I am a casual L5R player feeling less than excited to continue playing. As a fan of LCGs and the novels of A Song of Ice and Fire, I have an increasing interest in selling out of the former and slowly buying into A Game of Thrones, perhaps with the new House decks.

Any thoughts on this potential switch? Anyone who plays or has played both is welcome to share their comparisons. Please understand that I want to be cost neutral which is why I would sell out of one for the other.

Complete collection to complete collection, the cost of selling L5R is not close to the cost of buying AGOT, so it's not really possible to be cash-neutral unless you're picking and choosing packs to buy.

That’s a good point as there have been dozens more releases for GOT thus far. Given that I would be getting into it casually, I would consider only purchasing some House decks and perhaps the core, at least to begin.

I've played both. The games do share some similarities. I think one could say that L5R CCG influenced Thrones CCG which became Thrones LCG which influenced L5R LCG I play tested L5R and was an active Thrones player from release until the Tyrell box released. I like the L5R (CCG) universe better, but I enjoyed the Thrones game play a lot more.

You're not going to be cost neutral, but the switch might not be that bad. There are usually entire collections, or collections current until X cycle on ebay for decent prices. If you're just looking to dabble, buy two intro decks and have a blast. However, the core has some extremely useful cards not present in the intro decks, and if you like the game, you'll still probably end up buying 3x cores. Notably absent are Core Catelyn, Core Melisandre, and Core Tywin. Based on the only preview we've seen with deck lists, I like the Greyjoy and Stark decks the most. If you buy in piecemeal, may I suggest picking up the Called to Arms chapter pack. It has the Winter and Summer agendas. They're a fun addition and can extend the life of your intro decks. The core can do that, too, with the additional cards, extra copies, extra plots, and banner agendas. From there, conventional wisdom will direct you to the deluxe expansion of your favorite house.