The Soldier and the Shaman

Card pool: Revised Core Set and The Path to Carcosa cycle (Investigator Expansion and Mythos Packs) only. None of the cards in this deck are affected by the List of Taboos (version 2.0).

Introduction

Mark Harrigan is a soldier with a base 5 and a very particular way of getting hurt. Two things define him: whenever damage is placed on a card he controls, he draws a card (once per phase), and Sophie, his signature, lets him pay 1 direct damage for +2 to any skill test. This deck commits to that idea: Mark stands in front, takes the hits with his allies and equipment, kills what is in front of him, and turns the damage he receives into cards. It is designed to be played in pairs, not solo.

Mark's role is that of the investigator who walks into a location first, deals with whatever is there and keeps it away from his partner. Finding clues is not his job: he has only 2 , and his is 3. In my case the partner is Akachi Onyele, a Mystic with 5 and 2 who goes after the clues, but the deck should work with any investigator who can take care of them. Mark does not try to investigate: the only tools he carries for it are Evidence!, which finds a clue every time he defeats an enemy, and a few skills that he can commit to his partner's tests.

Because of this division of labour, the two investigators are meant to stay together, or at most one move apart. Mark enters first, absorbs the attacks and kills, and when his partner arrives the way is already free. A good part of the deck's tools only help the investigators at his location: True Grit can take the damage dealt to others, Dodge cancels attacks against anyone there, Heroic Rescue steps in front of an enemy that is about to attack your partner, and First Aid heals whoever is next to him. Splitting up is the exception: it makes sense when there are no enemies around and the clues are far apart, and even then Mark should not stray more than a move away.

His weak point is not health but the way the damage accumulates. Mark has 9 health, but when he has 5 or more damage on him Sophie flips and he gets -1 to each of his skills until he is back at 4 or less. On top of that he has only 5 sanity, and his weakness Shell Shock turns every 2 damage on him into 1 horror. So the real budget is 4 damage on Mark himself, and the whole deck is built to spend that budget carefully: allies and True Grit take the hits so that the damage never reaches Mark, but it still draws him cards, and First Aid and The Home Front take away what does get through. The rhythm is simple: go in first, kill, draw, and keep the damage where it is useful and off the soldier.

Core cards and why

The core of this deck exists to make Mark kill whatever is in front of him and to keep the damage from piling up on him. Everything else is built on top of three ideas: kill efficiently, have shields to take the damage in his place, and have healing and protection for the rest.

Two of the deck's required cards, Sophie and The Home Front, are not among the 30 cards, but they set the way the deck is played. Sophie starts in play and gives +2 to any test for 1 direct damage, as a fast action, which is a lot for a soldier who already hits at 5. The damage is direct, so nothing can absorb it, it counts toward the limit of 4, and it still makes Mark draw a card (once per phase), since the damage is placed on him. Use it when the test really matters and not as a habit. The Home Front is a skill with that, if the attack succeeds, moves 1 damage from Mark to the enemy. It is the only way the deck has of healing damage while dealing it, so keep it for the moments when Mark is at the edge of the limit, or past it, and an attack that succeeds will bring him back down.

The weapons are built so that Mark always has the right tool, and they are not all the same: the deck mixes a firearm that gives him accuracy, a firearm that gives him bullets, and a melee weapon that never runs out. The .45 Automatic costs 4 and has 4 ammo, but gives +1 and +1 damage per shot, which is the card that keeps Mark accurate when Sophie is flipped and he has -1 to every skill. The .32 Colt costs 3, has 6 ammo and deals +1 damage per shot. It gives no bonus to , but Mark already has 5, so what he needs from a weapon is damage, and its icon can also be committed as a skill when you would rather not play it. The Machete is the answer when he is fighting a single enemy, which is what happens most of the time when Mark enters a location first, and it never runs out of ammo, so it is your backup when the firearms are empty. All three are one-handed, so the ideal setup is a firearm and a Machete. Four weapons in the core, plus the Knife in the rest, is enough to have something in hand almost every game, and it is the reason the deck does not need to search for them.

The allies are shields, and they are also the deck's engine. Beat Cop and Guard Dog take the hits for Mark and his partner, and each time damage is placed on them Mark draws a card, once per phase. Only one ally can be in play at a time (two once you buy Charisma), so you will keep replacing them as they fall, and that is fine: losing an ally is part of the plan. Beat Cop gives +1 and can be discarded at any time, as a fast action, to deal 1 damage to an enemy at your location, so he still does something useful when he is about to fall. Guard Dog has more health and deals 1 damage back to any enemy that hurts him, which fits a deck that is always in melee. Running four of them gives you spare bodies for a long scenario.

True Grit is the card that turns Mark into a real tank. It costs 3, has 3 health, takes no slot, and may be assigned damage dealt to other investigators at your location, so it protects your partner and Mark at the same time, and damage placed on it makes Mark draw as well. It also keeps the damage off Mark's own card, which is exactly what he needs to stay below the limit of Sophie. Two copies mean that you will often have an extra shield in play next to your ally.

First Aid is what keeps the shields and Mark standing. It has 3 supplies and heals 1 damage or 1 horror from an investigator at your location, so it covers both Mark's damage and the horror that Shell Shock and his low sanity bring. Apart from The Home Front, it is the only way Mark has of healing damage at level 0, which is why you run both copies and use them often, and why its level 3 version is one of the first things to buy.

Dodge and Heroic Rescue are the protection layer. Dodge is a fast event that cancels an attack against any investigator at your location, so it protects Mark, but also his partner, and it costs no action. Heroic Rescue is the more aggressive one: when a non-Elite enemy would attack another investigator at your location, you engage it and resolve the attack against yourself, and then deal it 1 damage. You choose where the damage goes, so it can be absorbed by an ally or by True Grit, and it makes Mark draw. It only works when the partner is at your location, so it is the least reliable card of the core, and the first one I would change if the two investigators tend to arrive at different times (see the Useful cards section).

In summary, the core cards are focused on three goals: killing efficiently, putting a shield in front of every hit, and healing and cancelling what still gets through.

• 1 x .45 Automatic
• 1 x .32 Colt
• 2 x Machete
• 2 x Beat Cop
• 2 x Guard Dog
• 2 x True Grit
• 2 x First Aid
• 2 x Dodge
• 2 x Heroic Rescue

A total of 16 (these ones) + 14 (the rest) = 30.

Rest of the deck and why

The rest of the cards add a cheap weapon, a bit of economy, the clue that Mark finds when he kills, and the skills that keep his tests reliable and help his partner. None of them is from outside the Guardian and neutral pools, so Mark's Tactic slots are not used.

Knife is the cheapest weapon in the deck and the one that solves a problem the others have. You only have two hands, and the deck is expensive: the first turn is 5 resources, and a Machete (3) plus a Knife (1) fit in it. It gives +1 , and once you have a better weapon in hand you can discard it for an attack with +2 and +1 damage, which frees the slot at the same time. It is also a neutral card.

Emergency Cache is the economy of the deck. It costs 0 and gives 3 resources, and since the allies, True Grit and most of the weapons cost 3 or 4, it is what lets you play two of them in the same turn. Two copies are enough to make the first turns work without turning the deck into a ramp deck.

Evidence! is the only clue card of the deck, and it fits the plan very well. It is a fast event that costs 1 and discovers 1 clue at your location after you defeat an enemy, so Mark's fights give a clue for free, with no test and no action, in the location where he has just cleared the way. When his partner comes in behind him, there is already one clue less to find. Its icons can also be committed to the partner's investigations. It only works where Mark kills something, so it is not a card to count on if the two investigators are far apart, but with the plan of going together I would keep both copies.

Physical Training is the deck's skill-boosting talent. It lets Mark turn resources into +1 or +1 on any test, with a fast action. Combat is not where he needs it, but his is 3 and he is the one who is going to face the treacheries of a deck with so much horror, and this card gives him a way of paying with resources instead of with the damage that Sophie costs. It is the card of the deck that I would change first for something else if you do not like it.

The skills are chosen to keep the tests reliable and the hand moving. Vicious Blow adds +1 damage to a successful attack. Overpower has and draws a card on a success, which is valuable in a game where you only draw one card per round, and Mark makes a lot of attacks. Guts does the same with , which makes it the deck's main skill for the treachery tests that Mark is bad at. Remember that only one copy of each of these skills can be committed to the same test, and the same is true of Perception and Unexpected Courage below.

The last three skills are for the partner as much as for Mark. Perception has and draws a card on a success, and Unexpected Courage has , which fits any test. Mark has 2 , so he almost never uses them in his own tests, but they can be committed to the tests of the partner who is at the same location, and when you do, the card is drawn by the one who committed it, not by the investigator who is performing the test. That is a free card for Mark every time he commits one of them and the test succeeds. One Perception and two Unexpected Courage are enough: the second Perception is the one that tends to rot in hand when the partner is not there.

In summary, the rest of the cards cover a cheap weapon, economy, the clue and the consistency, while the core cards do the fighting and the protecting:

• 1 x Knife
• 1 x Physical Training
• 2 x Evidence!
• 2 x Emergency Cache
• 2 x Vicious Blow
• 2 x Overpower
• 1 x Perception
• 1 x Guts
• 2 x Unexpected Courage

A total of 14 (these ones) + 16 (core) = 30.

Useful cards

This section highlights cards that are not part of the default configuration, but that can be good replacements depending on what you want to strengthen in your own deck. For each one I suggest which card to cut. Mark can include any number of level 0 Tactic cards from other classes, and the default list uses none of them.

If you want to help your partner more. The deck already has Evidence!, Perception and Unexpected Courage for the clues. If your partner needs more help, a second Perception is the most direct option, and Inspiring Presence has , so it can be committed to almost any test, and it readies an ally at your location and heals 1 damage or 1 horror from it, which keeps a shield alive. If the partner is often alone, a Flashlight lets Mark investigate with 2 less shroud, which together with Sophie's +2 is enough for him to take a clue when there is no other option, but it competes with the weapons for the hand slots.

• 1 x Guts -> 1 x Perception
• 1 x Overpower -> 1 x Inspiring Presence
• 1 x Knife -> 1 x Flashlight

If you want more protection. The first place to look is Guts: a second copy gives Mark another way of passing the willpower tests that his sanity makes dangerous, and it is the natural replacement if Heroic Rescue is not working for you because your partner usually arrives after the fight. "Let me handle this!" is a free fast event that lets Mark take a non-Peril encounter card that another investigator has just drawn, with +2 to each of his skills while he resolves it, which is a way of protecting a fragile partner from a treachery, but the horror falls on Mark's 5 sanity, so use it for treacheries that test or and not for the ones that deal horror. Calling in Favors returns an ally to your hand and searches the top 9 cards for another one, reducing its cost by the cost of the one returned, so it can swap a wounded Beat Cop for a fresh Guard Dog for almost nothing.

• 1 x Heroic Rescue -> 1 x Guts
• 1 x Physical Training -> 1 x Guts
• 1 x Heroic Rescue -> 1 x "Let me handle this!"
• 1 x Physical Training -> 1 x Calling in Favors

If you want more damage. Mark already hits at 5, so the extra damage matters more than the bonus to the test, which is why the deck runs one .32 Colt (cost 3, 6 ammo, +1 damage) next to one .45 Automatic (cost 4, 4 ammo, +1 and +1 damage). If your curve is too heavy, the Colt is the cheaper firearm to run twice, and if Sophie is flipped often in your games, the .45 is the one to run twice. Trench Knife costs 1, gives +X where X is the number of enemies engaged with you, and your Engage actions do not provoke attacks of opportunity, which is a good fit for the one who walks in first. I would not add Dynamite Blast to this deck: it deals 3 damage to each enemy and each investigator at the location, Mark included, and that is almost all of his budget.

• 1 x .45 Automatic -> 1 x .32 Colt
• 1 x .32 Colt -> 1 x .45 Automatic
• 1 x Knife -> 1 x Trench Knife

If you want to get out of a bad situation. Cunning Distraction is a Survivor Tactic that costs 5 and automatically evades every enemy at your location, with no test, which gets both investigators out of a swarm. Sneak Attack is a Rogue Tactic that deals 2 damage to an exhausted enemy at your location, and it works well after your partner evades something. Both are level 0 Tactic cards, so Mark can take them.

• 1 x Heroic Rescue -> 1 x Cunning Distraction
• 1 x Knife -> 1 x Sneak Attack

These substitutions do not change the core of the deck, but they allow you to tune it according to your partner and your campaign.

Upgrades with XP

This deck is meant to be played through a campaign, so it is going to grow. Mark can use Guardian and neutral cards of any level, and only level 0 Tactic cards from other classes, so almost every upgrade comes from those pools. Below are the ones I would spend experience on, and at the end of the section there are two tables: one with the recommended order of purchase and the card that each upgrade replaces, and one with optional purchases. The number in brackets after a card is its level.

The most efficient upgrades are the ones that improve what the deck already does, which is to take damage without paying for it. Beat Cop (2) has 3 health and no longer has to be discarded to use his ability: you exhaust him and he takes 1 damage to deal 1 damage to an enemy at your location, and that damage is placed on a card you control, so each use can make Mark draw a card, once per phase. It is the best 2 XP you can spend on this deck. Charisma (3 XP) comes next: it is a permanent talent, so it starts the game in play, does not count toward the 30 cards and gives Mark a second ally slot. A Beat Cop and a Guard Dog can then be in play together, which means two bodies to take the damage instead of one, exactly what this deck is built to do. One copy is enough, because the deck has only four allies and a third slot would rarely be used. Bulletproof Vest (3 XP) is a body item with 4 health, which takes damage that would otherwise go to Mark, and also makes him draw. First Aid (3) has 4 supplies and heals 1 damage and 1 horror at the same time, from an investigator or from an ally, so it covers Mark and his shields with a single action. Elder Sign Amulet (3 XP) is an accessory with 4 sanity that makes up for Mark's weakest stat, and it would take the slot that Police Badge (2 XP) wants, which gives +1 and can be discarded to give your partner 2 additional actions, so choose one of them depending on whether Mark or your partner needs it more.

Stick to the Plan (3 XP) is the best way of making the protection cards reliable. It is a permanent talent: it starts the game in play, does not count toward the 30 cards, and before you draw your opening hand you attach up to 3 different Tactic and/or Supply events from your deck to it, which you can then play from there, exhausting it each time. Dodge, Heroic Rescue and Emergency Cache are exactly that, so you start with the protection and the resources already in reach and without having to find them. The cost is that it can only be used once per round, so it is a good card for the first turns and for the turns when a single card makes the difference.

Ever Vigilant (1 XP) costs 0 and lets you play up to 3 assets from your hand one at a time, reducing the cost of each by 1, which for a deck of cost-3 and cost-4 allies and weapons is a whole turn of setup. It has , so it can also be committed to the partner's tests, and it is a Tactic, so it can also be attached to Stick to the Plan. Emergency Cache (2) costs 2 XP and, besides the 3 resources, draws 1 card, so it replaces the second level 0 copy directly and is also a Supply event that Stick to the Plan can hold.

For damage, the .45 Automatic (2), which replaces the level 0 .45 (and then the Colt, which has no upgrade in this pool, if you want a second one), gives +2 instead of +1 and ignores the retaliate keyword, which is useful for a soldier who is always in melee. "Eat lead!" (2) lets you spend additional ammo on a Firearm attack to reveal additional chaos tokens and choose one, which is the cheapest way of making a key attack reliable. Extra Ammunition (1) puts 3 ammo on a Firearm for 2 resources, and it pays for itself when the firearms run dry. Armor of Ardennes (5 XP) is a body item with 4 health that exhausts to cancel 1 damage, which is excellent, but it takes the same slot as the Bulletproof Vest, and at 5 XP I would only buy it if you find that the Vest is not enough. Shotgun (4) is an option for a boss, but it takes both hands and has only 2 ammo.

Since the deck always stays at 30 cards, every new card has to push another one out, with two exceptions: Charisma and Stick to the Plan are permanent, so they take no slot from the 30, although the 3 cards that you attach to Stick to the Plan leave your deck. For the rest, here is what I would cut: Bulletproof Vest (3) replaces Physical Training, so that the deck keeps all of its weapons, Elder Sign Amulet (3) replaces an Unexpected Courage, Ever Vigilant (1) replaces an Emergency Cache, Emergency Cache (2) replaces the other copy of that card, and "Eat lead!" (2) replaces an Overpower. These are my suggestions and not fixed rules, so adjust them to what your own games show you.

As a recommended order of purchase, with the experience spent so far in the Cumulative XP column (a dash in the Card out column means that the card is permanent and replaces nothing, and the Alternative column points to the optional purchase of the second table that competes with that row or goes with it), I would start with the cards that take the damage in Mark's place, then the protection, and leave the damage for last:

Optional purchases (A to H):

These rows are not part of the numbered sequence: the number in brackets is the extra XP they cost, on top of what you have already spent. "Instead of" means that you buy the optional card in place of that numbered row, and "Extra" means that it does not replace any row, it is added to them.

• Armor of Ardennes has 4 health like the Vest and can exhaust to cancel 1 damage assigned to it, but it takes the same body slot, so it replaces the Vest instead of adding to it, and the 3 XP spent on the Vest are not recovered. If you know you want the Armor, skip the Vest row and put the Armor in place of Physical Training directly (5 XP), which moves every later row up by 2 XP. Keep in mind that damage that is cancelled is never placed on a card, so it does not trigger Mark's draw: the Armor protects better than the Vest, but the Vest feeds his draw more reliably.
• Police Badge is an accessory, like the Elder Sign Amulet, so only one of them can be in play unless you also buy Relic Hunter (G). Its +1 helps with Mark's willpower tests once Physical Training has left the deck, and discarding it gives your partner 2 additional actions in a turn, which is a lot for the one who is searching for clues. Choose it over the Amulet only if Mark's sanity is not the problem.
• Extra Ammunition puts 3 ammo on a Firearm at your location, so it works for your partner's firearm as well as for Mark's, and it is worth it once the .45 and the Colt start running out of bullets.
• Emergency Cache (3) gives 4 resources, or places 4 supply tokens on assets at your location, which can refill the supplies of First Aid in the middle of a long scenario. It is the alternative to the level 2 version of #9, which gives 3 resources and also draws a card, so take the level 3 one only if the supplies matter to you. If you already own the level 2, the level 3 costs 1 XP more.
• The second First Aid (3) completes the healing package, since it heals damage and horror at the same time and also works on allies.
• Shotgun takes both hands and has 2 ammo, so it replaces the Machete only if you want a boss killer: with Mark's 5 and its +3, the damage depends on how much you succeed by, up to 5.
• Relic Hunter is a permanent talent like Charisma: it starts the game in play, does not count toward the 30 cards and gives Mark a second accessory slot. Its only use here is to let him carry the Elder Sign Amulet and the Police Badge together, which makes it a card for the very late game, because it costs 3 XP on top of the 5 of the other two.
• "I've had worse…" is a fast event of cost 0 that cancels up to 5 damage and/or horror just dealt to you and gives you that many resources. It is an emergency button for a big hit of horror on Mark's 5 sanity, but it costs 4 XP, and cancelled damage is never placed on a card, so it does not draw a card. I would only buy it if horror keeps being the thing that takes him down.

If horror is the thing that keeps hurting you, move the Elder Sign Amulet (#7) up, and if you lose allies too quickly, move the Bulletproof Vest (#5) up.

Gameplay

Initial hand & mulligan strategy

The ideal opening hand has both a weapon and something to take the damage in your place. A .45 Automatic, a .32 Colt or a Machete will do as a weapon, and the Knife is a valid start too. Beat Cop, Guard Dog and True Grit are the shields. With a full mulligan you will see at least one weapon about 86% of the time, which is why the deck runs five of them, and you will have both a weapon and a shield about 77% of the time. Do not expect to start with two weapons, as that only happens about half of the time.

If you have both, keep them. If you have only one of the two, keep it and send the rest back, and that includes a lone shield: throwing it away to see one more card for a weapon lowers your chances of ending up with both, and Mark can still fight with his 5 while you look for one, because Beat Cop and Guard Dog already help a little with the damage.

Mind your resources. Beat Cop costs 4 and Guard Dog and True Grit cost 3, so with 5 starting resources you can usually afford one shield together with a cheap card. Playing a weapon and a shield on the same turn usually needs an Emergency Cache, which costs 0 and gives 3 resources. First Aid is a good keep only if you already have a weapon or a shield, since on its own it does nothing in the first turns. The Home Front is only worth keeping if you already have a weapon to commit it to.

The cards you should be happy to get rid of in the mulligan are the skills you will not need yet, such as Perception or Unexpected Courage, and any second expensive card, like a Beat Cop or a .45 when you already have one in hand, since with 5 resources you will only play one of them at the start.

Managing Sophie

Sophie sets the pace of this deck, so it is worth knowing how she works before the first fight. Mark can carry up to 4 damage without trouble: at 5 or more, Sophie flips and he gets -1 to each skill, until he is back at 4 or less.

Using Sophie costs 1 direct damage. Direct damage cannot be assigned to allies, True Grit or armor: it goes to Mark and counts toward the limit, so every use spends one of those 4 points. The same is true of the direct damage that a few treacheries deal, such as the one from the basic weakness Psychosis. It still makes Mark draw a card, once per phase, so it is not wasted.

The damage from enemy attacks is not direct, so you can send it to allies and True Grit and keep it off Mark. What brings him back under the limit are First Aid and The Home Front, which moves 1 damage from Mark to the enemy when the attack succeeds.

Early game

The early game is about setting up a weapon and a first shield while getting into the first fight. Mark goes first into every location that has enemies: engage, attack, and use Evidence! if you can kill something, so that your partner finds a clue less when they arrive. Sophie already helps in these first turns: use it on the tests that matter, such as an attack that decides whether an enemy dies, but keep in mind that the damage is direct and it eats a point of the 4 that Mark has.

Stay close to your partner from the very beginning. Mark's job is to arrive at the enemies before they reach your partner, so that your partner can investigate undisturbed. Do not spend your early actions healing, since it is better to wait until the damage actually matters, and do not worry about clues: that is what your partner is for. Do play an ally as soon as you can, because from then on the damage that falls on it can be a card for Mark.

Mid game

Once you have a weapon in hand, an ally in play and a True Grit next to it, the deck enters its most stable phase. This is where you assign the damage on purpose. When an enemy attacks, choose where each point goes: to the ally or to True Grit first, and to Mark last, because the damage on them can draw Mark a card (once per phase) and costs him nothing, while the damage on him brings him closer to the flip of Sophie and to the horror of Shell Shock. Do not be afraid to lose an ally, since that is what it is there for, and a new one will come.

Dodge and Heroic Rescue are for the turns when the partner is in danger or when an attack would leave Mark above 4. Dodge is the one to keep for an attack that would kill a shield or hit a partner who has little health. First Aid keeps the shields and Mark standing, and horror is the thing to watch: heal it before it becomes a problem, and do not wait until the last point of sanity.

Late game

In the late game Mark should have a weapon with ammo or a Machete, an upgraded shield or armor in play, and enough healing to keep going. This is the moment for the upgrades that take the damage in his place: the Bulletproof Vest and the level 2 Beat Cop, which together put a shield in front of almost every hit. If you have Stick to the Plan, the protection cards are in reach with no search, although it only lets you play one of them per round.

Do not forget how Mark draws: only once per phase, but the deck gives him a reason in almost every one of them. The damage that falls on a shield or on armor in the enemy phase, the damage Sophie costs him in the investigation phase and the damage he takes in a fight can each draw him a card, so over a round he can draw several. The late game of this deck is not a pile of resources but a steady stream of cards, and the best turns are the ones where Mark uses them to kill, clean the location and let his partner finish the scenario.

Final notes

Do not try to make Mark do everything. His strength is that he knows exactly what his job is: to go in first, to fight, to absorb the damage and to keep his partner safe while they do the rest. The more you stick to that, the better the deck works, and the more you try to turn him into an investigator, the more you will feel his limitations.

Stay close to your partner. Many of the deck's tools only work on the investigators at your location, and being in the same place is what lets Mark take the hits for them. Separate only when there are no enemies around and the clues are far apart, and even then try not to stray more than one move away.

Treat your allies and your healing as resources to be spent. Beat Cop and Guard Dog are shields, and it is fine to lose them. It is much better to use them to absorb a hit than to keep them in play at full health until the scenario ends, because the damage that they take can draw Mark a card. The same goes for First Aid: it is there to be used, so do not hoard its supplies.

Keep an eye on the 4 damage, and on horror. Mark has 9 health but only 5 sanity, and Shell Shock turns damage into horror, so it is almost always the combination of the two that ends up taking him down. Heal before you reach the limit, not after, and use Sophie when the test is worth a point, not out of habit.

Finally, the number of copies of cards such as Heroic Rescue, Physical Training and Evidence! is where I would look first after your first games: if your partner usually arrives after the fight, cut a Heroic Rescue, and if you keep finding clues with nothing to kill, cut an Evidence!. As long as each turn contributes to fighting, protecting or healing, the deck will do what it was built to do: let the soldier go in first.

Summary of cards

If your intention is to have this deck ready, you only need the Revised Core Set and The Path to Carcosa cycle. In addition to the 30 cards of the deck, Mark requires The Home Front, Shell Shock, Sophie and 1 random basic weakness.

Deck (30 cards):

Asset

• 1 x .45 Automatic
• 1 x .32 Colt
• 2 x Machete
• 1 x Knife
• 2 x Beat Cop
• 2 x Guard Dog
• 2 x True Grit
• 2 x First Aid
• 1 x Physical Training

Event

• 2 x Dodge
• 2 x Heroic Rescue
• 2 x Evidence!
• 2 x Emergency Cache

Skill

• 2 x Vicious Blow
• 2 x Overpower
• 1 x Perception
• 1 x Guts
• 2 x Unexpected Courage

Tactic slots from other classes: none used (Mark may take any number of level 0 Tactic cards).

Cards mentioned as alternatives:

Asset

• Flashlight
• Trench Knife

Event

• "Let me handle this!"
• Calling in Favors
• Dynamite Blast
• Cunning Distraction
• Sneak Attack

Skill

• Inspiring Presence

Upgrades with XP:

Asset

• Beat Cop (2) (2 XP)
• Charisma (3 XP)
• Stick to the Plan (3 XP)
• Bulletproof Vest (3 XP)
• First Aid (3) (3 XP)
• Elder Sign Amulet (3 XP)
• Relic Hunter (3 XP)
• Police Badge (2 XP)
• .45 Automatic (2) (2 XP)
• Armor of Ardennes (5 XP)
• Shotgun (4 XP)

Event

• Ever Vigilant (1 XP)
• Emergency Cache (2 XP)
• Emergency Cache (3 XP)
• "I've had worse…" (4 XP)
• "Eat lead!" (2 XP)
• Extra Ammunition (1 XP)