Control Variable

For anyone else wondering, the "h token" in the description is a curse token. That's really all I had to say. It's an interesting piece of curse tech? A smidge expensive, though, at 1 card and 1 resource.

Cassus · 10
Got a "Like" from me for that, as mentioning typos like that is quite useful, and not everybody knows, how to do this on Github. And you wouldn't be able to post another review without a like. The mentioned "h token" has been fixed in https://github.com/Kamalisk/arkhamdb-json-data/pull/1352/files, but it hadn't been updated yet, and you shouldn't feel bad for not knowing that. — Susumu · 366
The Key of Solomon

The Key of Solomon is one of the best cards for the Blurse archetype, to the point where characters who normally wouldn't care about Blessings or Curses should potentially think about running Blurse solely to fuel it.

For Curse investigators, The Key of Solomon is the best economy card in the game that refunds itself on the same turn it's played, with the added bonus of removing 1 Curse token from the bag per turn at Fast speed. As soon the Key of Solomon is in play (preferably with a card like Spirit of Humanity or Gabriel Carillo to consistently fuel it), Curse investigators can give Rogues like Jenny Barnes or Preston Fairmont a serious run for their money in the resource generation department.

For Blessing investigators, The Key of Solomon is the best healing card in the game on par with Hallowed Mirror paired with Soothing Melody. Being able to consistently heal investigators and allies for any combination of 2 damage and/or 2 horror every turn without needing to spend actions is pretty incredible. Unfortunately, it's a bit harder to keep the chaos bag flooded with Blessings than Curses, but the payoff is strong enough for Blessing tech that even investigators like Carolyn Fern and Vincent Lee should seriously consider running at least running Spirit of Humanity, Radiant Smite, and The Key of Solomon for the synergy alone.

And if your table happens to be running any combination of Blessing and Curses, you get the best of both worlds. I'd be shocked if The Key of Solomon wasn't on the next Taboo list, so abuse it while you still can.

Telosa · 54
One thing that is worth mentioning for the Bless builds, is the synergy with Soul Sanctification to bank 2 Unexpected Courage per turn! — Valentin1331 · 71652
One specific benefit for Book of Living Myths: You want blesses/curses to be in balance so Myths can proc either when needed. For example, maybe one turn you need to proc a bless to activate Ancient Covenant, while the next turn a curse for Prismatic Spectacles. Solomon helps burn off excess blesses or curses to keep them in balance, and thus Myths flexible. — MindControlMouse · 42
This has some fun potential with a combat focused Diana Stanley. Take this and Ancestral Token, and enjoy tons of actionless healing for doing what you planned on doing anyway. — Jim_Bob · 11
Toe to Toe

How does this card (and similar cards that bait enemies into attacking) work with the enemy keyword elusive?

"If a ready enemy with the elusive keyword attacks or is attacked, after that attack resolves, that enemy immediately disengages from all investigators, moves to a connecting location (with no investigators, if able), and exhausts. This effect occurs whether the enemy was engaged with the attacking investigator or not."

It seems as though it would immediately make the enemy move away before you can finish resolving the rest of the card. But I'm not really sure.

The FAQ for Weeping Yurei says you still get to finish the attack if you draw a token that causes it attack you and activate elusive during the skilltest. — Uffruption · 108
Wolf Mask

Ed: I was wondering about the difference in text between Wolf Mask and Zoe Samaras: "when you become engaged," and "when you engage an enemy." @Quick_Learner pointed out that there is no difference between these kinds of effects according to FAQ (2.4). Enemy and Investigator engagement is mutual. So, Wolf Mask is replenished by all engagement except for that with Massive Enemies.

ZachsFisher · 59
Man these masks are stupidly overpowered. Y'all can miss me with these ffg, i don't wanna have the game become easy mode. At least have them complete in accessory slot... — Quantallar · 8
The problem with Zoey Samaras and the cross is that they trigger “when” you engage and require a reaction. As per machete’s errata, there is no timing point of engagement. However 1) the mask uses ‘after’ and not when so it is not reliant on the timing point and 2) it does not trigger on reaction so is more similar to machete as a constant effect (specifically the offering recovery) rather than Zoey or the cross. — travisc · 1
Katana

I think this is generally a bad card when things like Machete exist, especially as Machete only takes up one hand slot. You can assemble things like Steady-Handed or Knight of Swords on specific investigators to help you succeed by the right amount for its test, but even then Katana exhausts when using its +2 damage option, so what's the point in building an engine around it when you're going to get less damage than 3 actions on a Machete? The +2 if you're not bothered about the extra damage is okay, but if you're not bothered about the extra damage then the humble Knife becomes a cheaper and less resource intensive option.

The interesting bit therefore is the fight test. While people like "Skids" O'Toole can use this, there's better things which can go in his hands (e.g. if you want to do fighting, the new British Bull Dog is nice albeit ammo intensive). For this reason I'd recommend:

The last thing I'll say about this card is its resource cost stinks. 4 resources for two kinds of actions which are hard to get working properly? No thanks! Overall I'd say it has niche uses on some investigators around its action, but is otherwise outshone by easier to use fight assets which are cheaper and take up only one hand (e.g. Machete).

HungryColquhoun · 7941
"Worse than Machete" isn't much of a statement when that applies to all but maybe 2 weapons. I think you're overselling the problem of only getting 3 damage in one action once a turn though. How often are you really needing to do 6 or more damage a turn? — Spamamdorf · 5
Bonnie Walsh can only ready Ally assets, not weapons. — DrOGM · 25
@DrOGM - good catch, edited. I could have sworn I read her card before posting and still mentally skipped over 'Ally'. — HungryColquhoun · 7941
`@Spamamdorf` I think if the 3 damage was guaranteed you'd be right, but as you have to game getting a success of two it's too much of a hurdle to jump through (and two hands is a big issue as well, I guess they should have made it a wakizashi!). Personally if I'm going combat for enemy management then 6 damage in a turn is the minimum bar for me even in a level 0 deck (otherwise I find them poorly specialised and not supporting multiplayer effectively). Even on flex decks I would normally expect 6 damage. — HungryColquhoun · 7941
Yes, it's finicky, but you didn't answer the question which wasn't what do you shoot for but how often do you need that much damage? Unless you're the only goon in a four player game with three seekers you probably are just fine dealing 3-4 damage a turn most of the scenario. And then you simply pack a few events for the boss at the end. Are you regularly drawing 6 hp of enemies in two player or 12 in 4 player every turn? Not likely. — Spamamdorf · 5
`@Spamamdorf` Definitely some of the time, if two enemies spawn at once (or one spawned and then a hunter who caught up with you). I feel like the deck building mentality is to build for the 10% of situations that are bad and cause loss of a scenario, not the 90% of the time where dealing 3-4 damage is fine. Besides, I play two player - so I build decks that do things reliably in those tough situations, not with the mentality I've got 3 other investigators to cover me so I can get away with a lack of specialisation. Clearly we approach the game differently, and that's fine. Reviews are idiosyncratic and there will be other people who play like me and so appreciate this review, and people who play like you and so don't so much. I think both of our points of view here are well justified, personally. — HungryColquhoun · 7941
To compare damage, you need to calculate average damage, not just assume that every fight action is a success. The +2 combat increases the odds of success versus machete, and there is a chance of getting the +2 damage with each action. I haven’t done the calculation but I would guess that Katana does more average damage than Machete when fighting tough enemies with fight value equal to your combat strength, depending on the chaos token pool. — jmmeye3 · 627