Asset. Hand

Item. Tome.

Cost: 3. XP: 3.

Mystic

Exhaust Astronomical Atlas: Look at the top card of your deck. If it is not a weakness, attach it facedown to Astronomical Atlas (max 5 cards attached).

: Commit a card attached to Astronomical Atlas to an eligible skill test. If that test succeeds, add that card to your hand instead of discarding it. (Limit once per test.)

Jesse Mead
Edge of the Earth Investigator Expansion #67.
Astronomical Atlas

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • Q: When I commit Daredevil to another investigator's skill test during Step 2, will the effect successfully and completely resolve, committing a second card to that skill test? Because there is no rule saying that you cannot commit more than 1, and the Step 2 rule that allows you to commit is permissive for that Step but doesn't restrict beyond that step, some community members believe that the second card commit would be permitted. Am I allowed to commit the card that Daredevil finds to my friends' investigation? Can I commit a card during Step 2 to another investigator, and then also trigger Astronomical Atlas or play Practice Makes Perfect in the triggered ability window immediately afterwards to effectively commit a second card? A: MJ encourages you to think of the rule stating you can commit 1 card to another player’s test as a permitted amount, but not a hard limit. Card effects can enable you to commit more than 1 card to another person’s skill test.

    • With Daredevil, you can commit it and the card it searches for to another investigator’s skill test.
    • With Practice Makes Perfect and Astronomical Atlas, both allow ways for you to commit an additional card to an eligible skill test, regardless of if you already committed to that test already.
  • Q: If I have 2 copies of Astronomical Atlas in play I can have a maximum 5 cards attached to a total of two copies of Astronomical Atlas? Or can I have 5 cards attached to the first copy of Astronomical Atlas and 5 cards to the second copy of Astronomical Atlas ( total 10 cards attached)? A: The 5-card maximum on Astronomical Atlas should only apply to that copy of Astronomical Atlas, and not every copy in play. The rule on maximums in the rules reference does not apply to Astronomical Atlas. (September 2023)

Last updated

Reviews

So, this card is pretty great. It isn't cheap (3-cost, 3 XP), but it ends up reading pretty close to "you draw an additional card each turn" + "you get +1 skill value to a random test each round", and you could do a lot worse than that.

I don't usually consider how many icons are on my assets, but if you are running this in a "regular" Mystic, it may be worth upgrading that Shrivelling to Shrivelling pretty quickly for that extra icon. Generally, I assume you'll use the first every round, and then find tests you are pretty likely to pass to get the cards into your hand.

However, one exceptionally powerful use of this card is with the new signature asset for Norman Withers, Livre d'Eibon. Use Livre d'Eibon to put a skill from your hand on top of your deck, then attach it to the Astronomical Atlas. Then, take a skill test where you can commit that card and get the benefits. When that test ends, you get the skill back, and you can repeat it the next round. Who would like a Deduction or Perception every round? Norman would.

Veronica212 · 285
Combining Livre d'Eibon with Astronomical Atlas to recycle Deduction is a decent way to close out a game, but nothing special compared to running vanilla fingerprint kits. — OrionJA · 1
It costs 1 less resources than a fingerprint kit and is essentially an endless combo until you auto fail while fingerprint kit only has 3 uses. Not sure how they're comparable. — Pollia · 1

Atlas is really good card; however, for better performance, you need to tune your deck with some criteria.

Whenever non-icon non-skill card is attached, there is no way to get that card in your hand; you cannot commit the card without matching icon. The only way is discarding Atlas, and that card is also discarded. Therefore, it's good to avoid non-icon card in your deck. Here is the examples.

  • Emergency Cache: Voice of Ra is good alternative. Cryptic Writings maybe not good, since its reaction ability is not triggered when you get Cryptic Writing from Atlas.
  • Tarot Asset: All tarot asset has no icon. Moon Pendant does not help this.
  • EoE 1xp skill serises, especially Occult Theory. Occult Theory has icon only if it's commited or in your hand. When OT is in Atlas, no icon exists so that you cannot commit.
  • Here are other non-icon cards. Most make you draw cards or boost stats.
    • /netural cards: Delve Too Deep, Living Ink, Time Warp, Word of Command, Lucid Dreaming
    • Off-class cards (xp<2): Lucky, Fight or Flight, improvised serises, Dilemma serises, Moonstone, Fortutious Discovery, Scroung for Supplies, Calculated Risk, Pay Day, Geas, Black Market, Well Prepared
    • Others: Cryptic Research, Sure Gamble, Ace in the Hole, True Survivor, Unscrupulous Loan
    • and... Amina's signature cards: Word of Woe & Word of Weal
elkeinkrad · 468

This would be the fourth card that Parallel Daisy back has access to that Standard Daisy does not, the other three being Grimm' Fairy Tales, Scroll of Secrets (3) (Mystic), and Book of Shadows (3).

Of those three, Book of Shadows is by far the most interesting. Parallel Daisy back has access to the Archaic Glyphs spells, which use charges, rather than secrets (and so can't be recharged with Astounding Revelation). Book of Shadows could conceivably guarantee a use of Guiding Stones every turn, which is pretty strong. Where this starts to get really exciting, in my opinion, is with the Astronomical Atlas. Combining the extra icons + recursion from the Atlas with Practice Makes Perfect and you're well on your way to big commit Daisy deck that can just scoop up mountains of clues very consistently on higher player counts.

Graham · 111
And now the catalogue. — MrGoldbee · 1391
Also I believe Parallel Daisy can play True Magick? — robo224 · 1

In an Agnes Baker or a Lola Hayes deck, the Astronomical atlas can inform you that your weakness is on the top of your deck, which allows you to use Yaotl to discard it from the top of your deck.

Not good enough to include Astronomical atlas if you had planned to use Yaotl, but a good reason to include Yaotl if you had already planned to use the Atlas.

Of course the best solution (to eliminate weaknesses) is Scroll of Secrets (3): look at the bottom 3 cards and discard the weakness among the 3 cards if any. And combined with Astronomical atlas you can even eliminate 2 weaknesses among the 3 cards if necessary (but only Lola and alternate Daisy can have both cards I think).

AlexP · 243