I don't think you're ready for this jelly.

Here I present a finished Subject 5U-21 deck from a Scarlett Keys run, pre FoHV. Our team wanted to get the secret cow level. This deck is the final form from that campaign. I wasn't expecting to enjoy playing this investigator as much as I did.

I honestly can't imagine a consistent starting deck for Suzi. Instead, I'm posting this finished deck to share the design philosophy. You, see, Subject 5U-21 deck-building reminds me of Lola Hayes deck-building.

BEGIN FLEX

For years, as a personal challenge, I designed Lola decks. Three of them are posted here, and I've played her through every campaign NotZ-EotE. I even played Lola through a Hard Mode campaign.

END FLEX

Both Suzi and Lola have nearly unfettered access to the vast majority of cards, letting them pull off incredible stunts that other investigators only dream of. I've said many times, that -flexibility- was always Lola's investigator power. Unfortunately, with the advent of the synergy cards and the errata watering down her weakness, Lola has felt... solved. That synergy deck is pretty good.

There was a void in my heart as I watched Lola Hayes drift away, our time together well spent, but she didn't need me anymore. I'm so proud of her and I'll miss her.

Then along came Subject 5U-21.

Full access to every class? Dreamy. Can't cheese synergy because of "no permanents" clause? Enticing. Mysterious gameplay loop of roller coaster stats and regurgitating cards? Jaw-Dropping.

I'm going to go over my expectations before playing with her(?) and then my insights after playing a full campaign.

My initial selection of cards was based upon a binary view of being in either a low-stat state or a high-stat state. That is, I wanted something to do while I waited for my stats to grow and then I wanted as many actions as possible while my stats were enormous. I also wanted consistency in clueing and fighting, so that I could contribute to the team reliably in an inherently inconsistent large deck.

Given that premise:

Guardian cards are fighting cards: We can see from this deck there are only 7 Guardian cards, the bare minimum. Four of them are weapons which I barely upgraded. That's because Runic Axe was usually enough to take care of myself and do some assistance with boss hunting.

The low asset count was actually troubling on occasion, due to the encounter deck, but was a tolerable risk. I was not the primary fighter, but the deck is capable of some explosive amounts of damage.

I learned quickly that Savant was utterly insane in this deck, so Defensive Stance was a natural addition.

Seeker cards are action compression: There are only 8 Seeker cards. A paltry amount from which is widely considered the best card pool in the game. I was never able to even upgrade Seeker cards because I always played them rather than feasting on them, but I really wanted those No Stone Unturned. The other card pools or my high-stats turns handled my share of clueing, so Seeker became utility and action compression. I could also see Cryptic Research or some sort of researchable asset like Ancient Stone.

Rogue cards are extra actions for high-stat turns: And hoo-boy this was fun. My original plan wanted Rogue cards to be cash and extra actions. The cash, like Faustian Bargain, was never a reliable draw and went away as I upgraded into cheaper cards. But these choices came down to wide vs. tall. See, in a deck this big, an 8 exp card like Double, Double is, what I've been told, called "spikey." It's great when you draw it but there's never a guarantee you ever will. And that's a valid point. It's possible to spend 8 exp on this "tall" card and then never see for the remainder of the campaign. Same idea with Ace in the Hole. And imagine having both on a high-stats turn, along with Quick Thinking or Swift Reflexes and pulling off a 10+ action turn. That did happen twice in the campaign, and possibly would have been more consistent with No Stone Unturned.

But, maybe it would have been better to go wide instead. Those tall pieces represent 14 exp that could have been used to buy several more modest upgrades, generally upping the reliability and power level of the deck as a whole. It's just less fun for me. Go big or go home.

Most importantly, Savant is the best purchase I ever made for the deck. This card is bonkers at all stages of Subject 5U-21's life cycle. Even at 2 stat, in a pinch, this card immediately makes her(?) a 5. At full 6 stat power, committing one of these makes her(?) a 13. Time to bust out that Vicious Blow. This reduces the chaos bag to an auto-fail or pass. Best 2 exp you'll ever spend for this investigator.

Mystic cards are testless or very big numbers. Typical choices here. Greatest hits of Mystic. Spectral Razor, Drawn to the Flame, Read the Signs, and Ward of Protection are like the Mystic Starter Kit (TM). I originally had Promise of Power as that's also a great card.

The only Mystic upgrade I purchased were Seal of the Elder Sign. Because the effect on Subject 5U-21 is a very desirable thing to do.

This is a great time to talk about managing your devour pile. While on the surface it might seem like Subject 5U-21 will swing between high and low stats, it's not hard to manage several consecutive 4-5-6 stat turns using the tools at hand, like Regurgitation and Seal of the Elder Sign. Even if things get out of hand, you'll get a 6 stat, 5 stat, and 4 stat turn and hopefully Regurgitation will even you out, allowing you to swallow a Flashlight or your teammate's empty asset or wounded ally and start the clock again at 3 or 4. This means, in practice, except in the most unlucky circumstances, Subject 5U-21 will build up slowly at first and then stay around 4-6 stats for the rest of the game.

Imagine a single Arkham scenario going 12 rounds of play. These numbers are obviously the ideal, not swallowing teammates assets as a favor and so on, so ymmv. Subject 5U-21's stat line, without interruption would be: 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2-1-2.

With 1 Regurgitation% it becomes: 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3%-4-5-6.

With a Seal of the Elder Sign$ as well: 1-2-3-4-5$-5-6-5-4%-5-6-5.

What I'm saying is, Seal of the Elder Sign is an amazing purchase, even if it's a "tall" selection. because it allows Subject 5U-21 to manage her hunger in effective ways while also dunking on a skill test and getting back your favorite devoured card.

Even if it's slightly off topic, this is also a great place to mention that, even if you are forced to devour one card every turn from your draw, Regurgitation and Seal of the Elder Sign give you access to those cards, so in practice Subject 5U-21 has a "25" card deck. Well... kinda.

Survivor cards are cheaty mccheaterface for low-stat turns. We only need these cards for the first few turns of the game or in emergency situations where we aren't seeing Regurgitation or Seal of the Elder Sign, and are having a middle scenario stat crisis.

As you can see here, I started taking out cards like Live and Learn, Trial by Fire, and Take Heart. I replaced them with card draw, such as Unrelenting and fancy Lucky!.

Trial by Fire did save our butts a few times, but it's also expensive and rarely needed. An upgrade I considered, going along with my "spikey" Ace in the Hole shenanigans, there is Will to Survive for spikey fun.

Neutral Cards can't be upgraded I'd love to upgrade Flashlight. You see, when Subject 5U-21 devours a card, it gets all of it's batteries back when she(?) uses Regurgitation. Yes, it has to be purchased again, but shrug. Have your friends take advantage of this, because Subject 5U-21 has a very hard time pulling off a majority Neutral devour pile and will likely never see these improvements.

A few thoughts about Regurgitation. In the last few rounds of the game, extra Regurgitation can both heal you more or help you tailor the "winning class" for your planned upgrades. Obviously, the more cards of a class you have in your deck, the more likely you can upgrade the class of your choice. Your selection process can be bolstered by eating your friends... 's stuff.

Regurgitation also heals Subject 5U-21, and it's ideal use case in the scenario usually happens ~round 9. That's a great time for some extra healing right before the final push, and that's why I never bought into any soak. Regurgitation makes Subject 5U-21 very tanky. A couple caveats, though. After playing through FoHV, I might revisit this choice for that campaign or for something like the endless violence of Innsmouth Hard Mode. Generally, just these 3 signatures and the Deny Existence should help Subject 5U-21 stay alive.

Alive though?

Anyway. Thanks for reading this far. I'm excited to hear what other people think and their ideas. Have fun!