So that’s Asylum Packs one through six, 120 cards. We can now look back on them as like a Set or Block. We look forward to Summoners of the Deep, the second AP “Block” of 120 cards if you will. So how were AP I to VI to us? It was like no other cthulhu coc era. So what was it like? Two AP were rooted in Lovecraft storyline. The other four were entities unto their own. Spawn of Madness was all over the board and delivered. It began the trend of excellent syndicate AP cards. Glimpse of the Void was the first AP event to trump its own faction’s supposed power, paving the way for Thunder in the East.
It was Kingsport Dreams that brought back the flavor. The Byakhee, Elder Thing, and Cthuloid Spawn of AP I were not as evocative as this set’s Terrible Old Man, Thomas Olney, and Seventh House. Even Hall School, Visitor from the Spheres, and Neil’s Curiosity Shop are great pulp mythos. Charles and Basil were Kingsport also-rans. But three Neutrals brought this set to the top, in Mentor, and Ancient Ones - Tulzscha, and Nodens - Nodens alone for its beauty and general usability.
Conspiracies of Chaos was just wackadoo. The “over” included Mr. Grey, beautiful Displaced Cthonian, and the excellent and spoilerific Kitab Al-Azif. Many other cards were ok - the byakhee, blood magician, and Tragic Celebrity (for her despotic despairing look). The set takes some good swings, but more or less whiffs in the end. Seven Conspiracy cards win the cookie cutter award for all the games’ thousand plus images – with some competition in the otherwise mostly superb artistic history of the game.
Dunwich and Mountains helped like the two towers to bring the set around to the end in Ancient Horrors After the horror in the hills, could we return from the Antartic? Deemed impossibly far from the gambrelled gutters and shuttered small farmhouses, the packs do return with gems and some pack fatigue. The Wibur /Horror connection with Sentinal Hill has the support of buddy beaut Stone on the Peak. But AP Myskatonic got lost on the way. Omega Olumnus was a classic MU three, cool but on the cusp at cost 3, and whisper of an ability - in short mostly boring. Seeker of the Profane was much less. The five professors are just not exciting. Lake packs a kick and at least not bug spray. Stilted forays each, respectable, but I am glad to see a new direction.
Amazingly, of the whole 120 card block, only four cthulhu characters appeared. Comparatively few events did overall (18), but a whopping fifteen locations of 27 total support. Overall trends: four items, nine monsters, eight servitors, and eight sorcerers! Ratio of Heroic to Villainous: 1 to 7. Eight toughness and no loyal.
None of the following made it in to AP I to VI: artifacts, curses, dark young, day, deep ones, independents, lost city, mask, mi-go, rituals, weapons, avatars, night.
But the closing argument is not yet done. Mountains and Ancient Horrors have a lot to say. Mountains: Shoggoths, Elder Thing, Yeti, Sledge Dogs, and Snow Graves are perfect cthulhu cards. Kingsport ‘Visitor’ and AP ‘Shoggoths ‘look linked. The polar penguins became our new flavor - conspiracy light. MU and syndicate choked since Dunwich Ancient Gold.
The Ancient Horrors coven of Ancient Ones and the Tcho Tcho Tribe have enough awesomeness to cap “Block” AP I to AP VI. Ghoulish Worshipper and Island Hermit are very strong cards. But three staple Ancient Horror cards keep this set honest. They accomplish something not done in any previous AP Block –covey AE block and evoke its mood better than other efforts in the set. Danny O’Bannion’s Cronie comes closest. But the Blood Magician and Byakhee are bettered by the final set’s basic Yog Hastur and Shub characters: Opener of the Gate, Bringer of Fire, and Dark Druid. Faculty and Zoo keepers annoy less than Mutant Spawn, a razzie if ever one were given for the game.