Pacta Arcana - Cops and Robbers

Welcome to the second 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.

Agency and Syndicate

Last time on Pacta Arcana, we looked at the horrific sacrifices offered to Cthylla and overseen by the Dark Young of Shub. This week, we’re going to look at the other side of the mythos at the hard-boiled horror-noir of Agency and Syndicate. Sometimes this pact is humorously called a “Cops and Robbers” deck, for obvious reasons. Combining these two does a few things: 1) Agency provides the best attachment recursion in the game; 2) Syndicate has excellent character control in the form of skill reduction and exhausting; and 3) they both have excellent cheap “weenies” with both and , which makes them rather resilient and quick, and some very good, cheap attachments.

What do I get out of this deal?
Two words: Cheap and Efficient. This deck is all about maximizing game tempo, controlling the game by having more efficient characters on the board than your opponent, and targeting their problematic characters with exhaust or wound effects for immediate, albeit temporary, board advantage. Against a mythos faction deck with large, beefy characters, this acts as a rush deck; against another rush deck, like Miskatonic Universities weakling weenies, this deck acts like aggro since it has the advantage in c, and is roughly equal in investigation.

Key Cards:

Undercover Security (Core) - With willpower, , investigation, and decent skill, he can take on a lot of cheap dudes on his own. He won't be able to contend with the commonplace Twilight Cannibal (TH), but with an attachment or two, he can.
Triggerman (Core) - The same as Undercover Security, except that he's loyal, so you have to be careful with resourcing.
Government Exorcist (TSotS) - He's just so good for his ability alone, since he can banish even an Ancient One from participating. If you can't exhaust it, exorcise it.
The Night Job (TbtA) - This conspiracy will give you a little breathing room from terror struggles, making your efficient non-willpower characters (like Lady Lu Chu) still able to commit with great effect. If you have the advantage in combat, then most of the time this will be unopposed.
Fortifying Ouzo (IT) - This attachment is free, and allows you to move it if you need to. A free attachment that gives willpower and is just great, and makes your weenies a lot harder to deal with, especially if they are fast.

Thoughts on Gameplay:
The object of this deck is to field more characters, that are more resilient, than your opponent’s characters. Each turn, you should vomit out at least a couple of characters, and sometimes leave one domain open for an event. You should only resource up to 2-2-1 or 2-2-2 if necessary. This means that by turn 3, you will be drawing more cards than your opponent, and playing more cards, too. With 5 of your 7 attachments being free, that's also one less domain to use, and this allows you to do more with your characters, possibly sending them to stories alone. You always need to be careful of Black Dog (WoP) and Master of the Myths (IT) when committing alone. However, your fast characters, along with the additional combat and skill, will generally help to succeed at the story regardless. And if you commit to your conspiracy, Master of the Myths won't do them any good, since you have two to wound him twice.


With any rush deck, you still may have to be careful about leaving yourself open too much on defense, especially when playing against another rush deck strong in investigation. With some tricks, they may be able to get a story out from under you. This deck provides some flexibility to stand some characters on defense, and gives you the freedom to use your exhaust effects either on offense or defense depending on the situation.

And you still have to worry about Ancient Ones. This deck includes a few options to deal with them long enough to rush for the win, including Government Exorcist, Demented Caretaker, and Low Blow. Y'Golonac (Core) remains a perpetual nuisance, however...

The Deck:
Characters (31)
Danny O'Bannion's Crony (SoM) x3
Fixer (SoA) x3
Peeler (Core) x3
Hard Case (Core) x2
Anarchist (SoA) x3
Government Exorcist (TSotS) x3
Lady Lu Chu (CotJE) x2
Triggerman (Core) x3
Undercover Security (Core) x3
Demented Caretaker (AH) x3
Diseased Sewer Rats (SoA) x3

Supports
Price Manor (SftSK) x1
Fortifying Ouzo (IT) x3
Eliot Ness' Handcuffs (TBJ) x2
Expensive Guitar (IotF) x2
Dutch Courage (Core) x3

Events
Shotgun Blast (Core) x2
Low Blow (Core) x3

Conspiracies
The Night Job (TbtA) x3

A few notes on the deck:

• On your setup hand, always keep your characters. You want to have more than your opponent right out of the gate.
• You have one loyal card in Triggerman. Because of this, if you absolutely need to, you can bump up 1 domain to 2 Syndicate and 1 Agency resources, but most of the time, you'll want to have 2 split domains and 1 with both Syndicate resources. I haven't playtested this deck extensively, but it usually isn't a problem; if you do find it problematic, go down to one or two Triggerman, or replace it with a different character completely.
• Diseased Sewer Rats is the restricted card; it can help provide more tempo control early game, or to wound some characters with Toughness to make them less likely to defend.
• Dutch Courage is there to combat two big threats that are popular in the meta right now: Nodens (KD), and Khopesh of the Abyss (TSS). Sometimes I have to be careful not to mentally depend on Dutch Courage too much during gameplay; you should still play somewhat conservatively, otherwise one well placed support destruction can wipe your entire board.
• Elliot Ness' Handcuffs are there for toolboxing against troublesome characters with either toughness or invulnerability.
• 
  There is still one other big weakness in the deck: Negotium Perambulans in Tenebris (DD). ALL of your characters get lost at this conspiracy, and since this is a rush deck, getting locked down for an extra 2-3 turns at a story can mean game over while your opponent gets set up. Because of that, you may want to consider including Foiled! (TPtY), an often overlooked card that can allow you to bypass Negotium, or give your opponent a headache if there is a story that he really wants to win for the effect (my favorite is always Chaos Unleashed (TSS)). It also gives your opponent another decision if there are multiple supports he wants to destroy.

Building on a Budget:
Obviously the deck above includes cards from the full card pool, including 3 cores, 1-1/2 Secrets of Arkham, and the following packs: Ancient Horrors, The Spawn of the Sleeper, The Search for the Silver Key, Spawn of Madness, The Curse of the Jade Emperor, Into Tartarus, The Breathing Jungle, Initiations of the Favored, and Touched by the Abyss, and maybe The Path to Y'ha-nthlei. This can be quite daunting for a new player just getting into the game, so if you wanted to build a similar concept, but on a budget, you could make a few adjustments.

Here is a decklist using only 2 core sets, 1 Secrets of Arkham, and a few less chapter packs, including Ancient Horrors, The Spawn of the Sleeper, Spawn of Madness, Into Tartarus, The Breathing Jungle, and Touched by the Abyss.


Characters (30)
Danny O'Bannion's Crony (SoM) x3
Fixer (SoA) x2
Peeler (Core) x2
Hard Case (Core) x2
Anarchist (SoA) x2
Government Exorcist (TSotS) x3
Lady Lu Chu (TCotJE) x2
Triggerman (Core) x2 Loyal.
Undercover Security (Core) x2
Demented Caretaker (AH) x3
Diseased Sewer Rats (SoA) x2
Paul LeMond (Core) x2
Femme Fatale (SoA) x2
Phoebe Kotas (IT) x1
Richard Finchington III (AH) x2

Supports (11)
Price Manor (SftSK) x1
Fortifying Ouzo (IT) x3
Eliot Ness' Handcuffs (TBJ) x2
Expensive Guitar (IotF) x2
Dutch Courage (Core) x2
Gun Runner's Club (SoM) x2
Tcho-Tcho Talisman (Core) x2

Events (6)
Shotgun Blast (Core) x2
Low Blow (Core) x2
Feint (SoA) x2

Conspiracies (3)
The Night Job (TbtA) x3

Most of the characters are from the Core set and Secrets of Arkham, so we lose one copy of most of those. We'll fill them in with some other 1- and 2-cost characters, preferably ones that have multiple icons or keywords. Ole' Finchington is there to slow down some of the cheaper characters that you might run into such as Cannibal Ghast (Core), Twilight Cannibal (TH), Many-angled Thing (TGS), Ghoulish Predator (ItDoN). Or you could potentially deal with some of them with Feint (SoA) to push through ties on combat and skill. We've also lost or security attachment recursion, so it's replaced with some additional draw using Gun Runner's Club (which is my favorite card draw in the game by the way.) We also lost our cheap skill bump attachment, Expensive Guitar. I've thrown in the Tcho-Tcho Talisman as another form of insanity protection, but if you find yourself really needing the skill boost, try taking out Femme Fatale and Phoebe Kotas for some copies of Tattoo Artist (MoE) from the Murmers of Evil chapter pack.


Thanks for reading! Join me next time for another exploration of the Order of Silver Twilight, as they try to conquer time and space by making a secret pact with Yog-Sothoth.

Any feedback, suggestions, or comments are welcome.

 
Danigral started hoarding Call of Cthulhu the same time as A Game of Thrones. While he’s played AGoT more competitively, he’s harbored a secret love for CoC and has played it casually and competitively for over 2 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!