use the Cookie Factory to replace Creations in your hand until you can play them for their best discount (i.e. after you've cycled through your deck once). Generally, you'll want to feed pies to your doubled Elves (Nelly, Suzy, and Eddy) via Mrs. Claus, because you can get cards for replaying them.

As is the case with the Creations, you'll want to play Jack late and cheap, using Bone Daddy, AFTER you get the Players out, so if you get him in your hand early, don't be afraid to toss him. Same goes for Hanging Tree, because after cycling through once, all you'll still have in your Main Deck should be Creations, Surprises, and copies of Characters you've already played, so you should be able to play it free.

If your Characters are where they should be, your 36 points of Creations should be playable for a total of 15 Pumpkin Points (including playing Christmas Casket free after Here Comes Sandy Claws), and Jack's and Hanging Tree's 7 points should cost you 1 (or none if you use Corpse Kid's ability when you play Bone Daddy). Most or all of these 43 points (Creations, Jack, and Hanging Tree) will be played in the last four days.

Your greatest danger lies in someone slowing you down, so use your defense cards to protect your point and draw engines, and to protect your Town Square from Night of Festivities and other Locale shutdowns.


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