Leo Anderson, Sled Dogs, and the Iditarod-of-Animalism

This is the result of crowdsourced input from others who have tried out similar Leo Anderson / Sled Dog decks. I'm going to run through Edge of the Earth starting this week and see what works and what doesn't...

the main concept is to lean into allies for soak and special powers:

• Leo Anderson's innate ability plays allies for a discount and no actions
• the Mitch Brown signature card nets an an extra ally slot
• Doggos can be exhausted for 2-4 movement or 2-4 damage once enough are in play, each only uses up half of an ally slot
• Lonnie Ritter adds to the combat stat, repairs the Heavy Furs, and soaks horror like a boss
• Leo de Luca grants a powerful fourth action per turn
• Tetsuo Mori is a red shirt soak for fellow investigators, his demise grants search for the critical Rod of Animalism or a weapon
• Is 10 allies too many? Yes... but given Leo's signature weakness it's better to err on the side of extra allies than to euthanize doggos
• Calling in Favors is multi-use: It grants a search/draw for an ally. It grants a play action. It bounces a (likely damaged) ally back into your hand. Lastly it grants a discount on paying for the new ally, which is greater than teh cost Leo paid in the first place. It's like buying something on clearance and returning it to the store for full price :)
• Inspiring Presence is hopefully for late in the scenario when you have a pack of hounds: skill bonus, heal an ally, and ready it for another action. Mush mush!
• Rod of Animalism (1) further discounts creature allies and grants even more ally slots for the doggos
• Charisma (3) adds an ally slot and starts scenario in play, which I felt was critical enough for starting the deck off with In the Thick of It
• The Star • XVII (3) grants a huge boost to allies' soak capacity
• Lucid Dreaming can help assemble the Sled Dog pack more quickly

Guardians Gonna Guardian

• weapons are still necessary because Sled Dogs exhaust and aren't very effective until several are in play
• start out with dull-but-efficient choices of Enchanted Blade and Survival Knife that can deal 2 damage and never run out of ammunition
• Cyclopean Hammer (5) was made for Leo's + of 8.
• standard Guardian skills Overpower and Vicious Blow save actions by finishing off tough enemies
• "Let me Handle This!" and Take the Initiative are classics for dealing with the encounter deck

Kibble isn't Cheap These Days:

• economy is mostly focused on discounts from Leo Anderson, Rod of Animalism (1), and Ever Vigilant (1); if all three are in effect doggos are free to adopt :)
• Lone Wolf is trickle economy
• Stand Together doles out 4 resources for one action
• Faustian Bargain is much-loved by pros but the curse tokens skeeve me out a bit. I'm hoping the Heavy Furs can help?

Rounding Things Out

• Hallowed Mirror is the first card cut to make room for the key Rod of Animalism at the accessory slot
• Heavy Furs can be repaired by Lonnie and can help mitigate bad draws, frost tokens, curses, etc
• Stick to the Plan (6) is a classic for getting consistent opening turns, it should start with Prepared for the Worst, Ever Vigilant (1), and Emergency Cache (2)
• Haste (2) could be useful for bonus movement or fight actions
• Keen Eye (3) grants its stat boost for the entire turn. This combines well with Leo and with Haste (2), and can be used to scoop up clues at locations with higher shroud values

tentative upgrade path:

first 9 XP improves the basics

• 1 XP Rod of Animalism for Hallowed Mirror
• 5 XP Cyclopean Hammer (5) for a Survival Knife
• 3 XP Keen Eye (3) is a permanent

then 9 XP Guardian consistency suite

• 1 XP Ever Vigilant (1) for an Enchanted Blade
• 2 XP Emergency Cache (2) for a Stand Together (Stick to the Plan can only hold cards with Tactic or Supply traits)
• 6 XP Stick to the Plan (6) is a permanent

remainder in no particular order

• 3 XP another Charisma (3)
• 5 XP another Cyclopean Hammer (5) for the last Survival Knife
• 2 XP Haste (2) grants free actions and works well with Keen Eye (a buff that lasts an entire phase, not just one test)
• 3 XP The Star • XVII (3)
• 2 XP Lucid Dreaming (2) searches entire deck, helps muster Sled Dogs early
• 1 XP another Rod of Animalism (1) (remember it's unique)
• 1 XP Leo De Luca (1) upgrade, slightly reduces the cost