VanyelAshke · 178
DECK CONCEPT
Primary Clue gatherer. With Streetwise, Preston also becomes an effective evader to exhaust enemies.
Overcome stat line of 1's by avoiding tests (Intel Report, Lola Santiago, Cunning Distraction, Elusive). Also uses cards that give huge boosts (Fire Axe, Well Connected, Money Talks, Trial by Fire).
Stat line of 1's also means he will fail tests, so be rewarded for failing Drawing Thin, Take Heart.
I like "You handle this one!" to keep enemies off him, and to ignore devastating treacheries. And he makes a dollar from it.
Note: I don't have any cards from cycles starting Dream-Eaters onward.
CORE CARDS
Enemy Management: Fire Axe to have a high fight. Trial by Fire can be played for a turn of fighting at Strength 5. Money Talks exists in case things depend on 1 test, likely an evade attempt. "You handle this one!" allows to off-load a drawn enemy over to a more combat-oriented character. Cunning Distraction is present in case you get swarmed or you need to exhaust an Elite enemy. Elusive helps get you out of a tough situation.
Clue Gathering: Flashlight to investigate shroud 0-1-2 locations with "guarantee" success (except auto-fail token). Paired with "Look what I found!", the same becomes true for shroud 3-4 locations. Lola Santiago is your key clue card. Paired with Family Inheritance, Preston can essentially gain a clue every turn (action and resource pool free!). Lola combos with Flashlight, making the clue -2 resources cheaper. Trial by Fire allows for a clue-ver turn. Intel Report helps gain clues, even if Preston can't step into the revealed location. This saves on actions to move and consequences of entering locations that have a "when you enter" penalty.
Will boosts: Rise to the Occasion helps you become +1 on a difficulty 3 test (0 on a difficulty 4 test). It's not amazing, but it's something for the early game. Money Talks can be used to pass an important Will test.
Economy: Family Inheritance is sufficient. Drawing Thin gains big money fast. "You handle this one!" nets you a resource. Flashlight gives Lola a discount on resources.
Health & Sanity management: allies. "You handle this one!" to off-load the treachery to someone else. Perseverance as a fail safe.
Utility: Leo De Luca to enable bigger Trial by Fire turns. Very helpful in granting Preston more actions to move, investigate, etc. Track Shoes fulfills two roles: to enable Drawing Thin with a useless test to fail, and to grant extra movement. Paired with Streetwise, Preston can essentially buy a "free" move action by passing the test.
OPENING HAND / MULLIGAN GUIDE
You want Fire Axe, Leo De Luca, Drawing Thin. You can mulligan anything other than these.
Then, prioritize clue-gathering cards. Dig Deep may be a card you prioritize in the first scenario because Preston is at his weakest. This will increase his survivability against the encounter deck and maybe enable a key evade.
UPGRADES
6xp -> IN: Lola Santiago x2 OUT: "Look what I found!" x2
3xp -> IN: Charisma. Enables Lola+Leo combo.
3xp -> IN: Streetwise. Enables "guaranteed" evades and investigations when needed (auto-fail token still a threat).
2xp -> IN: Flare x2 OUT: Trial by Fire. Allows you to assemble Lola+Leo combo faster and reliably. If you get Leo, he only cost 2 resources instead of 6. Remember, if you whiff on the search you don't exile Flare. Also, Trial by Fire is now one of the weakest cards in the deck because #Streetwise gives you the same benefit (+3 for 1 resource to the two skills you'll do on your turn). I rarely take 3 actions (never 4) of the same action because Preston needs to pay his way to succeed, so Trial by Fire's full turn (3-4 actions) isn't worth it.
4xp -> IN: High Roller x2 OUT: Dig Deep x2. Acts as a less powerful, clunkier Well Connected. Grants free +2 to a test. Remember to do the test on your first few actions, so that you use your Family Inheritance money instead. The refunded 3 resources goes on Family Inheritance; not in your resource pool. Don't diminish your actual resource pool. Could replace Money Talks instead, considering Money Talks a one-time effect, whereas High Roller is a repeatable throughout the scenario.
4xp -> IN: Hot Streak x2. OUT: Rise to the Occasion x2. Having 2 copies of this card in my deck also incentivizes me to draw cards on my turn. Activates Well Connected and Money Talks much sooner, or provides money to boost whatever is needed. With Rise, having a +1 on a difficulty 3 test (0 on a difficulty 4 test) is not amazing. Becomes less powerful compared to a level-up card.
2xp -> IN: A Test of Will x2. OUT: Perseverance and Cunning Distraction. Cancelling a revelation text is powerful; helps avoid doom or high difficulty tests that would cost a lot of money. Applies to when anyone at my location draws an encounter card. The 2 OUT cards just aren't as useful as the start. The campaign is coming to a close, so I'll survive if I collect any trauma. (this play through, I got no trauma).
4xp -> IN: The Skeleton Key OUT: "You handle this one!". Skeleton Key saves MONEY when investigating; I can now investigate with only 1 pump of Streetwise instead of 2 to be guaranteed +3or4 over the test. Also saves resources for Lola Santiago. It also saves TIME because I can get 2 clues with the 4 resources on Family Inheritance, rather than just 1 per turn. Games when Flashlight is out early tend to be better games, so this give me a third copy of a similar effect. Approaching near end of campaign, I'm not using "You handle this one!" very often; mostly to give fighter enemies instead.
2xp -> IN: Fortune or Fate. OUT: Money Talks. Last scenario, saving a turn (canceling a doom) is likely better than 1 successful check, which Preston is already equipped to past most of the ones he cares about.
Cards I'm intrigued by
Dig Deep: If you are scared of Will tests or know that you'll need to pass a lot of them (ex: The Circle Undone campaign).
Rabbit's Foot: search through deck. Leans further into wanting to fail tests.
"Look what I found!": margin of failure of 3 means more likely to trigger. Pseudo-economy because it allows you to likely save 2-4 resources (Streetwise activation). Also allows you to gather clues at a connecting location instead, saving on movement and unnecessary enemy combat.
Rabbit's Foot: to replace Drawing Thin if playing with Taboo List.
GAMES I'VE PLAYED
Paired with Nathaniel Cho, for The Circle Undone campaign. Story is that Preston's dad recently died. Preston is now curious about his family's wealth (Family Inheritance) and their association with the Silver Twilight Lodge. He hired Nathaniel Cho to be his bodyguard while he attempts to uncover the truth.
Random Weakness: Dark Pact. There is a curse on the family; a menacing force urges them to provide a blood sacrifice to the Lodge. With Preston's father having died, the curse has passed onto Preston.
Experience: Preston starts weak every scenario, then ramps up. He's a big-rig style of deck. He needs money, and his function is to gather clues; so cards that facilitate both functions are highly prized.
I felt like this deck could benefit from a bit more card draw. Maybe I wasn't playing Drawing Thin optimally... I also didn't see the card in about 1/3 of my scenarios. Drawing Thin seems better to get 2 resources because Preston needs cash to be good Well Connected, Streetwise, Lola Santiago).
Cards that are under-performing:
Drawing Thin was good when you had 2 copies + track shoes. Otherwise, it felt mediocre. Maybe I played it inefficiently...?
Fire Axe was useful in the first scenario because Preston got all the enemies, and my fighter got almost none. Scenario 1, Preston is bad at evading and in TCU you don't meet your teammates until midway through the scenario. But other than this, I didn't really use Fire Axe. Maybe Decoy or Small Favor would serve Preston better.
DECK REFERENCES
This deck is a combination of these 2 decks: https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/12282/preston-money-can-buy-happiness-1.0
https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/13828/do-it-all-preston-1.0
Other decks
https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/11698/pay-to-play-become-the-1-hard-mode-mp-sp-1.0
https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/9907/preston-for-the-stars-1.0. This contain some useful tips on how to play Preston in general, and is an Expert difficulty list.