So if one is wanting to build a better deck than what the core set provides you, what are the best expansion sets to buy?

https://talesfromthecards.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/new-player-buying-guide/

You can find here o lot of info on what you are asking

Thanks will take a look!

Quick question. When playing Gandalf (Hero) from The Road Darkens are you also allowed to have Gandalf (Ally) from the Core set in your deck?

Most of you probably know about it, but RingsDB is a fantastic source for all things LotR CG for newbies like myself, and I'm sure even for experienced players as well.

Ringsdb rocks for everyone. It is a fact ;).

You are allowed to have Gandalf ally in your deck. But as long as Gandalf hero stay in play no other Gandalf can come into play. So you can't play it or even make a sneak attack of him. So my advice will be not to put any in your deck ;).

Thanks!

Probably gonna pass on Gandalf as a hero (for now) as his threat level is pretty high, and you then also give up Gandalf as an ally who can reduce your threat level by 5.

Problem is there isn't a whole lot of sets and AP to choose from these days as everything is sold out so you're a little limited in what you can choose. Get printing FFG!

What size card sleeves do you guys use for your decks?

The official FFG Ring and Eye sleeves are 63.5mm x 88mm / 2.5 x 3.5". Do you need that exact size or can you have something a little smaller like 63mm x 88mm?

I ask because the place I'm buying from only has the 63mm x 88mm sleeves.

I've seen the official art sleeves and they are very tight around the cards.

I use official art sleeves. They fit well. the cards don't slip out. Once in a blue moon I'll push one gently back down because it's approaching the upper margin of the sleeve, but I don't think I've ever had one actually slip out of the sleeve in 5+ years of use. Occasionally the sleeves split, mostly due to rough shuffling. That has happened under 10 times since I have been using them.

So another question for you folk. I've decided on starting with the Core set + one more.

What would you recommend of the following:

- The Voice of Isengard

- The Grey Havens

- The Sands of Harad

- The Hobbit: On the Doorstep

Myself I'm leaning toward The Hobbit: On the Doorstep just because I would love to play out that story line. The only thing I'm hesitant about is that it would provide a Dwarf-heavy deck which I wouldn't use much apart from this one.

The reason I provided those specific ones is because that is what is available from my local supplier. But if you have another specific expansion in mind that would suit beginners like myself I would be happy to hear about it and might just import it then.

Gray havens has some strong card inside even if they requires other packs to be put at full benefits. Quest are cool too.

Sands of hard player card are not so strong overall in my opinion.

Hobbit has very strong cards but clearly lean on dwarfs archetype. Quest not so great compared to the othwr expansions you mentiond in my opinion.

Voice of isengard has solid player cards.

I would advice Gray havens if I have to choose from that list.

Lore of the rings saga expansion are all great in terms of cards and quests (even out of campaign mode) so consider them if you can find any in store.

Either Grey Havens or Sands.

Choosing from that list, I'd say grey havens, hands down. It's the only one from the list that's really strong on both player cards and quests for a player just starting out.

Sands would be a decent second choice. The quests are quite fun, but the player cards - while perfectly fine - really need a larger card pool to really be excellent.

Voice of Isengard has some good player cards (but inconsistent), and the quests are much more uneven.

And finally, if you like dwarves, the Hobbit box is excellent for player cards, but much less useful otherwise. The quests in that box are certainly the better of the 2 hobbit boxes - but they are still noticeably more uneven compared to modern products; there are a number of experimental things that just didn't work out as well.

If you can find a copy of the black riders saga box, I'd highly recommend that one. It's one of the single best products in the game, and all of the Lord of the rings saga boxes have followed the same standard of excellent player cards and fun quests.

I couldn't agree with Onidsen more here. From your list, I'd go with the Grey Havens box.

20 minutes ago, Authraw said:

I couldn't agree with Onidsen more here. From your list, I'd go with the Grey Havens box.

Pretty sure I was channeling your Path Less Traveled series there. I actually meant to link to it, but I must have gotten distracted between the thought and finishing the post.

So here's a link , a little bit late. It's a really valuable community resource.

I'd also look at which deluxe has APs available for the corresponding cycle, as that might be a logical place to go next. When availability is limited, let it be your guide.

It also impacts the cards added. Dreamchaser adds a lot of cards to make Grey Havens better. Haradrim cycle adds a brand new archetype in Harad. Ringmaker is probably the best of the lot for player cards, giving you some great heroes, everything you need for a Silvan deck, and some strong Ent allies that can boost any deck.

11 hours ago, dalestephenson said:

I'd also look at which deluxe has APs available for the corresponding cycle, as that might be a logical place to go next. When availability is limited, let it be your guide.

It also impacts the cards added. Dreamchaser adds a lot of cards to make Grey Havens better. Haradrim cycle adds a brand new archetype in Harad. Ringmaker is probably the best of the lot for player cards, giving you some great heroes, everything you need for a Silvan deck, and some strong Ent allies that can boost any deck.

Yeah that was one of the factors I took into consideration when listing the expansions. From my retailer there are basically four AP available for Grey Havens and Sands.

Then I'd go for Grey Havens. If two of the APs available for it are Flight of the Stormcaller and Temple of the Deceived, you can also play in this month's solo league if you hurry!

Ok what do you guys (and gals) think of me picking up The Black Riders and the Road Darkens instead of Grey Havens?

I will be picking up the Core Set and Hobbit: On the Doorstep tomorrow. Would one enjoy Black Riders and Road Darkens seeing as getting hold of the rest of the saga could be difficult.

I guess my question is is Black Riders and Road Darkens enjoyable on their own, as standalones?

And a second question - what are the cards like in Black Riders and Road Darkens in terms of looking to improve on my deck?

I'm not looking to play Hobbits in my decks, but I think those expansions are Hobbit-heavy... what are the event and ally cards like. Worthwhile or on the weaker side?

Those two boxes are great, but not the best for deck-building purposes. You really only get player cards that enable Hobbit decks in the Black Riders. In Road Darkens, you get the tools for a Gandalf deck along with miscellaneous bomb cards.

The only player card in Black Riders that I consider general-purpose is Elf Stone, a location attachment that puts a free ally into play when the location is cleared.

Road Darkens, outside Gandalf and his toys, has four unique allies that I think can be generally useful, Galadriel (Leadership), Elrond (Lore), Bilbo (Spirit), and Boromir (Tactics). Galadriel is a one-turn 3-cost temporary ally, but besides providing 3 willpower for a turn she also lets you re-order the top five cards and play an attachment from it for free -- if you're attachment heavy, she can be a bargain. Elrond's another one-turn wonder with 3-cost and 3/2/3/3 stats, providing condition removal, healing, or a card for each player. Bilbo is permanent and at 2 wp for 2 cost with 2 hp is an efficient questing ally -- he also fetches pipes which makes him a Gandalf-deck staple, but I think Dwarf Pipe is useful in a dwarven mining deck and Dunedain Pipe is useful in practically anything. Boromir is probably the least useful of the four, he's 1/3/1/4 with +2 defense against greater-than-threat enemies and readying after damage; clearly best for a low threat deck but marginal at best for a high threat deck at his cost (4).

I took a look at all of those sets in a Core-only environment over on my blog:

https://darklingdoor.wordpress.com/path-less-traveled/

I think they'd be a great purchase. The quests are fun, and the player cards from The Black Riders are pretty great. I disagree with the above that they're specialized--Hobbits' low threat makes them great splash heroes for any deck that just wants to add that particular sphere. I use Merry, Sam, and Pippin as the lone Hobbit in many of my decks for their threat alone--and I still often get to make use of their abilities a few times in the early game. Sam makes a good alternative defending hero option to Denethor + Protector of Lorien, something that the Core needs a little help with.

Plus, Dagger of Westernesse is one of the best multipurpose weapons in the game, hands-down. (A recently spoiled card might just bump it out of that position, but it's not out yet).

The Road Darkens, on the other hand, is just a little light on player cards all-up. But the quests are some great ones (albeit fairly tough!) so I think that makes up for it. You can probably even have fun playing campaign mode just through these two boxes even if you never buy the rest of the saga.

If I had to choose between Grey Havens and the first two Sagas, I'd pick up the Sagas. Of course, why pick up only two when all three would do?

11 hours ago, Authraw said:

I took a look at all of those sets in a Core-only environment over on my blog:

https://darklingdoor.wordpress.com/path-less-traveled/

I think they'd be a great purchase. The quests are fun, and the player cards from The Black Riders are pretty great. I disagree with the above that they're specialized--Hobbits' low threat makes them great splash heroes for any deck that just wants to add that particular sphere. I use Merry, Sam, and Pippin as the lone Hobbit in many of my decks for their threat alone--and I still often get to make use of their abilities a few times in the early game. Sam makes a good alternative defending hero option to Denethor + Protector of Lorien, something that the Core needs a little help with.

Plus, Dagger of Westernesse is one of the best multipurpose weapons in the game, hands-down. (A recently spoiled card might just bump it out of that position, but it's not out yet).

The Road Darkens, on the other hand, is just a little light on player cards all-up. But the quests are some great ones (albeit fairly tough!) so I think that makes up for it. You can probably even have fun playing campaign mode just through these two boxes even if you never buy the rest of the saga.

If I had to choose between Grey Havens and the first two Sagas, I'd pick up the Sagas. Of course, why pick up only two when all three would do?

That would be the ideal scenario wouldn't it! Unfortunately my countries currency is 15:1 to the dollar so we pay exorbitant prices for everything that we import... So I will have spent my monthly "allowance" for games after this

I also picked up the Star Wars: Destiny 2-player Starter Set, Luke Skywalker Starter Set and the Boba Fett Starter Set which added to my expenses. But yes, my plan is to get the entire LotR Card Game collection over time, if they become available that is.

Question - do you guys use premium or regular card sleeves for your decks?

Would premium not make the deck a bit unmanageable in terms of size?