How to play Opener of the Way | Winning with Style in Cthulhu Wars

[@FaeCube]

Petersen Games linked to this, your Sleeper, and your Windwalker videos on their latest OS4 Kickstarter update, if you didn't already know. Hopefully this brings some more attention to this channel, you deserve it.

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Whoah! I hadn’t see that update yet, thanks for sharing! 🙏

[@randomaccessfemale]

Last game I played with Opener against Sleeper and Crawling Chaos. I was being targeted, because I was leading in Doom points (I used the Dragon Descending spellbook to get a lead). However, I controlled three gates each with a cultist and an abomination. So I basically used the Beyond One each time enemy tried to attack me and teleported out of their reach. When I got a chance I used the Dread Curse of Azathoth to snipe their GOOs. Managed to kill two, because their monsters had been spread out due to chasing me. I did win in the end due to Dragon Ascending spellbook, but it was a close one. Weird game. I never even used Million Favored Ones, because the enemy always managed to kill all my units in battles. I was only left with the abominations.

[@marcosgarciarebes9641]

I think the perfect timing to do Dragon Descending is as a game ending move, when you are at 12 doom and 6 gates or 15 doom and 5 gates. That way the other players can´t react against you because of your sudden advantage as you say in the video. Only thing to take care about is to make sure no other will have more points than you via Elder Signs. This also allows you to pick it as your last spellbook, since you don´t need to use it before to affect the course of the game like the others.

[@davidandersson7642]

Great series. My tip would be don't forget to fight. It can be really easy to get caught in a war of attrition teleporting gates away and then having the enemy summon a monster at the new location and then teleporting the gate away again etc, but that wastes your power. Be willing to fight even if you're scared of the odds. It typically gets the job done for less power.

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Our last game, Ramsey played Opener of the Way against Lydon (Cthulhu), Steve (Black Goat), me - Richard (Crawling Chaos). I surged forward, but too fast and the rest stomped me down leaving Opener of the Way to win. His struggle was that he didn't lose a troop until almost the end, he kept rolling kills and everyone else kept rolling pains. He also got terrifically lucky with Dread Curse, it was a pretty nuts game and he won in the late 40s with Cthulhu mid 30s and me late 20s. Gotta be willing to fight!

[@bearhustler]

I've had that issue in my last two games, I've been trying to lose mutants to get my spell book and they just keep winning !

[@ocularorb4021]

wow that gate steal is mean, I love it.

[@joshualabello]

I get the spell book for opening monsters at other gates first - then I like to summon my great old one at an enemy gate right after they summon theirs... then I get two spell books at once.

[@GreyWizardInsights]

That’s great! So on one action, you summon a spawn of yog sothoth at their gate, then your next action you replace it with yog sothoth for 6 power? Do you worry they will kill your spawn before you get the combo off?

[@joshualabello]

DorkSideGaming well... I first identify the least aggressive player in the group, haha.

[@joshualabello]

If they kill my spawn, I get another spellbook. Win-win.

[@attiladukai2121]

Yog-Sothot is simply epic. I mean, gosh...

[@pskhoury]

Love the video, pls do Sleepers next time :)

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Ok! I will!

[@FrozenFlesh]

Love those videos! I don't even have the game yet, but it's so entertaining xD

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Thanks Frozen! Part of why I'm doing so many Cthulhu Wars videos is give people a lot of exposure so they can decide whether to buy the game themselves or not. :)

[@airbenderbbx]

Thanks for making these!

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Thank you for the comment! :)

[@reclusive_traveler]

uhh i had no idea he could spawn anywhere on the map i love yog sothoth but i already ordered wind walker damn

[@machete30001]

I’m new to the game and got this expansion at Pax unplugged and I love the game so very much. Question though so if you steal the gate does the enemy cultist come with it or does it stay in his area?

[@GreyWizardInsights]

The cultist gets left behind!

[@machete30001]

GreyWizardGaming thanks! Love for your content super helpful

[@bearhustler]

Sorry but that's not correct as I understand (just got CW and immediately bought OotW), any cultist - or Dark Young - on the gate comes with it. Here's the Beyond One text: "Select your unit with a Cost of 3+ in an Area with a Gate, but lacking an enemy Great Old One. Move your Unit to any Area on the map lacking a Gate. In doing so, your Unit takes the Gate with him, plus any controlling unit." Thanks for the videos though, they're very good.

[@lrexguy]

I did this strategy unconsciously and won 3 games consecutively.

[@carmine454]

What’s the piano music playing around 12:00?

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Its from the youtube free library and it was a no attribution needed music so i didn’t notate it , i’m looking for the raw files though in my archives and if i find it, i’ll post here what it’s called!

[@crazytools]

at around 4:05 you recommend starting on a land mass. You're reason explained is to make Cthulhu's submerge power less effective on you. I don't see it as a hindrance at all because Cthulhu and his gang can re-emerge on land as well as sea. Am I misunderstanding your reasoning here?

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Cthulhu often will prefer not to target land as after they re-emerge there, they have to spend a lot of power to move their surviving army back to the water. Its a small micro-optimization, if you're their target nothing will stop them from coming at you, but if they're debating between two or three targets, they're less likely to want to emerge onto land.

[@drumstick9302]

One time I trolled my friend while plays windwalker becuase I he moved yog suggoth into the arctic and I didn't have a gate there yet so I summoned ihiqua on yog suggoth because whatever effect a gate effects him so I destroyed yogsughoth by summoning ithiqua on him

[@rustydowd879]

Mutants can't be used to move gates. The monster has to be cost 3 or more. Mutants cost 2.

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Did I say that? I thought I only put out mutants to get the "spellbook for units at 2 factions", I used Abominations or Spawn for everywhere I was moving gates, if I said otherwise, let me know and I'll put in a card there to call out the issue. :( Thanks for helping clarify that for everyone!!!

[@rustydowd879]

@ 10:52 you move a gate with a mutant. I'm knit-picking, don't mind me. This is a good series. I hope you do all the factions.

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Hah! I wasn't moving the gate with the mutant using the faction power, I was physically moving the gate and mutant to be more in the camera because I knew the overhead couldn't see it! But then I mess up and say "a mutant can't summon a monster" when instead I meant "a mutant can't take the gate" (I then follow it up by saying that summoning the mutant is purely to get the spellbook, the must have units at 2 gates spellbook). Thanks for helping me on that issue! It'll help me keep an eye out for similar issues in the next video. :)

[@lukasvodicka5024]

I see 2 huge mistakes in your strategy. 1) If you move with 3+ power unit into enemy area containing a gate, an enemy will ALLWAYS spawn a monster. He has to do it. At least to prevent his cultist to being captured. So it will happend. 2) If he will spawn a monster AFTER you move into his area, he is still fine. Because you move - he spawns monster - you teleport the gate somewhere else - he will spawn a monster. So the result is the same as spawning a monster in advance. There can be only one difference. If your enemy will be able to reveal your plan, he can spawn more monsters to be better protected.

[@randomaccessfemale]

It costs 1 power to move the gate, but the enemy will eventually ran out of cheap monsters (except maybe Cthulhu or Black Goat).

[@marcosgarciarebes9641]

I agree. In a 4 player match I think you should start by building your 2nd gate like everybody else, then a spawn and you are ready to summon Yog-Sothoth in Action phase 2. This way you will have probably 2 spellbooks in turn 2 (Yog-Sothoth and the 8 gates on the map, unless Yellow Sign is playing and he didn´t build one I guess) Then I do think it is the right moment to start The Beyond One strategy, once you can appear everywhere and also promote if you survive an attack. Otherwise, I simulated what Grey Wizard does in the video as a game opener...and if Cthulhu keeps summoning deep ones every time you move the gate, neither of you two will have a 2nd gate by the end of the first Action phase. This is also a bad move for Cthulhu as well, but the case is you both start the Action phase 2 in disadvantage against the other players.

[@ghostlightx9005]

Yog-Sothoth is not a Great Old One, so how does that work with Rituals? Neither are Nyarlathotep nor Shub-Niggurath come to think of it. Kinda blows the theme.

[@GreyWizardInsights]

Are you talking about the game and the fact that they've basically categorized various powerful beings of the mythos as "Great Old One"s? I think only hardcore people really differentiate between Outer Gods and Great Old Ones, which is cool, I really love the expanded Mythos (not just Lovecraft, but everyone who has added to it), but I'm ok with them not labeling these beings as "Very Powerful Beings" VPBs, "Great Old Ones" has a bit more cache and I don't think it was have added much to separate the factions up and down on whether they were an OG or a GOO. But good catch and maybe some other people who might not have known will see this and be a bit more enlightened, thanks!

[@ghostlightx9005]

I like the phrase "Elder Horror" :)