William Yorick | Testless Thorns Tank [Taboo 2024-10-23]

William Yorick explanations

If, like me, you enjoy watching monsters melt as they try to attack you in the games you love, then you’ve found exactly what you were looking for.

For those who have never played Yorick, he is a survivor who functions more like a Guardian when it comes to dealing with monsters.

His reaction allows you to play assets from the discard pile after you defeat enemies, making him very solid in terms of recycling assets—something quite uncommon.

However, what made this deck truly special is its ability to deal a truly significant amount of damage without requiring a test, and since the Scarlet Keys and the Hemlock Valley expansion, it has only gotten much better with the arrival of Guard Dog (2), Hunter's Armor and Wolf Mask.

So, first things first.

Permanents and Mulligan

I added Geared Up to the deck because you’ll have roughly 10 Item-trait cards in your deck on average, and due to deckbuilding restrictions, you don’t have access to Stick to the Plan. This means you can’t guarantee the use of cards like Ever Vigilant at first round, for example. In this sense, Geared Up works exceptionally well in this kind of deck—especially since you’re running two Backpack (2).

According to the Geared Up errata, you can play cards fetched by Backpack during Geared Up’s effect, which dramatically increases your chances of a strong opening setup if you mulligan for a Backpack in your starting hand.

Additionally, you’ll want a Charisma to maximize the value of your Guard Dog, allowing you to put both into play and accelerate your ability to deal damage to enemies without needing tests.

Assets (15)

(4) Guard Dog X2

Guard Dog will be your primary card for retaliating against enemies. The quick effect from Guard Dog significantly speeds up gameplay. Imagine the following scenario: You have two Guard Dogs in play and are one location away from two investigators, each engaged with an enemy that has 2 Health and deals 1 damage and 1 horror.

In a normal situation, you’d need to spend:

• 1 Move action (to get into position)

• 2 Fight actions (to attack and potentially defeat the enemies)

Plus, you’d have to pass skill tests to deal damage.

But with just two Guard Dogs, you can:

• Spend a single Move action to position yourself.

• Use the first Guard Dog’s quick effect to engage one enemy—assigning damage to one Guard Dog and horror to the other. This deals 2 damage to the enemy, defeating it.

• Use the second Guard Dog’s quick effect to engage the remaining enemy, distributing damage/horror the same way—defeating it instantly.

All of this happens in just one Move action, with no skill tests required.

You can also execute similar plays in different ways—like forcing attacks of opportunity, for example. And when you defeat an enemy, it triggers Yorick’s reaction, letting you play an asset from your discard pile.

(4) Hunter's Armor X2

• (1) Enchanted. Hunter's Armor gains the Relic trait and takes up an arcane slot instead of a body slot.

• (3) Armor of Thorns. After 1 or more damage or horror is assigned to Hunter's Armor from an enemy attack, you may exhaust it to deal 1 damage to that enemy. (I put the wrong upgrade when I publish the deck, just ignore and use this one)

Hunter's Armor will supercharge the combo above, helping you redistribute incoming enemy damage and retaliate. It's important to note that since you're using Backpack for your body slot, being able to equip Hunter's Armor in arcane slots becomes absolutely essential.

(4) Survival Knife X2

Survival Knife is a weapon that fits well into the Thorns Damage archetype, though it does have some limitations. If you want another weapon option capable of dealing 2 damage or more outside of the enemy phase, you can swap it for alternatives.

Since Yorick doesn’t have access to Guardian cards above XP2, your item choices end up being somewhat restricted.

Personally, I think Chainsaw paired with Emergency Cache is a very solid option for gaining extra damage-dealing actions during your turn.

(1) Bangle of Jinxes X1

This accessory fits perfectly into this setup since you'll be taking many enemy attacks, potentially accumulating plenty of charges. These will help you survive the Mythos Phase and pass other tests that would normally give you trouble. It also pairs exceptionally well with Wolf Mask.

Bandages X1

An item that will help keep your Guard Dogs alive longer.

Important to note: it only heals you or allies, so it doesn't work with Hunter's Armor.

Schoffner's Catalogue X2

Your deck includes several high-cost items, so being able to play them consistently is key. That's where Schoffner's Catalog shines—it helps pay for your items' resource costs. The best part? You can play it straight from your discard pile using Yorick's reaction ability, saving you an action and making it even more efficient.

Wolf Mask X1

Since you'll constantly be engaged (thanks to your Guard Dogs' quick effect), this means it will almost always be recharging its uses, making it extremely reliable.

Events and skills (11)

"Let me handle this!" X1

Breach the Door X1

Dynamite Blast X1

(1) Ever Vigilant X1

Glory X1

(6) Lucky! X2

Toe to Toe X1

(4) Overpower X2

Resourceful X2

Take Heart X2

(4) Vicious Blow X2

Most cards explain themselves, but I want to highlight a few that I believe have a huge impact in specific situations.

Breach the Door: This card enables all investigators in your group to investigate a location with a relatively high shroud. Passing the test usually isn't too difficult if you have the right supporting cards like Wolf Mask, Bangle of Jinxes, and Overpower. In this scenario, you'd be testing at 10 vs. 1—and depending on your bag composition, you might even reduce the location's shroud to zero, making clue-gathering trivial.

Toe to Toe: This card is amazing in this deck because it deals 2 testless damage while also letting you retaliate with your assets. With proper setup, you could potentially deal up to 6 damage—especially if the enemy attacks for 4 damage/horror and you distribute it across your Guard Dogs and Hunter's Armor.

Take Heart: This card massively accelerates your game by providing card draw and resources. Just pick a high-shroud location, investigate while committing it, and with a single action, you effectively save 4 draw/resource actions. Plus, you can recur it with Resourceful on tests you're confident you'll pass.

Side deck and variations (9)

There are a few variations that work extremely well with this deck.

Occult Reliquary, Ancestral Token, Ancient Covenant, Ofuda, and Rite of Sanctification are cards that synergize exceptionally well with Yorick when played together. He can generate Bless Tokens and use Rite of Sanctification—both for you and other investigators—which is incredibly helpful.

Another powerful variation is combining Sledgehammer with Pushed to the Limit. This combo lets you deal massive burst damage when the situation demands it.

Hope you guys enjoy it