O, R'LYEH? - The Sunshine Crew

The Sunshine Crew
By: Taylor Potter

They all laughed at Agent Clarkston when he was appointed to the new branch of the Agency called “The Sunshine Crew." Clarkston had seen the horrors before, and he knew the terrors below, things that he would prefer never to think about again. “But that’s my job now.” He thought as he was driving down the open highway on his way to meet the famous Descendant of Eibon. The Sunshine Crew operated almost solely during the day, but not for so mundane reasons such as hours. “We fight in the daylight,” Marshall Greene explained “Because when fighting the terrors of the dark, it’s better to engage them on our ground.” The new guard that accompanied the two men frowned, clearly not believing in the two’s mission. The sunlight continued to beat down off of the roadway, as the three men drove to their destination.

Arriving at an abandoned cabin buried deep in the woods Clarkston wiped his brow from the heat. “The Descendant is inside” He told Greene. “Wait for me.” And with that Clarkston entered the abandoned home alone.

The Bodyguard and Greene waited in the car. “So you really don’t believe?” Greene asked incredulously. “Why are you here then? I’ve seen non-believers. I’ve seen what happens when they start believing. You don’t want that.” Greene looked with sad eyes at the man…

“What in the…” The bodyguard began, but never finished. A monstrous tree shaped entity had pulled the bodyguard out of the car, part of him anyway. Greene without a word, without a thought, opened up his door grabbing a stick of dynamite from underneath the seats on the way.

“Clarkston!!!!” He yelled, “One of Mommie’s children are here!” Swallowing the urge to throw up that he often had when looking upon the disgusting monster, he lit the short fuse of the dynamite. “Don’t worry little fella,” he chided the young “You’re probably not her favorite anyways.” He threw the stick of dynamite at the obscenity and ran towards the cabin to prepare for what was to come…



Welcome to O, R’LYEH?, a new series of articles for the Call of Cthulhu living card game. In this 8 part series I will be introducing each faction and talking about the strengths and weaknesses that go along with that faction. Also, in each article I will be providing a themed mono colored deck that the faction is known for, as well as providing insight on card choices for the deck and my reasons for including them. I will be going in alphabetical order so for this week I will be exploring the cops, investigators, and government officials of the Agency faction.

To those that don’t know Agency, they are known for their ability to dominate the combat struggle at stories and have cards that directly damage their opponent’s characters. And why wouldn’t they? We are talking about cops and P.I.’s here! They tend to pack heat, and lots of it! They are not afraid to go toe to toe with some of the most horrific mythos creations. There are few things that a good shotgun blast to the face or a timely short fuse can’t deal with. Agency’s direct damage cards are represented in game by cards like shotgun blast, small price to pay, short fuse, and catastrophic explosion. Agency is also known for being the faction that can interact the most with attachment support cards. Their attachments generally represent their arsenal. Shotgun, Prize Pistol, and Lightning Gun are some of the more well known weapons that you can sometimes see in an agency deck. Although these cards are very cool and thematically fit in well with the faction’s flavor, attachments happen to be one of the weaker card types in Call of Cthulhu. The reason being when a character goes insane or gets destroyed the attachment that you had on the character is destroyed as well. So when an opponent plays one of their cards to get rid of two of yours it isn’t good card efficiency. For this reason it can be a liability to play attachments, especially in a field with heavy support destruction..



Today’s decklist is a Government themed deck dubbed The Sunshine Crew:



The Sunshine Crew:

Characters: 33

3 Paranormal Specialist (SoA)
3 Government Exorcist (TSotS)
3 Unorthodox Psychologist (TTftS)
3 Repo Man (TAD)
3 Agency Bodyguard (JtUK)
3 Trial Judge (TGS)
3 Shadow Team (SoM)
3 Special Agent Clarkston (AoA)
2 Descendant of Eibon (TTotT)
2 Marshall Greene (THBtS)
2 Agency Groundskeeper (TTotT)
3 The Company (SoK)

Events: 11

3 Shotgun Blast (Core)
3Small Price to Pay (Core)
3 Short Fuse (Core)
2 Catastrophic Explosion (TGS)

Supports: 6

3 Beneath the Burning Sun (SoA)
3 The Rays of Dawn (TH)


The deck gets its name from the day cards that are sprinkled in. Day is a highly underused mechanic but some of the day cards in this deck help give it a decent edge when trying to take down stories. Agency has a very cheap and effective day card, Beneath the Burning Sun. It’s really good in a mono Agency deck because it’ll give every character in the deck an extra combat icon. Also, The Rays of Dawn help to keep away monsters by removing their terror icons. Currently Agency benefits the most from the day mechanic but with the new Terror in Venice deluxe expansion coming out soon there is no telling who will get the best day/night cards. I look forward to Fantasy Flight revisiting these two older mechanics.


Key Cards:

• Special Agent Clarkston: He is the heart and soul of the deck. The object is to get him into play A.S.A.P. and keep him there since he makes every other character in the deck cheaper to put into play. Since he is so important you want to be able to protect him from removal cards. That’s what agency bodyguard is for. He can save any unique character from taking a wound by spending. The Agency Medic is also a good choice as far as protecting Clarkston (or anybody) even though he’s not in the list.

• Trial Judge: He is the best 2 cost character in the deck. When it’s day he is just an efficient cost to character ratio. Plus his ability to keep any character at bay, including ancient ones it solid.

• The Company: He is the newest character to be added to the sunshine crew but he is a much welcomed member. He adds needed resilience to the team. Giving every character toughness including himself is nothing to scoff at.

• Paranormal Specialist: Her stats aren’t overly impressive but her ability to repeatedly throw ancient ones into an opponent’s hand when it is day is very good. She is just another character alongside trial judge to help keep the ancient ones at bay.

• Shadow Team: These guys are incredible. I have given so many people headaches after putting him into play. His ability to make every opposing character lose a combat icon really makes your opponents think twice about sending someone out to a story.

The rest of the cards in the deck are just solid cards for their cost, including the dynamic duo of the Repo Man and Agency Groundskeeper to help keep unwanted support cards at bay.

The restricted card I chose for this deck was the Descendant of Eibon. Sometimes Agency has problems getting that last story or two and the Descendant helps out with that. His stats and abilities are overly good for his cost and he has an ability that makes it to where you can keep getting him back. He is a magnificent story attacker and in a deck like this he can help push through tough stories.



When playing the deck:

The earlier you get Special Agent Clarkston into play the better. When he is in play he makes everything run smoother. Turn one you should set up domians to look like 2-1-1 and play a 2 cost character and a Beneath the Burning Sun or The Rays of Dawn. Turn two domains should like to 3-1-1 and play Clarkston and one or two more 2 cost characters since Clarkston reduces their cost. Or, if you didn't get clarkston have your domains look like 2-2-1 and play out two 2 cost characters. Usually turn 3 or 4 is the last time you resource on a domain and it will look like 3-2-1. If you have Clarkston in play you shouldn’t have to worry about playing anything more expensive except for the occasional catastrophic explosion. The deck tops out at a single 4 cost character but with Clarkston even he is cheaper to play. The deck should be able to play out characters quick to nab stories. The majority of characters in the deck have an investigation icon as well so you have the potential to grab stories quick and in a hurry which you should make every attempt to. Trial Judge and Paranormal Specialist can help keep ancient ones at bay once they get in so you can make the final push to snag that last story when you need it.



Building on a budget:

For beginners looking to get into the game that enjoy the Agency faction I highly recommend you pick up the Summons of the Deep cycle first once you get your 2nd and or 3rd core set and Secrets of aAkham deluxe expansion. The Summons of the Deep cycle have some of the best Agency characters in them including: Government Exorcist, Unorthodox Psychologist, Marshall Greene, Repo Man, and the Agency Groundskeeper. Also as a bonus, the Descendant of Eibon is in the Summons of the Deep cycle as well.



I hope you guys enjoyed my mono Agency Government themed deck. Hopefully someone gained some knowledge that they didn’t have before. Agency is a great faction to learn the basics of the game with and was actually the first faction I played when I first got into the game. I’ve had a soft spot for them ever since. There is just something so gratifying about blowing things up with dynamite or blasting things with shotguns that never gets old.



Please feel free to leave any comments, criticisms, or suggestions for what you would like to see in future articles.



Join me next time as I delve into the trouble in Innsmouth with the mono cthulhu deep one centered deck.