This is the deck that I used to defeat Before the Black Throne solo in standalone mode. I clinched the victory with my final action on Turn 12 with 9 doom on Azathoth. There were 8 doom on Azathoth at the start of the turn, but in classic manfromleng fashion, I drew an autofail token on my first investigate action at The Black Throne, leaving no room for error on the final two pulls.
I consider myself to be a rubbish deckbuilder, but I am happy with how this deck performed. That said, it's not perfect, and I'm sure better deckbuilders than I will see ways to improve it. I'll note some of the changes that I would make when I break down my choice of cards below.
I capped the XP at 29 because I hate adding extra basic weaknesses to my deck, weaknesses that Harvey will almost certainly draw due to his special ability. I would love to trim the deck to 19 XP, but I'm not sure I could do that without making some difficult sacrifices. If you're interested in playing the deck, you are more that welcoming to blow through my XP cap or disregard the taboo list altogether. That alone will save you 7 XP between Pathfinder and Higher Education.
Unfortunately, a well-constructed deck and sound tactical play aren't enough to beat Before the Black Throne. There are so many random elements in the scenario that you still need a tremendous amount of luck to win. If your deck survives being torn apart by Empty Space, and you pull the right locations from the Cosmos deck, and, perhaps most importantly, you find the Hideous Palace, Court of the Great Old Ones and The Black Throne on the first attempt, then you've got a chance to win; otherwise, you'll probably be devoured by Azathoth. Doom ramps up so quickly during this scenario that you're unlikely to get a second chance to guess the right location, especially during Act 3A. That a shame, because it feels that, more often than not, luck not skill is the deciding factor, at least in solo play. So while I enjoyed testing various iterations of this deck against Before the Black Throne, the excessive randomness and luck really detracts from my enjoyment of this scenario.
THE STRATEGY
The goal of this deck is to reach the Black Throne as quickly as possible while keeping the Daemonic Piping, Piper of Azathoth and Mindless Dancer off the table using a combination of Otherworld Codex, Dr. William T. Maleson and Forewarned. The enemies in this scenario are difficult to fight using traditional means since they either spawn in hard to reach places (Acolyte, Wizard of the Order and Mindless Dancer), or they have above-average Fight values and a lot of health (Piper of Azathoth and Mindless Dancer). If the Piper or its Dancers hit the table, then you can use a combination of Barricade and evasion to keep them off your back so you can either reset the board or make one last desperate lunge for an unrevealed Cosmos location.
WHY HARVEY?
4 , 5 and the ability to draw a lot of cards is a winning combination. I'm fairly confident that Daisy Walker or Ursula Downs could defeat Before the Black Throne with this type of build, but that would require further testing.
A NOTE ABOUT CLUES
You need to discover a lot of clues to defeat Before the Black Throne with this deck. While you need only three clues to advance to Act 3A, clues are the only way to mitigate the variance of the Cosmos deck. You also need to save clues so you can trigger the abilities on Dr. William T. Maleson and Forewarned. I would usually spend 2 or even 3 clues to draw from the Cosmos deck since spending one clue usually turned out to be a losing proposition. If I had Dr. William T. Maleson in play or Forewarned in my hand, then I would always try to save at least one clue to see me through the Mythos phase.
A NOTE ABOUT BASIC WEAKNESSES
I drew three random basic weaknesses each time I played Before the Black Throne to see how the deck would perform against a variety of threats. The basic weaknesses listed here just happen to be the ones in the deck when I won. Harvey draws so many cards that he will likely see all of his weaknesses at some point during the scenario unless, of course, you get lucky and some of them end up as Empty Space. Enemy weaknesses are not ideal since the deck doesn't pack a lot of enemy management tools that can deal with them. I'd consider adding two copies of "I've got a plan!" if you you draw an enemy/enemies as a basic weakness. Most of the other basic weaknesses in the pool tax your actions, which is annoying when your in such a tight race against the Agenda deck, but they're not necessarily fatal on their own. Best case, you draw Indebted as one of your weaknesses.
THE DECK
Magnifying Glass: A fast, cheap source of Intellect that enables Harvey to discover clues at most locations without committing additional cards and/or resources to skill tests. I considered Cryptographic Cipher for this slot, but there are trade offs. While Cryptographic Cipher lets you investigate as , it's more expensive and raises the shroud value by 2, forcing Harvey to commit additional cards and/or resources at Cosmic Ingress, Hideous Palace and Court of the Great Old Ones. Ultimately, I decided to stick with the Magnifying Glass since you need to take a lot of investigate actions during this scenario, and all those cards and resources would start to add up.
Otherworld Codex: Otherworld Codex played no role in the game I won since it got snagged by Through the Gates. However, in previous games it proved to be stellar, discarding multiple copies of Mindless Dancer. Other potential targets in the encounter deck, including Acolyte, Daemonic Piping, Terror in the Night and Fate of All Fools.
Dr. Milan Christopher: One of the best, if not the best, allies in the Seeker card pool despite taboo, the good doctor provides the Intellect and resources Harvey needs to fuel cards such as Higher Education. You can beat the scenario without him thanks to Harvey's 5 , but he's awfully nice to have around.
Dr. William T. Maleson: Dr. William T. Maleson is working on something big - keeping Piper of Azathoth and Mindless Dancer off the table. The Agenda deck forces you to draw Daemonic Piping three times, but Maleson gives you the option to redraw. Spawning the Piper isn't necessarily a death sentence, but it has Alert, Hunter, Retaliate and attacks even if exhausted, so keeping if off the table is the best solution. If the Piper does spawn and you're able to reset the board, Maleson can keep it at bay with a little luck. You can also use Maleson to redraw Ancient Evils, but that's a tough call. There are a lot of cards in the encounter deck that add add doom to the table one way or another, so its a riskier choice than it would be in another scenario.
In the Know: Theoretically, In the Know gives Harvey the option to investigate at Cosmic Ingress, Hideous Palace or Court of the Great Old Ones from anywhere on the board if he runs out of clues. In practice, In the Know felt a little too expensive, slow and dangerous if Dancers are lurking about. That said, In the Know and Barricade are a match made in heaven, so I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet. Seeking Answers seems like a good option, but I struggled to find the space for it. It also has two icons, which would help with enemy management. If I play this deck again, I will probably swap In the Know for at least one copy of Seeking Answers. Finding space for a second copy would be challenging without blowing through the XP cap or breaking taboo.
Pathfinder: You have a lot of ground to cover between the three Acts in Before the Black Throne, and taking a free move action each turn gets you where you need to go. No other cards even comes close. The Truth Beckons would be amazing in this scenario if not for all the Empty Space between you and the unrevealed Cosmos locations.
Vault of Knowledge: Harvey signature card is amazing. Sadly, I never saw in any of my games. Perhaps the Vault was floating in Empty Space.
Charisma: Ideally, you'd like Dr. Milan Christopher and Dr. William T. Maleson on the table at the same time. An earlier iteration of the deck used Miskatonic Archaeology Funding but I wanted only two allies, so I swapped it for Charisma, which costs slightly less XP.
Higher Education: This card is worth its weight in gold mid- to late-game. Once you stabilize, Higher Education protects you from every treachery in the encounter deck, so Dr. William T. Maleson and Forewarned focus on Daemonic Piping and the Dancers. Higher Education is also a godsend at The Black Throne, which has a high-shroud value, and the Haunted trigger is awful.
Versatile: I've gone back and forth on this card. Harvey doesn't mind the larger deck size, and it's nice to include a few more options. Besides, part of your deck is lost in Empty Space anyway. I would cut this card if I was convinced that I could cap the deck's XP at 19, but that would requires sacrifices I'm not willing to make. Alternatively, you may consider cutting this and In the Know for two copies of Seeking Answers. You'd need to cut 5 other cards, though, which would prompt some agonizing choices.
Barricade: Barricade is an all-star in this deck because it keeps Mindless Dancer at bay. The Dancers are at their most dangerous at the beginning of each Act since they'll double hunt through Empty Space. If you can barricade yourself in Cosmic Ingress, Hideous Palace or Court of the Great Old Ones while you gather a few clues, then rush out and put a couple of revealed locations between you and the Dancers, they become a lot more manageable. In the game I won, I barricaded myself in the Court of the Great Old Ones for three turns while two Mindless Dancers waited outside. Once I was confident that I had gathered enough clues, I lunged towards the closest Cosmos location, revealing several locations along the way to slow the Dancers' advance. Fortunately, the Cosmos location was the Black Throne. You don't need the upgraded version of Barricade since none of the enemies in the encounter deck will spawn on you.
Burning the Midnight Oil and Crack the Case: I went back and forth on these cards. Cryptic Writings seems like the obvious choice, but I never seem to draw it during my turn - even when I play Harvey - and I hate playing it the hard way. Burning the Midnight Oil is a better choice since you're going to take a lot of investigate actions during this scenario anyway. I'm not sold on Crack the Case in this deck. Cosmic Ingress, Hideous Palace and Court of the Great Old Ones regenerate clues, so you're unlikely to play it there, and the shroud values of many of the locations in the Cosmos deck aren't that high. I may consider cutting it in favour of an enemy management tool. That said, it's better to have too many resources than not enough, especially with Higher Education on the table, so I'm torn.
Deny Existence: This card prevented me from dying in the game I won, but you could experiment with other cards, such as Ward of Protection in this slot.
Forewarned: See Dr. William T. Maleson above. Daemonic Piping is the primary target, but cancelling Ancient Evils isn't a bad call either. I wouldn't hesitate to cancel the third copy of Terror in the Night or a second copy of Fate of All Fools either if my life was on the line.
Mind over Matter: A staple of Seeker decks, Mind of Matter is your get-out-of-jail free card in the event you get cornered by the Piper, its Dancers, or a basic enemy weakness. You can also use it to snipe an Acolyte before it can commit ritual suicide, which I did in the game I ended up winning. Preventing that one doom from ending up on Azathoth probably won me the game in hindsight.
Preposterous Sketches: Harvey can draw a lot of cards between his ability, his Elder Sign effect and Vault of Knowledge, but it's nice to have an option to restock your hand quickly to qualify for Higher Education. I may considering cutting one copy of Crack the Case to add another copy of this.
Shortcut: See Pathfinder above. You need all the extra movement you can get, especially if you guess the wrong Cosmos location and need to backtrack.
Working a Hunch: It's a little pricey but this deck needs to discover a lot of clues and .
Curiosity: I'm not entirely sold on this one. It's a good option if you can lock your hand size at 7; otherwise, Unexpected Courage, Inquiring Mind or Manual Dexterity may be better choices.
Deduction: This deck thrives on clues, and Cosmic Ingress, Hideous Palace and Court of the Great Old Ones have plenty to spare. Discovering three clues with one action can give this deck a huge boost of adrenaline.
Eureka!: It has a great icon spread and it can trigger Harvey's special ability.
Perception: I may consider replacing this card. Harvey doesn't necessarily need the icons, but they're nice in a pinch. Perception also triggers Harvey's ability.
Before the Black Throne is a very challenging scenario to beat solo, so I'm glad I have a win under my belt. I found building a deck to beat it a frustrating experience at times because it wasn't always clear during testing whether the deck or RNG was to blame for defeat. While all scenarios have some inherent randomness due to the nature of the encounter deck and chaos bag, Before the Black Throne dials it up to 11. Time and again, the outcome of the game seemed to hinge on picking The Black Throne from among four random Cosmos locations. It would be nice if the Return to the Circle Undone product fixes this problem or gives solo players some way to mitigate the randomness somewhat, but I'm not going to hold my breath.