Death • XIII

I like most of the new tarot cards (Ace of Rods being the only exception). Advantages:

  • Provides +1 , which is the most important stat to gather clues and win the game
  • Seeker assets are rather cheap, so 3 ressources should be ok
  • Free to play if in opening hand (mulligan increases your chance of drawing it)
  • Does not conflict with existing assets with the new tarot slot
  • Is not an item, so it's immune to many treacheries that target these

Disadvantages

  • Second copy is a dead card, as players have only one tarot slot and it has no icons to commit
  • Conflicts with other tarot cards, if the investigator has access to more than one faction at level 1+
  • Ability to play this for free may motivate a player to mulligan important cards, like weapon assets
Django · 5154
I think its worth acknowledging that while any tarot is a dead card, when running Higher Education, dead cards are fine. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
The Moon • XVIII

I like most of the new tarot cards (Ace of Rods being the only exception). Advantages:

  • Provides +1 , which by itself helps evading enemies and protects against some treacheries. It's real value lies in cards like Lockpicks.
  • Free to play if in opening hand (mulligan increases your chance of drawing it)
  • Does not conflict with existing assets with the new tarot slot
  • Is not an item, so it's immune to many treacheries that target these

Disadvantages

  • Second copy is a dead card, as players have only one tarot slot and it has no icons to commit
  • Conflicts with other tarot cards, if the investigator has access to more than one faction at level 1+
  • Ability to play this for free may motivate a player to mulligan important cards, like weapon assets
  • Evading enemies usually does not win the game, so boosts are not as good as or .
Django · 5154
Joe Diamond

Investigators are complex beasts, and lots can be written about the various nuances of their cards: Playstyle, Key Combos, Deckbuilding, Archetypes, and of course just how fun they are. I don't want to cover all of that, but instead just to talk about one question for Joe, but probably one of the first questions you will ask about him: "What do I put in the Hunch deck?"


Before we answer that, lets make some observations about the Hunch deck:

  • First off, note that you "play" from the Hunch deck, which means you cannot commit cards to skill tests from it (Norman's ability is the same). As you are not committing, cards that are good for their flexible commit icons lose that power in the hunch deck. Conversely if a card has a weak set of commit icons, you don't care.

  • Note also that you can only play Hunches during the Investigation phase. This means that defensive insights such as Forewarned are not useful.

  • Every time you play from the deck, it is the equivalent of a draw and 1-2 resources, that's up to 3 actions, and is therefore extreme value (most Investigators get the equivalent of a bonus "1 action" from their ability, Joe's ability therefore compares very well to others, providing it gets used frequently). You will want to be playing from the deck as much as you can. An average game is about 15 turns, which should be enough time to empty the deck.

  • You will see the Unsolved Case every game, and need to plan around it. Note that you can play this even if you have no clues in play (which is great!), so the main thing here is keeping two resources back, or at least a way to get two resources in a pinch if you need to. Joe is actually a very resource-hungry investigator, so if you don't have a regular source of income from Dr. Milan Christopher, you'll need to consider economy during deckbuilding.

  • As you want to play Hunches wherever you can, you favor Insights that are flexible over ones that are situational. Situational insights can still go in your regular deck if you like them.

  • You favor cost 2 Insights over anything else, as you get maximum value without any investment. Cost 1 and 3 insights are also good. Cost 0 insights provide lower value, and cost 4 insights demand investment and therefore lower flexibility.

  • For the same reason, you prefer Fast insights over standard action ones as they increase flexibility. Fast insights that cost 2 or less are essentially completely free.

  • When you empty your regular deck, spent Insights will get reshuffled back there rather than back into the Insight deck. This isn't a huge problem, and doesn't really affect deckbuilding, but its worth noting. It possibly does mean that very late game draws might be "polluted" with Hunch draws, but they should still be playable or used for commits. It probably does mean that Joe has a mild dislike to things that burn his deck, and possibly weakens cantrips for him, but only by a mild amount.


Given all the above then, here is my rankings for Hunches.


Some notes on the above:

Scene of the Crime won't always get you the two clues, but you should be willing to play it for one clue whenever it arrives. It still provides good value at that cost. Emergency Aid, normally a middling card, becomes very strong when it is free, as well as providing options around healing Beat Cop or other allies. Likewise, Delay the Inevitable, No Stone Unturned, Preposterous Sketches while not amazing cards, hit all of the sweet spots for Joe (2 cost, usually always playable, etc), that the provide immense value in the Hunch deck.

Logical Reasoning is a fantastic card, but normally has three abilites (heal, counterspell, commit) and only one of those (heal) is reliable from the Hunch deck, so I prefer this in Joe's regular deck and in his hand. Anatomical Diagrams is a great card, generally underrated, but Joe's low Sanity makes it a tricky play. "I've got a plan!" is interesting, and can sometimes be amazing, but won't always be playable - again it might be better in the main deck. Shortcut is good, but you're missing out on some value as its 0 cost (Shortcut (2) is better here). Connect the Dots is strong, but you need to be confident you will be able to play it, as it requires both the investment and the right situation.


Joe is a powerful Investigator and his Hunch deck is an opportunity for immense value. However it's not a sideboard. Flexibility and mid-cost Hunches that you want to play every turn are the best way of building the Hunch deck, rather than a traditional sideboard stuffed with magic bullets that will go unplayed.

Why do you rate Preposterous Sketches as "high" but "Cryptic Research" (which is like Preposterous Sketches (4) to me) only as "mid"? — Django · 5154
Decent analysis. I would add that you can always run more than 11 hunches and pick and choose which ones you want in your hunch deck and which in your main deck for each scenario. Also, it should be mentioned along with the hunches that Higher Education is a prime pick for Joe because a card played from hunch deck is a card preserved in your hand, making it much easier for him to stick to the 5+ requirement. Good catch on Unsolved Case, as the RFG is a separate clause therefore changes the game state by itself. — The_Wall · 287
Preposterous Sketches (0) is normally 2 cost, but in the Hunch deck it is 0 cost. It compares to the 2-XP variant. By contrast, Cryptic Research (4) costs 0 and therefore gets no cost reduction in the Hunch deck. If you're going to upgrade Prepop (0) into Cryptic (4), you've spent a lot of XP, to get only a marginal benefit. Cryptic (4) would be better suited in the main deck, assuming you want it at all, as No Stone Unturned (either variant) and Prepop (0) are already providing a lot of draw for Joe. (As an aside, Joe also likes Backpack, although it clashes sadly with Bandolier). — duke_loves_biscuits · 1278
Because with Cryptic Research you don't save 2 resources, when played as a Hunch — Adny · 1
What's a *cantrip*? — kingofyates · 26
In the trading card game Magic: The Gathering, a cantrip is player jargon to refer to a spell that, in addition to any other effect, makes you draw a card. — flooze · 7
The Tower • XVI

I think this card is very penalizing, as it imposes 3 negative effects that aren't all obvious:

  • The first is obvious, not being able to commit cards is often a problem
  • 4 ressources to play is a lot, for example leaving you unable to play most assets on turn 1
  • When played it occupies the tarot slot, which may discard an existing tarot card

However another tarot card can be played to discard the tower, once it's in play. The rules about weaknesses only prohibit players from discarding weaknesses from their hand, not from play (unless the card itself says so).

Django · 5154
I think a case can be made for The Tower to be the most heavily penalising random basic weakness, including Doomed. This is actually more than twice as bad as Indebted when you take into account the mulligan clause. — The_Wall · 287
The_Wall, I don't entirely agree with it being twice as bad. I agree it is very punishing. However, Indebted is Permanent, so it will hit you every scenario. This only matters if you draw it, so you could dodge it. Of course, never having to worry about drawing Indebted instead of this is also something one could argue about... — Veronica212 · 299
Is there any restrictions agianst shreading it through the Cornered for +2, or through Wendy's and Pete's abilities? — theczarek · 2
Ok, silly my - Review ansered my question :P — theczarek · 2
I think it’s really swingy and heavily dependent on: — carlsonjd11 · 521
The investigator and when it’s drawn. It’d crushing to Silas, Minh, and Calvin (or anyone who heavily relies on committing cards). It’s less so on investigators who rely on assets and events, especially after they’re setup. It’s also most crushing if you get it in your opening hand or in the middle of the game before you’re setup and are maybe still relying on committing cards. — carlsonjd11 · 521
If you are playing a Guardian, Ever Vigilant helps mitigate this weakness. Can save 1 action to play it and 1 resource. — Ezhaeu · 50
You forgot one thing, if in Mulligan, unlike other weaknesses it IS one l'ESS card drawn (and one less redraw). So anyway it is 1 lost draw ans a Mulligan fear, so another penalizing effect., — LeFricC'estChic · 86
Sorry, autocorrect gone wild, *less *and. — LeFricC'estChic · 86
This has been a rough weakness for me and my Joe Diamond. The past few scenarios in TCU I have either started with it or drawn it the first few turns and haven't found Milan until near the end of the game. When combined with Indebted... It has been a sad time for literally poor Joe Diamond. — cooker · 1
Just started a rum with Silas and this weakness is crippling for him. i think couldn't have gotten a worse weakness. — nungunungu · 4
I had two of these in my first deck; as I drew one for my random basic weakness and chose Intro 2 during setup of the Witching Hour. So stuck with two for the whole Campaign! — corbs · 10
In a recent scenario, I played this with ill grace, but then got an asset-eating Treachery, so it became a rather expensive shield. — LivefromBenefitSt · 1084
is it even a good idea to buy a tarot card once you get this as your weakness..? — FindetClemo · 1
I would add a 4th.... e.g. in my Preston deck that I dont do test, have resources to throw away, and more likely will never have a tarot card, the most punishing part is that takes a hand size, so in Preston your hand size get down to 7 unless you spent the action and your inherihance to play it. — marduke182 · 15
Starting a Circle Undone with this as Mark basically crippled me right off the bat. Just a devastating card to resource starved Guardians. — Pevsfreedom · 1
Four of Cups

I like most of the new tarot cards (Ace of Rods being the only exception). Advantages:

  • Provides +1 , which protects against encounter cards and many mystic spells replace other tests with it
  • Free to play if in opening hand (mulligan increases your chance of drawing it)
  • Does not conflict with existing assets with the new tarot slot
  • Is not an item, so it's immune to many treacheries that target these

Disadvantages

  • Second copy is a dead card, as players have only one tarot slot and it has no icons to commit
  • Conflicts with other tarot cards, if the investigator has access to more than one faction at level 1+
  • Ability to play this for free may motivate a player to mulligan important cards, like weapon assets
  • Mystic assets are quite expensive, so 3 ressources can be too much
  • Without appropriate assets, a bonus to doesn't do anything, so it can be a dead card (beside mythos protection)
Django · 5154
I think one of it is an autoinclude after the first scenario. More is arguable and i won´t do it. I am basically not happy to add a new slot so you have to decide if you want to use tarot in your campaign. — Wolfric · 1