Pacta Arcana - Dark Pact

Welcome to the sixteenth 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. This week I will attempt to explore the depths of the Arcane struggle, and try to find out if there is a somewhat competitive deck with a library in it.

Shub-Niggurath and Yog-Sothoth

This pact was vaulted to stardom by Tom Capor’s 2012 Worlds deck which sought to take advantage of Shub’s resource acceleration and Yog’s control to field as many big dudes as possible. This was before The Key and the Gate was released which eclipsed many of Yog’s previous power cards. It was also before the release of which card? (..."Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?") That's right: The Festival, which designers apparently felt was the last straw for resource acceleration, as we got the FAQ which restricted a majority of those acceleration cards around the same time, and saw The Festival enter the restricted list shortly thereafter. Okay, the history lesson is over.

My deck is very different. The Key and the Gate held a lot of cards that triggered from the discard pile, and brought a new focus to the arcane struggle. No matter how you feel about discard triggers, the fact is that their relative safety from an opponent’s answers makes them easy to abuse. One of the best cards to try to abuse is Lost Oracle. When we have even just 1 in the discard, and are winning 1-2 arcane struggles each turn, this really slows your opponent’s progress in the game to a crawl. The idea to use a Library came about from this desire, as each library gives a story an additional struggle, depending on which one you use.

What do I get out of this deal?
Yog has a number of tools that take advantage of cards in the discard pile and manipulate domains. In this regard Shub is very similar, but Shub also provides excellent support destruction, as we’ve seen in previous editions of Pacta Arcana. It also allows the use of The Festival for the restricted card, which is one of the primary ways we will be getting Lost Oracle into the discard pile. Yog has Pawn Broker and Servant from Out of Time for the same thing. The Bood of Iod, in addition to being a tome that can trigger the Library of Alexandria, gives you a card and a shot at getting something good into the discard, such as another tome that you can play using Alexandria’s passive ability, or a character that you can play with Unspeakable Resurrection or Corrupted Midwife.

The Deck:

Character: (31)
3x Lost Oracle (TKatG)
1x Basil Elton (KD)
2x Corrupted Midwife (ER)
3x Pawn Broker (IT)
2x Y'Golonac (Core)
2x Grasping Chthonian (IotF)
3x Yithian Scout (TKatG)
3x Faceless Abductor (TOotST)
3x Many-angled Thing (TGS)
3x Master of the Myths (IT)
2x Servant from Out of Time (Core)
2x Constricting Elder Thing (IotF)
2x Key-seeker (CotJE)

Support: (9)
2x Library of Alexandria (WaB)
2x Book of Iod (ER)
2x The Book of Black Stones (SftSK)
3x The Festival (TkatG)

Event: (10)
3x Thunder in the East (KD)
2x Vortex of Time (TKatG)
3x Pushed into the Beyond (TbtA)
2x Unspeakable Resurrection (Core)

Thoughts on Gameplay:

• Ideally, you want to have The Festival and Lost Oracle in your starting hand. You resource Lost Oracle and play The Festival turn one to get Oracle into the discard and fetch a second copy of The Festival. From there you can quickly build up your domains.
• So the first phase is to block heavily while you start to build up your domains and get your pieces in order. You can fish with Pawn Broker a little bit, but that eats up your domains which you need for Master of the Myths, so be careful.
• Faceless Abductor, Many-Angled Thing and Pushed into the Beyond once again feature as the Yog staples. These three cards are very good at slowing your opponent down quite a bit and making sure you get your struggles through.
• Once you get Lost Oracle in your discard, you use Master of the Myths to win arcane to discard your opponent’s success tokens, and waltz your way to victory at stories.
• There are a lot of moving pieces with this deck, so you have to really concentrate on the triggers, but this deck is all about slow burn to get a lock on the board and whittle away his deck. You should always have more available characters because of your superior arcane, and it will be like your opponent is fighting a 30-foot-tall wall of molasses.

Thanks for reading, and a special thank you again to Wildefox and Midian for helping out with the article. I hope you have enjoyed their contributions as much as I did! Midian is moving on to start his own article, so keep your eyes open for that coming soon. In the meantime, join me again for next Pacta Arcana in a few weeks.

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. 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!