THE CARD
Name: Vortex of Far Journeying
Set: The Dreamlands
Type: Spell
Affects: Opponent's Mythos Deck
Spell Icon: Dream
Usage Cost: -2
Special Effect Box: Target opponent reveals the top card of his or her
Mythos Deck. If it is a Location it immediately becomes his or her
Current Location. If it is a Monster it attack him or her (Allies may
defend), then is Discarded. If it is some other kind of card, it is
Discarded.
THE SOURCE
Like many spells in the Dreamlands CCG, vortex originated in the H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands supplement for the Call of Cthulhu RPG. In its original version, the vortex spell could be used to transfer its caster anywhere, but sometimes the vortex would simply disappear with its caster, never to be seen again.
CLARIFICATIONS
Cast the Spell. Force an opponent to flip the top card of his Mythos Deck. That card either becomes your opponent's Current Location or is Discarded.
If a Monster is revealed, there is no Cosmic Battle, the Monster simply plows into the investigator and any Allies who leap to his defense. Spells and Artifacts can not be used in defense. Overall, this works just the same as a Summoning Spell. Note that certain Monsters have special powers that occur if they "survive the Cosmic Battle". There is no Cosmic Battle in this case, so special effects with that specific wording have no effect.
QUESTIONS
Q: If my opponent reveals a sanitarium, does he get the Sanity gain? If it's a "Monster sanitarium", does he get attacked? If it's a "lose a turn Sanitarium", does he lose his next turn?
A: To all these questions, the answer is yes. If a Location is revealed, treat it exactly as if it had just been played as a Current Location. Sanity is gained or lost. The gate is usable. Other effects (such as those at sanitariums) also immediately take place.
Q: What happen if a Location that can't be legally played is revealed? For example, what if I reveal R'lyeh and my opponent doesn't have all of the R'lyeh Disk?
A: The Location still becomes your opponent's Current Location. Other restriction are irrelevent. The Vortex special effect overrides them.
Q: What happens if my opponent reveals a Monster that is Buried under certain conditions (ie, the the Limited Edition Ghast is buried in Direct Sunlight) and those conditions are met? Is the Monster Buried or Discarded?
A: It's Discarded. The Monster never properly entered play. It is Discarded under any and all conditions.
Q: What happens if my opponent is walking somewhere and Vortex reveals a Location card?
A: The Location he was walking to is Discarded. The newly revealed Location becomes your opponent's Current Location.
STRATEGIES
The Vortex of Far Journeying is a Dream Spell. This icon is a weird one, so here are a few notes regarding it:
On Playing Spells with the Dream Icons - The Dream Icon is rare. It only appears on Tomes exclusively available in the Dreamlands, and even then most of them are in obscure languages. There are only two ways to play Dream Icon spells with ease. In the Dreamlands, you should use the Book of Black Stones, the only English Tome with the Dream Icon. In the Waking World, you can't access any of the Tomes with the Dream Icon, but there are plenty of Cultists who can know Spells with any Icon. Use them to learn your Dream Spells. John Scott is a particularly good choice as is any Corrupt Cultist with the Orne Formula & Diagrams.
On Taking Advantage of the Dream Icon for Adventures - Since the Dream Icon is rare, there are two Adventures that include it as a requirement: The Art of Magic and Doomed if you Do. If you're using the Vortex, consider taking advantage of these Adventures.
The Vortex of Far Journeying also has a number of strategies all its own:
On Thumping Your Opponent - Quite simply, you hope to get lucky when you use the vortex, and hit your opponent with a Monster. This is a crap shoot, but if you time it well, you can maximize damage. Flip, bury, or discard Allies. Wait until your opponent adds Allies to a Threat via Enchanted Weapons. Then, Vortex gives you a chance at some unstoppable damage. Monsters tend to make up 10%-15% of Mythos decks, thus this is of more marginal utility than some other strategies. Still, it can be used administer a death blow and win the game.
On Denying Attributes - Attribute Denial involves preventing an opponent from making full use of a Location. In particular it refers to denying your opponent the Tome, Artifact, and Gate Attributes, as well as the subregion name. If it's obvious an opponent is searching for a certain Attribute, you can play vortex, and hope a new Location hops on top of the one he planned to make use of. Locations tend to make up 10%-35% of decks, so this strategy is a much more sound one.
On Discarding Locations - the Vortex has this power in a limited manner. Catch an opponent when he's walking, and get lucky enough to flip a Location, and your opponent is forced to Discard that Location he was walking to. A real bummer if he needed it for an Adventure. Again, Locations tend to make up 10%-35% of decks.
On Discarding Other Cards - And here is the real beauty of Vortex. If you flip one of those 50-80% of the cards which are neither Locations nor Monsters, you still cause an opponent to Discard that random card. In the worst case, this will be something required for an Adventure, and your opponent will be forced to reshuffle, costing him a point of Sanity, and perhaps several turns of play. If you want to really annoy your oppponent, you can also use other cards that Discard from the Mythos Deck: the Office of Dr. Freud and Nameless Lake.
You might even purposefully use Vortex to try and force a Discard. If your opponent is down to the last few cards in his Mythos Deck, and is turning several funny colors, it's likely that he needs one of those last few cards, and you have a very good chance of snatching it away from him.
On Optimizing the Usage of Vortex - When all's said and done, the Vortex of Far Journeying is a random chance, but you can make the Spell even more useful by using it at the right time: later in the game. As the game proceeds, an opponent tends to permanently lay out Artifacts, Tomes, Spells, Allies, and Adventures. Occasional Events may be quasi-permanent as well. After your opponent has played his first Adventure card and reshuffled, he will now have fewer of all of those cards in his deck, and thus a higher proportion of Locations and Monsters, which are always reshuffled after Adventure card play. Assuming 60 cards, 10 Monsters and 20 Locations, you originally had a 16% chance of pulling a Monster and a 33% chance of pulling a Location. If your opponent has 10 cards in play, your odds will jump to 20% for a Monster and 40% for a Location. If your opponent has 20 cards in play, your odds will jump to 25% for a Monster and 50% for a Location. Cards held in the hand will tend to skew these numbers a bit, but the trend will be the same. In summary: use Vortex against the player with the most cards in play who has reshuffled the most recently.
On Faking your Opponent Out - The ability to move to any Location without restriction can occasionally be a useful one that you wish you could access. For example, you might know you have R'lyeh in your deck, but don't have all the pieces of the disk yet, or you might know you have another Region in your deck, and want to get there ASAP. You could be able to take advantage of this power of vortex if you have an opponent with the Deflection Spell. Hit them with vortex. People hate the fact that they don't know what Vortex will do, and will usually assume the worst case, and thus deflect it. You're off to a good start because you've already cost them +1 Sanity. Then, if they deflect it back at you, you might get lucky, and go exactly where you want. On the other hand, you could be fish bait too.
COUNTER STRATEGIES
Use the Standard Spell Strategies - There are a number of ways to block spells: the Chime of Tezchaptl, the Lute of Oonai, and the Deflection Spell.
Keep Allies in Reserve - To ward off the Monster effect of the Vortex, make sure that you always have an Ally or two ready to protect you from surprise damage.
Make Use of Location's Attributes Before Combat - Most spells, including the vortex, are cast during Combat, because it's a free action then. To ward off the Location effect of Vortex, make sure you make use of a Location's most important attributes before the Combat phase. Got a Tome you need to play for an Adventure? Then, take advantage of that Tome attribute first, rather than summoning yet another Monster.
Don't Walk - If you have Locations necessary for an Adventure, don't walk to them. It makes them too vulnerable. Instead, drive a Car, or alternatively go elsewhere in the same City, and then you'll be able to play the required card right-side-up.