Deckbuilder Diary: Cthulhu/Hastur, Worlds 2006 Winner
If Greg's winning deck from last year was "Shock and Awe", then the appropriate name for this deck is probably "Destroy and Deny". Unlike most decks I make, which focus around a general theme or combo, this deck was essentially combining the best that both factions had to offer, destruction and cancellation.
So with the simple edict of picking the best cards I could, I went into the deckbuilder program and came up with something that looked like this:
Characters (24)
4x UT C61 Ravager from the Deep
4x AP M4 Deep One Rising
2x EE R123 •Victoria Glasser, The Society Hostess
4x MN U60 Ocean Crawlers
4x MN U78 Demon Lover
2x FC R56 •Yig, Father of Snakes
4x FC C78 Pulp Writer
Events (16)
4x AE R104 Deep One Assault
4x AE U139 Power Drain
4x UT U66 Sacrificial Offerings
4x EP M43 Court of Yhtill
Support (10)
3x UT U69 Forgotten Isle
3x EE R119 St Toad's Church
4x FC R88 One-Way Ticket
Total 50
Like many of my decks, I start off with a nice mix of characters, including some 1 and 2 drops, the events that I really want, and then rounding it out with whatever support stuff fits into 50 cards.
Play Testing
I took this along to the PA regional but ended up playing the Artifact deck instead, which was a total mistake. Afterward, I got out this deck and played some fun games and realized there was some real power here, and with this faction combination in general.
The first thing I did was sub out the Demon Lovers (who were useless in almost any match-up) for more cancellation in the form of Wrack (FR C84). This worked out well because I still had the same cost curve and faction balance, just fewer characters. But since she was a useless character in this deck (either not being able to block, or being used as Sac offering bait) I decided it was no big deal.
I play tested it some more, pitting it against the best of the tier 1 decks I could construct. Ultimately, I decided that while the Court of Yhtill was very powerful, it would sometimes change my resourcing decisions in ways I wasn't happy with. And when I didn't need cancellation, I had too many worthless cards.
The other thing I realized was that the Ocean Crawlers suffered from the same affliction that Demon Lover did. They just weren't good enough to play. I was either resourcing them, or using them as Sac Offering fodder. I didn't like playing them on my first turn because I would rather keep the domain open for a Sac Offering or Deep One Assault. And after the first turn, I should be playing better creatures than that anyway.
However, I felt I was getting dangerously low on characters, so I needed to replace them with something that could actually do the job they were meant for, which was essentially block characters and stall the game until I could get something better. Enter Bestial Shoggoth (FC C58). I learned first hand from one of my local players how effective this guy could be at shutting you out of stories. Especially when you're low on characters on the board, which my Cthulhu destruction should be doing for me.
So I put the Shoggoth in place of the Crawlers, and brought in Gregs (FC R128) because you'd be silly not to with all the destruction I'm running. That and the fact that it's an amazing card which always helps you out in one way or another. I had acquired a third copy of Yig, which also went directly into the deck in place of a Forgotten Isle, and then added a couple copies of Mysterious Mentor at the last minute as a way to slow down weenie rush.
The Final DecklistCharacters (27)
4x UT C61 Ravager from the Deep
4x AP M4 Deep One Rising
2x FR R76 Mysterious Mentor
2x EE R123 •Victoria Glasser, The Society Hostess
3x FC R56 •Yig, Father of Snakes
4x FC C58 Bestial Shoggoth
4x FC C78 Pulp Writer
4x FC R128 Assistant to Dr. West
Events (16)
4x AE R104 Deep One Assault
4x AE U139 Power Drain
4x UT U66 Sacrificial Offerings
4x FR C84 Wrack
Support (9)
2x UT U69 Forgotten Isle
3x EE R119 St Toad's Church
4x FC R88 One-Way Ticket
Total 52
The strategy of the deck in concept is quite simple. Use your destruction and cancellation effects to the best possible use in the early game, until your larger creatures can hit the board and take over the game. By doing this, you really slow your opponent down and force them to play at your pace.
In practice, however, it takes a while until you figure out exactly how best to utilize your cards. In resourcing, it's optimal to have Cthulhu/Hastur/Cthulhu on your domains, although 2 Hastur and 1 Cthulhu will also work. Either way, on your first turn you should have 1 Cthulhu, 1 Hastur, and 1 domain with both. If you draw only one Hastur card in your opening hand, you MUST lay it down as a resource. You cannot afford to be stuck using up your big domain on a One-Way Ticket.
I generally only play One-Way Ticket on my first turn and save the other two domains for reaction to what my opponent does on their turn. If you play characters, then your Sacrificial Offering hurts your temp as well. The only exception to this is a particularly bad hand in which you don't have Sac Offering, and so then if I drew the ticket I'll play a Shoggoth in hopes of slowing things down enough.
On my second turn, I usually sacrifice my ability to play cancellation in favor of laying a third resource on my big domain in order to play one of my many 4-cost creatures, preferably the Ravager or Yig, both of whom stop my opponent in their tracks. Then on the following turn, I'll lay down a resource on a different domain, opening up the possible cancellation again.
I will generally play the rest of the game at 1-2-3 or 1-2-4, using one domain for Sac Offering, DOA, or character powers, one for cancellation (or the threat of cancellation) or any of the previous if cancellation is not needed. The final domain is usually reserved for a character each turn.
The Assistants generally don't pull back your own characters, unless you've lost one of the Ravagers. Hold onto them until you destroy something really worthwhile of your opponent's and then take that. I always enjoy seeing a Ghoul Khanum hit the table for exactly that reason.
At WorldsIn competition, Victoria and the Mentor didn't help me nearly as much as I had hoped, but I'd probably hold onto them, because really good rush is a weakness of this deck, as it just can't cope with a LOT of characters all at once.
The other change I would make is removing St. Toad's Church in favor of more Forgotten Isles. The Isles were incredibly valuable to me in my games, especially against Cthulhu, but the Church never even saw play. I don't think I'd put another Yig in because three was just right, but I'd love to be able to work the Court of Yhtill back in.
So that's the deck. It was a lot of fun to play, but it was also nerve-racking, and very complicated. It's definitely a "thinking deck" and it makes for rather long games. If you like those decks, like I do, then try it out.
- Chris "cannon" Long