For a thematic breakdown of the character and a short fiction vignette, check out the companion article here: https://strengthinnumbersarkham.wordpress.com/2023/06/23/character-concept-the-outsider/

Intro

Hello hello and welcome back to another thematic deckbuild with yours truly! I've been on a roll lately with the Command Center strategy, and I'm pleased to present you with a new and rather different take on the concept!

For those who aren't familiar with the term "Command Center", it refers to a deck archetype built to sit in a single location for most of the game, providing remote assistance to your allies. The most common version is in Seeker, relying on cards like In the Know to investigate globally, but you can also build a Sniper Guardian via Telescopic Sight and Springfield M1903, or a Charlie-from-Charlie's-Angels Rogue using Damning Testimony (shameless self-promotion, check that one out here: https://arkhamdb.com/decklist/view/38161/good-morning-angels-command-center-deck-guide-1.0). And there are lots of others!

Including, as of The Scarlet Keys, a very strong argument to be made in Mystic.

Summoned Servitor and Power Word, two of the three incredible Mystic Customizables, both allow you to interact anywhere on the map without leaving your current location. Servitor moves on its own, and thanks to Thrice Spoken, Bonded, or both, Power Word can evade enemies (and more!) at range.

Now this could be done in any Mystic, but I left out one significant part that CC usually incorporates, which is defending the location it's in. This isn't necessary, but often the decks will run Barricade or Hiding Spot in order to keep enemies from interfering with their setup. There are certainly Mystics with access to those cards, but you know what else (I say, being needlessly coy)? There's also a Mystic with access to a safe location enemies literally CANNOT enter!

And thus, Outsider Luke was born. Have you ever wanted to play as the embodiment of a terrible Ancient One from outside our reality, summoned by the foolish investigators to facilitate their investigation? Because I certainly have, and now you can!

Deck Breakdown

To capture the real feeling of lurking in a demiplane outside reality and sending forth your power and minions, this deck wants to spend most of its time sitting in the Dream-Gate.

To make that possible, while still allowing you to meaningfully interact with the game, we have our three CC tools: Summoned Servitor, Power Word, and Pocket Telescope.

Power Word is arguably the most significant. With Thrice Spoken, you can enthrall up to three enemies at once, and keep them all locked down with a single action. Get used to only having two actions per turn as the Outsider, because you will always want to be Power Wording–fortunately, because of Servitor (who we'll get to) and Tonguetwister, you never actually feel limited. Bonded is also pretty necessary here, because enemies can't follow you into the Dream-Gate, so you need to be able to still activate them on turns where you don't start sharing their space, or just choose to dematerialize as quickly as possible.

Three enemies out of the deck, and even wandering around helping the investigators, is already a huge swing–but that's just enemy management. What about clues? Well, here's where your loyal Herald comes in. The Summoned Servitor is your own personal monstrous companion, and thanks to Daemonic Influence plus Eyes of Flame it can move and investigate every turn, keeping it mobile and relevant throughout the game. As an added bonus, Dreaming Call lets it bounce your Gate Box to your hand in case it has run out of charges, allowing you to quickly refill it and vanish once again beyond time and space. And if the fragile, pathetic mortals who need your help are in danger, it can take a bullet or three for them with Armored Carapace–after all, like you, it cannot be killed in any way that matters, and if it does die that just gives you another chance to use Dreaming Call!

I'll get into different customizations for both of the above cards in the Variants section below–there's a lot of flexibility with the last couple points of XP!

Finally, Pocket Telescope is pretty self-explanatory. A non-exhausting tool for investigating outside your location–and since the Dream-Gate is connected to everywhere, this makes it essentially an In the Know with unlimited uses!

Now, what about the rest of the deck? Well, as you may have noticed, we haven't really used Luke's printed ability yet, aside from the (extremely useful) ability to play Power Word on enemies a location away. So the event suite provides a few more opportunities for that, namely: heavy damage hits with "I've got a plan!" for dealing with bosses as the Outsider blasts their minds with the power and terror of his true nature; stopgap ranged investigates pre-Pocket Telescope that also boost your cashflow with Burning the Midnight Oil; and, like any good Ancient One, bestowing terrible and dangerous secrets on your slaves warlocks fellow investigators with Deep Knowledge.

We also have a diverse skill suite, going hand in hand with Astronomical Atlas. I fell in love with this card on Luke during our streamed Parasomnia campaign, and I just think the amount of value from repeatedly using Deduction, Enraptured, and the rest is through the roof. These can be committed to your own tests or those of your Servitor (or even the puny mortals' if they ask nicely).

Last, but certainly not least, your loyal cultist Whitton Greene boosts your stats and those of your Servitor right from the start, while also allowing you to repeatedly trigger her ability every time you put the Dream-Gate into play. This provides economy with Astounding Revelation, digs out some of your core cards near the start of the game, and like all good cultists she can be readily sacrificed to the Servitor or just general encounter damage, should that become necessary.

Or entertaining.

Variants

With the advent of Customizables, this section gets some new pizazz! This deck has two, and both have a lot of opportunities to specialize:

• I put down Betray on Power Word because it seemed like the most thematic option, but actually the one I'm most excited about is Mercy. Fighting and evasion are only sometimes useful, and although the clue option is good, it's very limited in the locations it can actually affect. But healing? Healing is ALWAYS going to be relevant, and just in case it isn't and somehow your gang is coasting by at full health, you can grab Soul Sanctification and it is anyway! Whether you're keeping your team topped off or stacking up +2s to future tests, Mercy seems quite strong and quite fun to use.

• That being said, all of the word options are good, whether you want to find a high-agility monster to use to autoevade a boss enemy, barrage stronger foes with your minions and rip them apart, or send your thralls swarming around low-shroud locations to harvest clues.

• Servitor also gets customized on the 1xp scale. I picked soak and investigation here, but you could just as easily go for combat (if you can find some decent skills to boost it) or (the better of the two) evasion. If you cut Armored Carapace, though, I would consider cutting Dreaming Call as well, since you become much less likely to actually lose the Servitor and get to replay it for the whole Gate Box recharge thing.

• If you can spare even more Customizable XP (which at least Down the Rabbit Hole is very friendly to), Alchemical Distillation is a modern CC classic. It works less well for you than most, since you can't have other investigators in your home base, but it can facilitate loads of fun little combos with limited-use secret- or charge-based cards, plus it's just great for economy.

• Beyond that, make the event suite literally whatever you want. Does your team need movement? Nobody Shortcuts better than Luke. Maybe you prefer Spectral Razor to IGAP, or maybe your team needs damage and you decide to use both! Open Gate is a fun card that's especially thematic here, and the list goes on and on. Seeker and Mystic certainly aren't lacking for cool events–feel free to toss some of your favorite candidates for this deck in the comments below!

Conclusion

Well, I rambled on for quite a bit there. Must be the madness setting in from gazing too long upon the Outsider's decklist. Or just the fact that I haven't published a deck in a while, and it feels good to be doing it again.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this writeup! I love when mechanics and theme really come together, and this has gotta be one of the punchiest, most unified decks I've made in a while in that respect.

Become a horrifying alien god, enslave your enemies, and have a lovely day!