Dexter's Summons

Introduction

I've been looking for a fun Dexter Drake build that is not the standard build, hopefully leaning heavily into the class, and I could not find it. I built a Dexter deck using assets and didn't have to play it before I found it boring. Then I realized something: Molly Maxwell is pretty freakin' good. She allows you to name a trait and get a card with that trait, but the card you get is the topmost card in your deck with that trait. So how do you get the most out of Molly? Well, what you don't do is fill your deck with cards with a common trait and name that trait. The power of such an ability is that if your deck's traits are sufficiently diversified, there will be a single card matching a single trait. Thus Molly encourages a deck where every card has an identifying trait that then lets you summon that specific card with Molly.

Supposedly in deckbuilding "consistency is king," which translates to "build the smallest deck you can" and "put as many copies of a single card in as you can; if it was good enough to put one in, it's good enough to put two in." (That last part actually is not always true, but it's the default position.) But consistency generally comes at the cost of versatility, which is what "tool box" decks like to optimize. Toolbox decks encourage card diversity and may even like larger deck sizes to include more different cards.

Some cards though make consistency not at all a problem and thus allow for versatile decks (and Versatile decks). We see this with Mr. "Rook", Mandy Thompson, Old Book of Lore, and similar cards, often in the class, which grant significant search ability to get needed cards; Patrice Hathaway also is a consistency queen because of her deck cycling. These cards allow for larger deck sizes and diversity in the deck itself. Molly belongs in a similar class, since in the right deck she lets you name a card and then get that card. So let's build that deck.

Of course now we built our deck around a single card of which there is only one copy in the deck. Also, Molly has limited use due to taking horror whenever she's used. These are surmountable issues, though, but when piloting this deck, I would advise a hard mulligan to get Molly. Once you have her, your deck will likely run like a dream.

Traits

When Molly is in play, you will name a trait for which there is only one matching card in the deck (ideally). This makes cards with two traits and especially cards with rare traits ideal for such a deck. I will not list out all the traits in this deck, but before running the deck, take note of what traits each card has and perhaps keep a list of which trait is unique to each card so you know which trait to name to get that card. For example if you want Leo de Luca, name the Criminal trait. If you want Lone Wolf, name the Talent trait. To get Ward of Protection, name the Spirit trait.

The Spell trait is problematic here. Ideally you either want only one card with the Spell trait or have every Spell card have a secondary trait that identifies it. That's not always possible, though, and there are some very good, perhaps key, cards that I want in the deck for which their only trait is the Spell trait. Sometimes you will need to name Spell and in such case your "trick" can be botched (making Dexter and Molly blush with embarrassment) and you get the wrong card.

I solved this problem by making cards having only the Spell trait have a common purpose. Initially cards I would try to get by naming "Spell" were combat spells, since Storm of Spirits is a very good combat spell (I primarily play multiplayer so swarms do happen), but I switched to investigation spells. First, while you can get, say, Ward of Protection by naming the Spirit trait, it is still a Spell and can accidentally be summoned when trying to get a Spell. This would be bad in a combat situation, but there's generally less pressure to investigate so a blunder like this is not a big deal. Second, Dexter's investigation abilities, on their own, are not great, while his combat is decent (though still likely needs a boost). Thus the relative advantage is in making him investigate with his willpower than trying with his book. Third, if you really need clues right now, name Insight to get Drawn to the Flame. Additionally the problem is slightly mitigated by the Arcane Initiate (the deck's Sorcerer), who can filter the Spell cards easily.

Card Draw

Card draw, in addition to being valuable innately, helps get Molly into play. Scroll of Prophecies (the Tome), Arcane Initiate, and Lucky Cigarette Case (the Charm) help a great deal with this. Scroll of Prophecies is just really good at card draw. Lucky Cigarette Case fits well in a deck with a 5 stat that's used frequently; Dexter's 5 fits the bill perfectly.

The Arcane Initiate deserves more explanation. By drawing Spells, she removes non-Molly cards and thus helps you draw Molly by other means. Also, if you manage to draw and play the Initiate, you can target here with Calling in Favors (the Favor) to help get you Molly, or at least reshuffle your deck if you didn't manage to get Molly.

Resources

This is a big money deck. Lone Wolf and David Renfield (the Patron) are massive money engines, and summoning Emergency Cache (the Supply) doesn't hurt either. Dr. Renfield in particular pairs well with Dexter since Dexter can ramp up Renfield's doom for tons of cash and then dump Renfield using Dexter's ability for an additional item discount; I call this the ol' Renfield pump-and-dump trick.

Once resources are high, Well Connected (the Condition) looks pretty attractive. I expect to use it most to boost Dexter's as Dexter's primary weapon, the Enchanted Blade (the Melee item) , may not be able to always get the job done on its own. As we know, though, Well Connected can help for just about any weak stat, even the occasional and test.

Allies

This deck relies heavily on Ally cards, especially since the linchpin card is an Ally. The Arcane Initiate and David Renfield, though, perform key jobs while also being disposable. They get fed to Dexter's ability and also may get targeted by Calling in Favors to help get Molly. That said, there can be a number of allies competing for the ally slot, so Charisma should be an early purchase.

Calling in Favors serves a double purpose. Not only does the card help you find Molly, it can put Molly back in your hand when she's taken enough horror. The card is key to keeping the Molly gravy train rolling.

Upgrades

Key Upgrades

• Versatile (lvl 2) is an early purchase. As mentioned above, a larger deck size in a highly consistent deck not only isn't necessarily bad, it can actually be good when it adds more tools to the toolbox that can be obtained on command. The primary reason for the card is to get Hallowed Mirror (the Occult card) so we can use Soothing Melody to heal Molly's horror and get more cards with her. With these cards plus Calling in Favors, we could potentially use Molly to draw 16 cards on demand! A second Versatile could get us Mr. "Rook", who not only can help find Molly in a somewhat fat deck but also is a consistency king in his own right. As for the other cards, we can put in our upgrades without taking out cards or put in some staples like Leo de Luca or Decorated Skull (the Cursed card).

• As mentioned above, this deck relies heavily on allies, so Charisma (lvl 3) will be important.

• There's heavy competition for the accessory slot, so Relic Hunter (lvl 3) may also be needed since ideally both the Lucky Cigarette Case and the Hallowed Mirror should be in play.

• Twila Katherine Price (the Dreamer) (lvl 3) can keep important assets like the Enchanted Blade around. Additionally, if you get one charge on the Decorated Skull (the Cursed card), every turn you could compress your resource and draw actions.

• Haste (the Ritual, lvl 2) has Dexter's picture on it and is just a good card, and seeing as there's potential for Dexter to be burning actions on shenanigans with Molly, this could be helpful, though Dexter likely will be doing well on actions in general.

• As mentioned earlier, this is a big money deck, so Hot Streak (the Fortune, lvl 2) can get you the resources you need to succeed.

Others

• Dexter's fight is workable but likely needs a boost. Upgrading the Enchanted Blade (lvl 3) helps with this.

• Storm of Spirits (lvl 3) is just a good card and belongs in your deck.

• If you're feeling greedy, put in Charon's Obol. You should probably put in "I'm Outta Here!" as your Trick though (see below).

• There are a number of good Trick cards and you should probably only pick one depending on your needs. Easy Mark (lvl 1) helps with both resource and card draw issues, and if for some reason you're still having issues with the encounter deck (perhaps because of Dexter's low ), there's always "You Handle This One!".

• Garrote Wire (lvl 2) is a good card but hard to summon since it's not the only Weapon in your deck. But chances are you want to summon it only after the Enchanted Blade is in play, so there could be a case for including it anyway.

• Then there's of course standard lvl 0-2 fare that deserves a look such as Rite of Seeking (lvl 4) and The Skeleton Key (lvl 2), the latter you would attempt to summon as a Cursed card, but it may conflict with other cards.