Love this card, so much! Oh man, it's gotten me out of some binds already!

First off, a nice big fat attack with what amounts to an average 6, 7 or 8 to hit, that by itself is a great backup move to rely on. 2 Damage deals with lots of troublesome things on it's own.

Second, for the sake of fighting something big and scary (this guy), pre-emptively evading it is often the safest way to go, this card does that really well, you're chunking down the threat at the same time as you control it.

Lastly, it's actions and health saved. Often the guardian needs to run across the map and pull a nasty monster off of the hapless , or else you might be at a location together, and you simply dont have actions to get the both of you free safely. Sweeping Kick lets you pull your friend out of trouble, no matter how big, and keep yourself safe with minimal risks (beware missing the attack and hitting your friend tho).

Obviously, I need to namedrop Rita Young and Nathaniel Cho, bonus damage and evade options ETC ETC.

Automatic stuff is good. Resist the attack with some soak because I'm not actually sure you're allowed to cancel it with cards like Dodge, because that's cancelling the "cost of taking at attack.

You can commit skill cards, Vicious Blow for example, Nathaniel Cho gets a bonus, Daniela Reyes obviously.

Note, this might seem a steep and risky price to pay for one hit, compared to playing Monster Slayer or One-Two Punch, but automatic hits are worth their weight in gold in hard and expert, where the chaos bag is like a coiled snake, full of terrible tokens.

Most incredibly, it's level 0, a whole heap of charactes can sneak this into their decks to reap the benefit.

One of the best cards around, here's why:

1: The ultimate horror soak! So long as you can keep him alive, It's a saved horror every turn. Because he can "fit" two at once, and horror effects typically hit in small bursts (often 2 or 3), you can "fill" up on some horror when it hits and slowly heal it in the aftermath. He completely takes the bite out of the worst horror treacheries in the game, the only real danger then to your sanity is a nasty enemy breathing down your neck with opportunity hits, or self inflicted pain (incidentally, one of the best solutions to the backlash of Shrivelling is having Pete around.

2: STATS! A +1 on two different stats is excellent for a single asset, and benefits multiple playstyles, whether you're harnessing to make evades and shoot an Ornate Bow or Enchanted Bow, or the to land spell charges like Shrivelling and Rite of Seeking, the other stats are still there and give you new options, help you pass localized tests like parlays and treachery tests, when your spells are empty you can evade.

Do keep in mind that both of his stats are "defensive stats", the vast majority of Treacheries that inflict skill tests target , and is up there as much less common, but still second place. Even if only defensively this guy is good, if you start looking down the barrel of late-campaign scenarios with some trauma in your bag, give him a look.

This card does a couple things that are inobvious.

1: It makes repeat testing to beat a hard challenge more consistent. You know that moment when you've just got to try a test, and your odds are low but plausible? You might commit a card like Overpower or Perception but that'd only get you up to a net +1 over the difficulty. This version of Unexpected Courage can do precisely this, it does'nt guarantee the success on the first action, but it'll come back and give you another go, so that hard you're gunning is'nt "so hard that it's not worth trying", it's "Successful eventually".

To give you a precise case: a Wendy Adams trying to get the last clue from a 4-shroud like the Cellar. Ye's it might fail the first time, but it's certainly worth trying for.

2: Pump numbers for "Fail to succeed" events, the likes of "Look what I found!". Sometimes you'll encounter a hard spot, like Cellar, and a Wendy Adams attempting to pick up clues from there might struggle to even play "Look what I found!", especially on Hard difficulty with very big penalties in the bag. Unexpected Courage pumps the numbers, so you'll either succeed or drastically improve your "Look what I found!" chances. And it'll come back too!

I think it's a really interesting design. How good this is depends of course on the scenarios you're playing and the number of 'gators you're running. More gators, more enemies in play at a time, yadda yadda, it becomes better in campaigns with huge maps (looking at you, Innsmouth!)

Maybe best described as Elusive in reverse, but with a bigger range (assuming the taboo list) and allows Mystics access -- and my if, true to the art with Dexter, it doesn't half let you pull some tricks! Fun to use if you pick an exhausted enemy to swap with. Get to the resign location with that big enemy on; pull aggro from other gators; just move around the map more efficiently... you're saving a move action if you pick 2 connections.

I like it. Did well in Pit of Despair when I tried it in Lily this afternoon. Looking forward to seeing if it continues to carry its weight.