Sealfina the Skullsealna

Sealfina the Skulsealna, say that three times fast!

This Sefina deck makes use of some of the new cards from The Forgotten Age and Return to The Dunwich Legacy; further, while not included in the deck list, Henry Wan can be a great addition. The deck primarily has two goals:

1. Seal: the inspiration for the deck was to Seal up the tokens to assist a Survivor like William Yorick or Silas Marsh wielding an Old Hunting Rifle(3) or Baseball Bat, though a Mystic wielding cards like Shrivelling(5) of course also stands to benefit. This is primarily accomplished by way of The Chthonian Stone and Protective Incantation(1), the latter of which Sefina can easily afford via her plethora of economy cards. This is mutually beneficial, as our own cards like Rite of Seeking and Recharge are less likely to hit a bad stuff token. This is also great if we use Henry Wan instead of Arcane Initiate for card draw.

2. Primary Cluever: the decks primary responsibility is to handle the brunt of investigating and grabbing clues. This is accomplished by way of Rite of Seeking(0-2) (powered up by Double or Nothing if needed) and Drawn to the Flame (as a backup).

Otherwise and in most respects, this is by now probably a pretty standard Sefina deck,

Piloting

The main cards you want to see are Rite of Seeking, The Chthonian Stone, and Emergency Cache/Hot Streak(4). Play Emergency Cache (etc) to jump start the deck and get the other assets out. If you don't get Rite of Seeking out you'll run into issues, so Arcane Initiate is there as a backup; Henry Wan can be a great alternative once we have our Seal up and going.

Investigating is primarily accomplished by Rite of Seeking. Once you have Rite of Seeking(2) and Recharge(2), you should be well positioned to handle two players worth of clues. You can combo this with Double or Nothing and "Watch this!"/High Roller(2) to gobble up 4 clues + generate a ton of resources. "Watch this!" should always be paired with Rite of Seeking(0-2) to generate resources to help pay for Protective Incantation(1) (and other cards).

Enemy management is not a focus of this deck. Evasion, supported by Streetwise(3), is a backup but you should either be tossing enemies to the fighters (via "You handle this one!") or hollering for help. Sneak Attack is here explicitly to combo with another investigator's Stunning Blow; if such investigator is absent, then the card is easily cut. Double or Nothing can be tossed in to help wipe out a big enemy.

The events you want under Sefina are: Drawn to the Flame, Premonition, Ward of Protection, and (eventually) Recharge(2). Getting Emergency Cache/Hot Streak(4) is okay, but they are primarily used to jump start the deck and are unlikely needed long term; there are better targets for The Painted World in this deck. Delve Too Deep can be stashed under Sefina for later use, just don't copy them of course!

Why seal the ? While the Skull has historically been the gentlest token, but in more recent cycles and scenarios it has been given monstrous modifiers and/or terrible effects. Sealing the also dramatically improves the effectiveness of Baseball Bat and Old Hunting Rifle(3), two powerful weapons once you remove the downside. If neither weapon is used by the team then remove whatever token is currently the worst.

Upgrade Path

A fully upgraded version of the deck can be found here.

1. Rite of Seeking x2 Rite of Seeking(2) x2 (4XP);
2. Holy Rosary x2 Recharge(2) x2 (4XP)
3. Flashlight x2 Protective Incantation(2) x2 (2XP)
4. Emergency Cache x2 Hot Streak(4) x2 (4XP)
5. Delve Too Deep x2 High Roller x2 (4XP)
6. Ward of Protection x2 Ward of Protection(2) x2 (4XP)
7. Arcane Initiate x2 Lola Santiago x2 (6XP)
8. Elusive x1 Cheat Death(5) x1 (5XP)
9. Sneak Attack x2 Sneak Attack(2) x2 (4XP)

Somewhere along the way (preferably earlier than later) pick up Streetwise(3). Delve Too Deep's should be ditched after scenario 3.

Alternatives and Additions

I suggest adding the following cards for variety:

• Trench Coat: good soak, and helps Evasion in the early stages of the campaign.
• Think on Your Feet: if your team is clumping up (increasing the odds of drawing an enemy), this can help squeeze out a little action efficiency... or provide a backup plan to deal with an enemy.
• Eldritch Inspiration: to cancel the bad stuff reveal effects on Rite of Seeking, Recharge(2), and The Chthonian Stone.
• Lucky Dice(2): another means of avoiding bad stuff reveal effects.
• Henry Wan: a good alternative to Arcane Initiate.

What would I cut?

• Elusive: lose a panic button, but gain something more immediately useful
• Holy Rosary: mainly here to assist Rite of Seeking in the short term, it may not be required especially on lower difficulties.
• "You handle this one!": not strictly necessary, but it does give you some safety to depart from the team
• Arcane Initiate: if using Henry Wan.
• Sneak Attack: if there are no dodge tank type investigators or investigators using Stunning Blow then this one will be a dud.

What's not in the deck?

• St. Hubert's Key: too expensive, and we're unlikely to need its +1 once we have Rite of Seeking(2), nor its +1 with Streetwise(3).
• Leo De Luca: too expensive and this deck already has a pretty fast tempo rate; extra actions can already be found via Quick Thinking (preferably combo'd with Double or Nothing).

Shameless Plug

If you like this deck and want to read more about my thoughts on Arkham Horror: The Card Game, please do check out my blog The Strange Solution.