Pacta Arcana - At the Cuckoo-Cabana

Welcome to the tenth 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, but first of all thank you, Danigral, for letting me write this week's take on the series.

Last time on Pacta Arcana, Wildefox shows us too much of the mind-altering spells under the command of Yog-Sothoth and the Sorcerers of the Silver Twilight Lodge. This week we continue our exploration of the darker shadows of Arkham as we take a closer look at the shady alliance of Hastur's madmen and the Criminal crooks of the Syndicate.

Hastur and The Syndicate

What do I get out of this deal?
Both factions focus on controlling the game through manipulation of the opponent's characters. While the Lunatics and and their erstwhile patron Victoria Glasser (Core) drive their enemies insane, the Syndicate go a more direct route by kicking them in the nuts and leaving them Bound and Gagged (TSC) while they go about their business.

In addition to the character control that both factions offer, Hastur also has the standard dreamlands control locations including The Cavern of Flame (ItDoN) and The Seventy Steps (IMoD), and character control through the ever-popular Stygian Eye (IT). Added to that, Syndicate and Hastur pack on another level of frustration for your opponent though hand destruction. Losing cards yourself to cheat a Clover Club Executive (SotD) into play through Hanyatl's 12:3 (SoK) is fine if you deny your opponent two cards at the same time.

Dirty tricks and mind games
This is a deck that I have been playing and constantly improving on as my favorite faction pairing ever since starting with the game three years ago. It has been hit quite hard by recent restrictions and even harder by a surprise banning, losing two auto-include 3x cards: the now-banned Diseased Sewer Rats (SoA) and the restricted Infernal Obsession (TAD). I persevere in my passion though, so I present to you the current version of the deck. It is still experimental and plays several 1x to cover as many angles as possible in a diverse meta. Replacing the Rats and Obsession is hard and the focus on hand-destruction is part of that. I would rather have character-control but lacking that discard keeps up the pressure on the opponents hand instead of on his board, but it's better than nothing.

As a side note, another version of the deck may focus more on skill control with more David Pans and some Tear Gas (TTftS). However, this is not very good if you need to catch up, so I would rather have some cards that can help me get back into the game if I slip behind or my opponent drops something I can't deal with. This brings us to the one-ofs that could have been three, but which are limited because of situational use:

• Mr. David Pan (CotJE) fits into the skill lowering scheme but also protects against icon struggles. He is very conditional and vulnerable so I rather have a one-off silver bullet than rely on him.
• Hack Journalist (DD) can easily win games as a late game top-deck andthat's why he is here. This is the real deal when it comes to broken effects. Dropped on the table in the right circumstance, it forces your opponent to answer with removal immediately or lose a story
• The Supernal Prism (TiV) is not only a great way of gathering some steam mid-game, with your discard you should be able to force your opponent into top-decking by then. As a final bonus it is also a Day card which can come in very handy vs. Night-based strategies such as Ghouls.

There are of course work horses in this deck that just plod along and do their thing to keep you in the game such as Performance Artist (Core), Patsy (Core), and The Unspeakable Oath (TiV). There is a heavy focus on skill reduction, but only one copy of David Pan in the deck. "How that supposed to work?" you may ask. Here's the thing, skill reduction focuses on bringing big baddies in range of Bound and Gagged (TSC), triggering Hanyatl's 12:3 (SoK) and not so much on winning icon struggles with Pan or relying on Tear Gas as a solid removal cards. Having one character with skill reduction out at a time should be enough. If you can manage two then fine, but dropping a third is seldom a good idea if you can spend those resources on exhausting or otherwise controlling your opponent's characters.

If you can manage to establish early control of the stories with a Hard Case (Core) or Victoria Glasser (Core), you should be able to keep the pressure up by removing your opponent's characters from stories with The Cavern of Flame (ItDoN) or Mr. David Pan (CotJE). This kind of tempo control is very vulnerable but if you can manage to keep the pressure up and also keep your opponent's choices limited with Clover Club Executive (SotD) and Apeirophobia (NN), you should be able to stay one step ahead of your opponent.

The Deck:
Characters (29)
Performance Artist (Core) x3
Clover Club Bouncer (Core) x3
Patsy (Core) x2
Demon Lover (Core) x3
Dangerous Inmate (SfW) x3
Hard Case (Core) x3
Clover Club Torch Singer (Core) x2
Victoria Glasser (Core) x2
Clover Club Executive (SotD) x3
Peter Clover (SoK) x2
Mr. David Pan (CotJE) x1
Crazed Arsonist (WitD) x1
Hack Journalist (DD) x1

Supports (12)
The Supernal Prism (TiV) x1
Dutch Courage (Core) x1
The Cavern of Flame (ItDoN) x2
Stygian Eye (IT) x3 (restricted)
The Seventy Steps (IMoD) x2
Bound and Gagged (TSC) x3

Events (8)
Hanyatl's 12:3 (SoK) x3
The Unspeakable Oath (TiV) x2
Apeirophobia (NN) x3

Conspiracy (1)
The Mage's Machinations (TiV) x1


A few notes on playing the deck:

• Tempo is everything, especially early. You don't have to go at stories the first turn, but should have a plan for getting unopposed from turn two onward.
• Capitalizing on early gains with cards such as The Seventy Steps and the bevy of control and discard cards is how you stay in the game when your opponent starts dropping better characters than you in the mid-game.
• Don't over-evaluate discard, it's a great way of keeping your opponent on the defensive but give the choice between adding to the board or discarding your opponent's cards you have to be certain that you don't lose control of the board if you spend domains and cards on discarding.
• 3-2-1 is the way to go when resourcing, with your choice as to whether you should go 3-1-1 or 2-2-1 first, most of the time 2-2-1 is the better choice but it's by no means an easy choice in most games.
• As a final tip on playing the game just remember these three words: tempo, tempo, and tempo! Get a good early lead with some exhausting/insanity/story-control and follow it up with some discard and/or one of the silver bullets if your opponent manages to catch up to you.

That's it for me! Thanks for reading through all of my incoherent ramblings. Any views or questions are welcome and if you take the deck out for a spin I would love to hear about it!

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As an avid Lovecraft fan and compulsive collector of games with Cthulhu in their name, I have spent far too much time on the Call of Cthulhu LCG since I was introduced to it three years ago. With a dismal lack of active players in northern Sweden, I continuously try my best to engage new players in the game by building and sharing decks, cubes and organizing Game Nights. If you ever find yourself near the polar circle in the western hemisphere feel free to drop me a pm to schedule a game! - Midian