Sorry, not a review but a question: Where did this card come from? I can't seem to find it in my core sets? Edit: I see this card is no longer being displayed in the coreset list and has been moved to blood on the altar :)

I don't think that these protective cards are getting enough love. It is hard to consider for three experience (along with Bulletproof Vest), but I think that these are definitely worth the purchases. I tend to lean towards including Elder Sign Amulet in Roland Banks's deck and "Skids" O'Toole's deck since they have such low sanity values that this can effectively double what you can sustain throughout the adventure.

You have to consider that the slot it is consuming is likely not even used. In my Roland Banks deck there is an absence of accessories. So, when adding this in there is no conflicting option to worry about when you draw it. It is never a dead draw card. Especially with the symbols that it comes with. Cards meant to keep you alive are not typically the fun cards, but they are the ones that get you the additional experience in the long run to survive and make it through the campaign and get the cards you really do want later.

There's something to be said for the simple cards. Tentacle mouth guy is one such card.

Let's look at the numbers: 2 resources for 4 charges and a single hand slot, plus a ? icon, for 4xp. All tasty apart from that xp cost, both because it limits which investigators have access to the statue, as well as being a hefty investment in itself. That said, cards don't at the moment tax hand slots particularly, so adding bonus hand items isn't particularly punishing. Moreover, while in a scenario, paying 2 for 4 'double' draws is incredible value. As with all abilities, it's optional, so you can pick which tests you want to use it (before drawing the chaos token). And, by way of comparison, consider Wendy's 'redraw' ability, which, yes, is theoretically limitless, but costs a card for each redraw and, crucially, does not allow a choice between the two tokens (the second replaces the first - and could be the very same as the first).

One simply shouldn't underestimate the potency of choosing to double dip into the chaos bag. Even on tests where an investigator is feeling confident, being able to choose, for example, a instead of a -1 to trigger further effects (such as Agnes's ability) or vice versa to avoid them is incredibly powerful - after all, the statue is in the same faction as spells, from Shrivelling to Blinding Light, which come with additional risks for non-numeric tokens. Choice is crucial here: a normal skill test requires an investigator to overcommit to aim to mitigate the vicissitudes of the chaos bag; an investigator with the grotesque statue can, in a pinch, give themselves options, and options = power.

This is a really nifty card, giving a neat way to build a nice pile of resources. It's great with "Skids" O'Toole for Hospital Debts, and is really good with Hard Knocks ; it's can actually actually supply enough resources to make Wendy Adams dangerous. It's biggest cost is in actions, playing it and using it. As the FAQs say, you can also use it to burgle low shroud locations even when there's no clues still on them, which neat and good fun. Used right, it's (almost) like having an Emergency Cache on demand.

Even better, some investigators can pair it with Dr. Milan Christopher - and now your one action is more likely to succeed, and will get you 4 resources. Rex Murphy might also benefit in particular with this - if he succeeds by 2 or more he gets an extra clue, so you could be getting 4 resources and a chance of a clue too.

In my review on Scrying, I already wrote that cards that can "manipulate" the encounter deck are - generally - very strong. Ward of Protection might just be the best example of that strength. Pay 1 resource to cancel the non-weakness treachery card you just drew. It's the big "NOPE" card: Did you just drew Umôrdhoth's Wrath at a crucial moment? NOPE, you didn't. Drew a Grasping Hands with a low agility character that could possible kill you? NOPE, you didnt. This effect is just awesome, it's so strong the designers decided to build in a drawback, in that you have to take 1 horror after cancelling the treachery's revelation effect. A minor price to pay, in my opinion. With the deck building rules on the coreset investigators, the only investigators who can currently use Ward of Protection are Agnes Baker and Daisy Walker. Both have high sanity, so they can take 1 horror easily, and with Agnes, you can even turn Ward of Protection into a weapon.

With Ward of Protection being a spell, you can use your Arcane Initiate to dig for it. It doesn't cost a valuable action to use it and - as a cherry on top - Ward of Protection has a wildcard icon, so you can commit it to any skill test.

So what's not to like?

If I really have to point out a minor flaw in Ward of Protection it would be the fact that you can only use it on a treachery you draw yourself. So there is no way to help out a buddy who just drew a nasty treachery... Well actually there is.... If one of the investigators is using Scrying, you can plan the turn order in a way that the investigator who is carrying Ward of Protection gets to draw the nasty treachery so he can cancel it.

With the deck building rules for new investigators in the upcoming Dunwich Legacy expansion permitting the use of 5 lvl 0 cards form any sphere, I predict Ward of Protection becoming one of the most used cards to fill those "off-sphere" spots in your deck.