Daniela Reyes; Can't keep a good woman down (again)

Intro

With the new card drops from EotE I'm sure there will be many new fun mixes showing up. But my girl Daniela, I'm not seeing her get enough love. I want to change that.

Daniela has been top my list since I saw her character, for three simple reasons:

1. She invites getting attacked. I find this kind of risk-inviting gameplay really fun, and think it makes for satisfying play experiences. She's a bruiser who cares.
2. She's a Guardian who grows Survivor. Like all of the investigators in EotE, I think this is a fascinating new way to spin decks.
3. She's a canon black lesbian, fighting for her family. She is cool as f**k and deserves attention.

Now I will say I'm not an expert theorycrafter, and I'm not super aiming to be. I play with a group of comparative newbies, and while I do enjoy seeing the power-bonkers decks that people make on here, I try not to ingest them too much. We're not playing on Nightmare, and it's much less fun (for me) just dominating the game for the team than it is to be roughly on the same level. This is also why I'm running with with the most recent taboo list active - to counteract some of the advantage I'd have over newer players.

And lastly, this is designed as a campaign-opener deck that I'm making for our next campaign. So it has 5xp because I drew Offer You Cannot Refuse as my random weakness, and then decided to lean into it hard and get In the Thick of It because I'm a sucker for punishment.

I hope you enjoy looking at this deck, and I hope it inspires you to look at Daniela and say 'goals'.

The Concept

We're going full brawler here. My aims are:

• Actively take out enemies as they appear.
• Be the focus of enemies, pulling them away from teammates and tanking.
• Stay healthy/sane enough to be useful.
• In general, feel like that badass that takes in on the chin to protect her friends.

So this means I'm not fussed about clues even a little - there are 3 other investigators doing that (or at least splashing it). My priorities are having the tools to kill enemies, soak the suffering, keep the party safe.

A bonus thing that I specifically have to keep in mind is cashflow. Due to Offer You Cannot Refuse I have to keep cash in the chamber, or things will get bad for Daniela.

The Build

Staying Alive

Mainstays are Flesh Ward and Bandages, with Medical Student as well. Between these cards, I should have some degree of protection at all times. Also, just RIP for the Med student who is gonna have the roughest internship of all time. For a less-disposable ally, we have Jessica Hyde - the Pete of health. Hallowed Mirror throws in some healing. Dodge is the emergency button if something is too rough.

I have taken Peter Sylvestre, but our brand new player is running Agnes Baker and she's running Peter as well. Big man on campus is just too much in demand.

Taking Them Out

Sledgehammer is the centre of reliable damage here, along with Mechanic's Wrench. The dependence on Big Sledge does distort the deck to needing Bandolier to have a second weapon in play, which we definitely want with the wrench around. It's a shame she can't go for the Bandolier because it would go so sweetly, but hey it's almost like she's restricted or something. Survival Knife feels like a good starting backup for Daniela, given her role. Again, it's sad that she can't save for the Survival Knife because it would be golden. But this is the fun of Daniela.

You stand over there

Playing to her flavour type in full here. "Get behind me!", "Let me handle this!" and Heroic Rescue are all party-savers. Daniela's high willpower means stepping in for a treachery isn't the worst, and the soak setup should let her keep battlin' on.

Round it out

Bangle of Jinxes feels custom made for Daniela. When I get the XP I'll almost certainly get another.

Act of Desperation this is filling my allotment of 5 lvl 0 Survivor cards, and giving me an emergency option for some fight success and/or resources.

Stand Together and Take Heart should let her keep up on cards and cash.

We're playing Return to the Circle Undone, so The Fool • 0 feels very fitting. And, tbh, it feels fitting for Daniela anyway. She's a little reckless at the best of times! (and also, you know, it'll help with her econ game).

Sigh. I've been so sorely tempted by Geared Up. Partially because it is new and shiny, but mostly because it lets Daniela get a clean setup for cheap. Currently she doesn't need anything other than a weapon and some soak. But I feel like it limits her growth. I don't know how this deck will go. I don't know if I'll drop Sledgehammer for something one handed, or drop Bandolier for some actual armour. I don't know, in truth, how item heavy she'll be (although thematically I'm very much in favour of her having a big toolbox of stuff). But yeah, I'm honestly split on it.

Possible Upgrade Routes

If I go ally heavy then:

• Aquinnah She's pricey, but has high soak and a very useful ability in a 4 player game.
• Aquinnah Aquinnah. Like Aquinnah, but you can make 'em punch themselves.
• Charisma
• Calling in Favors to go with it. Keep my allies alive and ticking

If I go ham on exiles, then:

• Déjà Vu, pretty big xp sink, but worth getting early if I'm gonna do it. It can pay itself back easily.
• Flare, big damage blast or emergency ally, it's golden.
• Devil's Luck is great for Daniela as I'm playing her; as someone who might actually wind up in a situation where she's about to take a boatload of damage/horror.
• A Test of Will (or the 2xp version if I have xp to burn). It plays well into the idea of blocking threats from others in the group.
• Unscrupulous Loan is pretty appealing. This deck isn't super cheap, but also doesn't need money every turn. So a massive moneyboost would just grease the wheels if needed, and importantly it takes Offer You Cannot Refuse out of the stress.

Make it up: This is by far the most likely option to be honest.

In Conclusion

I hope this has been fun to read, it's certainly been fun to write and put my thoughts in order. If you've got any feedback/ideas, please feel free to let me know. And if nothing else, even if you think this whole deck is hot trash, I hope it makes you consider some Daniela shenanigans. Because for real, I am a fan of this lady.

P.s. apologies if this is spamming the new decks section! I'm really not trying to, I just keep noticing amendments (or getting feedback), and apparently can't update the deck once published?