So I currently own a single copy of the CoC LCG Core Set and one Asylum Pack, "The Thing from the Shore". I've played several games now but I'm finding this particular configuration to be extremely character heavy. There seems to be a real lack of things to do outside of the Operations and Story phases, and the majority of action opportunities are passed as we stare down at hands brimming with characters. Is this normal, or is the ratio of characters to support/event in the Core Set a tad lopsided? I'm definitely interested in expanding my collection to allow for some deck building, but I wonder what the next step should be ...?

Another Core Set? I'll definitely be doing this at some point, many of the cards in the Core Set are clutch, but it certainly won't address the overabundance of characters.

Several Asylum Packs? I like this idea, but I'm hesitant to simply snap them up at random. Is there a consensus on which Asylum Packs best fill out a starter deck? Is this a faction specific consideration, largely dependent on which faction(s) I'm interested in? Or are the Asylum Packs generally a pretty safe bet, each adding equally to the game in their own way?

I seem to recall people mention that they want/prefer a 3/5 character ratio (30 chars in a 50-card deck). Can't recall if that was a general rule of thumb or for a certain set of cards though.

I've gone with Core + Ancient Horrors for quite a while now, looking to finally add more APs, with the Secrets of Arkham expansion on the horizon. Might finally get to mono-faction decks. Anyways, I dowloaded all the spoilers from BGG and went through them with a semi-fine comb, looking for those that I liked.

Might be an idea, downloading the spoilers. It's nice to be surprised by the cards, but that's a novelty I'd be willing to sacrifice if it'll save some bucks on APs I won't find much use for ... though I'm willing to bet there'll be at least one card in every pack that'll eventually convince me to open my wallet. The irrational collector in me will bubble to the surface and all reason will be lost.

With the LCG format of "you know what you get", I don't think spoilers are as big a deal as in standard ccg booster format. Might be just me.

From the spoilers I can see if AP X works nicely on its own, or will it have many cards that would require another AP to get full use of it (Day/Night cards in particular seem prone to this). Like AP14, Shubby's cards need it to be Night, but AP14 itself offers no way for Shubby to put out a Night card.

Okay,

First, the 3/5 ratio given seems fine to me. I use to deckbuild with 28 characters at a minimum ratio.

It also depends on the kind of faction you're playing! Shubb will have more characters with useful texts and Agency will need you to consider lowering the ratio to increase the attachment one! Hastur will be more depen dant on effect and you'll need to consider syndicat's abilities you want to use in your deck to find the good ratio

28>X>32 is the finest fork I can give you!

Then, considerating which AP to buy, I'd say that if you consider the game being to dependant on the story phase, you might appreciate "Path of Y'a'N'thlei" AP .... Or, if you don't want to consider buying the Dreamland cycle (which offer some nice strategies to Agency, shubb and Hastur), you might wait for the Secret of Arkham to come. This will give you a lot of cool cards, so this might be a good idea !

Thanks guys. Good advice! Especially nice to confirm the character ratio. Cheers, PRODIGEE. Seems the deck I've been playing isn't too far off the mark, after all. Granted, I simply combined the Hastur and Yog decks and randomly added half the neutral cards (split between myself and my noob opponent). It shouldn't come as a massive surprise that the deck doesn't feel right.

I printed off the majority of the spoilers yesterday afternoon (was doing fine until BBG went down for maintenance). I'll obsess over those before I place my massive mail-order. I'll take a good, hard look at Dreamlands, determine which APs from that cycle can stand on their own. Half of Summons of the Deep is unavailable at the moment, scheduled for reprint. I'll likely sit on my hands for a week and hope Secrets of Arkham meets the rumored March 30th street date; I'll definitely be picking that one up as soon as it drops. I'd also grab the Ancient Horror AP without hesitation ... if I could find it. I'm likely out of luck, stuck waiting for the reprint. Chances are I'll add a second Core Set as well, which should broaden my horizons with regard to deck building.

Thanks again!

You're welcome !

The rumor about the Arkham secrets are not matched yet, so you may consider a week before placing your order, I hope that then you'll know!

PRODIGEE said:

I've decided to place a small eBay order to scratch the itch while I wait for Secrets to release, at which point my friends and I intend to place a massive order at the German Boardgame Company (they ship $12 flat in Canada regardless of where you live and/or how much you order, within reason).

I'm currently waiting on three APs:

Spawn of the Sleeper
Path to Y'ha-Nthlei
and
Twilight Horror

I would have ordered Journey to Unknown Kadath as well, but the only guy I stumbled across selling Spawn of the Sleeper doesn't have it in stock. It'll have to wait for the mega-order.

I think I did okay choosing packs that will elevate the "core set experience", hopefully providing some basic deck building opportunities. I've spent time perusing the BGG spoilers and skimming through Nyarlazorbec's awesome deckbuilder; there are several cards in particular I can't wait to get my grubby mitts on!