This is an incredible card. Lets break down why:

It has 3 wild icons. Extreeme value with complete flexibility, whether it's to kill an enemy, evade it or just grab a clue it's great card-to-bonus value.

But there is a downside, two actually, every action taken in a round kills one icon. Thus if you go second the card is effectively blank. This is actually the smaller downside, the other being "Commit only to a skill test you are performing". One of the strengths of skill cards is the fact that you can chuck em at a buddy, this is especially true for Unexpected Courage, a card that occupies the same deckslot this one does.

The first weakness, loosing icons, is largely mitigated by the fact that the card can be played at full value in response to events and cards drawn in the mythos phase. Rotting Remains for example, this in fact is the cards's greatest strength in my opinion.

So. 1 extra icon at the cost of only being playable selfishly. That's not a terrible trade.

This card is good. If you can fit an Overpower or Unexpected Courage then consider this one instead.

A perfect card for those Wendys out there, that are in direct contact with a tough enemy and would like to pick a fancy card by trying to sucker punch him with a "1" fight skill. All those Calvins out there don't even need an enemy. It's enough for them just to be at the beggining of the scenario and trying to get a life. To be honest almost every investigator has a way to forcibly trigger the condition on the maximum possible outcome.

But it's a question whether you actually want that. Whether you have time and need to dig. In my recent runs with this card (normal difficulty) it was not essentially better than a simple 0-level version. I had 4 occasions to use it. 3 of them were just a single card draw, but this one time I was really cherry picking a card that hit the sport perfectly.

Is it worth those 3XPs? On hard/expert it rather is. On easy/normal it's one of those updates you can perform later during the campaign, when chaos bag is getting more and more sick and negative.

If you're Patrice Hathaway, just put that inside as a first upgrade. No question about it.

But if you're not.... :)

Still joyfull times. I can finally make decks that don't have Unexpected Courage inside as an obligatory inclusion. That's of course not a direct replacement that's ultimately better, but a solid thing to consider for consistency:

• It's repeatable, but it costs you an action and resourcesto install
• It's always there, but if you rely on it too much it just eats cards, that are already eaten by Duke or Wendy Adams signature ability
• You'll be good at any test, but you'll also be heavily tempted to use it all the time. That's a serious risk for cautious players. Madame Labranche will be triggered more often, that's for sure.
• It gives good use to an unplayable second copy of an asset that's already on the table like Lone Wolf or Rabbit's Foot or any other accessory you like
• It does not directly compete with any of supporting assets, other then the fact that you can't really spend the whole scenario building your tableau

While spending 3 XP on Try and Try Again was a solid plan only on higher dificulties, this slightly weaker version of a card begs for more attention. Every investigator supports himself with skill cards and there's never anything as bad as investing a skill card with additional effect, that just fizzles. Especially when that effect was about to bury an enemy, that right now all of a sudden has a survival license and will kick your butt badly in the enemy phase. So any Vicious Blows, Resourcefuls or Survival Instincts are more welcome to proove it's worth.

The stakes are even higher when you've just threw your last Last Chance out of your pocket (as your final card of course) and found out that Cthulhu did not found that impressive enough, pulling you a .

My favourite investment though is an inclusion of Double or Nothing in either Wendy or Pete deck, which enables a more reliable time compression, when protected by this humble card. This idea is already on the table with Will to Survive, but for a bigger XP investment.

The donwsides then?:

• 2 resources and action invested
• into something that might just not be needed

It may be just a personal preference. If you're a cautious player that likes to be sure and overinvests just a tiny bit into every test, you're decks probably reflect that and you prioritize cards that just deliver. If you're more on the crazy side of things, that asset enables you to be yourself.

I'd rate this card as 3 out of 5.

It's not as bad as it looks, really.

Let me explain!

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class characters usually rely on maximized hit chances with lots of cash-money and cards committed to ensure success and high-profile results. You don't take a .41 Derringer or any of the other (Non Chicago Typewriter) weapons into a fight check without doing everything to ensure a successful check. If you want to do careless fight checks just 2 above the target then play a instead! attacks are all about doubling up and dealing big and powerful hits where only the fails your attack. On these attacks it really, really doesn't matter if the enemy gets buffed with Retaliate or not, it really doesn't.

Also, Retaliate gets shut off if the enemy is exhausted, in these circumstances Knuckleduster suddenly becomes a cheap shot weapon, Finn Edwards evades all the foes anyway, even if he doesn't immediately need to, quite often you'll find yourself Evading a foe, punching him once, then clearing out, then once that foe gets in your way again down the line he'll have some damage on him and be easier to kill.

Suffice to say that I've really changed my mind about this card after actually trying it. Don't be delusional though, Switchblade is still a far-superior "infinite" weapon.