I certainly agree to a point. We (I) don't have to have the big rotation or limit the blocks for Organized Play discussion again, but at some point they will have to restrict the card pool. Is it now? Probalby not. Is it in another year? Maybe bordering on probably. Two years? Most definately - at that point they will have about twice a normal 'block' of a standard game in card pool and the game gets both unaffordable and unweildly to playtest/manage.

Very few players want to dip their toe in a game and only buy a few chapter packs + core set. I know exactly 2 players like that, and they are both new and have never played in a tourney. But, over the world that might be quite a few people I guess.

All I know is that I have seen multiple potential players be turned off starting the game when they see the sheer size of what they need - that is a valid point to be seen.

That being said, it is nowhere near Magic. Not even close. $500 to get into a game with a tier one game is probably the same as MTG. But in MTG you get that deck (off Ebay singles) and that is it. In aGoT you probably have 50%-75% of another tourney regulation deck, in 3X each. For not much more you can have 4-5 tourney capable decks, while in MTG you need another $500 for each one. If aGoT had a different model, it would be easier to sell singles and you could probably get that deck for $100-$200, but it doesn't which I think is good (you can try out different things, have a multi-player deck, have a fun deck, etc.).

rings said:

No singles market and no rare-hunting are two of things that make me love LCG so much.

One can certainly tell that the OP and those voicing degrees of support for his conention come form the MtG background and its OCD "must have everything" mindset.

Newbies; YOU DO NOT NEED 3 x of every card to compete . One Core set, a House expansion and targeted chapter pack buys will make you competitive. and ocne you have made that realtively inexpensive investment, it is degrees of magnitutde cheaper to keep up with teh agem thna its is with Magic. I am spending way less over the past five years than i did in the five years of CCG - and for that I tahnk FFG. Can't see how they are greedy, when they are getting so much less of my money now than they were in 2007.

And I'm far form a fan boy. I think the game is in a pretty stale spot at the moment and isn't very interesting competitvely. but to say AGoT is a money sink liek Magic is just wrong.

Stag Lord said:

As much as I agree with some of the things you've said, I think you're also missing one of the approaches being mentioned here.

Not all competitive Magic players today collect a playset of every expansion. In fact, one of the popular tactics in Magic now is "netdecking," researching a good competitive deck online, and then reconstructing it; often through the purchase of singles (either from a local card shop, or from numerous online singles retailers).

While an expensive way to build a deck, it can be considerably cheaper than buying box after box of boosters trying to get certain cards.

This is not an approach that translates well to AGoT. The fact that Chapter packs are all fixed means that there is a much less developed singles market, and actually can make putting together a specific deck rather expensive, since you likely have no option but to purchase a chapter pack containing many cards that you do not have use for.

That being said, while I recognize that going out and building a specific deck like that may not be cheaper in AGoT than it is in Magic, I still vastly prefer the LCG format to CCG, to the point where I can't bring myself to buy packs of anything anymore.

I would argue that it is a bit cheaper.When you netdeck a champion deck in MtG you get a single deck and you can expect to $500 for that deck. I can netdeck hre and grab the Back Friday or Days of Ice and Fire deck for possiblyas much as $500, but likely a bit less if I'm buying from someplace like Cool Stuff. With that single-minded purchase I will almost certainly receive enough of another championship deck that I can for just a little more cash get a second and maybe thrd champion deck out of it. When that champion MtG deck is no longer Standard legal I'll be able to recoup some of that initial outlay of cash if the deck is still considered to be top flight. If it lost to another champion deck or any card in there received errata or banning that deck falls apart and even the rares in there drop their value by 30% or more.

Either way, once that deck rotates, I need to buy again. That is going to be at least another $200 outlayto by a new champion deck (assuming that I managed tomake $300 back onselling my playset of rares from it). That extra $200 I have to spend is going to buy me almost all the cards I don't own from my first netdeck in Thrones.

I have come to accept that rotation is likely tohappen by 2014-2015. Either that or the introduction of a new format which will essentially cause the same thing. But Thrones is still cheaper with or without it, because you can netdeck just as easilyand your investment in the netdeck has more impact.