Great Cthulhu, Highest of the Great Old Ones - Hecatomb

THIS IS HALLOWEEN!!!

Cthulhu dresses up as the giant squid from Jules Verne.

I mentioned this in my Moloch post, but here is the genuine article. Cthulhu is a monstrous alien/deity who first appeared in H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu". Since then, the character has cemented the genre of cosmic horror fiction and has become deeply engrained in our popular culture. What is it about Cthulhu that makes him so popular? I'm not certain. If I had to guess, it's because the character is so strange and so different. He is practically a god, but instead of being an idealized human who swears his ways are beyond our understanding, he isn't idealized or human at all, and his ways and himself are beyond our understanding. Cthulhu represents something so utterly terrifying that we can't fully comprehend what it is, and because of that we fear it.

Let's look at the card. The art is something I have been bloody waiting for. Most of the art so far has been one color scheme, causing everything to blend together. Here, Cthulhu's slimy green body is sharply contrasted by the orange background, making him stand out very prominently. The art is a slightly different interpretation of the usual image, the full octopus head on a massive body, and instead seems stretched out to be more fluid and squid-like. I am perfectly fine with this, I have no idea how the traditionalists feel though.

The effects play well with the flavor in my opinion. The come-into-play effect causes your opponents to discard their hands, the sudden presence of this eldritchian abomination causing them to lose focus and go mad from the revelation. In the ongoing ability, if a player wants to attack you, they first must pay tribute to Cthulhu. Only when he is appeased will he let them pass.

Happy Halloween!