Marie Lambeau
The Entertainer

Investigator

Performer. Sorcerer.

Mystic
  • 4
  • 4
  • 1
  • 3
Health: 6. Sanity: 8.

While you have 1 or more doom among cards you control, you may take an additional action during your turn, which can only be used to play Spell cards or activate Spell abilities.

effect: +1. You may add 1 doom to or remove 1 doom from a card you control.

Tony Foti
The Circle Undone #6.

Marie Lambeau - Back

Investigator

Deck Size: 30.

Deckbuilding Options: Spell cards level 0-5, Mystic cards () level 0-3, Neutral cards level 0-5, Occult cards level 0, up to five other level 0 Seeker and/or Survivor cards ( and/or ).

Deckbuilding Requirements (do not count toward deck size): Mystifying Song, Baron Samedi, 1 random basic weakness.

Marie Lambeau always had a voice to die for. People called her "the Smoky Velvet." They said she was born to sing jazz, that she had the magic touch - and maybe they were right. After all, the songs she heard in her dreams ever since her Grand-Mère passed away were like nothing she'd ever heard before. The vocals sounded like no language spoken on Earth, the notes twisted and warped. Why her Grand-Mère had moved from New Orleans to Arkham, Marie would never know. People used to call her Grand-Mère a witch. Maybe there's more than just jazz in Marie's blood, after all...
Marie Lambeau
Marie Lambeau

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • Q: Does Marie Lambeau's Deckbuilding Options Spell traits work with bonded cards? For example, can Marie upgrade into Occult Lexicon (3)? A: Yes, Marie can upgrade Occult Lexicon. Bonded cards cannot be treated as part of the text box of the card to which they are bonded. (August 2023)
Last updated

Reviews

I’ve played this game for a hell of a long time with many many different people, and nobody seems to pick Marie Lambeau.

Maybe she’s not designed for multiplayer; the risk/reward ratio for her as much different. Solo, risking an extra doom might lose your three actions to gain an additional one every turn; in a group, the trade-off is one action for 12.

It’s also because there aren't lot of cards that let you manipulate doom; Arcane initiate, Alyssa Graham, David Renfield, blood pact, and De Vermis Mysteriis. With the latter, you get tons of event compression; one action from the book turns into two.

She’s also a 4/4/1/3 Mystic with a tremendous weakness. She loses an ally slot, and amplifies damage for several turns while adding doom to the board.

Still, with access to spells instead of Mystic cards specifically, she gets some oddities from other classes. Blood eclipse or arcane insight, feed the mind for card draw, Alter fate and suggestion, but as of press time, there are 18 non-mystic spells in the game out of almost 100 spell cards.

The only place Marie might fit is in dream eaters A, where doom totals can reach the double digits without advancing the agenda. Perhaps with more doom cards, but even after six expansions, Marie is still best as a solo act.

MrGoldbee · 1388
I kind of like Marie because she is less dependent on spells to get clues (which is obviously more significant in solo). She can also do the Practice Makes Perfect + Promise of Power combo. she can also take Occult Lexicon and Hallowed Mirror, and use her free action for their bonded cards. She can also take Alter Fate, though I think it would usually be better as a support card rather than solo. IDK, she's fairly interesting for a Mystic. I think people are scared away by the doom play, most likely (and that is worse in multi). — Zinjanthropus · 223
For Doom generation there's also Alyssa Graham, who helps Marie find clues the old-fashioned way with an intellect boost (and forewarning on the Encounter deck), Marie's elder sign ability (which can be triggered to add *or* remove doom at any time with Seal of the Elder Sign), and the good Baron himself. I found, once you have Charisma in play, sometimes the Baron is more boon than weakness - if carefully handled, of course. — Prinny_wizzard · 251
The Baron is definitely a doom card that is relatively easy to get rid of before the Agenda advances (unless it's a really short Agenda). Just leave him at 2 doom, then add the third when you would be in the Witching hour to give yourself 3 more rounds. — Zinjanthropus · 223
I think the "not designed for multiplayer" observation is very astute... or at least, she's a LOT safer to play in Solo. As you mention, 1 Doom > 3 actions in MP. But the real kicker is that in Solo you can be 99% assured that if you clear your doom at (Agenda-2), you won't contribute to an early Ancient Evils advancement. In 4p, though, you have to wind this back to (Agenda-4 or 5) to avoid a risk of Acolyte/Mysterious Chanting/Ancient Evils being pulled in a row... which is a pretty narrow window to play with Doom. — HanoverFist · 657
On the other hand, her signiature card gets a lot better in multiplayer. Mystifying Song gives you 1 full extra round of actions, which means +12 actions in a 4 player game. In fact if you end up with those Cultist + Mysterious Chanting + Ancient Evils combos, she could save you even more rounds by preventing the clock from dooming out and giving you time to kill those cultists. I expect every Marie deck to be running Arcane Initiate, which can find her signature, so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect this to happen every almost every scenario. Honestly I'm a little surprised to see so much hesitancy around doom because Arcane Initiate seems like a very popular card. As long as you're packing cards like Moonlight Ritual, Calling in Favours, Forbidden Knowledge, you should always have a way to clear the doom before you doom out. — Jack · 50
If you have a doom threshold of four and put out a doom on turn 1, with the bonus actions, if you take them every turn, and are playing solo, then you end up even on actions. Any doom threshold higher, the bonus goes to Marie. — togetic271 · 4

Like Father Mateo, Marie needs an updated review now that Scarlet Keys have been released. Elle Rubash mitigates her biggest drawback—needing doom on a card to get her that extra action. Now she's fine in multiplayer as long as Elle is out since she no longer accelerates the doom clock. The only drawback is that she also needs to take Charisma to prevent Baron Samedi from bumping Elle when drawn.

At level zero, she can take Ceremonial Sickle or Dowsing Rod to get that doom. Note the Rod gives a +1 when investigating, so when put under Elle you're up to 6 before other buffs. For combat, she probably wants to upgrade to Abyssal Tome as she can just keep the doom on there while under Elle for a +2 attack (choosing whichever or is higher) and 2 damage once a turn. It exhausts so she needs a backup weapon, but she'll have her extra action for the rest of the scenario. When the doom clock resets, she can "reload" by either swinging the Tome at an enemy or use the Rod to move and investigate. With a good stat line and card pool access, plus an extra action that you can proc for the entire scenario once you're set up with no extra risk, I think Marie is finally a fun investigator to play!

You can also attach Baron Samedi to Elle Rubash, since he is an asset. But unfortunately that doesn't free the Ally slot. At least it helps with his doom — Tharzax · 1