My thoughts on Isabelle with a full collection

Definitely one of the more interesting investigators in the new Core Set, considering she is the only one who doesn’t have the same name as another investigators, with a similar card pool and playing style, we got before. She feels like she is in a weird spot however, similar to Patrice, where you don’t really have access to many upgraded spells, while Will being your best stat.

The whole Rabbit Hole idea feels like the best way to play her, considering how good upgraded Guts and Fearless are. Peter is also a great upgraded. And you can also get a free Test of Will back when you exile it. You don’t really run out of things to upgraded, so it’s good value.

The Lucky Charm + Peter combo is also really strong, but you need to draw it. And then you need tests to commit Will on to get the payoff. But when you get it it’s good. You can really rack up good card draw with Take Heart and Guts, and have good Cards to commit with Promise and Link. Defiance is maybe another consideration for another iteration of the deck.

The whole Mirror and Prescient combo wasn’t good either. I thought it would help me get my spells in hand, when they’re discarded with Short Supply, because due to the skills being shuffled back in the deck, it’s actually pretty hard to get access to the cards. Mirror is fine, but you already have Intervention and Lucky as reactive options. I didn’t include resourceful, because I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get it off, but retrospectively, with Peter you’re already at 4 and I would’ve gotten plenty of value out of it.

The problem persists that you need something to consistently use your will, maybe Mind's Eye or Sword Cane in addition to what I already run. Earthly Serenity is an option. Maybe also Alchemical Transmutation. Serenity would be another way to consistently heal and it protects her health as well. Some more considerations are

I’d be really interested to hear, if other people have had other ideas when it comes to her. It just feels like Peter and Jim are her best cards and they both already boost your willpower.

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About the some of the new cards I added:

Timely Intervention is really fun, it feels - like many cards in the new Core set - like a more balanced version of a card we already had (in this case Lucky!). Together with lucky, I think it has a place in a few decks. I’d mostly rather have Lucky though. And Live and Learn also exists.

Jim Culver is really strong for Isabelle and I think he has a place in a lot of mystic decks. Especially in Agnes. Just having static will is nice, and there is a lot of ways to take damage or horror. Ward, Link, are just some who come to mind.

Lucky Charm is good for Isabelle as well. I don’t know if it has much other use though, considering Peter is what makes the combo good. You can use it to shore up some of your health and help others with sanity, maybe.