I just picked up the base set, first 6 chapter packs, 8 draft packs, and around 16 sets of commons from various sets(some dupes). It was a large lot and I jumped on it for a good price.

Will that be a large enough card pool for 4 people to play with different decks and still be interesting?

how many of each chapter pack is good just for casual play? and when they say 20 new cards out of 40 is that 2 of each card or just 20 never before seen cards and 20 reprints?

thanks alot guys. I have always wanted to play AGoT but the collectible part kept me out of it.

one last question. If i start picking up some boosters cheap will all of the old cards work well with the LCG version? I know rules wise they work but are there some sets I should concentrate on and some I should avoid?

This is from my own personal research into this game:

The LCG coreset comes built and balanced for 4 people card play and from the few games I've played, it is interesting in itself but YMMV.

Chapter packs are made of 10 singles and 10 triples (10 cards that repeats 3 times)...it does not denote whether they are reprints or not (just an LCG business model)...although they are mostly non-reprins from what I can gather (using summer/winter mechanics for A Time of Ravens CPs).

I heard a few players recommending ITE and 5KE boosters when dipping into non-LCG era cards. Apparently the first and 2nd set of CPs had 5KE in mind before the announcement to let go of pre-LCG format. --> thus you'll see a lot of LCG cards referring to other cards that are not in abundance in strictly LCG block. eg: I for don't mind that crests are mostly a missed opportunity, but I wish there were more cards that made use of house specific keywords and the influence resource.

thanks alot. My friends and I have played various CCG's over the years and we like enough of a card pool to keep it new and fresh.

I will grab some 5 Kings and Iron Throne if it can be had cheap.

Are there any sets that will just not fit in?

I see that the 2nd booster expansion is hard to find and introduced greyjoy I believe. Is that faction hard to play with unless you have the old cards or was it reprinted in later editions?

I gotta admit I'm a little confused. The collectible nature of the game put you off until the LCG, but you want to go back and get as many CCG cards as you can for casual play?

The Sea of Storms expansion from 2002(?), 2003(?) is hard to find because there was a relatively small print run from 6 years ago. Nothing more to it than that, really.

For the most part, there is no reason to go back any further than the ITE block. You've played other CCGs, so I'm sure I don't have to tell you about power creep. Remember that each base set essentially "starts over" with new versions of key characters and basic resources, so you really aren't missing anything for a casual play environment by not having the earliest versions of various characters or events from the very early sets. You also run into problems with old or out-dated card templating and wording.

There is nothing that doesn't "fit right in" to the base LCG, but anything older than ITE will not fit in as well.

thanks for the clarification.

I dont know much about the game at all other than I liked the art and had heard nothing but good things about it.

I want to get a larger card pool simply to have some variety. I am talking buying common sets for a few dollars and any cheap boosters that get marked down eventually. Nothing of the money pit variety spending that normal CCG play entails.

I just found some older boosters that were really cheap locally but didnt want to get them till someone with some experience could tell me if its worth it.

anyway. I will mainly stick with the ITE then. I should have asked before I dropped some bids on ebay but I got excited the common sets were really cheap.

chrismata said:

I didn't mean you should stick primarily to ITE. I meant that you probably don't need to go "back in time" further than ITE. Anything from the Iron Throne Edition, the House of Thorns and House of Talons expansion sets, the Five Kings Edition base set and any Chapter Pack will probably lead to the most satisfying casual play experience. You'll also notice that the card layout (from a framed layout to the wide, full-card layout you get in the Core Set) changes for ITE and "above."

Are all of the houses represented in the ITE and forward editions?

I also saw a a Iron throne, Valerian, and Winter Starter sets. Are they just 2 starter decks packaged together?

All 6 Houses are represented in ITE and forward. The CCG sets always represented all Houses (once they were introduced). It's only the Core Set that cut back on 2 of the Houses because of it's 4-player make-up.

Valyrian and Winter Premium Starters and the ITE Starters are only 2 pre-made decks. They do not represent all the Houses. If your goal is to maintain a "balance" for your Core Set decks, they are not the products to buy.

thanks.

I just like to ask questions of folks who have been there so I dont waste time or money.

Now. FedEx just needs to get here and I will be straight!!!!!