Nose to the Grindstone

Ils veulent vraiment qu'on joue Wilson Richards ^^ En vrai c'est bien, mais tellement limité qu'à part lui, je ne vois pas qui d'autre pourrait en tirer profit. Et puis faut la trouver, la piocher, la jouer ... Si Wilson était jouable, ok, mais là, à part compenser une faiblesse, ça ne sert pas à grand chose.

With these traits, A LOT of investigators can take it. Apart from Wilson, I think it really shines in decks that use Chainsaw for fighting. Maybe also for Lockpicks (Jenny Barnes) or the Kits. Don't underestimate the +2. — AlderSign · 447
Taunt

It's a bit of a niche interaction, but due to "Fast. Play during any window", this can be used to dodge enemies (generally hunter enemies) under specific circumstances.

The steps for the enemy phase are (as a rough overview):

  1. Resolve the hunter keyword on enemies.
  2. player window.
  3. Resolve all attacks against the next player in player order (starting with the lead investigator).
  4. If any player has yet to resolve attacks, go to step 2, otherwise step 5.
  5. player window.
  6. End of enemy phase.

This means, if you're before another player in player order (you probably want to be lead if you have Taunt (3)). You resolve hunter keywords, moving enemies onto another player at your location (this can also work if, for some reason, other players already have enemies on them). Resolve all attacks against you, then, in the window before resolving attacks against the next player(s), you play Taunt and take all the enemies on to yourself. At this point, those enemies cannot attack you (since you've already resolved attacks against yourself) and are cleared from the other player's threat areas before they can attack those players.

Again, this is a niche interaction, but possibly something worth knowing. The biggest take away is probably that there is only a single window for enemies to attack your investigator, and there is a window between each of those attack windows where shenanigans can happen.

Whimsical · 50
Deliverance

Cool art, cool flavor, paired with a cool mechanic dripping with theme. I like Deliverance.

Deliverance most obviously avoids encounter card draws, where the more players you have in a game the better it is. At 1 player, it saves no encounter draws- at 2 it saves 1, 3 saves 2, and 4 players you save 3 encounter card draws.

Avoiding encounter draws isn't it's only strength though:

  1. The player playing Deliverance is usually better suited to draw encounter cards (high , solid and some enemy control, staples of the Mystic class). Having them absorb the encounter deck can be better for your weaker investigators, for example.

  2. Much like weaknesses, drawing encounter cards earlier is usually better than later. It gets the encounter cards out, leaves less to chance, and gives you a clear two rounds to deal with the fallout of the encounter cards.

With point 1 in mind, this card is clearly intended for an Calvin Wright, but investigators like Agnes Baker, a prepared Gloria Goldberg, Akachi Onyele, Amina Zidane and Father Mateo are great targets too. Again, mystics are really good at the Encounter Deck.

Do I think it's a good card in solo or two player? Not particularly. Three or four players? Yes, Deliverance is a simple and effective method of controlling the encounter deck.

....If you're brave enough to play it.


By the way, this card has a mechanical resonance with the weakness Overzealous that I like. The guy in Overzealous thinks he's the lady in Deliverance, but he actually just drew an encounter and gained surge for no reason.

CyanideLock · 17
I don't agree with 2.: Early in the game you are less likely to be equipped for dealing with nasty cards. Most decks build momentum over the course of the game, making threats easier to deal with later. I DO think this card is best in Luke when he knows there are a bunch of enemies or location attachments coming up and simply hides in his Dream-Gate, poofing them away. — AlderSign · 447
If you know a scenario you might also reconsider to play the card to empty the encounter deck, because reshuffling the discard pile is not a rare instruction on agendas. — Tharzax · 1
This is S-tier Luke Robinson. Play it from your pocket dimension, see up to 4 encounter cards (location attachments, enemies, etc) whiff or do very little. — MrGoldbee · 1515
Power Word

I am wondering if I upgrade "Distract", could I automatically evade an enemy engaged with another investigator at this location? Or do I have to engage the enemy first? Hope someone could please clarify my question. Thanks in advance.

tom89819 · 2
Technically it's an exhaust, not an evade. Same result, but matters for a couple of things. But yeah, you can do this at range. — spannertheodd · 1
" 'Distract.' Automatically evade any enemy at ..." — Gsayer · 1
Stargazing

I didn't see this combo in other review so I wanted to add:
Sefina is the only 'gator that can take one copy of Stargazing, Double, Double, and Drawn to the Flame, to generate a free action and massively increase the odds of activating it and the value of skipping an encounter.
If you were going to play Double, Double absolutely consider using 1 xp for this.

tinybreeder · 36