Ideally you want to always play this from your discard, at which point it is like a 1-shot revolver, (that also generated whatever value put it in the discard in the first place). Playing it from your hand is generally bad. So the card looks like goes pretty well with Wendy and Pete, both of whom have strong discard-for-value abilities. Except... Wendy and Pete don't want to be fighting with their base stats. (You can't use it with Duke).

So that leaves Yorrick, Calvin, Silas, Mark, Mihn, Agnes and the 5-splashers. Many of whom would quite interested in playing it from the discard, but don't have a reliable and valuable way of getting it there .

So at the moment, it's a bit of a "no mans card". If another card for Survivor comes out that provides a discard-for-value ability, then I can see this suddenly being very playable. (Or if more cards arrive to support combat options in Wendy/Pete, but this is less likely).

Sadly, I think the good Father is pretty bad, at least as Mystics go.

Firstly, he seems to be missing a stat point (at least compared to the mono-colour + trait template that Mark and Akachi set,). Although Silas too is missing this point, so perhaps it is deemed that "Blessed" and "Innate" is better than "Tactics" and "Spells", which might be true for Innate, but certainly is not for Blessed.

Compared to Agnes or Akachi, he is considerably weaker. He is missing the 5 willpower, which as we know from Jim is huge, but he is also missing the free damage or the spell charges, both of which are considerably more powerful than his own once-per-game (OPG). Compared to Marie, he lacks the investigation options or bonus actions. He compares more favorably to Jim (the current weakest mystic), but even here he loses out. Jim has more support cards now, and is generally seen to be more of a solo-investigator, and has the any-5-splash. Mateo's low strength means solo can be an issue, as he has very little options for the extra 1 point of damage on 3-health enemies if he can't find his Shriveling.

His unique asset (Codex of Ages), is good if you want to pass a single test, but its expensive, uses a hand-slot, and is especially bad in multiplayer where sealing that Elder Sign for more than 1 or 2 turns hurts the whole group. It has uses, eg, with a big Storm of Spirits play, or a Double or Nothing, but these are pretty situational. Combined with his OPG, which can only trigger on a tentacle, and you have two very niche abilities, neither of which really shine.

Then you have his weakness (the Serpents of Yig)... and by god will you hate this guy. His 3 health means that, unless you have Shrivelling5, it will take 2 shots to kill at least. He is difficult for you to deal with without big spells, his damage is pretty high, and he seals the token. He's worse than the Silver Twilight Acolyte, which is one of the worst weaknesses you can draw, and adding spiky-weaknesses to a spiky-class is never great. Every now and again, you will draw the Serpents in turn 1-3, before you can find your Shriveling or Mists, and it can be crippling.

So you have:

• Bad statline (possibly missing a point)
• No non-purple blessed cards released or announced yet
• Niche OPG and signature card
• Terrible weakness
• Better options available

So where does this leave you? Well, his one saving grace is the +5 XP he gets at start (or in standalone). This is meant to make up for all of the above. You have lots of options here, but they tend to fall on one of the following lines:

• (1) is to jump-start whatever build you were planning on playing. (eg, upgraded Shrivellings, Spirit Atheme). This is the approach taken in this solo deck here (https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/5564/solo-mateo-cheats-his-way-through-forgotten-age-1.0). This is probably the "best" approach, although if you were looking for the best, why did you pick Mateo?

• (2) is to go for something kooky, that you wouldn't normally plan to afford, like Seal of the Elder Sign, Song of the Dead or Blood Pact, straight-away. This does allow you to explore a new direction, as Mystics normally are tight on XP, and need everything for the basics (Shrivelling + friends). This is the approach taken here (https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/5655/the-mostly-holy-father-a-k-a-miracle-mateo-1.0). This is probably the more "fun" approach, just ensure you still have enough game-plan to achieve what you need to. Spending all the XP on the Seal, could also be a little spiky - you might never draw it.

The impact of this XP boost can be high, especially in the first 1 or 2 scenarios, although towards the end of the campaign you're likely going to notice it less.

Overall, having played the Father in a few campaigns now, I've found him to be weak and a bit boring. I'd like to see him have many more cross-colour Blessed cards to open up his options before I'd want to play him again on Hard.

Investigator weaknesses is likely my favorite mechanic in the game. And I hate it when the random basic weakness has no impact whatsoever. You can agree that impact of Paranoia is different in Jenny Barnes deck compared to for example Dark Horse "Ashcan" Pete deck. So when I play Jenny Barnes, Paranoia is one of the cards I really want to get as my random basic weakness. I (Jenny) will play the game paranoid that at some point I can lose all my "hard" earned resources. And the card impact is not just in the moments it hits. It is in the way it changes my whole gameplay because I know it can hit.

And after taking Doomed Mark Harrigan to fun trip to Carcosa (first time playing it) I can assure you - No other weakness can give you the emotional roller coaster ride that Doomed chain could !!!

Here is my report:

First scenario: No Doomed - massive disappointment

Second scenario - "doom approaches" , No big deal. The one horror hurts more .

Third scenario - Another one horror and Accursed Fate at the bottom of my deck. GAME ON!

Fourth scenario - 2 horror and "the hour is nigh". Damn that hurts! Wait a second!!! We are just four scenarios in. I should probably consider drawing less cards from my ability ...

Fifth scenario - Doing well. Don't draw any cards from Mark's ability. And suddenly 2 horror that nearly finish me off and The Bell Tolls in my deck. Next encounter phase I am defeated by horror... Damn you Doomed !!!!

Sixth scenario - Ok I was doomed from the beginning. Now I have nothing else to do but die. Better die now and play the last two scenarios with another investigator ...... Hay we won it! It is over! I am not dead!!!! Maybe if I get Key of Ys and Daisy (played by my GF) gets some Scrying I could survive a while longer?

Seventh scenario - We pull off the Scrying and Key of Ys combo to discard the The Bell Tolls from the top of my deck. Dodged that bullet! Now I can serve some justice with the Shotgun loaded with Extra Ammunition that did not get discarded!!! We made it. We found the Path to Carcosa!!!

Eight scenario - We both get bad starting hands. No Scrying, no Old Book of Lore, no Key of Ys and no weapons. I am forced to draw cards and risk meeting my inevitable doom. The tension I felt every time I had to draw a card and the relieve when it wasn't the bell were amazing. I again got my Shotgun and 2 copies of Extra Ammunition and started my vengeance on Hastur and his minions. All that while dreading the end of my turn and the upkeep phase. Luckily no bell tolling was heard till the successful end of the scenario. Mark made it! We made it against the odds! DAMN! THAT WAS INTENSE!

So to sum it up - Doomed is superb! It enhances the whole Arkham Horror experience! No! It takes it to a whole different level !!!

For the longest time, the Rogues didn't have any cards that could "cheat out" clues--that is, get them without having to pass an investigate check. While other classes had such staples as Evidence!, "Look what I found!", Drawn to the Flame, and Working a Hunch, Rogues couldn't get clues in any other way than passing checks. This was mighty inconvenient.

And not only did Rogues have no way to get clues without passing checks--they didn't have any level 0 cards aimed at helping them pass those checks, either! (I refuse to count Dario El-Amin as a level 0 card that helps with investigation. He just isn't. Sorry.)

Now, enter Eavesdrop, our first level 0 Rogue investigation card (again, not counting Dario). But it falls a little flat, I think. It is just a little weak compared to the "discover 2 clues" cards that other factions get (you can add Scene of the Crime to the list, now.) The main problem is that you still have to pass an Intellect test. To do that on high levels, you'll need to boost considerably. Either you accept a high chance of a wasted action, card, and resource because you failed the test, or you have to dedicate way more resources than what other classes are putting in to get the 2 clues.

And that's not to mention the problem of having an unengaged enemy available. You'll probably have to evade to make that happen. Now perhaps you wanted to evade the enemy anyway (though this won't always be true), in which case we shouldn't count the action and skill test (or more) needed to do that as part of the total cost of the card. But it's still an inconvenient requirement, one that makes this card far less reliable than its competition in other factions.

Obviously, this is most playable for Finn, who gets that free evade and combines high Intellect and Agility. It's a decent choice for him to add some tempo to his clue gathering at the expense of some risk. For the other Rogues--the ones who really could have used some cluefinding help--this probably isn't the answer. They'll still need to use either XP cards or cards from other factions to solve their cluefinding issues.

This card reinforces the trend that Rogues perform better at lower levels. My complaint about still having to pass an Intellect test is perhaps not such a big deal on Easy or Standard. But it sharply limits this card on Expert (at least for people not named Finn.)

Skids has a bad reputation, but I think he's strong - at least at Standard difficulty, 1-2 investigators - if you can adapt to him.

His card pool is his first difficulty. He can take Rogue (0-5) or Guardian (0-2). With the prevailing wisdom of "killing enemies is better 'cos then they can't hunt you down", it seems a lot of decks treat him an auxiliary fighter. This gets him bogged down in combat, and misses his major ability - speed. Some decks lean into Guardian - don't. You're not there to fight, you're not even there to waste time evading (if you can), you're there to run.

Skids can regularly take 4 actions a turn. That is awesome. There's a reason that Leo De Luca is one of the strongest allies in the game, and Skids can take him as well. That's 5 actions a turn, if he can afford it.

Oh, Hot Streak? Lone Wolf? "Watch this!"? Resources shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Skids should try to rush to the finish. With his low , and the fact hunting enemies do appear over time, you want to minimise the number of turns you take. Rush to the finish, before the encounter deck finishes you.

Your encounter card mitigation is getting through the game fast, by aiming to take 5 actions each turn.

How do you do this? Well, Skids has access to two Awesome allies. Leo De Luca is expensive, but excellent. Cat Burglar doesn't see a lot of love, but plays beautifully when you're trying to run to the finish. Testless disengage and move? Sign me up!

You can also mitigate attacks with cards like Narrow Escape, Dodge, and On the Lam is actually really good when you just need to press on, regardless of the enemies around you. Elusive is a great mobility card, and gets you away from the horde of enemies you've got chasing. Consider "I'm outta here!" too - when you need it, it can win the game.

With 4 , Skids can evade - but evasion takes time, and this should be a backup option. Cat Burglar gives some of the benefit of evasion - the disengage - and a move, so can be very efficient, especially with multiple enemies.

But... you can't run away all the time. Sometimes you'll need to fight. Well, Rogue faction has you covered. Sleight of Hand makes firearms fun again, and Lupara is a great card to combo with it. Fast play a gun, use it twice at +2 +2 damage and get the gun back? Give them both barrels! .41 Derringer is another good one, and can play into the 'more actions' theme of the deck. And Switchblade is an awesome upgrade of Machete - cheap, fast, +2 , and a decent chance at additional damage.

Contraversially, I'm not a fan of Lockpicks in this sort of build. As they can only be used once per turn, they're too slow. Flashlight has no such problems. I suspect that Scene of the Crime might offer a good way to grab 2 clues before you run away.

What about his alarming Willpower? Well, ignore it. Don't try to shore it up; you'll fail anyway. If you're really worried about cards like Frozen in Fear, pack "You handle this one!", or beg another investigator to take Logical Reasoning. However, I've found that it can be quicker just to press on for the finish, carrying Frozen in Fear.

In short, try for fast events, fast weapons, fast everything. Fence may help with this (not tried it). Arrive, get Flashlight out, and go...

In multiplayer, I suspect this approach will suffer; more enemies will be drawn, Lone Wolf won't fire so much; I'm not sure how well it will work. I've also not tried this on Hard or Expert, so it might not be viable there.