I am new to this game so I'm sure this will explain a lot. I normally play the CoC LCG but after watching the Game of Thrones show I am hooked so I wanted to get into this game as well. After looking at various regional championship decklists I notice that it is normal to just play 1 of most unique cards. I'm sure this has to do with how punishing it can be if you have a copy of that character in your dead pile. I just dont see how people can get away with just playing 1 of's though. I mean if you want to see that card wouldn't you want to at least play 2 of that unique? Only playing one copy of a card you are just hoping to draw it. Someone please shed some light on this for me.

Thanks,

-Kama

The dead problem is one reason. There's also a much higher percentage of unique characters which means extra copies can only be played as duplicates rather than additional characters. Characters don't die nearly as much as in Call of Cthulhu either. Finally, you have to worry more about cards that are unplayable or have poor utility because you have little other use for them. In Call of Cthulhu any useless card can become a resource. In Game of Thrones they just sit in your hand, maybe give you a little protection against discard effects at best.

Just a few off the top of the head… I'm also a noob to GoT, so veterans may be able to list more reasons.

The situation when you draw a card with a unique character and a copy of it is already in dead pile is not that often and losses because of that are minor. The situation when you lack some key characters for your super-offense, defense or control is alot worse.

I also see it as a case of, I would rather draw a second character and keep my options open, then have a duplicate of just one character.

Plus, in my experience, characters die fast and often, and if you haven't got a duplicate on them, then they will just clog your hand instead of increasing your options.