I've been playing a 100% Mi-Go deck for a few months now and it's been surprisingly effective.  Granted, it does include a few CCG-era cards, but I'm looking to swap those once I pick up more Asylum Packs.  I plan on adding Inter-Dimensional Transporter, Harvesting Mi-Go and Mi-Go Observer soon (I would also use Mi-Go Dreams but I'm waiting for the Dreamlands cycle to be reprinted in the 60-card format).

I built this deck because the Mi-Go are my favorite Cthulhu critters, not because I thought it would make for a great deck.  As most players here would agree, I didn't expect it to be viable in play, but I was wrong.  It's won every time I've used it save once vs my main opponent's new mono-Hastur deck, and even that game was extremely close - I ran out of cards on the Terror struggle while I would've won the game during the Investigation struggle on the same story.  I don't think it gets much closer than that!

The cons are obvious and have already been stated - little to no defense against the terror struggle (especially multiple terror struggles or triggered effects that make your characters go insane) and a lack of 1-cost characters.  I'll also throw in weak Support card removal, though that could be my inexperience with the game.

The pros?  I'll disagree that they don't do well in the combat phase.  The Mi-Go Guard is no slouch and can be a real headache for your opponent.  You can rack up a daunting number of C icons quite fast.  The same goes for Investigation.  I also find that The Second Dragon story card is a great boon to a Mi-Go deck.  Finally, the Mi-Go characters are completely generic and interchangeable, which means you can sacrifice them to Terror or Combat without losing any key elements.  This is critical to their success.

Here's the deck I've been using.  I'm sure the pros on this board could tear it apart, but it's been doing well with the people I play against:

CHARACTERS (26)
x3 Ageless Mi-Go
x3 Mi-Go Caretaker
x3 Mi-Go Commander
x3 Mi-Go Explorer (CCG)
x3 Mi-Go Guard
x3 Mi-Go Scout
x3 Mi-Go Surgeon
x3 Mi-Go Worker (CCG)
x2 Mi-Go Warrior

EVENTS (18)
x3 Bred to Survive
x3 Burrowing Beneath
x3 Crackdown! (CCG)
x3 Examining the Optic Nerve
x3 Horrid Mutation
x3 Regeneration

SUPPORT (6)
x3 Ghoul Taint
x3 Mi-Go Scalpel

50 cards

After playing it for a while now, I would take out Mi-Go Warrior, Examining the Optic Nerve, Ghoul Taint, and Mi-Go Explorer (I only included most of those because they are "Mi-Go" flavored cards).

Have fun!

Penfold said:

Your thinking usually matches Damons rulings, so I'm inclined to think you may be right. Unless I've overlooked something, the rules are actually silent on the issue, though. They neither state that Forced Responses are triggered by players nor that they are triggered by 'the game'.

I'll copy a thread of Dadajeff  from the cenacle

[quote]

1) "A Forced Response is an action that a player must trigger when its circumstances apply". (the game doens't trigger the effect. The player triggers the effect because an occurence in the game says he must do it !)

2) "Triggered Ability : A triggered ability is any triggered effect caused by a card already in play." and "A triggered effect is any effect with preceded by the following text in bold: Action, Disrupt, Response, or Forced Response."
Dreamland says "each player cannot play events or trigger card abilities." Forced Response is a triggered ability so you can't trigger it.

[/quote]

So, Dreamland messenger can block forced responses like the one from Norm Grzbowsky

•Norm Grzbowski, Football Coach
[Miskatonic University] Ancient Horrors F5 / Illustrateur : Carlo Bocchio
[Character] - Faculty.
Coût : 3 / Skill : 3 / Icones : CC
Descriptif : Toughness +1. Forced Response: After all players have committed characters to stories, you immediately win any story where you have 11 characters committed if your opponent does not have 11 characters committed to that same story.

But, I'm sure dreamland messenger don't block the forced response of dhole ant lion.

At the end of the story phase, characters are uncommited from stories. it's a "green box" rulebook page 13. During green boxes, players must resolve forced responses. So, for me, dreamland mesenger is uncommited during this geen box (here, the lock of the drealand messenger falls) and then, at the end of the story phase, the player has to play the forced response.

 We can trace these elements that B_P shared to the actual rules.

The Rule Book is where we find:  A Forced Response is an action that a player must trigger when its circumstances require.

So by the rule book, Dreamlands Messenger would stop Forced Responses, because a player has to trigger it.

And, B_P, the logic was that if Dreamlands Messenger could not uncommit (e.g. Voice of the Jungle) then his ability would persist even after the story phase.

 Oh, but of course, to make it more complicated, FAQ 2.01 tells us that

Responses are not actions...

Conversely,  the Rule Book tells us

A Response is an action...

TheProfessor said:

Now that should make everything clear!

Hm, I'd send it to Damon. In their other games a player action is something they choose to trigger. Forced effects are effects the game is forcing to be triggered, therefor not choices, and therefor immune to DM. Maybe it doesn't work the same here.

The issue of whether Dreamlands Messenger stops Forced Responses just came in game that I played. Is there a definitive answer as to whether he does?

from the rulebook.

TIMING RULES

a forced response is an action that a player must trigger when its circumstances apply

DETAILED TURN SEQUENCE

a triggered effect is any effect with preceded by the following text in bold: action, disrupt, response, or forced response

i researched this to post the DREAMLANDS MESSENGER thread from last week.

Dark Initiate said:

Maybe someone'd like to mail the question to FFG Support, i.e. Damon?

 I think this may be an example of poor wording. The player, as far as I can tell, doesn't really trigger forced responses so much as resolves them. I believe the game is triggering them... but that said, the way things are worded, Forced Responses should not be able to trigger when DM is out and about.

Wasn't there some Mi-Go decks that did well at a recent regional tournament?

Cranekick said:

I've been working on a Mi-Go deck and I've adjusted it until it can finally beat my fiance's Deep Ones Khopesh deck.  I've found Bast's Hunt to be very useful as it can stop a Khopesh character from moving beyond one wound.  One card that is pretty useless though is Examining the Optic Nerve.  There is little reason to use it over Magnifying Glass.  I think Examining the Optic Nerve should give all Mi-Go character one Examination until the end of the round.  That would make it much better.  I don't bother with either though, just get those Mi-Go Scouts out there and you're good.

I am putting together a Mi-go deck now, too.  It combines some of the ideas on here, I'll post it when it feels done.

I actually beat it last night, but I think it was because my opponent did not understand the brutality of Dreamlands Messenger and Voice of the Jungle.  That idea is pretty terrifying, especially when someone executes the effect from The Second Dragon and you are staring at 3 X Dreamlands Messenger. 

There are also some good Shub cards that make every Mi-go killed easier capable of bringing out 3 more.  At some point, it's just too much to do anything other than mill your opponent.

Anyway, thanks to all posters for putting this "bug" in my head .

The ultimate question is: will there be 10 Mi-Go decks at the next Mythos and Microbrews?

grant_babb said:

If I show up I'm bringing at least 3 variations to see which works the best.  :p