Mandy: Librarian of the Mind (30)

Update: Amnesia

The deck can run into money problems. Switch out 1 copy of Labatory Assistant and 1 copy of Perception for 2 copies of Crack the Case.

Overview:

This Mandy deck focuses on going through your deck as fast as possible in order to recycle the deck and to assemble the Pendant of the Queen . Your primary function is to pick up clues and help with intellect tests. Besides that you occasionally provide support with the help of Mandy´s ability.

*Playtested through Carcosa and Dunwich.

" Like a librarian tending to his library, Mandy searched every corner of her mind for the information she gathered from shuffling pages over the years. Only she was able to navigate this maze of the collected knowledge. Still her thirst for knowledge was never satisfied ..."

"Shuffling Paper": Searching for the Truth

What distinguishes Mandy from the rest of the Seekers is her amazing ability to get more from search effects. This allows her to get the most out of Research cards like Astounding Revelation . As her ability is only limited to once a round, she really wants to trigger the effect at least once each round in order to get the most of her ability. This deck gives you the tools to do exactly that:

Mr. Rook

Already great in other seekers, this card is simply amazing for Mandy because he allows her to search each round without even spending an action! As a result he will draw you cards like crazy while occasionally triggering Research effects like Astounding Revelation. These combinations make Mandy very action effecient.

Eureka!

Action effecient way to search your deck while you are investigating or attempting any likely to pass test. Morever, it helps to dig through your deck.

Calling in Favors

Searching the top 12 cards of your deck, makes it very likely that you will find the ally you need. Moreover, it allows you to replay Mr. "Rook" if you have no way to put secrets on him.

" As Mandy looked at the book uncovered in an expedition of the University, she was fascinated by the strange symbols and language of this exemplar. The prospect of uncovering the information in these papers intrigued her. Unable to translate the contents of the pages, she knew she had to seek out an expert on this topic. From the streets she learned of a shifty scholar of the Occult. She taped the man on the shoulder: ´Am I speaking to Mr. "Rook? ...."

Mulligan

Mr. Rook is the key asset in this deck and you want him in play as soon as possible. If you dont draw him in your opening hand, keep cards which search your deck and mulligan the rest of your hand. Also keep Labatory Assistant in order to combo her with Calling in Favors unless you already have Mr. Rook in hand.

Only mulligan if absolutely necessary to avoid drawing Research cards!

Dig deeper or draw more?

Before you have Mr. Rook in play, use Mandy´s ability to search 3 additional cards each time you search. After that always use her ability to take two cards, unless you are digging for Occult Evidence to pick up a clue from your location.

How to cycle through your deck:

Search once with Mr. "Rook" each turn and pick up two cards. Recharge the secrets on Mr. "Rook" with the help of Astounding Revelation and Enraptured . Play cards or commit them for the icons to help pass tests. After every Research ability is discarded, recycle the deck with the help of Quantum Flux . Repeat the process with a now even smaller deck. This allows you to activate cards like Occult Evidence 2-3 times in each scenario.

Once you have Higher Education (8) in play, take ressources from Astounding Revelation if your are running out of them. In order to recharge Rook with nearly no ressources call a favour and search for the second copy in play.

"She was always thirsty for knowledge. Thus she began to soak up the information in each letter, each page and each book the man offered her never considering the consequences of her research ... ".

Core Upgrade Path:

1. -2 × Inquiring Mind & -1 × Perception => 3 x Segment of Onyx (1)
2. Higher Education (8)
3. -1 x Logical Reasoning => Cryptic Research

Total Cost: 14 XP

3 x Segment of Onyx (1)

Pendant of the Queen is really good and Mandy has an easy time to find its pieces to put it together. Since this deck does not require a lot of ressources for assets, you will always have some money to put the Segments of Onyx in play.

Cryptic Research (4)

Either draws you cards to commit to your tests or helps you to find our Keeper of Secrets at the beginning of the game. As the card is also fast and draws you cards it also helps to cycle faster trough your deck. You will likely need one copy in order to keep Higher Education (8) active if you are forced to discard more cards than you like. Play after you triggered all research abilities.

Higher Education (8)

This card is great and its cost reflect that. In this deck it covers Mandy´s average willpower and allows her to deal more effectively with the encounter deck. Besides that it allows her to boost her intellect to 7 without the need to commit a card and thus puts her 3 > over the shroud value of most locations in game. Last but not least it gives it opens slots for other cards in the deck.

Late Game Options

As the cycle is not finished yet, I am still waiting for the cards released for her. As for now here are some good options to upgrade into:

Studious

No Stone Unturned (5)

Deduction (2)

Glimpse the Unthinkable

"He offered her the knowledge of the world. He just did not mention the price for it."

Weaknesses aka. "Curiosity killed the Cat"

While Mr. Rook helps us draw cards, he will very likely draw you every weakness in your deck. As we are cycling through the deck, you will likely even draw your weaknesses twice per game. Depending on the severity of your random basic weakness and the encounter cards you draw from the encounter deck because of Shocking Discovery , the consequences of Mr. Rook´s ability can range from mild to campaign ending. Who knows. Maybe you are even already doomed from the start .

"She was a woman of logic through and trough and always believed that knowledge holds more power than the ´baboons´ over at O’Bannion´s ... "

Encounter deck protection

In order to protect ourselves from the encounter deck, we are running 1 x Logical Reasoning and Deny Existence . Deny Existence is very flexible and helps us to counteract nasty discard effects which would discard key cards in our deck. Before you slot in Higher Education (8) , Mandy´s low willpower makes her vulnarable to Terror cards like Frozen in Fear . Keep Logical Reasoning primarily to get rid of these cards. Once you have Higher Education (8) in play, Logical Reasoning becomes obsolete and can be replaced.

Combat

You are no fighter but you can outsmart your opponents with the help of Mind over Matter . Once you assemble Pendant of the Queen , you can also use it in an emergency. Still you will be mostly running from tougher enemies and rely on other investigators to deal with them for you.

"While she studied books, she did so like a machine searching for the answers to her problems. This distinguished her from Ms. Walker whose love for books engrossed her in worlds of wonder and fiction ...."

"Not that much of a Bookworm": My ramblings

Old Book of Lore + Knowledge is Power

In my opinion books are still mainly the forte of Daisy Walker . While it seems to be good to draw two cards with the Old Book of Lore, it still costs an action and is thus inferior to Mr. Rook free triggered ability. I can see the book in a supportive Mandy build because unlike Mr. Rook it can be used on other investigators at your location. In reality I never used the book once I had Mr. Rook in play because I rather wanted to use the action to move or investigate.I tried using the book in combination with Knowledge is Power in order to trigger the book for free but the cards hardly seemed to be worth the deck slot if you consider that these slots could have been filled with cards like Deny Existence . However, this is just my current look on the matter and other books might change my opinion on this matter in the future.

Research Librarian

People have discussed that this card is a nice way to get rid of Shocking Discovery before a search but is the card really worth the slot? If your weakness is still in your deck, you are basicially paying two ressources for an ally with 1/1 soak with the effect of "discard your weakness and draw an encounter card". Then you are likely paying another ressource for Calling in Favors in order to search your deck for another ally like "Rook" and then pay the difference to put him in play. Depending on the ally this play costs four or more ressources. You can now search without the risk of failing.

However, this is only the best outcome. If you are unlucky and don´t draw this combination, you either have to use action to draw cards or rely on other search cards to find the cards you need. If you draw him later in the game, you usually don´t want to play him and his agility icon makes it hard to commit to tests. If you draw him after you triggered your weakness, he draws you two books which can be nice way to thin your deck. Still you could just nicely ask Mr. Rook instead if you really want a certain book in play.

Compare this with Laboratory Assistant . She costs the same to put in play, gives you one more horror soak, draws you two cards and has an useful icon which you can use to commit to investigations. If you don´t draw any search cards in your opening hand, she may draw them or Mr. Rook in turn one. If you later need to recall Mr. Rook with Calling in Favors in order to recharge secrets on him, you won´t be unhappy to draw two cards for 1 ressource if you did not hit the second copy of Rook.

This in mind I think Research Librarian is a lot better in Daisy there his initial cost is offset by her ability to use an free action on books each turn.

"She delved too deep in forbidden knowledge and was at a point of no return. It was up to her an likeminded people to uncover the horrible secrets which plagued the city of Arkham and its inhabitants"

Thanks for reading and a lot of fun with the deck!