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Right! It looks like im trying decklisting again after a sizable break and a lot of encouragement. Please direct your complaints to @turbinisimo of los archivos podcast for getting me to get back into it ;)

Those who know me know I love event and skill based decks. They let you live in the moment and roll with the punches. As such, Marion has my attention just now (as does George ;) ).

This is my current thinking for her after a lot of games using other Marion decks, though I have not played this exact build. I am in the middle of a campaign with friends and probably wont get around to trying it fully for while if i don't move on to something else. It is at least a list of what I wished i done/had available in a lot of games and includes a lot of common elements with successful builds.

The deck shown here has a little xp to show the broad deck concept . As with most of my deck lists, im not offering a definitive list but rather trying to showcasing an archetype so people can make their own. This is but one iteration available. Feel free to make changes to suit your tastes.

TO RESET TO A CAMPAIGN STARTER

• Blessed Blade (4) & Mk 1 Grenades any 1h weapon with +1 damage that can be used more than once a turn and doesnt have limted uses (ie ammo). e.g. Machete.
• Michael Leigh Ally with either or boost depending on your needs (E.g. Beat Cop/Grete Wagner/Alice Luxley).
• 'A Glimmer of Hope (2) A Glimmer of Hope (0)
• keep 1 copy of Prophetic with In the Thick of It, swap the other for an economy event. Stand Together works well.
• Drop Stick to the Plan
• All other xp cards events which draw cards or provide resources or anything you fancy. I would bring at least 1 more copy of Prepared for the Worst until you have Stick to the Plan. I also like Breach the Door.

Want more damage? At least swap Winging It for Improvised Weapon. You can also swap some other clue tools for damage options, and/or upgrade into some of the low xp fast combat events (Galvanize, Hand-Eye Coordination and Hunter's Mark). Keep an eye out for spell and spirit traits on these for Prophetic. Loads of them have them.

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GIVING IT A WIDE BERTH? - TL:DR

SLOTS:

• Hands ............. 1h melee weapon
• Accessory ...... Hallowed Mirror
• Body ............... Unused
• Arcane Slots .. Unused
• Tarot ............... Unused
• Allies ............... Michael Leigh or another / boosting ally

Stick to the Plan:

• Pushed to the Limit
• Prepared for the Worst
• Emergency Cache/One-Two Punch

This is a fast set up, Flex Marion build. Enemies are intermittent, but clues are almost always available offering more opportunities than a pure combat build. ... So lets primarily use her event suit on clues

A STTP, Pushed to the Limit & Prepared for the Worst combo guarantees a weapon in the first 3 turns (See setup, credit: @HungryColquhoun).

This gives us a 2 damage, +2 1h melee weapon with unlimited uses from the start of the game, with reusable burst damage bonuses from Enchant Weapon and Michael Leigh later on - more than enough to deal with common enemies and pitch moderately in on bosses.

This spares slots for a suit of investigation events all of which benefit rom being discarded by Short Supply or "I'll do it myself": (Winging It, Fortuitous Discovery, Glimmer of Hope (Commit to investigate tests)).

A Chance Encounter can recover an ally from Short Supply. Resourceful can get Prophetic or A Chance Encounter back, and Scrounge for Supplies can get Resourceful back. Hopefully getting these early. Prioritise Prophetic as this can pay for almost all the events all game, in particular A Glimmer of Hope which you will be using most turns.

Glimmers cover for encounter checks, boost to investigate, and/or boost where needed as well as guaranteeing at least 1 event available to trigger her .

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OVERHAUL - UPGRADES

PRIORITIES:

• Stick to the Plan (see set up)
• Prophetic second copy - helps to find a copy earlier.
• A Glimmer of Hope (2) - You will be using these all game. 2xp for the upgrade that covers you for the majority of treachery cards (see encounter protection). Its not obvious until you see it in practice, but I swear you wont regret it after even 1 game.

THEN

• Michael Leigh & A Chance Encounter (2). Michael Leigh is one of the best flex allies in the game. 3/3 soak, and basically a Vicious Blow a turn so long as you are investigating regularly.

FINALLY SOME OPTIONS:

• I would go for an xp weapon first. Blessed Blade (4) is my preferred primary. A lot of people like this for the blessed trait to "add back your arm" using Occult Reliquary. However, I find one hand slot is actually plenty, especially when Mk 1 Grenadess are slot less. All I want is +2 and +1 damage and this is one of the cheaper options to do this. The casual blessing is also handy, especially with Lucky!. Other notable options include The Hungering Blade (cheaper, some risks with high draw, but potential bonus burst damage) and Timeworn Brand (low risk, high price), which are relic traited which is important for geist (a big issue in TCU) enemies such as Spoiler.
• Enchant Weapon - See combat section. Also adds relic status if needed.
• Mk 1 Grenades - slot free back up weapon. Add area damage. Recyclable via Pushed to the Limit
• True Awakening is just amazing in Marion 2 draw + either a clue or some heals that you just play on site most games.
• There are a few other options shown in the side board. Note that once you have A Glimmer of Hope (2), Lucky!s are less critical (see encounter protection) if looking for cuts. If looking for more burst damage, Hunter's Mark (spell), Galvanize (spirit) and Hand-Eye Coordination (cant use prophetic) are low xp fast events that aid attacks. Bound for the Horizon works nicely with Glimmers.

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ALL HANDS ON DECK - SET UP & MULIGAN

MULIGAN:

Keep (in order of priority):

1. A weapon
2. Enchant Weapon
3. Prophetic
4. Resourceful
5. Your ally, or A Chance Encounter(2) if not.
6. Scrounge for Supplies

Mulligan the rest on hope of getting them. Note that Short Supply happens on your first turn and therefore after you mulligan so you dont know what recursion you need to get things out of the bin.

SET UP:

Prioritise getting a weapon down asap: With 10 cards in the bin, 5 in hand, and 3 on Stick to the Plan, we have 16 in the deck. Prepared for the Worst digs 9 deep. Shout out to @HungryColquhoun for the following Method shown in this deck, I love that deck so much... anyway:

• If a weapon is in hand Just play it naturally.
• If any are in the discard, use Pushed to the Limit on the first attack you need. At least 1 turn will have passed by that point and you are likely to have drawn twice (upkeep and one , so 14 cards left, 13 after the draw from playing Pushed to the Limit itself). You therefore need just a few more draws to get down to a 9 card deck to guarantee Prepared for the Worst landing next turn (10 if there was one in the deck before you played Pushed to the Limit). Note that while weapons are lvl0, Scrounge for Supplies also works here.
• If both are the deck You need to draw 6 cards to get down to 10 in deck. Thats about 3 turns of upkeep and draws.
• In each case, note that some events draw additional cards (Tempt Fate & True Awakening. Use these to get down to the 10 needed faster.

Prophetic and your Ally can often be fished out of the discard: Just less reliably. A Chance Encounter can get an ally out. Resourceful can get Prophetic or A Chance Encounter back, and Scrounge for Supplies can get Resourceful back. Prioritise Prophetic here, the ally is helpful but not critical (see clues and combat). Prophetic will pay for almost all your events all game (see economy section).

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SOLDIER OF FORTUNE - ENEMY HANDLING

• See setup section for how to get your weapon down fast. This will be enough to deal with almost all small (1-4hp) enemies provided we can land hits.
• Boost via allies, A Glimmer of Hopes and Enchant Weapon. We want to be 2/3 above on standard early/late in the campaign (3/4 on hard). For a 3 enemy that means getting to a reusable base od 6 to 8. Starting with 4 on your ID, +1 from Allies, +1 or +2 depending on your weapon gives us 6 or 7. We can add +1 to this from any Glimmer, or +2 from Enchant Weapon. Determined additionally works for One-Two Punch.
• Burst damage is available from Michael Leigh, One-Two Punch, and Enchant Weapon to deal with 3hp enemies. 4hp needs both or 2 normal attacks. Larger enemies just take additional actions. The bonus damage from Michael Leigh and Enchant Weapon are usable once a turn. One-Two Punch can be recurred via Scrounge for Supplies if it wasnt needed for set up/Fortuitous Discovery.
• Pushed to the Limit can recycle Mk 1 Grenades if it wasnt used on setup.
• A Glimmer of Hope (2) can be used to evade with a base of 5, or 7 with two copies. lvl0 Glimmer can do something similar, though it takes more copies.

That should be enough to deal with most standard enemies, and pitch in plenty on bosses. Its certainly enough for a flex spot. Because we are not relying on events for this, unlike event only builds we cant be caught without an available damage option, and we spare a ton of deck space for other functions. In this build I have spent this on getting clues, which are more commonly available than enemies.

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THE SCUTTLEBUTT - CLUES

• Aim to test 2-4 above shroud Again, we want to be 2/3 above on standard early/late in the campaign (3/4 on hard)... ish. This is less critical than it is on combat as there are usually fewer penalties for failure (ie no enemy to attack you later on if you miss). With Michael Leigh down, that means we usually want 1 more pip to get to 5 vs a 3 shroud (ie cover most locations). Most of the time this will be Glimmers and Winging Its. Note that we can choose to boost Fortuitous Discoverys via Prophetic if we pay for it with real money (or second Prophetics). Winging It and Fortuitous Discovery can be boosted by Determined.
• If you have Glimmers cycling for encounter protection, use Luckys! to investigate by going 1 or 2 above test. This will usually be about 50-70% chance. If you pass, get the clue, keep the Lucky! and go again. If you fail (by 2 or less, which is usually the rest of the non bag) play Lucky! (paid for by Prophetic). This can trigger your giving you a free event play... which usually gets those Glimmers back for the next investigate.
• Recur the last copy of Fortuitous Discovery via Scrounge for Supplies If they haven't been needed else where (See setup). A 3 clue event paid for by and/or boosted high by Prophetic money does a lot of work.

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TURNING A PROPHET - ECONOMY & DRAW

• Play an event every turn if you can (within reason) This is probably obvious, but her offers a ton of action compression that is hard to justify wasting. When in doubt, bring A Glimmer of Hopes back to hand. See clues, combat and encounter handling section - These are the bread and butter of your skill boosting. Pay for them with Prophetic). The utility cards can also initiate things (ie Enchant Weapon, Prepared for the Worst, Pushed to the Limit, Scrounge for Supplies. It will be rare that you have no option at all, use what you have.
• Fast and/or Draw events are really important. Fast events effectively give you a bonus action from your . See clues section for how to abuse Lucky! for this. But we also have Tempt Fate, which is both fast and draw (+1 draw via your ), and True Awakenings top option for 2 cards (+1 from your ) is a lot of cards for very little effort, usually with a bonus clue from the other option. Finally, don't miss the draw on Soothing Melody from Hallowed Mirror.
• See Setup section to get Prophetic in play fast, this help will pay for almost all of your events all game saving real money for other options. The exceptions are: Winging It, Pushed to the Limit, and Prepared for the Worst. In general you will mainly need a lot of real money early on to get the assets down. Ie early game. Late game you will have plenty for the Winging Its. This is why Emergency Cache is on Stick to the Plan. There is a strong argument for replacing 1 Emergency Cache for a Stand Together that stays in the deck for team support.
• Prophetic can pay towards A Chance Encounter (2). You are paying X to play the event, which is fortune traited. The event then puts the ally into play effectively for free. Thus you can get a 2 penny discount on Michael Leigh for example.
• Loads of your events WANT to be in the bin! Fortuitous Discovery, Winging It, A Glimmer of Hope all benefit from this. Short Supply helps here (where it made the set up fiddly), but it also trivialises "I'll do it myself" in a lot of games. In practice I find "I'll do it myself" usually still costs me 1 event i didnt want to lose, or 1 horror to get the Glimmers back to hand. But thats reasonable for a sig weakness.

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BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA - ENCOUNTER PROTECTION

• A Glimmer of Hope (2) protects from encounter checks. as does its lvl0 Glimmer just less so. I often find i put 2 copies into a check to get to 6 - which is plenty to pass tests. Noting that is commonly associated with horror, which is a vulnerability to any 2 6 Sanity investigator. It also covers for agility (usually associated with damage) if needed.
• Until you have enough Glimmers around to do this, use Lucky!s, or just soak the hits You can heal it back with Soothing Melodys (Hallowed Mirror) or on allies. Michael Leigh has 3/3 hp/san which is close to half an additional investigator worth of space. Note that Grete Wagner (0) is 3/2 as well. That should buy you enough time to find the glimmers if you are drawing hard. If it wasnt needed for setup, A Chance Encounter (2) can also be used to reply fallen allies.

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Wait - why sailor puns not arm puns? - On the one hand they are quite easy. On the other they can be a bit repetitive and obvious, and I have no desire to risk offending the amputee community. Plus my arms have always been by myside. You know you can always count on your fingers.