So I've never played a CCG before, please don't laugh at my question as I understand the generic answer is 'a lot'. But realistically, dollar amount, what can someone who wants to play it competitively but probably stops at the Regional level expect to spend to compete?

I am an IA player at my core but IA is just not taking off at my LGS, X-Wing and Destiny are all the rage. I'd rather not get into another miniature heavy game like X-Wing, so I thought the card game looked really fun. The LCG just did it's regionals here and had 6 people show up, 2 were from a city 5 hours away.. so realistically that was 4 people in the local meta, with 2 coming in last year. Safe to say the LCG is dead, but Destiny has taken off like wild fire and has a very healthy community. 16 person tournament last month, 24 yesterday. I've invested a lot of time trying to grow IA in my community, and I am not giving up! I just want to have a game that I can unplug and play without having to put in any effort for organizing events.

I would say $300 - $350 for a starter based set like Awakenings. About $250 -$300 for non stated based sets like spirit of rebellion.

That covers 2 booster boxes, starters if applicable. And singles to finish off what you need.

of course, less if your looking for one specific deck.

Ok sorry for the newb question, but what do you mean by a specific deck? Like a hero/villain/scum deck?

And I HAVE to buy that many blisters to compete? Or can you still win games with an inferior deck if you are higher skill? Is this literally a pay to win type scenario?

CCGs are funny, because after you buy into them, many of the cards hold their value, or go up in value. So you can trade away older cards that you don't need for the new cards that you do need. So while you need to spend a fair amount in the beginning, you won't need to spend quite as much when new sets get released, provided you are a savvy trader.

$350 to $400 for a full Awakenings seems close.

Most card players will claim CCGs are not "pay to win," but you are definitely more likely to get a better deck if you're spending more money on it. I'm a new player to Destiny buy I've played X-wing and IA for years now. I've spent a little over $150 on the first wave, but I bought a few lots that had already drawn quite a few rares, and very little of that is on actual boosters. I can make solid decks and I am having a great time thus far even without having a lot of tier 1 material. That was the reason I got into the game. Enjoyed it after a few games with borrowed decks. Thus far I'm probably in the ballpark of 50% games won.

Honestly, the biggest issue was finding product. That's why I started with buying cards of off buddies and the internet before I bought some boosters. I'm simply not willing to spend several hundred dollars a year on this. Me and a buddy will split a box or two on each release and that'll be it as this is a secondary game for me. But like I said, I haven't broken the bank and I'm having fun so far. That's all I wanted to do.

4 minutes ago, Engine25 said:

Most card players will claim CCGs are not "pay to win," but you are definitely more likely to get a better deck if you're spending more money on it. I'm a new player to Destiny buy I've played X-wing and IA for years now. I've spent a little over $150 on the first wave, but I bought a few lots that had already drawn quite a few rares, and very little of that is on actual boosters. I can make solid decks and I am having a great time thus far even without having a lot of tier 1 material. That was the reason I got into the game. Enjoyed it after a few games with borrowed decks. Thus far I'm probably in the ballpark of 50% games won.

Honestly, the biggest issue was finding product. That's why I started with buying cards of off buddies and the internet before I bought some boosters. I'm simply not willing to spend several hundred dollars a year on this. Me and a buddy will split a box or two on each release and that'll be it as this is a secondary game for me. But like I said, I haven't broken the bank and I'm having fun so far. That's all I wanted to do.

This seems to be exactly where I want to be, at least to start. I'd like to get into the game and try it out, invest a bit of capital up front to make sure I like it. For the record I am not scared to spend the money on the game, and I understand none of these hobbies are cheap, I just want to know what I am getting into. I've currently got about three thousand dollars worth of fishing rods/tackle sitting in my garage, so I understand expensive hobbies

Curious though, why do I need a 'complete set' of Awakenings? Is that so you can build a deck of any color? Is it practical to find a part of the deck you like and just focus on that?

Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far, very much appreciated.

5 minutes ago, FrogTrigger said:

This seems to be exactly where I want to be, at least to start. I'd like to get into the game and try it out, invest a bit of capital up front to make sure I like it. For the record I am not scared to spend the money on the game, and I understand none of these hobbies are cheap, I just want to know what I am getting into. I've currently got about three thousand dollars worth of fishing rods/tackle sitting in my garage, so I understand expensive hobbies

Curious though, why do I need a 'complete set' of Awakenings? Is that so you can build a deck of any color? Is it practical to find a part of the deck you like and just focus on that?

Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far, very much appreciated.

You sounds similar to where I'm at. I've bought a starter and about 45ish boosters. It's kind-of difficult to count when you factor in trading. With that I think I'm good for Awakenings for now. I've probably spent about $150.

2 minutes ago, FrogTrigger said:

Curious though, why do I need a 'complete set' of Awakenings? Is that so you can build a deck of any color? Is it practical to find a part of the deck you like and just focus on that?

Yes, this is what many CCG players do. They pick a deck type, style, or theme, that they enjoy and focus on that. It is pretty easy to do. I for one, just play villain, so I traded away most of my hero cards for villain cards. Now I can make a variety of different villain decks.

Some people want to have a complete set so they can try out everything. And there is nothing wrong with that, it just takes more investment.

yeah my answer was to get close to a complete set so you'd have lots of options. You could get away with say 2 Rey states combine them together and play, if your a good player. Then just buy singles from there.

12 minutes ago, CBowser said:

I for one, just play villain, so I traded away most of my hero cards for villain cards. Now I can make a variety of different villain decks.

Also doing this. I realized that the game has a very nice split along the hero/villain lines where there's never a need to crossover between those cards (except for Finn), so I'm collecting villains only while a good friend of mine is collecting heroes only. We crack boxes together and trade for roughly equivalent value before doing anything else. Much more economical. It's not like I had time to play every conceivable deck anyway.

It's much more flexible than buying singles to make one specific deck, but much easier than trying to get all of the legendary characters and upgrades from both factions. I've found it to be a satisfying middle ground.

Edit: If you have a gaming buddy to do this with, I highly recommend it. I feel like our games/rivalry are even more fun because he's always the heroes and I'm always the villains, so we don't end up having Vader vs. Vader fights, or something like that. Instead it's always a Luke vs. Vader type scenario. Good times.

That is a good idea, splitting the cards down the middle also splits the cost. Admiral Ackbar is my favourite Star Wars character so I would most likely want to pick the light side, which I have a friend in mind who I am quite certain would want the dark side.

If we are going this route, is there a point in me buying the Ren starter set? I notice there are a lot of doubles between the two starters, are some of these cards I would want to have 2 have in my deck? Or is there a chance that the same cards in the starter sets show up in the booster packs I buy?

1 minute ago, FrogTrigger said:

If we are going this route, is there a point in me buying the Ren starter set? I notice there are a lot of doubles between the two starters, are some of these cards I would want to have 2 have in my deck? Or is there a chance that the same cards in the starter sets show up in the booster packs I buy?

Normally when people rant and rave about a gaming company doing shameless money grabs, I roll my eyes a little bit at the hyperbole and pay it little attention, but the methodology that FFG is using for some starter cards really leaves little room for other conclusions.

Unfortunately, you will want to have Force Throw x2 and Mind Probe x2, which are very good force powers that only come out of a Rey Starter (1x Force Throw) and a Kylo Starter (1x Mind Probe). That means if you want a play set of each, you'd need to buy 2 of each starter. This would all be fine, except that some of the other rares contained in those starters are inexplicably included as rares you can crack in the base set of Awakenings! This means that by the time you crack a pack with BB-8, Rey's Staff, First Order Storm Trooper, or First Order TIE Fighter, you've already got a few lying around from the starters, essentially making these rareless packs, as those rares are considered junk that the market is flooded with, worth about $0.50 each. If FFG had made it so that you could pull a Force Throw or a Mind Probe from a pack of Awakenings, or they'd made more of the starter rares exclusives, it'd probably be fine but....yeah. Ugh! /rant

Anyway, you probably want to buy 2 Rey starters, just because you'll need 2x Finn as a hero player. This will also give you 2x Force Throw and 2x FD Rifle. You will need to trade for Mind Probes or buy additional Kylo starters for just those cards. Those two options will be equally annoying. Sorry.

1 hour ago, CBMarkham said:

Edit: If you have a gaming buddy to do this with, I highly recommend it. I feel like our games/rivalry are even more fun because he's always the heroes and I'm always the villains, so we don't end up having Vader vs. Vader fights, or something like that. Instead it's always a Luke vs. Vader type scenario. Good times.

I also love to play only games with my girlfriend where we are playing villain vs heroes only! Don't like to see Han slaughtering Leia or Chewie!

My problem is only that I have to collect both sides as we only play at home... but we have played about 70 games so far and the game was worth every of the 300 $ spent so far... breaking it down on $/min, it would result in 0,12 $/min which is much more lower than for so many boardgames in my IKEA-wooden board (about 100 boardgames are there)...

I think your best option is to get two of each starter set. This will enable you to build two fairly competitive sets as the starters are fairly well balanced. Also you need to have 30 cards in your deck and the starters on their own only come with 24 cards. The other benefit of having each starter set is that the Finn card allows you to have red villain upgrades and vehicles in your deck and gives you another mind probe, so in your hero deck you will be able to include 2 lightsaber, 2 force throws, 2 mind probes, 2 tie fighters etc... Also anyone at your Flgs who has spent a lot on this will have loads of swaps and I know some people are more than happy to give away some of their commons that they have multiples of if it means helping more people to get into the game.

2 hours ago, FrogTrigger said:

That is a good idea, splitting the cards down the middle also splits the cost. Admiral Ackbar is my favourite Star Wars character so I would most likely want to pick the light side, which I have a friend in mind who I am quite certain would want the dark side.

If we are going this route, is there a point in me buying the Ren starter set? I notice there are a lot of doubles between the two starters, are some of these cards I would want to have 2 have in my deck? Or is there a chance that the same cards in the starter sets show up in the booster packs I buy?

Well, at this point, you are not buying boosters. Starters may be able to be had. My advice is to just buy the singles needed for one deck and try it out. E-Ackbar/E-Leia is a pretty good deck, my favorite, and has the two best characters in star wars, so you just can't go wrong. The good thing is Ackbar and Leia are cheap enough, the 6 blasters you need for the deck will hit your wallet the hardest. You can probably put together that deck for under $100 at this point. Look at some of the online deck builders, there are only a few variations since it is an all red agro deck. There are many after market tokens and rules online, so the starter is completely optional.

I guess it depends on what you want to do. If casual is your bag you'll easily get by on $100-150 total, if you want to be a meta threat than as others have said you'll spend that on one deck. Watch games, get a feel for what you want to do. You want a blaster squad, get hold-out blasters now, don't read this go. You want melee, the options get way more expensive as these include the jedi's and sith, the hyped stuff. Overall though I have seen complete sets of events go for fair prices lately. I'd make that first priority as the characters and toys are nice and definately necessary but the meat of your deck will be diceless cards. You want them, all of them, because any of them are useful in any team that allows them.

I think what makes the most sense for me is to split the deck with a friend and one side go light the other dark, that way I can split the cost but still have some different options within the hero realm. It does not however make any sense to try and do that right now while supply is so low and demand is so high, so now I will just check back periodically until they fix the stock problem.. and if it never gets fixed, then it wasn't meant to be

Thanks all for your input and help, it was very helpful and appreciated.

The answer is dependent on how in the game you want to be:

If you want to be competitive and have just one deck and you'll do that by buying singles, it will be about $150-250 depending on the deck you go with (a lot of the $150-170 decks are top tier, but some of the $200+ decks can also be considered top tier). Given some of the heavy overlap of a few of the top decks, you could probably add $20-50 to make that one deck customizable into at least one other competitive option.

If you want to buy singles and have a full playset of every card in the set, it's about $700. Do you need that? To be a complete collector, yes. To be a competitive player, not at all.

A lot of players seem to choose about $300 to invest by buying starters/packs because this tends to give you enough diversity of cards to build a few types of competitive decks, but you do generally end up not having perfectly the cards you want for all of the decks so it may require some trading or just accepting your deck is very close to perfect but not quite there. Additionally, at about $300, a few people will sell 1 of each legendary and 2 of each common, uncommon, and rare. Given that lot of singles, you are close enough to a full playset that you can play almost anything you want and you could always trade some of those legendaries to get a few of the best deck options.

You could choose to spend less by building one of the top tier decks without the legendaries or most expensive rares they run and at that point, you could probably build a deck for $100 or less either through buying a starter and packs or by buying singles.

Another factor that may aid in this decision is how many people are you building decks for/how many complete and separate decks do you want to have? Some people are fine with only one, some are trying to build for themselves and a spouse or child.

I won a small tournament last weekend with a deck made from 3 starters plus 5 common cards and 2 uncommon cards not found in the starters. I've spend around $75 on the game in total. I had a decent bit of luck in my games, but the cards that come in this game's starters are good enough that you can actually do pretty well without spending a significant amount of money on booster packs. Now if you want more variety and choice in your decks, then it will probably take a much bigger investment.

Be very wary of resellers on some groups. I just got jacked for $70 on a whole bunch of packs from a trusted seller. I just got a story that the package was Return To Sender. Yeah no. It never showed here, and the last time the guy sent something, it was waiting on my doorstep. I sincerely hope the product scarcity gets resolved soon.

1 hour ago, GrandMoffMatt said:

I sincerely hope the product scarcity gets resolved soon.

Top of everyone's list but FFG it seems

Another option is to go with the team covenant saga set. $300 and you get every card in the new set. 1 each legendary and 2each of everything else. I'm still trying to complete a 2 of everything set for Awakenings. I've bought a little over 4 booster boxes and I'm still short about $250-$300 in singles to complete the set. Most of that is for missing legendaries. Overall I'm in fairly good spot as the booster boxes have allowed me to build and play just about any deck out there.

28 minutes ago, Grunkin said:

Another option is to go with the team covenant saga set. $300 and you get every card in the new set. 1 each legendary and 2each of everything else. I'm still trying to complete a 2 of everything set for Awakenings. I've bought a little over 4 booster boxes and I'm still short about $250-$300 in singles to complete the set. Most of that is for missing legendaries. Overall I'm in fairly good spot as the booster boxes have allowed me to build and play just about any deck out there.

Thanks for the heads up on that, totally doing that option for SOR as I am in the same boat you are. Bought 2 boxes and easily $200 in singles and still 3 cards short and only one die on about half the top list. This is quite possibly the hardest time I've ever had completeing a set, shortage doesn't help but total dud boxes didn't do me any favors either. Makes me want to choke people who got 2 vaders and 4 good money cards all in one box.

Yep. Just bought my SOR saga set. Don't have to worry about getting 8 BB-8s Or 6 tie fighters or a dozen infantry gernades. It will be different cards in SOR but the same thing is almost guaranteed to happen if you buy booster boxes. I swear there must be different rarity levels within the rares themselves.