Playing as Opener of the Way
Opener of the Way is probably the weirdest Faction of them all. Your Faction is delicate and requires precision, but has unparalleled flexibility. In fact, your Faction begins with an important strategic decision—where to start! More than any other Faction, you must react on the fly to other players’ actions. You can always do something effective, but what that is differs depending on the situation.
Keep a Mutant with your Cultists—if someone enters your Area, this is a perfect opportunity to Battle and promote with Million Favored Ones! This also puts Cultists back into your Pool to be Recruited by Monsters placed via They Break Through.
Though Yog-Sothoth really costs 10 Power to Awaken (6 for him and 4 for the Spawn you give up), he is flexible because you can pay on the installment plan: Summon a Spawn on one turn, then Yog-Sothoth on the next. Everyone else has to pay for their Great Old Ones all at once. Don’t forget that you can Summon Monsters through him.
Beyond One is best in the early game. You not only steal a Gate, but also Move long distances and escape threats.
Summon a Spawn of Yog-Sothoth early despite the huge cost, so that you can bring your Great Old One out at the right time (usually once two or three other Great Old Ones have taken the field). You won’t dominate the game in the beginning; you must grow over time by promoting Units and re-designing the map’s Gate structure. Movement is not cheap for you, so use Beyond One and They Break Through as affordable alternatives.
Once you’ve built up, use your numbers to swamp an Enemy. Do not fear to “promote” a Spawn of Yog-Sothoth into as few as two Mutants. Remember that once you have six Spellbooks, you can declare more than one Battle in a turn. This is huge for you.
Channel Power
For obvious reasons, this is a handy spell to have. Your Faction is often Power-hungry, so save it for special occasions.
Dragon Ascending
Choose the right time and this can reverse the course of play. Remember that using this Spellbook is NOT an Action, which means that you can do it even if you are out of Power.
Dragon Descending
If you wait until the perfect moment, you might not get its benefits—seize the day.
Dread Curse of Azathoth
Pester enemies with death from the sky. Enemy Units are often in the same Area as Gates, and you can drive them out with Dread Curse while your Units stay behind.
Million Favored Ones
A core ability, and one you’ll want early.
They Break Through
Possibly the Spellbook most hated by Enemy players.
Thwarting Opener of the Way
Opener of the Way’s Monsters are expensive, so he tries to promote rather than Summon. If you can Kill a Monster in each Battle, it will become a losing proposition for him. He is restricted by his need to share territories to earn Spellbooks. Turn this to your advantage by setting up traps—Areas where you can counter Opener’s moves with overwhelming force.
Tip:
Don’t just use Million Favored Ones to get your big Units into play; remember that you can always purchase them outright .