It's interesting to consider whether this or Time Warp is better. They're both 2 XP Mystic spells. They both fulfill the same primary function by allowing you or a teammate at your location to overcome a bad chaos token pull.

In favor of Time Warp:

--Time Warp is one resource cheaper.

--Time Warp works against the autofail.

--Time Warp allows you to redraw bad pulls that aren't special tokens (e.g. the -6 and -8 on Expert.)

--Time Warp can occasionally help you outside of skill tests.

On the other hand:

--Counterspell doesn't have the risk of cancelling a bad token only to pull another bad token.

--Counterspell is much better at helping you avoid the negative effects of special tokens (particularly relevant for Shrivelling V.)

They're both decent cards, and it's really just going to come down to personal preference. I lean slightly towards Time Warp, most of the time, since the ability to redraw the very worst chaos tokens (which Counterspell unfortunately cannot touch) just seems a little more powerful to me. And if you're running a Paradox deck (and who isn't?), then you pretty much have to pick Time Warp.

Now that Arcane Research is a thing, I think this card needs to be reconsidered. I believe it is stronger than Ward of Protection II (which is, no doubt, a great card): while cancelling other investigators' treacheries is very useful, I think cancelling monsters is better. The 5 XP cost used to be prohibitive, given the abundance of other very strong Mystic XP options, but now that you have 1 or 2 free XP per scenario to upgrade spells, the actual XP cost will be much more palatable.

Cancelling enemies is extremely powerful. 3+ health enemies are, by and large, the worst encounter cards you can draw. Compared to treacheries, enemies take more resources, more skill tests, and more actions to dispose of. The number one way to lose in this game is to draw too many enemies in short succession and get overwhelmed. Being able to cancel the likes of Conglomeration of Spheres or Boa Constrictor for zero actions is a huge help. These monsters will otherwise suck up most or all of your turn, use up valuable spell charges, and, if the chaos bag doesn't cooperate, could easily survive into the enemy phase to cause you more grief.

This is particularly great for solo Mystics, but even in multiplayer, I think Arcane Research makes this worth picking up.

Note that this card also cancels Surge (unlike the lower-level Ward of Protections). That will be handy on occasion (particularly against Beyond the Veil), but it's really the monster-cancellation that is the big deal here.

This is one of those really cool trump-cards that may or may not blow a scenario out of the water. It's obviously more likely to pull its weight with more players and more pulls from the deck, but even in two player the card is warranted as a way to clear two or three foes at once.

A few factors in this card's great strength:

• You pick the target, obviously you pick the easiest one, this means you can hit a Ghoul Priest by targeting a Swarm of Rats.
• It's an extra 2 damage attack, when Shrivelling inevitably runs out you wont be dead in the water just yet. Also every additional target hit by the area effect is effectively a saved Shrivelling charge.

So, why then does not every deck have 2 copies? Because it's extremely expensive that's why! Obviously a card capable of hitting as many foes as Shrivelling has charges is going to be very expensive. Playing this card will prevent you from utilizing Arcane Studies, slow down the rate at which you play Spirit Athame, Holy Rosary, St. Hubert's Key and so on and on.

So, to play this card, make sure you're accounting for the cost, and if you can't then just leave it well enough alone. Also, avoid in solo, playing Storm of Spirits against a single target isnt terrible, but the severely reduced chance of multiple hits in solo reduces the value of this card drastically.

(Edit: 12/1/19, Return to Dunwich).

This is quite good, despite the risks involved. Take 2!

Each scenario finished with this on the table basically nets you +2 XP for every scenario throughout a campaign. To maximize profits the current ideal path is probably:

Shrivelling -> Shrivelling -> Shrivelling X2, this takes 4 scenarios and costs only 2 total XP total.

Then: Ward of Protection -> Ward of Protection -> Ward of Protection also for just 2 XP total.

Finally Rite of Seeking -> Rite of Seeking -> Rite of Seeking for 0 XP total.

.

That nets you several incredibly powerful cards for just 6 XP, but it will take an entire 8 Scenario Campaign (With New Orleans. Cairo and Venice Thrown in) to make it all the way to this point, for the sake of sheer power in a deck as soon as possible you can choose to forego a few of these triggers to gain a stronger deck earlier, for example spending the 4 XP to finish up Shrivelling before scenario 3.

So, now that some of the most important tools in your deck will basically level themselves up for free, what to do with all the XP you earn?! This is the REAL fun of this card, now all the cool cards like Seal of the Elder Sign, Time Warp and Recharge can make MUCH earlier appearances!

So, when do you take this? On easier difficulties (Standard/Easy) I don't see no reason not to take this, but even so a few Investigators don't quite synergize with this card, Jim Culver for example is the most consistent dude in the game but he is also very very squishy, if you don't see the Jim's Trumpet very very early then you stand to suffer some unwelcome defeats at the hand of the very Shrivelling card's you took Arcane Research to upgrade. Grab Fearless asap to counter the extra horror.

This is to Sleight of Hand what Pathfinder is to Shortcut. Dont let that fool you though. This card sucks.

These cards offer compound consistency when brought together, therefor strengthening both cards since now there are more windows for you to draw and apply the mechanics they offer. This means that you can either include both in a deck or upgrade Sleight of Hand into Fence (if the Fast keyword is the effect you indeed desire, I think Sleight of Hand is the better card of the two because of the fun interaction with firearms).

I don't think Fence is a good economy card, not at all. The actions saved and resources gained get outclassed by the classic Leo De Luca by a mile. What Fence does offer however is the circumstantial but powerful benefit of allowing you save yourself the cost on items you don't actually need, until you need them.

Think of it this way: How often has it gotten in the way that you need to spend an action here and there to play the gun, to play the Lockpicks before you run at the problem at hand? How often do your assets get burned by the encounter deck and how often do you wind up not actually needing the item you played? Fence lets you be very efficient with the where and when of the cards you play.

There is a rather terrible downside to this card. The later you draw it the more cards you miss out on the Fast or returns on. If you're playing the kind of deck that warrants this card then you probably have Pickpocketing, Lupara, Leo De Luca, Chicago Typewriter and so on and on, and as it happens, those cards tend to be "Mulligan Queens", a greedy player who doesn't mulligan this for the cards that it targets is taking a terrible and useless risk! I.E, this card must be in your hand Post-mulligan or drawn very early into the scenario, all too narrow a window.

One more downside, when I played this I had Leo De Luca in the deck, I discovered that all too rarely there was any sort of window for this card to be played, or else i'dd play it at the cost of getting out a major item like Lupara or Lockpicks. I can imagine that you wont be able to afford playing this alongside a certain incoming ally.

So, if it doesnt sit well alongside Leo De Luca or Lola Santiago, where does it work? Well according my experience, alongside Peter Sylvestre in a Finn Edwards deck. Perhaps if the lineup of allies we're cheaper, then Fence would be better. But after a couple tries I just don't see the benefit until some more powerful economy Illicit options are released, Burglary level 2 maybe?