Might be kind of niche but I am building a Kymani Jones deck with this, Chuck Fergus and Bum's Rush. With the starting 5 xp you can take 2x Chuck and 3x Doppelgänger. For 4 resources and no action (or 2 resources and an action) you can discard any non-elite enemy by playing this in your room then Bum's Rush to push them out and trigger the second evade (you have to succeed 2 evades at 7 skill, but that's not too difficult and the 1 damage from Bum's Rush reduces the difficulty of Kymani's discard evade test). If you fail the first evade you still move them and get a second change to evade from Doppelgänger.

Can also work nicely with "Where's the party?" to discard non-elites from the encounter deck. Drop a doppel in room, spawn an exhausted enemy and then evade them instantly to discard. 2 resources and an action, with Chuck able to reduce either the resources or actions needed to 0.

It's not overpowered by any means, but it is pretty neat that both of the crucial cards (Chuck is luxury here really) come from the same set, which matters as I have moved on to playing limited environment for extra challenge.

• This card can prevent Knife from being discarded.
• This card can let you use all Sled Dogs twice during your turn.
• This card makes The Council's Coffer's daunting test actionless.
• This card can let you use Timeworn Brand's string attack without exhausting or ignore the weaker attack's condition.
• This card can let you use Blur/Blur without charges.
• This card can gain you 1 resource without adding curses via Scrimshaw Charm.
• This card can let you use Flute of the Outer Gods without curses.
• This card is rather disappointing.

I am going to attempt to put a positive spin on this card by trying to identify its most apparent niche.

Spell events are great. I love spell events. They are typically really impactful, but they're also really expensive. So lets say Luke Robinson wants to run Dayana Esperence with Read the Signs, but that's some pricy tech, you gotta muster up 2 resources every time you wanna do that. But by spending 4 resources and 2 actions, you can make this combo pay for itself. That's something, sort of.

And you can apply Fine Tuning to these cards, so you can trigger them twice per turn. That means that for 8 resources and 2 actions you can generate 4 resources per turn dedicated to playing spells. Not the worst engine, and it only costs 2 XP and 4 card slots. Getting the startup money is hard but not insurmountable, and if you're gonna be playing a lot of spells and getting a lot of clues then it will pay off.

Consider Prophetic. For 3 XP and 3 Resources you can get 2 resources per turn that can be spent on Spells, Fortune, and Spirit Cards, and can alternatively be spent on boosting tests on those same cards. Two copies of Mortar and Pestle is 1 more resource and 1 more action to play and requires you get clues to acquire those resources. Is Prophetic Clearly better? Yes, absolutely, but it also costs 3 XP and is restricted to Level 3 Guardian/Mystic/Survivor access. Mortar and Pestle can be taken by anyone with level 0 Seeker access, has synergies with other Seeker cards, and can bank its resources for later turns, something you can't do with Prophetic.

Is this an auto-take for 99% of builds? Absolutely not. But it's a card that I think you can extract a lot more value from than it first seems, especially if you're running Dayana Esperence and can reliably get clues.

I thought about this card a lot. Eventually, I have my doubts but find it got way more dirt here than deserved.

My main problem is that you have to use for the evade. Because to play this card effectively you need a high skill value, but if you have high you usually just fight the enemy. I think for this card to be less niche using should be optional (which would also be more flavorful IMO).

That said, now for the good part - the forced effect: "After attached enemy moves: Exhaust it." You know when enemies move? When they hunt! But okay, we already got that covered here and that's probably the main selling point of this card. But after they hunt you and exhaust you are engaged with them, so you still have a problem to deal with next round. Meh.

Or do you... ?

See, whenever you move enemies engaged with you also move. That changes a whole lot regarding the utility of this card, since it opens up synergies with cards that let you move without spending an action! Say hello to:

• Safeguard (0)/(2)
• Cat Burglar
• Shortcut (0)/(2)
• Elusive
• Think on Your Feet (0)/(2)
• Pathfinder Too bad.
• Warning Shot I find that synergy surprisingly good, if it fits your deck's playstyle.
• Pendant of the Queen
• Heroic Rescue (2)
• Righteous Hunt If you pick the Bolas-ed enemy up on the way to the target - quite situational.
• Flute of the Outer Gods
• Fang of Tyr'thrha Also needs another enemy as target, but can be played while engaged with your Bolas-ed one.
• Hiking Boots
• Join the Caravan
• Archive of Conduits Comparable to Cat Burglar in the way it interacts with Bolas.
• Prophesiae Profana
• The Red Clock (2)/(5)
• Cyclopean Hammer Theoretically yes, but if you play this OP card why use Bolas?
• Gené Beauregard Can help if you move into the Bolas-ed enemy's location.
• Grappling Hook
• Summoned Servitor with Wings of Night.
• Power Word
• Predator or Prey
• Task Force If another investigator plays it and targets you.
• Misdirection
• Bum's Rush Even if you fail!
• Doppelgänger
• Bound for the Horizon
• Dakota Garofalo
• Ancient Stone
• Nimble
• Pete's Guitar
• Shroud of Shadows (0)/(4) If you find a curse.
• Trench Armor

As you can see, some playstyles also incentivize having an enemy with you.

Let me think what you know ;)

I think, of the trio (Sickle, Rod, Pentacle) this one might have the best value for most mystics. Always having a way to bail you or an ally out of an incoming attack is pretty nice. No, it doesn't solve problems, but the flexibility is very nice.

• A fair number of Aloof enemies care about being exhausted.

• You can bail your fighter out of getting whacked without taking your eye off getting clues.

• You have something to deal with enemies until you find your big damage spell.

That said, doom is really bad unless you want it for some reason OR the agenda is about to advance anyways. Saving move and engage actions won't count for much if you cost your entire team a turn. It might be worthwhile to reserve some skill cards for some certainty on that "succeed by 2" check.