Hi! I'm usually at the LotR LCG part of the forums - I've played it for years now and been enjoying it very much. But I've also grown up with Star Wars and the new films coming out have sort of renewed my interest. I've seen this card game in various stores and I'm considering getting it later this year. I already know it's competitive and not cooperative like the LotR is, but I have some more questions. If these are already answered in some collective thread that I've missed, please forgive me and point me in the right direction.

- How asymmetrical is this game? In the LotR LCG all factions have a different feel to them, but the game rounds are still pretty similar. I played Netrunner with a friend once or twice (did not particularly enjoy it as I couldn't get into the theme), and that was very different depending on whether you were Runner or Corp.

- Does deck-building play a large part, and if so can any cards be combined? Again, in LotR, pretty much any heroes can be used together but their spheres only enable them to pay for certain allies and events.

- How long does a core set typically last? Will I most likely want to purchase more straight away? I've already been sinking quite a bit of money into LotR - will I need to purchase every expansion and cycle pack to be up to date and have a chance against opponents with large card pools? Is there a buying guide for new players?

- Does this game include the old Expanded Universe? I think I saw a picture of a Kyle Katarn card. Will the game likely have rights to use content from episode 7, or is this strictly 4-6 with some EU elements?

- And finally, is this game still going strong and packs are being released? Game of Thrones starting over made me glad I chose another game to invest in. LotR seems to have a long way to go yet as they're barely halfway done with the saga boxes, but I don't know how this works with the Star Wars LCG.

Thank you for reading!

Welcome Olorion!

I hope you try out star wars and have some fun I'll answer your questions to begin with.

- How asymmetrical is this game? In the LotR LCG all factions have a different feel to them, but the game rounds are still pretty similar. I played Netrunner with a friend once or twice (did not particularly enjoy it as I couldn't get into the theme), and that was very different depending on whether you were Runner or Corp.

The game is pretty asymmetrical. There are three factions for each side of the force and they tend to have a distinct feel or theme to them. I'd say some factions have multiple possible themes but maybe not as defined as LOTR spheres of influence are. Like Netrunner a match of Star Wars usually consists of two games (you make a deck for each side of the force). This is where the asymmetry comes in. The Dark side player is trying to progress a dial tracker to 12 "completing the death star" and winning the game. They can do this by holding the force, tricky card reactions or blowing up your opponents "objectives".

The light side needs to only foil the dark sides plans before they complete the death star. To do this they must destroy three Dark side objectives. It's asymetrical in that each side has different goals. But no so much that you can ignore your opponents goal. If the DS is cranking the dial up quickly the LS will feel pressure to attack faster, if the LS is attacking quick the DS might need to get aggressive and fnid some extra dial clicks. A lot of people think the DS should primarily focus on defense and the LS on offense. This is true in a lot of cases but it's very fun (and intuitive) to build an aggressive or defensive deck of the opposite type.

- Does deck-building play a large part, and if so can any cards be combined? Again, in LotR, pretty much any heroes can be used together but their spheres only enable them to pay for certain allies and events.

Deck-building. As a fellow LOTR player this is the part you aren't going to like. Much like LOTR there are resource matching requirements on cards of differing factions. However, unlike LOTR all resources used need not match that cards affiliation. you only need to provide at least one resource of the matching affiliation. When building a deck you use small 6 card objective sets. Each objective set contains an objective and 5 cards. To assemble your deck you choose an affiliation card, and ten objective sets. The ten objectives make your objective deck and the other 50 cards make your command deck. Some sets will says Limit 1 per deck, or "Sith Affiliation only" but the big kicker is resources. To begin your game you'll draw four objectives and choose to keep three, these objectives contain your starting resources. Because of matching it makes splitting a deck 50/50 a somewhat risk proposition. Instead you'll see a lot of 7/3 8/2 9/1 and mono decks.

That being said there's still a lot of variety in deck building especially with two complete cycles and a third on the way (we think).

- How long does a core set typically last? Will I most likely want to purchase more straight away? I've already been sinking quite a bit of money into LotR - will I need to purchase every expansion and cycle pack to be up to date and have a chance against opponents with large card pools? Is there a buying guide for new players?

A core set will last a little while but honestly you're going to like the game and be starving for more. There's a thread on these forums somewhere of what one needs to buy to complete a playset but honestly your best bet is to buy a second core and the last cycle of force packs. You might also consider the newest deluxe expansion Between the Shadows. Like all FFG LCG's you need more than one core. Luckily with star wars you get a complete playset with just two cores and I think only 4-5 objective sets become excess.

Like all card games some players always feel like they are handicapped without all the cards. Star warsis no exception but you can have a lot of fun without all the cards. I would definitly recommend getting 2 cores, and then consider looking up sets you want off of cardgamedb or some other database then decide which packs to buy off of that. Also check ebay there's usually a few collections up for sale there.

- Does this game include the old Expanded Universe? I think I saw a picture of a Kyle Katarn card. Will the game likely have rights to use content from episode 7, or is this strictly 4-6 with some EU elements?

Yes, no and maybe? The game has lots of EU elements (especially the last cycle). We saw the likesof Kyle Katarn, Sariss, Jerek, Maras Jade, The Moldy Crow, Dash Rendar etc. The newest deluxe had quite a few Shadows of the Empire units liek Xizor and his black sun empire. The really seem to be dipping into the legends line of stuff. I think the prequels will probably be avoided due the confusions of factions and light side versus dark side. There is one resource card that has a gungan on it in a casino. I hope that doesn't turn you off from the game.

We don't know much about Episode 7 or if FFG will utilize it yet. Regardless now is a good time to jump on the game as I'm sure Episode 7 will bring fresh breath to the Star Wars community hopefully we pick up a lot more players. We are already seeing an upswing on Store Championship attendance after a rather slow year last year.

- And finally, is this game still going strong and packs are being released? Game of Thrones starting over made me glad I chose another game to invest in. LotR seems to have a long way to go yet as they're barely halfway done with the saga boxes, but I don't know how this works with the Star Wars LCG.

I'm not sure when you started LOTR but I remember at the beginning there were a lot of... well. dry spells of no new cards. Star Wars has been plagued with similar issues. There was a 6 month almost gap after each cycle completed while people were dieing for new cards. There's rumors that this has to do with Lucasfilm licensing but we've never seen any quotes on that only second hand heresay. Things seem to be picking up the last deluxe was released in January and we look to be getting new cards in March, if they can keep up 9 releases a year I think a lot of people will be happy. Or even if the releases coincided more with the tournament structure (which they appear to be doing this year). All in all things are on the upswing. If you don't plan on buying everything right up front you can always supplement the slow months and explore the old cycles (Hoth) etc!

I hope you enjoy the game and be sure to ask any more questions you have. The community really likes to help out new players (FYI the forums on fliptheforce.com and cardgamedb.com are a bit more active than the official FFG one, it's the opposite of LOTR!)

Wow, thank you for such an extensive answer! I'm abroad right now and not sure if I could find someone to play with and whether I could carry a card collection back home, but from what I've seen so far I like the game design and will definitely check this out when I can. The Gungan appearance is indeed a little disconcerting (nah, I'm actually one of those who enjoy the prequels and try not to compare them to 4-6) but overall it looks like fun. I guess the main grudge might turn out to be who should play Dark Side and Light Side - my friends and I all like to play "good guys". But if you start collecting, I guess everyone can have both a DS and LS deck to switch between. The Death Star mechanic must make it feel like playing "Sauron's team" and up the other player's threat dial.

Again, thanks for replying. Valuable to get insight from someone who has played both SW and LotR.

I agree with most of what Kennedy Hawk said. For me, though, this game doesn't feel as asymmetrical as it did at first. Basically, when I started playing, I felt like the light and dark sides of the Force played pretty differently, but then I had a chance to play a handful of Android: Netrunner games. After that experience, I feel like the asymmetry in Star Wars is very, very minor. The only difference between light and dark sides are 1) the cards, and 2) the win conditions. The turn structure is exactly the same for both players. Now the different win conditions do make it so you play with a different strategy depending on if you're playing light or dark, but if you've played one side, you can play the other side pretty easily without feeling like you're learning a whole new game (which is how I felt with Netrunner).

I second that. Compared to LOTR this game is very asymmetrical, but once you get the hang of it both players goals revolve around the dial. The DS must pump the dial before the LS player destroys enough objectives and the LS player needs to prevent the DS player from pumping the dial with force control and aggressive/defensive balance. It's really quite fun when you sit back and look at it.