It's no coincidence Finn Edwards shows up in the artwork of this card, as he exemplifies the type of rogue that wants (and needs) this card.

Rogue have notoriously bad , presenting only a single 4 investigator and a single 3 investigator. They also have the only two 1 invesigators in the game, beaten out only by Calvin Wright, who still outshines them with a built in booster.

Rogues are then desperate for ways to withstand the horrors of the encounter deck, and the selection of in-class cards at their disposal to achieve this is... pitiful. Dario El-Amin, Moxie and Tennessee Sour Mash (and it's upgrade) represent the only boosting cards in their arsenal (as of Dream-Eaters), and the first two examples are far too unreliable (the third is an auto-include for some investigators). The only other cards that technically aids in dealing with the encounter deck is Cheat Death, a 5xp sink that won't see much time in any deck as a result.

It's so bad for rogues that THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE A CARD WITH TWO ICONS ON IT, with the not that relevant, technical exceptions of The Gold Pocket Watch and All In. Really, in order to inure a rogue against getting screwed over by the encounter deck, you need to rely on neutral or out-of-class cards that, fortunately, is an option for every rogue character. Still, those are precious card slots getting occupied before any other card can be considered, especially when you're only allowed up to 5 out-of class cards, as Jenny Barnes and Finn Edwards are restricted to.

Thus, I say with confidence that "You handle this one!" is a must-have for all the rogues with 2 or less, and a serious consideration for any 2 or less investigator that can take it. Of course it's efficacy will vary depending on the scenario and campaign, but remains the most tested attribute from revelation effects, and horror remains the most common punishment from treachery cards. And it goes without saying that you don't play this in a one-handed solo campaign, for obvious reasons.

Now, I've ignored its glaring downside until now, namely that someone's footing the bill for your brief respite from the encounter deck, and you may not feel comfortable saddling some poor sod around the table with your problems, especially if the're your friend.

Thing is, in many a case, your fellow investigators will be grateful for you sending treacheries their way, guardians and mystics who've run encounter-hate cards specifically. A guardian will generally be appreciative of the time-saver of having an enemy spawn on them, rather than have to use actions to move/engage an enemy someone else drew. Likewise, a mystic running Ward of Protection will be hoping to be the one to draw Ancient Evils to prevent an entire round's worth of turns being skipped. Having "You handle this one!" can enable their encounter-hate more effectively.

But even without that archetype, having a 4+ investigator in your team is enough to justify taking "You handle this one!", doubly so if said investigator has a high sanity threshold (which is correlated with high ). It is a co-operative game, after all; your well-being directly benefits the group, and no-one wants to see one player struggle turn after turn to discard a Frozen in Fear.

A final word; until more rouge encounter-insurance cards get released, investigators like "Skids" O'Toole and Finn Edwards are going to have to justify not taking "You handle this one!" every campaign. Doesn't matter if it and Tennessee Sour Mash are or aren't good; the fact of the matter is, the're just aren't any other options (or so I claim, I would really like to be proven wrong on this one).

Tutors (i.e. cards that search your deck for a card and draws it) are only as strong as the selection of cards they can draw for you, which for the case for Dr. Horowitz, means she's as good as the relic cards in your deck. This observation, combined with the fact that the good doctor is a lvl 0 card, makes her a bit fiddly at the start of a campaign, where she'd feasibly be included unless you're willing to pay one exp for her later on.

There are, as of Dream-Eaters, six lvl 0 Relic cards, and only one relic, Tooth of Eztli. Of these relics, four occupy the accessory slot, which means extra relics in your deck will not be playable unless the first relic you play leaves your play area for some reason or other. This, coupled with the fact that the available relics don't synergies all that well, leaves Dr. Elli Horowitz rather lacklustre at best...

...Right until the likes of Key of Ys, Timeworn Brand, and Pnakotic Manuscripts start populating your deck, then you'll be praying she ends up in your starting hand. The more expensive the relic's resource cost, xp cost, and number of slots they occupy, the more value Elli will provide by completely ignoring the resource and slot costs, and speeding up the process of getting out your big hitter cards.

This doesn't make her any less fiddly though; once you're committing to including her in your deck, your selection of upgrades shrinks a fair bit. You'll likely be investing into at least one Relic Hunter and one Charisma, the former as insurance in case you draw two or more of your relics before Elli, and the latter because you'll likely want to include other allies in your deck, especially early on in a campaign where her usefulness is lacking. And of course a significant portion of your earned exp will be spent on relics, of which thankfully you get some leeway on where you want to take your deck, either in a combat-focused direction, or a more clue gathering angle, or a whole range of unorthodox functionality.

In conclusion, Dr. Elli Horowitz is the type of card you build an entire deck (and upgrade path) around; you certainly don't use her for her early-campaign power and then replace her once you get some exp. No half-measures; either she is the focus of your deck, or she isn't in your deck at all.

As for which investigators she'll likely be collaborating with often; naturally Ursula Downs has the relic synergy to make full use of Dr. Horowitz, and Mandy Thompson will get extra value from her tutoring effect. But special mention goes to Jim Culver, as the blog Rite Of Seeking made an excellent case for their pairing in their Big Relic Jim article (source:)

riteofseeking.com

To summaries what said over there, Jim is the only investigator that can take Dr. Elli Horowitz and whose signature card is a relic (that doesn't start the game in your play area already), and to whom Enchanted Blade works nicely if it didn't occupy an arcane slot.

Cancelling nasty treacheries is extremely powerful, especially for free, and especially especially when the only consequence is you having to do a bit more of something you're probably specifically built around doing. Hell, if you're running Milan Money or similar incentives to investigate, you might even "break even" in terms of the action cost of putting down the clue.

It strikes me as particularly good for Joe Diamond in the main deck, as his big weakness is treacheries.

First, a quick rant; Fantasy Flight Games, why u no make it direct damage? This card (and it's counterpart Painkillers) are incredibly cool thematically; the concept of self-destructive habits is one that breaths even more life into our pseudo role-play of the investigators we build decks for. It legitimately saddens me when I consider that Rita's athletic career might be compromised by the as of yet not understood effects of smoking on the lungs. It brings me great satisfaction when I outfit Roland with a Trench Coat and a Smoking Pipe and complete the gritty noir-detective look.

Then the Painkillers-Peter Sylvestre combo became a staple and the horrific tragedy of it all disappears like so much lovecraftian-lite confetti. Muh immersion. MUH IMMERSION!

To be clear, I am not being serious; I know full well that a card game like this, with a million moving pieces, is not going to keep a straight face in the face of all the possible combinations. I've already accepted that this isn't always going to hold up as a grim horror experience, especially when I held off an eldritch god with two Attack Dogs for six rounds, that one time. Still, would have been nice.

Anyway, the review. You consider Smoking Pipe when you're playing a 9 health, 5 sanity investigator. That's it.

Okay, okay, I'll elaborate a bit: Smoking Pipe and Painkillers have one very obvious drawback; being defeated from damage or from horror holds little distinction. While you can assign damage to non-critical systems through these cards, they require that you've got a big difference in your remaining health and remaining sanity in order to have a noticeable effect in your survivability.

You might think that's the reason I'm recommending 9 health, 5 sanity investigators take this card, but that's only half the story. The other half is that the statement "being defeated from damage or from horror holds little distinction" does not hold for these investigators because mental trauma hits much harder and physical trauma hits far slighter. Starting with 8 health or 9 makes little difference; starting with 4 sanity or 5 does, and should be avoided at any cost.

So, other that the aforementioned Rita Young and Roland Banks, you should consider Painkillers when you play:

• Silas Marsh
• Tony Morgan
• Mark Harrigan

How many allies can benefit from the full heal (AKA, how many allies have 3+ health)? nine (as of The Search For Kadath, and excluding Jake Williams).

Of these options, Beat Cop (2), Guard Dog and Agency Backup are the ones that most synergies with Emergency Aid. Trusted can push some allies into the three health range, and of course all investigators have enough health to use the full effect.

But really, you two main uses for this card are in an ally focused deck, or in a Mark Harrigan deck to prevent the bad side of Sophie. Take Second Wind instead for all other cases; cheaper and with free card replenishment!