Scientific Theory

Joe Diamond

I was talking to a friend about potential upgrades to his Joe deck when, with a flash of insight, I remembered that this card exists. Aside from the obvious point that Scientific Theory boosts the two stats Joe uses to win the game, there are a few reasons it sits well in a Joe deck.


Composure cards can be protected from horror by assigning that horror to other assets with sanity values, like allies. Joe Diamond, with his low and unremarkable sanity, already benefits from multiple high-sanity companions. Charisma works well, as does a Miskatonic Army style of deck, which runs Calling in Favors and series of cheap allies with abilities that trigger after entering play -- all such allies have two sanity. They may not allow Scientific Theory to say in play forever, but they will let it last longer than it otherwise would.

It is worth noting that The Circle Undone gave us Mr. "Rook", a very powerful, disposable ally -- he only needs to stay around for three turns. Mr "Rook" improves any Miskatonic Army he enlists in. Though he lacks the Miskatonic trait making it more of a Mr "Tonic" Army.


Mr Diamond can pony up the resources to get use out of Scientific Theory. His cycle also gave us Crack the Case, which is one of the best level 0 economy cards, and he frequently spends an action playing an event for free. If you go without taboos you have access to Milan money (ideally with Charisma), and if you go with them Scientific Theory shoots up in value because its biggest competitor, Higher Education, is a harder sell.

Spritz · 69
Dayana Esperence

How does this card interact with Mystifying Song or The Painted World? Are they removed from the game after one use because Dayana only prevents events attached to her from being discarded? I'm aware Sefina Rousseau can't take Dayana Esperence herself, but in some unlikely setup, she might get her if someone uses Teamwork.

Other question, what about Time Warp, does it cancel the costs of Dayana Esperence as well? I think not because it only cancels the effects of the canceled action?

Django · 5163
The Painted World is removed instead of discarding it, but with Dayana it is not discarded, so there is no effect to replace. — Adny · 1
The secret + exhaust is additional cost to play the Time Warp, so as per its errata, it is not undone — Adny · 1
But you cannot multiply Mystifying Song, as it is "removed from the game". While Painted World id only removed if discarded, there is no such loophole for Mystifying Song. — vidinufi · 69
Studious

If you have two of these, does that mean you draw 7 cards during setup step 8? So you could potentially draw another 7 during a mulligan?

This is filling text to meet the 200 characters prerequisite. This is filling text to meet the 200 characters prerequisite.

Django · 5163
The card is non-unique and not exceptional, so you could buy two of them. — Daerthalus · 16
And, due to the wording, running two copies means you would start each game with 2 additional cards in your opening hand. — Daerthalus · 16
Is it just me, or does the guy in the art look a little like Lovecraft...? — cb42 · 38
It’s Gilman. — Kozz84 · 1
I don´t understand if you have studious when you draw this extra card and if you mulligan it or not. The card refers to the beginning the game but you draw your opening hand during setup and after the setup ends the game starts. So you begin the game and draw an extra card afterwards or you draw it and mulligan it during setup? The wording is not clear to us. — Rado Gaman · 2
The wording could be more clear, but if that were the case I'd have expected a rules clarification, since the dominant presumption is that it would take effect during setup step 8. It's when you draw your opening hand, and it's the only part of the rules that formally details the process of drawing your opening hand. I can't imagine that's not the intended timing point. — MiskatonicFrosh · 344
I agree with @MiskatonicFrosh. Card states "opening hand" and you are given 1 chance to draw your opening hand in game. — Makaramus · 9
This card does not say "during setup when you draw an opening hand, draw one additional card" this means you cannot do a mulligan which is performed during setup step 8 — Rado Gaman · 2
Mk 1 Grenades

As a "weapon" that does not occupy any slot, It's a good secondary to kill critters, while saving ammo on your big guns. Albeit at the risk of hurting other players, but there are ways around that.

Avoiding damage to other players

Combos

Side question, how does Hatchet Man interact with this card? Is the extra damage dealt to the attacked enemy or the target of Hatchet Man?

Django · 5163
Hatchet Man only deals the damage, if you throw the grenade at the evaded enemy (the others arent attacked) — Adny · 1
Hatchet man says "the next time the evaded enemy takes damage this turn, deal it 1 additional damage", so it doesn't care about who is attacked. My question is wether that part of Hatched man takes precedence over the grenades part in brackets "any additional damage..." or not. — Django · 5163
I misread the card... The additional damage on the grenades cares about the damage, that i added to the attack, like Vicious Blow or Marksmanship. Hatchet Man triggers on damage being dealt, so it still hits the evaded enemy — Adny · 1
I agree, I take it to read as any target-unspecified additional damage. It's italic so it's clarifying text, not a new rule. — pneuma08 · 26
Marksmanship requires a firearm — Chitinid · 14
Never mind, it works with ranged — Chitinid · 14
Chen Li can also selling some explosive Kung Fu moves with these beauties... — Quantallar · 8
This is such a weird (albeit 6 year old) review. "Avoiding damage to other players when using grenades" -> "Don't use grenades" ?! Or do a convoluted (and completely pointless) combo with teamwork and armor of ardennes just so you can blast them with grenades? — flamebreak · 27
Dayana Esperence

There are so many great spell events to choose from. Deny Existence Drawn to the Flame, Uncage the Soul, etc. Since she works on secrets you can use Truth from Fiction to increase her uses. I think she would be fun to build around.

Calprinicus · 6378
Sefina cannot take Dayana because it is a level 3 mystic card. — Cyiel · 1
*facepalm* thanks for the correction. — Calprinicus · 6378
Uncage the Soul is not a Spell event so it can not be attached to Dayana — MrGiblets · 1
Also Drawn to the Flame as well — MrGiblets · 1
Too bad you can't attach Truth from fiction to her. Would be great to fuel other "secret" based cards, like Rook. — Django · 5163