Hi all!
You can find the decklist and the tournament report of the deck I played at the last Munich regional here: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=3343
I would like to explain it in detail. And, moreover, I would encourage you people to post your decks trying to follow an approach a bit more constructive than just posting a decklist. Explain what you want to do with the deck, why you choose some cards, etc… Just the decklist is often not enough to discuss it, especially if you have some particular interaction that might not be immediately clear to everyone.
This is basically the new version of the deck I’ve been playing the past. You can find the old versions described in the following articles:
Amsterdam Regional 2011:
http://fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=35&efcid=4&efidt=500195
Liege 2011:
Of course, the meta as evolved since then, with the release of new cards and a new restricted list. I give you the list and I will comment it later:
Shub/Cthulhu/Yog (50 cards)
3 Grasping Cthonian
3 Thunder in the East
3 Y'Golonac
3 Ghoulish Predator
3 Twilight Cannibal
3 Deep One Rising
3 Sacrificial Offering
3 Innsmouth Troublemaker
2 Carl Stanford
3 Kopesh of the Abyss (restricted)
3 dreamlands Fanatic
3 Many Angled Thing
3 calling down the Ancient
3 A single Glimpse
3 Gathering at the Stones
3 Initiation of Glaaki
3 master of the myths
How to resource:
it is quite fundamental that you start your resourcing with 3 different factions on the 3 domains. It is usually pretty easy to reach that point, since the only non usable card is the Master of the Myths that you anyway don't want to resource, but rather use it on early turns to defend or attack at stories. The usual targets for resourcing are cards with cost > 3, with some obvious priorities (meaning: if you have to choose between Initiation of Glaaki and Many Angle things, you obviously resource the event, not the character). The best domain distribution is 3-2-1. You can arrive there with 2-1-1, 3-1-1, 3-2-1 or 2-1-1, 2-2-1, 3-2-1. It depends, of course, on how you want to play the cards you have in your hand. For my personal experience, the second route is the preferred one.
How to play the deck:
You play the deck waiting. This is the simple rule. The point is that in the early turns you want to take advantage of your removals (Sacrificial Offering, calling down the Ancient) and the best way to do it is with none of your characters in play. When you have reached your optimal configuration, you can start playing the characters, because
1) you should have played the removals in your hand, and you now need to defend stories with your characters
2) you have to start to put pressure on the opponent
Usually, around turn 6-7, the board should be pretty clean and Y'golonac should come to help finish the match.
I want to point out that, even though it seems quite straightforward how to play the deck, that this version is not easy to play.
First of all, while the previous incarnations of the deck were using two factions, playing now 3 factions adds a new level of complexity. First in resourcing, and second in timing.
Second, just thinking about your next round and what you are going to play is not enough. You have to plan at least 1 turn ahead, even better two. And you have to plan trying to figure out what to do in case you draw a card instead of another one, both in term of resources and in term of which card to play.
Why did I play this deck?
Well, I played it because I like the idea of having a possible answer to almost everything my opponent can play. Of course, there are some corners that are not considered here. My guess was that no one would have been playing a Glimpse of the Void deck (and I was right). My second guess was that the meta would have been filled with support/attachment (and I was only partially right).
Were there other options?
Of course. A true rush deck would have probably been even better than this one, in this tournament. A lot of deck were built following the same line I adopted, and a well built rush deck can win the game well before I can reach a complete board control. A Glimpse of the Void deck would have been another good choice. I thought about this things before the tournament. Then, why not bring one of those "more optimal" choices? Lack of testing. In a tournament, it's not always important to play the "best" deck, but to play the deck with which you feel more familiar. I had been playing this deck for a lot of time, since the time I won the Stahleck tournament (2010). The deck has evolved but the philosophy behind it has not changed too much since then. I felt more comfortable playing this one than my other deck (that I brought with me) just because playing with it was more automatic (and the deck was better tuned).
Will I play this deck again in future tournaments?
Honestly, I don't know. I think the metagame will undergo through a big metagame shift with the next cycle, and I feel that this deck, although still powerful, will have to face decks that will exploit its weaknesses. If I will have the time to playtest seriously, I'm probably going to switch deck (if not the entire strategy behind it, I'm almost sure I will change the factions).
