The deck is shown here in the 9xp stand alone version as it shows the general direction of the deck more clearly. For a campaign legal starter:

• Drop Streetwise
• 2x Lockpicks 2x Magnifying Glass,
• 1x Lucky! & 1x Logical Reasoning 2x Hard Knocks,
• Downgrade Pickpocketing (2) Pickpocketing (0)
• 1x Double or Nothing 1x Unexpected Courage (Optional but recommended until you get Lockpicks & Streetwise to help land it)

And you should end up with something like this.

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OVERVIEW

An event and converter based "hit the ground running" cluer/evader Finn deck. It’s balanced for hard mode TFA (targeting 3 above test strength) and has had a little refining over several plays of the 2 TFA opening scenarios and parts of dunwich. Compulsory kills are dealt with via burst combat options, and encounter protection is provided by flexible supports selected not to compromise other deck functions.

Flashlight and Lockpicks provide single card methods of reaching 6 effective when investigating (necessary for shroud 3 on hard). Evasion is provided through Peter Sylvestre, Lola Santiago and numerous double pip cards. While a generous cash engine of Lone Wolf, Emergency Cache, "Watch this!" & Pickpocketing (2), then allows us to pay for clues and evasions via Streetwise and Lola Santiago.

Pickpocketing is our primary target for Smuggled Goods due to its huge draw potential setting up a steady feed of events and skill cards, again paid for by the big pile of cash.

Everyone's favorite kicker (Double or Nothing) then offers options for bonus clues, 6 point damage power plays with Backstab (cash + Streetwise to boost), and crazy cash multipliers from "Watch this!"

encounters are handled by The big man`s generous sanity soak, Fobbing them off to a nearby fool and the use of Lucky!, Logical Reasoning and later Sure Gamble to remove encounters that stay in play until you can pass a test. Lucky! and Sure Gamble have been given preference over Logical Reasoning as not all such cards are terror traited, and these two also offer versatile solutions to other tests if needed. Prime examples include Finn's Trusty .38 against high opponents, and recovering a failed Double or Nothing play - because there is a special place in hell for that -6 token.

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UPGRADES

Ive put this here as I know not everyone wants to read the detailed piloting. A lot is self explanatory anyway here tbh

Priorities:

• 2x Magnifying Glass Lockpicks
• 2x Pickpocketing Pickpocketing (2)
• 1x Streetwise
• 1x Adaptable : 2x Hard Knocks 1x Lucky! and 1x The out if faction card of your choice (See variants)

This should get you approximately to the listed deck.

Further priorities:

• Manual Dexterity Lola Santiago,
• Charisma, then Man Dex Lola again.
• Adapt over the other Double or Nothing if you havent already.

After that were past the versions that ive tried out, but a few things that look good or that i have found work in other similar decks:

• 1x Unexpected Courage & 1x "You handle this one!" 2x Sure Gamble - (See encounter protection)
• Emergency Cache Emergency Cache (3) - (ie supplies edition) - more cash and option to restocks Flashlights/Lockpicks.
• Sneak Attack Sneak Attack (2). Great multiplayer and nice for aloofs.
• Just 1x Lupara (See variants)
• 2nd Charisma + 2x Leo (1) or Adapt in Leo (0) if you must later on.

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DETAILED PILOTING

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THAT FIRST SCENARIO

This will be slightly different as we dont have Streetwise and we have Mag Glasses until we can get Lockpicks with xp. We`ve even had to sacrificed a little protection to get them. This is why weve swapped Double or Nothing for another Unexpected Courage, and should ideally keep Lucky! in reserve if we dont have "You handle this one!"s to spare.

Were also reliant on using pips until we can dig out Hard Knocks and Peter Sylvestre to reliably reach 6 on tap. Note that with Peter Sylvestre in play we are fine for 2 enemies and will mainly be burning pips on the 3s.

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EVASION, CHECKS, & COMBAT

as usual were aiming 3 above test strength, most encounter tests are str 3, so we need to reach 6 reliably, though we can get away with 5 for evading about half the early game enemies due to certain enemy set compositions that I wont spoil.

• Prioritise Allies for passive boosts. Both The big man and Lola, offer +1, and together we have the magic 6 passively.

Until then were using :

• Lots of pips. +2 are available from Manual Dexterity, Narrow Escape, Lucky! and Unexpected Courage. And single pips (ie after we have an ally down) from "Watch this!" (you dont have to put the cash in if you arnt going big) or spare copies of Lone Wolf, Big Peter, Backstab or "You handle this one!".
• Narrow Escape Top tech! If you arnt using it for pips you can still get the +2 you want while installing an asset (like a + ally), or moving to another location to let you dump that vengeance enemy somewhere you never plan to come back to. Also see Finn's Trusty .38.
• Burst Damage Events. With his free evade action Sneak Attack becomes more efficient than it is in other IDs, as does Waylay if you took it, though the latter should be saved for mini boss type enemies (most sc`s have at least 1 non elite with 4+ hp and some vp). Backstab is another option for these mini bosses, especially if you stockpile cash for a Double or Nothing blow landed through Streetwise.
• Finn's Trusty .38 Unfortunately, Finns base of 3 +2 from his .38 only reaches 5 so we will struggle to hit 3+ enemies reliably and were going to need supports to use it. Hard Knocks gives this more game in our first scenario, but dont be afraid to test at 2 above if your feeling Lucky! (punk) or packing a Sure Gamble, or invite an attack of opportunity to activate Narrow Escape. Failing that, "Watch this!" can be used as a single pip. Just dont put the cash in.
• Scavenging guns. If youve taken Scavenging, you can use the pips on Finn's Trusty .38 as a recurring double card since Lockpicks will be able to keep recurring it. This is a late game combo needing so many cards, but each function well independently, and two are illicit for Smuggled Goods.

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CLUES

This is all self explanatory.

• Primary clue assets Flashlight and Lockpicks both allow us to get to 6 on investigation tests without needing multi card combos, which is necessary for upto shroud 3.
• Streetwise + Tons of Cash. These provide back up when Flashlight/Lockpicks are unavailable, or let us go high for shroud 4+ locations.
• Lola Santiago + Tons of Cash. Provide fast action auto clues, for both action efficiency and getting around locations that penalize investigation actions. The + is just a bonus, and note that Lockpicks benefit from both her and buffs.
• Double or Nothing acts a bit like Deduction for a bonus clue, or indeed if you took Deduction lets you take upto 4 clues. Note that this combos well with: both Lockpicks' and Streetwise's abilities to go ridiculously high (independently or in combo), and Flashlight'ss ability to zero a shroud (or tbh turn a 3 into a 1 which only doubles to 2). Finally see Sure Gamble in Encounter protection below.

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CASH & DRAW

All our back up options are cash dependent so weve packed plenty. You wont be as rich as you would be with Milan and Burglary, but weve kept most of the events cheap to compensate. Dont spend cash frivolously, and do stockpile.

• Pickpocketing MVP. The primary target for Smuggled Goods. Once its in play you will get a steady supply of draw. Getting two in play can be ridiculous. Prioritising the upgrade is important for adding cash supply options (or both) and making it fast. The latter saves you an action installing but importantly lets you play it while engaged without needing to use Narrow Escape). Just be aware of the impact of drawing into Caught Red-Handed AFTER youve just evaded something. Elusive can be used to get you out of this most times if you took it.
• Lone Wolf. Early game this is cash MVP. Get it down asap. For anyone unaware, this triggers on when you take your turn, not when the round starts so you can just get your comrades to move out of your location before you take your turn.
• Emergency Cache. simple burst cash, upgraded it can also offer supply tokens to restock Flashlights.
• "Watch this!". This plays a similar role to Emergency Cache offering 3 free cash, but potentially action free. Note that since it adds 1 and requires you to pass by 1, it doesnt really help you pass the test, unless you are willing to gamble that money. Ideally your looking to throw this in on a test that you were already going to breeze through if you want the cash. Or if you want the pip, just dont commit any money. If you are going all in, Sure Gamble is your friend to back it up.

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CHECK ENCOUNTERS AND LOTS OF WILD +2s

Finns Achilles heel, but its really not that bad. The key is not to silver bullet too much. With 1 there is a risk of slotting lots of silver bullet encounter counters that end up being dead draws. Instead we have opted for several multipurpose wild +2s or retrospective counters that open up deck space elsewhere (see pretty much all above sections). Anyway we have some generic solutions:

• "You handle this one!" - Thematic MVP and simply lots of fun. Self explanatory - fob it off to someone who can deal with it better.
• Test recovery On hard Sure Gamble can turn those -2 or worse tokens into +2 or better, giving you great odds on passing tests of 3 (which are most common). This will only increase as the campaign bag inevitably gets tougher later on. Lucky! can be used in a similar way if you draw +1s or 0's. Or stacked to recover a -2.

For specific encounter types we can be a bit more tricksy if we take note of the common effects that checks typically hit you with:

• Horror. Usually per point the test fails by. We can soak 1 of these with Peter Sylvestre, leaving 2 to worry about. If we have our second copy of the big man, we can let him die and just replay him. effectively paying 3 for 2 horror recovery. Lola Santiago offers another 2 later on. We can also modify the test retrospectively with Lucky! or Sure Gamble to reduce the horror taken. You dont actually have to pass. Just get it low enough that it makes little difference after allies.
• Action loss. This is an action efficient deck with only 4-5 asset installs for a full rig, plus Finn's base evade skill gives us a little more freedom. There are plenty of times we can accept losing an action her and there since we've gained it through an efficient deck.
• Asset Loss. Losing an empty Flashlight is irrelevant. Infact if it gets put back in your deck or hand it can even reload it. Or indeed once you find your Lockpicks you may no longer need the Flashlight even if it still has batteries. We always have Streetwise to back it up. Finally we have spare copies of Lone Wolf, Peter Sylvestre and Lola Hayes if needed. I would try to keep Pickpocketing since they stack. If your struggling badly Adapt in Scavenging or Smuggled Goods something back from the bin.

All this freedom affords us loads of wild cards to let us adapt to the situation:

• Wild Card Flexibility Lucky!, Sure Gamble, Unexpected Courage and Narrow Escape are now all available to throw into , or checks as needed making you substantially more versatile than if you'd gone deep in silver bullets. Dont get me wrong. The odd silver bullet 1 off is fine like.

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VARIANTS

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5th OUT OF FACTION SLOT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Logical Reasoning discussed below,
• Waylay more damage,
• Deduction/Working a Hunch more clues,
• Eureka! more draw
• Scavenging if you take an asset route (eg Lupara), also see pip section.

The Logical Reasoning shown here is flexible since we’re dealing with encounters (and terror cards) via Lucky!/Sure Gamble. This gives us some options for the 5 out of faction slot. If it helps I personally prefer Eureka! (Lockpicks combo and can be Doubled) or Scavenging.

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TRUE SOLO?

I’ve not played true solo so this is quite speculative, but the deck is fairly generalist so i expect it will work if we just need to swap out the multiplayer cards. Happy to hear thoughts but my best guess is:

• -2 "You handle this one!",
• +1 Unexpected Courage.

• +1 Elusive.

COMBAT MOBILITY TRADE OFF:

• Backstab Elusive (or visa verse).

Trade these around depending on your team composition. If your team is fine for combat, bring Elusives.

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FINNY GUNS WAKE

• Lupara & Sleight of Hand.

Lupara is absolutely fine on standard. However on hard it suffers from the same problem as Finn's Trusty .38 that 5 is only reliable on enemies with upto 2. We use Finn's Trusty .38 by burning wild support cards, but as we add more Luparas, we’re going to find these start to run out too fast. So we end up adding more supports at the expense of other deck functions. For example swap out Flashlight and become an evasive combatant, or swap out Sneak Attack and go item based reuseable combat who has to juggle hand slots (Scavenging). Promising looking options for supports:

• Hard Knocks, offers perminant reusable pay to boost .
• Scavenging, lets you juggle hand slots late game. With Lockpicks you are going to be exceeding by two on investigation tests a lot so it will be triggering. Notice with Scavenging that both Lupara and Finn's Trusty .38 can repeatedly be used for a single pip to get you to that magic 6.

Alternatively just don’t go full throttle on this and just taking 1x Lupara over a Backstab and tutor it if needed.

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HP REPAIRING (MINOR SPOILERS IN TEXT)

• 1x Double or Nothing Painkillers for starter deck.

In combo with the big man this lets you remove damage. I often do this for Until the End of Time because if you get poisoned, theres going to be a lot of auto damage, Passing tests isn't an issue, but that hard mode will eventually show at an inopportune time, and basically getting poisoned on a check may be unavoidable. Then again, you can just take some semi obvious supply options for removing poison and just put up with it for the back end of one scenario. Once we get Lola then the option to replace allies gives us a little more soak.