Glimpse the Unthinkable

Glimpse the Unthinkable

Edit: Weirdmarine asked in another review how many cards Harvey Walters could draw. The answer is too big of a comment, so i updated my review.

First assume the following cards are in play

This brings him to a max handsize of 18 and only the first copy counts against your handsize. With those 7 cards in play your deck will be smaller. So you're likely drawing more cards than your deck and discard have so you'll take horror each time you shuffle your empty deck and go insane.

Even outside Harvey (without Vault of Knowledge) you end up with a max hand size of 14. So you still draw lots of cards that could make you go insane as well.

Updated review of this card

Seekers have a lot of card draw, but redoing your hand is very powerful, especially when your cards don't help or you ran out. on some encounter cards can result in that.

Combos

Alternatives

  • If you're looking for specific cards, use No Stone Unturned or Mr. "Rook" instead. The first can also be used to help other players
  • Cryptic Research costs 1 fewer XP, no ressources and no action; Can also target other players
Django · 5163
Are you thinking that you have to shuffle a card in to draw one? That doesn't seem right to me. The two effects are unrelated, there's no "then" or anything connecting them, so if you have 0 cards in hand after playing Glimpse the Unthinkable then you can draw up to your maximum hand size without having to give anything up. Or am I confused? — bee123 · 31
I agree with you, bee123. "Shuffle any number of non-weakness cards from your hand into your deck." That number can be zero. — Soemann · 1
@bee123 is correct, you can play this as the last card in your hand and you will then draw eight cards. Your maximum hand size is defined by the game rules (usually it's 8), not the number of cards you had in hand when you cast this. — SGPrometheus · 847
It's unfortunate that there are some factual errors with this review due to misunderstanding how it works, as I mostly agree that there are much better options for card draw — Ildirin · 2
Actually you're right, i misunderstood the card. I'll correct it in a few days. — Django · 5163
I have two things to say in response so I’ll solit them across two posts. First, the rules for running out of cards: “If an investigator with an empty investigator deck needs to draw a card, that investigator shuffles his or her discard pile back into his or her deck, then draws the card, and upon completion of the entire draw takes one horror.” Note the ‘then’ and also ‘upon completion.’ If you have no cards in the discard pile you cannot shuffle them into the deck, so once you reach that state the rest of the draws from the ability will whiff. Also, the entire draw effect of multiple cards is simultaneous so you will only take one horror for the entire Glimpse the Unthinkable. It’ll still cause you to suffer a horror every upkeep, so best not to hold all your cards forever. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
Second, Harvey only has one copy of Vault of Knowledge in his deck, so you can’t play two of them. However, if you take “You Owe Me One!” With Versatile instead of Sign Magik, you can play two copies of Sign Magik from your friend’s deck - plus a third Arcane Enlightenmentand Laboratory Assistant (with a second Chrisma). That will put you at a neat 19 card max hand size. Leo Anderson is the only other investigator in the game who can reach this. He doesn’t have Vault of Knowledge, but can make up for it by playing a fourth Laboratory Assistant thanks to Mitch. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
Sorry, that was small minded of me: instead of just playing our friends’ Sign Magicks, we play their Book of Shadows and EVEN MORE Arcane Enlightenment. The book adds an arcane slot for more enlightenment which adds another hand slot for tomes. Marie, Jim, and Luke bring what we need. With six Book of Shadows and two Sign Magicks, plus the four Laboratory Assistants, and EIGHT Arcane Enlightenments (plus the Dream Enhancing Serum and Vault of Knowledge), we’re up to a Maximum Hand Size of 24 before duplicates and still have another arcane slot and hands for two tomes to spare. I call this build Highest Education. — Death by Chocolate · 1489
In my previous comment I meant three laboratory assistants. The upcoming Miskatonic Archailogy Funding kicks this a little further because it means that one of our fellow investigators can bring another two Laboratory Assistants for us to take (for a total of 5, and officially pushes Harvey ahead of Leo who hilariously can’t get the funding for an expedition) and brings the Maximum Hand Size up to a whopping 28 - before duplicates. — Death by Chocolate · 1489

Persuasion

Persuasion

I really want to like this card in a Carolyn Fern deck for the theme alone - and the fact that she can't play any weapons level 1+ and is so good at getting clues. But I feel a bit bad about putting an enemy back in the deck, and in some campaigns there aren't a lot of humanoids. I'll start with it in the deck but have a feeling it will go pretty quickly once the fighter types in the group get amped up.

Krysmopompas · 366
If you're dealing with lots of humanoid enemies (like in TCU), use handcuffs instead. It's a permanent solution that works pretty well with witches and cultists. However Carolyn doen't have the fight value for it. — Django · 5163
Put some Fine Clothes on to reduce difficulty and you can send aloof archers back into the jungle or nasty witches. Never tried it myself but seems useful for some scenarios. — Ezhaeu · 51
Yeah I love the Fine Clothes combo, but in a 4-player game (which I'm playing now) and at least 2 big fighters, this card went down the priority scale. I think it would be great solo or in 2 player, for a longer amount of time. — Krysmopompas · 366

Twilight Blade

Twilight Blade

This weapon is so well oiled, it won't stay stuck in slimy spheres (good on you Diana!)

However, it still requires you to get close to your target, so it won't protect you from a haunted sarcophagus (sarcophaguses? sarcophagi?)

Also, don't expect it to catch anything flying either.

Nenananas · 271
So you cast the magic bullet with this knife? — AquaDrehz · 204

Resurgent Evils

Resurgent Evils

No reviews of this card? Preposterous!

This is a type of card I like seeing in AH LCG, and it almost makes me sad that it's stuck in its role as "a replacement encounter set in Return to Dunwich" instead of it being a straight up upgrade/replacement of Ancient Evils, one of the most annoying and omnipresent encounter sets of the entire game.

Ancient Evils just hits you with a Doom and possibly advances the Agenda, that's it. Such as it is, it's.. fine. It messes up the timer, it keeps you on your toes, but doesn't have any direct negative impact on you. However the lack of any agency in resolving it means that with higher player counts (or simply unfortunate clumping) sometimes the Agenda will just surge forward and sabotage the scenario which can feel a bit unsatisfying. Essex County Express is one of the more notorious examples of this (and possible direct inspiration for Resurgent Evils), since the breakneck pace of the scenario coupled with a relatively thin encounter deck means 3-4 players will in disproportionately large ratio of games have AE finish the scenario early without the players having any tools to stop this from happening.

Resurgent Evils is simply Ancient Evils with agency. You can stop that Doom being added.. at the cost of drawing two more Encounter cards. This doesn't take out the bite of Ancient Evils, but it enables players to dampen its impact. I've seen games where the choice of 2 Encounter cards saved the game, and I've seen games where it turned possible unfortunate timing of Doom into an absolute catastrophy and mayhem. But in any case, players are not passive sufferers but have active involvement in their fate, which makes a world of difference.

I highly suggest considering using this card whenever a scenario calls for Ancient Evils (and sooooo many of them are). Maybe the difficulty will be slightly lowered, but the payoff is definitely worth it.

ratnip · 68
My group shuffles these with ancient evils and adds 3 of that pile to the enc deck — Django · 5163
“It adds agency” and it also removes the ability for another player to block it with Ward of Protection 2 (or similar). — Death by Chocolate · 1489
So I wouldn’t call it a ‘straight upgrade — Death by Chocolate · 1489
I think thu — NarkasisBroon · 11
I think this, and its counterpart delusory evils, dramatically decrease the difficulty of most scenarios. The reason being that neither optional effect punishes you as much as a doom at the wrong moment. The fact that you know you can always avoid unexpected doom if you need to makes the game way less risky and less likely to kill you at unexpected moments. — NarkasisBroon · 11

Stand Together

Stand Together

Call me basic, but this is probably my favorite card in the game.

About a year ago, my group started playing single faction campaigns (all investigators are same faction). Now, Stand Together was already a pretty good card, but hoo boy - if everyone on your team is packing two copies, its power is amplified significantly. All four of us (Roland, Zoey, Mark, and Carolyn) spent our first 6XP from the Dunwich campiagn (Expert) on this card and never looked back.

This card is always helpful - and it's especially great on turn 1, as others have noted. But it's downright bonkers when you get to be the player of this card AND the beneficiary of a teammate's play of this card in the same round. If you are playing multiple Guardians, and whole team mulligans hard for this card, it's fairly common for everyone to have get a copy in their opening hand. You can increase your odds even further once you have Stick to the Plan in play to thin your deck (more on this in a minute). And of course, even if your teammates don't find it in their initial draw, you might be able to help them fish it out with your own play of Stand Together - teamwork makes the dream work!

If your whole team plays this on turn 1, then the net result is that each investigator spends one action to start the game with 8 cards and 9 resources (except for the Lead investigator, who will get their payoff from whoever takes their turn last). For our resource-hungry Guardians, this is a great way to hit the ground running.

Probably the most noteworthy combo is with Ever Vigilant. After a few scenarios, you'll likely have it tucked away under Stick to the Plan, but even before that, you'll have a reasonable chance of drawing it, even if you only have one copy. With all of the extra cards and resources at your disposal, it's much easier to maximize its efficiency as you are much more likely to have three playable assets in your hand. There's nothing quite as satisfying as having your Seeker-focused Roland play Dr. Milan Christopher, Flashlight, and Magnifying Glass for four resources with one action. After Zoey and Mark are similarly set up, you'll almost feel sorry for any enemy unlucky enough to spawn at your location. Almost.

Another benefit to such early drawing is that a lot of Guardians like to draw their weaknesses as early as possible early, and this opening gambit helps you make that happen.

Sometimes it's just about the simple things.

bricklebrite · 533
I like this card too. My main qualm is that Paranoia and Amnesia interact very painfully here, if either of the two investigators has it. — CaiusDrewart · 3198
I like the theme, artwork and effect, but I only get this at the end of the campaign if I have excess XP — Alogon · 1145
I do like this card a lot, but 3XP prices this card just out of "auto-include" range to "semi-luxury". Especially as you'll want 2 of, 6XP is a lot to invest when there are things like Beat Cop and a big power weapon and Stick to the Plan, etc, to save for. I would love this card soo much more at 2XP. This usually ends up being a mid-to-late game campaign add for me. — c-hung · 12
I honestly think putting the cost down to 2 XP is asking too much. The balancing is fine for the huge benefits that have been pointed out already. — AlderSign · 415