Great learning from how you thought. Love to see more episodes like this which are beginner-friendly plus not too complex an explanation. I played all cycles except Dream Eater and The Scarlet Keys but still consider me and my group beginner :D. Nice work!
I once used Eldritch Initiation in a Lily Dragon Pole deck with three cards in my hand and 3 filled slots. I drew 2 Burdens of Destiny and my basic weakness and then discarded my whole hand.
Kukri is awsome. When it was made, much more enemies had 2 health. Having a at-will 2 damage attack that requires one token pull and one skill pitch for Survivors and Mystics was very useful when you only had the core set. It's obsolete now, but it wasn't when it was made. A level 0 neutral weapon is always going to be bad. Kukri is one of the best level zero neutral weapons.
It came out in Dunwich, so among those investigators you probably should just be using your 5 off-color cards on weapons if it comes to that. I could maybe see it in Jim, though. For Agnes and Wendy I'm dubious that Kukri is a good idea with their low fighting stats and other ways to deal with enemies. But hey, if you made it work, I'm glad it worked out. And I should run the numbers again, but NOTZ and Dunwich have some of the enemies with the most HP in the game, although I agree there are a decent number of 2 HP enemies in the first two scenarios of Dunwich.
I agree with your picks. I want to nominate Blackmail File as currently missing a niche, but since it's decently costed I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually found one. Or maybe you're just supposed to bring it as a tech card to dodge pit vipers in TFA.
Intrepid is a great example of a terrible level 0 card. It's a single-icon skill card that has to be committed to a successful Willpower test before it does anything, then you have to test a different skill before you get any value at all (and even then, all you're getting is a measly +1 bonus). Worst of all, it discards itself at the end of the round so you have to line up the Willpower test in the same round you plan to test other stats. That is way too many hoops to jump through for +1 to a test (or maybe a couple of tests if you're lucky). Basically every other skill card either pays out more, asks less of you, or provides a bigger stat bonus than Intrepid.
@@Quick_Learner If you're only doing 1 per class then I agree that Blackjack is probably a worse Guardian card. Is this the same reason that Grit Your Teeth (from the thumbnail) doesn't make the list?
I've managed to abuse eldritch initiation in an Akachi deck but it required setup and xp before it was even decent. In most cases it was card disadvantage for selection. I really enjoyed accidentally having 4 empty arcane slots and just casually drawing 4 for a resource and an action, however, that deck was not great.
Goodness! I mean, these cards are bad, but they aren't as bad as some of the terrible TERRIBLE cards I can think of. Dark ritual, the curse grimoire cards, hatchet man, warning shot, plan of action... These cards are just awful!
I would say I dont agree with Eldritch Initiation. I have just built a deck for Marie Lambeau going heavily on Arcane Slots. Unfortunately, I dont have the Scarlet Keys expansion, else I would put Eldritch Initiation and Explosive Ward in my deck. Those two cards synergize. I start with two Sign Magick. Then, there are various XP cards that add arcane slots. The Moonstone barely NOT made it in my deck. With Eldritch Initiation available, I would have made this my trinket to go. Worst case you could still just cycle some cards, finding your high XP cards. Lastly, even the level 0 seeker cards that let you draw cards arent better comparing the potential. One drawback: You might not want to spend ressources to get more slots when there is currently no need to do so. I mean, I doubt Sign Magick will ever be my first card to play, except I also have Arcane Initiation in my starting hand. Still you would need a ressource card to then be able to fill those slots.
I got hundreds of sleeves for 1 cent so i sleeve every card in storage. I do not sleeve trench knife nor ghastly revelation. I dont want to even tempt my family to pick these
I think Grimm’s fairytales would be plenty playable (though certainly not an autopick) if it just didn’t take a hand slot. You don’t have to be playing the fail archetype to fail a test by 2 occasionally, and 2 resources & 1 action to heal 4 horror over time isn’t too bad as healing goes. But sucking up a precious hand slot for who knows how long takes it from mediocre-but-playable to outright garbage
Yeah, I agree. I think the fail-by archetype would make it empty much more quickly, so that's why I started there, but it's STILL not quickly enough to make up for clogging up the hand slot. Without it, it'd see more play.
I think it works pretty well for Preston, who 1) doesn't need much of his hand slots 2) needs an accessory for Rabbit's Foot (so can't take an easy soak of Cherished Keepsake) 3) can fail tests consistently
While the skill bonus is neat, you still really want to deal the extra damage since it spills over onto other members of the swarm to avoid getting attacked.
I thought about mentioning this, but decided against it. Indeed, if you spend 3 XP on Occult Reliquary, call "arcane slot" at the beginning of the game, then yes you will draw 3, which is a pretty okay idea if you're going for the empty Arcane Slot build, I guess.
@@Quick_Learner For the Mystic/Guardians like Lily, Mary or Zoey, if their deck plan already involved buying Occult Reliquary for Blessed Blade or Holy Spear then Eldrich Initiation seems like a pretty good early to mid game setup card.
@@Quick_Learnerthis package also enables explosive ward for 3 damage which is on par with spectral razor’s sweet spot. Works best in off class mystic though
That seems okay if you're taking In the Thick of It for 3XP for that alone, but I think you're better off with Scroll of Secrets since it just does the same thing at level 0.
Add Lucky Dice and Seal of the Seventh Sign and we're talking. Some might say investing 12+ XP to maybe make a level 0 card work is folly, but that's just the charm of jank. But also ohh my god what were they thinking??? Such a difficult card to love
@@Quick_Learner I agree with @thetimebinder , Eldritch Initiation works great in a Binder's Jar deck. It's not a big ask to have just another card in play, and it's a 1-cost draw-4.
@@Quick_Learner I'd personally put healing words and clarity of mind below it, since even the upgraded versions are pretty bad. Eldritch initiation at least has a niche archetype that it fits into. That being said, it's harder to pick mystic cards for this sort of list since they're usually pretty solid. A true bottom 5 list wouldn't have mystic cards in them at all tbh.
EI has the potential to pick up in value in the future, e.g. if mystics (or investigators with access to EI and no access to better options) would care more about cards in their discard pile.
That's right, if I didn't force myself to pick one in each class, a true bottom 5 cards would probably be like First Aid, Blackjack, Trench Knife, Grimm's, and maybe Grit Your Teeth.
Great learning from how you thought. Love to see more episodes like this which are beginner-friendly plus not too complex an explanation. I played all cycles except Dream Eater and The Scarlet Keys but still consider me and my group beginner :D. Nice work!
Kukri's best property is that the artwork looks like Liam Neeson. He has a very particular set of skills...
I once used Eldritch Initiation in a Lily Dragon Pole deck with three cards in my hand and 3 filled slots. I drew 2 Burdens of Destiny and my basic weakness and then discarded my whole hand.
Kukri is awsome. When it was made, much more enemies had 2 health. Having a at-will 2 damage attack that requires one token pull and one skill pitch for Survivors and Mystics was very useful when you only had the core set. It's obsolete now, but it wasn't when it was made. A level 0 neutral weapon is always going to be bad. Kukri is one of the best level zero neutral weapons.
It came out in Dunwich, so among those investigators you probably should just be using your 5 off-color cards on weapons if it comes to that. I could maybe see it in Jim, though. For Agnes and Wendy I'm dubious that Kukri is a good idea with their low fighting stats and other ways to deal with enemies. But hey, if you made it work, I'm glad it worked out. And I should run the numbers again, but NOTZ and Dunwich have some of the enemies with the most HP in the game, although I agree there are a decent number of 2 HP enemies in the first two scenarios of Dunwich.
@@Quick_Learner to be fair, I literally used it in Jim during Dunwich.
I agree with your picks. I want to nominate Blackmail File as currently missing a niche, but since it's decently costed I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually found one. Or maybe you're just supposed to bring it as a tech card to dodge pit vipers in TFA.
Can be good for parallel Daisy. A slotless tome xD
Intrepid is a great example of a terrible level 0 card. It's a single-icon skill card that has to be committed to a successful Willpower test before it does anything, then you have to test a different skill before you get any value at all (and even then, all you're getting is a measly +1 bonus). Worst of all, it discards itself at the end of the round so you have to line up the Willpower test in the same round you plan to test other stats. That is way too many hoops to jump through for +1 to a test (or maybe a couple of tests if you're lucky). Basically every other skill card either pays out more, asks less of you, or provides a bigger stat bonus than Intrepid.
Yeah. If I didn't force myself to pick one from every class Intrepid would make the bottom 5, I think.
@@Quick_Learner If you're only doing 1 per class then I agree that Blackjack is probably a worse Guardian card. Is this the same reason that Grit Your Teeth (from the thumbnail) doesn't make the list?
Exactly.
I've managed to abuse eldritch initiation in an Akachi deck but it required setup and xp before it was even decent. In most cases it was card disadvantage for selection. I really enjoyed accidentally having 4 empty arcane slots and just casually drawing 4 for a resource and an action, however, that deck was not great.
Kukri I see as the knife for the highest difficulty levels and those who wanna play at that. That's the only place I see a small niche for it.
Goodness! I mean, these cards are bad, but they aren't as bad as some of the terrible TERRIBLE cards I can think of.
Dark ritual, the curse grimoire cards, hatchet man, warning shot, plan of action... These cards are just awful!
I would say I dont agree with Eldritch Initiation.
I have just built a deck for Marie Lambeau going heavily on Arcane Slots.
Unfortunately, I dont have the Scarlet Keys expansion, else I would put Eldritch Initiation and Explosive Ward in my deck.
Those two cards synergize.
I start with two Sign Magick.
Then, there are various XP cards that add arcane slots.
The Moonstone barely NOT made it in my deck.
With Eldritch Initiation available, I would have made this my trinket to go.
Worst case you could still just cycle some cards, finding your high XP cards.
Lastly, even the level 0 seeker cards that let you draw cards arent better comparing the potential.
One drawback:
You might not want to spend ressources to get more slots when there is currently no need to do so.
I mean, I doubt Sign Magick will ever be my first card to play, except I also have Arcane Initiation in my starting hand.
Still you would need a ressource card to then be able to fill those slots.
I got hundreds of sleeves for 1 cent so i sleeve every card in storage.
I do not sleeve trench knife nor ghastly revelation. I dont want to even tempt my family to pick these
This is amazing.
I think Grimm’s fairytales would be plenty playable (though certainly not an autopick) if it just didn’t take a hand slot. You don’t have to be playing the fail archetype to fail a test by 2 occasionally, and 2 resources & 1 action to heal 4 horror over time isn’t too bad as healing goes. But sucking up a precious hand slot for who knows how long takes it from mediocre-but-playable to outright garbage
Yeah, I agree. I think the fail-by archetype would make it empty much more quickly, so that's why I started there, but it's STILL not quickly enough to make up for clogging up the hand slot. Without it, it'd see more play.
I think it works pretty well for Preston, who 1) doesn't need much of his hand slots 2) needs an accessory for Rabbit's Foot (so can't take an easy soak of Cherished Keepsake) 3) can fail tests consistently
Trench Knife is solid when dealing with swarm enemies.
While the skill bonus is neat, you still really want to deal the extra damage since it spills over onto other members of the swarm to avoid getting attacked.
Does Eldrich Initiation draw 3 with Occult Reliquary?
I thought about mentioning this, but decided against it. Indeed, if you spend 3 XP on Occult Reliquary, call "arcane slot" at the beginning of the game, then yes you will draw 3, which is a pretty okay idea if you're going for the empty Arcane Slot build, I guess.
@@Quick_Learner For the Mystic/Guardians like Lily, Mary or Zoey, if their deck plan already involved buying Occult Reliquary for Blessed Blade or Holy Spear then Eldrich Initiation seems like a pretty good early to mid game setup card.
@@Quick_Learnerthis package also enables explosive ward for 3 damage which is on par with spectral razor’s sweet spot. Works best in off class mystic though
That seems okay if you're taking In the Thick of It for 3XP for that alone, but I think you're better off with Scroll of Secrets since it just does the same thing at level 0.
The Henry Wan disrespect, my Rite of Equilibrium Dexter Drake Edge of the Earth deck is spinning in its grave.
Yeah, bless, curse, frost... or you can play Gregory Gry.
Add Lucky Dice and Seal of the Seventh Sign and we're talking. Some might say investing 12+ XP to maybe make a level 0 card work is folly, but that's just the charm of jank.
But also ohh my god what were they thinking??? Such a difficult card to love
I'm confused by the title. doesn't the number of pips in a card's cost indicate its level?
Yes, what's the confusion?
@@Quick_Learner The first card you showed had four pips on it. I guess I must have missed something
That was just an example and not the actual list
Eldritch Initiation isn't in the bottom 10 of bad Mystic cards.
I made my case. What's yours?
@@Quick_Learner I agree with @thetimebinder , Eldritch Initiation works great in a Binder's Jar deck. It's not a big ask to have just another card in play, and it's a 1-cost draw-4.
@@Quick_Learner I'd personally put healing words and clarity of mind below it, since even the upgraded versions are pretty bad. Eldritch initiation at least has a niche archetype that it fits into. That being said, it's harder to pick mystic cards for this sort of list since they're usually pretty solid. A true bottom 5 list wouldn't have mystic cards in them at all tbh.
EI has the potential to pick up in value in the future, e.g. if mystics (or investigators with access to EI and no access to better options) would care more about cards in their discard pile.
That's right, if I didn't force myself to pick one in each class, a true bottom 5 cards would probably be like First Aid, Blackjack, Trench Knife, Grimm's, and maybe Grit Your Teeth.
Oh no don’t do this to me
:-D
I'd argue switchblade is worse than Henry Wan; I can at least see him put in certain niche decks, can't say the same for switchblade.
Well dexter drake exist so switchblade 0 has a place.