Sefina Says “Make Art, Not War”

Premise: Pacifism and Arkham Horror TCG seem like strange bedfellows, yet there’s something thematically compelling about a true solo investigator who refrains from (physically) fighting the horrors he or she faces. Sure, we can fantasize about fighting monsters or cultists or Ancient Ones, but terror doesn’t necessarily inspire a martial response, and sneaking around, investigating the mythos and just trying to stay alive seems like a great challenge in a game that all but insists you fight to survive.

And what a challenge pacifism is in this game! In most of the current scenarios, let alone the current campaign cycles, 100% pacifism isn’t a viable long-term strategy. Sooner or later, in order to be successful, or at least in order to control the narrative, you will have to fight. But committing to never fight no matter what presents an interesting deckbuilding challenge: How can we guide a solo investigator through this world while never fighting?

The obvious choice for such a build is Wendy Adams, whose 4-3-1-4 stats and access to Survivor/Rogue cards provides all sorts of possibilities for a no fighting strategy, but if you don’t draw the right opening hand or get unlucky with the encounter deck, you can find yourself in big, big trouble. And besides, where’s the fun in building an oblique deck around the obvious choice?

Enter Sefina. Her unique opening hand mechanics and Rogue/Mystic class make her a perfect candidate for such a strategy. With a 13 card opener and the ability to get multiple uses out of key events like Ward of Protection, Think on Your Feet and Elusive, she is well-positioned to confront scenarios with an eye toward total conflict avoidance.

This started out as a deckbuilding exercise, but in my playtest of the Core, I found that I really enjoyed the tension of knowing that I literally would not be able to defeat my enemies, but would have to struggle through the Acts with the threat of violence compounding around me. Are there some structural issues you’ll run into with this approach whenever (literally whenever) you play NotZ? Yes! Are you effectively shoehorned in to one non-defeat resolution per scenario? Yes!

Is it still fun? Yes!

Strategy: The basic strategy of the deck is to manage the encounter deck via Alyssa Graham and Scrying, which not only can help keep you alive and unscathed, but also let you play Drawn to the Flame and Delve Too Deep with confidence. Drawn is helpful to get no-check clues on tough locations / maximize your actions, while Delve makes up for the XP sacrifice you make by not defeating victory point enemies.

Otherwise you’re going to focus on evading enemies whenever they engage you, leveraging cards like Pickpocketing for card draw and Elusive when you get overwhelmed. Ritual Candles tilts the chaos bag in your favor (and can be stacked!), while Moonlight Ritual helps get the most value out of Alyssa (although letting her take a hit to clear her doom isn’t a bad choice if you have Scrying - or better yet Scrying - and the deck’s low cost surge means you should likely be able to play her again, if necessary.

Rite of Seeking didn’t make the cut, simply because the risk of losing all your actions is too great - rely instead on pumping Arcane Studies and Flashlight to investigate.

Upgrade Targets: Streetwise should replace Hard Knocks at the earliest opportunity. You can then drop Arcane Studies for an upgraded Scrying before upgrading your other copy. After that, Bind Monster becomes a strong target for managing Hunter enemies. If you try this deck in a longer campaign than NotZ, Hot Streak is a natural choice for fueling Streetwise.

Conclusion: this deck is a fun way to approach NoTZ from a new angle and ratchet up the tension. I probably wouldn’t run it right now in Dunwich or Carcosa, even on easy, but maybe as the card pool expands we will see more cards that make 100% pacifism a viable and narratively satisfying approach to the game as a whole.