Stardust and Witchcraft, Norman Writhers Solo [Hard] 1.2

Upgraded version of my previous deck that reliably and consistently fully cleared The Gathering, solo, on Hard:

https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/4577/stardust-and-witchcraft-norman-withers-solo-hard-1.0

So far it has gotten 3 cultists nearly every test.

x1 total failure, first turn weakness into first 2nd turn Hunting Nightgaunt. I maganed to survive the first agenda and resign with nothing.

x1 2 cultists, with 6 exp.

x3 3 cultists, with 6-7 exp.

Midnight Masks on Hard is no joke, but Miskatonic University helps a ton.

Here's why I upgraded what I did:

Song of the Dead: great staple for reliable attacks, skull came through twice hard in my favor. But mostly it's for killing Acolyte enemies who only have 1 HP or finishing off an enemy with an odd number, conserving my Shrivelling charges.

Shrivelling: Best damage spell available. Only one is really needed, dig for it before the Hunter spawns.

Spirit Athame: Reliability on critical spell casts. Paired with Song of the Dead, the cultists don't stand a chance.

Blinding Light: His pitiful agility begs for it, comes in clutch against Hunting Nightgaunt if they catch you off guard or on The Masked Hunter. If you can hold onto it it's also an easy way yo get Ruth Turner.

With 6 experience you have some options. you could upgrade your lv 0 Shrivelling to lv 3 or 5 and get a Blood Pact or another Spirit Athame respectively.

The likelihood of stopping the ritual on Hard with 3 cultists in the wind is low, but Storm of Spirits does good work, so it's possible. Otherwise Blood Pact will do work. If you manage to get a 7th exp I'd buy an Uncage the Soul or Moonlight Ritual for the level 0 slot, though that second Spirit Athame calls my name.

If you try this out let me know how it goes or if you have a better strategy! I would love to nab a 4th cultist!