One of the absolute best things Tommy can stick to the plan at the moment is a flare.
If you manage to flare an agency backup into play early, you are set for quite some time.
But with enough targets in your deck, you aren't going to be disappointed to flare into play a beatcop or brother xavier.
This card appears to be an apology to rogues for the insult to their intelligence that was Eavesdrop. For the most part, rogues have had a harder time picking up multiple clues with a single action than other classes -- and Eavesdrop joined Intel Report as a means of correcting that. But it's an extremely situational card, requiring you to be at a location with clues AND an unengaged enemy. And even then, you're pitting your likely average Lore against the enemy's evade value without a boost.
This card is a quite a bit better. You still need an enemy at your location, but now that enemy can be in any condition -- aloof, exhausted, engaged with you, engaged with someone else. And it gives you a handy boost to your Lore as well if the enemy is damaged. It's easy to imagine a turn in which you need two actions to dispatch a 3-health monster. You could squeeze "Followed" between those actions, and give yourself a +2 to your investigate. Or, you hang out with your guardian while she's whaling on something fierce, and benefit from her toils.
This card isn't quite the equal of Scene of the Crime, Read the Signs, "Look what I found!", or Deduction -- other class's tools for multi-cluevering. Even among Rogue cards, Intel Report is probably better -- especially for well-heeled rogues like Jenny and Preston. But it's decent. For rogues with seeker aspirations, it's a worthy inclusion.
Often in Arkham, the best strategy is not to gear up so you deal with anything, but to get stuff done before the "anything" actually shows up. That usually means snagging clues fast -- in particular with cards that give you nice two for one deals. Seekers are especially blessed in this regard. At level zero, they have Fingerprint Kit and Deduction -- both of which give you an extra clue for a successful investigation while also increasing the odds of the skill check. Connect the Dots has both a higher ceiling and a lower floor than these other two options.
Let's start with the floor. The nice thing about the Kit and Deduction is that they can be used any time you investigate. For sheer simplicity, nothing beats Deduction: as a skill card, you can attach it to any investigation attempt, and net yourself that extra clue. Connect the Dots, meanwhile, requires there to be at least two revealed locations in play with clues on them. In some scenarios, like the Essex County Express, this will almost never happen. CtD also gives you no help with the check, and requires you to do your investigating at the more difficult location. All heavy burdens. At 4 resources, it's also tied for the most expensive seeker event in the game.
But the ceiling is positively Sistine! Three clues for an action is an amazing yield for a level 0 card, and the savings often go beyond that. If the second location is located somewhere inconvenient, you may be saving move-actions as well. If there are enemies camping on your clues, you're saving fight or evade actions.
Sometimes these perfect situations will simply present themselves, but a little planning can help as well. If this card shows up in your opening hand, for example, you may want to nudge the party to fan out a bit so you can plot out how best to deploy it. Since you'll likely be investigating at a high-shroud location, stocking up on Lore icons isn't a bad bet either. But you needn't stress out too much. Unlike the dazzling but somewhat unwieldy Deciphered Reality, you don't play CtD until AFTER you've passed your investigate check, so there's no risk of wasting your four resources. If your check went sideways, simply try again.
Happily enough, this card doesn't have to replace your other multi-cluevering tools; in fact it synergizes quite nicely with them. Imagine this lovely scenario. You're at a three-clue location, and somewhere else on the board are a couple of clues that -- like a bag of Doritos in the cabinet -- you want, but don't want to have to go get. You use Fingerprint Kit to investigate, tacking on Deduction for the extra icon, and of course, the extra clue. You pass, thereby sucking up all three clues on your location at once. But you're only just getting started. You then drop CtD, and two more clues wing their way across the map to you like falcons to the arm of the falconer. Yes, you just snagged five clues on a single action, and you didn't need a single experience point to do it.
Mateo's investigator ability is one of the most impactful in the game, because it will change the way your group plays, and even what cards they may put in their decks.
Every now and then, you will come across tests which you cannot afford to fail. Suppose someone draws Rotting Remains with 2 sanity left, or the guardian has one last action to take out a monster with doom. Some particularly nasty agendas have tests that add a weakness to your deck on failure. Normally, you can buff your skill test up to the point where you would pass on every token except the , and hope for the best. Mateo allows you to guarantee that test will succeed. And he can do it from anywhere on the map (except when he's napping).
It provides a similar benefit as cards such as "Eat lead!" and Grotesque Statue. However, unlike those cards, his ability
The first point is crucial - if you succeed on the test (and if you threw everything at it, it's very likely that you will), Mateo's ability does not get used up, and is available to use on the next test. Even though it is a once per game ability, it really protects your team all the way until you need to use it, and saves your defensive cards like Ward of Protection and "Let me handle this!" for when they are truly needed.
Mateo also enables the group to perform riskier strategies by making high leverage tests safe, such as grabbing multiple clues using Deciphered Reality, or gathering multiple enemies together to unleash a Storm of Spirits. Your guardian can now Shotgun the monsters without accidentally murdering the seeker. Notably, cards that becomes stronger the more you succeed by benefit the most. All In is now safe to play without risking your entire investment, and Archaic Glyphs becomes repeatedly abusable.
The fact that Mateo starts off with his ability ready to use shouldn't be overlooked. Even Seal of the Elder Sign, the ultimate combo card, requires you to both draw the card and be at the same location.
Of course, there are a couple of reason why he doesn't steamroll over every scenario - namely, boosting to pass every token in the chaos bag is expensive, and eventually, you will draw a that you can't accept.
Remember that his ability is a reaction, not forced - so you don't have to trigger it if you don't want to.
Mateo's relatively balanced statline makes him less reliant on using his willpower for everything, although you can certainly go that route if you want. Personally, I like St. Hubert's Key which buffs his willpower and lets him handle the lower shroud locations, freeing up the seeker. Shrivelling is a mystic staple, but if you have a guardian on your team to tackle tougher monsters, Enchanted Blade works very well too, with a fully charged stab having a good chance of taking out Serpents of Yig. It is also cheaper and has no risk of self damage. With his 3 , Manual Dexterity will get him out of most scrapes.
If the team is relying on Mateo to pull off his miracles, it makes sense to take cards that let him continue to do that. Seal of the Elder Sign is worth the two copies, and Premonition and Time Warp complement this role.
Mateo has access to Blessed cards. There aren't too many of them, but the stand out one is Alter Fate. The combo with Dayana Esperence is extremely powerful, and only accessible to Mateo and Marie Lambeau. If you want to abuse it, pack in Enraptured.
Other than Dayana, Arcane Initiate is a good ally choice, for fishing out the high XP spells.
The Codex of Ages is a good card that you will probably end up keeping it in hand until you need that , because the seal effect is too painful to keep up, especially in multiplayer. It's a little expensive, but part of the cost can be made up for by either of Mateo's abilities. Playing it triggers an attack of opportunity, making it not so great for monsters, but excellent on mythos cards like Locked Door or Entombed. Keep in mind that Serpents of Yig prevents you from playing the Codex (although the reverse is not true).
This is a purely aesthetic review. This has to be one of the worst card images in the whole collection. A dumb police chief spouting nonsense about cracking down on crime (or whatever) at some city hall meeting doesn't really convey a sense of either cosmic horror or pulp adventure... and it's very dull looking too.