A card to play: the True Magick

Mystics are known for their flexibility, doing anything and everything with their .

Introduced in EotE, True Magick pushed that flexibility to the limit, as they don't even need to play their spells beforehand anymore. This deck aims to push this Relic itself to the limit, and become the ultimate problem solver for any group of any size and composition.

This deck is playtested in a 4P Hard TFA run, and was very successful.

Tip: the missing card of the deck is Cat Mask, it's not in the list because it hasn't been included in ADB's deck creation database.

• Overview

• Main Strategy

• An offer you can't refuse

• Sleight of Hand (but not really)

• Assemble the pieces

• Magick gathering

• Upgrade Path

• Behind the Scene

• True Magick + Sign Magick + Haste = 3 spells in 1 action

• Molly Maxwell finds each and every card you need

• Unlike what the title suggests, you don't actually play your problem-solving spells.

The single most important card in this deck (besides True Magick, of course) is a rarly played card: Blood Pact (0); in fact, even with unlimited xp, you never (EVER!) upgrade it to the lvl3 permanent version.

This card has 2 irreplaceable functions:

• It's a spell, which translates to a +2 / on tap. You might think "add 1 doom" is a serious cost, but is it really?

• Triggering Blood Pact adds a doom to TM, and this is where Sin-Eater comes in: not only did it gather all the dooms for you to remove them later, but more importantly, it adds 1 charge to TM to be used later (or if the situation demands, ready TM for another exhaust)

But wait, there's more!

Enter Cat Mask, a / booster that replenishes when a card with no doom adds one. Normally, that means occasional recharge after agenda advance or cultist spawn; but with Blood Pact (0) and Sin-Eater, that's 2 reliable replenish for a total of 4 boosts EACH TURN.

Now, tell me again why should I ever consider Blood Pact (3)?

Since the deck centers around spells, Sign Magick naturally comes to mind. Because of how True Magick works, it combos exceptionally well with SM: any 2 spells in your hand can be cast for a single action, as long as they are different named.

And keep in mind that Sin-Eater is a Ritual card, so even if you only have 1 usable spell in hand, you can always use SM's extra action to clear the doom on S-E.

Now, with everything fully setup, we generate 3 charges on True Magick every turn (1 from the book itself, 1 from Blood Pact (0) / Sin-Eater, and 1 from Twila). So preferably, we want to use up all of them in 1 action and leave the remaining 2 for utility, this brings us to Haste

When triggering the ability on spell assets, you have performed an Activate action in addition to any other potential actions (i.e. Investigate for Clairvoyance or Fight for Azure Flame). Thus, after the 2nd action you performed via Sign Magick, you have performed 2 Activate actions in a row, so now you can use Haste to do a 3rd (thanks to TM, this can be any spell in your hand.)

If build properly, Molly Maxwell is the single most efficient asset-searching card in the game, and this deck aims to take full advantage of that.

Each of the important pieces can be searched by Molly via a unique trait:

• True Magick: Relic
• Blood Pact (0): Pact
• Sign Magick: Talent
• Arcane Initiate: Sorcerer
• Cat Mask: Mask
• Haste: Ritual
• Enchanted Bow: Ranged
• Scroll of Secrets: Tome
• Twila Katherine Price: Dreamer

The above list is ranked by importance of the card IMO. Do note that Twila is nothing more then icing on the cake because Blood Pact (0) can do her job (and then some) for a grand total of 0r and 0 action. 2 charges per turn is enough most of the times (so you find 7 clues / deal 8 dmg each turn instead of 9, big deal).

The actual spells you do your jobs with can be searched via Arcane Initiate and Word of Command; or, if the situation demands it, just name the spell trait and see what your deck gives you. Also, note that you can use Sin-Eater on Arcane Initiate to search twice in a turn.

To search for Molly, we have 3 other allies and Calling in Favors. SoS and Black Market provides general card drawing,

True Magick is any of your spell asset in hand, so its flexibility is at peak when you are holding 8 spells. One of those 8 slots goes to Blood Pact (0), which leaves 7 for competition.

• Azure Flame: Primary Enemy Manage spell. I mostly play on hard, so it's less likely to backfire then Shrivelling. Armageddon is nice before you have the xp to upgrade spells as it won't backfire and have Cursed trait for Molly (also, in very rare cases, it can combo with the curse token thrown in by Faustian Bargain).

• Clairvoyance: Primary Investigate spell. The backfire is way more manageable then Rite of Seeking. Like the case with Azure Flame, Eye of Chaos is nice in early stage of the campign.

• Sixth Sense: Secondary Investigate spell. Sign Magick requires a different spell, so each primary needs an addition that preferably don't use charge.

• Enchanted Bow: Secondary Enemy Manage spell. This is actually a priority upgrade as other fighting spells either use charge or are too lackluster to include.

• Suggestion: Secondary Enemy Manage spell, for rare cases like when you are engaged with a Pit Viper. You almost always test at 10+ (base 7, tarot +1, cat mask +2) so it could be considered charge-less. Blur has a higher ceiling but need charge, I find the trade (1 charge for 1 utility action) very unattractive.

• Clarity of Mind and Healing Words: supporting & survival spell. Can be used by TM, but I would prefer play them into the utility slot (the 3rd arcane slot granted by Sign Magick) and activate them with utility actions. 8/8 healing should be more than enough to carry you through the scenario. Also, remeber that you NEVER put lvl0 version of them in to your deck. Just use Leather Jacket and Holy Rosary at the start of the campaign.

Do note the lvl0 cards presented here are only a suggestion. When creating a lvl0 deck, just keep all the the lvl0 cards presented in the main deck (again, don't forget Cat Mask), and the rest is all up to you.

(View at arkham-starter.com)

If your campaign is stingy on xp, Azure Flame and Clairvoyance can always be upgrade to lvl3 only. It will be less effective, but doesn't make a huge difference; however, do find the xp for Sixth Sense (4), especially when playing on hard or expert.

If your campaign is handsome on xp... Well, have no shortage of luxury upgrades, don't they.

Piloting the deck is not too difficult, just don't forget your abilities (not a small ask, I must admit). Here's an example action, assuming you are alone and want to investigate a location:

• TM Clairvoyance. During the skill check player window:
  • Cat Mask for a +2;
  • TM Blood Pact (0) for another +2 and place a doom on TM;
  • Cat Mask replenishes 2 charges (assuming 1 used in Mytho).
• Clairvoyance resolve.
  • Twila Katherine Price: +1 charge on TM.
• Sign Magick: TM Sixth Sense. During the skill check player window:
  • Cat Mask for a +2;
  • Sin-Eater: move the doom and +1 charge on TM.
  • Cat Mask replenishes 1 charge
• Sixth Sense resolve.
• Haste: TM Clairvoyance. During the skill check player window:
  • Cat Mask for a +2.
• Clairvoyance resolve.

After going through all this, you have net 7 clues in 1 action, with 1 more charge remaining on True Magick and 2 more actions to be spent. The same can be apply to combat situation (Flame - Bow - Flame), or any combination thereof.

Pro tip:

• Try to use as many offerings on Cat Mask as possible before using Blood Pact(0) or Sin-Eater, as the thing replenish instead of place charges on itself (which means you can't go over the 2 offering maximum)
• Even if you don't have the spells in hand, it's still a good idea to use Blood Pact (0) for Mytho protection. You can always horde the charges for later; however, do remeber to manage the doom coming form it. Using SM's extra action on Sin-Eater's is a good idea most of the time.
• I said it before and I'll say it again: Twila is a very low priority, don't waste your resources and actions on her unless you are fully set up otherwise. Remeber she's only here to fill some niche row.
• Like any doom manipulating deck, make good use of the witching hour (the turn before agenda advance) to play Arcane Initiate and (ab)use Blood Pact(0).

Below are some cards that was cut during the evolve of the deck:

• Underworld Support: a very tempting choice, since we only take 1 copy of all the key cards. However, this deck straves for resource (TM + SM + Haste is 10r already, without counting any card used to search them), and go Highlander reduces our chance to draw economy card (2 in 25 vs 3~4 in 30).
• Living Ink: competes with Haste as a Ritual assest. This card used to have some attraction, but with the reveal of Cat Mask. it's instantly cut from the upgrade list. Of course, you can always be greedy and take this alongside Haste, but that's a very huge risk: Molly has 4 searches per use, in worst case scenario that's TM, BP (0), SM and Haste; adding another Ritual asset in the deck risks not seeing Haste until way too late, since there's always a chance that Haste is the 7th bottom card of the deck.
• Geas: competes with Blood Pact (0) as a Pact asset. Again, used to have some attraction, but was instantly cut after seeing Cat Mask. We don't run skills because we are making too much test each turn and there won't be enough slots for skills to cover them all, not because we want to use this.
• Four of Cups is the basline of secondary boosters in this deck, anything that's makes a similar or better deal could be considered (i.e. Grounded) if you have xp to spend.
• Elle Rubash: meh. Since this deck borrows some idea from doom manipulation archtype, Elle could always be included as a failsafe (and another booster since she can hold doomed TM). That said, she is a VERY expensive one at 3r and 5xp (you will need 1 Charisma to use her properly), so my thought is no thanks.
• Recharge: meh. BP (0) provides enough charges 95% of the time, Twila covers another 3~4%. Is it woth it to include a card only to deal with 1%? I don't think so.
• Lucky Cigarette Case and Holy Rosary: both are good accessory, sadly we don't have the deck space for them.
• Blurse system is getting another release in FHV. If you are interested in the idea, I think a variation of this deck that focus on Eye of Chaos and Armageddon is doable, but with questionable effectiveness: TM system leaves only 1 Arcane slot open, which means no Ritual Candles or other support card.
• Investigator choice: yes, anyone with 5 can run the core of this build, but Dexter Drake leads the pack thanks to his splash (which translates to eco, draw, and action) and more importantly his efficient card search, 5 is an added bonus. with access (Luke, Jim, etc.) can search TM with Research Librarian, but they can't reliably search for the support cards. It's very different playing TM as a single card or playing it in a system.
• However, if you are doing a TM deck with splash, do consider Eldritch Sophist for charge. He could in theory replace Twila if you have a reliable charge generator.

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