Will-o'-Wisp

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Will-o'-Wisp
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action - Spirit
Kingdom card?	No
Set	Nocturne
Illustrator(s)	Julien Delval
Card text
+1 Card +1 Action Reveal the top card of your deck. If it costs or less, put it into your hand. (This is not in the Supply.)

Will-o'-Wisp is an Action-Spirit card from Nocturne. It's a lab variant that only draws an extra card if it's sufficiently cheap. The card is not in the Supply, but can be gained by receiving The Swamp's Gift, or by playing Exorcist. There are 12 copies of Will-o'-Wisp.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• If the revealed card does not cost or less, leave it on your deck.
• Cards with or in the cost (from Alchemy and Empires) do not cost or less.

Strategy

Will-o'-Wisp is a cantrip that becomes equivalent to a laboratory when it draws a cheap card. As Laboratory costs , this card can be surprisingly powerful. It synergizes with itself, and also with other cheap cantrips, such as Pearl Diver, Hamlet, Settlers, Pawn, Page, Ratcatcher, Pixie, Border Guard, or Town Crier; adding this card into a deck with sufficient cheap cantrips makes it a more reliable lab. Another obvious synergy is Lighthouse which provides a pseudo-silver that can be drawn by this card. It can become even more reliable in engines that provide cost reduction, such as Bridge or Highway, where it can provide the extra draw with cards costing or even more. Another synergy is Cellar which can both be drawn by this card, and can cycle unwanted low-value cards such as coppers or estates drawn by it.

The difficulty of gaining this card, however, limits one's ability to build engines based on it; it is best seen as a beneficial addition to an already-strong engine rather than its cornerstone. When playing exorcist, this card cannot be gained from trashing of coppers; thus it is usually only obtained by trashing estates. The boon that provides it is also unreliable. Once your deck contains one or more Imps, this card becomes relatively more attractive because it self-synergizes whereas Imp does not, so occasionally one might choose to obtain it from trashing a more expensive card that has outlived its usefulness. Usually, this card is obtained as the "least harmful" gain when playing Exorcist to trash cards.

In a typical game this card tends to be more powerful early, where it draws the starting cards including copper or copper-equivalents, and estates, helping to draw more money and/or cycle estates, so it gives a bigger boost the earlier you get them. It can also help to cycle through curses, providing a weak counter to cursing on top of the trashing exorcist provides.

Especially in games where there are synergizing cantrips that offer +Buy, such as Pawn, this card can facilitate a rush strategy where the game ends on piles. In these games, the trashing of estates can occasionally result in an unintended loss, so care must be taken to watch points and piles when this card is in play with strong synergies.

In games with Druid where The Swamp's Gift is selected as one of the boons, this card becomes very synergistic as it's easy to gain lots of copies. Druid allows you to gain a Will-o'-Wisp each shuffle and since Druid has cost it can even be drawn by Will-o'-Wisp itself.

This card can occasionally be a liability, such as in the presence of discard attacks, when you want to utilize a reaction to counter an attack and it thus dilutes your deck, or in a big money deck with terminal draw where it can be drawn dead.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Notes	Release	Date
		+1 Card +1 Action Reveal the top card of your deck. If it costs or less, put it into your hand. (This is not in the Supply.)	Digital version has a cost of rather than .	Nocturne	November 2017

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text
Chinese	鬼火 (pron. guǐhuǒ)			+1 卡片 +1 行動 展示你牌庫頂的一張卡。如果它價值不高於將那張卡放入手中。 （此卡不在供應區裡。）
Dutch	Dwaallicht
French	Feu follet			+ 1 Carte + 1 Action Dévoilez la carte du haut de votre pioche. Si elle coûte ou moins, prenez-la en main. (Ne fait pas partie de la réserve.)
German	Irrlicht			+1 Karte +1 Aktion Decke die oberste Karte deines Nachziehstapels auf. Wenn sie oder weniger kostet, nimm sie auf die Hand. (Diese Karte gehört nicht zum Vorrat.)
Japanese	ウィル・オ・ウィスプ (pron. wiru-o-wisupu)			+1 カードを引く +1 アクション 山札の一番上のカードを公開する。それがコスト以下の場合、手札に加える。 (このカードはサプライに置かない。)
Polish	Błędny ognik			+1 karta +1 akcja Odkryj kartę z wierzchu swojej talii. Jeśli kosztuje ona lub mniej, weź ją na rękę. (Ta karta nie należy do Zasobów.)
Russian	Блуждающий Огонёк (pron. bluzhdayushshiy ogonyok)

Trivia

Official card art.

Preview

It's a handy little thing, and who knows, maybe the Swamp will give you one.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Nocturne Previews #3: Blessed Village, Idol, Druid

Secret History

The same as the first version tried. This was designed specifically to work well as something a Boon gave you, but knowing that Exorcist would also give it to you. And Exorcist was behind Ghost getting that slot and then the design of Imp. And the costs of the three cards were picked to give Exorcist a simpler wording. It was all about Exorcist and well Exorcist came through for me.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of Dominion: Nocturne