I only plan on playing this game with my group and I want to keep all the house decks as balanced as possible. The only thing I have right now from the LCG is the core set. What chapter packs should I invest in to help build these decks up to 60 cards and keep them all competetive with each other? I'm not looking for anything crazy powerful, but I am looking for chapter packs that will really make these base decks even more interesting and diverse, and I would rather buy as few chapter packs as possible. On a bit of a budget these days so I rather not race out and grab everything.

Thanks in advance guys.

The subject of "balance" is a tricky one, and depends a lot on experience. Other threads on this topic have shown that the experienced players have layers of strategic insight that new players (like you and me) don't have. This can create different expectations for how balance can be achieved.

For the same reason (experience), I suspect that even if you stuck with the core decks exclusively, I think you would find the balance shifting over time as your players become more experienced and more subtle in their play.

So what should you buy to enhance your experience while at least maintaining the appearance of balance? I suggest that your group will do a lot better if you spend $40 for a second Core Set, instead of spending the same amount of money for 4 chapter packs. This will give you more cards for your money, and they will all be useful. (In case you aren't aware, I should explain that with every chapter pack, some of the cards won't be useful immediately because they either belong to Houses that are not part of the Core Set, or they interact with cards in other chapter packs that you don't own.)

With two Core Sets, you can legitimately build customized decks and start to explore strategies for each House. You will also build predictability into your decks by using multiple copies of key cards. And most important, you will have a broad selection of plot cards to choose from for each deck.

After that? Well, that's really up to you and how much you want to spend, and how much time you want to invest in reading about various chapter packs. If you just want a simple recommendation, I'll recommend the chapter packs "Ancient Enemies" and "Refugees of War," which both tend to spread their cards out among all the Houses, and are fairly independent of other chapter packs.

I would like to avoid buying the same core set over again if possible, for me it feels like I am just buying the same game twice. I realize that it would be a good idea to have two copies of a lot of those cards for deck building, but I would rather expand the current decks with new cards. I added the two chapter packs you suggested to my wishlist. I'll have a much better understanding of how these packs work once I get my hands on them. I honestly didn't realize how much they feed off one another, before you posted.

I also agree with your point about experience and the illusion of balance, and how it is nearly impossible to make all these decks perfectly balanced. I guess what I wanted to really get across was that my goal is not to make the most efficient decks, but to make fun decks that all have a decent chance against each other. I may change my mind and break down and get a second core set, you do make a really strong case for the purchase, but first I am going to try these packs and see exactly what they offer.

Thank you so much for your insight, I greatly appreciate it.

Honestly what you have to remember is this is not a board game. Your best bet is to get used to the idea that at its best this game has houses that ebb and flow and players who are best at able to adapting to a given situation are going to excel even with a deck that is not as strong as others. If you buy a Chapter pack and put in cards that work best in the decks you will find one deck may end up being a little stronger. It is temporary as long as you continue to buy the occasional Chapter Pack. This keeps the game alive, the experience of playing it fresh and unpredictable. If you are looking at making fun balanced decks where you are going to stop customizing them after achieving this, I'd definitely second Arma's suggestion of a second Core Set. If you plan on continuing to customize them, then appearance of balance is really about you need to worry about. Any deck that shoots ahead and consistently outperforms the others, regardless of the pilot, you can add a couple of answer cards to other decks to bring it back in line.

In short there is no easy answer to what you are looking for... but the exploration, the struggle for balance, is actually extremely fun. Enjoy!

dormouse said:

Thank you so much for your insight. I really do have to get out of the boardgaming mentality. This is a game that should morph continuously and it probably would be in our best interest to try and constantly tinker with the decks. Looking forward to getting my first chapter packs and seeing what they have to offer. Thanks again for the insight.