So I just got back from gencon, and brought home with me the core set for AGoT. I have a few people that may be interested in playing, and at least 3 who intend to play semi-competitively.

First question is about the product itself. In talking with a player there, we were told that if you buy 1 of every set/expansion, you would have every card. While that does appear to be true, it is not the end of purchasing. It seems that sets may or may not have a playset of a card I would need. If that is true, then I will need to buy multiples of certain sets, while never needing more than 1 (or any) of another expansion. For each of the houses, what is the best buys. What is optional, what is required, and what should I not bother buying.

Next is a question about the houses. I've never read the books (though I intend to buy it later this week) and have no knowledge of the houses. From a non-story perspective, what does each house do. I'm going to post my thoughts after playing the starters, but please correct me if I am wrong
Stark - Military/Politics, amassing large amounts of strength quickly
Lannister - Intrigue/Politics, kneeling, stealth
Baratheon - Military/Intrigue/Politics, reknown and straightening
Targaryen - Military/Intrique, Attachments
Martell & Greyjoy - No clue

Last question: Where is the best resource for decklists, cards and strategy. This forum here looks heavily trafficed and popular, so I may have already found it. I've found agot.dbler.com for card searching. If there are other/better/different resources I'd be glad to hear them.

Thanks,

Kaleb

I'm about to be trading for a core set myself, so I'd be happy to learn all these differences as well.

This forum is probably the best place to gather that kind of info. You'd want to start reading up on all the other forums, as the players tend to talk about card strategies all over the place. Deck Construction, General Info, and Rules forums are good places to start.

I've found some topics (links below) that might help...

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=16&efcid=4&efidt=347446

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=16&efcid=4&efidt=339873

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=16&efcid=4&efidt=340012

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=20&efcid=4&efidt=344978

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=20&efcid=4&efidt=334423

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=20&efcid=4&efidt=336170

estel said:

this is kind of like asking a bunch of senators to tell you how they got elected. People value things differently. as should be shown in some of those links provided above there are certain things you might want to focus on, but everypack could have a gem in it. my advice is to pick your house, then go to http://info.wsisiz.edu.pl/~szczesnj/index.php which is a searchable database of all the cards. you can search by pack, set, title or just about anything else. it will let you know what packs have what for what house and you can then do some targeted purchasing after that. The best advice is to play play play and figure out your playstyle then choose cards to focus on. (like buying summer chapter packs doesn't help too much if you like income control).

estel said:

from the core set perspective this is fairly true....though with all the expansions you can tailor decks to fit your needs a bit more.

also you'll find you get more responses by posting in the general discussion thread, most people don;t see stuff down here.