I slotted this in thieves kit Wendy and it paid off immediately. Even in two player, Elaborate Distraction can do wonderful things. Not only did it kill the rat I was engaged with without a skill check, it damaged a nearby foe, the enemy engaged with my guardian, his weakness The Thing That Follows (which was catching up), and tapped an annoying aloof enemy. Preston, who also has a lot of money to throw around, should consider slotting two of these, especially if you can afford Leo Deluca and are working with four actions a round.
Obviously Rita loves things that evade, and automatic evasion at adjacent locations puts this above some of the two XP events that came out early for her. The best-case scenario is you get your elder sign during the mythos phase and can damage and tap many many enemies.
Three cost is going to be iffy for most survivors. For survivor dippers, it could be extremely fun for Minh or an excellent guardian control for Tommy. Any of the Dunwich set can use it as discount dynamite.