Solo crystal clear

Idea

When you're solo, there's absolutely zero time for nonsense, so every card in your deck has to do something, preferably always. If these cards are events, you can utilize them twice, thanks to Crystallizer of Dreams. And if you're Wini, then you're actually using them thrice, since they participate in drawing more cards.

Where I took this deck

I've smashed Hemlock Vale on standard with it. It may work on hard also, given the success I've had with it. Basically I had nothing meaningful to do with XP, so I bought Observed

Priority upgrade plan

• Upgrade your Lockpicks. They tend to break.
• Bewitching + Easy Mark -- if you can't afford both, start with Easy Mark and consider saving some XP.
• Add Impulse Control on Honed Instinct to make it cheaper and appear more often
• 1x Vamp which helps with economy. Yes, it does, read below.

Exped Vamp, Easy Mark and later on Ace in the Hole are your Bewitching toolkit.

From this moment you're pretty much complete. If I'd be using In The Thick of It, I'd start with 2x Lockpicks and Easy Mark.

Get rid of Grift as soon as you set up Easy Mark and Bewitching.

The funny

• Why Tempt Fate, you may ask? It's a fast cantrip, that you put under the Crystallizer of Dreams. No strings attached. In exchange you get a bit of variance from the bag, which is obviously fun :)
• That test on Vamp is super useful to play British Bull Dog for free. At the same time we can easily win and . Sometimes even
• I think I don't have to tell you how crazy it is to play 3 x Easy Mark, that you dug out of your deck with Bewitching, get 6 resources, 3 cards just to place it under the Crystallizer of Dreams and get some more cards.

The risky

• Treacheries are treacherous. Keep that Anything You Can Do, Better for an important defensive treachery test, if e.g. Frozen in Fear is in the mix.
• Why no ally/bumper? In Hemlock Vale you have company most of the time, so I did not found that useful at all. If you'd force me to choose an ally, I would have no idea. It's hard to justify an action and some money to get... what... an extra action? A small bonus to the stats? The cost outweighs the benefit in this deck IMO. That's one of the reasons of NOT including In The Thick of It. You take all this damage an horror by yourself.
• What if I don't draw the Crystallizer of Dreams you may ask? Well in Hemlock Vale it's a lot easier in 50% of scenarios. Also when you're past the 12-15 XP mark, you can survive and be good even without it, with a bit of luck. If you wan't to manage this a bit, then you have Friends in Low Places that I'd use with Item and then add Trick to it, most likely. That's what I would do outside Hemlock Vale.

Options

• As said above, Friends in Low Places is a consideration, to decrease luck of the draw.
• Depending on the campaign and prevalence of multi-clue locations, Eavesdrop may or may not be good. Swap it for Daring Maneuver, which you can always toss under the Crystallizer of Dreams and sometimes it will help you defend those faulty Lockpicks at the beginning of a campaign or trigger Honed Instinct.

Multiplayer

• Tempt Fate becomes a serious question, depending on your team's attitude towards it. They may even love it, if they're blursing!