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I shot pics of the cards in the new set with my phone. They should be good enough to get the relevant details from.

If FFG or someone else wants these taken down, I'll gladly do so. I'm just too lazy today to retype all the data up as text.

So, Call of Cthulhu finally has the power of "Fork" and/or "Twincast" in the form of "Walk the Path".

Excellent Yog card. Good thing it isn't a "Spell" as that might have made it over the top good. Lots of great cards in the asylum pack in fact. Even the factions I am less than enthused about appear quite solid.

I gotta say though, no offense to Tom Capor, but I think that while it is nice that a world champ card has taken a form other than a character is great, I think the effect only effecting other champion cards is not a great effect. Better I am sure if you play with CCG era cards too as that has a greater effect, but I saw that card and I normally avoid using world champ cards in play anyways so to me that hall of champions card is just a waste of space within the asylum pack.

Again no offense to Magnus Arcanis, as everyone is a critic...

I could see using a Hall of Champions to track down a Descendant of Eibon. You know, a card designed by Jim Black Just picking on you, Tom (and Patrick).

I have to agree with you Patrick - this is a freaking good AP.

Thanks for the spoiler

Don't underestimate Hall of Champions. Bringing a character in for free when you need it is a big deal. Mage Known as Magnus to shoot someone down, Descendent of Eibon for stories, Mentor to Vaughn for control, Harry Houdini because he's cool...

I just registered only to say THANK YOU for the spoiler.

Hall of Champions is a neat idea. I don't know if I'd use it much, but it's a card that will get just a little better every year. The only real question is whether you think it's "good enough" right now or if it will require more time before you'd use it.

Anyway, it's a nice break from the usual champion cards. Still haven't managed to get my hands on this pack or really digest the spoilers. For whatever reason, I seem to be much better at this when i can see all the cards at once but that's entirely my own problem

piszcadz,

Thank you for putting up the cards from Written and Bound, it's much appreciated. I've been trying to buy this pack at Guardian Games for a few days now without success. Hopefully they will get it in stock soon.

By the way, if you want to throw down sometime let me know. I've got a bunch of decks that need testing ahead of the "Cthulhu is Calling" event on April 21st.

sounds good. pm me your email? i was just in GG chatting w angel. she said you were in earlier. got ATMoM finally. cool AP.

TheProfessor said:

I do not underestimate it, I just think it is not a great idea for a card.

First of all, thanks for the spoiler, I think many like me wait eagerly every month for them and the discussion about the cards to follow. I usually don´t write much on the forums since I haven´t got the time to put my cube down on paper (and the following discussion about the 500 cards it contains). I hope to get a little more time soon though, and I have decided to not touch my cube until this full cycle of asylum packs have been released in order to test it out, so to get started with the posting I decided to review this pack from (mostly) a cube/highlander perspective. Without futher ado, on to the cards:

Customs Agent = 6/10
Synergises with cards like Torch the Joint to give mono-agency a decent resource-disruption plan. It’s high cost, low skill, loyalty and government subtype all demand a certain kind of mono-agency deck and therefor don´t disrupt the rest of the game as resource-destruction can do in other games. It has to be said though that resource-destruction is quite a boring strategy if too effective, and I mostly give it high marks because it’s a character and its ability in multiplayer games to stop a player without blocking. So I think it will go into the cube but I am not 100% certain yet.

Flush them out = 8/10
A really fun and not at all overpowered agency-event. Prohibitive cost but massive pay-off in the right circumstance. Especially if you play a lot of cenacle-multiplayer like me it can wreak havoc. Even in single player games it really makes the most of high-cost Agency-characters with equipment (lightning gun + this = fun, fun, fun!). Will have a place in the cube for certain, though it´s effectiveness in single player game can be discussed due to its high cost.

Uroborus = 8/10
With great power comes even more power…. to sum up the Cthulhu-faction in one sentence. Serpents were already quite powerful, now they get a great response to removal (which in the current environment is very powerful) with no cost whatsoever and isn’t even unique. Will fit like a glove into the cube where the highlander-format tones down its power, but I would not like to play against this in a regular single player game (Horrific light a high skill snake = massive card advantage with this and Dreamlands fanatic, 6 skill, two terror, two combat, arcane, fast, no cost, those two together is insane). Makes the choice between snakes and deep ones harder for mono-cthulhu, which is fun for everyone that plays mono-cthulhu but not so much so for everyone else….

Sibilant cry = 6/10
Laughable compared to the above, but with Get it off! to deal with Snow graves it can turn the game around late game for a serpent deck, so it gets decent marks. Will not fit into a cube though because of the limited number of snakes available, having two others available to trigger Uroborus is not that hard, but having enough snakes to make this one able to deal with massive skill Ancient Ones late game is quite frankly impossible in a highlander format without massive luck in both draft and play so it’s not really worthvile.

Elise Warren = 7/10
Anything that makes mono-Hastur feasible makes me happy and this gal actually does. Invulnerability is really powerful, and a mono-Hastur (possibly with Cthulhu support for Somnambulant dreamer) will have no problem boosting her skill. The problem of having to reliably remove an opponents terror icons still remain for mono-Hastur though. It will definetily go into the cube as a great blocker and massive multiplayer character for Hastur. It will not win games on its own but will provide a hard-to-remove-character with good skill, roleplayers that Hastur is quite light on.

Whisper in the Wind = 5/10
Could be a nice boost to a lunatic theme deck, but it gets a lower score since highlander formats such as the cube cannot provide the number of lunatics needed for it to shine. Loyalty can be a problem in a cthulhu/hastur lunatic deck, as well as the fact that it only restores and doesn´t ready but I could still see it being a hard choice between this and arkham asylum if you just get a critical number of lunatics out. It can provide a bigger surprise than the asylum for a smaller cost, the question to be answered is if that negates the machine-gun-power of the asylum?

Sonje Olson = 5/10
Really not as bad as the score might make her look, but everything she does other characters do better. Museum curator tutors support cards much cheaper, other 4 cost characters allows you better struggle-boosts (her tome ability is quite bland compared to blanking/exchanging resolution icons), but she isn’t bad in a vacuum. The problem being that cards don’t exist in a vacuum. Constant tutoring is of course nothing to be sneared at but I doubt we will see her played a lot.

Dr. Laban Shrewsbury = 10/10
Mono-Miskatonic for the win! A card that will allow you to auto-beat Villainous characters and in most other circumstances play with a 47 card deck. That is actually exactly what Miskatonic needs to start having a go at the other factions. It still will auto-lose to the midgame (or possibly first turn…) punch of snakes and their ilk (ghouls…) but it´s a step in the right direction. The professors have really lacked a dirty trick of their own but with this card the card draw/discard mechanic really starts to pick up pace. Together with Professor Morgan and Anthropology interns you can really set up some nasty surprises for your opponent. Playing heavily on draw/discard is still not nearly powerful enough to contend but at least you have a game-plan and ways to deal with Ravagers, Yig, Y’golonac and Glaaki.

Celaeno fragments = 4/10
Sure it has synergy with tomes, but there are other discard tutors for Miskatonic that are much more reliable and tutoring from the discard pile is quite worthless in an environment heavy with Snow graves. If I had a cube with a heavy tome-focus it could be worthwile but as of right now I don’t have enough tomes to make it worthwile (especially in such a support-focused faction as Miskatonic). The big question with this card is wether it’s ok to play 3 of this and 3 of the Celano fragments since they are spelled differently… I would say no, at least in casual play, but the real question is what FFG intends with their very flavorful spelling-mistakes in a competitive environment (where this should not be played, but still).

Lucas Corn = 8/10
This guy is just so much fun! I love steadfast, especially multi-faction steadfast (and would love to see a deluxe expansion focusing on just that), but mono-faction steadfast and loyalty to boost mono-faction decks is also great. This card is both flavorful and a big boost to Shub terror. If nothing else you have a chump for the combat struggle that cost you nothing. Will probably make it into the cube even with his restrictive cost, since in slower games you will often be domain-drained even in later turns (due to a slower start) or want to save a domain for events so a free character is always welcome. His two extra terror struggles is not to be snared at in late-game multiplayer were miskatonic often wins by piling in 5+ cheap investigators to a story.

Feed her Young = 9/10
Holy Dark Youngs Batman! Resource-boost, one-cost, card-draw. What’s not to like? Already drained domain and steadfast three? Well, that should just balance it nicely. It still works with dual faction decks as long as Shub is your major faction and in mono-decks it rocks. I don’t know with other players but my main problem with mono-Shub (outside of Ghouls) has been staying in the game when your accelerators get taken out. This allows for steady resource-boosting without card-loss and risk of losing the boost to removal, meaning decks like Mi-Go and Monsters can build a reliable cost-curve without worrying too much about getting shut out of the game when both your accelerators die turn one.

Chauncey Swann = 7/10
A relic hunter with synergy towards the factions main goal (bounce)? Nice, sadly I don’t see ST as a support faction, but there are some gems there, making this card playable. It’s high cost (who wouldn’t rather play farrington or descendant at three?), low staying power (STs other characters fair no better though) and the fact that compared to other ST tricks he is actually cheap means he gets quite a decent grade. I still would only play him in certain mono-ST decks and I don’t think he has a place in a cube without a heavy tome-focus.

Nathan Wick = 8/10
More synergy with another of STs staples, discard your own cards. This is quite a tricky mechanic to get going without hurting yourself overtly much, but this guy actually contains the possibility of gaining quite the advantage without neccesarily having the right pieces in play. Initiate just begs to be put into play for free and then return to your hand, meaning you can get around the Initiates basic problem of not forwarding the board state in your favor. When rushing characters like Jeffrey and the High wizard also shines for a turn with this card.

T’tka Halot = 7/10
Attachments are seldom worth it, even with huge payoffs since it is just too easy for your opponent to two-for-one you with a simple wounding event. This might have something going for it though as it is practically made for boosting a cheap, no-icons character, giving your opponent the choice of killing someone like Wick or a random weenie with this attached. Still not great but at least it isn’t auto-lose and if you do get to activate it also facilitates recursion (which Snow graves as usual shuts down). It gets a high grade simply because the lack of removal and Snow graves in any highlander format, and the fact that it doesn’t rely on other tomes might give it a place in my cube.

Jon Pechon = 7/10
Sure he boosts himself, but his skill of 1 makes that point moot with every Cthulhu deck sporting three Y´hantlei statues. Otherwise he could actually be quite worthwhile in a criminal theme deck and supports co-operation with Miskatonic as well by being an investigator. Interesting character that might earn a place in my cube simply due to the fact that there are over 40 criminals in the game, many of which are in the cube. A decent workhorse for three with some interesting synergies beyond the obvious mono-faction route.

Go underground = 6/10
Not much to say here, saves sure are nice, but while returning characters with comes into play abilities are great, outside of the cube/highlander format this card really is to slow to help you out since you will have to drain 2 out of 3 domains for a character + save. Can help rush decks but with statue syndicate rush is just dead anyway… Will probably work great in the cube though, so I am happy I don’t play many normal games.

Elder Thing Scavenger = 7/10
Expensive, but with a nice twist that can work wonders in multiplayer. I can’t see it being played in a normal game outside of an elder thing theme-deck (which sure would be awesome, and with this being the games seventh elder thing it is just three more elder things away from being very doable in friendly games). Small chance of getting into the cube unless I cut other themes like Gugs, there is only place for so many Elder things, and the others have more direct effects on the game.

Walk the Path = 9/10
Boyah! Score! Twin-cast and Forking is the awesome when it comes to dirty tricks and this is a perfect fit for CoC and Yog. I do think it could have been a spell just to annoy the crap out of opponents (with Snow graves recursion is quite unlikely anyway). Will go into my cube for sure, in multiplayer this is gonna be so much fun!

Library of Alexandria = 7/10
Sadly for people who play regular games it’s ability is shut off by snow graves, cutting its value significantly. It could fit into highlander and cubes if you can be certain to get a tome or three into your deck. If tomes becomes more prevalent in my cube after this series it could fit in there, since removing or granting arcane struggles can be really powerful vs. certain decks (that do well in multiplayer) that rely on big ancient ones.
Hall of champions = 7/10
I love this card! I think the world championship cards needs a new direction, and interacting in a fun and casual way with earlier championship cards is a nice way to do it. I don’t think it will be too relevant in competitive play since you have to play with five championship cards to statistically hit one, and probably 8 or more for it to do it reliably. If Tom keeps winning he will soon have quite a few cards that he has to play in his deck…

So that’s my take on this pack. Overall I would give it 8/10, since there is a much higher quality of cards overall than the last series (which still was good) and except for Uroborus I actually liked the direction the game was taking (especially Miskatonics when you draw-mechanic). Hopefully the whole set is just as good and Tomes becomes a staple in my updated cube, while mono-Miskatonic starts taking down Cthulhu and Shub decks at Regionals this season (one can always hope)…

…and if it wasn’t clear above I really despise Y’hantlei statue and Snow graves as two of the worst cards in the game due to their ability to overpower certain fun and otherwise worthwhile strategies (weenie and recursion) with little to no cost or thinking on the part of the player. They should be on the restricted list, and that is my two cents.

Thanks for the detailed review! It definitely increased my anticipation for this AP and the new cycle as a whole!

Elochim said:

Actually, I rather like those cards for the same reason: Since they're no-brainers you need to think about how to deal with them when creating decks. If it wasn't for cards like these, I'd never be able to build a workable deck because I'd be utterly overwhelmed by the incredible number of options and directions to go. The Khopesh was similarly instructive when creating decks.

Still, I wouldn't mind them being put on the restricted list. Actually, I had been expecting for a long time that Snow Graves might be get errata: adding a single Steadfast Shub symbol would go a long way to keep it from being omnipresent.

I think there is a fair chance that the statue and snow graves may both eventually end up on the restricted list... but I don't think Snow Graves is going to get a Shub steadfast symbol through errata. There are too many major recycle cards to make that card unavailable to everyone.

I would be surprised if Snow Graves got errata or restriction. It is not a game breaker - it doesn't win games for the player using it, it just allows a player to survive a reincarnation onslaught.

I'd like to see Snow Graves get restricted in some way too. It shuts down far too many things to be a zero cost card that any deck can play with no strings attached. Besides, faction restrictions aside - does this feel like something that should cost zero? It seems to me that the effect is worth a lot more than that.

it really only shuts down recursion/discard decks, which are a smaller subset of the full set of decks possible. plus, since everyone can run it and benefit, who is it unfair for? i guess i'd only be irritated if i played recursion/discard style decks. does it seem to you that they're being unfavorably penalized in favor of more traditional attacking decks?

piszcadz said:

Therein lies the problem with Snow Graves. Even though recursion /discard is a minor deck style, it will remain a minor deckstyle as long as any deck can run Snow Graves for the cost of 3 or fewer cards slots in their deck.

That cost right there may be enough though, as you have to be pretty paranoid to be scared of discard and recursion at this current point. They are viable deck builds that can and do win, but in comparison to mono cthulhu destruction, or in the face of it, having a card that can potentially single handedly wipe out a deck build is rather sad when destruction plays such a role in meta.

Question regarding Snow Graves. Did Damon ever errata so that Snow Graves no longer combos well with Yog Sothoth, Lord of Time and Space?

I seem to recall that you used to legally be able to play snow graves on yourself and recur your own spells and not have to put them back into your deck since cards could not be removed from the discard pile. Curse of the stone for 2. Curse of the stone for 2. Curse of the stone for 2. Damon said he was going to address that, but I havent kept up on the current Faq Errata to know if it is still possible or not.

Hellfury said:

When a player plays an event from his
discard pile, it does not remain in his
discard pile, but rather is placed back
in his discard pile after the action is
complete.

jhaelen said:

*shrug*

All I know is that it used to work. I wrote Damon last May about it and this is what he had to say in our correspondence:

"Event cards are normally played from hand. What this means in game mechanics is the event card is triggered in your hand, and then is placed in your discard pile. Snow Graves would not prevent Yog Sothoth's ability from being able to play the event cards from the discard pile. It would prevent the second part of the effect having it moved to the bottom of the draw deck. So yes, this means you could play an event card repeatedly as long as you had the resources to do so. I'm assuming that someone is going to be able to find a means to abuse this and create a degenerate infinite loop, so in the next FAQ I intend to find some method of addressing this. Thank you for bringing it to my attention Patrick."

I just wanted to know if this had been addressed yet since I am looking and cannot find it. But it may have ben addressed since the last update which means it is in black and not in red where I am looking for ease of reference.

Sounds like either he was wrong (it happens to everyone eventually) or he did address it in a fashion. Makes sense, and that is all that matters to me.

Noticed the Miskatonic characters, and Yog for that matter, are all scientists. Is there something on the way to work with that subtype. Is specimen bags finally going to have its day. Yes, that was facetious but I am interested in a MU-Yog Scientist flavour deck with alien hybrid technology.

Hellfury said:

None taken. Sadly the Hall didn't quite turn out the way I had invisioned. There was a lot of red tape involved, espeically with the art. I wanted to a tribute card and include some of the previous champions. Sadly it wasn't meant to be so this was the closest I could get for a tribute/casual style card.

But ya, a card only affecting cards that you avoid using… I certainly understand why it'd be a waste lol. Hopefully others will enjoy it thoughout the years as it evolves with its 1 card a year.

Also, bonus points for it being extra incentive to actually win the World Championship. And my next one… is shaping up to be really awesome and a lot of people will enjoy.