A most welcome post Donald. You've been huge for the game for a long time.

First things first. Hail Marius. He is part of the game - provider of our weekly article and spoiler. I thank him for his work.

Ok, so he's not truly a guest writer anymore, is he. And no he was never champion. But hey, I'd enjoy contributing. For the game.

The daylight through Nate's bellybutton is eerily similar to a recent assessment of someone's language here...

But all that is irrelevant.

James Hata and Nate French were not on hand for the cthulhu championships, Donald says.

Do not take these words lightly. They are not what I wanted to hear. The 2010 championship is on the level.

Alexander Haig seized control after the Reagan attempted assassination, famously lieing, "I am in control here."

Tell me the official did a great job, please. Tell me more about the gencon cthulhu environment.

James and Nate were both there at GenCon.

TheProfessor said:

True. But (and I got this second hand from participants) Hata was asked a fairly basic rules question early in the tournament and got it wrong. After being corrected he quietly slunk out and didn't return. Nate did the same thing, I think after being asked about end of match procedure? And Jim (Hastur) was left alone to figure things out himself. He did a stellar job by all accounts, but why he had to I can't imagine.

For what's it's worth, I think you can play UR to get any cost character back with this. When you choose a target, the X becomes it's cost and then that cost is negated by Yog's effect.

Well, I only saw what I saw, but I didn't see any drama. I spoke with James and Jim about end of round procedures because this was the first time these tournament rules were employed and they discussed and reached conclusions. Jim did indeed perform a stellar job and kept the tournament running well, and carried the lion's share of the work.

How would Yog work with Unspeakable bringing Dopelganger into play?

You can play the UT for free to bring into play the Doppelganger like a 0-cost character wit a 0 skill. The Doppelganger effect works only when you play it from your hand . In your discard it's a 0 cost card like the other X cards in discard pile.

Oh yea, it does say "from your hand." Too bad, it would have made for a more interesting card without the limitation...

Donald10 said:

This is yet another example why this forum direly needs an ignore feature. If only people would follow my advice: If you cannot keep your post polite, don't post at all!

Dear Donald10: Please, get over it already! Everyone already knows you're jealous and begruding because they took away the only joy in your life. But really, you can contribute to make this world (and particularly this forum) a better place by crawling back into the lightless place you're dwelling in and return to your slumber, hoping for the day when the stars are - finally! - right.

Oh, dear! Looks like I just failed to take my own advice. See? This is what happens when a forum doesn't allow its users to set trolls to ignore!

Couldn't have said it better myself.

jhaelen defends our boards well, thank you. Poisonous language is a detriment to the forums.

We need acknowledge that the non-fan base may have something important for us to hear.

We're all able to fend off attacks on Marius and FFG where warranted.

Some of us know enough Cthulhu Card Game history to see the ugly patterns and from whence they came. I think Donald deserved the rebuke. Also realize he opened up a can of worms we must discuss.

We are all now also aware of a gencon dynamic that may need to be addressed. I do not favor rumors. I don't like hearing one's actions as "slinking."

But I think it entirely appropriate that FFG supply Nate or James or an agreed upon referee to preside over our national championship. This is not ultimate frisbee here, a self governed sport. The game is complex. Yes, an FFG rep needs to know the rules and be ready to make a determination. It's ok if it is complex enough that it is hard to resolve. Heck, that's why champs win. They know how to run the complex deck and nifty dynamic. And that's why an annual FAQ / errata happens, though sometimes does not address what we thought it might.

But we've had one besmirched championship. Totally sucked. And that must be a lesson. And it is expressed here that the lesson was ignored. Thank you champion Jim Black Hastur for helping fulfill the moderator / servitor role. But the champ in that role is fraught with calamity. That it did not result as such is a testament to him.

Scott Ferguson / Peterson, whoever he was may or may not have cheated and stacked his deck depending on who you ask. Those of us who lived through this painful back and forth should be shocked not to find a lifeguard chair above the 2010 finals table. Nate says the blacksox scandal was on the level. Pittsburgh says he missed the whole "cheat" so was not able to make the call. You can only call what you see. He saw no cheating. So the championship stands.

And what if such a moment arose this year. "I wasn't here to see the infraction," is no longer a legitimate way to govern.

It took us a lot of pain and regression to get back to a good game. Happened after the baseball strike, after the blacksox scandal, anywhere confidence erodes. You can blame Pittsburgh for not letting it go, and maybe even getting it wrong, perhaps even being poor losers. I don't. But you gotta respect the fan base that makes this game and its tournaments. You do so by safeguarding its perception. And I'm wondering how well nationals was governed.

Blame Donald for making me wonder. Blame me for perpetuating the old vicious debate. Thank Nate and James and Chris for this great game. But McGwire and Sosa and Bonds pulled my head out of the sand. If FFG won't say the game was clean - and they're never on these boards anymore - you should worry and think twice about taking the game more seriously than might be reciprocated by its stewards.

I had a great regionals and expect even better 2011. But the correct bet is to both kill the messenger (if you must) and heed his fury at the same time.

Cheers for the context, Johnny.

Interesting where this thread has gone considering where it started.

Yog Sothoth is indeed the KEY and the GATE (see my sig line for details).

IMO, CoC LCG should be viewed as a game to play with friends... I say flatten the tournament prize support so there is a very gradual curve that extends from best to worst... this will remove the need for serious rules lawyers, stacking, and other shenanigans...

Just because we have Spells does not mean we need to have Magic in this game!

Apologies to Tokhuah. Your thread is being heisted. Hired Mystic, both cultist and criminal, guides my infraction. I can't help it.

The prize support is flat already, tea party flat earther flat. They are wonderful for participants like me. I think my cthulhu pin is like the best thing I've ever won, and the poster no less. But, if you're into cthulu tourrney, it's for the gore and glory only.

And you've got to compete. It's a game. Should we vacate the scene. Play tourneys to lose. We might all agree in the big ways about these great cards. Yes, we play with friends. And events should be with friends and friendly.

I am guilty of breathing air in a reluctant way into bringing down gencon 2010 and FFG. I am sorry. But I write about the game. I hate Jose Canseco and his stupid ghost written book. I love that baseball era anyway. I think any slap in our great successes this year stings.

Think about how huge the game is now versus last year. I'm a boor to list them - three AP cycles, two expansions, continuity and stability, a few very nice tournaments, new meta, new faction, new subtypes, classics, bigger card pool, maybe the Roseville game center is awesome, continued quality.

I like Nate. Hi Nate, thanks for your stories. I imagine James has guided us to better quality. Christian is an enigma, as most successful directors are.

And the naysayer gets his say. I say my third place tie at NYC 2010 Regionals, pedestrian as it is, stands. Nationals stands. The one voice of detraction only attacks, second hand, that an occasion arose where the wrong decision was corrected (whoop), and that, perhaps as an embarrassed result, leadership was ceded or at least were not actively present letting the game take care of itself in some absence. That last part is so nuanced as to handle with radioactive gloves. It's mean spirited and not supported here. But it is not unwritten.

Perhaps it's all lies. Perhaps the staff ran off for a second or was very busy at the convention. Perhaps things were always well in hand. I'm blindly sure they were always well in hand.

But this Yog spoiler sure is nasty.

Johnny....without freaking me out with your snazzy psychedelic-writing style .... can you briefly explain what you meant when you referenced a "tarnished championship" - and some person from the past ? I'm not quite sure (having only learned of the game and started playing it this year) - what this event you mention is or what exactly was said to have happened ?

@ Mr. Shoes: No worries... Tokhuah is the name of an obscure South American trickster spirit so my mind is bent toward those unexpected things born out of chaos, misfortune, and twists in the path of thought and reason... As a devote member of the Syndicate I do not take such stuff personally, it's just business, and yes I do like cannoli.

Other than that, I think this game is a new FAQ with effective errata or ban on some cards from opening the Limbo Gate of possibilities. Doing a bit of Yithian projection into the near future: It will be a shame to tarnish Arkham Knights with the same old yellow snow and discard blues because we know where the problems are... To paraphrase an ancient Sufi saying: you cannot ask a Sledge Dog to improve the rosewater...

Tokhuah said:

Could it be said better than this ? No, I think. Envigorated by this words, I'm off to Stahleck ready to be tarnished and tortured by Eiblues and Yellows. But to the tourney, I will bring something different as I'm convinced that the beauty of this game is in creating elegant patterns and ultimately have great skirmishes to the last blood (or book), rather than kill everyone else's intention to have fun. So I welcome the new powers of Yog faction, and even if X = 1000, I don't see it as a problem as much as Infernal Obsession, Endless Interrogation, Eibon, Birds, Dogs and so on. This is not poetry. This is just my 2 cents.

Well said Tokhuah !!