Lola Hayes The Boxer (Nathaniel Cho)

--------------Intro-------------

So they are printing Transfiguration. Represented here as Ethereal Form

Lola will at some point during the game choose the Mystic role and will then play Transfiguration. Her role will no longer have any effect on her ability to play cards. She will be locked into the Mystic role outside of her Signatures and Weaknesses. Those cards will still interact with her role.

With the new watered-down versions of the Lola cards, the riskiest asset here is Leo de Luca. The usual Lola tricks apply. Play the valuable passive boost then switch roles to protect that asset. Once we are Transfigured, there is a fringe possibility that the deck draws it's weakness, becomes a Rogue, then draws it's weakness again because we can't switch away anymore. Luckily, with the new versions of the Weaknesses, we can just hold onto a card of that class as sacrifice. In fact, this deck only includes assets from Lola's most common classes. And that just feels... strange.

Transfiguration allows us to effectively run any investigator in the game with access to Lola's vast card pool. How can we take advantage of this?

My first idea: Nathantiel Cho with access to most events and skills? Improvised Weapon, Cheap Shot, and Spectral Razor? That would create one of the most terrifying fighters in the game.

------------Begin Synergy Discussion----------------

TLDR: I decided against Synergy.

We need to decide if we want Synergy. If we do, we need to collect some permanent assets from each class. Let's look at our options:

Guardian: Geared Up, Stick to the Plan, Keen Eye, Sacred Covenant. All of these are pretty bad here. Keen Eye is probably the best. I know some groups allow Lola to use SttP, in that case it's the clear winner, but that is not the official take.

Seeker: Forced Learning is the most innocuous for a typical synergy build, but it also makes this Transfiguration gimmick unlikely to ever happen. Blasphemous Covenant, however, enables Riastrad, a fight event spirit card that Boxing Gloves can fetch and Nate can abuse. We'll probably buy this covenant even without synergy.

Rogue: Adaptable is the easy choice.

Mystic: Arcane Research, Down the Rabbit Hole, Blood Pact, and Paradoxical Covenant. Of these, Arcane Research is probably the best option considering the access this deck has to Mystic staples. DtRH is an exp black hole, and Blood Pact is also fine, I guess.

Survivor: It cannot be Short Supply. The risk of dumping the Transfiguration is too high. That leaves Ancient Covenant and Scapper. So Scrapper wins.

Exp consequences: So, to start the game, we can use our extra 1 exp from In The Thick Of It to begin with Adaptable, Arcane Research, and... That's all. We'd need to spend 3 exp on Keen Eye, 5 on Scapper (It's still a lvl 3 Survivor card) and 2 exp for Ancient Covenant. That's 10 exp before buying any direct improvement for the deck. I admit, Scrapper and Ancient Covenant would both be excellent purchases for the deck even without the synergy implications, so if you plan on spooling up TFA or another high exp campaign, it might be fun.

But I'm just going to say, in this case, Synergy Lola is a completely different and fun to play deck capable of some impressive feats. I'd rather do something else here.

--------------Begin Curse Discussion------------

My playgroup likes to ignore the Chaos Bag a lot and so curses are just... whatever. We are trying to cheat any test that matters and don't mind the worse odds on the ones that don't. Deep Knowledges, Faustian Bargains, Promises of Power... all new staples. Sometimes we heavy sigh because there isn't room for even more curses and we can't play our cards.

So, while I considered Riastrad + Ancient Covenant for this deck since it supports both Boxing Gloves and Nathaniel, I'd rather mix things up.

No Blurse.

----------------The Build------------

Heavy on fighting but low of clueing, just like Nathaniel. Except we are really really good at dealing damage after we Transfigure. Spectral Razor does 4 damage. Improvised Weapon gives -1 fight, does 3 damage, and shuffles back into the deck. Cheap Shot evades with fist and does 2 damage.

This deck fulfills Lola's deck building requirements with Guardian, Rogue, and Mystic cards.

Fight with 10 Events, one of which recycles back into the deck. Passive bonuses make basic fight acceptable, with events serving as burst damage.

Clue with 5 events. This is light clueing duty but all of it ignores shroud.

Gains resources with 5 events and 2 skills. I am counting Lola's signature cards as they are functionally fast Emergency Cache.

Draw cards with 2 assets, 2 events, and 2 skills. The Boxing Gloves are unreliable draw, only finding about 15% of the deck. They do give Nathaniel a raw 6 Fight, or 7 with the Living Ink, which should be reliable damage

Protect yourself or the team with 1 asset and 5 events. It's rough being the tank fainting couch pose

Passive boosts come from 3 different assets. Grete Wagner is a great alternative to Leo De Luca if there is a conflict in your playgroup.

I'll probably make more Lola decks soon as Lola is the best investigator. Have Fun!