Hi guys,

I'm a competitive Imperial Assault player (Just got back from Euros having made Top 16) looking to make a start in L5R but I'm worried the buy in is going to have escalated to the point that it's untenable already.

If I'm buying in atm my understanding is I need 3 core boxes and 1 of every expansion released so far?

It feels like it might be a more and more difficult challenge getting friends to buy in as the game matures if that's the case.

Can I check that those dynasty packs are all still viable and how long they stay in rotation for (if that's a thing) before myself and a couple of friends try the game out.

Thanks in advance,

Rich

Yes, right now you need 3 cores, 6 expansion packs, and 1 Clan pack (Phoenix).

Full price, we’re talking about 230$. But I’m sure you can get them for less.

Bear in mind that starting July there’s a new cycle starting, and that’s another 6 packs (90$) in 6 weeks, although you can always wait a little bit to buy those.

As for how long they’re gonna stay in rotation, we still don’t know. The cores are evergreen, and if other FFG’s LCGs are any indication, the first cycle still have some years before it rotates out.

You don't have to buy the Phoenix pack either, if you're not going to play Phoenix and can't/don't want to use the other cards in the pack. You can also buy them with a friend and share the card pool (as long as you play different clans ).

As I’m understanding it, he wants to play competitive, and then, yes, he needs the Phoenix clan pack.

Also, we still don’t know if Clan Packs are gonna be evergreen. If they are, is a must for every competitive player.

2 hours ago, Tabris2k said:

As I’m understanding it, he wants to play competitive, and then, yes, he needs the Phoenix clan pack.

Also, we still don’t know if Clan Packs are gonna be evergreen. If they are, is a must for every competitive player.

Depends on the clan, I haven't been using the Yogo Kikuyo so the pack is pretty useless to me unless I want to splash Pheonix.

I also recommend pairing with a friend to trade cycle packs; I've only bought 2/3 cores and 3/6 cycle since we're not doing the same clans. Although you might have to buy the same ones if you really want some of the neutrals (except provinces who come in 3x). This approach does drop the price and if you're into it, you can buy the rest.

Yes I'd like to play competitively so the expansions sound like they're necessary thanks guys.

Regarding initial buy in ideally we'd probably not buy it all in one go and dip our toes first but if the game is good and we're enjoying it then I'm sure that's not a major problem.

My main concern really is getting friends involved when there's an ever increasing but in as I've already seen that as an issue in imperial assault where to get some important commands cards involved buying a £50 box for one card.

Thanks for all the advice and hopefully see you around at a competition some time! (I'm based in South West England)

Rich

1 hour ago, Soshi Saibankan said:

Depends on the clan, I haven't been using the Yogo Kikuyo so the pack is pretty useless to me unless I want to splash Pheonix.

As I said, we don’t know if the packs are evergreen or not. If they are, and you’re competitive, you need them. You don’t want to miss that super-combo 5 years from now that uses Kikuyo and the newly released Yogo Shiro Strongold. Or that Scorp deck with Phoenix splash including cards from DotV.