Has anyone created a deck with the new cards? I'm curious about Paranoia, Queen Helga, and Zombie Dragon. Anyone? ::crickets crickets::

I have purchased two of the Capital Battle Packs so far. To be honest, I'm not too terribly impressed with the new line.

Doc9 said:

I can't say much either. I still think Paranoia is a good card, but not something you build a deck around. Queen Helga, and Zombie Dragon in particular are simply not worthwhile.

On the whole, I'm disappointed by this cycle so far. Not only are there few cards in general that I'm excited about - because they're powerful or innovative in some way - but mostly because with faction-centric battlepacks I expected those packs to really improve or spice things up for the faction in question. The only one that gave me that feeling was The Inevitable City, which had great Chaos cards, and because it actually gave Chaos a new strong theme (self-corruption) while also supplementing an old theme (enemy corruption). The next three failed at that. I don't enjoy opening the Dwarf-centric battlepack to find that it neither has a single Dwarf card I'll use in my current Dwarf deck, nor does it have one that makes me want to revisit a different old type of Dwarf deck, or one that inspires me to try something new (and expect it to actually work well).

As for new concepts and card types introduced, I doubt anyone is excited about Capital Centers, Fortifications and Feared. I applaud the trend towards higher loyalty cards, and effects based on loyalty, but as long as cards from all expansions are legal, the older ones with fewer loyalty have a strong advantage.

Yeah Mallumo you described it exactly how I feel. I don't know why there aren't any good cards with fewer loyalty. Maybe the developers are afraid of too strong cards but for the moment there isn't room for going to high loyalty that gets unplayable when the opponent plays control. I still hope the DE pack will be decent and the discard theme will be competitive.

Interestingly enough, while Paranoia is good and fits virtually into any kind of deck, it currently doesn't have any great synergies. As for the Dwarves, I found Mountain Sentry and Karak Great Cannon the most useful so far. The Sentry to strengthen cards like Bugman's Rangers or Dwarf Ranger. Unfortunately, he is fragile, so you need to attach something like Bugman's Tankard to keep him around. The Cannon can be useful as a deterrent or to punish your opponent for attacking your zone, however, having to sacrifice developments is a tough price to pay for that.

I was also disappointed by Queen Helga. Too expensive for just one hammer and a so-so ability. Not worth it, in my opinion. The Dragon's ability is pretty much useless outside of an undead deck and because it is a coming into play ability, you need to play him over and over, and the cost, even with Burial Mound in play is still steep.

So far, I have to say that my favorite cards from this pack are Disc of Tzeentch and Elven Scout.

I do like the trend towards higher loyalty and cards that play off of that loyalty. But, I also like the 'feared' ability if for nothing else but to stop the stupid dwarf slayers of karak something or other. As for the fortifications...well, it's cheap loyalty that has a so so effect that can stall for a moment. I also wish that the faction-centric packs did more to actually boost their factions. Chaos did get the best pack followed by the Orcs I think simply due to snotling ambush and morks teef ritual. I have a feeling that Empire will also make out like bandits on their pack just based on the previews of the zoo. But, overall...yeah, disapointed as well. I am excited about the next cycle. A focus on quests sounds promising.

I AM using cards from the new packs... just not the ones you mentioned

Personally I played lot's of TCG's where cards get more powerful with every new expansion. So far Warhammer Invasion hasn't gone down that lane which is a very good thing indeed*. I'm just happy that new packs usually don't mean you HAVE to include them into your deck or be overwhelmed by other players using the newest cards. So if people complain that the new cards are not powerful enough I find that actually a very positive statement.

The complaint that the new cards offer nothing new or interesting to the game is of course much more serious. But as always it's all in the eye of the beholder. My friends and myself use some (but not many) cards from that cycle. As it should be. If the new cards are useful to you depends very much on your deck and your way to play the game.

And if you still despair: there is always the chance that future cycles will make those "boring" cards way more useful.

* Give or take the odd mistakes like "Visit the haunted city" or cards that are now on the "restricted" list