This deck features smooth transition through various XP phases with different tools for handling enemies. At 19 XP, Mary use both Spell Event and melee weapon to create good rhythm of resources and (in bag / out of bag).

Due to high XP cost of even one Holy Spear, Mary retains 2x Blessed Blade (0) til the end as her spear-not-found weapon. Favor of the Sun makes them deal Machete-like damage without engage restriction and with total +3 . Forcing also makes Spectral Razor (2) / Ethereal Form (2) recycles, or add +2 accuracy to the no-boost Drain Essence. It really marries (pun!) melee and spell event plays.

▷ Innsmouth & Hemlock Starter Deck
These are investigator expansions with and chaos tokens and direct support of the mechanic. This series explores what you can do inside just these expansions, for new players looking for minimal purchases with high synergy. See other decks in this series here.

Accolades : Able to win The Innsmouth Conspiracy Standard with Amanda and Trish!

(View at arkham-starter.com)

At 0 XP : You have to put up with Armageddon for the 1st scenario, since I can't let Shrivelling be the only thing that deals 2 damage. (Especially if you are taking her to 1st scenario of TIC campaign. And no, Blessed Blade will likely not deal 2 damage.) This spell is most of the time +1 cost but -1 charge Shrivelling unless you performed gymnastics with Crisis of Faith, Tides of Fate, or Accursed. But finding Armageddon from Arcane Initiate is better than not finding anything. You need Cat Mask and Holy Rosary for accuracy. I suggest skipping Ancestral Token at this time.

At 2 XP : Favor of the Sun • (The Innsmouth Conspiracy) : By scenario 2. Force a for Blessed Blade (0) to get a much needed +3 and 2 damage. Since we just removed Armageddon, Blessed Blade with support became the 2 damage replacement.

At 6 XP : Spectral Razor •• (The Feast of Hemlock Vale) : When calling from Favor of the Sun purchased earlier will trigger the end of turn recursion. You have to be conscious about the 2 play cost. Use Rite of Sanctification for cost support. If you gain at least 4 XP from the 1st scenario, you will have 1 copy of this. Make it count with the recycle effect.

At 10 XP : Sacred Covenant •• + Radiant Smite • (The Innsmouth Conspiracy) : Covenant improve density so you have enough to seal for Favor of the Sun and Rite of Sanctification. You'll finally feel the impact of Mary's ability when you realize there is no more outside the bag to add. The covenant makes Radiant Smite play easier so we are getting 2x right after.

At 15 XP : Holy Spear ••••• (The Innsmouth Conspiracy) : We have enough attack spell events to hold down the fort. This is the right time to save up for the spear. You might have to purchase nothing after a scenario for this. If you were able to use Spectral Razor while holding the spear, please picture Mary applying it to the spear (hence the deck's name) since she has no empty hand to pose like the artwork.

At 18 XP : Hallow ••• (The Innsmouth Conspiracy) : You might think this is such a ~29 XP-ish utility card, but it is actually an offensive card because it fixes over-sealing. The super attack on Holy Spear often left Mary with a lot of stuck , where you can only release them by needing enemies and spend actions to repeatedly hit them. (But you don't want to, because you're hungry for that +4 accuracy.) Similar problem with over-sealing Rite of Sanctification where they can only be released 1 max per round. So Hallow able to reset sealed is helpful to begin putting in the bag again. Reaching 10 is easier than you think when you have Sacred Covenant and Mary's ability. And even easier if you got Ancestral Token setup.

Extra Upgrades

• Ethereal Form •• (The Feast of Hemlock Vale) : It is a toolbox card that let Mary deal with evasion favored enemy. End-game Elite seem to be much easier if you can get by it's nasty effect by exhausting it, along with being immune to all its goons.
• Second Wind •• (The Feast of Hemlock Vale) : So you get 3 HP without having to pay 3 cost for the dogs, plus it draws into Holy Spear faster. You'll feel like you have much more resources to rain down the spell events. Bold card is a bit of problem sometimes, but if you are really in a bind it is fine to take AoO (best if you already wanted to kill Arcane Initiate) to heal back 3 health. Note that it heals 3 HP after you draw any kind of treachery, like Ancient Evils. You don't have to first get hurt from it.
• Holy Rosary •• (The Innsmouth Conspiracy) : Has a bit of effect like Ancestral Token, but adds to the spell event success rate. You still need to use 2 Sanity soak seriously on both this and the Ancestral Token. You never know when you will be hit by Crisis of Faith and not having enough left in the pool to use. This deck has no treachery redirection, but you can still try to fix tests on your friend's threat area treacheries.

How to not get defeated by damage?

Mary's 5/9 might looks worrying if you are used to other , but we can patch it with Guard Dog, Drain Essence, and Guardian Angel to make your effective health higher than what's printed on the card. Arcane Initiate also soaks a bit more health.

A bit after 19 XP you can use Second Wind (2) to heal back 3 health.

The Accursed Nun

This skill card stays in the deck even at the end of upgrade. The text "allows" you to add up to 3 . Since this is not a curse or blurse deck, you likely don't want to add any and just use it to navigate -filled bag.

• If you are hit by Crisis of Faith and can't take horror, you can add a lot of and still get by critical tests by committing it, and might clean up some along the way.
• If you are playing with friends capitalizing from such as Faustian Bargain or Deep Knowledge, you can still navigate the bag while they suffer from their own . (Serves you right, haha!)
• Deck has Tempt Fate for emergency generation and a cantrip effect (replace itself) to reach Holy Spear faster. By having Accursed, you can temporarily ignore 3 added. (So you can test at "anything but " like usual.)
• When doing Tides of Fate with no plan to seal the , then they all turns into . (I've been there. 8 yet no one in 3 players pulled any of them? Hello?) You can still use Accursed to avoid the .
• When committing Accursed for Spectral Razor (2) or Ethereal Form (2), in addition to not getting the -2 negative modifier, the symbol satisfies the recursion. So any of the above disasters can turn into a chance to recur without Favor of the Sun setup.
• You only do this in the 1st scenario while you have Armageddon, it allow the main 2 damage to also hit because you ignored all the -2 modifiers.

Turning the tide with Tides of Fate

• Obvious combo with Rite of Sanctification / Holy Spear, so you attempt to seal the to "hide" them before they turn back to .
• Play with friends that want to add more to the bag but there is no more outside the bag. Amanda Sharpe with Promise of Power / Justify the Means says hi. And any / using the popular Deep Knowledge / Faustian Bargain.
• Gain 6 "temporary" with Tempt Fate. Of course helpful if you have a way to hide the leftovers, or is trying to quickly reach 10 for Hallow
• If you were able to choose the option from Crisis of Faith you drew in Upkeep Phase, you can get a lot of to get by the upcoming Mythos Phase for everyone. (Otherwise you are mass-murdering everyone in the Mythos Phase getting nothing but .) If they ended up not completely used up and turn back to later, you don't feel as bad because you have 0 to begin with after Crisis of Faith.
• You want Ward of Radiance to work no matter what cost. The card asks for or , but remember that all the were misses too. This is now a much better chance. Remember to group up in the same location if you are attempting to ward off Ancient Evils or something. "At the start of the round" text is there for this reason because there is no Player Window if you draw Ancient Evils or any treachery without a test, especially helpful if you just got tons of from Crisis of Faith in Upkeep. (Which is past the only Player Window in that phase.)

Other tips

• Rite of Sanctification (The Innsmouth Conspiracy) : It needs to be there ahead of time so the spell event always works in the mess of fighting (Spectral Razor, Ethereal Form, Drain Essence), including the Fast Favor of the Sun that could be setup mid-fight but is kind of expensive. It is a trouble sometimes to seal 5 expecting enemies, but not getting them, and have none left to put in the bag. But remember that your friend can come by and use the discount. And "release" means putting the back into the bag, not back to pool.
• Cat Mask (The Feast of Hemlock Vale) : Always good with both melee and spell fighting. Especially Spectral Razor ( test, but add ) and Ethereal Form ( test, but add ) which often suffer from not being able to commit the right kind of icon. You can resist up to like -4 or -5 using those spell events with the mask. Other than doom clock, think about how you can weave in Arcane Initiate to get more replenishes.
• Drain Essence (The Feast of Hemlock Vale) : You need to maintain 2 damage on Mary to make full use. Arcane Initiate, Guard Dog and Guardian Angel makes that more comfortable to do. Critically, this is a mid-fight health healing that you can search with Arcane Initiate. Not to mention this sexy artwork and the vampire effect are opposite to what you'd expect from a Nun.