Player Windows and You – Part Two: Taking Advantage of an Opening

With all that rule gobbly goop out of the way from Part One, you’re probably asking yourself: “okay okay, now… how does any of that help me win?” Great question! Conventionally, player windows are used mostly for skill boosting and other effects when we probably have an action anyway. However, as most Agnes players have seen, there is a big world out there waiting to be exploited; what this article will explore is how player windows can be used in unconventional ways to really maximize the use out of your cards.

Agnes & Forbidden Knowledge

Let’s start with an oldie but a goodie. Agnes & Forbidden Knowledge effectively allow you to exhaust Forbidden Knowledge to gain a resource, take 1 horror, and deal 1 damage out. The value that Forbidden Knowledge provides is that it allows you to take horror in phases where you are less able to take horror (ie Mythos and Upkeep). Therefore, Forbidden Knowledge allows you to squeeze more uses out of Agnes’s reaction abilities “Limit once per phase” limitation. Notably, during the Enemy Phase, after resolving Hunter you have a player window to use Forbidden Knowledge and blast the enemy in kind (take that Swarm of Rats!).

Ashcan Pete & Scavenging

Know what’s the best part about Pete? Duke. Know what’s the worst part about Pete? Living with the fact that we either be content with using Duke once per round, or losing one card per round via Pete’s free action ability to ready an asset (i.e. Duke). This little trick will solve that. First, get Scavenging out. Then, perform Duke’s investigate action. Utilize those Skill Test timing windows to toss an Item to ready Duke. Now reveal a token and finish resolving the skill test. If you triggered Scavenging, you can pull the Item back out. You are now ready to use Duke again with no loss to your hand size.

Expose Weakness & Quick Thinking

Expose Weakness’s most notable aspect has always been its ability to combo with Quick Thinking. With these two cards, you can readily create an action where there was otherwise none. There is one particularly noteworthy time to drop this combo: the Enemy Phase after Hunters have moved. Why? Because this offers you the chance to Fight an enemy before they do. Whereas before you might feel compelled to chase after a Hunter and beat it down before it does the same to you, you can now prepare yourself or do something productive. All that aside, is that corner case 2 card combo worth 4 deck slots?

Magnifying Glass(1) & Higher Education

If you find yourself with only 4 cards in your hand, then note that, so long as no clues are at your location, you can pull Magnifying Glass(1) back into your hand during the Skill Test timing windows so you can use Higher Education. The best part? You can replay Magnifying Glass(1) during that same window/test and still gain the benefit of the +1 intellect while investigating. Great on scenarios like Where Doom Awaits or handling The Man in the Pallid Mask.

Rex & Shortcut/Pathfinder(1)

Rex has probably the most unique ability in the game, and I’m not referring to the fact that he provides untold clue acceleration. His ability is unique because it is the only unconditional test based clue accelerant (an ability that picks up additional clues during a test). Let’s break it down. Deduction’s “additional” criterion requires you to discover at least 1 clue for its additional clue effect, and furthermore it applies to the location being investigated. Much to the burglar’s rejoice, Rex’s reaction has no such limitation; so long as you succeed by 2 or more on an Investigate test, you get the extra clue.

Rex’s ability also applies to your location. That means wherever Rex currently is when the reaction ability is triggered is where the clue is discovered. The important distinction here is that this does not necessarily need to be the same location as the one being investigated. If Rex suddenly moves mid-Investigate, he will still discover clues at the location being investigated but his reaction will discover clues at his new location. This is quite different from Deduction, Guiding Stones, Rite of Seeking, and the like which specifically reference the location being investigated. The question is, how do we abuse it?

Enter Shortcut and Pathfinder. With these two cards, Rex can change his location mid-skill test almost on demand. The result? The ability to discover 1 clue each at two different locations. Furthermore, this will bypass any nasty location text that would otherwise interfere with Rex’s ability to get that clue the old fashioned way. For solo Rex players out there, with its plethora of 1 clue locations, this offers Rex some serious rocket fuel.

For more details and ways this can be used abused, see this deck on arkhamdb.

Roland Banks & Shortcut

This doesn’t involve any crazy timing abilities, but it’s a handy trick nonetheless. One of the most frustrating situations Roland can find himself in is he draws an enemy while at a clueless location; now Roland must be either satisfied with defeating an enemy without triggering his reaction ability, or move to a location and suffer an attack of opportunity. Both Shortcut(0) and Shortcut(2) allow Roland to move without triggering an attack of opportunity, hopefully to a location with clues.

Lola Hayes & Boosters

Last but not least, there is Lola. If you’re playing with Lola and don’t have a timing sheet handy then you probably should; having a strong understanding of player windows is absolutely essential switching roles so you can play your cards (a not unimportant part of a card game). The best time for Lola to switch roles is often during a Skill Test. Why? Remember, both before and after the commit card step, Lola can change her role. By switching her role mid-skill test, Lola can take advantage of multiple different factions to support her during a skill test. For example, she could start a Fight test with Gravedigger’s Shovel as a Survivor, use the first player window to boost her combat with Scrapper, switch to Guardian, and then commit Vicious Blow to the test. Taking advantage of Improvisation, which remember as a Fast card can be played during the test, you can utilize an ever increasing number of factions for this Skill Test. The one limitation is that you may only ever commit cards from one faction (and neutral, of course).

Joey the Rat

 The best use Joey has is you can lay down a Bullet Proof Vest(3) or Elder Sign Amulet(3) (or some other eligible soak) during a test to avoid potential harm. Yay? Okay, that’s not that great; Joey has always been mired by the presence of Leo de Luca and later by Sleight of Hand. His ability does open the potential for shenanigans, so keep an eye on those Items!

Conclusion

And that’s it! I hope you learned something and discovered some new ways to use cards. Next time you see a free action ability, try to think about how that ability can be used differently during the eligible windows.