I've seen a few people post about playing the game by only using the cards that were available when a certain set was released. I was wondering what thoughts people had about this?

Would you consider it kinda cheap to use cards that were released later chronologically?

I know there is a lot of hate for Glorfindel Spirit version because he has very good stats and a very low threat. Even though it is sorta balanced out by having no abilities I still get the feeling that people consider him a cheap trick to play.

I certainly want to get better at this game. Do you think playing only with the cards avialable at the time is more "genuine" or "proper" rather than playing with all cards you own?

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Perhaps some context will help - I own a shotgun of cards through all the sets as at first I looked through player cards and hunted down the sets with cards I wanted to play with, regardless of the quests they were with. I bought all of the story modes and focused on playing through them, and only now have come back to look at the quests from the deluxe and expansions. Right now I am starting to play through the core set and Shadows of Mirkwood, and my plan is to play through linearly, ordering the missing pieces as I go (I own about half of everything, but again it's like shotgun quality collection) from SoM to the new Dream Chaser. Because this is what I'm doing now, the idea is sorta relevant to my playing.

What I was going to do at first was follow similarly to the story quests, where I would pick a set of heroes to take through each cycle, but I'm wondering if I should go with release dates, adding potential heroes and player cards as I complete each quest...

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Please share your thoughts. Going through all of this is tough enough, I would rather feel I am doing it in a way that would provide the best experience now, as a repeat of everything is not likely haha XD

This is a great topic and I appreciate how you asked your questions.

The answer really depends on your motivation for playing. I tend to be a power gamer type who still values expressing myself. I don't like to net deck, but I do like to find combos that break the game or whatever, like Seastan. I'm not quite as good at it and I don't have a ton of time to play, but that is my motivation. When I play I could not care less what cards I use or what set. I use Glorfindel or Gandalf. I use all manner of broken comboes and use the most recent cards. Some people have expressed resentment because that is my style but I shrug it off.

What I can tell you is that the people who say my style of play is boring... are correct. It totally destroys the literary texture of the experience. It reduces, if not eliminates, the unique differences between the quests. It can make the game tedious. The more I play, the more I find myself interested in playing intentionally weaker decks with stronger thematic flavor because the games are more exciting and fresh. I have also found that it is more fun to focus on a particular quest and dig deep into it. Murder at the Prancing Pony, as an example, is a great quest to explore. You can just experiment with many different teams and concepts and have exciting and bizarre outcomes.

I really hope that you feel free to play any way that you want, not intimidated by anyone, including me, to conform to some standard of the "right" way to play, but, I have discovered that the reason people develop those conventions is because they make the game more fun. Hope that helps :-)

I would say just play however you find the most enjoyable. It's not a competitive game so as long as you and your group are having fun then go for it. Personally, I'm playing through them in order, but that's also because I'm just starting out so it gives me an easy purchase path. I started my purchase with two core sets, and then bought the Mirkwood cycle shortly after. I just finished the core set this week. (Took much longer than planned, due to real life responsibilities, plus Dol Goldur took awhile) Now I'm going to crack into each Mirkwood pack one at a time. Once I'm close to the end of this cycle I'll look into buying the next deluxe set and cycle. If I had purchased EVERYTHING at first, I would probably play a mix of thematic and power decks depending on what I felt like.

The beauty of this game is you can play both ways depending what you feel like. That being said I'm a new player so I would listen to the veterans when it comes to how playing power decks effect the enjoyment of certain quests.

I play most of the quests pure solo and with the nightmare versions (except for the Isengard cycle), so I play with whatever I want, because playing with only available cards would be too hard.

And there is no official rule that states that you must play with available cards chronologically; it's just a way to make the game more chalenging and to give it more replay value.

As long as you, and anyone you quest with, are having fun then play with whatever cards you want.

There's enough badfun criticism out there in the gaming world; Middle-Earth shouldn't be among them.

Playing Progression-style (only using cards released at the time) for me isn't the 'proper' way of playing, it's just something that's interesting to do, to experience what it was like to play the quests when they were new, and how the card pool developed over time. If those are things which interest you, then I'd say it's worth doing. If they don't, if you just want to get into the game in general, then don't bother, just play how you like.

Which leads me to my next point - as far as things which are 'cheap' or 'too easy', it's all down to your own preferences - if you find them cheap, too easy, boring, then don't use them. But if you enjoy them, then keep using them.

If, as you say, you specifically want to get better at the game, I would say at least that it's a good idea not to just stick to the same stuff all the time, but this doesn't necessarily mean avoiding the easy routes to power - instead just try a bit of everything so you can learn from direct experience what works and what doesn't.

Don't let anyone tell you how to have fun.

I play most of the quests pure solo and with the nightmare versions (except for the Isengard cycle), so I play with whatever I want, because playing with only available cards would be too hard.

And there is no official rule that states that you must play with available cards chronologically; it's just a way to make the game more chalenging and to give it more replay value.

Thanks for the replies everyone. It's good feedback.

I am playing purely solo like you licatadin. This is a game I'm playing at work between tasks since I had trouble getting any sort of group going where I'm at, but I really wanted to play. I think you have a good point... Playing restricted like this may give the game replay value after I understand more about the game and the quests I'm going through, but for now I think I'll just play through with all cards available. DukeWellington touched on this too, where playing for power and finding the broken stuff is fun, but it almost leads to more thematic "enjoyable" play to add more challenge. That is the advantage of a non-pvp game, you can play how you like, and add in challenge by limiting yourself as needed.

There is no wrong way to play the game that doesn't break the rules. Play as you like. "Progression" style deckbuilding can certainly be fun but me skipping Heirs of Numenor and getting Voice of Isengard and all its packs first, that was even better.

Playing restricted like this may give the game replay value after I understand more about the game

Yes, much fun can be had with only one or two cycles and their quests, maybe all the standalone quests in addition. Restrict yourself to chronologically available cards, or try hobbit-only, dwarf-only etc. Try playing without Gandalf if you're completely mental! This game has great replay value with only a little investment. The best part is that the deluxe boxes and their related cycles are really meant to be expansions to the core (or so FFG claimed), so you SHOULD be able to play the quests with only that. The last core quest is just such a pain with only core cards

And remember : Glorfindel is your friend.