Totes in my Tote Bag

Results from The Gathering were very positive! Definitely a support deck (playing with full 4 player team). In Part II, Daisy managed to find 10 clues on her own, and was able to convince Lita to join the team. Not sure Scrying is worth a slot in a 4 player game, but the Scrying + Drawn to the Flame combo is pretty satisfying. In the next scenario, I'd just play Drawn to the Flame blind though.

I really like this, when we make a start on deckbuilding I think this might be the first one I throw together. As you can see from my review, I'm a big fan of Book of Old Lore, with Daisy's free action you can burn through your deck to get to the juicy stuff.

As you said, I'm not 100% on Scrying, I think I'd maybe rather have 1 Blinding Light for emergencies and another Magnifying Glass (I love the level 1 Magnifying Glass, having 2 of the level 0 means it's an easy swap!). That said, I'm playing with a group of 3, maybe with 2 players it'd be better?

How would you develop this deck after you gain some experience?

Thanks for the comment, and I'm glad to have some discussion! Book of Old Lore is amazing. It is worth spending your mulligan digging for it, and pairing it with Daisy's ability is so good. That is definitely a centrepiece of the deck.

I hadn't thought of Blinding Light but it might be a good suggestion. I'm wary of willpower checks in general, especially ones that cost 2 resources. Also, I'm not a huge fan of level 0 Magnifying Glass, but level 1 is really good. Since it costs 1 XP to add whether you have the level 0 version in your deck or not, you don't need to run 2 level 0s just to upgrade them.

This is definitely a support deck -- you need a heavy hitter/tank that is able to draw enemies away from you, attack them, and take most of the physical damage. I've played versions of it with 4 players and 3 players, and it did work both times (even when I had to discard the amazing Daisy's Tote Bag due to a card effect).

Going in Scenario 2 with 8 XP, I updated it as follows:

• +2 Magnifying Glass (level 1)
• +1 Disc of Itzamna (level 2)
• +2 Encyclopedia (level 2)
• +1 Lita Chantler (quest reward)
• −1 Magnifying Glass
• −1 Forbidden Knowledge
• −2 Scrying
• −1 Flashlight

I haven't played Scenario 3 yet, but these are the changes I'm contemplating (with 10 XP):

• +1 Cryptic Research (level 4)
• +2 Bulletproof Vest (level 3)
• −1 Research Librarian
• −2 Shrivelling

You can see that my main worry is about losing my health. I had nothing in my body asset slot anyways, so Bulletproof Vest seems a good choice. Cryptic Research brings in some extra draw in case Amnesia strikes at an inopportune moment.

If I had two cores, your changes there would look very similar to what I'm considering! I'm happy to let other classes take on the heavy hitting so, Shrivelling is a relatively easy cut. Blinding Light feels like more of an escape button which is good when your combat is really rubbish and means your rosary does some work.

Good point on the Magnifying Glass, for some reason I had in my head it was Level 2. Still, I don't think it's too terrible at Level 0, I guess I'm thinking of it as one resource for a skill card that sticks around after you use it?

Cryptic Research really looks fantastic, I've already seen some people running highly skill-focussed Daisy decks using that and the Tome to refill their hands to fuel ally skill checks. I can't wait to get my second core (and earn some EXP) so I can grab two of them. 3 cards for no actions! :o

The issue with Magnifying Glass is that it is taking up a hand slot. Since Daisy's Tote Bag is necessarily a singleton, you might not see it until late game, and I dislike overwriting assets if I can help it, haha. Especially now that I have two tomes that offer a lot of flexibility if I can get them up early (Old Book of Lore and Encyclopedia).

You are right about Blinding Light, but that is an escape button that is relying on a two card combo (getting a Holy Rosary up first is practically necessary since we don't have too many will icons to toss into the check). I rely more on Mind over Matter for panic mode.

So I played some more last night and am coming round more and more to your way of thinking.

Daisy really is an investigating machine, right? I managed to get Dr. Milan Christopher into play on turn one, and he gained me 10+ resource over the game (helped that I moved straight into the University and found my Old Book there too). It was a shame I didn't really have any money sinks at that point, though I did only get Arcane Studies late on. Encyclopedia also did work, helping with some crucial evades later in the game.

None of the spells did much, the only one I'm liking is Scrying! I'm tempted to cut all other spells from the deck for extra skill slots. At that point, you can maybe even cut the Rosary?

She is so good at investigating! Yeah, I had considered Dr. Milan Christopher pretty hard, but I cut him for a couple reasons:

1) The resource cost. I'm playing a pretty resource light deck and couldn't really justify the 4 cost to put him into play 2) The ally slot. Since I have Research Librarian and Lita Chantler, I don't really want any other allies. 3) I don't actually run any of the "pay to boost a skill check" cards, so resources are a bit less important for this deck than they would be for others. In fact, I've found that so far I'm actually pretty happy with the passive econ.

I think if I was to play solo or a 2 player game, Scrying would be almost an auto-include, since you can use it to bury particularly bad encounter cards. But with 3+ investigators, you are going to see all the encounters you scry the next mythos phase no matter what order you put them in, so the ability seems substantially less powerful.

Cutting the Holy Rosary may be something to consider though... Hmmm...

FYI: I've updated my core list, and posted it here: arkhamdb.com