Pacta Arcana - Don't Drink the Kool-Aid (TM)

Welcome to the nineteenth edition of Pacta Arcana, in which we will explore the depths of deckbuilding with multiple factions in the Call of Cthulhu LCG. In each article of this series we will be looking at combining two factions (sometimes more) together to form a cohesive deck around a particular theme, combo, or strategy. With the recent release of the Cthulhu deluxe box, introducing a slough of perfidious cultists and lurking horrors, and the announcement of FAQ 5.3, effectively aborting of the Yithian death march to infamy, we now have freshly-tilled ground to plant with the seeds of possibility, and thusly beat our pitchforks into ploughs to get to work.

Silver Twilight and Hastur
And work we have in due course, as this week I set out to breed two of the lowest underdogs to skulk your deckboxes: Hastur and The Order of Silver Twilight. Hastur is the mangy yellow dog which proved to have a ferocious bite when mixed with other factions and was muzzled by several restrictions, including such key cards as Infernal Obsession, Stygian Eye, and Magah Birds. Silver Twilight is the flea-ridden runt of the litter, cursed from its inception with a weak start point and only now growing into its paws and getting some decent cards.

What do I get out of this deal?
Hastur is the “terror faction,” which has long been proven that its greatest strength is ironically its greatest weakness. Its character base is inefficient and uninspired, having either a gluttony of terror or a smattering of combat or arcane, which leaves many characters vulnerable to combat. Further, most monster factions have efficient characters with terror making them unsusceptible to insanity, and Hastur’s characters, while able to win terror struggles, don’t actually affect the board. Terror can be excellent against human factions ill prepared, but many human faction characters have willpower, and Hastur has to deal with that problem in an entirely different way.

Silver Twilight is the “bounce faction,” but has long suffered from a lack of focus, even as its cardpool races to catch up to the other faction’s. It has some excellent characters at the 3 cost range, and some interesting soft control effects that alter board position temporarily. This can be strong, but only if you have a way to take advantage in your opponent’s slight loss of tempo, and can do more with your domains.


So let’s play toward their strengths. Stall. Bounce. Lock-down. An interesting card that I always wanted to try, but never really found a good way to utilize was The Seven Hundred Steps (of Deeper Slumber). Unlike its twin, The Seventy Steps, which rewards being on the board early to take advantage of an early lead in board position, The Seven Hundred Steps rewards playing from behind, which in turn draws me to the new Society characters, which are reduced to cost 2 when my opponent has two won stories. Now my opponent is putting his characters into play knelt while I am playing 6-skill 5-icon beatsticks, which lets me catch up and have superior board advantage going into the last story, not to mention allowing me the time to get the control cards that I want to let me to deal with any character that my lusciously beefy characters might face.


The Deck:

Total Cards: (50)

Character: (31)
3x Aspiring Artist (Ancient Horrors)
3x Performance Artist (Core Set)
3x B. Ramsdale Brown (The Key and the Gate)
2x Lord Jeffrey Farrington (The Order of the Silver Twilight)
1x Dirk Sharpe (The Breathing Jungle)
3x Lodge Housekeeper (The Order of the Silver Twilight)
3x Rich Widow (Perilous Trials)
2x Victoria Glasser (Core Set)
3x H.O.S.T (The Sleeper Below)
2x Sons of Carcosa (The Sleeper Below)
2x Black Dog (Words of Power)
2x Doctor Lomboso (Terror in Venice)
2x Sieur Piriou Louis (The Key and the Gate)

Support: (12)
2x The Cavern of Flame (In the Dread of Night)
2x The Seven Hundred Steps (In Memory of Day)
2x The Enchanted Wood (In Memory of Day)
2x The Black Stone (The Key and the Gate)
1x The Doorway (The Breathing Jungle)
3x Stygian Eye (Into Tartarus)

Event: (7)
3x Initiation (The Order of the Silver Twilight)
3x Agoraphobia (Core Set)
1x Reckless Assault (Aspirations of Ascension)

Thoughts on Gameplay:

• HOST and Rich Widow is your draw engine. By returning Rich Widow to your hand with HOST, she can go right back into play with her triggered response, allowing you to get 3 cards a turn with ease. The hard part it getting HOST into play, which can be done late game at cost 2, or mid game at cost 4 or reducing with Initiation.
• This deck uses The Enchanted Wood to make terror-ble monsters more pliable, and The Black Stone to blank willpower. Other problematic characters can be bounced with Agoraphobia, juked with The Cavern of Flame, or hijacked with Stygian Eye.
• A great starting hand probably has Aspiring Artist to draw a card and sac with Initiation to play a 3 cost ST character for 1.
• Don’t worry about getting The Seven Hundred Steps out early game, as playing it prematurely does nothing but warn your opponent and make it vulnerable to support destruction.
• Dr. Lomboso is a way to recur key characters or supports for yourself, or to put less useful cards on top of your opponent’s deck so he isn’t drawing as many characters.

Alternative Builds:

• Instead of The Seven Hundred Steps and expensive Societies, try to add in a "Negotium" package consisting of the conspiracy and Red-Gloved Man. This let's you leverage Initiation to great effect to get 3 costs out and float above the fray.
• Try to add in some hand destruction like Apeirophobia to decrease your opponent's choices and remove those cards that you bounced back to his hand.

Fhtagn dear readers! Any feedback, suggestions, or comments are welcome.

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Danigral started hoarding Call of Cthulhu the same time as A Game of Thrones, back in 2010. While he’s played AGoT more competitively, he’s harbored a secret love for CoC and has played it casually and competitively for almost 3 years. Initially drawn into the game through a fascination with Lovecraft’s mythos, he fell in love with the innovative mechanics and engaging gameplay CoC offers. And he wants to convert you. Cthulhu Fhtagn!