The Smoky Velvet - Antarctic Blues LP

I've been tinkering with my Smoky Velvet deck for a few years now and even though I don't play it much anymore it's fun to update as new cards come out. The goal with this version is to leverage Down the Rabbit Hole for ludicrous amounts of bonus XP in a deck that already was mostly just upgrade options. A projected 61xp version using only 43xp to net a profit of 18xp by the end of a 7th scenario is the goal, providing you're playing a campaign that's rich with vp. Here is my current end goal for the deck without knowing what to expect in Antarctica https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/1791073

The very short description of this and my previous decks would be that they aim to provide a versatile take on Marie than leans on her book instead of her mind to get clues, upgraded versions of spells to boost mind to deal with enemies, and event cards to mitigate the encounter deck, get extra clues, or get out of jail free in a standard difficulty environment. They are capable as a solo character but designed to pair with another investigator, preferably a guardian type. A longer description is below if interested. https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/23906/the-smoky-velvet-dreaming-edition-1.0

A few cards since I've last updated really stand out as opportunities to try pushing Marie's limits.

Down the Rabbit Hole This card was made for my Smoky Velvet deck. The previous versions of my deck are almost entirely made up of deck lists that simply have cards you upgrade as you go. Other than Charisma and Blur (new to this version), everything is an upgrade. With this and Arcane Research you should be netting a 'bonus' 3xp every upgrade opportunity provided you are upgrading two cards each opportunity, and that one of them is a spell.

Blood Pact This version allows for an upgrade path instead of purchasing a new card which would incur a penalty.

Sign Magick There are probably already mystic decks that aim to abuse Sign Magick to get a ridiculous amount of extra free spell triggers per round, and without exploring other potentially game breaking mechanics, this slots in easily as yet another card we can just upgrade to boost Marie's power level to create possibly ludicrous amounts of actions along with her extra 'doom action', Blur, and Knowledge is Power.

Blur This is the card I want to experiment with for this new campaign as the extra actions that are possible look like fun - at the expense of losing two Ethereal Form. If Blur isn't a card that's particularly exciting to you, this would be an easy one to swap back with Ethereal Form giving the deck two escape options should things become too hot to handle (and would free up the 2 xp point penalties in purchasing the first versions).

I haven't actually played this version of the deck yet, but have anticipated that resources will be a problem and have slotted in two Crack the Case over two Deduction, and dropped one Magnifying Glass for an Emergency Cache. Dropping St. Hubert's Key to a Holy Rosary may help as well but I would still like to clue with book, especially early in the campaign before Clairvoyance levels up so I'll report on how that goes. My Smoky Velvet decks have always run slightly resource poor and with the addition of more assets I feel this will help keep the deck running. Again, I'll report how that goes.

What the deck has lost are the double scoops. Drawn to the Flame, Deduction, and Read the Signs are all excellent includes in the deck list but ones that I sacrificed for potential enhanced wizardry from potential free clairvoyance triggers from Sign Magick or more resources.

Knowledge is Power is now a taboo card, but my upgraded version includes it and because it's a leveled non-spell seeker card, Marie cannot take it if you follow the taboo rules. It would be easiest to replace Knowledge is Power with one of above cut cards for clue scoops, or even two Promise of Power to boost crucial skill tests.

Another card worth considering should you find yourself with more mental trauma or are incurring more damage than is comfortable is Talisman of Protection. Because I'm tagging along with a guardian on my trips to the frozen wastes, there is a good chance I will cut the upgraded Shrivelling for Talisman of Protection, though if you are at the very end of the campaign Deny Existence is often a powerful healing tool.

The only card draw is Arcane Initiate, so probably at some point I should look into more tutoring options. Should resources not be as problematic initially feared, there are cards in the Seeker faction you could slot in instead of Crack the Case to help find important cards.

If you are feeling brave you could take In the Thick of It, and/or another Arcane Research to try to accelerate Marie's growth even faster. If you did I would recommend taking the Talisman of Protection to cover instances of bad luck.

While the possibility of this all coming together is remote, the dream scenario is to be fully kitted out and engaged with two enemies, one of which is a God or at least Godly, and to double blood pact every single skill test to be testing at a 13 ==> blur and get two actions, blur and get two actions, wither, wither, wither, wither, wither + sign magick shriveling, wither + sign magick shriveling, knowledge is power shriveling, knowledge is power shriveling... to do a stupid amount of weakening and damage, all while putting 24 doom in play. While this may not be a realistic expectation to pull off, this deck would have the ability to create really amazing swing turns.

Once I actually get the campaign and give it a run through I'll report back some possible edits and my thoughts. The plan is to take Smoky Velvet as the primary cluer alongside a Lily Chen deck that uses Cyclopean Hammer to turn shoggoths? into fine paste with.