Shocking Discovery

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Mandy Thompson is quite a complex investigator to take, not only her deckbuilding options but also her weakness seems to have more to it than meets the eye. I am not completely sure, if I am doing it right, but as far as I do understand the rules as written ("When a player is instructed to search for a card, that player is permitted to look at all of the cards in the searched area without revealing those cards to the other players.") the target of the search for certain cards is the entire deck. This is true for the upgrade No Stone Unturned for example. So if you use such a card, than you will always find Shocking Discovery and by that set it of in a "controlled environment" so to say and don't have to worry about it any longer.

Having said that, as long as you do not have found Shocking Discovery yet, than a card searching the entire deck is pretty valuable for Mandy to have. So not only the expensive upgraded No Stone Unturned which you might probably not want to waste on this, but also cards like the 0xp Research Librarian all of a sudden look completely different to me. Even some encounter cards might help, like SPOILER or SPOILER from Path to Carcosa. The latter will also surprisingly be completely canceled as far as I do understand it.

12/10/19

thakaris · 194

That’s a great find on the SPOILER encounter cards. RAW I’m certain it cancels if you draw the card, but the later would still resolve if a different investigator draws it and is the one searching your deck. The basic weakness, Through the Gates, also. :) — Death by Chocolate · 1447 12/10/19

On the first SPOILER the horror will also be canceled i guess? — Django · 5072 12/11/19

Probably not. It’s does ‘horror and a search’, so I don’t think the horror falls under the ‘search and it’s effects.’ — Death by Chocolate · 1447 12/11/19

@Django: As far as I do understand it, the first SPOILER card will work like this: If you fail the test, you take 2 horror, also you search your entire deck. The latter will be canceled and you have to draw another encounter card. You still take the 2 horror but from now on you can use Rook as much as you want, you may uses upgraded No Stone Unturned and basically become the incredible card search machine that Mandy becomes ones here weakness is out of the way - so enjoy! — thakaris · 194 12/14/19

@Death by Chocolate: Regarding the second SPOILER from Path to Carcosa - you are right about that one in my opinion. If another investigator draws that card and searches you deck it does not trigger, since Shocking Discovery says "Forced - When you search your deck". Since it is essentially not "your deck" you are searching when a player besides Mandy herself draws that second SPOILER encounter card it will not be canceled. It is really a pity that there is not a card that allows you to temporarily take ownership of any given card since I really want to put "Shocking Discovery" under Diana :-) — thakaris · 194 12/14/19

I don’t think such a card would exist since SD is a treachery, so no player has ownership of it while it is resolving. — Death by Chocolate · 1447 12/16/19

Even if you could switch owner, Signature Cards have been errated that you cannot give them to other investigators (unless they'll publish some shapeshifter). — Django · 5072 12/17/19

What happens If you are told to search your deck for a card during the setup? — Taskonidis · 1 12/18/19

Well, that is a very good point. There are very few situations though, I can think of that makes Mandy search here complete Deck during setup. Just one specific situation during Carcosa come into my mind. I don't think, you can draw from the encounter deck or discard during setup, so I would rule per Grim Rule and decide that Mandies weakness would not trigger here. Maybe to file a rule question with FFG would be of help here. — thakaris · 194 12/22/19

It happens at least once during Dunwich and The Forgotten Age also. — Yenreb · 15 1/6/20

The very first scenario of Dream Eaters does it — PanicMoon · 2 7/25/20

So from this post what I understand this "When you search your deck and this card is among the searched cards" effects resolve even if card itself is not a valid candicate for search. This means if I find this with librarian it will be discarded and prevent librarian's effect is that correct? — Makaramus · 5 11/19/20

Yes, that is correct. — thakaris · 194 3/18/21

December 31, 2020
To provide clarity to anyone checking this page to ensure they're playing correctly, I will ask:
Is this the correct understanding on how the card works?

If you draw Shocking Discovery naturally (i.e. Upkeep phase, draw a card action, etc), then you shuffle the card back into your deck. That's it.
If Shocking Discovery is among the searched cards (i.e. Mr. "Rook", No Stone Unturned, etc), then you discard Shocking Discovery. You cancel the search, shuffle Mandy's deck, then draw the top card of the encounter deck. Shocking Discovery is now in your discard pile.
If you choose to use Mandy Thompson's ability to "resolve 1 additional target of the search" (ex: No Stone Unturned to search the top 6 cards of your deck and draw 2 of the searched cards instead of just 1 card), and Shocking Discovery is among the searched cards, the entire search is cancelled. This means that you do not draw a card at all because the entire search is cancelled. Then, you shuffle Mandy's deck and draw the top card of the encounter deck. Shocking Discovery is now in your discard pile.

12/31/20

VanyelAshke · 180

Yes. One edge case caveat tho: per the FAQ, a single card cannot be shuffled into an empty deck, so if Shocking Discovery was the last card in your deck when you draw it, the shuffle will fail, and let the text in parenthesis, you will discard Shocking Discovery and draw an encounter card. — Death by Chocolate · 1447 1/2/21

A unique, flavorful, and annoying weakness. Looking at the two elements, the effect and the discard condition, we get:

The effect: only goes off during a search, cancels the search entirely, and you draw an encounter card. Another very situational card. It can wreck your plans or kind of fizzle. I mean, you could build a Mandy deck with no search effects beyond her . You'd be abandoning her ability and signature asset, but you'd also neutralize her signature weakness, making her kind of a bland "generic seeker." That's not a good idea, mind you, but I am not sure there is another investigator who can render her signatures irrelevant, so that's one mitigation strategy....

More practically, you want to find a big search card to draw this out. Like thakaris, I think Research Librarian is probably your best choice to "rip off the band-aid" and get this out of the way early. (I'm also very impressed by their subversion of Treacheries, but, Arkham being Arkham, you would probably draw one of them as your draw from Shocking Discovery instead of before it.) Another strategy is to use Whitton Greene to dig for, say, Segment of Onyx. Since her search ability is limited by revealing locations, it hurts less than searches driven by card play or secrets. Cards like No Stone Unturned (5) are pretty expensive to spend on a wasted action and an encounter card. Depending on your "off class," Mandy has some ability to cancel or redirect the errant encounter card as well.

The discard condition: It discards itself.

All in all, this is a below average signature weakness, maybe even way below.

2/3/21

LivefromBenefitSt · 1058

I found the most annoying thing about this to be I always drew my powerful search cards early, where they sat in my hand while I frantically dug for her weakness. Truly the threat of this card is worse than its effect. — SGPrometheus · 809 2/3/21

I think Seekers have the worst weaknesses in the game for the simple reason that they draw so many cards, it's not unrealistic to deck yourself, sometimes multiple times in a scenario. Which means they have to tank their weaknesses over and over and over. Maybe ironically, Shocking Discovery is probably the easiest and I'd agree with a way below rating. Shocking Discovery is similar to how Mr. Rook breaks the game: drawing a weakness on YOUR TERMS where you can be adequately set up for it is leagues better than a random problem at the wrong time. And finally, Mandy can get a larger deck to help nullify the need for decking out. — LaRoix · 1643 2/4/21

I literally run a couple throwaway Research Librarians in my Mandy deck solely to be used as "Pay 2 resources: Pull your weakness when YOU want to. Own your situation!" — HanoverFist · 719 2/4/21

Drawing an enemy with it can ruin the rest of your turn and hurt you, if no one deals with it before enemy phase. — Django · 5072 2/4/21

Yes, drawing an enemy is a real problem, but again, if it's on your terms, you can have a mind over matter or whatnot to be prepared for it. Additionally, it is worth noting that most of your searches are going to take place EARLY in your turn and not at the end so that provides you with some time to deal with the problem. — LaRoix · 1643 2/4/21

In my experience this is a very annoying weakness. You more or less loose an action and draw an encouter card for it. If you draw an enemy, it can wreck your game. Yes, you can choose when to draw it, but it has to be in the early game. I really don't feel this is below average. — Carcharoth · 1 2/4/21

Yeah Im not sure I agree with any responses calling this one harsh. First, you perform a search on your own terms ie if you cant handle an enemy, dont search. Even without using her ability constantly, you have Mandy running around with 5 intellect and the entire Seeker cardpool. She’s already strong. Add to that the fact you can utilize your splash to deal with enemies. Rogue for instance has Decoy, Slip Away, and Think on your Feet, as well as You handle this one! for multi. Shocking Discovery is usually there to just put a speedbump to Mandy’s ridiculous search engine. Once its out of the way, you’re good to go. — StyxTBeuford · 12987 2/8/21

I will agree that of all the Seeker weaknesses, this is the tamest (except possibly Amanda’s). — StyxTBeuford · 12987 2/8/21

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