I thought I’d do a brief analysis of a card which has undergone a buff thanks to a recent ruling from Achroma. The card is Bait and Switch:

Fellow Achroma community member Eve’s here too I suppose asked whether this ACTION could REBOUND itself, as conventionally ACTION cards are considered to be on your Canvas after they’re deployed and only leave the Canvas once fully resolved.

It seems pretty clear this was not the intention of the card, however I was very pleased when it was ruled that the card should be played this way, meaning this card can REBOUND itself to draw a card. This ruling not only buffs the card, but also shows that Achroma is being consistently ruled.

Bait and Switch is by no means broken now, and can still be played as intended in order to trigger effects such as Vitki Warrior or Vitki Explorer, but it does open up some interesting possibilities. One such possibility is combining this card with Wishwell Market Stall or the new Leif to gain free cards/shards by deploying it multiple times per turn.

Sure, you don’t actually gain anything with the Market Stall, but 0Δ to draw a couple of cards is a strong play, especially early game, even if it does mean you can’t deploy any more cards that turn.

A palette I’m considering swapping this card into now is my Traders palette. I often find myself burning through my hand quickly, and the ability to draw a few extra cards in a turn is pretty tempting. My favourite Traders palette has Leif in it anyway, so it combos nicely.

Simply being able to draw a card for the cost of 1Δ and one of your three-per-turn deploys makes Bait and Switch a realistic choice in competitive Achroma. I could see this being most useful for palettes that find themselves eating through their hand quickly and want a way to consistently keep their hand well stocked.

I might swap this into my Achrom palettes. Typically I don’t deploy any cards turn 1 when going first, as I can’t drain or steal. Deploying Bait and Switch 3 times to draw 3, then trading a 3Δ card, means I still have 10 shards but now have 7 cards in hand, and am more likely to have drawn a key card from my palette.

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