The Smoky Velvet Dreaming Edition

Edits to my Smoky Velvet deck now that I have all of the Dream Eaters, and general clean up from my previous list.

Description: She's primarily a clue-er built for Standard difficulty partnered with another investigator that can handle their own versus monsters. She clues well enough to get whatever clues need to be retrieved (though she is not as fast as a true clue hoover), can hold her own with a little VP vs. enemies with upgraded Wither and Shrivelling. She often gets a 4th action per round, gets to put fat stacks of Doom in play only to cancel them with Moonlight Ritual or delay the agenda advancing with Mystifying Song, all of which are fun. She has an easy to mitigate character weakness in Baron Samedi, packs some encounter deck mitigation, and she has a chance to succeed in most situations. Her most notable flaw is she often sits at a native '4' Willpower unless she can get St. Hubert's Key in play which requires upgraded spells for the Willpower bonus, or Blood Pact activations. She also has noodle arms but if you can swing a doom on Blood Pact she suddenly hits at a 4 and could squash a rat if she had to, or tear down a brick wall should you run double Blood Pact. Her 3 dexterity is going to spell problems for scenarios with a lot of dodge, so there's that too. She also runs slightly resource poor, though typically you have enough to do what you need. You may have to delay the deployment of certain assets or choose what to prioritize.

Who is this for? I would say play this character if you are looking to experience typical mystic abilities that can survive most situations and also clue reliably. It's not broken but it's safe and reliable on Standard difficulty and not hard to pilot as long as you understand Doom and your role with it. Basically - don't overextend Doom if you can't mitigate it.

Changes from old version: -2 Rite of Seeking +2 Read the Signs Provides added double-scoops (6) in the deck in a more reliable, less frustrating package.

-1 Hallowed Mirror -1 Occult Lexicon +2 Ethereal Form Adds increased survive-ability at the cost of relics that have rarely paid dividends due to how close to the bone this deck runs resource-wise, plus the relic slot is often bricked up with St. Hubert's Key. Evade an enemy and disengage everything with at least a 7 provides two great SHTF buttons the deck lacked previously.

Note: There's still an open 'any yellow or red' card to maximize your mileage out of the deck or put your own touch on it. I happen to love Unexpected Courage but those would be the easiest to change out without losing any character.

Upgrade path, depending on how the xp rolls in with Arcane Research bonus: Blood Pact, Charisma, Wither, Shrivelling, Ward of Protection, Shrivelling. A second Blood Pact is fun as hell for turns where you delay the agenda with Mystifying Song, or just know the agenda is going to advance anyway.

Mulligan: Assets! That being said, Uncage the Soul is a good one-of keep if you also land Shrivelling or Wither or Arcane Initiate. Mystifying Song is so powerful that I recommend keeping it. Who you are paired with is going to strongly influence what you want, but for my advice: Marie's priority is clueing first. She'll gradually draw into spell answers from my experience. If offered Magnifying Glass, I would recommend you keep them. If given the choice of Alyssa Graham or St. Hubert's Key, I usually choose Alyssa Graham for the book + ability to bounce Samedi or other weakness + the easy way to get doom on a card for that fourth action.