Just to clarify for anyone coming here confused; in the rules reference it states that the word "then" requires the previous sentence to resolve in order for its sentence to resolve. So if there is no Sentinel in play after the Surge, you don't have to deal with the 5 damage.

This and Telepathy, unsurprisingly, have pretty similar community perceptions. 2 ER for 3 dmg is the definition of "okay." However, that cost doesn't include the 2 ER used to put the card into play. For the first couple of uses, you're looking at Haymaker levels of resource efficiency. First use is 4 ER for 3 dmg. The second is 6 ER for 6 dmg.

In practice, random card draws mean you may have a few leftover resources and the game's (current) two permanent psionic characters are pretty good at generating those extra resources themselves. I wouldn't recommend building a deck around this card, but it might be a good fit if you're consistently ending turn with some clunky extra resources. Basically you're trading resource efficiency for tempo.

The Power of the Mind can pay for this card's hero action by itself, giving it some nice synergy.

I really don't like this card...
It cost 2 ER to give you 1 ER in the future but with the condition to get a minion. Even with cards like Spoiling for a Fight it's not that great. A little damage bonus for your event would have been great (like Keep Up the Pressure but just for you), or something else idk.

AND you can miss as it only searches your deck (especially if you only have 5-10 cards left in your deck but you didn't count how many events you had :p ).

Oh and it's max 1 per player, so you can't really make it a reliable strategy! :/

This is a staple thwart, but you want to be mindful of how to get the most out of this event.

The modest cost can be paid for with just Genius or the Power of Justice.

Barring a double resource, you’ll want to run a generating card like Ingenuity (Genius trait), Quincarrier (Avenger trait), The X-Jet (X-Men trait), or Sense of Justice.

It pairs especially well with Overwatch, and it makes an easy combo to play because Overwatch can be attached on a previous turn and the event played on a later turn.

This card is fantastic as it serves multiple purposes! You can indefinitely block 3 minions from ever returning by sending them to jail. Or if you send your fourth minion to jail, you can send a random minion to another player to serve as its executioner. Very beneficial when playing as or alongside heroes like Thor, Rocket Raccoon, etc who are natural minion slayers or as heroes like Star-Lord who can take advantage of facedown encounters. I'm currently putting this into my Black Widow deck, because even if no one is running a minion slayer build, I can crush the released minion using her preparations. Also, it helps that every minion you send to jail removes a little bit of threat, assuming it has SCH.