Marie the Triple Threat

She sings, she dances, she tackles the mysteries of Arkham like nobody else.

After taking Marie through the Core and Dunwich campaigns (with Zoey as her companion), the two standalone scenarios (all by her lonesome) and the first two scenarios of the Forgotten Age (on Hard difficulty, in a trio) I've come to the conclusion that Marie is one of the strongest, most versatile Investigators currently out there. If you, like me, weren't lucky enough to get her when she was briefly available I highly recommend proxying her and begging FFG to re-release her ASAP.

Update: Added links to a recommended (but still in-testing) Solo variant and theoretical/experimental Arcane Research variant. Solo: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/168340 Arcane Research: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/168338

Why is Marie so good?

At first glance, Marie's stats may seem awkward. Her Will is high, making her a natural spellcaster--and, indeed, her deckbuilding requirements reinforce that role--but why is her Intellect so high? A typical Mystic, even a clue-focused one, uses Rite of Seeking and their Will stat to investigate. Mystics therefore focus on Will boosts and rely on cards like Perception, Drawn to the Flame and splash cards to grab the remaining clues they'll need, usually as a Seeker takes care of the primary clue-scooping. With 4 base Intellect, though, Marie can completely ignore Rite and its disastrous downside while still being a very strong clue scooper; later in a campaign, she can even take advantage of Arcane Insight and Archaic Glyphs to grab clues like few others can, and early on she can opt for Lanterns to leverage her Intellect even further.

Her physical stats suffer, but it's not as bad as you might think. Though her Strength makes her vulnerable to Rats and other small threats, even with a Spirit Athame, her 3 Agility is often just enough to keep her safe. She doesn't really need the Strength anyway, in most situations, as Strength tests that aren't attacks are rare and usually avoidable, and she has plenty of Mystic tricks to let her leverage her high Will to fight (via Shrivelling and Storm of Spirits) or evade (via Mists of R'lyeh and Blinding Light).

Because of the versatility of Mystic cards and her high Intellect stat, she has several options to choose from when building and upgrading her deck and she therefore fits in very many possible team compositions, even being able to solo relatively well, with only a few modifications from the basic list presented here. She can focus on combat, grabbing Athame, Song of the Dead and Book of Shadows and teching in a second Storm, while still having the ability to scoop clues with her high Intellect. Or, she can go Clue heavy with the above mentioned Seeker spells, or she can split the difference and bring a balanced approach, upgrading and teching in cards as needed.

Her many options for success are why i highly suggest a sideboard with your Marie deck (as I do with any deck, really). Many cards can be swapped in and out based on the needs of the team and the campaign,for example adding a second Storm if you plan on fighting, or a second Ward of Protection if you really want to minimize Encounter snowballing, or simply swapping a Guts for a Perception to be better at Clue scooping than fighting. My full sideboard suggestions will be listed in the Card Examination section below.

Doom and You. Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love Blood Pact.

Marie's stats are one thing, but it is her unique ability that truly makes her shine. If you have any amount of Doom on cards you control, you can take an additional action on your turn that can only be used to play or use actions on Spell cards. This is how Marie goes from being a good investigator to being an incredible one, but it's a bit tricky to pull off.

Doom, as we all know, is bad. More Doom on your cards means the agenda is going to tick over faster, which means you (and your team) have fewer turns to work with before the crap hits the fan. Fortunately, there are a few things that minimize the downside of adding Doom, and a lot of benefits to living on the edge.

Firstly, we must remember that Doom only advances the Agenda at one of two points during the game: the step immediately after adding one Doom to the counter during the Mythos phase is one, and the most common and easily exploitable way it advances. The second is if a card specifically says that it can advance the Agenda, usually an Encounter card, like Ancient Evils. What this means is that if the Agenda is going to advance, it does not actually matter how much Doom is present. That is to say, if there is 6 total Doom in play and the Agenda advances at 7 Doom, until the step where the Agenda actually does advance it does not matter if the total is 6 or 600 Doom on the board. It will advance regardless, it only advances once and it only advances right at that moment. Therefore, if the Agenda will advance in the next Mythos phase, you can go as nuts as you want with Doom. Abuse Blood Pact, David Renfield, and your weakness Baron Samedi to your heart's content.

This is where Marie's signature card, Mystifying Song comes into play. If you play this card when the Agenda would advance, the Agenda simply does not advance for the rest of the phase--even if an Encounter card like Ancient Evils is drawn. What this means for you and your fellow investigators is that those Doom-placing effects you've been abusing during the "Witching Hour" the previous turn can be used again for one more turn! That, and you've bought everyone an additional turn before the Agenda advances, giving everyone an extra set of actions to do what needs to be done. How's that for a powerful card!

There's a catch, though, and his name is Baron Samedi. This guy is either the worst weakness in the game or an arithmetic problem that can only be solved in certain Agendas. The good news is that he counts for your ability, so placing Doom on him can often be useful. The bad news is if you want to get rid of him, you need to do it three times. If the Agenda is shorter than 6 (5 if you have and can play Mystifying Song), you simply won't have time to get rid of him before all Doom is wiped from the board anyway, even if you started when Doom was at 0. That means you're taking a ton of extra damage, as is anyone that's with you--and you don't even have an Ally to soak it for you! Ouch.

The important thing to remember with the Baron, though, is that he disappears the moment you put the third Doom token on him, and that the Agenda only advances during the Mythos phase. The progression goes as follows, assuming 0 Doom to start:

Upkeep phase Draw Baron, end of turn, Mythos phase+1 Doom (1 total Doom), Exhaust Baron (2 total), Baron readies at end of turn, Mythos phase +1 Doom (3 total), Exhaust Baron (4), Mythos (5), Exhaust and remove Baron (3), Mythos (4) etc.

Notice that if Ancient Evils pops up or the Agenda already had Doom when the Baron showed his face it becomes impossible to get rid of him without Song, so he'll likely stick around for a while. If you draw the Baron before the Upkeep phase, though, you'll have an opportunity to Exhaust him immediately, which helps quite a bit. Though this deck does not run much draw, it can be benificial to spend an action drawing a card if you know the Baron is due to show up soon (and you'll have time to get rid of him). The longer the Agenda's timer, though, the easier it'll be to say goodbye to the Baron.

Mulligan and Playing Guide

The section most of you were likely scrolling down for. How does one play this deck? The answer is simply that it depends on your goal for the scenario. If you're your team's primary Clue scooper, mulligan hard for Magnifying Glass. If it's early in a scenario, try for Archaic Glyphs as well, as the sooner you can upgrade them the better. If you're more combat inclined, Shrivelling should take priority, though in any case having either Shrivelling or Mists in your opening hand is strongly advised. lastly, St. Hubert's Key is fantastic if you can get it out early. The deck doesn't run much resource generation, so it can be tricky to play later on.

Playing the deck is relatively straightforward. Get your hand items out early, Investigate with your Intellect and fight when necessary with Shrivelling. Early in a campaign you'll want to make time for Delve Too Deep, but don't feel you absolutely must play both in every scenario. Get what you can, and by the third or fourth scenario you can toss the Delves for something better. Try and save Ward of Protection for Doom-advancing cards if you know they're in the deck, otherwise use it when something bad is going to happen. If you draw Mystifying Song, make sure you have 3 resources available to play it if necessary.

Managing Doom and your extra action is the most challenging part of the deck. You have two Moonlight Rituals to save you if things go poorly, so don't be afraid to add one or two if the Agenda timer allows it. Always keep in mind the possibility of an Ancient Evils, though, especially in larger groups; a good rule of thumb is to assume during every Mythos phase of a four player game (if the Encounter deck contains Doom-advancing cards) that you have one fewer turn than you thought you did. That said, Blood Pact is one of the most powerful effects in the game. If you need it, use it. The same can be said for Renfield: he will give you so many resources over the course of a game, even with only one Doom on him. Arcane Initiate is a great tutoring tool, too, that will help a great deal if you fail to draw your key spells (and keep the Baron in check). Remember that the Agenda advancing removes ALL Doom from play, so you won't have your extra Spell action until you re-add Doom to something.

I'd like to take this moment to talk specifically about Mists of R'lyeh. Normally, Mists is a card that may seem underwhelming. Although it is a prime example of action compression, allowing its user to both Evade and Move for a single action, there are typically better ways to do both of these available to Mystics. With Marie, though, Mists has an absolutely absurd amount of potential. Because it is a Spell, Marie can use it with her free additional action. That means that Marie can Evade, Move and still take three Actions during her turn--five total Actions! And all it costs is one charge off of a two resource card. The only downside is that Mists must be in play before it is used, unlike Blinding Light (which can also be used as a free action). Early on, though, Marie has the Arcane slot to spare and can easily afford the cheap two resources. Even later on, when Arcane slots can be at a premium, having Mists in play can be crucial. it is such a powerful card that I would even suggest dropping Shrivelling if you're full-Clue based, late in the campaign (unless you really need the extra combat).

Upgrade Paths

Your first upgrade should be Blood Pact, regardless of which path you take. Having the chance to always use your unique ability, in addition to the powerful +3 Will effect, is too good to put off.

Charisma is another high priority upgrade, to deal with Baron Samedi. I went through the entire Dunwich campaign without getting it, and I regretted that decision too many times to count. Although there are lots of good options for Marie, Charisma may as well be mandatory. Yes, the Baron does hurt that much.

If you went with Archaic Glyphs, upgrading them into Guiding Stones is another high priority. Without the upgrade, the Glyphs merely take up space and provide a measly +1 Intellect in checks. Once upgraded, though, they turn Marie into a clue-scooping machine. Definitely use two Perceptions if you want to go this route, but with a potential seven Intellect from assets you'll absolutely nail those checks and get at least two clues from each charge of this fantastic Spell. Yes, it's a Spell, which means you could Investigate four times in one turn if necessary (though only three with the spell, but you shouldn't need it more than once per location).

If you chose a more combat-oriented path, Song of the Dead should be one of your first buys. With five charges each, and four from each Shrivelling, you'll be able to deal with most threats that come your way pretty handily. Upgrading Shrivelling itself is next on the list.

For clue gathering, you'll want to look at Arcane Insight when you get the chance. Essentially a better Flashlight, it lets you investigate a location at -2 Shroud. If you went for Lantern (see my sideboard recommendations below), the two stack, meaning you've got a -3 advantage that will trivialize clue gathering. Insight also works fantastically with Glyphs if you can get both on the board, which is why I recommend at least one Book of Shadows toward the end of a campaign.

For combat, you may find yourself short on Arcane slots. Book of Shadows can help but may be too expensive if you plan on getting the fully upgraded Shrivelling. Trading out Mists for a pair of upgraded Blinding Lights can be beneficial instead. You likely would rather be killing things than avoiding them with this type of build, anyway. Spirit Athame will help you kill things for cheap, too, and can replace either Magnifying Glass or Lantern for your hand slot. A level 1 Book of Shadows, if you have the Xp left over, can still be useful to keep you fighting.

Other good options regardless of your role, and if you have the XP to spare, are Fearless, upgraded Ward of Protection or the level 5 version, Seal of the Elder Sign, buying a second Deduction for 1xp, or Key of Ys if you're rolling in XP and want to show off.

A finalized, end-of-campaign deck may look like this: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/156002 for Clue scooping or this: https://arkhamdb.com/deck/view/155303 for fighting, but make sure you adapt to the campaign and scenario at hand rather than following a template. Marie's strength is versatility, so be versatile and adaptable!

Card Examinations and Sideboarding

Here I will go over each card in my base deck and sideboard, why I chose them and how they've performed in practice. The decklist presented here is my current draft, but it may change somewhat in the future. For example, through playtesting I've found I used Uncage the Soul more often for its two Will icons than its effect, so I will likely drop one in favor of another Ward of Protection, or perhaps a Fearless. At some point I may drop both.

Main deck.

Archaic Glyphs. Rite of Seeking's downside hurts. Losing your remaining actions hurts most investigators, but for Marie it can be devastating. Moreover, Rite is unnecessary with such a high base Intellect and easy-to-get boosters in Magnifying Glasses and St. Huberts. I still wanted a Spell to investigate with, and the upgraded Glyphs fit the bill. Usually you'll manage two clues with Glyphs, the same as you would with Rite, but Glyphs are cheaper (a boon in a deck with little resource generation) and don't have the punishing downside, and have the potential to be absolutely insane. That said, they do take setup that you might not have time for (say, in a short campaign like Night of the Zealot or a standalone scenario) so these are the first cards on the chopping block in those situations. They're also not great for a combat-focused Marie, so go ahead and toss them in your sideboard if you can't or won't use them.

Magnifying Glass These should speak for themselves, really. Marie's hand slots are pretty much empty other than these super useful toys. Even one brings you to 5 Intellect, already two over a typical three Shroud location. Get one of these in play early every game, even if you're combat focused, and you won't regret it.

Lantern It's not in the base deck but deserves mention here. Why this over Flashlight? Two reasons. Firstly, Flashlight is more for an investigator that doesn't plan on doing that much investigating, but really wants to succeed when they do. Marie is always going to want to investigate, so doing so with only three charges makes little sense compared to a permanent effect. Second, Marie does not have a good way to deal with Rats and other pesky 1-health creatures. Pitching the Lantern for a damage can be a lifesaver. Why isn't it in the basic list? It certainly could be, but Marie only has 5 splash spots, so these had to be dropped for the powerful effect of Glyphs. Once Glyphs are upgraded, though, they become Spells and therefore do not count against her splash cards, so you could throw in Lanterns if you wanted to, and it wouldn't be a bad use of XP. They're really powerful! In a combat focused Marie or a single-scenario or short campaign, go ahead and swap them for the Glyphs.

Edit: Completely didn't realize Glyphs are Occult and don't count against her splash, so you could take Lanterns if you wanted to. I'd still recommend going one or the other, though, as 6 hand slot items may be a bit too much.

Mists of R'lyeh I discussed this card earlier, but it can't be overstated: Mists is fantastic for Marie. Being able to take five actions in a single turn is absolutely ridiculous. This card singlehandedly trivialized the Carnivale of Horrors, getting me a perfect resolution without breaking a sweat. it's so good I considered cutting Shrivelling entirely from my clue-focused variant, and honestly I may still do so.

Shrivelling A Mystic staple that needs no introduction. Solid, efficient combat card that becomes absurd when upgraded. The backbone of a combat focused deck and welcome in any deck.

St. Hubert's Key Marie's two highest stats are Will and Intellect, and what do we have here? +1 Will and Intellect! Incredible, but very expensive. Try and get it out early, otherwise you may not be able to play it later. it's not entirely crucial, though, so don't panic if you don't have it set up early enough. You may even consider dropping to one copy, if the resource cost is too high or you don't have enough actions late in the campaign to play it.

Arcane Initiate In the entire Dunwich campaign I never played Initiate once. That said, I wouldn't leave home without it. This deck doesn't have much draw, so what little it does have is crucial, even if you don't always need it. At most I would cut one copy, but do so at your own risk.

David Renfield One of the MVPs of this deck, Renfield is almost always going to be your go-to Doom applier, even when you have Blood Pact out. He's your resource generation, essentially granting you Jenny's passive ability with one Doom on him and potential for more (go nuts during a Witching Hour or if you have Moonlight Ritual, it's worth it!). He makes for a decent soak, too, but if you don't have Charisma out don't rely on him! The Baron may get jealous...

Delve Too Deep Another Mystic staple. Play it if you have free actions early on in a campaign, but remember that it isn't a Spell so you can't do it for free. Typically you'll want to wait until late in a scenario to Delve, so you know its safe to do so. After two or three scenarios you'll want to ditch this card, as you'll need to be more efficient with your actions and need more cards to contribute to skill checks. In a multiplayer game with one or more other Mystics you can also safely drop to one, especially if you're going into a scenario blind.

Drawn to the Flame Yet another staple, and unfortunately not a Spell. Getting two clues for one action and no skill check is fantastic. Even in a combat focused deck, you may want to keep one of these just in case. If you're soloing you can safely drop it, though again you might want one just in case.

Moonlight Ritual Your "get out of jail free" card. Most of the time you'll end up pitching this for an Investigate or Agility check, but it's good to have for the times when you really, really need to triple-Blood Pact. Fortunately it is a Spell, so you can make three Blood Pact-powered checks on your turn then Moonlight Ritual the Doom away. Don't leave home without it, though you could maybe get away with only one.

Storm of Spirits A little extra fight if you need it and great crowd control. Drop if you're going clue-heavy, add a second if you really want to fight. It's a bit expensive for an Event, though, so be mindful of that.

Uncage the Soul As mentioned earlier, this card was very underwhelming in my playthroughs. Most of the time it was another Guts that didn't draw cards. While the two icons were useful, and I occasionally got value out of the cost-reduction effect, I am likely going to drop to one or zero of these cards in the future. That said, they will always be in my sideboard, just in case.

Ward of Protection A card I always wish I had more of, but have a hard time fitting into a deck. It's so powerful but there are so many other priorities. I'm likely to carry two going forward, and always have a second in my sideboard if I'm running one.

Deduction A Seeker staple that finds its way into this deck as an extra Intellect icon and potential extra clue. Use with Archaic Glyphs for maximum effect, but even with just her base Intellect or base+magnifying(+St Hubert's), you're getting two clues for one action. I keep a second in my sideboard, and once I upgrade Glyphs (so that they're spells instead of level 0 Seeker cards) spending the 1xp to throw the second Deduction into the deck is well worth it.

Guts, Perception and Unexpected Courage. Neutral skills with two icons that either draw cards or are wild. There's not much to be said about these, other than swapping between a second Perception and second Guts depends upon your chosen path, and is a straightforward choice.

Sideboard.

Eureka! is a card I've thought about including instead of Deduction, as it's a useful draw effect that the deck could really use, as well as being versatile with its icons. It didn't make the final cut, but I keep it around anyway

Fearless Horror heals are hard to come by for Marie, and though she has a high 8 sanity and high Will it can sometimes get pretty rough. Particularly if you're using Uncage the Soul for its Will icons, trading that card out for Fearless can be attractive, especially the upgraded version.

Arcane Research This card can be scary. You don't really have ways of dealing with Horror unless you take Fearless, and Shrivelling misses can add up pretty fast. You also can get screwed out of your only real Horror soaks (your allies) by the Baron, and with St Hubert's your sanity is lowered, too. Still, it can be a great accelerator so it is worth consideration. If you decide to play it, Fearless is almost mandatory and you may consider trading St Hubert's Key for Holy Rosary.

Holy Rosary See Arcane Research, above.

Blinding Light The base version of Blinding Light is somewhat expensive for its single-use nature and limited in scope, but it can be strong nonetheless. Worth consideration over Mists in a combat focused deck, though I'd personally wait for the upgraded version. Still, I keep two in my sideboard.

Alchemical Transmutation Usually a poor choice, Marie's unique ability allows her to get extra value out of this card by making it her free fourth action. Since her spells will usually be either combat/evade or investigate focused, she might not always be able to make use of that fourth action. Transmutation gives you something to do with that action and lets you spend resources more freely. it doesn't make the cut in the main deck, but is an option to consider.

Rite of Seeking I know I spoke about how poor Rite is in Marie earlier, but it is still worth consideration as it is a powerful effect. If your plan is to be more of a hybrid clue scooper/fighter, Rite can be a solid replacement for Glyphs in such a deck. Its cost is prohibitive, though, as is its downside as mentioned earlier, but it's still a powerful enough card that it sits in my sideboard, waiting for its chance.

Upgrades not previously mentioned.

These cards all have potential but are usually outdone by other options.

Recharge It's Book of Shadows but one-time use and risky. Still worth consideration if you feel Book is too slow, which I totally understand (in my Dunwich playthrough I used Books maybe twice). Leftover XP (or would-be Book XP) could be spent here without much worry.

Seal of the Elder Sign I mentioned this card earlier. It speaks for itself as a powerful, game-winning effect. However, it is extremely expensive and only recommended if you are swimming in XP.

Rite of Seeking See Rite of Seeking, above.

Ward of Protection The max-level Ward is also expensive but powerful. Usually the base or first upgrade are good enough.

Suggestion It's Mists but more expensive and worse. At least it can cancel an attack?

Archaic Glyphs The over version is better for our purposes, and we have Mists if we want to Evade.

Closing thoughts.

Building and playing this Marie deck has been one of the most fun experiences I've had in the LCG thus far. There are so many options, so many interesting decisions and so many ways to adjust her deck in ways other investigators can't that I doubt I'll ever get tired of her. I wish I had been playing when she was initially released, but for now a proxy will have to do. Please FFG, bring Marie back!