Here are the 12 deck lists from our Highlander Tournament.
I've provided a brief synopsis of each deck for those of you who don't want to wade through all of the cards.
Vote on which deck you think won our tournament by posting your choice in this thread. Then go to the various "round X" threads to see the match-ups, vote on who you think won each round, and see the final results.
And yes, I realize there's a deck subforum but I figured it would just be easier to keep track of this way.
DECK: Make Me Go Away
PLAYER: David
FACTION: Order of the Silver Twilight
SYNOPSIS:
This is a mono-Silver Twilight deck that's all about character bouncing, burning through your own cards and characters to gain an advantage, and has a smattering of investigation to go into the stories unopposed for the quick win. It also has some higher-cost characters to give it stamina during longer games (which can happen in Highlander).
CHARACTERS (34)
Arcane Hunter
Basilisk
Chauncey Swan
Clifton Rosenberg
Crazy Eddie
Crooked Treasurer
Dabbler in the Unknown
Dedicated Butler
Devious Architect
Dirk Sharpe
Disgruntled Chef
Dr. Baker
Erasmus Manor
Errand Boy
Failed Initiate
Initiate of Huang Hun
Keeper of the Silver Sphere
Lodge Librarian
Lord Jeffery Farrington
Master of the Myths
Mayor Atkinson
Meticulous Scribe
Nigel St. James
Overzealous Initiate
Protector of Secrets
Recruiter for the Lodge
Senator Nathaniel Rhodes
Silver Twilight Collector
Silver Twilight Enforcer
The Three Listeners
Unscrupulous Acquisitionist
Wealthy Sponsor
Young Initiate
Zealous Secretary
EVENTS (11)
Arcane Tampering
Brazier Enchantment
Fine Dining
Hidden Agenda
Initiation
Lodge Meeting
Pose Mundane
Steal the Soul
The Spawn of Madness
Unbound!
You Know Too Much
SUPPORT (16)
Crescent Blade
Crystal of the Elder Things
Eon Chart
Key to the Inner Sanctum
Neutral Ground
Ritual of Power
Ritual of Summoning
Ritual of the Construct
Ritual of the Lance
Satchel of the Void
Secret Stiletto
Sigil of the Order
Silver Twilight Lodge
T'tka Halot
The Deodand
The Doorway
Total 61 cards
DECK: Femuhlu
PLAYER: Jason
FACTIONS: Hastur / Miskatonic University / Order of the Silver Twilight
SYNOPSIS:
This deck's theme is "the ladies of Cthulhu" - hence the name. Jason put in as many female characters as he could find. It has investigation and a fair amount of terror and "drive insane" card effects.
CHARACTERS (26)
Dabbler in the Unknown
Experiment Subject #613b
Initiate of Huang Hung
Julia Brown, Insomniac
Laboratory Assistant
Lodge Housekeeper
Master of the Myths
Mystic Bounty Hunter
Night Stalker
Performance Artist
Poltergeist
Professional Counselor
Samantha Grace
Seeker of the Profane
Sonje Olson
Strange Librarian
Struggling Artist
Student Archeologist
The Groundskeeper
Twila Katherine Price, Queen of Unknown-Kadath
Victoria Glasser
Victoria's Protege
Visiting Professor
Woman of his Dreams
Young Initiate
Zealous Secretary
EVENTS (16)
Assist Dreamer
Blind Submission
Finale Note
Full Ride Scholarship
Perpetual Silence
Pervasive Silence
Pose Mundane
Power Drain
Restless and Wary
Scotophobia
Sleepless Nights
Spawn of the Sleeper
The Sleep of the Dead
The Spawn of Madness
Total Eclipse
Unearthing the Ancients
SUPPORT (5)
Dream Dagger
Ritual of Inferno
Secret Stiletto
The Oubliettes
Victoria's Loft
Total 50 Cards
NOTE: This deck list was 3 cards short.
DECK: Government Payroll
PLAYER: Jefferson
FACTION: Agency
SYNOPSIS:
A well-rounded mono-Agency deck with lots of combat, solid support cards (weapons), some investigation and a few heavy-hitters.
CHARACTERS (27)
Agency Groundskeeper
Confident Rookie
Dr. Cornelius Rose
Dr. Henshaw
Elena Belskaia
Government Exorcist
James Logan
John and Jesse Burke
Kirby O'Donnell
Local Sheriff
Marcus Jamburg
Marshall Greene
Mr. Grey
Mr. Ngambe
Nathaniel Elton
New Recruit
Paul Lemond
Phoebe Kotas
Peeler
Shadow Team
Secret Service Agent
Special Agent Clarkston
Terrible Old Man
The Cats of Ulthar
Thomas F. Malone
Trial Judge
Undercover Security
EVENTS (12)
Behind Bars
Cover Up
Daybreak
Flanking Maneuver
Flush Them Out
Inside Information
Out of the Darkness
Recovered Icebreaker
Shadow War
Short Fuse
Small Price to Pay
Shotgun Blast
SUPPORT (10)
Dynamite
Federal Vault
Holy Rosary
Machete
Military Bike
Price Manor
Prize Pistol
Shotgun
Sledgehammer
The Barque Miskatonic
CONSPIRACY (1)
The Guardian of the Key
Total 50 cards
DECK: Skill
PLAYER: Gavin
FACTIONS: Hastur / Syndicate / Shub-Niggurath / Yog-Sothoth
SYNOPSIS:
This deck utilizes the Syndicate's skill reduction, exhaustion and investigation, paired with the character theft abilities of Hastur, and the card recursion and sacrifice effects of Yog.
CHARACTERS (27)
Black Dog
Clover Club Bouncer
Clover Club Torch Singer
Danny O'Bannion's Crony
Demon Lover
Diseased Sewer Rat
Faceless Abductor
Friend of the Family
Fugitive Scientist
Guardian of the Key
Inside Man
Jon Pechon
Long-Dead Prince
Many-Angled Thing
Marcus Jamburg
Master of the Myths
Mauren de Garmeaux
Mr. David Pan
Performance Artist
Reclaimed Servant
Red-Gloved Man
Sergeant Donnelly
Servant to the Elder Gods
Spell-Bound Shoggoth
Street Tough
Tattoo Artist
Trigger Man
EVENTS (10)
Curse of the Stone
Eldritch Nexus
Feint
Gathering at the Stones
Palpable Unhappiness
Parallel Universe
Political Demonstration
Ritual of Bellephar
Tear Gas
Unorthodox Tactics
SUPPORT (13)
Bound and Gagged
Crowbar
Eltdown Shards
Forbidden Shrine
Ice Shaft
Infernal Obsession
O'Bannion's Ledger
Snow Graves
Stygian Eye
Terrors in the Dark
The Guzheng
The Necronomicon, Theodorus Philetas Translation
Trophy Room
Total 50 Cards
DECK: Crazy Cthulhu
PLAYER: Nick
FACTIONS: Cthulhu / Hastur
SYNOPSIS:
With a central theme of Byakhees, this deck has plenty to drive characters insane, steal opposing characters and power through the combat struggle. It also has a smattering of character destruction and hand discard/milling.
CHARACTERS (27)
Backwater Deep One
Bloated Leng Spider
Brood of Yig
Byakhee Servant
Carl Stanford
Crazed Arsonist
Demon Lover
Deranged Diva
Deranged Sailor
Erich Zann
Feathered Serpent
Fledgling Byakhee
Horrific Shoggoth
Long-Dead Prince
Mad Artist
Marcus Jamburg
Messenger from Hali
Moonbound Byakhee
Nightstalker
Old Man of the Woods
Shadowy Figure
Somnambulant Dreamer
Swooping Byakhee
Those Without Faces
Urumi
Victoria Glasser
Wraith
EVENTS (11)
Blind Submission
Byakhee Attack
Come With Us
Dragged to the Deep
Mnomquah's Serpent
Ophidian Blight
Palpable Unhappiness
Power Drain
Pulled Under
Spawn of the Sleeper
The Greatest Fear
SUPPORT (11)
Called by Azathoth
Communal Shower
Guardian Beast
Infernal Obsession
Monophobia
Sleep of Reason
Stygian Eye
Sword of Y'ha-tallo
Terrors in the Dark
The Guzheng
The Setting Sun
CONSPIRACY (1)
In the Court of the Dragon
Total 50 cards
DECK: Dreams and Ghouls
PLAYER: Katherine
FACTION: Shub-Niggurath
SYNOPSIS:
The most thematic deck of our tournament, it makes excellent use of the Zoog's resourcing abilities and Shub's cost reducers/resource accelerators to bring out some heavy hitters. This deck also draws upon the Dreamer subtype and Night to attack opponents from an unexpected angle. It is heavy on Support cards at the expense of Events.
CHARACTERS (29)
Albino Goat-Spawn
Ancient Zoog
Basil Elton
Black Dog
Clever Zoog
Curious Zoog
Degenerate Ghoul
Dimensional Worm
Dreamlands Wanderer
Feasting Ghouls
Furtive Zoog
Ghoul Spawn
Ghoulish Hag
Ghoulish Predator
Ghoulish Thrill Seeker
Ghoulish Worshipper
Inconspicuous Zoog
Insect Swarm
Kaman-Thah
Mind Eater
Moonbeast Captain
Nasht
Secretive Zoog
Shuggob, Ghoul Sage
Small Ghouls
Stealthy Zoog
The Night
Twilight Cannibal
Ya-te-veo
EVENTS (5)
Assist Dreamer
Back From the Dead
Blasphemous Dreams
The Sleep of the Dead
The Dark Side of the Moon
SUPPORT (16)
Altar of the Blessed
Dhole Tunnel
Dream Dagger
Dreamlands Eclipse
Eat the Dead
Ghoul Taint
Guardian Pillar
Mask of Rakinui
Moon-Beast Galley
Terrors in the Dark
The Enchanted Wood
The Rope and Anchor Tavern
The Setting Sun
The Vale of Pnath
Voice of the Jungle
Zoog Burrow
Total 50 cards
DECK: Miskallaneous, Etc…
PLAYER: Mart
FACTION: Miskatonic University
SYNOPSIS:
This deck includes the standard strengths of M.U. - cheap characters, multiple investigation struggles, superior arcane and investigation icons - with the added attack strategy of gaining extra success tokens through events and character effects, as well stealing them from your opponent.
CHARACTERS (30)
Anthropology Advisor
Chess Prodigy
Dabbler in the Unknown
Descendant of Eibon
Dr. Carson
Dr. Mya Badry
Eryn Cochwyn, Curious and Precocious
Focused Art Student
Hapless Grad Student
Harlan Earnstone
Laboratory Assistant
Lecturing Historian
Mad Genius
Medical Student
Museum Curator
Obscure Linguist
Omega Alumnus
Professional Counselor
Professor Nathaniel Peaslee
Professor of Folklore
Professor Sam Campbell
Research Assistant
Scholarly Plagiarist
Soothsayer
Student of the Profane
The Red-Gloved Man
Thomas Olney
Vaage Randers
Visiting Author
Watchful Naturalist
EVENTS (14)
A Fortunate Accident
Beneath the Mire
Beneath the Surface
Binding
Changing the Names
Deciphered History
Dr. Carson's Treatment
Misinformation
Moving the Scenery
Rush Week
The Sleep of the Dead
Stealing the Glory
The Greatest Fear
With a Fine Toothed Comb
SUPPORT (7)
Atwood Science Hall
Combing the Archives
Disc of Itzamna
Ice Shaft
Infirmary
Mask of Sthenelus
Open for Inspection
Total 51 cards
DECK: Can You Spell Mi-Go?
PLAYER: Grant
FACTIONS: Shub-Niggurath / Yog-Sothoth
SYNOPSIS:
An ambitious Highlander deck - both thematically and mechanically - that manages to cover all the bases. Character-wise, the deck has a good variety of early blockers, icon boosting and late-game heavy-hitters. It also utilizes the resource acceleration and support-card destruction of Shub, while at the same time taking advantage of Yog's card recursion and sacrifice effects. It achieves a nice balance between the 3 card types.
And it has a pretty clever name (with 9 spells and 9 Mi-Gos).
CHARACTERS (27)
Ageless Mi-Go
Albino Goat-Spawn
Arcane Initiate
Cannibal Ghast
Dreamlands Messenger
Enraged Gug
Guardian of the Key
Harvesting Mi-Go
Hideous Guardian
Lucas Corn
Master of the Myths
Mi-Go Caretaker
Mi-Go Commander
Mi-Go Guard
Mi-Go Observer
Mi-Go Scout
Mi-Go Surgeon
Mi-Go Warrior
Mind Eater
One of a Thousand
Puj-Dunk
Tcho Tcho Tribe
The Sleepwalker
Wandering Gug
Wooden Homunculus
Y'Golonac
Yog-Sothoth, In Whom the Spheres Meet
EVENTS (15)
A Single Glimpse
Burrowing Beneath
Calling Down the Ancients
Chant of Thoth
Curse of the Stone
Dreams in Limbo
Feed Her Young
Fist of Yog-Sothoth
Journey to the Other Side
Mi-Go Dreams
Path of Blood
Shocking Transformation
Speak to the Dead
Thunder in the East
Unspeakable Resurrection
SUPPORT (10)
Book of Iod
City of Gugs
Cursed Skull
Flesh Ward
Idol of Abomination
Inter-Dimensional Transporter
Mi-Go Brain Cylinder
Mi-Go Skull
Snow Graves
Voice of the Jungle
Total 52 cards
Ooh, I have a couple guesses of who DIDN'T win, but I want to see the rest of the decks before trying to predict who did
My apologies to everyone for not getting all of these deck lists out yet. It actually takes a while to transcribe them from the list, organize them by card type and then post them here. I'm working on more of them tonight and should be done soon, I promise!
One thing I hope people reading through these lists appreciate is the diversity of decks we had at our tournament. This is the first time we've had 3- and 4-faction decks played in a competitive environment. Due to the restrictive nature of the Highlander format, a lot of cards hit the table that I've never played against, or combinations of cards interacting in ways I had never seen before, which made it a lot of fun.
When first designing my own deck I'll admit I wasn't very excited by the prospect of playing in a Highlander tournament, which is sad as I was the one promoting the event. It was only after I started playing with a Highlander deck - especially against standard decks - that I really came to enjoy this format. In fact, I think the added challenge this variant provides made for some of the best Call of Cthulhu games I've had yet.
Now, back to typing…
DECK: Darius
PLAYER: Greg
FACTIONS: Agency / Miskatonic University
SYNOPSIS:
A fast, cheap, character-heavy deck with plenty of combat and investigation designed to get rolling from turn 1 and wrap things up in a hurry. It also has a decent amount of control cards (either through direct damage or icon removal) to take out troubling characters early on. A classic weenie "G-Men Go to College" deck.
CHARACTERS (34)
Agency Medic
Ammunition Expert
Anthropology Advisor
Cafeteria Lady
Chess Prodigy
Dabbler in the Unknown
Diseased Sewer Rats
Femme Fatale
Freelance Agent
Freelance Occultist
Hapless Grad Student
Hired Muscle
Kirby O'Donnell
Laboratory Assistant
Mad Genius
Marshall Greene
Monster Hunter
Mystic Bounty Hunter
Natural Philosopher
Norm Grabowski
Paranormal Specialist
Paul LeMond
Peeler
Professor Hermann Mulder
Safari Hunter
Scholarly Plagiarist
Seeker of Mysteries
Soothsayer
Steve Clarney
Strange Librarian
Student Archeologist
Tithe Collector
Undercover Security
Visiting Author
EVENTS (8)
A Small Price to Pay
Binding
Inside Information
Political Demonstration
Short Fuse
Shotgun Blast
Torch the Joint
With a Fine Tooth Comb
SUPPORT (8)
.45 Pistol
Atwood Science Hall
Beneath the Burning Sun
Celano Fragments
Hand Restraints
Lightning Gun
Shotgun
Tcho-Tcho Talisman
Total 50 cards
Yipe said:
This. I am obviously biased towards the highlander format with all the harping and proselytizing that I have done, but I really could not agree more.
My favorite is playing a Highlander deck against competitive standard-format decks. It's just so much fun, especially if I win, heh-heh.
DECK: Straight Jacket
PLAYER: Chad
FACTION: Hastur
SYNOPSIS:
Bring on the crazy train! This deck is laser-focused on winning the terror struggle and driving opposing characters insane, with the added fun of some character theft to make things even nuttier.
CHARACTERS (33)
Altach-Nacha
Aspiring Artist
Bearer of the Yellow Sign
Black Dog
Bringer of Fire
Clever Zoog
Crazed Arsonist
Dangerous Inmate
Deranged Diva
Diseased Sewer Rats
Erich Zann
Fledgling Byakhee
Freelance Agent
Hastur, Lord of Carcosa
Long-Dead Prince
Mad Artist
Master of Amulets
Master of the Myths
Messenger From Beyond
Messenger from Hali
Military Advisor
Overzealous Initiate
Performance Artist
Renowned Sculptor
Seeker of Mysteries
Stealthy Byakhee
Swooping Byakhee
The Red-Gloved Man
Thing From Nightmare
Thing From the Stars
Victoria Glasser
Wandering Inmate
Yellow Muse
EVENTS (13)
Agoraphobia
Blind Submission
Brain Transplant
Despair
Eldritch Nexus
Inside Information
Lost to the Madness
Power Drain
Scotophobia
The Sirens of Hell
The Spawn of Madness
The Yellow Sign
Writhing Wall
SUPPORT (15)
Gentleman's Club
Getaway Vehicle
Guardian Beast
Infernal Obsession
Local Brew
Magnifying Glass
Song of Suffering
Sedated
Stygian Eye
Tattoo Parlor
Tcho-Tcho Talisman
Terrifying Visage
Terrors in the Dark
Vaporous Isle
Victoria's Loft
Total 61 cards
Yipe said:
I have done this a few times by accident. Grabbing a deck without realizing it is highlander, only to realize that my tempo is waaaaaay off by the middle of the game. It is surprising how well I do sometimes with them. I groan at first, then I sit up straight and get into the mood for a real puzzle to solve, Testing the limits it has.
DECK: Minions of Insanity and Chaos!
PLAYER: Christian
FACTIONS: Cthulhu / Hastur / Miskatonic University / Syndicate / Yog-Sothoth
SYNOPSIS:
The tournament's most complex deck in terms of faction-resource management, this has a little bit of everything.
It can repeatedly drive characters insane, steal characters, exhaust characters, sacrifice characters, win the investigation struggle, discard, mill and recite from memory arcane and ancient manuscripts the likes man was never intended to read… in seven different languages, no less. Basically, it does it all.
CHARACTERS (27)
Alyssa Graham
Blood Magician
Clover Club Executive
Crazed Arsonist
Dangerous Inmate
Dr. Carson
Inside Man
Mad Genius
Many-Angled Thing
Marueen de Garmeaux
Mentor to Vaughn
Obscene Byakhee
Old Man of the Woods
Overzealous Initiate
Predatory Byakhee
Shrieking Byakhee
Shoshana Hatch
Silver Twilight Temptress
Sinister Clerk
Somnambulant Dreamer
Strange Librarian
Swooping Byakhee
The Marked
The Sleepwalker
Tunnel Lurker
Victoria's Protege
Victoria Glasser
EVENTS (9)
Blind Submission
Byakhee Attack
Eldritch Nexus
Horrid Dreams
Horrifying Daydreams
Mnomquah's Serpent
Polar Mirage
Political Demonstration
Ritual of Bellephar
SUPPORT (12)
Arkham Asylum
Blackmoor Estate
Called by Azathoth
Eltdown Shards
Hermetic Text
Infernal Obsession
Prism of Many Views
Seventh House on the Left
Snow Graves
Stygian Eye
Terrors in the Dark
The Necronomicon
Total 50 cards
NOTE: This deck list was 2 cards short.
And the final deck. Last up we have…
DECK: Lo Pan's Panacea
PLAYER: Matt
FACTIONS: Hastur / Syndicate
SYNOPSIS:
This sprint deck combines skill reduction, exhaustion/removal, and character theft with a smattering of investigation. It's cheap, fast, and has just enough character removal to disrupt an opponent's tempo in the hope of a quick win.
CHARACTERS (29)
Anarchist
Bag Man
Clover Club Bouncer
Clover Club Torch Singer
Dangerous Inmate
Demon Lover
Deranged Diva
Diseased Sewer Rats
Fixer
Fugitive Scientist
Ghost
Hard Case
Hack Journalist
Inside Man
Lady Lu Chu
Long-Dead Prince
Lookout
Marcus Jamburg
Maureen de Garmeaux
Mr. David Pan
Pasty Thief for Hire
Performance Artist
Stealthy Byakhee
Street Tough
Tattoo Artist
The Marked
Thief for Hire
Victoria Glasser
Victoria's Protege
EVENTS (13)
Aperiophobia
Blind Submission
Byakhee Attack
Forcing the Truth
Go Underground
Intimidate
Kidnapping 101
Like a Moth
Low Blow
Palpable Unhappiness
Tear Gas
The Sirens of Hell
White Out
SUPPORT (8)
Bound and Gagged
Crowbar
Ice Shaft
Infernal Obsession
O'Bannion's Ledger
Parallel Universe
The Guzheng
Stygian Eye
Total 50 cards
Alrighty then, all 12 decks are posted. Man, I thought the typing would never end…
Feel free to vote for the deck you think put ye olde "Connor MacLeod" to the competition.
Also, keep an eye out for the "Round 1" thread where you can see the starting match-ups and wager whom you think survived the initial onslaught. Once a decent number of votes are in (depending on interest), I'll reveal the first round's results and we'll move on to the second round.
And remember, there can be only one!
Here's the link to the round 1 pairings:
Thanks, I'm planning on going through these after work and see if I can make any good predictions.
Also, win or lose doing mono-highlander Silver Twilight with their smaller card pool is pretty ballsy
dboeren said:
Also, win or lose doing mono-highlander Silver Twilight with their smaller card pool is pretty ballsy
I thought David's choice to go all Silver Twilight was pretty neat myself. He had another multi-faction deck (M.U. + Hastur + Yog, I believe) that was also quite good, but opted to play Lodge for the surprise factor.
I'm working on the formatting in the "Round 1" thread to make comparing the decks a little easier.
I've done this sort of forum contest with other games, but the lists were much shorter and simpler to digest. Plus those forums had the option to make polls so people could click to vote, which garners a lot more responses.
Wow, I have no idea since I've never played Highlander myself. I'd probably say the Agency/MU rush deck. More characters and more control sound good.
Alright, we've got our fist vote in! Anyone else?
And if you've never played Highlander, I definitely recommend giving it a try. As I wrote earlier, I wasn't excited by this format until I started playing it - it took me 3 months to get motivated to make a Highlander deck, and I only did it because of this tournament.
Now I'm sold. The added tension of resourcing alone makes this variant so much fun, but I also like seeing the variety of cards that hit the table (and how they interact in unexpected ways).
Lol i loves these threads. i wish i could vote!