Daisy - Solo Book Hunting

Preface

This is my first real deck, so trying to keep it simple both in terms of mechanics and expansions used.

Expansions:

• Revised Core Set
• The Dunwhich Legacy
• The Circle Undone
• Harvey Walters Investigator Deck

Concept

A fast-paced, solo deck with maximum focus on cheap, mostly disposable Tomes. No sick combos or clunky side quests, just a set of staples and card advantage.

The intended difficulty is Standard.

Card Choices

Clues

Daisy mostly relies on her natural high Intellect of 5 (6 with Whitton Greene) to find clues. For high-shroud or otherwise difficult locations there's a couple of Working a Hunch. Encyclopedia could be used for a boost of intellect as well.

Notable omissions

• Magnifying Glass. With her many books Daisy simply lacks the free hand slot.

Enemy Management

Going against the Mythos alone, Daisy has to take self-defence very seriously, dedicating a lot of slots. Hence Disc of Itzamna is her accessory of choice, as it can save so many actions. For enemies that cannot be avoided, Daisy packs Occult Invocation and Blood-Rite (Occult Lexicon). Finally, there's Knife as a cheap and disposable permanent +1 to be able to kill a Swarm of Rats or an Acolyte. With Encyclopedia and Mind over Matter, Daisy's attack potential is not embarrassing. Once her card-draw assets are in place, Daisy also relies heavily on Scroll of Secrets to try and stack the top of encounter deck with non-enemy cards.

Notable omissions

• "I've got a plan"!. Expensive and situational. A potent card, but not for this deck, especially in solo.
• Shrivelling. The spell seems to be a weapon of choice in many Daisy builds, but I feel it makes the deck too unreliable. First, it costs 3, which this build cannot reliably support. Second, to be reliable, it demands Willpower boosts like Holy Rosary, Guts, and/or Arcane Studies, which brings the deck into another direction. Fighting with a Knife gives the same base attack stat of 3 with unlimited uses.
• Dr. William T. Maleson. Almost made the cut as a way to avoid seeing enemies in the first place, while being a phenomenal soak. Depends on having clues, competes for the ally slot, Scroll of Secrets serves similar purpose. Could be included later with Miskatonic Archaeology Funding.

Economy

As mentioned, this build aims to be very low-cost, hence the only economy card is Cryptic Writings. Occasionally it can be drawn with Old Book of Lore or Forbidden Tome and commits for two Intellect.

Notable omissions

• Astounding Revelation. Nice and would work, but a fragile girl like Daisy cannot afford even a single dead draw.
• Crack the Case. Situational.
• Emergency Cache). No icons, hence a dead draw late game.
• Dr. Milan Christopher. There are not that many clues in solo for the guy to break even and start netting profit. The ally slot is taken by Whitton Greene.

Mythos Deck Management

Self-explanatory suite of Ward of Protection and [Deny Existence] is complemented by Scroll of Secrets (with taboo).

Card Advantage

As always, Daisy loves her Old Book of Lore, but in this build she has a lot of other options, especially early in the game, when you still don't know what you need and can rely on the non-selective card-draw like Scroll of Secrets and Forbidden Tome (Daisy has no intention to translate the Tome simply using it as a cheap card-draw that she can easily let go of should the need arise). The last engine card is Whitton Greene with solid 10 targets (and her +1 boost to Intelligence is of course very relevant).

Notable omissions

• Research Librarian. I find this trusty companion of Daisy's to be clunky in this build. Early on any of the 5 card-drawing tomes are good, and later I'd rather just have Whitton Greene in the Ally slot.
• De Vermis Mysteriis. With all 14 events in the deck being either a Spell or an Insight, this tome is a strong contender for the build, and can even be taken right away with In the Thick of It. However, the addition would require otherwise dead doom management in Moonlight Ritual, and might just be too fancy. With this build Daisy aims to rush through scenarios, so the danger of advancing the agenda seems risky.
• Scroll of Prophecies. Daisy could use raw card draw this book offers to fuel her Occult Invocations and Blood-Rites, but the limited number of charges is not ideal. May be worth a try, though.

Utility

• Shortcut. Helps finishing scenarios faster.
• Encyclopedia. The card is not ideal, but Daisy can get away with running it as a mid/late game Whitton Greene target. Also it allows the deck not to run any stat-boosters like Hyperawareness and Arcane Studies.
• Medical Texts. Makes the cut due synergy with Whitton Greene and Daisy's ability. This does not help when Daisy is engaged with enemies, but can give her a chance to recover. Bulletproof Vest seems like a better option with experience.
• Daisy's Tote Bag. This build actually can take advantage of the extra slots, so this is not just a commit.
• Perception. This serves as Overpower/Manual Dexterity because of Mind over Matter and Occult Invocation.