Informant O'Toole -- Use Your Enemies to Get Clues

“A con artist’s only weapon is his brain.” ― Frank W. Abagnale, Catch Me If You Can

Some of the greatest informants have been former criminals, because they understand the mind of the crook and can run circles around them. This is exactly what this version of "Skids" O'Toole does. He doesn't have the patience to slog away his actions on fight or clue tests. He would rather exploit the weaknesses of his enemies to get test-less clues and automatic damage.

The cornerstones of this strategy are "Skids" O'Toole's built-in skill at evading due to his high agility and his special power to gain an action to get away faster, and the card Alice Luxley. Alice is perfect for this strategy because she helps "Skids" O'Toole get both clues and damage out faster and more easily. Guard Dog is a back-up in case you don't draw Alice. These allies allow you to either ignore enemies (with the help of Narrow Escape, On the Lam or Scene of the Crime as needed) or evade them and stab them in the back (with the test-less damage from Alice Luxley, augmented by Hatchet Man). The full suite of events that grab clues help him handle even the highest shroud locations and adapt to any situation, while using evasion frequently will make sure you have enemies to get bonus clues from.

Investigation: Alice Luxley is key for the passive intellect boost. This allows Skids to reliably investigate locations with up to 3 shroud, while all of the events that give test-less clues can handle the higher shroud locations. Hard mulligan for Alice Luxley.

Combat: Skids is a boss at evading, especially with Stealth in play. So when you don't need to kill an enemy, just evade it, get the clues and move on. As noted above, sometimes spending 2 resources to activate his power and use the action to finish up at a location and move away can be worth it to avoid having to evade the enemy again. But sometimes it's better to kill, and then Skids can take advantage of Alice together with Hatchet Man to get test-less damage. When you need more damage, he can use .35 Winchester and Enchanted Blade. The Winchester has a really nice cost to damage ratio, especially with higher combat enemies. It also benefits from Skids' flexibility and adaptability: you shoot once, and depending on whether you miss, hit or critical hit you can either evade, get a test-less damage with Alice, or shoot again. Enchanted Blade doesn't need much explanation but it's worth noting that it's often better to use it without the charge, especially if you only need 1 damage. There are 2 copies of Evidence! because this card can be used to do action-less damage with Alice Luxley when you are dealing with 2 enemies. Finally, Skids pulls out the Dynamite Blast when the evaded enemies swarm, and the previous damage from Alice and positioning with Warning Shot can ensure that the dynamite inflicts maximum death on his foes.

Economy: Skids is very resource-hungry, and this deck pushes the resources to the limit. So I've chosen the economy cards carefully to try to mitigate this and avoid spending actions to get clues. The strongest is an early game Lone Wolf, but this isn't as good when drawn later. "Watch this!" and Gregory Gry are used on easy tests, especially evasion aided by Stealth. But there will be some games when you don't get your economy together well, and then you can take a more minimalist approach by evading enemies and playing your cards and effects more judiciously.

Treachery management: This is a weak spot for Skid's, especially cards like Frozen in Fear that are hard for him to escape and can really tie him up. Save "You handle this one!" and Take the Initiative for these treacheries.

Changes for solo games: I don't recommend this, because Skids is pretty vulnerable to treacheries that test willpower and you will have to give up "You handle this one!". But if you must, it is probably better to change the You Handle This One to something that heal or prevent horror, since cards that help him overcome his low willpower are too unreliable or too expensive. Examples of decent horror-mitigating effects would be Dodge(especially good for enemies that attack for 2 horror), Inspiring Presence(nice interaction with Alice) and Hallowed Mirror.

Upgrade path (not in order but these are my early choices):

1. Stealth --> Stealth
2. Hatchet Man --> Garrote Wire
3. "Watch this!" and Gregory Gry --> Easy Mark or Hot Streak or Hot Streak
4. Enchanted Blade --> Switchblade
5. .35 Winchester --> Chicago Typewriter or Lockpicks depending on whether you need more combat or more investigating.
6. Take the Initiative --> Tennessee Sour Mash