Silas and Katarina Sojka Defy the Bag | Expert

I found a cool interaction: Silas Marsh + Katarina Sojka + Defiance (2) (there’s also a spicier combo in the bonus section). Here’s how it works:

1. Get Katarina Sojka into play under Silas Marsh control (more on how to do that later).
2. Commit Defiance (2) (Defiance (0) works too, although it’s somewhat meticulous).
3. Activate Katarina Sojka, reveal a symbol token and ignore it (except for the tentacle).
4. Pull Defiance back with Silas’ ability (Defiance still works because it’s a delayed effect, see the FAQ to Daring and Defiance (0)).

So once per round you get to test with the odds of ~85% (depending on how many symbols are in the chaos bag). Not spectacular but good enough to see play.

Consider this combo on Expert. There, you should comfortably cover -4 but typically need extra resources to cover -5, -6, -8, and symbol tokens with modifier of -5 or worse. With Katarina + Defiance, you don’t need to worry about that.

Let’s take TCU starting bag as an example (+2 symbols added in the Witching Hour setup). Testing at +4 gives you the odds of up to 11/15 = 73% (less with symbol tokens that are -5 or worse). So Katarina already does some work here, especially for tests where you’re not up 4 already. She also saves you resources/cards that you would otherwise need to use to boost your odds.

Another thing is that this combo doesn’t require a lot of deck slots and so it doesn’t warp deckbuilding, you can build your typical Silas and just add this package for fun.

Now, how do you get Katarina in Silas? There are a couple ways to do that:

• Teamwork
• Versatile
• Transfiguration

Below are the decks that I’ve come up with.

Teamwork

Carolyn giving Silas Katarina Sojka - 0 xp

Silas with Katarina Sojka from Teamwork - 0 xp

A typical fighter + cluer duo.

Calling in Favors - to find Katarina

Teamwork - to give her to Silas

A Chance Encounter (2) - an alternative to Teamwork that allows Silas to play Katarina from Carolyn’s discard if she hasn't drawn Teamwork yet

A campaign with a large number of symbols is preferable because it will reduce the odds of Katarina pulling a tentacle.

Versatile

Versatile Silas - 0 xp

This deck is self-sufficient and can be run as a fighter in any team.

Versatile - to add Katarina, the other 4 slots are conveniently filled with Calling in Favors x2 - to find Katarina, Stray Cats are used as a target for it Inspiring Presence x2 - to ready Katarina for extra oomph and another combo (see bonus section)

Transfiguration

Diana Transfigures into Silas - 0 xp

A typical flex Diana build with Sixth Sense + Wither that benefits from revealing symbol tokens, so Katarina fits right in. Diana’s draw helps her find Transfiguration and turn into Silas. Then, you can use Katarina + Defiance + Silas’ ability with the cards that trigger on symbols.

Calling in Favors - to find Katarina Inspiring Presence x2 - to ready Katarina for extra oomph

A campaign with a large number of symbols is preferable because it will reduce the odds of Katarina pulling a tentacle.

Bonus

If you want more shenanigans, here’s another combo I’ve cooked up with the Versatile Silas:

1. Put Katarina Sojka in play.
2. Seal all bad symbol tokens (including the tentacle, more on that below).
3. Commit Inspiring Presence (or have a copy in the discard pile).
4. Activate Katarina Sojka, reveal elder sign (there are no other symbols in the bag).
5. With Silas’ elder sign, commit Inspiring Presence from the discard (if you haven't yet in step 3).
6. Succeed at the test and ready Katarina Sojka with Inspiring Presence.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 for the next test.

You end the test with Inspiring Presence either in your discard pile (if you committed it from hand) or in your hand (if you committed it from the discard pile) and a ready Katarina. Congratulations, now you pass every test!

But wait, there’s more! If you have Quick Thinking in hand or in discard pile, you now take 1 extra action every round.

While the payoff is sick, this combo requires a lot more set up than just Katarina + Defiance. Norman would be a great fit to do all that work:

• He has access to all sealing cards.
• His ability helps to dig through the deck and play sealing cards.
• He investigates well without needing many cards and therefore can dedicate a good chunk of his deck to support.

Norman Sealer - 0 xp

The Chthonian Stone - to seal 1 symbol token

Sign of Xelotaph - to seal 1 symbol token

Protective Incantation - to seal 1 symbol token

Seal of the Seventh Sign - to seal the tentacle

Eldritch Brand - to start with Seal of the Seventh Sign

A campaign with a small number of symbols is preferable for this one. Good candidates are Dunwich and the Dream-Quest. In Dunwich, you start with 2 skulls and a cultist, and don’t add any more with optimal play, so 3 symbol tokens in total. In the Dream-Quest, you start with 2 tablets and a cultist, and you don’t add any skulls if you don’t advance the act in Beyond the Gates of Sleep, so 3 symbol tokens in total as well.

Norman can seal all those 3 tokens. However, even with 1 or 2 of them still in the bag, Silas has 50% or 33% respectively to pull elder sign, which will still often ready Katarina or be a successful test provided that you commit Defiance (even level 0).

Testing

I’m still testing these decks to make final verdict, however, they all are tried and true builds that use several deck slots to run a combo package. I played level 0 decks through Midnight Masks on Hard a couple of times and was able to get 4 cultists without much hassle. Once I do some more testing, I’ll update this post, so stay tuned!

Thank you for reading this far and until next time!