Terror In Venice Review, Part 1

In part one of our Terror In Venice review for the Call of Cthulhu LCG we take a look at The Agency, Cthulhu, and Hastur factions. We are going alittle more free form with the reviews this time. The cards are in numerical order and our reviewers are in no particular order, let us know in the comments about what you think of the cards!

[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_abbess-allegria-di-biase-tiv.jpg'] Abbess Allegria Di Biase

Kamacausey - 3 out of 5
Finally a nun I can get behind! Solid character. She is aggressively costed with 4 icons and 4 skill for only 3 cost but here “loyalness” kind of makes up for that. The Agency player in me says she deserves a 4 but the card player in me says she deserves a 3. She has a lot of cool things going for herself but she requires certain cards to be in play and also sinking precious time and effort into domains to make use of her built in action. I could potentially see a deck with her and paul lemond abusing the extra domains eldrich nexus gives you. She is a card that you can make a 4 in the right deck. Overall a solid character for the faction. She will see some play.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
Toting an impressive 4 skill and 4 arcane icons with an ability to alter them to fit the situation, Abbess here looks to be quite a contender. That being said, its’ all downhill from there. Draining a domain with at least one resource for her icon shift ability is pretty taxing and having a Loyal cost of 3 for a unique card makes her harder to play. The ability to gain Fast, Willpower and an inability to be to wounded from card effects is nice and turns her into a lightweight juggernaut, but requires a conspiracy card in play (which probably won’t be too hard, but still). However, I think she harshly falls into the category of ‘not good enough.’ A bit too much effort to play and maintain her power. She almost all but demands complete attention from your resources to remain viable sucking up your ability to utilize other cards. She’s is the type of character that is either you main focus or better left on the sidelines.

Danigral - 3 out of 5
This fills the arcane black hole for Agency a bit, but at the cost of running mono-faction. Her buff from Conspiracies is a great one, so I can see some people trying to make her work, but it will probably be limited to the neutral conspiracies since she won’t be much help with Agency’s own conspiracies. It’s also unfortunate her loyal keyword will make it difficult (if not impossible) to put her in a deck that uses Silver Twilight’s conspiracy. Alternatively, you could try to have just a main domain and go dual faction, just using your other domains for 1-cost events and her ability, but then you’re losing a lot of the better Agency cards.

jhaelen - 4 out of 5
Being loyal at cost 3 means she's not of interest unless Agency is your deck's only or at least main faction. But if you are interested in playing Agency, then this is exactly the kind of character that you'll want to include in your deck. She's aggressively costed with skill 4 and a whopping 4 arcane icons (a new record!), so even if there's no Conspiracy in play, she's quite good. If there is a Conspiracy, she's basically only vulnerable to destruction and bouncing. The ability to change her icons is just the icing on the cake.

dboeren - 3 out of 5
She has the potential to be very good if there is a Conspiracy in play but otherwise her ability takes a domain - flexible but expensive. Loyal is also an issue at her cost. Still, she has 4 icons and 4 skill which is pretty good for her cost and she gives you a useful way to use any spare domains you might have. Agency seldom has many of these though

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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_pious-carabiniere-tiv.jpg'] Pious Carabiniere

Kamacausey - 4 out of 5
Another solid 3 costed character. The only problem is Agency already has plenty solid 3 costed characters. He does have an ability that could be relevant though with all of the new good conspiracies just released. He gets bonus points for being government and the fact that he’s not unique is a very good thing. I could see slipping him into a government themed deck with special agent clarkston to help make him cheaper. At 2 cost this guy is a bargain!

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
With a very solid stat block (good combination of icons and skill for the cost) and a complimentary Willpower makes him at the very least a solid play for 3. While his ability won’t trigger too often, each time it does you’ll be better off. Being a non-unique character can also let you stack(each card still triggers individually) his ability with other copies or other cards copying his effect. Allowing you to fill your hand with handpicked event cards. May or may not the best strategy to build around, but like I said, at worst he is great guy to have during story struggles with a decent perk if it happens to trigger

Danigral - 3 out of 5
Agency has no lack of characters in the 3-cost slot with his same stats. His upside is he’s non-unique and he can give you a card. His downside follows the trend of Agency’s weakness, which is no arcane and too much redundancy of combat/investigation. Still he’s solid overall.

jhaelen - 3 out of 5
He competes with Agency favorites like Special Agent Clarkston and Marshall Greene, so you'll probably only put him in your deck if you intend to play Conspiracies (or expect your opponent to play them). Searching the entire deck for an event is quite powerful, though, so it might be worth it. Combine with Amaranth to get a better chance to get some use out of him.

dboeren - 4 out of 5
He’s a solid character even without his ability, and being able to hand-pick the exact event you want even just 1-2 times per game is money - it’s not even limited to Agency events. No drawbacks, and the synergistic Government trait is a bonus. I’d generally only take him if I had my own Conspiracies but as long as you do he’s a shoe-in.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_church-operative-tiv.jpg'] Church Operative

Kamacausey - 2 out of 5
Meh. He has an ability that is turned on by Day and even if it’s turned on it is still sometimes useless.I like the addition of the arcane icon but the absence of the combat icon is unfortunate. If only he had a combat icon too… Might be a little too much but he would then be in the 4 or 5 category instead of the 2 category.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
While you can’t usually ask for a whole lot from 2 cost characters, Church Operative will likely only find himself a home in dedicated ‘Day’ decks. The Operative here can put a serious drain on some factions which can get him to draw of lot of attention from more powerful cards. However, his ability can not only be easily turned off, but can serve as double edged sword accelerating factions like Yog-Sothoth that really don’t mind having cards enter the discard pile as your opponent has a choice of which card to discard. Though all of this is still rather moot if the effect would happen to remove the Church Operative from play or drive him insane. Which, odds are… that’s exactly what will happen. So really, the sad truth is that the common scenario is that he’ll, at best, serve as a distraction.

Danigral - 2 out of 5
I really just don’t see this replacing any of the 2-cost characters that Agency already has. He has no trait synergy, unless you want to play an Independent heavy deck with 607 Walter Street. His ability is just a minor annoyance. As Tom said, it’s most likely he’ll just get turned off or taken out.

jhaelen - 2 out of 5
Like the Abbess he adds some desired icons to the Agency faction. He's not otherwise remarkable unless it is Day. Then he gets a good defensive ability that becomes even better if you have several copies of him in play, but is only useful for Agency characters. Considering the current meta, the ability might also backfire, though, helping your opponent to get a card of his choosing into his discard pile. I think, right now, I'd rather play Government Exorcist.

dboeren - 2 out of 5
Not bad, but needs Day to stand out from the other 2-costs he’s competing against. He also requires your opponent to play the right sort of cards to make his ability useful which is ultimately why I rate him only a 2.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_san-marco-basilica-tiv.jpg'] San Marco Basilica

Kamacausey - 5 out of 5
WOW! Now this is a card that instantly made me excited when I saw it! This is exactly what the Agency needed. Before, Agency had such a hard time with not really being a factor during an opponent’s turn since almost none of their characters have arcane icons to help ready them for defense. It being able to ready one guy for free is awesome and the fact that you can keep doing it for every 1 resource you spend is just gravy. Oh, did I happen to mention that it is impossible to get rid of unless someone is playing Night cards? Yes please! This card will easily fit into EVERY Agency deck.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
What a nifty little card. Difficult to remove and gives you at least one ‘free’ ready effect a turn… I like it. While it doesn’t gain you much ground field presence wise; the ability to ready a character just before you need to commit it to a story is a great way to mess with your opponent’s plans (actually, this looks to be a rather useful ability in the upcoming metagame). With the additional perk of granting Willpower turns San Marco Basilica into quite an attractive utility support card. Especially for heavy Agency decks, as they typically lack ready effects and arcane icons.

Danigral - 4 out of 5
It’s more resilient than most supports, unless more day/night cards become popular, which I expect them to. It’s very good in a pinch to have a defender since Agency is weak on arcane, so this can be very handy. Giving willpower is often unnecessary in Agency, but a bonus. The cost can be problematic since it telegraphs its use, so if you want to use any events, you may have to hold 2 domains free.

jhaelen - 5 out of 5
So, here's our first immune Day card! I think this is one of the most exciting additions of this expansion. Even if you just want to deny your opponent the bonuses granted by Day/Night, you'll have to include some of these cards in your own deck. And this card combines the best effects of something you'd rather expect in Syndicate (readying) and Miskatonic (granting Willpower). You can also easily use it several times each turn by either paying or exhausting the card, so this is a big boon to all of the human factions.

dboeren -5 out of 5
This card is pure gold. Agency benefits from Day pretty easily and the card is also protected from support destruction. A free ready+Willpower is amazing, and you can buy more with any spare domains too. Going into every Agency Day deck I make starting now, and into most Agency decks period.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_the-iron-cross-tiv.jpg'] The Iron Cross

Kamacausey - 1 out of 5
With attachments being so vulnerable an attachment is going to have to be amazing for me to want to include it in a deck and this just isn’t. Not even close. I see this sitting in my binders never to be seen again…

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
The Iron Cross can be a trap. Trying to block opponent’s effects can be difficult due to the window action windows work. Still, another way to utilize The Iron Cross is combo it with your own effects, like having it and a character card survive your own Dimensional Rift trigger (which is an effect that would normally destroy all character and support cards). Find good combos like that it and you could have a worthwhile combo piece in your deck. Without one though, The Iron Cross will simply be another ‘only if’ left on the sidelines

Danigral - 1 out of 5
This is a 2-cost attachment which is already a strike against it. While the effect is pretty good, it only gives immunity for a single phase, making it and the character vulnerable at almost every other point of the game. Using it with The Plague Stone can be useful, but who knows if you’ll even have it in play when you want/need it.

jhaelen - 3 out of 5
Making a character (and itself!) immune to triggered effects at Disrupt speed is nothing to sneeze at. It's two major limitations are that it only works on a single Agency character and that it will only work up to four times. Still, if you've built your deck around a single character you'd like to protect, e.g. James Logan, here's your answer. I suspect wiping the board will happen more often in the future, so this might give you a much-needed edge.

dboeren - 2 out of 5
What I don’t like about this card is that you need to predict ahead of time when you spend its limited charges. Plus it’s only good on Agency characters, plus it’s only to the end of the phase and not the turn. It’s potentially a good card in the right situation, but that situation has been trimmed down a little more than I’d prefer so I’m not a big fan of this one. Arguably a 3 in decks that have a cornerstone character that you need to keep alive.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_hand-of-fate-tiv.jpg'] Hand of Fate

Kamacausey - 1 out of 5
The fact that you have to put your characters that die back on top of your deck instead of in your hand is just bad. It clogs your deck and your draws up. This card costs 2 and doesn’t really net you anything. Even in a deck where you want to get back your guy(s) I just don’t see this as the go to card to get your character(s) back. Like the iron cross, it will just set in my binder never to be played or seen again.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
Meh. Keeping/Reusing some of your best cards can be an attractive options at times, but the leaving a 2 resource domain open and have to draw the cards back… It’s a lot of work for very little benefit. On the flip side, being able to save you cards from your own effects could be a real plan. Odds are Hand of Fate won’t be your cup of tea, but it’s not without it’s niche uses.

Danigral - 2 out of 5
This card is way too situational, and I’d just end up taking it out for better cards. Sure it can be helpful for something like a Logan deck to be able to reliably get Logan back, but I think it would end up being more of a detriment in mass resets if you are putting 4+ characters, some of which are chud, back on top of your deck to draw again over 2+ turns.

jhaelen - 2 out of 5
I'm not sure how good this really is. You are kind of saving your characters, but putting them back on top of your deck means you won't draw anything new and you have to pay for playing them again. Both things can also work in your favour, though, e.g. if the characters have effects triggering when played. However, you must keep one of your domains undrained for it, too, so the best use I can see for it is to get back up to speed quickly after you are wiping the board.

dboeren - 2 out of 5
Good for saving your important guy, if you have a domain ready - and I think that’s where it drops from a 3 to a 2. Too reactionary for me and too much risk that I might not have the domain when I need it. If it was a 0-cost I’d bump it up. However, it could be quite good in a deck where you plan to blow everyone away with a reset card and save your own guys.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_don-lagorio-tiv.jpg'] Don Lagorio

Kamacausey - 4 out of 5
I like this guy. Great stats. Great icons. Very useful ability. He’s the Cthulhu faction handy man cause he will be digging into that toolbox to get whatever he needs for the current situation. If your opponent is playing playing with the Cthulhu faction and you see a conspiracy you better expect this guy because it’s only a matter of time till he pops up...

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
Decent stat block (combination of icons and skill for the cost) with a reusable way to search for some of good Cthulhu event cards? Yes please. Even with the limit of Fated 3, Mr. Lagorio can quickly generate some good card advantage by sending him to a Conspiracy card. The good kind of card advantage to boot as you get to choose which events you grab thus allowing you to easily adapt to the current board position possibly gaining you even more card advantage.

Danigral - 4 out of 5
See my spoiler article for an in-depth look at Don Lagorio. He’s pretty decent all around with good skill and icons. He also provides great quality card advantage, allowing you to toolbox single situational events in your deck and pull them depending on the board state, which actually makes “situational” events less of a bad connotation.

jhaelen - 3 out of 5
After Castro the second Fated character for the Cthulhu faction. Similar to Agency's Carabiniere he allows you to search your deck for an event assuming there's a Conspiracy around. There are two differences: 1) It must be a Cthulhu event, but that's hardly a disadvantage, since Cthulhu has plenty of awesome events, and 2) it can be used after committing a character to a Conspiracy which makes it easier to use it several times, but it's also limited to 3 uses.

dboeren - 4 out of 5
He stands well on his icons and skill and has a very useful ability enabling you to build a more toolboxy set of events and grab exactly what you need and Cthulhu has some really good events to use him with, you can build several traps into your deck and select them at will.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_poleman-tiv.jpg'] Poleman

Kamacausey - 2 out of 5
The first 1 costed deep one. Great skill but the lack of any icons hurts. Bad. Yes, he can get icons if it’s night, but having to rely on another game effect for him to be good just isn’t worth the investment. I love the artwork though! He is nice for a Deep One themed deck since you will have other cards like shadowed reef to help make him better. Also, him and cult of bathos on the first turn will make all of your other deep ones cheaper from there on out. Overall though he is just meh. No one will ever play with him unless they are playing mono Cthulhu Deep Ones. Even then he will not make the cut for some people.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
While not an imposing character by any means, there can be an advantage to having 3 skill on a 1 cost character. Though, if it happens to be night, this gondolier can transform into a formidable beater in a pinch. Eh, the Cthulhu faction has never really had the cream of the crop when it came to low cost characters and this Deep One doesn’t break that mold either. Not un-useable, but won’t be the lynchpin of one’s strategy either.

Danigral - 2 out of 5
A welcome addition to thematic deep-one decks simply for his price-point, but otherwise not a great character. Even one printed icon with an option to buff would be better than nothing.

jhaelen - 1 out of 5
Okay, getting a 3 skill character for a cost of 1 seems good. But not having any icons without paying an additional 2 each time while it's also Night? Meh. At least it's a Deep One, so there's plenty of synergies you can benefit from. Then again, there's already so many good Deep Ones, don't think this one will make the cut, even if it's the first with a cost of only 1.

dboeren - 2 out of 5
He’s a cheap Deep One which can help pump up your themed decks. He’s got good skill for his cost too. But, I don’t expect to use his ability very often or use him outside of specific Deep One decks.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_san-giorgio-in-alga-tiv.jpg'] San Giorgio in Alga

Kamacausey - 3 out of 5
Very cool card. I really like being able to see 4 cards every turn instead of 2. It will be good for any combo deck or any deck that is trying to find a particular card. Yes, your opponent gets to see them too but so what!?! Chances are if you are trying to pull off a combo or are looking for a particular card your opponent will know what you are up to anyways. I currently have this in my Deep Ones deck to help me get to my hydra/temple of r’lyeh combo asap. The only reason I didn’t rate this card any higher is because by itself it doesn’t do a whole lot to the board state. I suppose since it becomes Night when this card comes out that it could destroy a Day card, but you are still kind of setting yourself back the turn you play it because you aren’t putting a character in play to go to stories. The positive far outweighs the negative here though in my opinion.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
Hard to remove draw filter for 2. Combo with Syndicate’s ‘draw from the bottom of the deck’ if you’re paranoid about seeing 2 needed cards at the same time. Otherwise, a nice perk if you can manage to plop San Giorgio in Alaga into play. Most of the time however, I question its’ worthiness of a slot in the deck. It’s a nice card to play if you’ve got nothing better to do, but draw comes easy in Call of Cthulhu (2 cards a turn is the average minimum) so while the filter becomes more valuable, it becomes less needed for most strategies.

Danigral - 3 out of 5
Filtering can be very, very helpful if you don’t have a ton of draw (which Cthulhu doesn’t) just so you can see more cards and get one you need. I don’t think it’s bad by any means, but it will likely not make the cut for your supports.

jhaelen - 3 out of 5
And here we have our first immune Night card! It's ability doesn't wow me as much as Agency's Basilica, though. Sure, filtering your deck is nice, but since you must reveal the cards, you're losing the potential to surprise your opponent. And since it's a passive effect, you also don't get any choice whether to use the filtering or not. I suppose I'd have to playtest this to see if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

dboeren - 3 out of 5
I like filtering effects and this one comes with a free Night too and is hard to destroy. You’ll have very good odds of pulling cards you’ll like and frankly with Cthulhu I usually don’t bank on a lot of trickiness to begin with so the reveal doesn’t bother me all that much. So, not a 4, but still a 3 for me.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_flooded-vault-tiv.jpg'] Flooded Vault

Kamacausey - 5 out of 5
This card is one of the top 10 cards in this set. Period. This card alone can make silly things happen. The toolbox aspect that this card provides is sensational. Anytime a card lets you search your deck for another card it is usually very powerful. This card is no exception. I expect to see a lot more of this card in the near future.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
The Flooded Vault is strong enough that it is capable of becoming its own archetype. If your deck, at all, plans to utilize any of the powerful non-location support cards such as Snow Graves or Khopesh of the Abyss… you’ll find Flooded Vault to be an excellent addition to your deck. While not as strong as some other search cards in that you have to pay to play for the card you were searching for; don’t let that dissuade you from thinking that this is an excellent card for any deck that wishes to abuse or tool box some of the game’s top non-location support cards.

Danigral - 3 out of 5
I’m really not sure how I feel about this card. Yes, it is very good for a deck built around a specific support, or allow you to have “event-like” speed to any support in any phase outside of operations. However, the cost just seems too high, both in terms of actual and opportunity cost. Unfortunately, since you have to pay the printed cost to put it into play, you still have to follow all normal play restrictions like steadfast, loyal, and resource-matching, so you aren’t able to splash off-faction supports. It would have been very cool if you could, though.

jhaelen - 4 out of 5
Okay, this will basically add up to three additional copies of any other (non-Location) support card to your deck. There's both an additional cost and a risk attached to it, though: you have to play it first, exhausting a domain to pay 1, and leaving it open to destruction effects while it's in play (especially if you don't sac it right away). I think this will mostly see use to put Relics into play; and for that it could be well worth it...

dboeren - 4 out of 5
Great card, and like Don Lagorio it enables more toolboxy decks with lots of 1-ofs or just insanely reliable fetching of a support card that you built your deck around and it’s not limited to Cthulhu faction so feel free to team up with anyone you like. It isn’t even unique so you can have several out at once if you want.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_swimming-in-the-deep-tiv.jpg'] Swimming in the Deep

Kamacausey - 2 out of 5
OMG! That artwork! I freaking love it! Too bad it’s on a mediocre piece of cardboard. I can see possible uses for this card and the surprise factor that it can produce is nice but overall I just think there are better options out there for Cthulhu if you are trying to kill someone. I could see this in a deck that uses the temple of r’lyeh so you can get double use out of the character but that is about the only time that I would play this card. That being said, I will put this card in my Deep One deck because I have the temple in there and the card has a freaking Deep One swimming in the picture! And that artwork! This is one of those cards that you just want to play because it looks so awesome!

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
This horrifyingly beautiful card illustrated by Scott Purdy was featured on most of the prizes at Gencon 2013 and its’ even more fortunate that it is attached to a decent card. While sacrificing on its own is a rough cost for a surprise struggler at a story, it can be worth it. Also, should mention as well (espeically since I too keep forgetting this) that due to the way action windows work, you won’t be able to synergize with the cards off of the sacrifice part of the effect. However, you can combo Swimming in the Deep with cards that can utilize your doomed friend such as sacrificing it to the Temple of R’lyeh before the end of the phase.

Danigral - 2 out of 5
This is basically the same as “ready any character” and at that price, it can be comparable to other factions similar effects, however this comes with the added cost of losing that character, which makes it a little too steep a price for me. It can still be useful, though.

jhaelen - 2 out of 5
Committing an additional character as a surprise is always nice. Having to sacrifice that character afterwards is a steep price, though. Or at least it would be if this wasn't in the Cthulhu faction. E.g. choosing a Serpent or Deep One can be fine if you have Uroborus or Hydra, respectively.

dboeren - 3 out of 5
A solid card. You’re going to lose a guy, but your opponent will also probably be losing one, maybe more. I mean, you wouldn’t play it if he wasn’t - right? Combo up with Cyclopean Stone and let the story surprises roll.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_solar-eclipse-tiv.jpg'] Solar Eclipse

Kamacausey - 2 out of 5
Meh. I see this card in the same vein as swimming in the deep. It has potential uses but usually you are just going to play something more effective in its card slot. Although, I could see running a single copy if you are running don lagoria shenanigans.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
Cthulhu is not unknown for its ability flood the field (especially with cards like Sibilant Cry), and giving all of your Cthulhu dudes a surprise boost is quick way to win some terror and combat struggles. However, its only temporary which is usually enough to keep it out of peoples’ decks. That being said, it is a surprise, a factor often underestimated and has the perk of being a Night card which can really ruin some Day strategies which has the potential to be popular thanks to this very set.

Danigral - 3 out of 5
I think this card is exactly what is needed to shore up the terror deficiency in mono-Cthulhu decks, especially if the meta shifts heavily toward Day. I don’t think it will see much play otherwise, but giving multiple icons in a critical challenge can be very good to swing stories unexpectedly.

jhaelen - 2 out of 5
A more 'traditional' Night card in the vein of Midnight Rendezvous. This one doesn't have a lasting effect, though. It also only helps Cthulhu characters, making it less generally useful.

dboeren - 2 out of 5
Probably worth a 3 if your opponent runs a Day deck, but it’s just not reliable enough to make that assumption. It also works best in mono decks which is another limitation. A decent surprise, and very good against a Basilica, but hard to choose this over other cards. It does make a good one-off with Don Lagorio though just in case you DO meet that Day deck.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_doctor-lomboso-tiv.jpg'] Doctor Lomboso

Kamacausey - 3 out of 5
Solid stats. Solid skill. Useful ability. Only problem is it can’t be turned off so he could bite you in the butt. However the risk is still worth it. Dr. Lomboso is a character you want to build your deck around. I see him working well with all the crazies.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
This is one scary guy. On one hand he has the ability to lock out an opponent, and on the other hand he has the ability to lock you out as well forcing players make the most out of what they’ve seen already. On top of that, he has a decent stat block as well. Dr. Lomboso is not a card that is to be used lightly and not without careful consideration, but under the right circumstances he could be a game winner.

Danigral - 3 out of 5
He has very cool sub-types which may be a large consideration for thematic players, such as pairing him with Moonbound Byakhee or Station Eismitte. His forced response is dangerous, but can be very useful to get back repeated cancels with lunatics, or in a more aggressive terror deck to really slow down your opponent.

jhaelen - 3 out of 5
He has a nice spread of icons that is rare for the Hastur faction, but seems to be handicapped by a weird Forced Response. One use might be as a counter against Yog cards that your opponent would like to keep in her discard pile. But it most other cases he will do more harm than good when an opponent's character is made insane. In a Lunatics deck, though, he might offer an excellent way to recur events or important cards destroyed by your opponent.

dboeren - 4 of 5
Wow, this guy is a two-edged sword but potentially has a strong influence on the game. He obviously points towards partners like Dangerous Inmate, Diva, etc… and you may want to run more cheap Events or sacrifice effects to capitalize on his ability. If you’re not planning to embrace him fully - don’t take him. He will burn you badly if you think of his “drawback” as being something you need to work around.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_cunning-mascheraro-tiv.jpg'] Cunning Mascheraro

Kamacausey - 1 out of 5
He. Is. So. Bad. This guy is so bad that I am currently mad at myself for even reviewing him. Seriously though, I don’t understand the 0 skill. He would still be bad with 1 skill. Maybe with 1 skill he would see some play but at 0 skill he will be doomed to the binders, never to be seen again. His ability isn’t anything special and hastur has so many better ways to make people go insane. This guy=design fail.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
Free applied terror icons without actually sending him anywhere is a quick way to annoy players weak to terror icons. However, since his icons only travel to conspiracies, Cunning Mascheraro doesn’t threaten to see much play in the competitive arenas. Though, depending on how the metagame shapes up, at best he could serve as tech against a few strategies that threaten to become popular.

Danigral - 1 out of 5
Did the designers forget that each player can only have one conspiracy in play at a time? I’d rather have a good character that can go to stories AND conspiracies if I want.

jhaelen - 1 out of 5
Hmm. I'm not impressed. Even at cost 1, zero skill and a single Terror icon isn't much. His Conspiracy-dependent ability also doesn't seem to do much, unless you start adding bonus icons to him with events or attachments. But would I really want to boost him in preference of other characters? I don't think so.

dboeren - 1 out of 5
The first card here that I really don’t see much reason to use. Each player is limited to only one Conspiracy at a time and honestly it’s rare to see both players with one at the same time. Very conditional and has the dreaded zero skill “curse”. Until we see an Event that turns all stories into Conspiracies until the end of the phase he’s going to sit in the box.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_san-servolo-tiv.jpg'] San Servolo

Kamacausey - 3 out of 5
Hastur’s Night card. Not bad. Not overly impressive either. This is a card that will be good only in certain archetypes, which is not a bad thing. Any Hastur deck that is trying to make everyone go insane is going to want to have this in their deck.

Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
I hear they have crazy parties at San Servolo. If you can make characters vulnerable to going insane(ie. via The Marked), San Servolo will do an excellent job of helping Hastur control the game. Interestingly enough, it can also serve as a tech card against decks that utilize effects from Lunatic characters.

Danigral - 3 out of 5
In lunatic decks (with lunatics that drive opponent’s characters insane) this card will be very annoying since you’re guaranteed to get the effect off every turn, but mostly it will tend to be just a domain drain effect. Which isn’t bad in general if your opponent only gets 2 actions a round instead of 3.

jhaelen - 3 out of 5
And now to Hastur's version of an immune Night card: Unsurprisingly, this time we get an insanity-related effect. So, once per turn you can turn an additional character insane - or exhaust an opponent's domain. Not bad, but also not particularly exciting.

dboeren - 3 out of 5
I predict this will be a keystone card in Hastur insanity decks. I wish the faction could take better advantage of Night, but I’m sure this is coming in the Hastur box. You get extra mileage out of ALL your insanity effects plus you can punish your opponents use of Lunatics even if that’s only going to matter once in a while. It’s a card that adds power to a fun deck archetype, what’s wrong with that?
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_return-to-carcosa-tiv.jpg'] Return to Carcosa

Kamacausey - 1 out of 5
I don’t understand why this card is loyal? It’s not even any good. The stipulations are too strict. Pushed into the beyond is leaps and bounds better than this card and its not even loyal. Maybe in a deck that is solely trying to focus on making people go crazy could I see this MAYBE being played, but I doubt it.


Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
One of the few things Hastur has to an actual, reliable removal card. Return to Carcosa isn’t anything special. The loyal hurts, but not much. It’s simply a basic card that will do well decks focused on insanity or to serve as a tech card against decks that abuse insanity. Odds are you can find better removal effects though.

Danigral - 2 out of 5
This might be okay in a mono-Hastur deck, which seems to be what the card is pushing you to, since it’s loyal and going out-of-faction allows you to get better removal. However, this can be very helpful to let your insanity and terror effects make a difference beyond one turn, especially if you are trying to keep your opponent’s key character off the board. Still I don’t think it will make the cut outside mono-Hastur.

jhaelen - 1 out of 5
A very conditional, limited version of Pushed Into the Beyond for the Hastur faction. I'm not sure
why this needed to be Loyal. Sure, it could be cheaper than the Yog event, but first you'd have to make that expensive target insane, which typically gets harder to achieve, the higher the cost of the character. I cannot see myself using this.

dboeren - 1 out of 5
Meh. The good ones usually don’t go insane to begin with, it’s a bit expensive and Loyal on top of being situational. I can do better than this with so many other cards.
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_at-night-they-roam-tiv.jpg'] At Night they Roam

Kamacausey - 3 out of 5
What a flavorful card! The artwork is pretty sweet too. I see this card taking a little bit of work to setup but once everything is put into place it could really swing the game in your favor. It’s also pretty much only going to be played out of a lunatic deck or a deck with some lunatics in it but I’m pretty sure that was the intention.


Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
Being in command of crazy people has never been so well done. At Night They Roam offers you a chance to reuse one of your own insane characters or reach across the table and send one of your opponent’s formally insane characters to a story. It’s a win/win really. Wait? It gets better? At Night, At Night They Roam, turns into a game sweeping ability to take control of, ready, and commit all insane characters from all players for a phase. It’s basically Hastur’s Lunatics’ ’dream’ card.

Danigral - 4 out of 5
Although this card is best in a particular deck (probably a lunatic deck), the effect is certainly powerful, and a good closer. If you use it on your own lunatics, it allows you to get double use out of them for a turn to destroy your opponent’s board (depending on the matchup of course), and also allows you to get around potentially debilitating events like Unending Festivities. Otherwise though, it looks like a “win-more” card, since if you’re up on board position, this will allow you to kick your opponent while he’s down.

jhaelen - 3 out of 5
This works similar to Come With Us, but if it's Night it potentially becomes a lot more powerful for the same cost. It's restricted to the story phase, but since that's usually the only phase in which you'll want to take control of characters, that's not really a drawback. Since the two best cards to take control of an opponent's character are now on the restricted list, this might have its uses. I think, I have to test this in my Things in the Ground deck.

dboeren - 4 out of 5
Awesome card. First of all, it just sounds fun to play. Secondly, it works great with both Lunatic decks and decks that cause mass insanity. Leng Spider, here I come!
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[CRB='/forums/uploads/coc/med_the-unspeakable-oath-tiv.jpg'] The Unspeakable Oath

Kamacausey - 3 out of 5
Oh the Hastur faction and their tricksies! Tempo is the name of the game with this card. One would use this card to stop a big event from swinging the tempo in the other player’s favor. I can see some potential uses for this card but the fact that it goes back on top of their deck means that whatever they were trying to do to wreck you will just happen next turn. You better hope that prolonging it for a turn was worth it. If only this card said put the event on the bottom of the owners deck or at least shuffle it back into the owner’s deck, then that would be a card that would compete and likely replace power drain. As is it will probably see a little play in some aggressive hastur decks.


Tom Capor - aka Magnus Arcanis
While not a solution to your problem, The Unspeakable Oath will serve as a deterrent and a delay. Based on how easy it is to play, it can cause some serious havoc for an opponent when used at the right times. Utilize recursion cards like Alyssa Graham to trap the event on top of your opponent’s deck or force your opponent pass on using the event till a later time. Will mostly see play in aggressive decks seeking a way to buy a little time against opponent event cards.

Danigral - 4 out of 5
This is a great tempo card. It’s easier to keep a 1-domain open than a 2-domain for something like Power Drain, and less telegraphed. Depending on the event, too, it can slow down your opponent on the next turn since he has to draw it again. There’s nothing I hate more than drawing a useless card when I’d rather draw a character.

jhaelen - 3 out of 5
Interesting. A nice companion card to Performance Artist. It's also a bit like a budget version of Writhing Wall, except it only works on events. Of course the canceled event will come back to haunt you later, but then it's no longer a surprise and you likely prevented it when it counted the most. I think I like this. I'd rate it even higher, but not all decks include many events, so it could turn into lead in your hand.

dboeren - 3 out of 5
A decent card but it doesn’t permanently stop the event (on its own) and overall I think I prefer Performance Artist. However, it does still prevent the event from happening at what will probably be the worst time - the second time they draw it you’ll know it’s coming so it’s still a good card.
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