Preston Fairmont: Pay to Win

You've included a lot of good cards here! I think Preston is a tough investigator to play because his style is very, very different, but a lot of your picks here make sense.

Fire Axe, Dig Deep, and Hard Knocks are all good skill pumps for him. Some people might say that you're going overboard on skill pumps, but after playing Preston where a "Crypt Chill" has taken my main skill pump asset offline, I have to say that more is usually better here.

Unspeakable Oath (Bloodthirst) is a tough weakness for Preston, especially since he wants that experience to get all those fun leveled-up Rogue cards. I think that Small Favor is a great answer to that problem - you can just overpay it to deal the extra damage to kill an enemy. I think that will work out well for you.

Dark Horse and Well Connected/Money Talks pull Preston in different directions - Dark Horse wants Preston to stay poor and immediately spend his money, and Well Connected/Money Talks wants him to horde it. I would say go with one or the other, but not both. Some people swear by Dark Horse Preston, but I prefer Big Money Preston where you just horde resources for big plays and emergencies, so that having been said I would recommend dropping Dark Horse for something else.

In terms of money - Emergency Cache is not as useful for Preston as it is for others because he has to spend an action to play the card and then spend another action to claim the resources if he doesn't spend them. Likewise, I also think that Investments is situation and too slow for Preston to use effectively. When I've played Preston, he is -usually- fine on resources without additional cards for economy support. If you are really worried about money, then Lone Wolf is probably your best option.

Preston is notoriously bad at skill tests, so I would stay away from "Watch This!" and Opportunist because he is likely going to have trouble succeeding at tests at all, let alone succeeding by 2 or more.

Here are some cards I'd recommend including: -"You Handle This One!" (Multiplayer Only) - this gets you out of really tough skill tests and gives them to people who can handle them better - it's one of Preston's best ways to get rid of cards like Frozen In Fear without taking expensive Will tests every turn. -Trial By Fire - For 3 resources, up one stat to 5 for a turn. For one turn, Preston is really good at something. This card is one of my favorites for him. -"Look What I Found!" - This card will combo super well with your Flashlight! -Cunning Distraction - For one round's worth of inheritance, you evade everything at your location without a test, even if it is an elite enemy! -Resourceful - this card is primarily good for recurring Trial By Fire/"Look What I Found!" and Cunning Distraction. -Scrounge For Supplies - see above, but also can recur Money Talks and "You Handle This One!" for continued protection from the encounter deck.

One last note - I've never played Preston solo. I find he does better with friends to help him out while he is getting set up. I hope you have other investigators who can support you in your adventure!

That's my take on it. I think this is a good start to a good deck! Have fun with Preston, and good luck with the Circle Undone!

Thanks for the tips! I wasn't really expecting anyone to comment, so thank you very much for the input!

I haven't played Preston before so I wasn't sure if he needed the economy or not so I threw in the Emergency Caches and Watch This.

I see your point with Dark Horse, I was thinking of it being a stopgap for after big plays before Inheritance comes back up, but it is better served by taking a different card for the slot.

Resourceful is a great tip instead of Opportunist, I have yet to play a Survivor so I am not as familiar with those cards as others, Scrounge would be better for sure but the group I play with agreed to not include any cards that are from sets after the campaign we're playing so not for this one, otherwise that would be the card.

I'll try a couple scenarios with your comments and see how they go. Thanks again!