Bell, Book & Comic , of Dayton, Ohio, has been running a very successful Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game league and we have been running a three-part series of guest articles written from the different perspectives of those involved for the benefit of stores and players who are running leagues at their store or who are interested in getting one started.

If you are a retailer or tournament organizer new to Organized Play, or if your store is looking for ideas to spice up your existing OP, check out what's going on a Bell, Book & Comic and hopefully get some ideas for the OP in your area. For more background on how to get an LCG league started at your store, please check out this article: " Re-Organizing Play ".

Our presenters for this series of articles. L-R: Peter Bell, Matt Kohls (wearing his custom Champion T-Shirt, designed by Greg Barker), and Jeff Secrest.

For a retailer's perspective on leagues, we heard from Peter Bell . For a Servitor's perspective, we heard from Jeff Secrest .

Our third and final article looks at Call of Cthulhu league play from a player's perspective. The particular player is Bell, Book & Comic's resident Cthulhu Champion and former Universal Fighting System Worlds Champion, Matt Kohls. Take it away, Matt!

Hi, my name is Matt Kohls, and I've been an avid CCG player for the past 10 years or so. I have played dozens of different CCGs, most recently FFG's Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game (LCG). Over the past few months, we have experienced a great deal of success with this game at my local store, so I just wanted to talk a bit about this new LCG format and the league structure.

Playing multiple CCGs is an arduous task to say the least. Chasing down play sets of rares, keeping up with the shifts in competitive environments, and simply having the time to play and master more than one game is difficult. Though I have played many different CCGs in the past, I could only ever really play one at a time. Every time I wanted to pick up a new game, I would have to quit the old one. However, the LCG format has changed all of that.

I had first heard of the LCG format at GenCon 2008. An FFG representative discussed the nature of this new format with me. To be honest, I was not a big fan of the idea at first. It was such a departure from the traditional CCG model that it just seemed wrong. No pulling ultra rare cards, no buying from the secondary market, no promos or exclusives - it definitely was different and at first did not appeal to the competitive gamer within me. I could see where a casual player might enjoy this, but I still was not sold on it. Yet, it was these same LCG selling points that eventually brought me back to Cthulhu .

I had first played the Call of Cthulhu CCG in 2004 when it released. I played it for a year or so until I decided to move onto another game. I enjoyed the flavor of the game, as well as the game play, but as I said above, it was just too hard to play two CCGs at once. However, when Cthulhu re-launched last January with the new LCG core set , I started reading up on the new structure and was intrigued by the new serial format that follows a single storyline in six monthly increments. This, combined with the fact that I would not have to shell out a ton of cash buying booster boxes and singles, drove me to revisit the game. I picked up my core set and monthly Asylum packs, and a few weeks later we had a league up and running.

The league was an instant success. We had a ton of new players that were coming from miniatures or board game backgrounds that decided to play Cthulhu based on the merits of the LCG format. We also had some CCG players who were able to pick up Cthulhu as a complementary or secondary game to their main CCG. The league format allowed us to have an even playing field that balanced the needs of both casual and competitive players. We were even able to create some really unique and awesome prizes like the domain trophy and league champion t-shirt. We have just wrapped up our second league, which has also been successful, and plan on starting our third league very soon. So, if you are currently playing Cthulhu and have not tried out the league format, I would highly recommend it as a fun, casual gaming experience. If you are worried about getting beat down by Spike and his $500 deck, don't sweat it, in the LCG format each player has access to the same cards and the same strategies. If you are an old school CCG player who is not convinced of the LCG format, I encourage you to give it a try; you may be pleasantly surprised, just as I was.

Thanks Matt for spreading the word about the LCG format! If you're a player trying to break in to a Living Card Game, just remember: whether you're a champion player like Matt Kohls, or a newbie just getting started, everybody in the LCG format is working with the same card pool with the same chances of building a great deck. More importantly: all of our games exist so that people can get together and have a good time. A league at your local store is a great place to meet other players and practice your skills in a friendly yet competitive environment. If your store is running a league, check it out! If you're a retailer and you want to get a league started, contact us at [email protected] today.


Players: Are you participating in a league at your store? Share your stories, photos, and tips with us by emailing [email protected] . We'd love to hear all about it!

Based on the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft and his literary circle, Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game takes two players deep into the Cthulhu Mythos where investigators clash with the Ancient Ones and Elder Gods for the fate of the world. To learn more about Call of Cthulhu, visit our minisite .