I just used this card with Calvin in a Dark Horse deck that uses "I've had worse…" instead of Perseverance, because it's free and brings fuel to your Fire Axe/Mariner's Compass, and it blew my mind!
That got me interested in looking deeper into the real benefits of this card over its competitors.
TL;DR: Shrine of the Moirai is the most versatile discard-pile-drawing card available to as of now. No limit of class, or level, is fast after being played. Buy it after you bought some key events to use them over and over again. It is important to be confident in your encounter prot though, before adding it to your deck. And this is useable by your fellow teammates!
Shrine of the Moirai: 1 action, 1 resource, 6 targets, 3 encounter cards, 3xp, limit: 5xp for the 2 cards, the user needs to stay at the same location when using it. this is the most versatile discard-drawing card.
Net cost: 0 actions (considering encounter cards like 1 action lost for each, which is an average, some will make you lose 2 actions, others just provoke a skill test or direct effect).
Best when: Played at the end of your turn, you can consider that you will use it once after playing it, and once at the beginning of your next turn. Also interesting at the end of your campaign to recycle certain of your key cards (events/skills most likely). Importantly, it can be used by anyone at that same location!
Down side: You need a solid encounter-protection to find a real benefit to Shrine of the Moirai. The new Nine of Rods helps scaling down the risk, and all the versions of A Test of Will as well. If you are pairing with a Mystic, that's also often going to be fine, especially as they can use Ward of Protection on it (and redraw it right after, along with a 5 pips spell, like Deny Existence).
Here is now an analysis of when X card is better or worse than Shrine of the Moirai:
Scrounge for Supplies: 1 action, 0 resource, 1 target, 0xp - limit: level 0 card.
Net cost: -1 action: You spend an action to replace Scrounge for Supplies by any other level 0 card in your discard pile.
Best when: Early campaigns when all your cards are level 0
Down side: Good cards tend to be in your discard pile by the end of the scenario when actions become really scarce, therefore Scrounge for Supplies may stay in your hand because you have more important stuff to take care of.
Resourceful: 0 action, 0 resource, 1 target, 0 xp - limit: cards, only works on success.
Net cost: 0 actions: You spend one card to find another one
Best when: Playing heavy decks like Calvin Wright or Stella Clark. Also, you need to be sure to succeed in your test and aim at higher level cards for a better return on investment.
Down side: draw the and you lost your chance. Let's face it, we all wasted Resourceful at least once on an excess of confidence in the Chaos bag.
True Survivor: 1 action, 3 resources, 3 targets, 3xp - limit: Innate skills (full list of Innate skills here)
Net cost: -2 actions
Best when: You play the combos of Brute Force and Sharp Vision. Or Resourceful to bring back your True Survivor for another round.
Down side: Very expensive in XP. Your deck must be more or less built around this strategy for you to find a spot for this card in your upgrades.
A Chance Encounter (0): 1 action, 1 resource, 1 target, 0xp - limit: Allies, only for 1 turn
Net cost: -2 actions
Best when: You use it on allies that bring something specific: Anna Kaslow, Tetsuo Mori if you can kill him fast enough, Medical Student, Laboratory Assistant, Research Librarian, etc... The Red-Gloved Man why not, but you lost your first use of him already...
Down side: The Ally is discarded (not defeated, sorry Xavier) at the end of the round, when it takes you already 1 action to play it.
A Chance Encounter (2): 1 action, 0 resources (it doesn't add to the value of the target), 1 target, 2xp - limit: Allies that are already defeated/discarded
Net cost: -1 actions: You spend one card to find another one
Best when: You heavily rely on certain allies that provide you a time-based benefit: Guard Dog, Beat Cop (2), Aquinnah (3), Agency Backup, Grete Wagner, Mr. "Rook", David Renfield, Eldritch Sophist, Dayana Esperence, etc...
Down side: This card becomes useful only when you first draw your ally and finish using it. It implies heavy use of this ally's benefit. It can also become a very costly strategy (Hey Agency Backup).
Scavenging & Scavenging (2): 1 action, 1 resource, unlimited targets, 0&2xp - limit: you need to be a good investigator
Net cost: N/A
Best when: You are an investigator with access to this card and you are interested in reusing certain items. First in mind are Rex Murphy and Minh Thi Phan with the Ancient Stone, Agnes Baker with her charged spells, or Calvin Wright, Wendy Adams that will like to re-use soaks. "Ashcan" Pete will also like to draw back some cards from the discard pile to turn them into dog food another time, and potentially Preston Fairmont could also use it.
Down side: You need to be confident in your investigating capacities to make the best out of this card. It is also often useful from the 2/3 of your scenario onward, as you first need to draw your item, use it completely, discard it, and play Scavenging to be able to spend another action to play it again. This decreases the overall value of Scavenging & Scavenging (2). It is often being used around twice to 3 times per scenario.
Conclusion:
Shrine of the Moirai fits best with investigators that have a great protection against encounter cards (Wendy Adams, Calvin Wright, Stella Clark for example) and rely on some key events.
It is expensive in XP, but is by far the most versatile one of them all. It is a great replacement for Scrounge for Supplies once you bought expensive cards and you want to use them as many times as possible.
Unless you play a certain style of deck in which Resourceful, True Survivor or A Chance Encounter will shine, Shrine of the Moirai is your go-to card for bringing value to your discard pile.
