A Test of Will

I found one trickly usage of AToW (0). AToW can forcely initiate test even with non-test treachery card; Amanda could commit her signature weakness to avoid a penalty of it. Also, the player window is open during test; Gloria could trigger ability at Alyssa Graham or (taboo) Scroll of Secrets to look next encounter cards. It's helpful when Gloria looks cards in encouner decks and want to discard two encounters. Sadly, both Amanda and Gloria couldn't add this card without Versatile.

elkeinkrad · 500
There are no revelation effect ay Amanda’s weakness, do AToW can’t cancel it. And ‘looking’ a card and ‘drawing’ it is different, so you can’t use this whith Alyssa. — Elvenwhite · 7
The meaning is not cancel Admanda's weakness, but cancel any revelation effect from encounter deck and commit Amanda's weakness at AToW test. Of course, they need to draw treachery, not enemy. — elkeinkrad · 500
Broke: putting Amanda's weakness below her player card. Woke: taking Adaptable for AToW, mulliganing for AToW, drawing Amanda's weakness in upkeep, drawing a non-enemy treachery in mythos, playing AToW, committing Amanda's weakness to it. — Hylianpuffball · 29
Mind Wipe

Mind blank level one gets a lot of accolades, and they are well deserved. Ignoring vengeance, retaliate or even aloof is a powerful thing. The level three version is great in specific scenarios: multiple-person games with annoying amounts of enemies. With this card, you can have the seeker ignore a weak foe for a turn. That means they could get two clues and move towards a guardian, or get to the resign area without dying.

This isn’t the first thing you should level up, because the level one version solves a lot of your problems, but nobody plays mystic without some free upgrade power. It’s especially fun in TFA, where enemies even into the late game do one damage and one horror.

MrGoldbee · 1484
Useful in the Vale as well. Goodbye, Victory 0 and Elusive! — MrGoldbee · 1484
Read the Signs

This card is best used when it can be applied to a "succeed by" combo. For example Deduction, Perception, for those with access to Seeker up to 2, Quick Thinking for any with access to Rogue 0. Generally with cards that just need a win, like Deduction, Eureka!, Enraptured, this will also do the trick. Using this card just to get 2 clues for 2 resources, meh - there are better Mystic cards, or your class has access to better in-class cards.

Time4Tiddy · 247
I agree, the combo you mention is good, but it is not strictly needed for RtS to be good. With Sefina, I rather use it in sitations, when "succeed by 2" is not guaranteed, to prevent breaking a lockpick. It is also nice, to have a big investigation turn without risking prematurely ending the turn, i particlar at high player counts. So for example move - RtS - RoS or RtS - move - RoS. — Susumu · 381
Cheap Shot

I see a use case for this card I can't think any of the other rogue evade events can do, it can evade an enemy engaged to an ally without having to spend an action to engage, I often use stunning blow for this purpose.

Its not the most reliable way to help someone but I think its worth consideration in a large team, most rogues will be attacking at 7 base here, so effectively at 5 to do what you want to do which isn't horrid.

Beyond that case I think everyone but Tony has better evade events for sheer power.

Zerogrim · 295
Breaking and Entering and Decoy can both evade an enemy engaged to a buddy as well. If that's your main goal, go with Decoy: same price, no test, and greater flexibility. — Mordenlordgrandison · 462
The non elite restriction isn't much, but it is there, so at least for Tony you could make a case for Cheap shot, also it being a trick isn't nothing. (say for chuck) Its a shame stunning blow is just so much better at doing what cheap shot does. — Zerogrim · 295
cheap shot does give you a bigger boost than Stunning Blow does. B&E also works on Elites, I think — Zinjanthropus · 229
Even with the non Elite clause I find Decoy a more inviting option for its testless evade. Cheap Shot requires you succeed by 2 and if you miss you’ll damage the person currently engaged. — StyxTBeuford · 13043
I like it for the enemy evade and the additional utility of finishing off a 4 health target after a Backstab, or setting up a Sneak Attack assist. — suika · 9497
The succeed by 2 requirement on this card feels so bad. Would hardly have been overpowered without that. — CaiusDrewart · 3188
Promise of Power

I've run Promise of Power in a couple campaigns now and I've been really impressed. I don't think you need to have any Curse payoffs in your deck to happily play it. It's just a good deal in its own right.

I think Promise of Power is considerably better than Unexpected Courage, especially on higher difficulty levels. Getting +4 to any test for any investigator at your location is premium--compare cards like Rise to the Occasion and Inquiring Mind, which (in my opinion) feature much larger downsides, while only giving +3! With a +4 bonus, even when playing on Expert, you have a real chance at passing a skill test in a weak stat. That's a nice impact for one card, and something like Unexpected Courage is simply not powerful enough to achieve this.

The Wild icons provide a welcome element of flexibility to Mystics who are otherwise focused only on Willpower. Scenarios often feature important non-Willpower tests, which can be awkward for hyper-specialized Mystics. This card is a great answer to that, and of course also has the flexibility to help allies cover for their own weaknesses.

Moreover, a single curse token in the deck is a very small cost. There's a very high chance that it gets discarded on a test that passes anyway (or, less probably, on a test that would have failed anyway.) I will happily take a large bonus to my skill test right now, when I know the test is important and I know the bonus is useful, in exchange for a smaller penalty later, which might come up on an unimportant test, on an important test that I committed a lot to and therefore can succeed on anyway, or simply not come up at all.

Finally, this is Practiced. That's very relevant because Practice Makes Perfect is a great card, significantly above the curve for a level 0 card and well worth building around. Together with Deduction and Perception, this makes a really nice package for investigators like Amanda Sharpe and Daisy Walker.

CaiusDrewart · 3188
I never considered the downside of "Inquiring Mind" that big. Sure, it might jinx you to not be able to commit it on a test, you really want to, but there will come others, where it will still be very useful. I think, what makes PoP bonkers good is, that it provides a lot of wilds for PMP. Practiced wilds normally come in singulars, like in "Momentum" and "3 Aces". Exceptions are rare and either very restrictive like "Take the Initiative", or very XP-expensive like "The Eye of Truth". Now with PMP it's kind of unfortunate, if you are doing an investigation test and dug up an "Overpower", because it wiffs. That's why Wilds are so much better with PMP, and why I considered Rogue-Mandy the best Mandy, because with "Momentum" and "3 Aces", she will always find a suitable card with PMP. Now with POP this might shift to Mystics. She can still include "Prophecy" and "Plan of Action" to increase the number of eligible wild targets, but without POP they would have just been inferior to "Momentum" and "3 Aces".. — Susumu · 381
Hi Susumu, I agree that Inquiring Mind is a good card (see the review I wrote of it a few years back.) It was perhaps a bit misleading to lump it in with Rise to the Occasion, which is generally a bad card that only becomes good for one or two specific investigators. That said, while I like Inquiring Mind and often run it, I think Promise of Power's drawback is preferable, even discounting the other advantages of the card like the higher bonus and the Practiced trait. Yes, it's usually true that even if you can't commit Inquiring Mind at a particular moment because your location is clueless, you can find a good use for it later. But there are a fair number of scenarios where the clues all get scooped up but there are still some final tasks to do, and Inquiring Mind can sometimes go completely dead. — CaiusDrewart · 3188
Your point about Mandy is interesting. I didn't mention her in the review because I assumed this card was not enough to dethrone Rogue Mandy as the best option, but perhaps so. I haven't tried it. — CaiusDrewart · 3188
I have not tested it yet, either. But this card lets me want to test out a Mystic-Mandy. I think, it might be enought to catch up with Rogue-Mandy, because really, the wild practiced skills were, why I picked that off-class for her. — Susumu · 381
And it was also more of a general point: Mandy will not run "Overpower" anyway. But while you can run PMP with distinct icons, it's IMHO true for any investigator, that wild skills are premium for this card, for reliability. — Susumu · 381
Any card with Practiced is worth considering just for PMPs efficiency. Promise of Power makes the cut over most of the skills mentioned here for that reason on top of the 4 icons being incredibly flexible and strong (and as mentioned you will often pull a curse on a test you would’ve succeeded or failed anyway). I agree that you need no curse removal or tech or anything to justify this card, it’s just good in its own right. — StyxTBeuford · 13043
I actually kind of dislike using PMP with PoP, since most of the time you don't actually need all 4 icons when you're playing PMP, so it feels somewhat wasted (and you still get a curse). PMP decks also tend to run also skill heavy, and skill heavy decks don't like curses all that much, since there's slightly more at stake with each test. — suika · 9497
I think those are both totally valid points suika, but ultimately they're not important enough to make me dislike this combo, since the curses (even if you get 2 playing it off PMP) are just so minor. If you hit PoP and other Practiced skills, you can often choose something else instead if you feel +4 isn't needed. And hitting PoP is still definitely a lot better than hitting nothing. — CaiusDrewart · 3188
Agreed, but it does mean I won't count PoP as one of the practiced skills in my deck for the purpose of PMP, so that there's a good chance to choose something else. — suika · 9497
Rather I think PoP allows you to use PMP for tests you might otherwise not be as confident in passing. I think it’s still an excellent PMP target for that reason. — StyxTBeuford · 13043
For the price of 2 curse tokens instead of just one, you can also use PMP to "fish" for PoP. The first use might be slightly wasted, but you get it out of your deck into your hand for the use, you really want it. Of course, there is always the chance to loose it, if the PMP test results in a tentakle. But that's a risk, I like to take on "The Eye of Truth", and I don't see that much difference here. Of course, if you find another practiced skill, you can commit, you can always take that one instead. — Susumu · 381