I'm unconvinced this card is as bad as people are claiming.

The worst way this card could be bad is if you're firmly relying on the fight or evade to make checks at all, and it discards itself. That is a disaster and because it's a disaster this card should not be played in that position.

Where this card has room to be playable is horror soak with the benefit of some turns of turning decent checks into secure ones. At worst, it's the card for a fast resource to horror point. Something Worth Fighting For has the same resource conversion rate, better draw (3 horror for a draw), worse action cost (1/3rd per horror), though is admittedly lvl0. And you're going to have situations where you can simply replace it because you have the other copy in your hand and it doesn't cost an action.

This card would not be too good if it cost zero though (either XP or resources but not both), and would make it considerably more interesting on the deck building side. Honestly, I just think the restriction shouldn't be there. One sanity point on the one composure you can have in play isn't going to break the game without something truly degenerate, and if you're a tough guy, composure isn't the first thing you lose, it's the last thing you lose right before your last sanity point and if that's not thematically appropriate I don't know what is.

TL;DR: Interesting update for sure! A must-have for a Spell heavy and orientated Mystics. It brings more value to Wither + Shrivelling combo / Sixth Sense + Rite of Seeking combo / Attack + Investigate + Evade Spells builds.

When level 0 of Sign Magick was often clunky and had a hard time finding a real value in decks, it was with Familiar Spirit the only way to open up your Arcane slot. The question was then: should I sacrifice an Ally slot, or a Hand slot?

And now, we have this upgrade and the The Hierophant • V in the same box that both offer an extra Arcane slot.

Let's look closer at these 2 cards:

The Hierophant • V:

• Free AND Fast when in your starting hand. It will most likely not be your first mulligan target as you will focus on your key spells.

• 3 resources, 1 card and 1 action to play - 6 actions. As with every other 'extra slot card', it becomes less and less relevant the later you draw it, knowing that you will need 1 action to play this card AND 1 action to play the extra Spell/Accessory. This makes this card useless in the late game when actions become really scarce.

• Doesn't bring any icons for skill test unless you bought Moon Pendant as your extra Accessory.

• Brings flexibility between your Accessory slot and your Arcane slot. Bring 3 Arcane spells and 2 Necklaces and play down the first 4 cards that come to your hand.

• Takes the slot of Four of Cups that is a commonly used Tarot card.

Sign Magick:

• 3 resources AND Fast. Even in the late game, if you have your other spell in hand, it is worth playing it if you have extra resources as long as you have 1 action to play your spell. Uncage the Soul can also make it free!

• Brings one extra action PER TURN (2 when you have the 2 cards down), on one of your spells (!!!)

•• Always use Wither or Sixth Sense before you use your Shrivelling/Armageddon/Azure Flame or Rite of Seeking/Clairvoyance/Eye of Chaos to benefit from the Symbol token effect on your second spell.

•• As it is a , you can use Rite of Seeking right after your attack with Shrivelling without provoking Attacks of Opportunity (!!!)

•• This is extremely interesting as Sword Cane was starting to make Wither (0) a bit useless. Not anymore.

•• Use Wither with Jacqueline Fine and bring an Icon token. This attack does 1 damage and -1 health. Use Sign Magick's to trigger Shrivelling for a nice potential 5 damages turn.

•• Use Sixth Sense with Jacqueline Fine and bring an Icon token. You are now investigating at a different location and find 1 clue. Use Sign Magick's to trigger Rite of Seeking to grab a nice amount of 4 clues at a different location [The rules of "As if" say: "Other card abilities or game effects resolved during the duration of the indicated ability or action are also resolved with the altered game state in mind."]

•• Use Mists of R'lyeh for evasion + move and send an immediate investigation on that new location with Rite of Seeking for an evasion, one move and 2 clues in one turn to make Ursula Downs feel like a sloth.

•• It also looks like it will bring nice combinations with the soon to be released Blur and its Fight version. Evade with Blur, investigate right after with Rite of Seeking and get your action back.

•• Finally a fun one: Borrowed Time will gain 1 free click per turn as it is a Ritual, unfortunately no one so far can use level 3 and level 3 in the same deck.

Conclusion:

I will prefer Sign Magick to The Hierophant • V for the Fast Aspect, to keep the Tarot slot free for Four of Cups, and most importantly for a free trigger of spells: You killed an enemy, get a free investigation, you didn't kill the enemy, get an extra attack or an evade to dodge the damages.

A new permanent, with a rather hefty XP cost attached. The effects you get are a fairly varied, but there are a lot of interesting options available. Since the tarot only affects you rather than the group, it means that the overall effect may be lower. I've listed these out for general groups:

• Health/Sanity - This gives you a slightly larger threshold to toy with. It can matter if you're playing it close, though other bonuses will generally help you avoid taking that damage in the first place.
  • You get +1 health.
  • You get +1 sanity.
  • After you reveal an during a skill test, you may heal 1 damage or 1 horror.
• Deck Alteration - These may help smoothen out your deck a bit. They are effects that often don't matter that much sometimes, but may matter a whole lot more if you tend to go through much of your deck and hit weaknesses or downsides that you'd rather avoid.
  • You choose 1 basic weakness in your deck and remove it from the game (return it after the game ends).
  • The first time your deck would run out of cards, you may shuffle the bottom 10 cards of your discard pile back into your deck.
• Setup Improvements - It's less consistent and more expensive than Another Day, Another Dollar or Studious, but the bonuses from these effects are a little higher in exchange - especially if you're playing a class that suddenly gains consistency that's desperately needed.
  • You begin the game with 3 additional resources.
  • You begin with 2 additional cards in your opening hand.
  • When the game begins, search your deck for an Ally asset, add it to your hand, and shuffle your deck.
  • When the game begins, you may play an asset from your hand at -2 cost.
  • During setup, you may take up to 2 additional mulligans.
  • During your first turn, you may take 2 additional actions.
• Capacity Improvements - Hand size adjustment isn't relevant unless it is a major boost for your character. However, a bonus slot is a ridiculously useful tool, with the notable downside that you can't easily plan for it. Charisma and Relic Hunter are cheaper and more reliable tools for Allies and Accessories, but some characters could still use that bonus slot on top, and most characters won't go wrong with an extra Hand or Arcane slot available.
  • Increase your maximum hand size by 3.
  • You have 1 additional slot of a type you choose when the game begins.
• Test Reliability - Is it important for you? Consider it. Is it not important to you? Don't. Note that unlike some cards, these bonuses apply to the first test each round, meaning is a reasonable pick for non-Mystics since it can help during the Mythos phase. Of note is that this category also includes the ability to avoid - and that can be a massive guarantee as well of a slightly different sort.
  • During the first test you perform each round, you get +1 .
  • During the first test you perform each round, you get +1 .
  • During the first test you perform each round, you get +1 .
  • During the first test you perform each round, you get +1 .
  • Once each act, when you reveal a token, you may cancel it and treat it as a 0 token instead.
• Ignore this? Suuuuure... - These are effects that impact the global state, and therefore are ways of improving things for your whole team. The value depends on the scenario and on how close you're cutting it, but the effects are notable.
  • Cancel the first doom that would be placed on the final agenda of the game.
  • When the game begins, replace a token in the chaos bag with a 0 token. Swap the back after the game ends.
• Permanent Improvements - If you get these early and they're relevant, the XP might more than pay for itself.
  • If you are not defeated during this game, you earn +2 experience during its resolution.
  • If you are not defeated during this game, you may remove 1 trauma of your choice during its resolution.

There's some luck in the draw of the tarot deck. However, it's worth noting that you draw 3 cards and pick the best of them. What are the odds of getting something that's worth 4 XP each time? You won't get a great result targeting a specific effect - you'll only have a 13% chance of finding it each game. However, it's not too hard to get to a position that feels about right.

Where does the threshold for reliability lay? It varies for different people, but I'd set my own tastes at around 90% - that is, as long as I'd get something worthwhile or better in 9 out of 10 shots here, it's worth it. That threshold actually lays at around 11 cards. 11 cards leads to about an 89% chance of getting something from that set. And the odds only improve further if you like more than that.

I'd say that most characters wouldn't want this for health/sanity/healing, don't need to shuffle their discards into their decks, only want boosts in 2 stats, don't care about hand size, and don't worry about trauma unless things are going poorly. That would be indicate 8 out of 22 cards would be 'whiffs'. However, that's still better than the odds I've set for myself - it's only about 4% of the time that there are only effects available that are 'subpar'. And those effects aren't bad - just not quite worth that XP. On the whole, I'd estimate most of the 'poor' effects are worth it if ill-fitting, noting the implicit savings are notable since you don't have to spend any draws, plays, actions, slots, or resources to get the benefit.

4 XP is still a notable cost, and it seems unlikely that this will be one of your first purchases. However, once you have enough wiggle room to experiment and upgrades become more incremental, it's worth looking through the list of effects and seeing if enough tarots seem worthwhile enough to justify the cost.

Since this only applies to you and the tarot deck's contents are known, there is a list of effects you might see from this weakness. I've reworded them accordingly here, and have categorized them in groups based on the general typing. I've tried to put the groups in order of least-to-most threatening, but this can greatly vary depending on the character, build, or mission.

• "Don't Be Defeated" set - Since you generally don't want to be defeated in the first place, these are generally minor items to keep an eye on.
  • If you are defeated this game, you earn -2 experience during its resolution.
  • If you are defeated during this game, suffer 1 trauma of your choice during its resolution.
• Additional damage/horror sources. You might have to play a bit more carefully, but these probably won't do more than things like Psychosis, Hypochondria, Internal Injury, Chronophobia, or Nihilism might do to you, and at least you don't have to worry about losing a draw to them or taking actions to cancel them later.
  • You get -1 health.
  • You get -1 sanity.
  • After you reveal an token during a skill test, you must either take 1 damage or 1 horror.
• Initial deck manipulation - This is somewhat annoying, but if you're running multiple copies of things, it's often not fatal. It's about what you'd see with Through the Gates.
  • When the game begins, you search your deck for an Ally asset, remove it from the game, and shuffle your deck.
  • When the game begins, you discard the top 5 cards of your deck. Shuffle each discarded weakness into your deck.
• New basic weakness - It's as good or as bad as the weakness you get. Just be aware if you happen to get a weakness that might not be removed as easily as you like, if you happen to be toying with Dark Pact, Doomed, or Offer You Cannot Refuse - though I believe the latter has the amusing consequence of giving you 2 XP with no permanent downside, if you properly handle it for that single scenario.
  • Add 1 random basic weakness to your deck. Remove it after the game ends.
• Capacity Changers - This adjusts how much you can hold. Many characters will have some wiggle room with these effects, but those that are hit by them will often be hit particularly hard. Remember, the slot set is Accessory, Ally, Arcane x2, Body, Hand x2 and Tarot, since footwear is still not a slot.
  • Decrease your maximum hand size by 3.
  • You have 3 fewer slots, each of a different type, chosen by you when the game begins.
• Messes with your tests - The swing on these is pretty hefty, depending on if the skill you get is relevant or not. Note that unlike some other cards, these apply to the first test you perform each round, meaning these may hit during the Mythos Phase. If this happens to hit one of your main stats... Ow.
  • During the first test you perform each round, you get -1 .
  • During the first test you perform each round, you get -1 .
  • During the first test you perform each round, you get -1 .
  • During the first test you perform each round, you get -1 .
  • Once each agenda, the first time you reveal an token, cancel it and treat it as a -5 token instead.
• Good luck ignoring this - Effects that other investigators have no easy way to ignore, due to the tarot manipulating a global state. These may not be notable, depending on the scenario card or on just how smoothly your group works.
  • When the game begins, replace the highest non-negative token in the chaos bag with a token. Swap them back after the game ends.
  • The final agenda of the game enters play with 1 doom on it.
• Setup/Turn 1 Modifiers - Most characters prefer to setup on turn 1, and these tend to interfere with that. How bad this is depends on how much setup your character needs to work out of the gate, how much your character can afford to dally, how lucky you are in getting what you need despite lesser opportunities, and if other characters are able to help make up for the gap until turn 2 or 3.
  • You cannot mulligan or replace weaknesses in your opening hand (resolve their revelation abilities when the game begins).
  • During your first turn, you have 2 fewer actions to take.
  • During the first round of the game, you cannot play assets.
  • You begin the game with 2 fewer cards in your opening hand and cannot draw cards during your first turn.
  • You begin the game with 3 fewer resources and cannot gain resources during your first turn.

The full effect list is varied enough that this is bound to be a very swingy weakness. In general, I would say the first three groups (7/22) are fairly negligible, the setup group (5/22) will hit most characters fairly hard, and the rest (10/22) will vary greatly depending on the exact scenario and character. All in all, I think the overall effect of this is fairly average for a weakness, though at least most of the time, you'll have one less weakness in your deck to draw.

I'm cautiously intrigued. The existence of Sword Cane, Scrying Mirror, the new and improved Chthonian Stone, and the classic Grotesque Statue is going to make a two-handed asset a hard sell. Hand slots are in higher and higher demand these days for this faction. But if you're a Mystic who doesn't mind getting their hands dirty, this card is a contender.

The peak performance of this card is easy enough to spot: fill all your arcane slots and you get an unlimited +3 , 2 damage attack. Compare that to any other level 0 weapon--it's just bonkers good. For laughs, throw in Familiar Spirit to crank it up to +4. Or if you're an absolute clown, and have access to Bandolier, put a Sign Magick or Book of Shadows in your free hand for a +5 (or both/double for +6 with the upgraded Bandolier, plus a bonus +1 !). Or with access, use Arcane Enlightenment to hold Book of Shadows, then use that additional arcane slot to hold another--okay, you get the idea.

Meme builds aside...the big catch is the setup cost. Nothing we haven't seen here--it's an asset-that-lets-you-hold-more-assets which also gets-stronger-with-other-assets. And so this card suffers under the same dearth of efficiency suffered by all such cards. Say you're going for the bare minimum of getting the damage bonus.

First and foremost, the resource cost: the staff itself costs 3. I imagine you'll pretty much always want to play an investigation spell alongside, which will cost 3/3, 4/4, or 5. And with that, we've already ruled out a turn one setup without also having some economy in your opening hand. Next you may want an evasion spell to complete your trifecta of tested actions--that's another 2/2 or 3/3. Uncage the Soul is a big help for more expensive spells, but there are leaner alternatives. Alchemical Transmutation is cheap, and will help to cover the cost. Scrying is a nice bargain too.

Next there's the action cost: With the exception of Mind's Eye (2 slots), Obfuscation and Talisman of Protection (Fast), that's 3 actions to play the cards you need. A whole turn.

For both of these issues delivers some decent out-of-faction support through Ever Vigilant. In fact, I'd say that Dragon Pole is barely playable without it. It's almost as if this card was designed with a certain long-awaited / Martial Artist in mind. Cultists, nuns, or zealous chefs may be equally interested. Perhaps the clowning with Bandolier is actually viable?

My mind also turned to Akachi Onyele upon seeing this card. With her decent and her love of spell assets, as long as she can address the setup issues, she could go full battlemage with this!

All things considered, if you want to get the most out of this card, you'll need to build around Dragon Pole like you'd build a road around a sacred thousand year-old tree. I prefer to see that as an opportunity rather than a problem, though I imagine most traditional Mystics would rather stick to 2x of a standard attack spell. Of course for all we know, there will be more support for this card once the cycle is released. Looking forward to it!