COCLCG said:

I was trying to sneak that edit in at the last minute. Nice catch, hahaha!

Yes, not so great news that the promo domain cards are all gone.

Great news that we have more domain cards up for grabs, and prizes for last place.

Not so great news that the Cthulhu statues are gone, too.

Great news that more players from Washington are coming down to participate.

Not so great news you guys might not have all of your cards by Saturday.

Great news we have plenty of beer on hand to drown your sorrows!

i am the red gloved man

i am always here

i am always watching

Remind me not to rely on CCG Armory in the future when you need cards quickly… I put in an order last Friday and it hasn't even been processed yet! So I'm definitely rolling with a Core Set deck. I'll see if I can make something somewhat decent from that. If anything it will be versatile…

I'll remind you never to buy anything from CCG Armory in the first place. They take top honors for the worst online store ever. Honestly, I would cancel my order, get a refund, and shop someplace else.

If you're ordering online, there are 2 solid options for excellent pricing, customer service, and fast shipping - Miniature Market and Cool Stuff Inc.

There are a few other good stores as well, but those 2 get the bulk of my online business. Of course, we will be playing at a game store, so you could buy some packs there if you need particular cards to spice up your decks.

Matt

When is the start time for the Regional? Your post above says 12:00, but the Guardian Games website says 1:00.

jpowers said:

The tournament is at 12:00 PM.

Guardian Games' event calendar is a typo. I will contact them as soon as they open to get their calendar fixed.

If you check their preregistration page, it lists the correct time of noon:

www.ggportland.com/calendar/event-pre-registration.html

Are you planning on coming down?

And thanks for catching the discrepancy!

Yes, my wife and I are pre-registered (although not early enough to get the new domain cards, we were #s 18 and 19). We'll see you on Saturday!

@jpowers,

If you send an email to [email protected], I'll send you the deck registration document.

Good luck with your tournament Yipe It deserves to be a success from the effort you have put in.

Thanks, Yvain.

I called Guardian Games and tried to get them to change their calender time to 12 PM.

Unfortunately, it still shows the incorrect time of 1 PM.

To restate, the tournament starts at noon. Please don't be late!

look on the bright side Yipe. if you have to wait that's an hours drinking / lubricating the deck hand!!

but seriously, i hope everyones on time, the event rocks on, lots of laughs and close encounters occur, and the beer is crisp and clear.

Plans fell through as my friend ended up having to work today. I hope there is still a large turnout and I'm sorry we couldn't make it (already preregistered so feel free to use my money to buy some prizes). Hopefully we'll be able to make it down there for a future tournament.

Just curious to know how the tournament went. How many people showed up? What deck won? Etc.

I'm compiling all the info for our event, and I'll post it here in a few days. Right now I have family visiting from out of town, so that's taking up all of my free time. The basic rundown is as follows:

We had 19 participants, making this the biggest regional championship of the 2012 season - and that's with 3 people who had preregistered dropping out at the last minute.

For me, this was the best part of the entire day. I worked hard at building up a big turnout and it paid off. In three months, Portland went from having no CoC community to what is arguably the biggest in the country. In addition, just about every person who participated in the tournament wants to play in a monthly "Mythos and Microbrews" league night, which couldn't make me happier.

We played 5 rounds of Swiss, with a cut to the top 8. Those who didn't make the quarterfinals played a round of Cenacle multiplayer (3 per table).

Before I post any deck lists, I want get each players' permission. Also, I need to check with our champion before revealing anything about his deck (including factions) as he is definitely traveling to World's in November.

Overall I felt it was a success, but as the Tournament Organizer I'm more than a little biased. It's probably best to let the other players weigh in with their thoughts and gauge the event's success or failure based on those.

So if you played in the Portland regional, what did you like or dislike? And most importantly, did you have fun?

Guardian Games was a great host, tourney was well-organized. I'll quote another attendee: "all the players were cool, except the d-bags that beat me today"

Still laughing about that one …

I can comment on the tourney from a first-time tourney player perspective.

First off, when this was announced, I thought it might be the first time I got play CoC with someone besides my wife. It's kind of funny now because it was the fourth day of organized play in four months. So what was i doing it for now?

It was definitely for the gaming mats, which I came nowhere close to winning. There was a big bell curve in our tourney, and I was in the B- range. That certainly has something to with the actual classes I am taking right now.

There were two downsides that I think I have a solution for next time:

1) Problem: Big spaces o' Nothing. If you play a fast deck and it's over in 7 minutes or so, you have 43 minutes until the last game finishes of downtime.

Solution: I think next time, I will ask for a rematch. I was a little hesitant to do this, but heck the other guy/gal is looking at the same stretch as you, and obviously they like to play CoC.

2) Problem: I only had enough willpower for four rounds. My "training" regimen consisted of playing 4 rounds. When I got there and found out that we now had 5 rounds due to increased attendance, I was totally unprepared. I liken my last game to that vintage NFL receiver that ran all the way to the goal, in the wrong direction.

Solution: Go apes***t on CoC a few time before the tourney. Play 8-10 games or more, (hell, play all night) because if you actually succeed at a tourney that will be waaaay more what it's like.

I may be the only one out there on the boards that was still a tourney-virgin, but this is what I will do next year instead.

Oh, and it does suck when everyone doesn't follow a tradition. Winner buys loser a beverage of their choice in Portland. It was great to see some doing it for the first time with new players, and awkward when the next player didn't do it.

grant_babb said:

Grant, I completely spaced this out. My apologies. And yes, we should have played a rematch.

For me, the only benefit to my short games (win or lose, all my games were under 10 minutes), was the fact that I could focus on judging and playing the part of event host. For that reason, I didn't experience the same kind of downtime as everyone else so it's good to hear feedback about that aspect of the tournament.

I noticed there wasn't a lot of drinking going on at the event, and I think that's because everyone was hyper-focused on playing. As a judge, I definitely wasn't drinking (until I wasn't playing anymore, that is). For the league nights, where things will return to being more relaxed, I'll do my best to make sure the tradition stays alive.

I ain't callin' it "Mythos and Microbrews" for nuthin!

grant_babb said:

i think that was me who said that. and i still stand by it. although upon reflection, even those players were cool too i suppose.

other thoughts: i was drinking and i even offered to buy my opponent a beer during our match, though he declined. pretty much all day i didn't win, so the tradition of buying the loser a beer was off my radar. also: playing under 21s took some of the steam out of the getting trashed while getting thrashed concept.

i was surprised somewhat by the quality of decks folks brought. even folks who hadn't been part of our scene thus far. even some of the newbies…

i sooo badly wanted a playmat too. but like grant i did NOTHING that would have brought me close to one. my deck failed me almost all day. through some combinations of bad luck, bad draws, bad play on my part, etc. my previously almost unbeatable mono agency deck just took one beating after another… i was alternately surprised, pissed, frustrated, etc.

overall my experience on the day was a positive one. guardian games did a great job of hosting us. yipe did a spectacular job assembling a community and then a tournament in such short time. players did a great job being friendly, helpful, fun… this event stood in stark contrast to the incredible douchebaggery on display at the MtG tournament and events i used to attend. thanks CoC community!

Being one of the newbs to the game and any sort of tournament (other than chess) I enjoyed myself as did most of the other players. i will say that most of the newer players who generally did not do that well had decks that were 60 cards or more which resulted in inconsistent play.

Most of us were so new that we only really had looked at our own factions so playing against the other decks was fun. Playing against the same factions from two different players that took those factions in a totally different direction was pretty cool.

if I owe someone a beer, catch me next month during organized play - Agency/Miskatonic I can recommend the Ninkasi IPA or the Bridgeport double red ale.

Yippy, thanks for all of the hard work, and personnal expense..I owe you a pint

I'm looking forward to seeing the tournament summary - decks played, which worked well, etc.!

I have no problems posting my deck.

Hello, my name is Clay Edwards, and I took second in the tournament, losing to Tony Raines in the finals. Up until that point I won every match, only losing 2 stories total. I do apologize for those who i beat, as i did not buy them a beverage, owing to the fact that i only had a dollar to my name at the time. In any case, heres the deck list.

Shub-thulhu, or Shubby and friends:

Characters:

3 x Gibbering Soul

3 x Priestess of Bubastis

3 x Seeker of Mysteries

3 x Harvesting Mi-Go

3 x Dreamlands Fanatic

3 x Hungry Dark Young

3 x Grasping Chthonian

3 x Master of the Myths

3 x Y'Golonac

3 x Ancient Guardian

3 x The Thing from the Shore

2 x Yig

2 x Bokrug

2 x Cthulhu, Lord of R'lyeh

2 x Shub-Niggurath, Dark Mistress of the Woods

Support:

3 x Khopesh of the Abyss

Event:

3 x Primal Fear

3 x Feed Her Young

Deck Breakdown:

This deck is my fourth deck since starting CoC three or four months ago. A couple of months back, i put together a Shub-Niggurath acceleration deck, whose whole theme was to get a version of Shub-Niggurath out by turn two or three. This deck used the various ways to get higher resources (Eat the Dead, Feed her young, Harvesting Mi-Go) as well as the cost reducers (Priestess of Bubastis, Ghoulish Worshiper, One of the Thousand) along with some searchers (Gibbering Soul, Under the Porch) to get her out, as well as most of the Dark Young to supplement her abilities. This worked moderately well, but I found that the Dark young were pretty much weak with some notable exceptions, and a swarm deck style doesn't work very well against control or rush. So I took some of the elements of the acceleration, added in some Cthulhu control and beef, and this deck was born. It performed extremely well during deck testing, so much so that Tony had to abandon his Agency leanings for something new. (Which means, in a way, I was responsible for his deck. Sorry guys.)

The decks strengths are its excellent curve, giving me options to play cards at all turns, and its high-cost, powerful characters. I found that I could easily resource higher cost characters, as the the chances of me drawing another one were pretty good by the time I could play them (and the game itself includes 3 ways of getting them back besides).

Card Breakdown:

Here is my thoughts on why each card went into the deck, and its strengths.

Gibbering Soul:

An excellent card. I added this literally just before the tournament started, and it smoothed out a lot of the problems I was having with the deck. It's cheap, and it replaces itself with a better character should it die at any point of the game, making it useful anytime, especially if I need a chump blocker or a forced sacrifice target. It also combos extremely well with the Hungry Dark Young, as it can fetch it when it dies, and the Young can bring it back to get another Hungry Dark Young, and so on and so forth. Also great for Khopesh of the Abyss, as you can deal two wounds out to your opponents, and then go fetch another shub character for you to use.

Priestess of Bubastis:
Nothing much to talk about her. Low cost and lowers the cost of Shub characters I play, which can be a lot. Of note, her ability can be combined with Y'Golonac's ability or the Ancient Guardian's ability to lower the cost two or three times, should you need to.

Seeker of Mysteries:

Great card for this deck. Cost lowering and an Arcane icon, all for 1 cost. Arcane is necessary for defense, and having an extra one can make the difference.

Harvesting Mi-Go:

Really a decent card just for its icons and its skill, for a 2 cost character its pretty good. What makes it better is in turn 2 or 3, where it can take a dead, useless character and make it a resource. This doesn't have to go to your biggest domain either, opening up multiple characters played in turn. It's also nice to use with the Hungry Dark Young.

Dreamlands Fanatic:

Hmmm… to be honest, this card could stand to be taken out of the deck. It does have its strong points, allowing you to put it into play quickly, and it can help turn a tied struggle into your win. But during the tournament I found I was resourcing this more often than not. Oh well. Good icons though.

Hungry Dark Young:

Really great card for any Shub deck. Decent icons, okay skill, and an ability that just cannot be beat. Makes control decks cry around turn 2 or 3, when they spend all those resouces to kill your 1 or 2 cost character, and you just bring them right back, along with a friend. This card is great with the gibbering souls above, and when paired with Shub-Niggurath, it gets very scary. Shub + Hungry Dark Young + any 1-2 cost character totally negates the Temple of R'lyeh or other sacrificial effects.

Grasping Chthonian:

A late addition to the deck. I found that I had been having troubles with opposing support cards, but while Thunder in the East is nice, I wanted something more. This guy provided to be incredibly useful. Great skill for it's cost, and great icons too. An All-around card for shub decks.

Master of the Myths:

Another addition right before the tournament, the Master of the Myths is a great blocker for many decks that's easy to play. What's that you say? He's out of faction? Well, yes, but you won't be hard casting him. Simply pay 1 resource and put him into play, regardless of faction! At 3 skill, he can handily defeat or tie many 1-3 cost characters. With willpower and toughness, he can't go insane and can't die to a combat struggle (Worried about all those skulls your opponent has? Worry not! Simply toss that wound onto Master of the Myths and watch it disappear at the end of the phase!). And with his 3 Arcane Symbols, your opponent won't have ready characters to defend with! Watch out for this guy to hit the restricted list, he's just too good.

Y'Golonac:

Wow. Just, wow. At four cost, by far the cheapest Ancient One there is. And let me tell you, MANY control cards specify non-Ancient ones. Comes with Invulnerability too, and great icons and skill. His ability, however, is what truly makes him shine. For the price of 1 resource, you can ready a character! Granted, this character has to commit to the same story as Y'Golonac, but its easy to get around that. Goes great with exhaust abilities, as if a character is exhausted, it can't commit. Conversely, if Y'Golonac is exhausted, it can't commit, which means you get to use your readied character wherever. The most devious use of this ability is reserved for your opponent. That's right, I mean your opponent's characters! Check this out: Got an exhausted character you really want to gank/drive insane? Pay 1 during your story phase, before they commit, ready them, and they have to come to their doom! But there is even a more insidious use of this ability. Got a story card you reallllly need to win? Commit Y'Golonac to another story and "taunt" the opposing characters to him! Even works on already ready characters! I found this invaluable against the Master of the Myths, as I could match my opponents resources and force the Master to come where I wanted him, and not where he was supposed to be. If you are playing a shub deck that can play this card, do it. You won't regret it.

Ancient Guardian:

About the only reason this guy is here is that he's dark young. That's about it. Sure, his icons are ok, and so is his skill, but he has none of the survivablity of the other characters. Though his readying ability has saved me a few times when I lost an Arcane struggle. He's all right, I guess.

The Thing from the Shore:

And now we hit our 5+ costers. This guy is really nice. Can't go insane, has plenty of skulls, and great toughness. But his real secret is his potential when combined with a Khopesh of the Abyss. He has toughness +3, which when combined with the Khopesh's +1, means he can deal out four wounds to opposing characters. (or possibly your own gibbering souls if you really need to). This usually means "board wipe". Then you commit the Thing to story, succeed at that story, and watch all those wounds on it drift away, leaving you to deal out four more wounds to your opponents characters next turn. Truly a thing of shock and horror.

Yig:

Ahhhh, Yig. One of my favorite characters form the Cthulhu faction. Lets go over his benefits:

Ancient one. A lot of control cards out there specify non-Ancient one.

Cost five. This means more than you think, as some of the control cards out there that can get through the above Ancient One status target cost. Since I can usually play him ahead of my opponents resourcing, this means a few turns for Yig to wrought destruction before he can be killed or controlled.

Toughness +2. Another great target for the Khopesh of brokendness

4 Skill. An average value for cost.

3 Terror icons and an Arcane icon. Supposedly weird for a character, but wait.

His action. This action allows him to change a terror icon into two combat icons and an arcane icon. For NO cost. And since this can be used up to three times (more if you can somehow get more terror icons on him) he can easily turn into a combat/arcane powerhouse. Just don't get too trigger happy with this and get rid of all his terror icons against a hastur deck.

His other text is pretty much useless to me, but some other serpent decks can make some use of it, i guess.

Bokrug:

One of the great 6-costers. This guy is great for beef, and is hard to stop. Also, should you lose a combat challenge, Bokrug can absorb the wound and deal it right back to your opponent. Great skill and icons, good toughness which means another Khopesh target.

Cthulhu:

The big daddy himself. Note that this is not the core version, but the infinitely better The Wailer Below version, which not only doesn't make your sacrifice your own characters (and possibly Cthulhu himself!) but can be used multiple times a turn. Awesome skills, great icons, and the invulnerability we know and love.

Shub-Niggurath:

In here basically because I wanted a high cost Shub Ancient one and with the Dark Young in the deck, she made a great choice. Lots of fun recurring that Hungry Dark young and your 1-2 cost characters. Also note that this is the The Cacophony version, not the somewhat lamer Core version.

Khopesh of the Abyss:

This belongs on the restricted list, and rightfully so. For so few cost, you can deal out a minimum of two wounds to your opponents characters, and you can dole them out to whichever character you like. Worse yet, when its done spilling blood, it shuffles back into the deck, allowing you to replay the fun over and over again. Definitely a auto-include in any cthulhu deck that can support it.

Primal Fear:

This was put into Sacrificial Offerings' place, just before the tournament, as another friend needed that card. I came up with this to put into it's place. Overall, a useful card, as blanking a text box gets rid of toughness (the main reason I put it into there). It can also be used to hold off a character's effect for a turn. Try it out, you may find it more useful than a lot of cards you could use.

Feed her Young:

Almost no cost acceleration. YAY! This card costs only one to use, and replaces itself with another card. The only stipulation is that you must have three shub-niggurath resources attached to your domains already to play it. I definitely rate this fairly high for any shub deck. Note that if you have no undrained domains, you can still use it to target the domain you drained to pay for it.

Welp, that's the deck in a nutshell. Might be fairly long-winded for all you impatient readers. TL:DR, this deck is useful against the many types of decks out there, with one exception so far, and that exception is a secret . I had a great time, and would like to thank Yipe for organizing this event (the reason I got into this game), my friend Mark for providing poor ole me with the cards, and everyone else for making the tournament so much fun.

Thanks to everyone posting about the tournament, and, special thanks to CecilAlucardX for the decklist and the detailed explanation (wow!) - congratulations for making 2nd place!

CecilAlucardX said:

I don't think you can target the domain you used to pay for it right?

The Action Window in Detail

1) Action is initiated
After a player initiates an action, the
timing window starts.
For the initiation stage of any player
action, a player must go through the
following substeps, in order. The first
step is always revealing the card or
declaring the intent to use an ability.
Then:
a) Determine the cost (to either play the
card or pay for the card’s effect) or costs
(if multiple costs are necessary for the
intended action).
b) Check play restrictions, including
verification and designation of applicable
targets or cards to be effected.
c) Apply any penalties to the cost(s).
(Any effects that modify a penalty are
applied to that penalty before it becomes
a part of the cost.)
d) Apply any other active modifiers
(including reducers) to the cost(s).
e) Pay the cost(s).
f) Play the card, or trigger the effect, and
proceed to step two.

Based on that, you have to check for play restrictions in step B before paying any costs. Your domain isn't drained until step E. I would think you could not play this card if you have no drained domains.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

That is a good point, badash. Oh well, I'm relatively new to the game so I will have some rules get by me. I think I'm used to M:tG where you tap lands first before using spells >.>

Keeping that in mind, its still a great card, just slightly trickier to get full use out of it.

I got an official ruling from Damon on that particular issue. You can't target the domain used to pay for Feed Her Young. I still love the card though!