Like Father Mateo, Marie needs an updated review now that Scarlet Keys have been released. Elle Rubash mitigates her biggest drawback—needing doom on a card to get her that extra action. Now she's fine in multiplayer as long as Elle is out since she no longer accelerates the doom clock. The only drawback is that she also needs to take Charisma to prevent Baron Samedi from bumping Elle when drawn.

At level zero, she can take Ceremonial Sickle or Dowsing Rod to get that doom. Note the Rod gives a +1 when investigating, so when put under Elle you're up to 6 before other buffs. For combat, she probably wants to upgrade to Abyssal Tome as she can just keep the doom on there while under Elle for a +2 attack (choosing whichever or is higher) and 2 damage once a turn. It exhausts so she needs a backup weapon, but she'll have her extra action for the rest of the scenario. When the doom clock resets, she can "reload" by either swinging the Tome at an enemy or use the Rod to move and investigate. With a good stat line and card pool access, plus an extra action that you can proc for the entire scenario once you're set up with no extra risk, I think Marie is finally a fun investigator to play!

This card is bonkers, arguably the most powerful card in the set. A free-action Working Two Seeking Answers, triggering off of doing what you want to do already... this is the set's Shed A Light. And as a bonus, you can recur it with Eldritch Tongue without having to deckcycle. Hot damn.

Father Mateo needs an updated review given his cardpool has vastly expanded with Innsmouth and Hemlock Vale. Use his starting XP on Ancient Covenant plus 2 Favor of the Suns that can immediately suck up from cards like Keep Faith, guaranteeing one nearly automatic success per turn for 6 turns. Pretty good for a starting deck!

From there, Mateo has access to many and cards that focus on blessings, allowing him to go multiple routes. Trigger your effect with Blessing of Isis (even if your "real" has been sealed by The Codex of Ages or Serpents of Yig), discount your assets with Rite of Sanctification, or skip the mythos phase with A Watchful Peace.

Father Mateo was dismissed as limited when he was first released due to a really limited cardpool, but that's no longer the case. Pair him with Sister Mary for the ultimate Holy Dynamic Duo!

I was flipping through my Seeker cards for a Rex Murphy deck I'm currently running, and I saw this. I considered taking it, but then I compared it to Higher Education, which recently (as of this writing) came off the taboo list, and it made me realize why Higher Education was put on the taboo list in the first place lol. Sure, this can give you a free +2 every round, but Higher Education can get you much higher AND you don't have to worry about drawing it or taking an action to put it into play. I like the idea of the level 4 Talents (and I also love cards that replenish their uses every round), but I think Hyperawareness 4 will see the least play from me out of all of them.

Mystifying Song spell opens up a realm of possibilities for Marie. Picture this: Marie, armed with a Ceremonial Sickle or a Dowsing Rod, strategically places doom on these assets during her opening moves, granting her the ability to perform a staggering 4 actions per turn. This simple yet powerful strategy allows her to gather clues from multiple locations, inflict extra damage, and cleverly manage doom on her assets. A short doom clock of 4 becomes a playground for Marie, enabling her to execute from a base 12 actions normally to an astounding 16 or 20 actions with efficiency and a touch of luck.

What makes Mystifying Song truly remarkable is its new trigger timing window. This fast card can be played during the Mythos Phase at any moment when doom would cause the agenda to advance. Imagine drawing an Ancient Evils at the most inopportune time, with 3 of 4 doom tokens in play. Instead of allowing the agenda to advance prematurely, Marie can defy fate by playing Mystifying Song, nullifying the impending doom and continuing her turn unhindered for the cost of 3 resources. Even if doom was destined to reach 4 of 4, this card ensures that Ancient Evils loses its grip, and with the arrival of the witching hour, Marie can dive into the chaos of doom assets with impunity.

"But wait!" you might say, as Mystifying Song's effect is listed as "until the end of the phase." Fear not, for the intricacies of timing work in your favor. Although Ancient Evils still adds the doom as indicated, Mystifying Song's clever design ensures that the doom threshold check (step 2 of Mythos Phase) doesn't do anything. The card explicitly states that nothing advances the agenda during the phase, providing Marie a strategic edge. The only cautionary note: be vigilant during the investigation phase to avoid drawing another Ancient Evils, and your arcane prowess with Mystifying Song will be grand.