Mandy: Librarian of the Mind (30)

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Mandy on her way to Carcosa 0 0 0 1.0

Warforce17 · 1250

Update: Amnesia

The deck can run into money problems. Switch out 1 copy of Labatory Assistant and 1 copy of Perception for 2 copies of Crack the Case.


Overview:

This Mandy deck focuses on going through your deck as fast as possible in order to recycle the deck and to assemble the Pendant of the Queen . Your primary function is to pick up clues and help with intellect tests. Besides that you occasionally provide support with the help of Mandy´s ability.

*Playtested through Carcosa and Dunwich.


" Like a librarian tending to his library, Mandy searched every corner of her mind for the information she gathered from shuffling pages over the years. Only she was able to navigate this maze of the collected knowledge. Still her thirst for knowledge was never satisfied ..."


"Shuffling Paper": Searching for the Truth

What distinguishes Mandy from the rest of the Seekers is her amazing ability to get more from search effects. This allows her to get the most out of Research cards like Astounding Revelation . As her ability is only limited to once a round, she really wants to trigger the effect at least once each round in order to get the most of her ability. This deck gives you the tools to do exactly that:

Mr. Rook

Already great in other seekers, this card is simply amazing for Mandy because he allows her to search each round without even spending an action! As a result he will draw you cards like crazy while occasionally triggering Research effects like Astounding Revelation. These combinations make Mandy very action effecient.

Eureka!

Action effecient way to search your deck while you are investigating or attempting any likely to pass test. Morever, it helps to dig through your deck.

Calling in Favors

Searching the top 12 cards of your deck, makes it very likely that you will find the ally you need. Moreover, it allows you to replay Mr. "Rook" if you have no way to put secrets on him.


" As Mandy looked at the book uncovered in an expedition of the University, she was fascinated by the strange symbols and language of this exemplar. The prospect of uncovering the information in these papers intrigued her. Unable to translate the contents of the pages, she knew she had to seek out an expert on this topic. From the streets she learned of a shifty scholar of the Occult. She taped the man on the shoulder: ´Am I speaking to Mr. "Rook? ...."


Mulligan

Mr. Rook is the key asset in this deck and you want him in play as soon as possible. If you dont draw him in your opening hand, keep cards which search your deck and mulligan the rest of your hand. Also keep Labatory Assistant in order to combo her with Calling in Favors unless you already have Mr. Rook in hand.

Only mulligan if absolutely necessary to avoid drawing Research cards!

Dig deeper or draw more?

Before you have Mr. Rook in play, use Mandy´s ability to search 3 additional cards each time you search. After that always use her ability to take two cards, unless you are digging for Occult Evidence to pick up a clue from your location.

How to cycle through your deck:

Search once with Mr. "Rook" each turn and pick up two cards. Recharge the secrets on Mr. "Rook" with the help of Astounding Revelation and Enraptured . Play cards or commit them for the icons to help pass tests. After every Research ability is discarded, recycle the deck with the help of Quantum Flux . Repeat the process with a now even smaller deck. This allows you to activate cards like Occult Evidence 2-3 times in each scenario.

Once you have Higher Education (8) in play, take ressources from Astounding Revelation if your are running out of them. In order to recharge Rook with nearly no ressources call a favour and search for the second copy in play.


"She was always thirsty for knowledge. Thus she began to soak up the information in each letter, each page and each book the man offered her never considering the consequences of her research ... ".


Core Upgrade Path:

  1. -2 × Inquiring Mind & -1 × Perception => 3 x Segment of Onyx (1)
  2. Higher Education (8)
  3. -1 x Logical Reasoning => Cryptic Research

Total Cost: 14 XP

3 x Segment of Onyx (1)

Pendant of the Queen is really good and Mandy has an easy time to find its pieces to put it together. Since this deck does not require a lot of ressources for assets, you will always have some money to put the Segments of Onyx in play.

Cryptic Research (4)

Either draws you cards to commit to your tests or helps you to find our Keeper of Secrets at the beginning of the game. As the card is also fast and draws you cards it also helps to cycle faster trough your deck. You will likely need one copy in order to keep Higher Education (8) active if you are forced to discard more cards than you like. Play after you triggered all research abilities.

Higher Education (8)

This card is great and its cost reflect that. In this deck it covers Mandy´s average willpower and allows her to deal more effectively with the encounter deck. Besides that it allows her to boost her intellect to 7 without the need to commit a card and thus puts her 3 > over the shroud value of most locations in game. Last but not least it gives it opens slots for other cards in the deck.

Late Game Options

As the cycle is not finished yet, I am still waiting for the cards released for her. As for now here are some good options to upgrade into:

Studious

No Stone Unturned (5)

Deduction (2)

Glimpse the Unthinkable


"He offered her the knowledge of the world. He just did not mention the price for it."


Weaknesses aka. "Curiosity killed the Cat"

While Mr. Rook helps us draw cards, he will very likely draw you every weakness in your deck. As we are cycling through the deck, you will likely even draw your weaknesses twice per game. Depending on the severity of your random basic weakness and the encounter cards you draw from the encounter deck because of Shocking Discovery , the consequences of Mr. Rook´s ability can range from mild to campaign ending. Who knows. Maybe you are even already doomed from the start .


"She was a woman of logic through and trough and always believed that knowledge holds more power than the ´baboons´ over at O’Bannion´s ... "


Encounter deck protection

In order to protect ourselves from the encounter deck, we are running 1 x Logical Reasoning and Deny Existence . Deny Existence is very flexible and helps us to counteract nasty discard effects which would discard key cards in our deck. Before you slot in Higher Education (8) , Mandy´s low willpower makes her vulnarable to Terror cards like Frozen in Fear . Keep Logical Reasoning primarily to get rid of these cards. Once you have Higher Education (8) in play, Logical Reasoning becomes obsolete and can be replaced.

Combat

You are no fighter but you can outsmart your opponents with the help of Mind over Matter . Once you assemble Pendant of the Queen , you can also use it in an emergency. Still you will be mostly running from tougher enemies and rely on other investigators to deal with them for you.


"While she studied books, she did so like a machine searching for the answers to her problems. This distinguished her from Ms. Walker whose love for books engrossed her in worlds of wonder and fiction ...."


"Not that much of a Bookworm": My ramblings

Old Book of Lore + Knowledge is Power

In my opinion books are still mainly the forte of Daisy Walker . While it seems to be good to draw two cards with the Old Book of Lore, it still costs an action and is thus inferior to Mr. Rook free triggered ability. I can see the book in a supportive Mandy build because unlike Mr. Rook it can be used on other investigators at your location. In reality I never used the book once I had Mr. Rook in play because I rather wanted to use the action to move or investigate.I tried using the book in combination with Knowledge is Power in order to trigger the book for free but the cards hardly seemed to be worth the deck slot if you consider that these slots could have been filled with cards like Deny Existence . However, this is just my current look on the matter and other books might change my opinion on this matter in the future.

Research Librarian

People have discussed that this card is a nice way to get rid of Shocking Discovery before a search but is the card really worth the slot? If your weakness is still in your deck, you are basicially paying two ressources for an ally with 1/1 soak with the effect of "discard your weakness and draw an encounter card". Then you are likely paying another ressource for Calling in Favors in order to search your deck for another ally like "Rook" and then pay the difference to put him in play. Depending on the ally this play costs four or more ressources. You can now search without the risk of failing.

However, this is only the best outcome. If you are unlucky and don´t draw this combination, you either have to use action to draw cards or rely on other search cards to find the cards you need. If you draw him later in the game, you usually don´t want to play him and his agility icon makes it hard to commit to tests. If you draw him after you triggered your weakness, he draws you two books which can be nice way to thin your deck. Still you could just nicely ask Mr. Rook instead if you really want a certain book in play.

Compare this with Laboratory Assistant . She costs the same to put in play, gives you one more horror soak, draws you two cards and has an useful icon which you can use to commit to investigations. If you don´t draw any search cards in your opening hand, she may draw them or Mr. Rook in turn one. If you later need to recall Mr. Rook with Calling in Favors in order to recharge secrets on him, you won´t be unhappy to draw two cards for 1 ressource if you did not hit the second copy of Rook.

This in mind I think Research Librarian is a lot better in Daisy there his initial cost is offset by her ability to use an free action on books each turn.


"She delved too deep in forbidden knowledge and was at a point of no return. It was up to her an likeminded people to uncover the horrible secrets which plagued the city of Arkham and its inhabitants"


Thanks for reading and a lot of fun with the deck!

13 comments

Oct 17, 2019 Warforce17 · 1250

I have tested the deck further and it has some money problems. I would recommend to slot out 1 Labatory Assistant and 1 Perception for 2 x Crack the Case. Then upgrade like this:

-2 x Inquiring Mind and -1 x Perception = 3 x Segment of Onyx (1)

Higher Education (8)

Replace Logical Reasoning with Cryptic Research (4)

That should fix it.

Oct 18, 2019 zangetsuu · 4

Hello,

Have you considered Backpack or Dr Elli Horowitz ? They seem appropriate if you want to quickly assemble The Pendant Of The Queen.

Oct 19, 2019 Warforce17 · 1250

@zangetsuu I have considered backpack as alternative to No Stone Unturned in the deck but I was not very impressed with how backpack played out in this deck.

However, Elli is really a hard sell if you just want her to pick up Segment of Onyx. If you are lucky enough and get two segments, they are still attached to her until you find the last one. Because you don´t want them to get discared, you will need to get charisma for her. Worst of all she can totally fail if she hits Shocking Discovery so you need to invest sth. to trigger the weakness. Once the pendant is in play, I assume that it is not attached to Elli anymore. In this case you don´t use her ability to save a slot. If you want to play Elli in Mandy, I think you need to have more relics in the deck to make it worth it. For example if she gets Grisly Totem + 1 Segment in play she just saved you one ressource.

It is surely a lot more complex but that is what came to mind.

Oct 22, 2019 Ryson · 34

Have you considered Emergency Cache to be able to add supplies to the Pendant of the Queen and to solve your money problem from time to time ?

It seems like the perfect solution.

Oct 22, 2019 Ryson · 34

Maybe Occult Lexicon could help you speed your cycling while getting some resource/doing some damages ?

Oct 22, 2019 Ryson · 34

Sorry, 3rd comment in a row :) Wouldn't Eureka fit in this deck ? It let you draw 2 cards over 6 with Mandy :D

Oct 22, 2019 Warforce17 · 1250

@Ryson

Thanks for your feedback. Emergency Cache (3) is a good upgrade from Enrapture if you use it to recharge the Pendant.

I am currently experimenting with Occult Lexicon because it helps Mandy to contribute damage to enemies. However, I have two concerns: the lexicon blocks a hand slot and its card draw might hit the research cards too often.

I am currently testing a build of this deck in which I am using a copy of Old Book of Lore which takes the second hand slot. While it is not optimal to use it every turn, I found that it was helpful in case you cannot draw into Rook. Moreover, Old Book of Lore can be used as a support tool to draw cards for other investigators if you have an action to spare and can be repeated unlike No Stone Unturned. Both cards are competing for the spot as for now since Magnifying glass is too good to pass up.

To answer your last question: Euraka is in the deck already. Just to clarify though: You can search 6 cards OR take 2 cards from the three cards your search for. I might have mistunderstood your wording of the ability but it sounded like you activate both abilities.

I hope that answered your questions.

Oct 22, 2019 Ryson · 34

Thanks and sorry for the question about Eureka, I realized afterwards that it was in the deck.

If you are using an old book of lore. Maybe backpack could be included back ? Especially if you include emergency cache.

Indeed. let's say you replace your 2 crack the case by emergency cache (not optimal at first but can be replaced by the upgraded version afterwards).

You have 2x Magnifying glass, maybe 2x Old book of Lore and 2x Backpack.

That means that if you have 1 backpack in hand, you still have 7 target for backpack. On 30 cards, I would say chances are quite good.

Just a suggestion :)

Keep up the good work !

Oct 22, 2019 Ryson · 34

Last though: have you considered to include a Charisma and try to trigger Calling in Favors on two target ? It could be insane to have two times the discount of the ally you just got back in hand ^^

Oct 23, 2019 Ryson · 34

Last idea... Replace the Perception by Truth from Fiction ? It has the same amount of intelligence icons but you have the option to place 2 more secret on Mr Rook instead of the draw of perception that you do not really need.

Oct 23, 2019 matt88 · 2968

Guys, I think you 're missing sth huge regarding EC3 and Pendant of the Queen. EC3 adds supplies while Pendant of the Queen uses Charges, so EC3 can't be used to refill Pendant of the Queen.

Oct 23, 2019 Warforce17 · 1250

@matt88 You are correct. I have missed that in the spur of the moment.

Nov 25, 2019 Onetribe · 283

Glad to see someone else dabbling with similar idea and looking what was done differently, but also how much is the same :) I'd argue with your choices, since for example I don't remember needing any Mind over Matter or Logical Reasoning. I'm playing with a similar deck, but solo. The difference is in the fact that I have to handle my enemies alone. Therefore Strange Solution and Occult Lexicon both found their way into the deck. As a tradeoff I'm not using your Calling in Favors engine to find Mr. "Rook". That of course backfires sometimes, but not that often. The outcome is suprisingly good. I don't remember any damage dealer, that was dealing damage as consistently. I'm right now 2 scenarios from finishing the RtTPTC on hard. I'm going the way which limits doubts/conviction. I feel invincible. So here's my shameless plug link - arkhamdb.com