Figure Eights

Ideal Scenario

You should have 1 or 2 Pickpocketing out, a Burglary, Wendy's Amulet, and Leo De Luca.

In hand or in your discard pile, there should be events ready to be looped back in using the amulet.

Your deck should be thin enough for you to cycle through powerful events quickly (i.e. Emergency Cache, Backstab, Cunning Distraction, etc.), drawing 2 cards with every dodge using Pickpocketing.

You should have a sizeable resource pool (5+ resources), what with all that you've stolen. Hard Knocks and a mountain of gold ain't bad here too.

Starting Out

Wendy's Amulet is the heart and soul of the deck, but it thrives in an ecosystem where all the other factors are ready to interact with it, so pitch it back in if you see it in your opening 5.

Your opening hand should ideally consist of Assets that give long-term raw value and are thus better played as early as possible, like Pickpocketing and Leo De Luca.

In fact, mulligan for Pickpocketing. It's the strongest card in the deck, even more than the amulet. It turns one action (dodge) into two/three (dodge + 1/2 card draws), digging deeper for crucial setup pieces, while freeing you from engagement!

Transitioning

The transition phase begins when you're set up with a couple of the fundamental cards I described in Ideal Scenario, preferably a Pickpocketing + Burglary/Leo. This is the point when you should be looking for your amulet.

While on that hunt, don't forget to shore up on Wendy's weaknesses and help out on objectives too!

• She's no bad investigator, but a Flashlight and "Look what I found!" eases her worries on clues.

• Fire Axe allows her to fight rats, cultists and other smaller game with ease.

• Take down any expected big baddies with Backstab and Sneak Attack. Keep a couple icons on the ready, especially Unexpected Courage.

Endgame

Executed right, you'll be cycling through Lucky!, Emergency Caches, Backstabs, Sneak Attacks, Cunning Distraction, the whole nine yards, with the help of 2 copies of Pickpocketing and Leo.

It's also at this point that Burglary becomes useless, as you're looping Caches.

For ultra-big baddies, prep Backstab with a Double or Nothing, boosted by Hard Knocks.

Levelling Up

In priority order,

1. Upgrade Leo De Luca. It costs a meager 1 XP, and allows you to put him down on your very first action, unless you're Indebted.

2. Then with what you have left, either upgrade Lucky! to further accelerate into your infinite engine, or take Close Calls, replacing Bait and Switch and Think on Your Feet.

3. Spend the rest on Will to Survive, even just one is enough for a prepped power turn.

4. In a later expansion, get the upgraded Emergency Cache for MOAR DRAW!!1eleven!1one!

Tips

• Don't forget your investigator ability! Although Cthulhu's tentacles are waiting on your backstab gamble, you're Wendy!

• When doing a Burglary check, don't be afraid to throw in cards, Perception is a free card draw, and events can be pulled back in later.

• Discard/play events in the order of importance! It's alright to discard that Cunning Distraction or "Look what I found!" early, but two Luckies in there are just waiting to get hit by Abandoned and Alone. That said,

• Play around Abandoned and Alone by keeping the second copy of a powerful event off the discard pile, if you're afraid of seeing your weakness first before your amulet.

• You can keep a low-Agility enemy around to dodge once you have two copies of Pickpocketing out (do one action, get two free!).

• Fire Axe isn't here to do +1 damage, it's there to help with weaker enemies without needing Backstab or Sneak Attack. Don't squander your hoard of resources, but feel free to burst down a 2 or 3 HP enemy if you're not really making bank.

• NEVER EVER RESHUFFLE. Keep the last few cards in your deck a tight circle of strong events. Don't forget that you can refuse a Pickpocketing trigger, and that you have to draw 1 card during Upkeep!

Enjoy!