Pacta Arcana - Dark Waters, Damp Graves

Welcome to the eighth 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.

Last time on Pacta Arcana, we saw what desperate measures Miskatonic scholars took to pursue the dangerous artifacts of ancient subaqueous realms. To their horror, they discovered that the primal cult of Cthulhu had permeated into many cultures and societies, even sometimes creating a perverse renaissance among those artists and socialites who flirt with the occult. This week, we find that Cthulhu has slinked into the dreams of the inhabitants of Venice, where his subtle half-brother Hastur has been building his followers for centuries. In this very special edition, I will feature a premiere and exclusive spoiler from the upcoming deluxe expansion, Terror in Venice, which will soon be available!

First, let’s look at the card, and then we’ll delve into the deck.

Don Lagorio,Secret Servant, has three good icons and skill that matches his cost, which is pretty on-for-par. The terror makes him immune to insanity for the most part, and his one combat can help him fend off puny weenies.

He’s a conspirator, so that means that he will have some sort of interaction with Conspiracy cards, and lo and behold, his ability: “Response: After you commit 1 or more characters to a conspiracy, search your deck for a event card. Reveal it and then add it to your hand. Then, add a success token to Don Lagorio.”

Let’s break this down. Immediately it’s apparent that he provides card advantage, but of a very specific kind. He allows you to pull an event, but with the trade off of revealing what is typically the most powerful element of the event cardtype: its surprise factor. This turns all of your events into a sort of bluffing game, unless the event you pull doesn’t care if you’re opponent knows or not. It is also worth noting that the Don himself does not have to commit to the conspiracy, instead opting to send his minions.

The other limiting factor of the Don’s ability is that he has to be played with conspiracies, which can be good or bad. This means I should build my deck with a conspiracy, since I shouldn’t depend on my opponent to run one, and that probably I should have cards that pull conspiracies from my deck, like Ol' Lazy Eyes (CoC), The Red-Gloved Man (WitD), or Amaranth (SoK). The first conspiracy that comes to mind is Negotium Perambulans in Tenebris (DD), since it will tend to stick around longer and ensures that the Don will have a conspiracy to trigger. However, that means that we are automatically filling our restricted slot and determining a huge portion of our deck which should include less 1-2 skill characters. The next one that comes to mind is Cthulhu’s Ancient Plans (TbtA), which allows me to pack a few Ancient Ones. But this conspiracy is also a little slow to trigger since it will take at least 3 turns. The upcoming Terror in Venice expansion also adds an abundance of new conspiracies for our intrepid or insidious characters to pursue. Honestly, each of the conspiracies could offer a different direction to take our deck, whether it’s focusing on combat with Death Comes for Us All, insanity with Mass Hysteria, character control with Unending Festivities, affecting game tempo with The Mage’s Machinations, or maximizing the Day/Night mechanic with The Guardian.


I can see all of the above conspiracies as possibilities with Don Lagorio depending on which Cthulhu events are in the deck and which factions you pact with (which is exciting from a deck-building perspective). So the most logical place to start would be to look at our events first.

The best events for Cthulhu are still very popular and very much in use: Deep One Assault (Core), Sacrificial Offerings (Core), and to a lesser extent Feeding Frenzy (TC). There are some other events that are good, but are much more situational: Pulled Under (Core), Slave to the Undivided Mind (TGS), Get it Off! (Core), Touched by the Sleeper (Core), Called to the Sea (KD), Por XV 14:19 (SoK), Primal Fear (SoA), and Midnight Rendezvous (ItDoN) all have their uses, but are rarely worth running x3. We also have one more spoiled Cthulhu event from Terror in Venice:

Solar Eclipse - 2 cost Cthulhu event
“Night. Action: Destroy all Day cards. Until the end of the phase, it is Night. Until the end of the phase, all characters gain .”

Looking at all of these in the list, they are mostly for character removal or game stalling. So, I think for this deck I’ll be focusing on a strong control build, utilizing the Night mechanic to boost our characters. In that light, looking at the spoiled conspiracies, I can see some that fit into our deck. The Guardian may be interesting since you get a little card advantage when you play it and ties into the Night theme, but there aren’t really any specific Night cards I would want to pull, so that gets passed on. Most of the others really up the ante on risk-and-reward. Death Comes for All, for example, disincentivizes committing unless you have a majority of combat. It makes you think about how many characters you hold on defense, and forces you to go “all in” for the final push, or risk having all your characters wounded. Mass Hysteria is similar but works for weenie rush with lots of terror, however, if you have the advantage in terror, the reward is immediate, and it’s much less of a risk than Death Comes for All.


So, Mass Hysteria, being less risky, is the better choice. And with the focus on terror struggles, I think choosing Hastur as the pact is pretty easy.

Cthulhu and Hastur

What do I get out of this deal?
Cthulhu has always been strong on combat and middling in terror and arcane. Hastur, on the other hand, has always been strong on terror and middling in arcane. Combine the two, you have the strongest combination of story-based control, in addition to strong targeted and global control effects. Cthulhu tends to be slow in the opening turns, so Hastur’s control effects help slow the opponent down until you can get the Don out and your conspiracy at full steam.

Don Lagorio himself allows you to effectively tutor for whichever effect you may need to help push your conspiracy, and also helps to keep Night in play by tutoring the events that make it Night. Solar Eclipse is particularly powerful for enabling both Night and story surprises, especially on defense.

Key Cards:
Don Lagorio - Help with surprise board control, keeping it night, and with card advantage in general.
The Seventy Steps - Helps slow down the game until you get your conspiracy out and your characters in force.
Mass Hysteria - helps to ready your characters and force your opponent to commit in order to speed his game up, or to let you go unopposed.

Thoughts on Gameplay:
The Seventy Steps is critical to have on your first turn in order to slow down the game. If your opponent is flat-footed from the beginning it makes it easier to gain significant board presence, and forces your opponent to have to do more with less characters, or do nothing at all.

Building your domains may vary based on what you have in hand. If you get Don Lagorio turn 2, you may want to go 3-1-1 to get him out, as long as you have some options to keep him in play. It may be better to go 2-2-1 on turn 2 to drop more 2 cost characters, which this deck has plenty of. By turn 3 you should be able to have the Don out and some domains free to play events.

The Deck:

Character (29)
Don Lagorio (Terror In Venice) x3
Dreamlands Fanatic (ItDoN) x3
Somnambulant Dreamer (TWC) x3
Lurking Deep One (AoA) x3
Brood of Yig (WitD) x2
Mutant Spawn (CoC) x1
Ol' Lazy Eyes (CoC) x3
Moonbound Byakhee (TGS) x2
Fledgling Byakhee (TC) x3
Performance Artist (Core) x3
Deranged Diva (WoP) x3

Support (8)
The Seventy Steps (IMoD) x3
Stygian Eye (IT) x2
The Setting Sun (TH) x3

Event (11)
Deep One Assault (Core) x3
Pulled Under (Core) x2
Solar Eclipse (Terror In Venice) x2
Misguided Dreams (TWC) x2
Midnight Rendezvous (ItDoN) x1
Feeding Frenzy (TC) x1

Conspiracy (3)
Mass Hysteria (Terror In Venice) x3


A few notes on the deck:

• Obviously, a deck built around Day will give this deck trouble, but you should be able to bounce back quickly as long as you have the Don on the board. The deck has 6 Night cards, which should allow you to draw at least one, and to combat Day cards (fortunately Agency has the most dedicated Day cards, and it may only pack 4-5 of those, and it doesn’t have tutors for Day cards either.)
• Take advantage of an opportunity to strike. If you have the advantage in terror and combat, commit to Mass Hysteria only and pull Misguided Dreams, forcing your opponent to have to commit all his characters to defend. This can swing the board heavily in your favor.
• Fun tricks include playing an event to ready Lurking Deep One, the most efficient Deep One if it’s Night (even if it’s not yet night, if you pull Solar Eclipse, the timing allows you to trigger it); chump blocking when your opponent commits a lot of characters and pulling Feeding Frenzy (even with only one in the deck, your opponent will always second guess in the future); giving Don Lagorio a terror icon with Moonbound Byakhee, which also enables him to play Pulled Under.
• All the fun tricks only work if Don Lagorio is actually on the board, and the problem is that he is rather weak to wounding. It may be worth running something like Guardian Beast (TSS) to give him invulnerability. He can also be sacrificed through effects, so always make sure you have some chud on the board to sacrifice in his stead.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this little spoiler of what’s awaiting us with the new expansion! I sincerely hope that it’s out in time for Gencon. I will be there, so if you’re around, we can crack into it together and bask in its brokenness. Join me next time for another edition of Pacta Arcana.

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 was seduced by the innovative mechanics and engaging gameplay CoC offers. And he wants to convert you. Cthulhu Fhtagn!