I'm playing solo, and wish I had 3 of each card. I don't want to buy multiple core sets, because I'm overseas and shipping is very expensive.

I've heard mentioned some possible ways to get 3 of each card without buying them, and am curious which approach you guys take:

1) Card Sleeves

- Put every player card in a card sleeve.
- For cards you don't like, put a slip of paper (or printout) in the sleeve indicating which card it *should* be.
- PRO: With nice printouts, can get good-looking and readable proxy cards.
- CON: Player deck is thicker, and possibly harder to shuffle.
- CON: Have to buy sleeves.
- CON: Takes time to put all those cards into sleeves.

2) Post-Its

- Stick a piece of a post-it on the front of cards you don't like.
- Write on each post-it fragment the name of the card you want it to be.
- PRO: Thinner deck than with sleeves.
- CON: Post-it can fall off (especially during shuffling).
- CON: Ugly.

3) Ink

- Actually write the name of desired cards on the face of the "bad" cards themselves.
- PRO: Not as ugly or clumbsy as post-its.
- CON: Permanently damages cards.

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Are there other solutions?

Wait... Post-its? I don't believe it is doable.

The sleeves are not hard to shuffle, nor it thickens your deck. I use proxy to UC and Steward.

Also, I'd believe you should ALWAYS use sleeves to play card games, otherwise, they will get damaged during each game.

there are no cons to useing sleeves.. .in fact if you do not use sleeves then you are shortening the life span of the game by years and years... get sleeves.. end of story. When you have sleeves all you need to do is place your proxy card in the sleeve (can even be from a diffrent game using the same size card if your sleeves are not clear) then print out on normal paper the card form a internet source. Place that paper in teh front of the sleeve... your done.

Just use out-of-sphere cards as proxies. For instance, say you are playing with Tactics and Spirit. Put two copies of Snowbourn Scout in your deck. Those will be your second and third Dwarven Tomb. Add a Lore card to proxy Will of the West etc. Just keep track of which card is which.

This will work whether you sleeve your cards or not. You should use sleeves though.

I know this isn't going to be popular. but with people saying the game is too easy, they have got 2 core sets etc. Don't you think that FF only put 1 copy of the card into core so that it wasn't too easy?? much like an automatic restricted list? Yes it does say in the rules that you can have up to 3 of the cards in your deck, but the INTENTION of the core is to only have 1 of a particular card.

Wheelz said:

We play by the rules right. So the rules say : no more then 3 copies of each card and minimum 50 cards decks. This rules was invented by FFG. So we do everything by the rules. Some one want spend money for second or even third core set some one dont. Up to players. We need Restricted or ban list anyway before or same time when FFG will invent tourney system. Without Restricted list or Ban list tourney system will not work properly cose evey one will play sthe same decks most of the time.

IN my opinion cards should be banned from Tournaments deck lists 2 players(as i know tournament system develop for 2 players team games):

Beravur, Northern tracker, Protector of Lorien, Burning brand(maybe not sure 100%), Steward of Gondor, Zigil Miner.

Wheelz said:

FFG put only 1 or 2 copies of the most Powerful cards into the Core set, so that they could sell more cards. they've been making these products long enough to know that some people would go out and buy 3x however daft the cost ratios get, if they wanted to create a restricted list, they'd have made one.

booored said:

There are cons, money- theres one. just like not everyone can afford 3 core sets, not everyone can afford to keep up with the packs and sleeve them, i have no spare money, i have to raise £10 a month on ebay if i want the pack. do you really think i can afford to sleeve every card? no

also i just dont want to- theres another one, i like the feel of the card, i dont pack the game in and out of storage- it stays on my game table- i obsessivly keep them tidy and out of harms way....dont like it? theyre my cards.....hell everytime someone mentions it proper to sleeve its like the whole condom issue ALL OVER AGAIN.

.commandment 1: thou must sleeve

richsabre said:

I used to be anti-sleeve for many of the same reasons you mentioned. It's expensive, I like the feel of the cards, I obsess about keeping my cards clean so I don't need them... but after breaking down and trying out some sleeves, I have to say that I actually prefer playing with sleeves. The cards are actually easier to shuffle when sleeved and often I just sort of forget the cards are even sleeved. It also reduces the risk of damaging cards on accident to a very minimum. I noticed wear on cards from normal use while taking very good care of them, so sleeving will reduce that.

The only issue I have is cost, because I want to sleeve every single card and not just the ones I am currently playing with... and I'm using Dragon Sleeves which are costing me $6.50 for 100 sleeves.... and I'm playing 3 LCGs currently with several thousand cards.

Anyway, if you don't want to sleeve, no one is stopping you. I do recommend trying it out if you haven't though.

Svenn said:

thanks for not biting my head off and starting a sleeve/anti-sleeve war , the price still remains, i think even those ultra cheapo ones are outa my price range as it would mean raising more money everytime i buy a new pack, and also for the core set , 6 packs and khazad, as im a ocd-ish type person so would want everything sleeved, so yeah, maybe when i have a few pennies spare i will give them a go

richsabre said:

I forgot that you play solo alot. I would never let my friends play with my cards if they weren't sleeved.

Wheelz said:

I agree with you. I can afford 3 core sets, but I only bought one. It would make the game too easy if I had 2 or 3 core sets to use for deckbuilding. I think the intended difficulty levels of the scenarios are for one core set.

mkultra said:

ahh, you see i never considered that, seeing as the only person to ever touch my cards is me it doesnt matter, though i agree if i let anyone near my cards i would want them sleeved, gggrrrr dirty hands, i obsessivly wash mine before each play

I disagree with all the "cons" in this page so far... for me the cards feel way better in the sleeves (get good quality ones), they are easier to shuffle, they extend the life of your game..don't matter how careful you are, just the act of shuffling will damage your cards with out sleeves damages them, and a few years from now your cards WILL look tattered and have nicks out of the corners, there will be white showing in flecks in the sides, probably slightly bowed (sleeves also help keep the cards stiff, and if you start to bend you can re-sleeve them with a new stiff one)

If your into card games sleevesing isn't relay an option, imo. Sure when the game is super young like it is now.. everything is fine.. but like 3 years form now you will wish you had sleeved form the beginning. It only takes on spilled beer or coke and your cards are ******. And on top of that it makes it super easy to proxy using color print outs on normal paper (as I said above) AND you can easily print out and play custom scenarios made by fans using the same methods and have the new cards look exactly the same as the old ones in the deck...

Svenn said:

Try the FFG Sleeves. They feel "nearly" exactly the same as the Dragon Shields and are slightly cheaper.

booored said:

there is still the issue of base cost, if you cant afford them, no matter how good they are, theyre still no use to you-that is a con

they are 3 dollars for a pack of 50... . like just do not buy a single beer next time you go out and you have saved the money. Or do not buy a coke ONCE and drink water and you have saved the money.

booored said:

i actually have a response to that but il let it fly....you will think im taking the p*ss, lets just say its a matter of principle

richsabre said:

if you can not afford 3 bucks you need to make some SERIOUS life decisions and fast.

booored said:

haha good one, see why i didnt want to bring it up - im having to go into the forest beside me and cut some wood to stay warm tonight-am i joking? maybe....maybe not, a pathetic attempt for attention? no---my point is that i already have to raise the pack money each month, having to list other stuff on ebay is far too much effort....not to mention i barely get the money i need, until last november i had a back log of 4 packs, so im putting all my money into pre ordering packs

anyways, back to my original point - if i had the money i would, i think its a good idea for those who do, but the reason i posted here was at extremes sleeves do actually have a con- the (if rather cheap) price

im done here..........what did i say, no sleeve wars not gonna argue anymore....besides this has gone waaay off topic

richsabre said:

The comparably high cost of sleeves is what led me to switch to using folders to store the cards and only sleeve my current playset(s).