Card of the Week: Standoff Standoff (and its counterpart, Risk of Exposure) is a rather strange card from a design perspective. Ordinarily, a low cost obstacle would be meant for the early stages of the games, but this one is clearly best used on the final few turns. The surprise value of it is especially good against an opponent continuing on to attempt a second mission with few ready characters, just because he thinks you're out of power. There's great combo potential with Idle Hands, as you can first punish your opponent for not assigning his characters with glyphs, and then reclaim the power for Idle Hands (and then some) by playing Standoff. Just consider this when using Standoff: if you draw it too early in the game, don't be too blinded by the dream of a big power payoff late in the game. If you're running low on good villain stopping power, you shouldn't be afraid to play Standoff as a complication on the first few turns. Just because you'll get a lot of power later if your opponent has several glyphs doesn't mean you should make it any easier than necessary for him to get there.