Malocchio

Err.. Somehow I can't make ends to its ability. Anyone care to explain in layman's terms?

Starting out he has no icons. As soon as either player has a character with a Combat icon in their discard, he gains a Combat icon. Same for the other four types. Eventually, he will probably have all 4 icons.

Early in the game, he's pretty crappy. Late in the game when he has all four icons he's fairly good.

Really fun mechanic and will probably work like a charm in a Three-bells powered sacrifice deck.

It doesn't sound like there's a maximum icon count. With 10+ characters in both discard piles, not uncommon by mid-game, Malocchio becomes a beast!

5 Terrors, 4 Combats, 1 Investigation...

Also, if you combo this with Untimely Burial & Dark Rebirth - or if activate a Plague Stone or Dimensional Vortex and wipe all the characters off the table - BAM... He becomes unbeatable!

Or am I understanding this effect incorrectly?

Or am I understanding this effect incorrectly?

You are. There can be max 4 types: terror, combat, arcane and investigation. So he has a max 1 of each.

Damon Stone (FFG): "Malocchio gains one instance of an icon if it is present on any character in any dead pile. Regardless of how many times those icons actually appear, as long as there is a minimum instance of one, Malocchio gains one of that type."
See http://community.fan...-7#entry1059832

FAQ:

Does Malocchio (Terror in Venice, F33) get one of each icon from each character in every player’s discard pile?
No, Malocchio will get one instance of an icon if it is present in any players discard pile. In other words the most icons his own ability can give him would be one (Terror), one (Combat), one (Arcane), and one (Investigation) icon.

 

Not discounting what jasonconlon said above, simply making sure the FAQ entries are in the comments