Daisy Walker || - Lord of the Tomes

Did Somebody say "Tome"?

After some playtesting, this is an improved version of my previous attempts to make a parallel Daisy Walker deck leveraging the power of Geared Up. Since the previous version was published, it's been officially confirmed that Geared Up plays items one at a time, resulting in some ridiculous opening turns!

You have 21 Item assets to hit with Geared Up in your opening hand. That includes Backpack, which matches 26 of the cards in your deck, including Schoffner's Catalogue, which can pay for even more of your opening turn.

When fully set up, this deck can have 9 tomes on the table, resulting in a staggering 17 Sanity and 10. That's from:

• 2 Hand slots to start
• 2 Hand slots from Daisy's Tote Bag
• 2 slotless Tomes in Schoffner's Catalogue
• 2 Hand slots from Arcane Enlightenment
• 1 slotless Tome from The Raven Quill You won't often get there, but when you do your Mystic friends will be mighty jealous.

Investigating

This deck meant to be played with friends, at least one of which should be focused on combat. Tony Morgan in particular appreciates the bonus card draw from the two scrolls. Vincent Lee makes a strong choice for the 3rd investigator at your table, covering for your paltry 5 Health while also capable of backing you up on clueing.

In the early and mid game, this deck is a support deck. Use your card draw tools to get the rest of your team online while you slowly fill your board with Tomes. Your naturally high intellect, aided by Grim Memoir, will let you casually pick up clues to keep the Act deck moving, and you have Occult Lexicon and some Spells to deal with enemies in a pinch. Don't hesitate to use your once-per-game ability early - your teammates need the setup speed more than you need the power turn.

In the late game, this deck can dominate the scenario's climax. Use your Ineffable Truth and Shrivelling to keep any boss monster at bay while you devour clues with your Grim Memoir.

Upgrades

This deck really shines after the first scenario. This deck upgrades fast, reliably able to take 2 free XP from Down the Rabbit Hole in addition to 3 or 4 free XP from Shrewd Analysis. Remember that marking checkboxes on The Raven Quill counts as "Upgrading" a card!

Your first upgrades should be Backpack (2) and Dream Diary. An upgraded backpack will increase the power of your Geared Up turn, and 2-4 wild icons every round from Dream Diary is key for supporting teammates caught in a rough spot.

It doesn't matter too much what upgrades you get for Forbidden Tome, Dream Diary, and Archaic Glyphs, you'll be happy with any of them. For The Raven Quill, you'll always want to take "Mystic Vane" and "Endless Inkwell" for your 4 remaining checkmarks. Which assets you name for "Endless Inkwell" will depend based on what Researched cards you randomly draw and what your allies are strong at. Usually, it'll be Grim Memoir and one of your two Mystic Spells.

Near the end of a campaign, you'll often find yourself with more XP than you can upgrade cards with. Spring for Studious with that extra XP for an even more consistent turn 1 on the final scenario.

Is this actually better than Core Set Daisy?

No. The lightning-fast setup of your early support Tomes is great, but it's really hard to beat "free action every turn," especially when you lose out on cards Level 4-5. But it's a lot of fun to play!