I think this is the best card Arkham Horror: LCG has released since Higher Education. Key of Ys is absurdly broken.

For best results, try it with Duke and Peter Sylvestre as Pete. Those two allies will keep the Key in play more or less indefinitely, and you can enjoy what is effectively an 8/7/7/7 stat line. That is totally gamebreaking.

Or try it as Yorick. He can also use the Peter Sylvestre combo, and if the Key somehow does get discarded, Yorick can just play it back! (More often than not 10 discarded cards actually helps him, too.)

Survivors are best poised to take advantage of the Key, but really, anyone can put this to great use.

Yes, it's 5 XP, and you need other sanity-soaking assets in play for it to really work, but the benefits it grants are so absurdly strong that these drawbacks don't come close to balancing it. No matter who you are, the Key makes you an all-around dominant investigator. This card makes Wendy fight like Zoey and Skids resist treacheries like Agnes. What is more, it augments every investigator's strengths, to the point that even the Expert chaos bag stops being that scary. No other card in the game comes close to that.

The "discard the top 10 cards of your deck" proviso is totally irrelevant unless the scenario features Beyond the Veil. Even then, you might not draw Beyond the Veil, and if you do, you can just be careful about keeping the Key in play. That's not a major concern at all.

A card poised to take Arkham Horror by storm (get it?).

I don't have to say much. Most investigators will benefit from this, especially if they have any way of off-shoring sanity to other assets (it has been confirmed the "you" is your investigator card).

So if you are a Mystic, Survivor, or Seeker you have assets that can help shield your Key.

Guardians without access to these card pools will struggle, but even they have beat-cops to take a few hits to keep the key around longer.

Rogues also struggle a bit to use this card without those dips due to ally selection, but they have a few things that can work.

Solo, this card is a monster. Multiplayer, you probably will have 1 person who is considering it and is trying to build around it.

Let them. Because once it gets 2 or 3 horror on it, they become hyper efficient.

Many people think this card is totally broken. Is it really? Let's analyze it.

Costs

• 5 XP: Very expensive, but reasonable for such a powerful effect. We're lucky it's not exceptional.
• 3 Ressources: Reasonable price, which most investigators should be able to pay. Only Dark Horse decks may find it too expensive.
• Relic Slot: Shares the slots with some other powerful cards, like Elder Sign Amulet, Holy Rosary or St. Hubert's Key. Most of these cards are mystic, so the slot is ok. Relic Hunter is also an option.

Requirements

In order to get the most out of this card, you need:

• In play as early as possible
• A reliable source of horror
• horror soaks to protect it

Getting the key into play

Only way to draw this card early is hard mulligan and seeker cards:

• Preposterous Sketches, but only for the person playing it. All others can be played on other people.
• Eureka!
• No Stone Unturned 0, No Stone Unturned 5
• Cryptic Research
• Eidetic Memory when copying one of these cards

Horror Sources

• Forbidden Knowledge
• Scrying 3
• Shrivelling, but very situational

• Painkillers, but only if there's damage on your investigator

• Most of these are cards. Other than these, enemies are the most reliable source of horror. But they often deal damage as well, so you need damage soaks (Bulletproof Vest) and/or healing (Strange Solution).
• To play it safe, stop taking horror intentionally after the second, so it it's bonus is only at +2. Then it won't leave play when you take another horror wihtout a soak.

Horror Soaks

• Neutral: Elder Sign Amulet is the best neutral soak, but it's also a relic and requires Relic Hunter in addition. Calling in Favors can be used to re-play an ally, healing him in the process.
• Guardian: Brother Xavier or any ally. Heal them with Inspiring Presence
• Seeker: Has Lot's of disposable allies like Art Student or Laboratory Assistant
• Mystic: Holy Rosary or any ally.
• Rogue: Several expensive allies. If possible use a different class or neutral cards.
• Survivor: After Cherished Keepsake, there's Peter Sylvestre 0 and Peter Sylvestre 2, the best horror soaks in the game.

Other things to note:

• When taking more than 1 horror, you can place any of them on Key of Ys
• This card can replace other boosters, like Spirit Athame or Dark Horse
• Direct horror can't be redirected, even when this card is in play.
• You can't use Agnes Bakers ability while this card is play, unless it's direct horror

Summary

This card is definately powerful, but uesless if you can't put any horror on it or it's destroyed. So i wouldn't put my first 5 XP into this card, unless your deck (or your party) is built around it.

Hi folks--this is less a review than a post to point out that in the new "List of Taboos" FFG released with new Errata, Key of Ys has been "Mutated" to have the Exceptional keyword. That would mean this would cost a whopping 10xp, right? That almost certainly puts it outside of playable for most decks. That seems like a wild over-correction to me... I appreciate the List of Taboos as an incentive to keep deckbuilding fresher... but what do you all think?

I personally would be disposed to house-rule it to keep the exceptional key-word, but shift the XP to 3 or even 4 (which would total 6 or 8 xp). A 10 XP total cost just seems grossly prohibitive.

Does the 2.12 card interpretation in todays FAQ update supercede the previous Q and A interpretation? If so the easiest path to keeping Key of Ys around by assigning horror to assets/allies may no longer be an option.

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(2.12) Interpreting “You” When Taking or Being Dealt Damage When an ability refers to “you” in response to taking damage or being dealt damage, it also includes any assets you control.

For example: The ability on Survival Knife ( 17) triggers “after an enemy attack deals damage to you during the enemy phase.” This ability triggers even if the damage from that attack is assigned to one or more of your assets, and not your investigator card. However, if all of the damage from that attack is assigned to another investigator or their assets (through the use of a card effect that allows them to do so), then no damage has been dealt to you.