donald made an interesting point in the other thread, about there not being an old ones thread in quite awhile. i remember on the old forum there was a thread comparing them and all. i think i started an AO thread about who we wanted to see reprinted in core. but core is here now. so here is the current list of AO and lets discuss these beasts. hope i didnt miss any cause we cant edit posts.

-- Cthulhu --
•Bokrug, The Great Water Lizard
-------------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 6
Skill : 6
Icons : TTCCA
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Toughness +3. Bokrug's text box cannot be blanked, or treated as if it were blank. Forced Response: After Bokrug is wounded as the result of a C struggle, choose and wound another character committed to that story, if able.

-- Cthulhu --
•Ghatanothoa, Lord of the Volcano
---------------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 6
Skill : 6
Icons : TTTCC
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Toughness +3. Ghatanothoa's text box cannot be blanked, or treated as if it were blank. Ghatanothoa gains a C icon for each card in your hand.

-- Hastur --
•Atlach-Nacha, The Spider God
-----------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 6
Skill : 6
Icons : TTTTA
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Toughness +3. Atlach-Nacha's text box cannot be blanked, or treated as if it were blank. Response: After Atlach-Nacha commits to a story, discard the top card of any opponent's deck. If that card is not a character card, place 1 success token on that story.

-- Yog-Sothoth --
•Cthuga, Fiery Conflagration
----------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 6
Skill : 6
Icons : TTCCC
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Toughness +3. Cthugha's text box cannot be blanked, or treated as if it were blank. While Cthugha is committed to a story, all other characters committed to that story do not count their C icons.

-- Shub-Niggurath --
•Nyogtha, The Sentient Void
---------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 6
Skill : 6
Icons : TTTTC
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Toughness +3. Nyogtha's text box cannot be blanked, or treated as if it were blank. Action: Sacrifice a Monster character to ready Nyogtha, or to remove a wound token from Nyogtha.

-- Cthulhu --
•Cthulhu, The Great Old One
---------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 6
Skill : 8
Icons : TTCCA
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Invulnerability. Forced Response: After a player draws cards during his draw phase, he must sacrifice a character, if able.

-- Cthulhu --
•Dagon, Father of the Deep
--------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 5
Skill : 5
Icons : TTAA
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Invulnerability. Disrupt: Pay 1 and sacrifice a Deep One character to cancel the effects of an event card that would destroy Dagon.

-- Hastur --
•Hastur, The King in Yellow
---------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 6
Skill : 6
Icons : TTTAA
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Toughness +4. Action: Pay 3 to choose a character. That character goes insane.

-- Yog-Sothoth --
•Yog-Sothoth, In Whom the Spheres Meet
--------------------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 8
Skill : 8
Icons : TTCCA
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Invulnerability. Lower the cost to play Yog-Sothoth by 1 for each Spell card in your discard pile (to a minimum of 1).

-- Shub-Niggurath --
•Shub-Niggurath, The All Mother
-------------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 7
Skill : 7
Icons : TTTCA
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Invulnerability. Action: Pay 3 to search your deck for a Dark Young character and put that character into play. Then shuffle your deck.

-- Shub-Niggurath --
•Y'Golonac, The Obscenity
-------------------------
Type : Character
Cost : 4
Skill : 4
Icons : TTCA
Subtype : Ancient One.
Game Text: Villainous. Invulnerability. Action: Pay 1 to choose and ready a character. That character must commit to the same story as Y'Golonac, if able.

I still favor UT CT and Yig for most cool and useful. Neutral Nodens can't compete at this last tier of the bracket. I thought Donald was refering to the handle of one of the original brilliant board members, who pre-dates even the most mezazoic of cthulhu board cultists. Still, great thread PJ.

well im gonna base all my comments off the current lcg game, rather than comparing them to some of the older cards. cause some had better abilites than these AO

Bokrug

the wounding another character ability is kinda useless. to choose to wound isnt usually bad, but you can just go in there and win the struggle and let them pick who to wound. if there was a way to surprise your opponent with this ability maybe this would be useful. if it was wound any character, then willingly losing the struggle would be worth it.

Ghatanothoa

again not very great. how many combat icons do you really need on one character? and he doesnt work to well with Bokrug since these is a combat machine youll probably never lose the struggle. so cant even do any team-ups with the two from the pack.

Atlach-Nacha

now i like this guy. AO are meant to go to stories and his abilities give you alittle something for doing what you should be doing anyways. not gonna deck anyone with this guy but throw in some snow graves along with him and he can become pretty annoying. plus the chance, and a pretty good one to get a success on the story for nearly free isnt bad either.

Cthuga

alright this guy automatically wins combat struggles, good times. chess prodigy might throw a wrench into the plans but this guy isnt too bad.

Nyogtha

another useless ability. ancient guardian can ready things for 1, and removing a wound isnt that needed. now if it had sac a monster move a wound to another character his ability might be good (i know i said i wouldnt compare to old cards) but even in this format removing a wound by removing a character doesnt seem like a good payoff. just send that monster in with him, either he can soak the wound for it, or might give enough combat to win it anyways.

Cthulhu

well the man that got a game named after him better be good right? ive always liked this guy. you decide when to play this guy so make sure you have an army on the table already or just have enough cheap characters to keep feeding him. 6 cost 8 skill pretty good deal too. but it shouldnt be hard to be prepared to handle his ability while the other player isnt, unless theyre running him also in their deck.

Dagon

pretty cheap AO his ability could be handy. so not bad. invulnerability is usually on expensive guys, and he's cheaper than those.

Hastur

will we ever see a great hastur??? first off no invulnerability, what gives? then no combat to defend himself with. this AO cant even hold his own in a fight. well he can kinda for a few turns. but he should dominate like the others. short fuse will take him out. hastur (the faction) needs more cheap ways to remove terror. messenger isnt bad. but having to drain two domains to use scotophobia and his abiltity is a bit much. and seeing how the gug is pay 4 and wound a character. paying 3 to drive mostly only those weak humans insane doesnt seem fair. hastur should be better in so many ways. seriously this game needs a good hastur. they need to make a new hastur. the other reprints are fine, but this guy is so weak.

Yog-Sothoth

not quite the 6 cost of Cthulhu but he's not bad if you can get him out early. and with the opener that should help. so if you cant get him out quick its kinda meh. nothing bad, but nothing great.

Shub-Niggurath

she's not all that great in and of herself but beneath the porch is great, then you can use her abiltiy and get a free dark young. on top of that ghoulish worshipper will reduce her cost, plus the preistess of bubastis. she might be easier to get in to play for cheap than Yog. could use a few more dark youngs but getting to seach for ancient guardian and point it in play for 3 is pretty good since it normally costs 4.

Y'Golonac

4 cost!!! wow this guy was always pretty good. another cheap invulnerability. and the fact that he can ready Nyogtha only shows that sac a creature to ready is pretty pointless. but do you really need 2 AO at one story probably not. also forcing the opponent to face this guy can be fun. any character sitting back exhausting to use its ability isnt safe with this guy out there.

well those are my opinions on the current AO. hope we get more and i really hope they make a decent hastur soon.

johnny shoes said:

Actualy, I think he was referring to any of the old players, calling them simply "The Old Ones".

I think I am the oldest of the "Old Ones." I was the second member on the original message board (about 8-10 incarnations ago) right after Christian Peterson, who posted a message welcoming people to the boards.

PearlJamaholic said:

I may come back and review the other ones later but I had to share my experience with the King in Yellow.

He is the most commonly played AO in my meta. Almost every deck I face has Hastur as one of the deck factions. One domain gets built to 6 to play him and the other domains all get loaded up to 3, so he can fire off. Then, they wait until Scotophobia shows up, usually play it at a time when they can most affect stories, or when they have 3-4 three resource domains set up and start bringing the insanity. He may not be the greatest card ever, but he is very effective (my poor Slavering Gugs and Tcho-Tcho People are often consumed as fast as possible.) And they often have enough characters out to stall until their domains build up to the proper size. It's scary.

johnny shoes said:

Interesting. Around my group Nodens is the most often used AO. Followed closely by Hastur: King in Yellow and Yog-Sothoth: In Whom the Spheres Meet..

I am in a new group and play LCG only. Otherwise, Nodens, Yig, and Ithaqua would see top billing.

Nodens is right at the top. For cost 3 toughness, Swaying Branches and Guardian Shoggoth (and for otherwise weak MU, Govenment Liaison) offer Nodens some competition. Factional over Neutral always a factor too. Rare over fixed perhaps. But it is Nodens' board sweep ability for high skill decks that sets him apart. That and his artwork, which is absolutely perfect - dolphins, chariots, shells, beasts of legend and all. Certainly the illustration needs a larger surface; but that can't be helped.

Yog Cost Eight minus spells is a beauty and a classic. Epitomal yog reccursion. Still feels expensive to me. But the spells, I hear you cry! Unspeakable Resurrection! Calling Down the Ancients, A Single Glimpse, Alter Reality, Dreams in Limbo! Umm, I think I un-convinced myself.

There is nothing wrong with Toughness +4 King in Yellow. An equally original card and image and game iconography. Classic Hastur ability. He's a beauty. Classier than yig. And highly playable.

UT Cthulhu used to bug me with his anthropomorphic strong man look. He's harder to play at a stubborn cost 7 cthulhu faction. But his multiple good looks / abilities is just cool. And the image is almost as cool as Dagon, which is untouchable.

My take (based on my admittedly limited experience) on the white-bordered Ancient Ones:

Cthulhu - very situational. So far I've been reluctant to use him unless I draw him at exactly the right moment. I think I might have preferred one of his other incarnations.

Dagon - excellent for its cost. Can be decisive if you draw him early in the game and stays useful.

Hastur - I kind of like him, although he can be difficult to use against certain decks. The ability can be quite good but would be even better if there were more ways to get rid of Willpower and Terror icons.

Yog - Too expensive for what his abilities. Usually by the time I can get him out, other Ancient Ones will be out, as well. Plus I think the Yog faction is currently the weakest. Yog faction needs more cheap and/or good spells!

Shub - Slightly better than Yog. Ironically, it's easier to get her out early than Yog.

Y'Golonac - Wow! He's cheap and has an incredibly useful and flexible ability. Definitely my favorite.

Atlach-Nacha - The only really good one from the Ancient Horrors AP. Nyogtha is the weakest but can be played for a lower cost, the other three are very similar: strong in combat but unremarkable otherwise.

Hastur said:

that was kinda the idea behind this thread. just the current ones, forget the old and all. from a flavor stand point it always bothered me that the AO you listed were better than GOO and such. yig<cthulhu and the cards should reflect that.