Hey! First of all I really don't mind buying multiple core sets of my favortite LCGs, like I did with SW and Conquest. So AHCG is right up my alley and will definitely buy in since Conquest is ending, so I have one LCG spot up for grabs

So, is there a definitive number of core sets to have the best possible experience? I will mostly play this game in a 2-player format...so there's that.

"Best possible," could mean a number of things.

But you'll have a playset of cards with two boxes.

Two.

If you only want to play 2-player, you only need one core set. That's been confirmed in the preview articles. A second set is required to play 3 or 4-player.

It is two to have a complete playset of every single card which is clearly what they were asking.

Best possible experience for two players if you're supplying all the cards would be 4 core sets, and 2 of every expansion and that would give a full playset of every card for both players. This will only ever be required if you're both overlapping in a class and want a full playset of a card in your deck.

It is two to have a complete playset of every single card which is clearly what they were asking.

Is that confirmed?

It is two to have a complete playset of every single card which is clearly what they were asking.

Is that confirmed?

Someone asked fantasy flight on twitter I believe and they responded with that. Digging must be done for that picture though.

It is two to have a complete playset of every single card which is clearly what they were asking.

Is that confirmed?

Yes several weeks ago.

It is two to have a complete playset of every single card which is clearly what they were asking.

Is that confirmed?

Yes several weeks ago.

Apologies then; I was not aware.

It is two to have a complete playset of every single card which is clearly what they were asking.

Is that confirmed?

Yes several weeks ago.

Apologies then; I was not aware.

I'm not sure if anyone from FFG has specifically said, "You need 2 copies of the Core" - although they certainly may have. However, it has certainly been confirmed that the deckbuilding copy limit is 2, and that you don't get 2 copies of every player card in the Core, so the math unquestionably works out.

People seem to be hedging on the answers here because of the following:

A. It has been confirmed that a single Core can build 2 full decks that completely satisfy all deckbuilding rules (something that not all LCG Cores can claim). As such, a single Core set is fully playable for 2 players. However, you probably are not going to have a whole lot of customization choice, so the decks will not be optimal.

B. It has been confirmed that the maximum copy limit for constructed decks is 2. Since most people feel that the "best possible experience" includes being able to make the best deck they can think up within the deckbuilding rules, you will need 2 copies of the Core in order to fully customize your decks for 2 players.

C. Has it been confirmed that players may choose to play the same Investigator in a single game? I'm not sure I've seen that, and I could see thematic reasons why it would not be allowed. :: Assuming players can choose the same Investigator, you would have to "double-up" on B to give each player the option to play each investigator. If your definition of "best possible experience" includes every player having the option to play the Investigator they want, you'd need 4 Cores to cover the possibility that the 2 players want to play the same Investigator. Personally, I would suspect that if each player is using the same Investigator, you will not have the "best possible experience" while playing the two-player game, though.

tl;dr - The game is supposed to be fully playable for 2 players with 1 Core set; however, since most LCG aficionados consider the option for full customization to be part of the "best possible experience," you will need 2 copies of the Core for 2 players (logically assuming they want to play different Investigators during the game).

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Don't you think that 4 core set is being a bit pedantic?

Well, I'll be supplying for two different people. Both me and the other person really like having all deck building options open, and are prone to optimization. If, for instance, a really powerful card is only a one of in the core set, and we both wanted two in our deck, we'd need four core sets. I'm not about that proxy life. I also own almost a double collection of the entire call of cthulhu lcg for this very reason (missing doubles on some, and never got my hands on the full playset of spawn of the sleeper...)

Four core games will probably be unusable - Each deck can have only 30 cards. And unless you take the same investigator, which as was mentioned not certain to be legal - you are going to use different sphere.

So with 2 core sets you are going to be able to probably build every deck you want as long as you are not using the same investigator.

Also, it was confirmed that (some/all) neutral cards with more than one copy in the core.

Of course, your money, your choice But I think it might be better to start with two copies and decide after playing a couple of games.

Not exactly as the investigators in the core have a sub class. So if a Roland player for some weird reason decides to put 20 of the seeker cards (his sub class) and a Daisy player also for some reason also wanted to put 20 seekers cards, then they would need 4 cores set for it. Yes it is a extreme situation. Personally i think 2 core sets should be enough to play it especially as the deluxe set would be release soon after the core set.

Not exactly as the investigators in the core have a sub class. So if a Roland player for some weird reason decides to put 20 of the seeker cards (his sub class) and a Daisy player also for some reason also wanted to put 20 seekers cards, then they would need 4 cores set for it. Yes it is a extreme situation. Personally i think 2 core sets should be enough to play it especially as the deluxe set would be release soon after the core set.

Plus as we get more investigators, we get more class crossover. after dunwich it's going to be very possible to play two characters that share a main class, plus being able to dip into any class with the new guys means double playsets might even be more important for a completionist deckbuilder.

Something unique to this game, also, in FFG's LCGs is the need to keep a deck assembled over the course of a campaign. You might play the core set in one sitting, but not the dunwich cycle of 8 scenarios. I mean you could, but I sure won't. If you also want to play outside of that, or even multiple campaigns, you're taxing a single playset pretty hard.

You know, another wish-list app occurs (along with a chaos bag app): A campaign tracker. They've got the sheet, sure. But you could plug in your whole deck with something like a cardgamedb interface (but maybe easier to work with on a phone and on the fly, if it isn't designed for deckbuilding and just has card titles), track XP and card swaps, decisions, etc.

That way you can pull decks apart for casual play between scenarios. You could probably do something like this with cardgamedb and the paper log together, but it seems a bit cumbersome not having it all in one place.

That way you can pull decks apart for casual play between scenarios. You could probably do something like this with cardgamedb and the paper log together, but it seems a bit cumbersome not having it all in one place.

I daresay 3rd party solutions will appear quickly after release.

That way you can pull decks apart for casual play between scenarios. You could probably do something like this with cardgamedb and the paper log together, but it seems a bit cumbersome not having it all in one place.

I daresay 3rd party solutions will appear quickly after release.

I'd be shocked if they didn't, for both.

I think the short answer is - No. There is no definitive answer since not everyone is going to need a complete card pool to enjoy the game. 2 Cores per player is likely overkill. It is a cooperative game, so you will likely be able to coordinate some complimentary decks without needing any of the same cards.

Exactly. It is completely a personal decision. You will have some sort of card pool limitation no matter what unless you are buying multiple boxes of everything. Just figure out what your group is comfortable with and go. Just as long as you don't use up all the Gandalfs before I build my deck we'll be fine.

I'm now thinking of going against all of my beliefs and getting two. It would be really hard to play with how few cards actually come in the game.

Yes, definitely a personal decision. New to LCG's for the most part so the subtleties of deck building have not been so foremost. BUT. My wife wants to play and I had no idea she wants and expects to play two characters at once, so two Core's became immediately 'what this group is comfortable with'.

How ridiculous is this , you get the maximum number of copies in expansion packs , but not in the Core Set , which is much more expensive ?

Isn't the whole idea of LCGs to nut buy extra packs/boxes to get everything ?

Disappointed, thought I wouldn't get milked in the same insulting way as LotR LCG ...