So what order does everyone rank the factions in?

If I had to say for me it is something like this (very rough, I haven't really played very competitively) -

1) Hastur

2) Agency

3) Yog-Sothoth

4) Cthulhu

5) Shub-Nigguroth

6) Syndicate

7) Miskatonic

8) Silver Twilight

This is ideally based solely on the power and efficiency of their cards alone. I would be interested in what combinations you feel are the top 5 best, but not as much as just straight faction ranking.

From a mostly mono-faction deck POV:

#1: Syndicate

#2: Agency

#3: Cthulhu

#4: Shub-Niggurath

#5: Miskatonic

#6: Hastur

#7: Yog-Sothoth

Haven't gotten any of the APs since STL was added to the game, last one I have is Wailer Below so don't know how the newer ones change the balance of power.

I have not really thought about the faction in terms of stand alone tier but what you have seems at least close to right.

Since COC has faction or colors that can be played in combo much like Magic factions that are stand alone bottom tier (you hear me ST) may have just enough power cards to be in a top tier deck.

The second part is worth some further thought. However, I am at work and I am being paid to think of other things right now...

Some of these rankings are a toss-up.

Their presence in what I consider the top tier decks

is the criteria in which I ranked them.

#1 Cthulhu

#2 Yog-Sothoth

#3 Syndicate

#4 Agency

#5 M.U.

#6 Hastur

#7 Shub-Niggurath

#8 Silver Twilight

If you want to avoid splitting hairs over specific rank I might suggest this:

Tier 1: Agency, Cthulhu, Hastur

TIer 2: Yog-Sothoth, Shub Nigguath, Syndicate

Tier 3: Miskatonic, Silver Twilight

@T1: All of these factions have strong removal or control cards. Agency can wound, steal your support cards, and for some unknown reason have been given one of the best opponent deck control cards in the game thanks to the last AP... What this means is Agency can burry your invulnerable Characters at the bottom of your deck and sniper off the rest while running spy glasses at stories. If I was going to choose a current #1 overall I would say blue gets it. Cthulhu has the best Character removal in the game because destory>wound. Green also has Support destruction and event-like Character ability destroy/wound. If FFG really prints that old AP with an unmodified version of The Sleeper Awakens Cthulhu is going to toally wreck face. Hastur has great overall control with Steps, mass madness lockdown, and cancelation; not to mention sick tech like Devolution and Infernal Obsession. If Hastur were ever to get a quality Support card hoser they would occupy T1 alone.

@T2: To be honest I would put Yog-Sothoth at T1 if it was not for the fact that every Faction can rum Snow Graves and Yog has fairly jank Support removal in the form of Constricting Elder Thing. Despite everything else that would make for a solid "Yog is King of all Factions" argument this kicks purple square in the key and the gate, doubling them over in the second tier. Yog is just less than spectacular without recursion. Shub is hot in so many ways. Best support removal bar none. However, their ability to directly wound, remove, or control an opponent's problem Characters is meh compared to what the T1's can do. The lack of event based removal makes them susceptible to rush/evasion strategies. Syndicate has a simple positive/negative. They have T1 Event and Support cards with T3.5 (meaning the worst) overall Characters in the game. The lack of Support card control that is not extremely subtype specific does not help. Thief for Hire was almost good like many other almost good Syndicate Characters.

@T3: Miskatonic is T3 in a deceptive way. They have the best card draw, some great Investigator Characters (Got Chess?), and a hand full of seemingly quality Event/Support cards. MU Characters are few in the Willpower department, and the ones that have it are expensive enough to make their lack of Toughness less than adequate versus decks that wound. MU lacks any serious evasion or removal tech outside of some quirky meta choices and they have noting to handle opponent's Support cards. This means Cthulhu locks down their ability to play cheap Investigators with Y'ha-nthlei Statue and Hastur simply locks them down Insane or steals their best Character. If MU fills the deck with anti-monster/insanity fu then Agency p0wns them. One definition for T3 is bad match-ups versus all T1's and for this MU gets the trifecta. Silver Twilight is difficult because they have a small number of really good cards that make them dangerous in a combo deck but are so underdeveloped as a stand alone faction that it will take some time (and by time I mean an increase in card pool) to really consider where they stand overall in the faction tier department.

Tiers are stupid useless information....

The lists themselves may have the substance of wind through leaves but the information held within the commentary is like deep water grasshopper...

p00n said:

Maybe to tier 3 players...

I agree with Tokhuah's findings with the exception that if I were to split hairs, I might place Shub closer to tier 1 than tier 2 and perhaps Mobsters only slightly above Nerds (So basically only changing the position of shub upwards by a single notch).

I believe such opinions illustrate either how pervasive Control tech is or how how much better such control manipulations are in contrast to more wiley measures of win conditions being achieved. It is hard for me to argue with them from a purely deadpan mechanical outlook on the game.

Casually I would say it is tosh and continue to use my Mystic Bounty Hunter and Campaign Chief in utter blissful ignorance.

But I cannot dispute that in mono faction deck meta, I perceive a distinct power disparity between the factions whose wounds can only be salved by the liberal addition of a second faction. I am sure this is by design, but it stinks when attempting to get decent mono faction decks to function in the face of dual faction decks who are so much more streamlined and effective by covering each faction's deficiencies with another.

Tokhuah said:

1. Agency
2. Hastur*
3. Cthulhu*
4. Yog-Sothoth
5. Shub-Niggurath
6. Syndicate
7. Miskatonic
8. Silver Twilight

* alternatively put Cthulhu in second place and Hastur third place. This is very difficult to decide and depends a lot on the opponent's faction choice.

What is the interest of ranking mono faction's decks?

What is the interest in ranking mono-faction decks? Well I suppose it is fun, and for me personally, mono-faction decks feel like they have style or panache than mixed faction decks. It is much harder to make a competitive single faction deck than it is to make a blended deck.

B_P said:

If one plays mono-faction decks, I think the question is why rank dual-faction decks ? Like W:I, since the game has specific races/factions, don't see why each wouldn't work on its own. I built my cards into seven mono decks, ideally ones the would be competitive against each other (with more or less success).

My list would be as follows:

1. Hastur.

2. Agency.

3. Cthulhu.

4. Yog-Sothoth.

5. Shub-Niggurath.

6. Miskatonic.

7. Silver Twilight.

8. Syndicate.

Some people may query why I put Syndicate last, but I have always found them a support faction at best.

My mono list:

1. Cthulhu (Most versatile)

2. Agency

3. Hastur

4. Yog

5. Shub

6. Syn

7. Miska

8. ST

jhaelen said:

Personally, I still see Hastur at the top, followed by Agency and Cthulhu. I would push Yog further down the list, cause they seem to have hit or miss stuff to me: awesome when they hit, but real stinkers when they don't. If I take consistancy into the equation, Id say Shub is higher on list then Yog. Miskatonic was always weaker, and so was Syndicate, but these factions have even been making strides lately. I'd make Syndicate, Miskatonic and Silver Twiglight even in a group.

Hastur

Agency

Cthulhu

Shug-Niggurath

Yog-sothoth

Syndicate/Miskatonic/Silver Twilight

Well, for me, deckbuilding is building a strategy to win. the question of mono or bi faction'deck (or tri faction, quadri faction etc) only comes to my mind when :

1) Nyarlatothep is everywhere and I don't have the cards to handle it.

or

2) I have too much factions in my deck to stabilise its ressources.

So, It's why I didn't understand the reason of this classification. But ok, it's fine now.

It is official... Agency rules: