The Obligatory Cthulhu Set

MINIONS OF CTHULHU

High

Play many powerful actions that penalize you with Madness cards, and recover cards from the discard pile, often at the cost of destroying your own minions.

Description

The Minions of Cthulhu is one of the 4 factions from The Obligatory Cthulhu Set. You've joined the ranks of overwhelming almighty inevitable Cthulhu. Descend into the abyss. There is no other destiny left for you. Their complexity rating is: Medium-High. Other factions from the same set: Elder Things, Innsmouth, Miskatonic University.

Cards Overview

The Minions of Cthulhu have only 8 minions and 12 actions compared to the usual 10 and 10. The total minion base power (not counting any abilities) is 22 or an average of 2.75 per minion compared to the usual 30 and 3. They are also one of the rare factions to have received a titan from the TITANS Event Kit. Among their actions, there are: * 0 play-on-minion actions, * 3 play-on-base actions: Altar to Cthulhu, Complete the Ritual, Furthering the Cause, * 9 standard actions (2 that affect one or more minions, in bold): Corruption (2x), Cthulhu Fhtagn, It Begins Again, Madness Unleashed, Recruit by Force, The Seal is Broken, Whispers in Darkness (2x), * 0 actions that directly increase a minion's power.

1x Altar to Cthulhu - Play on a base. Ongoing: Once per turn, after you play a minion here, you may play an extra action. 1x Complete the Ritual - Play on a base where you have a minion. Ongoing: At the start of your turn, place all cards here on the bottom of their owners' decks and swap this base with the top card of the base deck. 2x Corruption - Draw a Madness card. Destroy a minion. 1x Cthulhu Fhtagn - Reveal cards from the top of your deck until you have revealed two actions. Place them into your hand and put the rest of the cards on the bottom of your deck. 1x Furthering the Cause - Play on a base. Ongoing: At the end of every turn, if another player’s minion here was destroyed, gain 1 VP. 1x It Begins Again - Shuffle any number of actions from your discard pile into your deck. 1x Madness Unleashed - Discard any number of Madness cards. For each one discarded, you may draw a card and play an extra action this turn. 1x Recruit by Force - Place any number of minions of power 3 or less from your discard pile on top of your deck. 1x The Seal is Broken - Draw a Madness card. Gain 1 VP. 2x Whispers in Darkness - Draw a Madness card. You may play two extra actions this turn.

Actions

Characters

1x Star-Spawn of Cthulhu - power 5 - Talent: Place a Madness card from your hand into another player’s hand. 3x Cthulhu’s Chosen - power 3 - Special: Before a base scores, you may draw a Madness card to give this minion +2 power until the end of the turn. 4x Servitor of Cthulhu - power 2 - Talent: Destroy this minion and place an action card from your discard pile on top of your deck.

Strategy

Minions of Cthulhu enable a variety of playstyles and goals.

Synergies

Minions of Cthulhu enable a variety of playstyles and goals. Maybe you like to dance with devils, harass your opponents, stack your deck and replay cards, play a lot of actions, or pull off crazy wild combos with their unique abilities. The best partner factions accomplish more than one of these at the same time. *Wizards: This faction is great for getting used to the Minions of Cthulhu. They make managing Madness much easier and help you find good cards, so you can focus on the fun aspects of the Minions. It's an addicting thrill to blitz heedlessly through your deck like a runaway train, but it is more effective to take a measured approach and make the most of your cards before drawing more with Madness. *Innsmouth: Mysteries of the Deep is extremely valuable, as are extra minion plays when combined with Altar to Cthulhu. Recycling Recruitment via Servitors makes it possible to play all 18 of your minions in a single turn, with corresponding action plays and Madness cards. *Miskatonic University: Play even more Madness cards to dive to the bottom of your deck, then recycle the University's amazing return cards. Jump on the chance to win the base Miskatonic University. *Itty Critters: These themes don't have much in common, right? Mechanically, they have a bizarre amount of synergy. Both are excellent at selecting cards with which to refill your deck, and a talent loop lets you replay an extra action every turn (Critter Champion with Altar > Servitor > Rainboroc). Itty Critters let you return Star-Spawn to your deck, and offer a few very impactful actions like Critter Cube. *Elder Things: Fill some of the gaps in the Minions, like Begin the Summoning of Star-Spawn, and break bases much easier. Force everyone else to feel your Madness to slow down the game and counteract whatever Madness cards you end up with.

Tips

Along the many paths you can take through this labyrinth of powers and penalties, you can lose your way, take wrong turns, hit dead ends, and destroy yourself. On the other hand, many cards have no upper limits to their effects. The Minions reward ambition, a cool head under stress, and long-term, flexible planning. The Minions have less power than the average faction. Of their minions, only Cthulhu's Chosen is any good at winning bases, but you don't have to wait long to play them on the next base if you Recruit them by Force. You need to get Chosens onto bases that others want to break; he specializes in edging up to second or third place. It is ironic that you lose half of The Seal is Broken's VP if you don't get rid of the Madness card. The more you slow down the game, the more you can replay this card.

Mechanics

Play many powerful actions that penalize you with Madness cards, and recover cards from the discard pile, often at the cost of destroying your own minions.

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