Hey folks.

Honestly, I am seriously considering getting my FLGS to order me the base set, but I want that last little push to get me to get it. I've played many CCGs in my time, and I don't play them anymore for the main reason I started looking at this game...

I hate the collection factor.

I do not like the fact that if someone gets lucky and pulls several rare cards (saw someone pull four rare cards from a box of Magic cards this past week), they should have a major advantage over me because I don't spend all my money trying to get those cards. the idea behind this game is very intriguing, but I wonder at how well it performs.

Does it work well if only one person has a complete set, or does it work better if each player has their own set?

How does the game play? Is it pretty fast (similar to Yu-Gi-Oh), or is there a more cerebral play to it (closer to Magic or Vampire)?

How is the deck building? Are there broken combinations I should be aware of, or are all the cards pretty well balanced?

I'm planning on starting with the core set of course, but after the luster has worn with a lot of plays, is there a pair of expansions I should look at?

Thanks in advance for any and all answers you might provide. Talk to you all soon!

Erich

Rather inexperienced with the official tournament metagame for this baby, but it plays well. Its enjoyable, though turns sometimes seem rather restrictive... what you play and what story you go for seems very important with a game turn almost playing itself, though again, this is without my understanding of some of the nuances of event cards aren't exactly realized in my analysis. I anticipate their are significant.

Best to play like a collectable game with everyone having their own cards. except the collation is much friendlier.

1)ive never really played any games out of a shared set. i bought my own and so did everyone else i play with so i cant really comment on that part.

2)the game has slowed down alot since it changed to lcg. still some games can go for a few turns, but ive played some games that lasted over a half hour too.

3)deck building is the funniest part of the game for me, as for broken combos i dont think there are any in the lcg format. some cards are more powerful than others but nothing seems broken almost every card has some way to deal with it.

4)that really depends on what factions you like and your play style. some packs are just crap for certain factions but have some real great cards for others.

hope that helps some what.

I replied to your post over at BoardGameGeeks, but I will add something here as well.

Sharing one core set is perfectly fine for starters. After a couple days worth of playing though, you will definitely want to grab some AP's.

The only thing I don't like about the game so far is, sometimes the abilities of characters or card effects can be complex. Like...

Activate this ability if this happens, and then do this to this type of character if he has this and its lower than yours....or whatever. It gets hard to follow sometimes.

Overall I'm really enjoying it though to be honest. I love how each faction does something well and pretty much sticks with it. So if you enjoy searching your deck a lot, then you will want to play Shub-Nigurath. If you like stopping the opponent from playing cards, then you want Hastur etc.

Vermillian, I definitely think you are missing out on some of the finer aspects of the game, if you think each turn is restricted. With only the core set and a few Asylum Packs in my collection, I was already building decks that were solid and were able to go toe to toe and not be restricted in any regular manner. There is plenty of strategy in my opinion, with what stories to hit and how and when to hit them.

The bottom line is, I've had the game for 2 days now, and I'm completely hooked. Just my two cents...

Thanks all for the responses. From what i gathered both here and at BGG, I've asked my FLGS to order me a copy. I know I have a few Cthulhu fans in my board game group, as well as a few Magic fans. So, I might be able to get a few players willing to play this if I open it up and show them all the shiny, insanity inducing cards in to play.

If you can only get one other person to play, it is worth it.