Paint By Numbers, with Sefina

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Paint By Numbers, with Sefina 0 0 0 1.0

crymoricus · 233

Sefina invites you on a special journey through the world of your own imagination. If you can imagine it, you can create it! Anything is possible with just a little effort, good attitude, and a sense of fun. Paint a happy cloud. Or maybe a wise, old mountain. Do you like kitty cats? We can paint kitty cats!

So grab your brushes and let's get busy! And remember: only happy thoughts.

Just repeat after Sefina...

"There are no other-dimensional monsters that wish to swallow the human race!"

"There are no other-dimensional monsters that wish to swallow the human race!!"

"There are no other-dimensional monsters that wish to swallow the human race!!!"

Good work!

Now, let's begin...

Damage: Check! Evasion: Check! Investigation: Check! Resources: Check! Movement Check! Odds: SUPERB

If all goes well, Sefina should end up with 6 , 4 , 2 , and 4 (thanks to Dario El-Amin and St. Hubert's Key), with Streetwise as a backup plan from the get-go.

Damage

First, for Damage, this deck takes no chances by packing both Song of the Dead, Shrivelling, along with Backstab for the big fellas. Backstab is a decent candidate for Sefina's The Painted World, of course. Oh, did I mention Recharge?, you're just NOT going to run out of damage options with this deck.

Evasion

Next, Evasion. Mists of R'lyeh is an sickeningly good card. What about it is so great? Every... single... thing. One of the most powerful cards for a Mystic, period, at a cost of... 2 resources. Lel? Again: hello Recharge! (that's 6 cards in our deck that might benefit -- and often will -- from Recharge). Of course, if you don't have the Mists on your side, you can always Think on Your Feet. And if desperate times call for the most desperate measures, be Streetwise, and things will work out.

Investigation

Time to buy a clue. First and foremost, we have The old standby Drawn to the Flame. But, hey -- since we're so freaking good at evading, why not Eavesdrop when we get the chance? Of course, Streetwise, once again, has our back if things really get desperate. Also, don't scoff at the idea of bringing Sefina up to 4 via St. Hubert's Key and Dario El-Amin. It could happen! More easily then you think, because...

Resources

Money should not be an issue with this deck. If you get off to a lucky start with both Dario El-Amin and Lone Wolf, you WILL be all set up, and absolutely rolling in it by about turn 5, because this deck is super cheap with both Emergency Cache and Uncage the Soul, the latter of which is here for Shrivelling, first and foremost, but also Song of the Dead or Mists of R'lyeh, should they make an appearance first. Always remember that the plan with **Dario is to use him as little as possible once you hit that 10 resources. It's really not that hard with this deck to get there. You'll see.

Movement

Movement is here, but it's definitely the weakest part of the deck, as it relies completely on evasion with Mists of R'lyeh and Think on Your Feet

The Fun Part

About those odds. This deck is primarily about setting a stable foundation by accomplishing two things, and in the early game everything else is there to make these two things happen smoothly. Those two things are, quite simply:

  1. Bringing Sefina's numbers up.
  2. Bringing the numbers of the Chaos Bag down.

The first we've already covered. The second relies on at least 3 super fun things: Recall the Future(2), Chthonian Stone, and one Ritual Candle. If you haven't experienced the effect this has on gameplay, buckle yourself in and get ready to... relax, lol. It's worth noting, by the way, that the Stone, along with the Key are THE biggest money drags on the deck -- 7 resources total to get them both out. That's the way it has to be, though, because, like it or not, together they are a Keystone of the deck. Get it? Keystone? xD Anyway, Emergency Cache is there to help,

Optimal action play for setting up in most cases:

Turn One (5 resources):

  1. Lone Wolf
  2. Dario El-Amin (Activate)

Turn 2 (4 resources):

  1. St. Hubert's Key
  2. Uncage the Soul/ Shrivelling or Song of the Dead
  3. Activate Dario El-Amin

Turn 3 (4 resources):

  1. Both Recall the Future's, or The Chthonian Stone + Ritual Candles
  2. Activate Dario El-Amin
  3. One Recall the Future, Mists of R'lyeh, or Song of the Dead (Rat killer)

Turn 4 (2 resources):

  1. Activate Dario El-Amin (now 4 resources, best case)
  2. One Recall the Future, Mists of R'lyeh, or [Song of the Dead]
  3. One Recall the Future, Mists of R'lyeh, or [Song of the Dead]

So far, best case scenario, you are completely set up, equipment-wise. Of course, this isn't the most likely thing, but it's likely not terribly far-off. Now, continuing with absolute best-case scenario, keeping in mind that Mists of R'lyeh, Shrivelling, and possibly a necessary Recharge, have been keeping us afloat...

Turn 5 (2 resources):

  1. Activate Dario El-Amin (4 resources)
  2. Investigate
  3. Investigate

Turn 6 (6 resources):

  1. Activate Dario El-Amin (8 resources)
  2. Investigate
  3. Investigate

Turn 7 (10 resources)

Mission accomplished. From here on, there are only really 2 things that can interfere with you being solid as a rock:

1: A desperate need to use Streetwise, or the need to re-equip The Chthonian Stone. If you do lose the Stone, you should only re-equip with a solid 13+ resources, of course.

Remember: Streetwise should be used very judiciously in this deck, and you should stop Activating Dario El-Amin as soon as you know you're solid at 10. Once you're set up, Lone Wolf will more than keep you in the green resource-wise.

Oh, don't forget to bring along your easel.

Happy Painting!

7 comments

Aug 15, 2018 CaiusDrewart · 3004

Hi. It's an interesting deck. I really struggle to make Sefina perform well on high levels so I'm eager to read all ideas here. But I have some doubts about this, so if I could offer some constructive criticism:

One problem with Dario here is that those 10 resources then basically have to go to waste, doing nothing but sit there so that he can provide his bonus. And Dario is literally the only card in your deck that directly benefits from having that accumulated cash (not that this is a fault of the deck design--he's just the only in the game with this mechanic at the moment). And you can only have one of him in play.

You invested a lot of cards and actions into getting all that money, but now you don't want to spend it, and you're not getting anything but passive +1 Will and Intellect boosts, which, per your guide, aren't kicking in until halfway through the scenario. (And since you will almost surely be compelled to move and/or deal with monsters in those first few turns, it's probably even later than that. Is that worth 14 resources, which is essentially what you're paying?

I wonder if the upcoming Lola Santiago would be better for Sefina with some XP. Your spells become worse, but you become much better at investigating, much better at evading without spells (reducing the need for Mists of R'lyeh), and things like Backstab also become better.

Aug 15, 2018 crymoricus · 233

Thanks for the constructive criticism, Caius. Actually, those extra resources only generally tend to sit there until the end of the scenario, at which point they all get dumped into Streetwise for the climax. So, yes, between 10 and 13 resources just sit there for most of the game, but they are actually sitting there waiting for the right moment to be dumped into Streetwise. Now, at the end, with the stats bumped, the chaos bag controlled, and a wealth of +3 to willpower and Agility, Backstab is exactly the monster it should be, and only a fail token will stop it (in standard). Same goes for Shrivelling. The idea here is basically threefold: setup fast and cheap, ride as safely as possible to the end, and dump it all on the conclusion.

Aug 15, 2018 crymoricus · 233

Oh, by the way, the reason Sefina is perfect for this "fast and cheap" approach is because of her starting hand. It's not about the events, it about being able to choose from a large array of fast, cheap items to start with, so you can quickly fill your board. No other Investigator can do that, really. Most people think Sefina and think "events." I think Sefina and think "items, and fast." One of the weaknesses about talking about putting a lot of different items out to make a plan work is usually, "but what are the odds of actually getting those items out?" Well, Sefina can pretty easily start her hand with 8 items ready to go. It's pretty sick.

Aug 15, 2018 crymoricus · 233

In a game right now: turn 5, and I have 10 items out. I have no fear of tablet token, -4 token, or -3 token. Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking are both in place, and I'm holding a candle. I really didn't account for Uncage the Soul in my write-up. It can be an incredible accelerator with Sefina's Painted World cards.

Aug 15, 2018 CaiusDrewart · 3004

Hmm, OK. I think I can see it!

Thanks for the interesting writeup. :)

Aug 20, 2018 acotgreave · 782

Looks great. Nice write up too.

Aug 28, 2018 James Mason · 1

I might be missing something, but you mention wealth of +3 to Willpower and Agility (from Streetwise). Streetwise boosts Intellect and Agility, no good for Shrivelling....