Winifred Habbamock, Gone Fishin’

Overall, this is intended as a solo deck for Innsmouth, so I’ve gone fairly heavy on enemy management. Reliance on evasion can get you far with Winnie, but there are a number of enemies, such as the Agents of Hydra, that you probably want to kill. Dealing with the same enemies over again when they have abilities that trigger on engagement can be a pain. Ordinarily I’d make use of Backstab, but I was already a bit concerned about economy, so they had to go in favour of more guns. Paying for everything in the deck would be hard, but the four firearms are essentially just to ensure you see one of them earlier enough, you’ll be very unlucky to need all four!

Already strong on card draw natively, I think Winnie still can do with a bit of a helping hand from Lucky Cigarette Case, so that if you have a dry patch of cards you don’t want to be committing, it should help maximise your draw when you do. Paying for everything will be a struggle, as mentioned, so I’ve included “Watch This” as action-less economy for Winnie, if not guaranteed. You may find yourself making hard choices on what to pay for, of the most expensive cards, Lonnie Ritter is probably the “nice to have”. Ritter could even be dropped entirely, but I wanted to up my combat if I’m hoping to deal with enemies with my guns. Once you have a gun out, between evasion and events/skills to build up damage you may find one gun is often enough.

Relying on Winnie’s willpower is clearly not a recipe for success, so just taking the Mythos on the chin, seems to be the way to go, much like it would be with Finn. Unlike Finn, Winnie isn’t quite as good at getting them clues, though! My intention is to muddle through with her three Intellect until you can find one of her lockpicks. Clues on super difficult locations, or before you’ve found your lockpicks, can be collected with Intel Report. Likewise, you could think about swapping Sleight of Hand, insurance for getting more ammo out of your guns, for a Flashlight, or Pilfer. Again, with Pilfer, the issue is cost, which is why I didn’t go for it in the end.

Needless to say, I’ve packed the deck with a bunch of skills, season to taste. Definite includes for me are Quick Thinking, Watch This and Unexpected Courage. Easy to drop Opportunist, but I thought I’d save myself the decision later of what to drop to make room for the upgraded version! Speaking of upgrades, Lockpicks and Lucky Cigarette Case are both important early upgrades. Three Aces could be fun for Winnie, you even get to trigger your ability too, but I suspect it’s not super efficient. If you’re leaning into fighting you might want to think about Garrotte Wire, but it competes with LCC for the accessory slot… Nimble is useful, but could easily be upgraded into Momentum.

Overview is that Winnie should be able to deal with any enemies she comes across, and once she gets going should be able to get clues fairly consistently to stay ahead of the Mythos Deck driving her insane. Remember not to go too wild on expensive cards, unless you’re also boosting economy too. Unless you love massive play cards, in which case, go for it, Winnie should be able to draw through her deck quick enough to find those key cards for you.

Merry fishing!