Hi there!

I just got the CoC Core Set and now I would like to play (of course).

Because I have still to convince some people in my gaming group, I have just this starter and wondering now, which factions should I mix to generate two decks, which are "balanced" in a way, so that no deck is superioir toi the other one and that both player have a fair chance of winning...

So, could anyone help me with that? )

If you just own the core set then you probalbly play a lot of highlander games and no faction will be superior. So you can mix whatever you like.

newager said:

I played every two-faction combination against every other two-faction combination (I also posted the results on this board but I cannot find the thread right now) and there are clearly some that are superior to others.

According to my results Yog-Sothoth is a very weak faction in Core-Only Highlander format. Hastur also has some issues, depending a lot on sheer luck with drawing the right cards.

Other factions like Miscatonic and Syndicate are good support factions but don't really carry their own weight. Combining factions including villainous and heroic characters also has some drawbacks.

My tests indicated that the strongest factions were Cthulhu and Agency but I think this is mainly because of individual cards (Ravager, Shotgun, etc.) that are difficult to defend against in Highlander format.

jhaelen said:

I have Core + Ancient Horrors AP (and that combo will suffice), using every card, random Neutrals to even the numbers if necessary. I've been seeing Cthulhu on the losing end more than winning. Shub-Niggurath on the other hand hasn't really cared who she's been paired with, very strong. Both times Agency/Shub combo has been in a game, they've won 3-0 (total of 4 3-0 results in 18 games so far).

Win-loss stats so far:

Agency: 3-7
Miskatonic: 5-5
Cthulhu: 3-7
Syndicate: 4-7
Hastur: 6-5
Yog-Sothoth 8-2 (first 7 games that featured Yog all ended in a win for the side with Yog)
Shub-Niggurath: 7-3