Lola Hayes as "Monique Devereux, Femme Fatale"

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
None yet

Abulia · 30

"One of my most memorable roles was that of Monique Devereux, a multilayered cacophony of deceit, deviousness, and desire. Under her calm exterior one never could understand what schemes she was hatching from scene to scene. Many months were spent with my acting coach at my chalet, honing my non-verbal expressions and more…pleasurable refinements for the role. I vaguely recall reading about their unfortunate demise in an avalanche not long after. Qui n’avance pas, recule, no?"

Concept
Primarily about clue-ing up front, holding her own against rats, and supporting others with neutral boosts and some damage mitigation. Lola cycles through her hapless allies with nary a care in the world, leveraging their skills to boost her own. The theater is such a fickle mistress.

Play
Mulligan hard for Alyssa Graham as your understudy; it's your only vehicle of offsetting Crisis of Identity and sending to the bottom of the deck. (At that point No Stone Unturned is off limits for you.) Then you run your turn as whatever you need your role to be. Lola will spend her time Mystic/Seeker roles, bouncing to Guardian only if she has to fight.

Art Student is a luckless autograph seeker, used as a health sponge after they provide a clue. Lola banishes the Art Student from her entourage for a better supporting cast: Alyssa Graham, Dr. Milan Christopher, and Peter Sylvestre/Brother Xavier. Lola's entourage gives her passive bonuses which doubly lift up her appaling stat line and poor health. Ergo, Charisma is a mandatory early upgrade. If you find yourself (or your team) having health problems, prioritize Brother Xavier over Peter Sylvestre. When anyone from Lola's entourage dies you should have another in the wings to take the stage as supporting cast. Don't be afraid to cull the masses!

Archaic Glyphs is there mostly for flavor, but in the right combo (Alyssa Graham + Dr. Milan Christopher + Dark Horse + Higher Education) could siphon up 4-5 clues with one test and translated Archaic Glyphs.

In the early game -- before your board is built -- aggressively seek card draw to cull Crisis of Identity if you didn't get Alyssa Graham. Once one Crisis of Identity is gone, you can live a little more dangerously. Pivot to Dark Horse after board is built. Use Improvisation to drop in 3 or less cost cards in for free while running Dark Horse.

Either start or end every turn in Mystic to tap Alyssa Graham as your first or last action. You will bounce between Mystic and Seeker most of the time; never go into a blind draw with Mystic assets out and in that role. When backed into a fight, switch to Guardian and do some work, hopefully with Evidence! to suck up an extra clue. Otherwise rely on Shrivelling, but killing stuff isn't your wheelhouse. If you're forced into a blind draw, examine your board and your hand and switch roles if possible to minimize the pain of Crisis of Identity, however you need to think ahead to what your next turn will likely look like.

Upgrades

  1. Charisma (does not affect deck size restrictions)
  2. Peter Sylvestre -> (replaces Holy Rosary)
  3. Charisma (does not affect deck size restrictions)
  4. Brother Xavier -> (replaces Art Student)
  5. Higher Education (counts towards Seeker card minimum)
  6. Peter Sylvestre (replaces Holy Rosary)
  7. Upgrade Shrivelling or sub in Song of the Dead
  8. Blood Pact (gets you a free +3 to a skill test 2-3 times a game)
  9. Any Mystic Card -> (replaces Delve Too Deep)

You can move these as you see fit and your investigator mix but Charisma x2 should be early on your radar. Bump up Higher Education to abuse with Dark Horse a quick 3 point swing on skill tests.

Remember, cards with the "Permanent" keyword are critically important to Lola as they start in play, cannot be removed via Crisis of Identity, don't count against your decksize (which is already huge), and apply their type to Lola's 7x3 minimum requirements.

Alternatives
Depending on your investigator setup you can pivot this deck to be more Mystic focused and add more spells, continuing to abuse Dark Horse + Higher Education to pump your for attack tests.

True Grit allows for more damage soak for Lola -- or if she's feeling generous, other investigators -- as a more proactive First Aid. Delve Too Deep and Drawn to the Flame are both easily swapped with minimal effect on Lola's career. No Stone Unturned is there to help build her unfortunate entourage earlier or assist other investigators. Archaic Glyphs is just fun.

Issues
Lola's deck size makes her very inconsistent. Her Crisis of Identity varies between "annoying" and "crippling." Try to get one copy gone early before your board is built by drawing like a madwoman. In the mid to late game, Crisis of Identity can completely destroy her if you're not careful. Once you get rid of at least one copy probability works in your favor; it's still dangerous to draw blind but it's the role of a lifetime!

7 comments

Feb 10, 2018 InnsmouthLook · 12

You clearly understand the mechanics of this character very well. Good strategy well explained. Thanks

Feb 12, 2018 BlackHandGang · 8

I've been trying to wrap my head around Lola for a while, but something about you describing the way the deck works and the upgrade path in character made it all click. I will definitely have to try this deck out when my group finishes DL.

Feb 12, 2018 Abulia · 30

Glad you found it helpful, @InnsmouthLookand @BlackHandGang! It's working well for me!

Feb 13, 2018 InnsmouthLook · 12

My concern is having the bank to pay for your awesome entourage. You want Alyssa Graham (4) out first before Dr Milan Christopher (4). Brother Xavier is five resources. I think you need some burst economy to set this up.

Feb 13, 2018 Abulia · 30

@InnsmouthLookthat's fair. Keep in mind you're not going to see them all. Lola's deck is so large that you will go games without seeing half your allies. You don't have to pay for all of them, you just have to pay for the ones you will draw. But it's a fair point and you can sub in some resource generation (Emergency Cache) or leverage Improvisation. Don't forget that Archaic Glyphs is a 3 resource payoff if you finish it that helps you dump dead cards.

Feb 16, 2018 wallets · 160

I really like Alyssa Graham, it really unlocks Lola to be able to move to other classes, even for just a turn. Have you considered an upgraded Scrying, and Calling in Favors, since this deck uses so many allies?

Feb 16, 2018 Abulia · 30

@walletsyes, but Scrying--aside from costing XP--only gets your 3 peeks, threatens you with horror (really bad with Lola's stats), and has no bury mechanic. Whereas Alyssa Graham is more expensive, no limit on uses, can soak horror, and has a bury mechanic. Scrying is good for manipulating decks in general but not for avoiding Crisis of Identity if that's your intent.

I like Calling in Favors, however if you don't have an ally you're paying 1 to dig for one (which you may not find) or you're returning an ally to your hand to try to get a better one (Alyssa Graham?) and paying to replay the one you just picked up at some point. Not a good use of resources, IMO. Calling in Favors is really good if you have allies with play mechanics (like Art Student) but this deck doesn't run with many of those. We go for allies with static bonuses, not 'enter play' effects.

Also keep in mind that in Lola and other decks, you're not going to get all your allies at once or even see them all during a game. You want just enough to see them with regularity but not too much to clog your deck.