Lola Hayes - Crisis Avoidance with Anna Kaslow

The goal of this deck is to completely eliminate Crisis of Identity through the use of permanents and assets that provide simple static benefits while testing at 5+ for and . Of course, it isn't possible to completely avoid the Crisis since you have to play assets and stay in that class for one draw but this deck greatly minimizes the risk of an inopportune crisis.

Wouldn't it just be better to be a Seeker to get clues?

This deck is setup to quickly get Lola to 4/5+/3/5+ statline and be a strong cluever that can take care of herself with evasion and enough damage. I would compare this deck to Ursula (my fave) and Trish (and maybe Wendy). Obviously each of those decks play much differently but each of those do clues and evasion better imo. I think this deck is in the ballpark though and offers some unique advantages. The big advantage is the ability to cancel encounters/damage and the all around flexibility of strong , and (and not awful ).

It Is All About Anna

The key to the whole deck imo is Anna Kaslow and the Tarot cards. Lola can fulfill her deck requirements of 7 cards in 3 classes with 2 Tarot cards, 3 permanents ( and ) and just 2 other cards of each class in the deck. Lola can then safely stay in Mystic (Holy Rosary is a consumable card) the entire time.

Lola's 3 Classes

Seeker

I chose as a primarily asset class since the Magnifying Glass and Death • XIII are the primary skill that Lola will be using and they provide simple boosts. Shrewd Analysis is a free permanent to help with her deck restrictions and one of the first additions after Anna Kaslow is Studious. This deck works better with some card draw in it.

Rogue

Lola starts out the campaign with 7 events but after she is able to add the Tarot cards along with permanents (Adaptable and Another Day, Another Dollar then she can almost avoid being in . She will need to have one event (2x) in her deck. Or she could add Leo De Luca for an extra action each round.

Mystic

At the start of the campaign Lola will have to bounce back and forth between and but as the campaign goes on she can add more events and stay in all of the time.

She will also use Track Shoes to boost her and occasionally give her an option to avoid an enemy.

Survivor and Guardian Options

Lola has the potential to play some Survivor and Guardian assets in relative safety. The static boost from Track Shoes fits in perfectly with this deck and she might be able to activate them in a pinch if needed. Both the Cherished Keepsake and Leather Coat are decent soak options but I opted for the boost of Holy Rosary. Brother Xavier or Police Badge are two possible additions to this deck with some XP. I particularly like the soak of Xavier combined with a last second switch into Guardian before he dies to dish out some extra damage.

Weakness of the Deck

Card draw and her increased deck size are her major stumbling blocks. Most of the best card draw assets require Lola to be in a specific role and she doesn't have that flexibility. Upgrading to Studious should be a priority after adding Anna Kaslow since it greatly increases the chances of finding Anna Kaslow or the Tarot cards in the opening draw.

Strategy

Lola is setup to get clues and evade but she really need her static boosts or Flashlight to do anything. Getting these cards and Anna Kaslow are your mulligan priorities. I brought along The Hungering Blade Zoey to do most of the killing.

• Try to stay out of Seeker except to play assets. After 2 assets are in play it is probably better to only play Seeker assets with Improvisation that allows you a double identity swap in a turn. Or if both Crisis of Identity are safely in the discard.
• Try to completely stay out of Rogue except for the occasional event. This gets easier later in the campaign when there are fewer Rogue cards in the deck (3 will be permanent).
• Stay in Mystic all the time to play events and be ready with cancels

One cool combo is the Art Student grabs a clue and then you can play Calling in Favors to find Anna Kaslow and a free Tarot card. Or if you have already played the Anna (1 Tarot in play) you can return her to your hand with Calling in Favors and find the Art Student for the free clue. And then replay Anna later to find another Tarot card.

Upgrade Priority

1. Anna Kaslow and the Tarot cards
2. Studious - Lola desperately needs card draw and filtered card draw at the beginning of each scenario is the best.
3. Adaptable - switching out class cards as you add permanents is needed as is swapping Fine Clothes for Trench Coat if you are playing Carcosa.

What To Get Next With XP

• 6XP for Stand Together - This Lola deck needs card draw. In my Carcosa campaign Zoey is playing Stand Together to help both of them out.
• 4XP for Counterspell - a very strong card
• 2XP for Stargazing
• 6XP for Another Day, Another Dollar - so far in Carcosa (3 scenarios) Lola has accumulated a HUGE amount of resources since the deck without Anna/Tarot cards is quite cheap. That will probably change and this card will become more important.
• 2XP for Brute Force if a little more combat is needed. 6 for 3 damage is a nice option to have.
• 2x Brother Xavier - big soak and additional boost. Need to also add Charisma

Other card options

• Laboratory Assistant - the deck starts with the Lab Assistant and she gives you extra card draw but then you are drawing into your weakness while exposing your Tarot Cards and Mag Glass (and the Lab Assistant) to discard
• True Grit and Something Worth Fighting For - Good Guardian soak
• Alyssa Graham - could be used in place of the Art Student and watch for Lola's weakness while buffing her more - requires Lola to stay in Mystic to use though
• Cherished Keepsake vs Holy Rosary for cheap soak in a mostly unused class
• Leather Coat - cheap soak instead of Trench Coat or Fine Clothes

Assets From All Of The Classes That Provide Static Boosts Or Fully Complete

The following isn't intended to be a comprehensive list of assets that provide static benefits or benefits that fully complete when played. These cards are best played in a singular asset class that you rarely switch into or as one of your unused classes that you never switch into except to play these cards.

Which assets did I miss that would fit into this style of deckbuilding (avoiding the crisis)?

Guardian

• Police Badge
• Brother Xavier
• Something Worth Fighting For and True Grit
• Bandolier - I don't think this is really useful for Lola unless you went the Ornate Bow or Timeworn Brand route and wanted to hold a Magnifying Glass or Flashlight. She would be a force to be reckoned with in that setup.
• Beat Cop - - - Alice Luxley - - - Grete Wagner - - - Boxing Gloves - - - I think these cards are all pretty expensive and you would want to activate the ability on the card regularly.

Rogue

• Another Day, Another Dollar - amazing card in this setup
• Adaptable - very useful permanent for her
• Leo De Luca - perfect for this strategy
• Leather Jacket
• Cat Burglar - decent boost and you can switch into Rogue and make a quick escape if needed
• Lola Santiago and Delilah O'Rourke - double static boosts is still useful even if you don't activate the ability very often
• Lonnie

Survivor

• Track Shoes - perfect for this specific deck
• Cherished Keepsake and Leather Coat - cheap soak
• Guiding Spirit - cheap soak and boost
• Dark Horse - I dislike playing this card. Huge benefit though.
• Newspaper - The on and off benefit is too frustrating for me to use in someone that will get most of the clues.
• Peter Sylvestre and Jessica Hyde - good static boosts but their biggest value is in healing damage and horror each round.
• Moonstone - this deck doesn't have a mechanism to discard this card but perhaps in a different setup this would be very valuable.

Seeker

• Magnifying Glass - a perfect card for this strategy
• Shrewd Analysis - 0XP permanent
• Studious - a great card for this deck
• Art Student - an untested clue and a little soak. Very important in the earlier scenarios
• Laboratory Assistant - This card looks nice for Lola until you realize that you have to switch to Seeker to play it and then you immediately draw two cards.
• Dr. Milan Christopher - the would be nice but his big benefit is the steady stream of resources that you wouldn't get
• Tooth of Eztli - a double static boost for the encounter deck. Hmmm... I might have dismissed this too hastily. I did use the from Holy Rosary quite often outside of the encounter deck though.

Mystic

• Holy Rosary
• St. Hubert's Key - I don't think Lola Hayes has enough sanity or other soak to keep this in play very long. The Rosary gives actual soak which is a big help.
• Alyssa Graham - she can look for Crisis of Identity but that isn't as important in this deck
• Crystalline Elder Sign - a fantastic card in Standard or TFA where there are +1 tokens in the bag. I play Hard and I am not willing to pull out the because it is a strong benefit for Lola.
• There are also 3 Mystic Seal cards that don't require Lola to be in Mystic to get the continual benefit. This would be an interesting strategy in a different deck.

Fun Neutral Upgrades

• Ornate Bow - this deck could easily become combat focused using her high agility.
• Timeworn Brand - same concept but use the Tarot card and Reliable and possible an ally with a boost.
• Hemispheric Map - not a big fan of on and off benefits like this but it is strong when active.