I hope this particular question hasn't been dealt with yet.

I just bought the core set, and so far; all good. CoC looks like a great game with good mechanics (though I'm still split on the lack of an MTG style stack), great artwork and a fixed investment (like many others, I quit MTG due to the cost and the incompatibility with a more casual interest).

I love deck-building though (almost more than playing) so I'm keen to get out of highlander mode and start building decks.

My question then is: what should I buy next?

Assuming the answer is not 2 x Core Deck and 3 x every Asylum pack; I'm keen to hear what my options are?

I'm mainly playing against my wife and with ex-MTG friends. They're probably not ready to make an investment into cards (yet). Currently I'm thinking of just buying another core set. That keeps the cost low and I get doubles of everything. In everyone's experience, is that enough to start with deck building?

The alternative is to buy 2 or 3 sets of Asylum expansions. This is potentially cheaper (and less wasteful, I don't need that many success tokens, huge boxes and boards); but I'm wondering if the end result is as good as having 2 core sets (which is probably more balanced).

Well, I gonna answer like a no-brainer (I'm so in love with this game I've got x3 of each releases ), so feel free to discuss these proposition

The Core Set contains something like 155 (156 ?) cards, and it allow you to play with a deck which mix two factions and neutral.

Buying a second Core Set would allow you to increase your possibility in this type of mixed deckbuilding. Let's remember that every faction got something like 20 cards in a Core Set. So, that would be cheap in perspective for you to build a deck which might chaneg strategies. In a casual angle, this could be a tough choice, but I'm not sure you should have enough pleasure in the length.

I'd rather choose to invest into 2 or 3 different Asylum Packs. Their composition (3 Common, 1 Unco for each faction at least) should provide you enough cards on each faction to build faction-decks (20 of a COre SET + 4 cards for eack pack (12) = 32 cards for 50-cards-legal decks, that's start to be something !!).

And then, you'll be able to exchange cards with the community (I know it starts slowly, but you might earn a lot this way!).

In france, we argue a lot with new comers to make them start with at least 3 AP + Core Set to go on tournaments. And it works fine !!

It's as Prodigee says: AP's is half 1 offs, half 3 offs, so that'll get you out of Highlander mode. Having more (different) cards means there is more room for deckbuilding. If you set the limit to the number of AP's, it's better to buy 1 of different ones instead of 3 of fewer.

beebleb said:

It has been dealt with, but not here =)

My short take on this: buy another core set, which allows you to play monofaction decks with doubled cards - in my opinion, this is the best way to get into the game and the strengths of the seven factions. For deck building, buy a third core set. Regarding the Asylum Packs, which are great, you don't need multiple copies of a pack unless and until you play in tournaments.

My long take: see www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/396426 and www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/398798

i guess the question is what do you want, variety or consistency?

for the price of another coreset you could by 4 asylum packs and still have 40 cards that will be playsets. a coreset wont give you anything new and youll still be short of a playset of anything. but there are some great cards in coreset that having more than one in a deck is pretty important. plus loyal isnt as good outside of a mono deck in my opinion. but i dont think youd be able to build a mono deck with just 2 coresets either.

PearlJamaholic said:

Not sure if this answers your question, but I want a total set of cards that will produce balanced games between 2 people (me and one other) but still allowing us to customize our game and perhaps develop a style.

For example, I'm traditionally a control player (well, I was in MTG anyway, and playing Hastur has been fun ). But right now with just the single core set, I can't actually express that in deck construction. I just end up taking what I get (I can choose my factions, but that's still not enough).

I can live without a mono-deck; I think I'd like to see some new cards; but I'm scared that buying just Asylum sets will rob me of some basic cards that seem essential (core cards, like "shotgun" and the counterspell style one) and also that it will unbalance the factions.

If you want to play a controlish game, sticking to Cthulhu and Hastur will make you feel right at home. An extra core set would help you get some consistancy.

The cards in the Core set where selected (amongst other criteria) for being the most basic CCG cards for their function, to lay a foundation for exploring the games theme and format. It's like any collectible card game in that you need lots of cards to get the consistancy you want, while focussing on your playstyles and preferred themes. The difference between CCG's though, is that you don't get the cards blindly, from boosters, but with defined products.

The Deckbuilder software will help you get an idea on what pack contains what, so you can work your way to what you would concider the level of depth and variaty you want, with the themes you like.

outside of the coreset hastur doesnt have much control-ish cards in the packs. there are the two polar events and the attachment, but those cards are only 1 ofs in the packs. the attachment is great though. but there arent any more cancel cards in the packs yet. performance artist and power drain are the only 2 hastur disrupt effects so far too.

Hmmm... I'm leaning towards getting another core set. And that's really because of the "core" cards for each faction.

Anyone know if there's a breakdown of each Asylum pack and which factions they skew towards? That way I guess I can buy 2 or 3 Core sets, and then buy Asylum packs which favour the factions that me and my wife enjoy playing.

BTW: In case any product development people are listening, I think a Core of Cthulhu Core Ultimate box with:

*3 x Core cards,

* 1 set of story cards

* 8 x Cthulhu statues

* A deck box

* A copy of "The Call of Cthulhu" short story

would sell nicely for $100. I sure as hell would have bought it But I guess the market's not ready for a single anything that costs $100.

The way I'm working it is, I have bought each of the asylum packs and 2 core sets. It gives me a nice base of doubling up on cards that I really like. The reason I got the second set is honestly just so I would have 2 things that fell from the stars. I just love that card with the deck style that I play. So with this combo it's given me a lot of functionality and playablility, and kept costs to a low. I am trying to orginize some play around here so I can actually get to play some. I'm in Charlotte, NC trying to get things going a little. We have a few players at the store I frequent, but getting them together is rather difficult. I play at Games HQ, so if anyone on the forums play there I'm trying to get people together to get some organized play.

Ended up buying another Core Set and it's a huge improvement. The decks instantly became so much more strategic and focussed. All this with just 2 of each card. It's surprisingly how often they show up with just a 50 card deck and 2 draws per turn (as opposed to Magic with a 60 card deck and 1 draw per turn). Really liking this; it's another great advantage of the resourcing system in CoC.