To Carcosa and Back - Solo Expert TPTC [The Last King]

~ Part 1: Curtain Call ~

Warning: Massive spoilers for The Path to Carcosa campaign follows

This commentary assumes that the player is familiar with all story elements of the campaign. This series of decks use 2 core sets, The Dunwich Legacy cycle, and The Path to Carcosa cycle.

This series of decks is designed for playing The Path to Carcosa campaign solo on Expert difficulty. This deck focuses on the second scenario, The Last King.

==================== [Introduction] ====================

If you followed the delay strategy for the previous scenario, Curtain Call, this scenario is a massive change of pace. Whereas we dragged out the last scenario, sometimes to upwards 20-30 rounds, we will aim to get out of this one in 7-8. To do this, we will aim to complete our Parley checks as fast as possible, and evade or ignore enemies instead of engaging in combat.

===================== [Upgrades] =====================

To recap, we should have 7 xp from the last scenario. This is how we will spend them:

Permanents:

2x Adaptable (2xp): Incredibly versatile card that let us tailor our decks for each scenario. Very important for this scenario to enable our strategy of removing all our combat in favor of tools that let us complete the scenario ASAP.

1x Charon's Obol (2xp): That's right - defeat is not an option. This is less risky than it looks, since most following scenarios either have Resign options, or are set up such that if you are defeated, you are killed or driven insane anyway. The XP bonus of Charon's Obol speaks for itself.

In:

2x Perception (0xp): Like we've mentioned, the goal is to parley reliably and finish the scenario ASAP. While both and are tested in Parley checks, Wendy has naturally higher and we already have a copy of Guts.

1x Elusive (0xp): Though already a powerful card, Elusive is more important in this scenario than most. In this scenario, most of our actions are spent parleying, which do not trigger attacks of opportunity. This means we can ignore an enemy engaged with us and still have a productive turn, then Elusive to safety before the enemy phase. Also, in a fast scenario, cards that save actions are naturally valuable.

1x Survival Instinct (0xp): This is our 3rd copy of Elusive with some upsides and down sides. The obvious down sides are you are still making an evade check to use it, and you can only move one location. The up sides are that it is free, and can be used to move to an unrevealed location. At the end, I prefer Elusive over Survival Instinct slightly, but I would not consider it incorrect to play 2 copies of Survival Instinct and 1 copy of Elusive instead.

1x Will to Survive (3xp): The single most powerful card in Survivor. Quite possibly the single most powerful card in the game - especially on Expert. In this scenario, playing this card can easily be the margin between 4 and 5 VIPs interviewed. It just does everything.

Out:

Thanks to Adaptable, we can remove our combat package for this scenario where we do not plan to engage in any combat.

2x Overpower

2x Baseball Bat

1x Backstab

Unfortunately, even with 2 copies of Adaptable, we can only replace 4 level 0 cards for free. Several other cards are only marginally useful in this scenario. The remaining copy of Backstab, for instance, is almost always discarded to Wendy's ability or committed for its . Fight or Flights are also rarely relevant. But, of course, this is where Wendy's ability to turn any card into a redraw shines.

===================== [The Last King] =====================

As mentioned above, we are looking to rush through this scenario as fast as possible. So it should come as no surprise that we will mulligan for cards that help us parley.

Fine Clothes is the single most important card in our entire deck.

Perception and Guts are usually re-draws that let us start parleying right away, so they are fine to keep.

Leo De Luca and Lone Wolf are marginally useful if played on turn 1, and usually not worth it later in the game. I find Lone Wolf to be good only if you have to spend a large chunk of resources to play Leo De Luca, so that you have the 10 resources required for Jordan Perry later. Evaluate these cards as if the scenario will last no more than 8 rounds.

Once we start the scenario, two locations are of particular interest to us: Ballroom and Living Room. These locations allow us to parley while not falling behind in economy. If Jordan Perry is in the Dining Room (above the Ballroom), it is almost always correct to parley with whoever is in the Ballroom first, so you have the resources to parley with Jordan Perry right after. Similarly, if Ishimaru Haruko is in the Gallery (above the Living Room), it is a good strategy to parley with whoever is in the Living Room while gathering the cards to parley with Ishimaru Haruko.

Place a heavy emphasis on visiting each location once. Revisiting locations means wasting actions not just on moving, but often times on any enemies left there as well. Do not fear taking a few attacks (or attacks of opportunity) - the scenario will likely be over before defeat by damage or horror becomes a threat.

Double or Nothing is a very powerful card in this scenario. If you are parleying with Fine Clothes, you will be checking against 0 in the case of several VIPs - and against 1 for the rest. This lets us use Double or Nothing to clear them in 1 action with little risk. We can also combine Double or Nothing and Survival Instinct to move twice with a single evade check (perhaps against a Maniac?), while not worrying about picking up an enemy along the way.

Do not overstay your welcome. Remember that Charon's Obol is always waiting for us to slip up.

===================== [The Future] =====================

Since we've made a point of not fighting any enemies, it is more than likely that all 5 VIPs will be alive at the end of the scenario. Since they pose a large threat in later scenarios, we will take the conviction route and kill them by burning down the mansion. This also lets us log a point of conviction, which we intend to have more of when we hit Dim Carcosa. The mental trauma down the line is unfortunate, but acceptable.

While Wendy is well suited for this scenario, our performance here is still highly dependent on our draws - both of our deck and the encounter deck. Even on a bad draw, this deck should still comfortably walk away with 3 VIPs interviewed - and 4 or 5 are by no means out of the question. We will assume we gathered at least 3 xp in this scenario going forward, or 5 with Charon's Obol.

In my tests at the time of writing, the last 7 games with this build got 3 xp twice, 4 xp twice, and 5 xp three times. Additionally, it was highly satisfying how smoothly this deck plays through this scenario.

~ Part 3: Echoes of the Past ~