Scrupulous Parent Usage

[Andrewsmile]

For reference: Scrupulous Parent is a culture card costing 1 Blue 1 Grey 1 Yellow 1 Purple, gives 2 points, and has the ability that once per month you may play a card without spending any ECs as long as you have all of the required ECs.

Does anyone have a replay where this card is used or anecdote about this card being good? It is very conservatively costed with 4 unique colors giving only 2 points, but its effect seems niche at best and prohibitively unusable at worst. I would love to be proven wrong, but to me it seems like its effect would need to be used twice and ideally 3 times throughout the game (while also making good use of the ECs you didn't need to spend) to be good which seems impossible. What are your thoughts on this card?

[Flyndersticks]

My impression is that it could be very good if you can use it during big turns for big ticket items (things like max-level fundraising or boosters.) I guess you could use it as part of an aggressive campus-building strategy to keep it from hurting your recruiting?

Maybe it's particularly good with Zen Master? You can pull one of the single colors up to put it into play, and then you can keep them rolling forward after playing other cards thanks to Scrupulous Parent.

[bolnerap]

I’ve yet to use this card in 30 games; it always feels like I have better options. I’ll try to work it in sometime and see what I can do.

[andyhre]

I've played games where I get it into play in Q1, and then for the next 9 months my ECs get double use -- "pay for" the Analytics Nerd and then also the 4 green ECs being sent out to recruits, etc. Later in the game it's not very useful, but early on I think it can be powerful.

Would love to hear from y'all as you become true experts compared to my play-testing self.

[Dislexis]

The best use I have done of it is playing it early-midgame. You stack a lot of envelopes for July or August with a monthly contribution and then again for January or February. You can save on the most painful envelope(usually 4) and then play/activate a lot of cheaper cards simultaneously. You do it again at the end of the game with lots of EndGame cards ideally. It is more a "comeback from the dead" type of card where you can outrun your opponent in the final sprint of the game IMO. Also having the gambler might be best to get your color envelopes for the recruiting while saving the dice for the mid and late shopping frenzy.

[Andrewsmile]

I was completely wrong about this card- I have one opponent I have played a few games against and they heavily prioritized this card and it seemed to work out for them consistently. Tried it myself and got a LOT of free cards, setting a really high score. Thanks all for changing my mind!

[bolnerap]

I recant; I just hadn’t had a good chance to get this card set up. Dropped a 220+ with Scrupulous Parents as my centerpiece today, the bonus envelopes let me play several other cards in my backlog in the first six months, and then seriously boosted my movement in the second half of the game. https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=460605297

[neppelj]

This is almost an OP card. I always want this in my pile.

Check this replay if you want.
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