The Seventh House on the Left

This is a nice support, and I'm not sure why I haven't given it more play. It just occurred to me now that it would combo sweetly with The Silver Key, using it to exhaust your own characters.

3 cost is high for the effect, although using it on your own guys is an interesting twist that hadn't occurred to me...

It's pretty nice since you can exhaust Ancient Ones.  The only drawback is the cost 3, because it's competing against a lot of strong characters you could be putting into play instead.

You'd use it when you're less focused on rush and willing to let the game go on enough turns for it to pay off.  Maybe team up with Elijah Conrad?

It's pretty nice since you can exhaust Ancient Ones.  The only drawback is the cost 3, because it's competing against a lot of strong characters you could be putting into play instead.

 

So, my mental arithmetic says that if I can reliably exhaust one of his best characters, that's worth having another character of my own. So, it's definitely not over-costed. I know players tend to resist building in higher-cost supports, but some of them can really justify themselves.

Back in the CCG days, this card was an absolute staple--it exhausted a character for two turns, so you could keep two of your opponents best characters on lockdown. The current card seems best at shutting down decks with slower, bigger cards, but Syndicate has a lot of more efficient answers to that sort of thing--skill-based destruction, Peter Clover, immurement, etc.

They also have 1-cost exhaustion or 2-cost cards that exhaust and leave a body behind.

It's not that the card isn't good in a vacuum, it's that it's competing against cheaper ways to accomplish a similar effect in one-off forms.  When the meta is fast, and the card is in a fast faction, it's harder to play a 3-cost Support and have it be used enough times to pay off.  Plus, there is the risk of support destruction.

I'm not saying it's a bad card (it isn't), just that it has competition which makes it a situational choice.

Generally speaking, I'd rather have a card that can help me win the game.  This one is more about not losing.  

That said, I'm using it in a deck with Unending Festivities, and I think it's a good fit for that particular deck.  I agree with dboeren though - I'd generally prefer a good character for 3, someone who can go win me stories with good icons and a relevant text box.  Or if I want to exhaust people, give me either cheap, efficient exhaustion (Hard Case, Syndicate Liaison, etc.), or give me high-powered exhaustion on a massive scale (Roll the Dice, Johnny Valone, etc.) that can end the game.

I'm not even sure I like 7th House on the Left as much as Sarnath, that new Lost Civilization that can shut characters down for good.  Of course, the House's ability to target supports is nice too.  It really depends on the deck.

Too expensive.

To which the question then becomes "why not replace the House with the more dangerous support card?"