Mateo: Visions from God

This is a pretty basic Mateo Chaos bag control deck. I'm setting it up as template all rounder style character.

You can, and maybe should, focus more on enemies or clues, this lets one spell slot be your action slot and the second an extra seal spell. But he can function fine as an all rounder. And that's what this build is.

I'm writing this up because people seem to always have questions about Mateo and sealing and I wanted to share my experience with both so far.

Mateo Himself

While at first glance it seems that Mateo is all about the Chaos bag and Elder Signs, that's not entirely true. Those 5XP give you the chance to really define how you want your build to go long term. I decided I did want to focus on his Elder Sign ability, so I opted to do 2X Recall the Future and 1x Protective Incantation.

Chaos Bag Control

There are several good analyses on Olive McBride and the sealing mechanic. The short story of it is. It's not that great. But OKish for Mateo/Jim and better if you stack it. And that's what this deck is. Once you get several of these Chaos Bag controls cards in play, you will be surprised how strong it can be.

It sounds simple and it kind of is, but I did learn one lesson. You don't want to do both Chaos Bag control and Encounter deck control. My first iteration of this included Scrying and Ward of Protection. And while those cards are still really good, they will slow down this kind of deck. You need to save space for Chaos Bag control and whatever actionable in game thing you are doing. Chaos Bag control needs that stacking synergy.

Mateo's Bible

Right after you have made your deck with whatever modifications you do, the very next thing you need to do is make your Bible. At least that's what I called it. You want a little sheet of paper that lists all the tokens in the Chaos Bag. Then you want to keep it updated as the campaign progress. You don't need to note your sealed tokens. Just what is added/removed between scenarios.

This is the key to making these decks work. Before you do any pull, look at the bag and do some quick math. Decide what you have and what you can do to make it work. It's an efficiency of knowing what you will likely pull.

Piloting

Mulligan hard for three things. A combat card (Shrivelling, Storm of Spirits, Trench Coat), an investigation card (RoS, Drawn to the Flame, Flashlight), and Recall the Future. If you have all three great, toss Protective Incantation if you draw it, it's a mid-late game card.

From there it's mostly play as typical. Play your spells, investigate, kill. Play out your Chaos control permanents as you draw them and you'll slowly grow stronger through the game.

Specific Tips

Olive McBride is good for when you are unlikely to succeed (0 or -1 or lower skill) or very like to succeed (3 or 4+ skill). Otherwise she is horror soak. Unless you have a Recall the Future, then she's good for every draw that Recall is ready for. If you have Olive and two Recalls you will like have one draw at 80% plus success and a second at about 65% when you are taking a test at 0+ skill.

Defiance is particularly strong in this deck paired with Premonition, Olive, or Recall and you have a high success chance. I suggest holding it for some tough situations such as needing to evade or surprise encounter skill tests that are not Will tests.

Mateo's Codex is great for finishing up bosses or tough locations. It just requires fore thought. The turn before you fight a boss or tough location play Codex. You are essentially storing an action and an auto success for two resources.

Upgrades

Let your Arcane Research level your Shriveling and Rite of Seeking. In general I suggest starting with combat then alternating between investigating and combat upgrades.

• Trench Coat -> Shards of the Void
• Premonition -> Seal of the Elder Sign
• Delve Too Deep -> Shards of the Void
• Delve Too Deep -> Seal of the Seventh Sign
• Storm of Spirits -> Song of the Dead
• Premonition -> Seal of the Elder Sign
• Storm of Spirits -> Song of the Dead
• St. Hubert's Key -> Crystalline Elder Sign